In our FAQ, we have tried to cover most of what we think you will need to know, but please don´t hesitate to contact us if there is anything you can´t find the answer to!

At least 1 year before your child’s 3rd birthday

50% of families live within walking distance of the school

– 1:8
– 1:5 in the Nursery years

We offer a 10% discount on fees for 2nd and 3rd siblings

– Bank: Nat West
– Sort Code: 60-00-01
– A/C No: 95604464
– A/C Name: Dallington School Limited
– Iban/Swift Code: NWBKGB2L
​- Iban No: GB75NWBK60000195604464

We know that for some children, Dallington will be their first experience of nursery, having spent time at home with their family.  We are very supportive of children being eased into a full week and our staff will help you decide how best to settle your child into our nursery.  Some children do mornings with some afternoons, gradually building up to a week of full days.  If you keep an open dialogue with your child’s teacher of how he or she is getting on, this will ease the settling in period.  Please note that, financially, we only offer full-time places at Dallington.

Our experienced practitioners are working with, observing and recording the progress of the children all the time through a mixture of adult-led and child-initiated activities. We use a software platform called Early Essence onto which we save photographic evidence and comments written by your child’s key worker and attributed to the Early Learning Goals as laid out in the EYFS Curriculum. Parents are given a login to this portal and are encouraged to not only follow their child’s progress but to also contribute to this digital scrapbook, by adding photos and events from home life.

We actively encourage parents to be involved in their child’s education. The vibrant Friends of Dallington, of which you are automatically a member on joining the school, organises lots of activities and parties for the children, and acts as a conduit between school and home. Spending time with a class, sharing your profession, your knowledge and skills with the children, can be a great way to become involved.

We provide bowls of fresh fruit in each classroom for children to help themselves during the day. All children bring their own healthy packed lunch, or you can sign up for a packed lunch provided by the school.

We are keyholders to the playground on Seward Street (a 5 minute walk around the corner, off Goswell Road) where we have a kitchen, bathroom and storage rooms for our sports equipment and nursery trikes, scooters and building materials. Experienced lunchtime play assistants encourage the children to play games and keep a close eye on them.

Each group has about 1 hour in the playground each day. Outdoor Forest school learning gives them a further afternoon in the outdoors, and there are weekly walks to the library, as well as trips to museums, galleries etc.

We use our playground, King Square, Finsbury Leisure Centre, Ironmonger Row Swimming Baths and in the summer term, older children learn to kayak at Shadwell Basin.

We are aware of the National Curriculum, and loosely follow its structure: however we aim above this level and approach teaching and learning slightly differently. We also give more time to the Arts and Sports, as well as outdoor learning.

We know how anxiety-inducing entrance exams can be for children, and so in year 5, we have conversations with each child to gauge their emotions, and start sessions in preparing them in exam technique as well as building confidence for interviews. We also offer a Study Skills club, with special training in exam preparation.

Children can wear whatever they wish, we want them to be able to express their individuality, therefore there is no uniform.