New Hall Nursery celebrated its official launch on Wednesday 9 October, with the Bishop of Brentwood, the Rt Rev. Alan Williams, visiting to bless the new building, take a tour of the facilities and to meet New Hall School’s newest pupils.

The Nursery comes as a welcome addition to the School’s existing Preparatory and Senior Divisions. The new Division opened its doors to pupils in September, marking the establishment of New Hall as the first Catholic all-through school in Essex, offering an educational provision for day students from Nursery to Sixth Form, with boarding available for pupils from Year 3.

“Introducing a new Nursery allows New Hall to offer excellent wraparound care to more families and to expand the School’s promise to provide the best start in life,” said Katherine Jeffrey, Principal.  The Nursery offers options for both all year round and term time only care, starting at the age of 1, from 8.00am until 6.00pm with extended day care on offer from 7.30am to 6.30pm.

New Hall celebrates the official opening of the New Hall Nursery

Constructed by the Stable Company, the Nursery was completed over the summer and provides an inspiring environment for the School’s youngest pupils to explore, develop and grow.  The ceremony to mark the building’s official opening was attended by parents, pupils, School Governors, Scott Green from The Stable Company, Councillor Janette Potter, Deputy Mayor of Chelmsford and Chelmsford City Council representatives.

The specially designed building offers a spacious, bright and calm environment for children to explore and develop their natural abilities. The Nursery has been designed to support all areas of a child’s learning, whilst facilitating their emotional well-being in safe, nurturing and stimulating surroundings.  Modern spaces complete with tailor-made fittings, provide a canvas for arts and crafts, sensory and messy play, dance and music, while at the same time supporting the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum’s seven areas of learning: Personal, Social & Emotional, Physical & Communication & Language Development, Literacy, Understanding the World, Mathematics and Expressive Arts & Design.  The innovative and exciting outdoor learning environment is a spacious area that incorporates sand and water play, a mix of Astroturf, real grass, elevated areas and natural planting, all chosen to nourish a child’s imagination. New Hall children can delight in the mud kitchens and take part in gardening activities in the Nursery vegetable and flower beds.

New Hall Nursery pupils and staff celebrating the official opening of the Nursery

New Hall is founded with a Catholic ethos and offers a distinctive ‘diamond model’ structure, offering co-educational learning from Nursery until age 11 and again in the Sixth Form. From ages 11 – 16 girls and boys are taught separately in single-sex classes.  The main benefits of the ‘diamond model’ and five years of single-sex teaching derive from the ability to tailor pastoral and academic provision more sensitively and expertly to the needs of young people going through the physical, emotional and social upheaval of adolescence.

“I never even imagined that I was capable of achieving 10 A*s at GCSE level and 3 A*s at A Level,” said Charlize Spriggs, former New Hall Deputy Head Girl, who is currently employed at the School as a Boarding Assistant. “The opportunities for leadership and personal growth are endless, from roles as a group leader in the New Hall Voluntary Service, to Willow Representatives (who interact with tutor groups in the younger years), from subject prefects, to the editor of the student newspaper.  New Hall fosters a true passion for helping others, giving us the chance to have lunch and a catch up with the local pensioners three times a week, to raise money in bake sales, fashion shows and non-uniform days for charities like the Alzheimer’s Society, Sane, the Jimmy Mizen Foundation, and many more.”

As a boarding and day school, New Hall provides a successful academic programme, highlighted by record A Level and GCSE results over the summer, with the School emerging as the highest ranked independent school in Essex in The Times A Level results table 2019. Based on a 70-acre campus, New Hall has an excellent music and performing arts provision and fantastic sports facilities and training programmes. The strong pastoral care structure at the school supports students in their endeavours, allowing them to achieve success in a wide variety of fields.

Mrs Jeffrey, Principal, Bishop of Brentwood, Rt. Rev. Alan Williams and Councillor Janette Potter, Deputy Mayor of Chelmsford

with New Hall pupils at the official opening New Hall Nursery