Welcome to
Growing Places Community School
Growing Places Community School has grown from our long-established nursery provision, built on over thirty years of delivering high-quality care and education for children aged six months to five years across Havant, Waterlooville, and Fareham as a charitable organisation.
From September 2026, Growing Places Community School will open with one small Year R class of 12 children supported by a class teacher and a dedicated support teacher, ensuring highly individualised learning.
The school will continue to grow year by year, welcoming a new Year R intake each September, and will ultimately provide education for children from Year R through to Year 6.
Rooted in the same values and ethos as our nurseries, the school is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, with a deep belief that children are born capable, curious, and full of potential. This belief sits at the heart of our pedagogy from nursery through to school, shaping how we design learning experiences and build meaningful relationships. We see children as active participants in their learning, with a strong emphasis on exploration, collaboration, creativity, and reflection — ensuring learning is purposeful, joyful, and deeply engaging.
“Our school is part of the Growing Places learning community, growing from our established nursery provision and sharing a common Reggio-inspired pedagogy.”
How it all Began
For our founders, Jackie Warren and Carlie Powell, this school has been a dream in the making for many years. Jackie, who opened the first Growing Places nursery 30 years ago, always envisioned a place where nursery children could continue their Growing Places journey from the age of 4 and beyond. In 2019, Carlie joined the Growing Places team after a 15-year career as a primary school teacher. She made the decision to leave the teaching profession, feeling that the education system no longer aligned with her beliefs about how children learn best and had a vision of her own for a school that was fit for purpose. When Jackie and Carlie began working together, it quickly became clear that they shared this vision for a school where their values and educational philosophy could truly come to life. Together, they began to make that vision a reality.
From visiting and working collaboratively with schools in Reggio Emilia, Sweden and Norway, Jackie and Carlie have developed an innovative school curriculum. With this combination of international approaches and the valuable experiences of Jackie and Carlie, the school will create an environment where children not only excel academically but grow as confident, compassionate individuals with a life-long love of learning.
