Appletree Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Children make a positive start to their education at this inclusive school. Children settle in quickly and are happy.

The school is ambitious for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). It places high importance on building children's self-esteem and confidence. Nurturing staff provide children with a range of opportunities that help them to develop these personal attributes.

The broad range of learning opportunities offered by the school help children to become confident and successful learners.

Children learn the importance of sharing and cooperating with one another. Older children often work together as a team ...to create dens or to role play different games and stories.

Staff help children to understand their different emotions and how to manage them. Children value the praise and recognition that they receive for showing good manners and behaving well.

Children learn about different interesting places beyond the school.

For example, they experience trips to the seaside and to the park. Children begin to learn about the work of charities, supporting them through events such as cake sales. They also learn about important people in their community, gaining delight in visits from firefighters, refuse collectors and police officers.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has developed a curriculum that is aspirational and designed to meet the needs and interests of children, including those with SEND. The curriculum sets out what children should learn in the two-year-old provision and how this is built on when they move to the Nursery Year. This includes the key vocabulary across the different areas of learning.

The curriculum considers the important knowledge the children should have so that they are ready for the demands of the Reception Year. Many children are well prepared for the next stage of education.

Across many areas of the curriculum, staff are well trained in educating young children, including two-year-olds.

In most areas of learning, staff use assessment information well to identify any gaps in key knowledge that children have. In the main, staff design and deliver learning activities that build on what children already know. However, in a small number of areas, some staff do not have the subject knowledge that they need to be able to teach the curriculum as the school intends.

This leads to some aspects of the curriculum not being taught in sufficient detail. As a result, some children do not deepen their knowledge as well as they could.

The school has effective systems in place to identify and assess the additional needs of children with SEND.

The school has set out a range of strategies to help children with SEND access the curriculum and to understand the routines of the day. For a very small number of children with SEND, these strategies are not consistently applied and these children do not learn as well as they could.Communication and language are a priority across the school.

Staff explore new words with children through different activities and books. Staff also use opportunities during play to help children use new words and to form simple sentences. Staff check where children need support with communication and language.

They use this understanding to help children to build on what they already know.

Children regularly experience the pleasure that comes from having a book read to them. They learn about reading through the well-chosen stories that inform and excite them.

Children in the two-year-old provision enjoy singing a range of songs and nursery rhymes, often linked to what they have been learning about.

Children behave well. This positive behaviour is supported by the school rules, which staff help children to understand.

Children learn with little disruption to their activities. Many are keen to help out at tidy-up time. The school does a great deal to ensure that children attend the nursery regularly, so that they benefit from the good standard of education that it provides.

The school provides a broad range of personal development opportunities. The school encourages parents and carers to come into school to talk to the children about the important celebrations in their different cultures. This includes the different types of traditional clothing and food that go with the occasion.

Children are taught the importance of personal hygiene, such as why they should wash their hands before sitting down for a snack. Initiatives in school also help children to understand the need to brush their teeth regularly.

Governors challenge and support the school well on the quality of education provided.

Staff value being part of the school. They appreciate the training and support that they receive, which helps them give children a positive start to their education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of areas, some staff do not have the subject knowledge that they need to teach the curriculum as intended. As a result, some children do not deepen their knowledge as well as they could. In these areas, the school should ensure that staff have the knowledge that they need to teach the curriculum well, so that children effectively build on what they already know.

• For a very small number of children with SEND, the strategies set out to aid their access to the curriculum and to understand daily routines are applied inconsistently. As a result, a small number of children with SEND do not learn as well as they could. The school should ensure that the adaptations in place are used consistently by staff so that these children can fully access the learning.

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