Ashfield Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

There is a strong sense of community in this diverse and inclusive school. Staff build positive relationships with children and their families.

Children enjoy coming to school. They are happy and safe here. This is reflected in their enthusiasm for learning.

During the inspection, children were keen to show inspectors what they had been doing. For example, one child proudly showed a painting he had done of his teacher, while others wanted to share the writing they had produced.

The school has high expectations for children's achievement.

Ambition is evident for all children and many achieve well. They make clear progress between playgroup and the end... of Nursery. The school is working to further strengthen the curriculum in some areas.

This is helping to increase the ambition of the curriculum further and ensure that staff build on children's existing experiences more effectively.

Personal, social and emotional development is a strength of the school. Children behave very well.

They understand the routines and expectations that are in place. There are very few incidents of poor behaviour. Children play cooperatively together.

They actively share resources and show respect for each other. Children can sustain concentration at activities for long periods of time. They show perseverance and resilience when they are unable to do something the first time.

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

Children benefit from a broad curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced in all areas of learning. The school has recently introduced 'milestones' which set out skills and knowledge that children must learn. These are helping to personalise the curriculum.

They match the needs of the children and build on their existing experiences. Staff from across the federation work together to make improvements to the curriculum. For example, they are currently working on reviewing the curriculum for expressive arts and design.

The curriculum is not always taught as leaders intend. There is variation in the quality of the interactions between adults and children. Staff do not consistently use what they have learned from training in practice.

While the interactions between adults and children are positive, sometimes they do not have the impact on children's language and learning that is necessary for children to achieve highly.

The school uses carefully chosen books to support learning. For example, some books are chosen because they include rhyme or repetition.

Others are chosen for their themes, such as diversity. The use of these books helps to foster an early love of reading. Children frequently choose to look at books in the setting, both inside and outside.

For example, one child was enjoying counting the fruit in the book 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', while another was pretending to read a story to a friend in role as a teacher. Adults encourage children to listen to the initial sounds in words and to join in with songs and rhymes. Doing this helps to prepare children for formal phonics teaching when they start Reception.

Since the last inspection, the school has worked to improve the provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). There is a determination to secure the support that these children need so that it is in place when they start primary education. While children with SEND are settled and happy in the school, the support plans that they have are not precise enough.

This means that they do not achieve as well as they potentially could.

The school offers children some experiences beyond the academic curriculum. They have regular sessions with an external music teacher.

These give children an early understanding of pitch and rhythm, as well as some knowledge of musical instruments. The extensive gardens offer a wealth of opportunities to develop citizenship skills, such as litter picking and planting. Children take part in charity events.

The school considers how to teach children about fundamental British values and the protected characteristics at an age-appropriate level. For example, the school uses stories that show families with different structures.

Leaders have a clear vision for the school.

Those responsible for governance offer challenge to leaders and understand their statutory duties. Staff are committed to the school. They speak positively about working here and appreciate the sense of comradery that exists.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There is variation in the quality of the implementation of the curriculum. Sometimes adults miss opportunities to extend children's language and learning, despite having been trained in how to do this.

This means that children receive an uneven quality of education. The school should regularly check the quality of the provision to ensure that all staff implement the training they have received. ? The support plans for children with SEND are not sufficiently precise.

Targets are too broad and are hard to measure. Consequently, they remain on plans for long periods of time and children do not achieve as well as they could. The school should work to refine support plans so that targets are precise, measurable and achievable.