Bayonne Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Bayonne Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Children flourish at Bayonne Nursery School.

Even the very youngest children settle quickly because they feel happy and safe. A parent summed up the views of many when he said that his child 'wakes up every morning excited to go in'.

Children receive an exceptional curriculum offer.

Staff know children very well and make sure that all children achieve highly. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are extremely well supported. They learn happily alongside their peers.

Staff use every opportunity to develop children's speech, lan...guage and communication by engaging them in quality talk.

The Nursery is a lovely place to learn. It is organised, ordered and engaging.

Staff provide purposeful learning experiences for children. They also utilise children's interests and any special moments. For example, a sudden downpour of rain provided an exciting opportunity for children to catch the rainfall in different containers and measure their capacity.

Children are impeccably behaved and engrossed in their learning.

Parents are delighted with all the nursery provides, including the extra activities on offer such as Wiggle Waggle, football and yoga. Many praised how staff enable their child to thrive.

They also value the expert advice staff provide, such as how to potty train.

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

Leaders have designed an exciting curriculum. It provides children with all they need to be well prepared for their transfer to primary school.

The curriculum is carefully organised to ensure that children practise and embed each step of learning throughout the provision. Staff review each day together to ensure that the play opportunities are continually adapted and enhanced to extend children's learning. For example, in mathematics the youngest children learn to count to three before sending the ball down the ramp.

Older children explore different ways to show the value of five, such as on a large dice, clapping and using their fingers.

Staff are well trained and experts in early years practice. They know what children need to learn next.

Staff utilise every opportunity to deepen children's knowledge and understanding while they play. They know when to intervene, direct, suggest or observe. No limit is put on learning.

For example, when using props for a story with a child, the child suggested cutting a large strawberry prop. The adult asked, 'Into how many pieces?' The child said, 'Two.' The adult replied, 'Yes, we can cut it in half.'



Developing children's vocabulary is a priority. Adults often build children's language through talking about what they are doing. For example, when needed, adults use simple instructions alongside pictures to support children to express their wishes, such as wanting to go outside.

Children enjoy the quieter time when they come together in small groups. Older children know a wide range of songs and rhymes by heart. Adults bring to life a diverse range of high-quality texts.

Children are engrossed during story time. They are keen to share their views and explore what they see and hear. Even the youngest children already have favourite books.

From these, they are beginning to voice key phrases such as 'boom, boom, boom'. They enjoy acting out parts of the story.

Staff support children's behaviour exceptionally well.

Children learn to consider the feelings of others by taking turns and sharing equipment. For example, when exploring the height of ramps for their cars, adults encourage the children to decide whose turn it is and praise those who are sharing.

Children enjoy the wide range of activities to enrich their learning in school.

These include visiting the local shop to buy ingredients for baking as well as more adventurous outings such as to the Lyric Theatre. Children like being responsible and take their allocated jobs seriously, such as setting out the cutlery on the tables for lunchtime. These simple routines and expectations are supporting them to develop independence, responsibility and maturity.

Staff feel very well supported by leaders. They value the high-quality professional development they receive, which has enabled them to become expert practitioners. Many staff have worked at the Nursery for a long time and have progressed their careers there.

Leaders identify potential and talents and encourage staff to grow professionally.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in January 2014.