Blagrave Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Children love attending this nursery and arrive with big smiles on their faces.

At the beginning of each session, they excitedly share their news with known adults. Each day begins with children taking part in their 'daily affirmations', which prepares them for the day ahead. Relationships form the core of the nursery's strong family ethos.

As a result, children are well cared for and feel loved.

The school has high expectations for children's learning. Adults know every single child well and provide high-quality care and guidance for them.

They ensure that children's play is purposeful and fun. In turn, children develop positive attitudes to their l...earning. They enjoy playing with their friends in the exciting environment and delight in others' achievements.

Children behave well. They develop a sense of right and wrong. They understand why it is important to follow the nursery's simple rules and well-established routines.

This creates a calm and orderly environment in which all can achieve.

The school builds effective partnerships with parents. In turn, parents are united in their praise for the school.

They value the school's induction arrangements that help their children settle quickly into nursery routines. They are also highly appreciative of staff, who they find to be 'helpful and kind'.

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

Children's personal development is exceptional.

Staff choose activities carefully to support children to make better sense of the world around them. Children learn about different faiths and cultures. They enjoy exploring the various important festivals from each other's faiths, including Diwali and Christmas.

Children and their parents relish the regular 'family learning days'. These include visits to the local area linked to the themes children are learning about. The provision for children's personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is a strength.

As a result, children are undeterred by challenges and keenly take these on in their learning, developing resilience and independence. From the start of nursery, children are taught to identify and manage their own feelings and communicate these to adults if they need help.

The school has a highly ambitious and comprehensive curriculum in place for all areas of learning.

Each area is broken down into three 'pathways' that reflect where the children are in their learning journeys. The whole curriculum is well planned and tailored to meet children's interests. Assessment is used well.

Children with additional needs are identified quickly, and staff are provided with the guidance they need to support children effectively in their learning. Generally, this helps children to achieve well.

The school has placed a sharp focus on communication, language and literacy.

During the day, children benefit from carefully chosen songs and nursery rhymes.Staff make story time stimulating, with children slowly edging closer as they are sucked into what adults are reading to them. They join in with stories, fully engrossed in the plight of the characters.

During all learning experiences, adults reinforce important vocabulary. They encourage early language skills such as forming questions and exploring ideas to answer them.

Throughout the provision, staff typically select appropriate activities that help them to deliver the curriculum well.

They skilfully introduce and model new knowledge during group sessions throughout the day. They explore children's interests and identify what they should learn next. For example, children were thrilled by the opportunity to explore water play during a period of heavy rain.

This led to lots of wonderful independent learning, including collecting water in a variety of containers and investigating the capacity of different-sized pots. Adults supported this activity well through their careful questioning, which deepened the children's understanding. In the prime areas, such as PSED, staff confidently deliver the curriculum using their secure subject knowledge.

However, not all staff are as confident in delivering the specific areas of learning, such as literacy and mathematics, where the curriculum has recently been updated. As a result, not all children achieve as well as they could in some of the specific areas, as the support they receive is not quite of the same high quality.

Governors are passionate that children come first.

They have a clear understanding of the nursery's strengths and priorities for development. They support leaders well and provide effective challenge. Leaders ensure that staff get the time required to carry out their roles well.

In turn, staff value the training opportunities they have and leaders' awareness of their well-being. They are proud to work at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some of the specific areas of learning, adults are less confident in delivering the curriculum than they are in the prime areas. As a result, children are not achieving as well as they could. The school should ensure that staff's subject knowledge is secure in all areas of the curriculum so that children are provided with the same effective challenge and support that they receive in the prime areas.