Bloomsbury Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Bloomsbury Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Bloomsbury Nursery School is an exciting place to be. Children have great fun and enjoy attending. This is a calm and purposeful place.

Children are happy and safe. Staff are committed to making every moment count.

Leaders set high expectations of how all children will behave.

Children learn to be part of the Bloomsbury community. They learn to develop an awareness of other people's feelings. Children learn to accept the consequences of their own behaviour.

The school rules are embedded in daily routines and the curriculum. Staff model and rehearse the ...school rules throughout the day. For example, during family time they praise children for 'good listening' or 'good sitting'.

Children learn to respect each other and manage their feelings. Incidents of poor behaviour or bullying are extremely rare, and if they do happen, leaders resolve them swiftly and effectively. Children who need additional support to manage their emotions, and develop the skills of self-regulation, are supported effectively to develop a positive sense of self and make good friendships.

As a result, children have confidence in their own abilities and are able to persist and persevere.

Leaders carefully select a range of visits and trips to broaden children's horizons. This includes walks in the local area, visits to the local shops and a family day out to the farm.

Parents are very positive about Bloomsbury Nursery School and value the great start to their children's education.

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

Leaders have designed a highly ambitious curriculum for all children. It is well planned and sequenced.

Staff are very skilled and have excellent subject knowledge. They present learning well. During high-quality interactions, staff model vocabulary and skilfully re-shape tasks.

There are lots of exciting activities which help children to engage deeply in their learning. For instance, children enjoy watching eggs hatch into baby chicks and caterpillars grow into butterflies. Children practise and consolidate learning in the well-planned, continuous provision.

Staff check how well children are learning the curriculum during lessons and over time. They address any gaps in learning. Children learn the curriculum exceptionally well.

They get off to a great start.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are swiftly identified and assessed so the right help is put in place. This means that they learn confidently alongside their peers.

Sign language is used throughout the provision to support communication. Learning is successfully adapted to meet the needs of all children. When needed, leaders work with services such as speech and language therapy to make sure that children get the specialist support they need.

As a result of all these actions, children with SEND achieve exceptionally well.

From the moment they start, children are taught how to read. Staff are highly skilled and have the resources they need to teach well.

Book, song and rhyme choices are carefully considered. Children enjoy singing songs and rhymes. During storytelling, staff engage children well to develop a love of reading.

Children happily join in with repeated words and phrases. Older children learn the sounds in words and practise these when reading out loud. Consequently, children quickly learn to read.

Those who fall behind are effectively supported to catch up. They are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Children are well prepared for the world around them.

Bloomsbury Nursery School proudly celebrates its diversity. Children, families and staff are able to share their knowledge and understanding of religious festivals and events, such as Eid, Chinese New Year, Diwali, Black History Month, Christmas and Easter, learning with and from one another. Children know that they have a right to talk, and they have a right to be listened to.

During Black History Month, children learn about Martin Luther King and talk about their hopes, dreams and aspirations. All this helps children to recognise and respect difference.

Leaders know the school and its community extremely well.

Close working partnerships with parents and the 'stay and play' provision strengthen the school's great work. Leaders, including governors, make rigorous checks on the performance of the school. Any areas for improvement are swiftly addressed.

Governors are highly skilled and undertake their roles effectively.

Staff are very positive about support from leaders. For example, reiki and yoga well-being workshops are offered to all staff, to help to improve their well-being.

Changes to assessment, which have reduced workload, have been welcomed.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff know their safeguarding responsibilities and are quick to notice when a child might be at risk.

Leaders make sure that all staff are trained to identify and act on any concerns about a child. Leaders respond to concerns swiftly. They work closely with a range of external agencies so that any child in need of additional help gets the support they need.

Children learn about 'people who help us'. During the 'summer carnival day' people from the police and fire and ambulance service talk about their roles. Children learn about keeping safe at home and in the community.

Leaders make sure that the school environment is safe. They undertake appropriate health and safety risk assessments. Leaders make regular site safety checks.

Pupils with medical needs are well supported at school. Leaders ensure all staff undertake the appropriate vetting checks prior to working at the school.

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 June 2013.