Brunswick Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Brunswick Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Brunswick is an outstanding nursery school for children to learn and play in. From the moment children arrive at nursery, they are warmly welcomed by staff.

Adults take great care to ensure all children feel safe and well looked after. Parents are highly supportive of the school and how staff look after their children.

The nursery school is a happy, nurturing environment.

Adults support children well to learn routines and settle into school life. Children know how to get along with each other and share the school's exciting resources. They play well together both... inside and outside in the well-equipped outdoor area.

Children love outdoor learning, including getting messy in 'mud week'. Experiences such as learning in the local woods, cookery and visiting the farm enrich the excellent curriculum.

Staff get to know the children before they start in the setting.

This helpful information means that adults know what to do if a child is finding behaviour tricky or struggling to settle into the nursery. Adults talk to children calmly and show them what good behaviour looks like. As a result, children are deeply involved in their play and learning.

They behave exceptionally well.

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

The headteacher and her team have maintained an outstanding nursery provision. The curriculum is very well planned.

It is based on important 'key intentions' that children must learn during their time at the nursery. Each 'key intention' outlines what leaders feel is important for children to know and be able to do by the time they leave for primary school. Each 'intention' overlaps and weaves together to form a rich curriculum that is ambitious for children.

Leaders' curriculum plans provide clear guidance as to what children should know and when. Staff use leaders' helpful milestones to design fun and engaging activities that support children to learn well across each part of the curriculum. For example, during the inspection, children learned about counting, following methods and patiently working together in an activity where they used play dough and conkers.

Staff have an excellent understanding of each child's background. Staff regularly check what children know and can do. This information is shared regularly between staff.

Staff have detailed knowledge about child development and are aware of each child's starting points. This means that each chosen activity is purposeful and adjusted appropriately around children's needs. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make excellent progress through the curriculum.

Leaders prioritise the development of children's language and communication knowledge. Staff listen and support children's talk exceptionally well. Staff expand children's vocabulary by introducing new words and language.

They skilfully model and repeat words correctly to support children to become confident with their speech. Leaders use the school's speech and language therapist to give staff effective techniques to help children who have difficulty with communicating well.

Books are integral to nursery life.

Adults read to children many times a day. Children love books and want to share stories with their friends and adults. A range of different books and texts enrich the curriculum.

Children become familiar with different songs and rhymes, both in class and while dancing on the playground to music. They begin to learn how letters have different sounds. This means that children are off to a good start as they begin to learn to read.

The school's approach to personal, social and emotional development is another strength. Children quickly settle into the school community. Through excellent modelling by adults, children learn how to be independent and resilient, for example by putting on their own coats and wellingtons or sharing toys with each other.

The wider curriculum enables children to experience other cultures. Children and their parents are encouraged to share their backgrounds with each other. Children encounter books in other languages and learn about different cultures' food, dress or festivals.

Leaders work closely with parents. They share helpful information about how each child is progressing, particularly for parents who have children with SEND. Staff and parents meet regularly to ensure children's needs are met.

Staff are highly supportive of leaders' work to improve the nursery school. The 'family feel' spreads to staff and underpins the positive school culture. Leaders make the helpful adjustments to workload and assessment that ensure children's learning and experiences remain at the centre of all staff's work.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Across the school, staff have the right knowledge to keep children safe. Staff are well trained to spot if a child may be at risk of harm.

Any concerns are reported promptly to safeguarding leaders. Leaders keep clear records of concerns about children, which are passed on promptly to other agencies and the child's next school. They ensure children get the help they need.

Leaders have appropriate recruitment checks in place to safeguard children.

Appropriate first-aid training and risk assessment procedures are in place to support adults to keep children safe when in the setting or when on trips and visits.

Background

When we have judged 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 September 2012.