Caversham Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Caversham Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Children's smiling faces as they arrive each day show how much they adore attending this friendly and nurturing community. They are eager to begin their learning. Children receive a warm welcome from caring staff.

Everyone is valued and respected.

Leaders' motto, 'every moment matters' shines through all areas. They have very high expectations for what children can achieve.

There is a positive buzz as children play and learn happily with their friends. Staff encourage children to use their imagination and explore their ideas. For instance, children enjoy making '...fish pasta' and 'cooking duck eggs'.

They delight in 'building a camper van' to go on a road trip. Children become independent, resilient and confident learners. They leave remarkably well prepared for their primary schools.

Children behave superbly. They feel safe and quickly learn the importance of being kind, sharing and taking turns. Children know that staff are there to help them if they feel sad or have any worries.

Any unkind behaviour between children is dealt with in a calm and sensitive manner. Staff ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), thrive and succeed. Parents and carers rightly have very positive views about this exceptional school.

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

Leaders, governors and staff are determined for all children to develop a love of learning for life and achieve well. Their commitment to providing children with an excellent start to their education is palpable. The ambitious and engaging curriculum is precisely planned and organised.

Staff are crystal clear about what children are expected to learn.

Well-trained staff are experts in delivering the school's curriculum. They know the children extremely well.

Staff carefully check how well children are developing their knowledge and skills. They adapt activities to help any children who are falling behind. Staff are equally skilled at adapting their approach to support children with SEND.

Consequently, all children access a broad curriculum successfully and achieve highly in all areas of learning.

Leaders' focus on building children's communication and language is striking. Children get a superb introduction to early phonics through listening to sounds, rhyme and repetition.

They often choose to make marks to represent writing. Two-year-olds enjoy listening to stories on their own with their key person, or as part of a group. Staff emphasise and continually model appropriate language and vocabulary extremely well.

This helps children to learn, practise and broaden the language that they use. They also learn Makaton to help them to communicate. Staff use songs, rhymes and stories to engage and inspire children.

For example, children develop their mathematical knowledge as they sing songs about numbers. They learn about living things when they share stories about animals. Consequently, children develop a love of reading.

Children truly flourish at Caversham. They concentrate well and sustain their engagement in their play and learning. Children are confident to take risks and try new and unfamiliar activities.

Equally, the youngest children quickly learn the routines that help them develop the independence and determination to do things for themselves. Staff are excellent role models. Children value the strong, trusting relationships they form with staff and the consistent messages that all adults provide.

Children's broader development is catered for very well. The exciting curriculum enriches their experience of the world around them. For instance, children travel to town on the bus, delight in watching chicks hatching from their eggs and relish visits from the farm to learn about different animals.

They learn to make healthy choices about food when they enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables as snacks. Currently, children are carefully looking after the vegetables they have planted. They talk excitedly about using their harvest to make vegetable soup.

Leaders' ambition that everyone should keep learning and improving is clear to see. Staff training is high on their agenda. Staff feel well supported in their roles and are proud to belong to the 'school family'.

They appreciate and praise leaders' efforts to make sure that workloads are manageable. Like children, staff are well cared for. Governors give appropriate support and challenge to school leaders to ensure that the quality of education continues to be excellent.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Children's welfare is a top priority. Leaders ensure that all necessary checks are made on staff to ensure that they are suitable to work with children.

Staff receive regular safeguarding training. They are alert to any changes in behaviour that may indicate a child is worried or upset. Staff act quickly when they have any concerns about a child's welfare or safety.

Where necessary, leaders work closely with other agencies, such as healthcare professionals and the local authority. This enables children and their families to get the support they need.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in May 2017.

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