Clervaux Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Clervaux Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This school truly lives up to its motto of 'Children at the heart of what we do'. It is, indeed, a little gem in the heart of the community.

Children love coming to this welcoming and vibrant nursery school. They flourish because of the caring and consistent approach every adult shows. Children are eager to begin their learning each day.

They relish the wealth of captivating things for them to do, both inside and outside. Children enjoy their constant interactions and dialogue with adults.

Staff take great care to get to know every child thoroughly, including befo...re they start, to ensure that they are fully included in what the school has to offer.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) thrive. Like others, they benefit significantly from the close partnerships the school crafts with parents and carers. One parent, whose comment echoed the views of many, said, 'Clervaux is an amazing nursery; my child is flourishing here.'



Leaders want the very best for every child and have the highest expectations for what children can achieve. They have created an environment where, in the children's eyes, everything is possible. No limits are put on children's ideas and imaginations.

Children show an extraordinary awareness of the natural world. They are excited to explore their impressive forest school area. Here, they learn about the wildlife living there, for example fishing for froglets and examining the life cycle of butterflies.

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

Leaders have designed a well-planned, rich and ambitious curriculum. They plan with precision what they want children to know and be able to do across all areas of learning. Staff are adept at identifying when and why children are making insufficient progress.

Extra help and support are provided. Children are very well prepared for their move to primary school.

Staff are highly skilled.

They reflect on children's learning every day. They make adjustments to reinforce learning for children who fall behind, including those with SEND. Leaders proactively engage other professionals for specialist support.

As a result, children with SEND achieve exceptionally well.

Every minute counts at Clervaux. Staff patiently show children how to do things.

They encourage them to persist, help them to think through problems and challenge them to do more. Staff do a lot to keep children's enthusiasm and curiosity alive. They use children's initial interests as hooks in designing learning activities that match the ambition of the curriculum.

They do not leave it at that though. They skilfully encourage and support children to broaden their horizons. They guide them to learn through many other activities and to develop a very wide range of new interests.

The promotion of children's communication and language skills is a particular strength of the school. Staff ensure that children hear relevant and useful words daily. Children are encouraged to use these words themselves in their learning and are praised when they do.

They love listening to stories and staff encourage them to join in. For example, in one class, children enthusiastically joined in with and acted the story 'I am going on a Bear Hunt'. Well-trained staff provide daily sessions to support early reading.

Books, and inviting reading areas, are to be found in all areas of the nursery. Children take home good-quality books to share with their families.

Children's personal, social and emotional development is a top priority for leaders.

This is evident through the clearly established routines and extremely nurturing culture. Staff encourage children to make their own choices and articulate their feelings. For example, when children gather round the campfire having hot chocolate, they choose where to sit.

This approach allows children to grow their independence. Children behave very well. They play cooperatively and show care for each other.

Provision for children's wider development is impressive. Leaders' focus on outdoor learning is an integral part of children's learning. Children enjoy explaining about their visitors to school, for example a fireman who spoke to the children about fire safety.

Children mark different cultural events and festivals, such as celebrating Christmas and Eid. Also, children benefit from the exceptional range of activities and experiences provided. Visits to places such as farms, parks and beaches help to broaden their horizons.

Leaders and governors never stop thinking about what they can do to make the school even better. They keep up to date with the latest developments in early years education and combine this with their expertise to keep the school improving.

Staff morale is high.

There is an evident sense of collaboration and teamwork. Staff value the support that leaders and governors provide for their workload and well-being. They particularly appreciate their termly well-being days.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and staff know the children, and their families, very well. Leaders have instilled a strong culture of safeguarding as being everybody's responsibility.

Designated safeguarding leads make sure that all staff are well trained. Because of this, staff are vigilant. They report any concerns they have about a child, no matter how minor they might appear.

Leaders are relentless in the way they check that these are acted on.Records are detailed and confirm that leaders respond rapidly when a concern is noted, however small. Governors routinely check the effectiveness of the school's safeguarding procedures.

Children learn about how to stay safe. For example, they learn to listen before taking part in a fire circle during outdoor learning. They learn to speak up if a situation is making them uncomfortable.

They learn how to take risks in their play. Staff teach them how to use tools and equipment safely.

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 December 2017.