Crigglestone Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Crigglestone Nursery School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Children love to attend this school. They arrive with enthusiasm and are warmly welcomed by the kind and caring staff.

The school has high ambitions for children as they begin their education. The school provides children with high-quality learning opportunities that support their individual stage of development. As a consequence, children make strong progress.

They demonstrate exceptionally positive behaviours and attitudes to learning.

From the beginning of their time at the school, adults get to know each... child very well. Relationships between adults and children are extremely strong.

Staff ensure that their interactions with children are consistently positive. This helps children to feel, and be, safe and secure.

Parents and carers are positive about their child's experience here.

The school works closely with parents to help them to support their child's learning and development. Parents value this. The school actively encourages parents to foster children's positive attitudes to learning.

Children attend the school regularly. This enables them to get the most from the high-quality education provided by the school. It prepares children well for the next stage of their education.

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

The school has established a carefully designed curriculum. This sets out the important knowledge and skills that children should learn according to their age and stage of development. It is designed to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively.

The school provides staff with regular, high-quality training. This equips them well to teach the curriculum with confidence. Staff demonstrate consistently strong knowledge of the curriculum and children's development.

Leaders ensure that staff develop and adapt learning opportunities for all children, including those with SEND. Staff support children extremely well in their learning. They skilfully teach children through play and their interactions.

Adults provide regular and purposeful opportunities for children to participate in role play, use their imagination and be creative. Adults consistently use strategies that support children to communicate their ideas with increasing confidence. Staff provide children with SEND with the right support.

The school actively supports children to develop a love of books and stories. Children enjoy listening to stories, singing and performing actions to songs. The school carefully chooses and provides attractive, stimulating books.

Children delight in selecting and sharing these books together in the classroom. These books capture children's interest and imagination. This helps children to make connections between stories and what they learn during their time in school.

The school has carefully designed classrooms so that resources are readily accessible to children. Children select resources with confidence. They use objects, such as pebbles, to help them to count.

Children consistently demonstrate high levels of independence in their learning. They remain focused in their play for sustained periods. Adults routinely develop and enrich learning opportunities based upon children's interests and curiosity.

Children confidently explore new ideas and learn to solve problems together. They cooperate well in groups to find imaginative solutions in their games.The school provides purposeful opportunities for children to contribute to the community.

Children participate in local carol services. They also help to collect litter in the village. This supports children to begin to develop an awareness of the area in which they live and start to understand how to be active citizens.

Leaders, including those with responsibility for governance, consider carefully the impact of actions they take to develop the school. They have refined planning and assessment processes to reduce staff workload. Staff feel valued.

Morale is high. The school has successfully fostered a culture of reflection and evaluation among staff. Staff speak knowledgably about how this has improved their practice.

They confidently try new approaches to support and develop children's learning. This contributes positively to ongoing school improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged to be outstanding for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 for overall effectiveness in June 2019.