Garretts Green Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Garretts Green Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Children thrive in this happy and nurturing nursery. They make a strong start to school life.

Highly skilled staff use their expertise and detailed knowledge of each child to cater precisely for their needs.

Ambition and aspirations are high. No limits are placed on what children can achieve and accomplish.

Effective teaching and regular interaction ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve exceptionally well.

Adults have high expectations for how children should behave. They model e...xemplary behaviour, which children replicate.

As a 'Rights Respecting School', staff teach important values, such as respect and the right to be heard. These values underpin the strong ethos of the school.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding within the school.

Children feel safe because staff use every opportunity to remind and teach children how to keep themselves safe. Special characters, such as 'Techosaurus' and 'Pantosaurus', teach children about online and personal safety.

The school provides a wide range of opportunities and real-life experiences to help extend children's interests and experiences beyond the classroom.

For example, children visit the local library, catch a bus, and grow their own produce.

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

Staff are knowledgeable about child development and how children's learning builds over time. This has enabled the school to design a progressive and interesting curriculum.

Key knowledge, skills and vocabulary are identified in each area of learning. Endpoints are ambitious and aimed at providing children with the foundation skills needed to be successful, future learners. This ensures all children are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Developing children's early communication and language skills is a key priority. Staff repeat and revisit important words to help children learn and remember them. For example, children use the word 'cocoon' when describing the lifecycle of a butterfly.

Staff constantly interact with all children to promote discussion and check their understanding. Adults model good speaking and listening skills and encourage children to respond in full sentences rather than single words. Expectations of children's language use are high.

Staff correct any mispronunciation and promote the correct use of standard English.

The school has carefully considered how stories support what is being taught throughout the year. They have chosen books that help instil a love of reading.

Staff share many books, songs and rhymes enthusiastically every day. Children join in with repeated words and phrases to build their language skills. Staff sound out the letters in children's names and clap out the syllables of everyday words as preparation for early reading.

Staff are vigilant and skilled in identifying children with SEND. The school works closely with families and, when appropriate, external agencies to put the right support in place for children. For some children with complex needs, enhanced support is provided to help them feel secure, both in the resource base and when they are integrated with their peers.

Children develop good levels of independence and resilience throughout the day. Adults know when to intervene and when to step back. Children quickly learn the routines in place and self-help skills, such as dressing themselves.

They develop exceptional attitudes to learning because tasks and activities are stimulating, and resources are carefully chosen. Children are respectful to adults and each other. They learn to appreciate those with different beliefs and cultures to themselves.

Outdoor spaces are used exceptionally well. Children love forest school lessons, where they learn to use tools and equipment safely and sensibly. Well-resourced play areas provide lots of opportunities for children to run, climb and balance.

Children also love their weekly 'Groovy Movers' sessions, when they learn to follow instructions, sing songs, and move to music. These activities make a strong contribution to children's physical development and enhance their self-confidence and engagement.

Staff are a united and cohesive team.

A strong working relationship ensures that morale is high. Typical comments include, 'We go home at the end of the day exhausted but satisfied.' They value the support they receive from leaders concerning their well-being, and adjustments made to reduce workload.

Governors share the school's ambition and high expectations for children. They are committed, enthusiastic, and proud of the nursery's achievements. Governors provide a good balance of challenge and support to staff and leaders.

They are very knowledgeable and use their skills and expertise wisely.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

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 a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some 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 January 2019.