Hillview Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Hillview Nursery School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Children love coming to this happy nursery school. They settle in quickly and enjoy playing with their friends.

They take part in lots of exciting activities indoors and outside. Children are proud of all the things they can do independently. For example, during a cooking activity, one child said excitedly: 'I've done it; I've done it!'

Staff are kind to the children.

They know children well and organise activities carefully. They teach children lots of songs and rhymes. As a result, children are doing more and learning more about the world.

Expectations for chi...ldren's learning are high here. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included. Staff are especially skilled at supporting children with the most complex needs.

All the children play happily together.

Children behave really well. They take turns and they listen to staff.

Any problems, including unkind behaviour, are quickly and calmly sorted out by staff.

Staff work well with families and help them if they are concerned about their children. One parent and carer said: 'I've seen a lot of progress with my child's language.

I can talk to the staff and they listen.' This view was typical of the parents we spoke to.

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

Children achieve well at Hillview Nursery School.

Staff plan activities carefully and review these activities to respond to children's interests. Children with SEND receive excellent support.

Leaders and staff know what they want the children to learn and understand.

Their expectations are ambitious, including for the two-year-old children. They plan learning so that children build on what they already know and can do. For instance, children benefit from well-chosen activities to promote their physical development.

Children start to use tweezers by holding them with both hands. They then practise using tweezers to pick up small objects from a tray. Outside, staff encourage children to run fast and pedal trikes up the slope.

This helps them to get fitter and stronger.

Many children are at the early stages of speaking English as an additional language. Planning across all areas of learning sets out clearly which words children should hear and use.

Staff talk to children as they play, so that they hear new words. They teach children lots of songs and nursery rhymes. Sometimes, however, planning does not identify clearly when children will practise important words outside of story and singing times.

Children do not receive enough support to start speaking in short sentences.

Reading is a priority. Staff read simple stories to children, like 'Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?'.

Children love sharing books in their delightful reading den, which is lit up with fairy lights. Staff teach children how to listen carefully. For example, the children learn how to notice the different sounds musical instruments make.

This prepares children well for learning phonics in Reception.

In mathematics, staff plan activities which help children to learn about counting and shapes. Children love throwing the big dice outside and counting the spots.

Adults encourage children to use a variety of resources to write numbers. Occasionally, adults move children on before they understand an important concept. For example, they introduce large numbers before checking that children can count a smaller set of objects accurately.

Children learn about different cultures and faiths in ways that make sense to them. We saw them learning about the festival of Diwali, and enjoying a lovely Diwali party.

Children behave well.

Staff support children to follow routines and maintain their concentration. This helps children to learn well.

Staff work well as a team.

They appreciate the way that the acting headteacher manages their workload.

Governors know the school well. They have supported leaders while the permanent headteacher is on maternity leave.

This has helped the school to maintain a good quality of education. However, the acting headteacher is responsible for nearly all of the leadership. This is holding back further developments in the provision for communication and mathematics.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff know children and their families very well. They know how important children's welfare and safety is.

They have taken part in accredited training about safeguarding.

Staff follow a clear system to raise any concerns they might have about children. Leaders respond promptly.

When necessary, leaders work effectively with other agencies to keep children safe.

Parents take part in a wide range of workshops to find out more about keeping their children safe.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Leaders know what aspects of the school could be even better.

Governors should strengthen the senior leadership team so that it has the capacity to secure further improvements in mathematics and early communication. . When leaders review aspects of mathematics, they need to consider precisely what they want children to know and the order in which this will be taught.

Leaders need to help staff to plan precisely. Staff need to know how to check children's understanding systematically and identify any misconceptions they might have. This will ensure that gaps in children's knowledge do not arise.

. Staff need to build on the effective ways that they teach communication skills through singing and story times, during other parts of the nursery day. It is important that children get as many opportunities as possible to speak.

Leaders should ensure that all children, including those who are at the early stages of speaking English as an additional language, learn to speak confidently and fluently, using the new vocabulary they are hearing. This will give them a strong foundation for their future learning, particularly in reading.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged Hillview Nursery School to be good on 12 September 2012.