Hoyle Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Hoyle Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Children get off to a flying start at this outstanding school. Staff are kind and supportive and want the very best for each of the children.

They believe that there is no limit to what children are capable of achieving.

Learning is active, exciting and fun. The classrooms and outside areas are a wonderland of interesting and challenging activities.

Children are busy. They have no time to be bored or disinterested.

Adults know the children very well.

New children settle quickly. They feel safe, secure and ready to try new things. We saw children hap...pily tackling unfamiliar tasks, such as collecting, sorting and counting the cones that had fallen outside.

They trust adults to help them if they get stuck.

The acting headteacher leads the school exceptionally well. She leads by example.

Staff work well together to ensure that every child has the best possible opportunities.

Children are very well behaved. From day one they learn how to cooperate, share and take turns.

We saw no examples of disruptive behaviour or bullying. Children listen to staff carefully and follow instructions. Routines are well understood by all concerned and this helps children's confidence to grow.

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

Leaders have designed the curriculum with great care and imagination and the quality of education is outstanding. Leaders and staff all share the same high aspirations for children to achieve well. Many children arrive in nursery with poor speech and language skills.

Staff know exactly what needs to be taught and in what order to ensure that children can join in and do not fall behind. Children achieve very well across the curriculum and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

We saw how well staff identify the needs of all children as soon as they arrive, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Staff are skilled and knowledgeable. Children with SEND are well supported and, as a result, achieve well.

We saw reading being given the highest priority.

The nursery is an amazing place for children to develop a love of books. They are surrounded by attractive reading materials with numerous nooks and crannies for them to settle comfortably as they look at books on their own or with an adult. Children learn about the sounds that letters make as soon as they arrive in nursery.

Even this early in the school year, we saw some children identifying the sounds in their name.

Staff are excellent role models. They speak slowly and clearly, giving children time to respond to questions and instructions.

We saw adults encouraging children to think about mathematical language as they went about their play. For example, children built a 'taller tower' than their friends and explained how they could add 'one, two or three' blocks to make it 'even bigger'.

Trips and visitors to the school bring learning to life.

They help children to learn about other beliefs and cultures as well as their local community. Following a recent visit to a local care home, children talked excitedly about the songs that they had sung and how their singing had 'made people happy'.

Children have a positive attitude to learning.

They are considerate to one another and to adults. Children's independence grows as they learn very quickly about routines and their own responsibilities, such as tidying up their tables when they get ready for lunch.

Leaders, governors and staff are highly committed to ensuring that all children achieve to their very best.

Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel that leaders listen to them and are sensitive to the amount of work they are given.

Parents and carers strongly agree that the school is outstanding.

They are confident it prepares their children very well for their next school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff work diligently as a team to keep children safe.

Staff know the children and their families extremely well.

Staff are highly vigilant about keeping children safe because they are exceptionally well trained. Regular updates ensure that safeguarding is given the highest priority.

Staff promptly report any concerns about a child's welfare to leaders. Staff work tirelessly with other agencies and professionals to keep children safe.

Background

When we have judged a maintained nursery 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 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 first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in September 2014.