Kate Greenaway Nursery School and Children’s Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Kate Greenaway Nursery School and Children's Centre has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are rightly proud of this school. Children enter the school happily each morning.

They have kind friends to play with. Staff greet children warmly. This creates a positive start to the day.

Strong, nurturing relationships exist between adults and children. Key workers know children well. Adults take the time to listen and respond to how children feel.

If a child becomes upset, adults quickly help and comfort them. This supports children's social and emotional develo...pment. Teachers provide opportunities for children to vote for their favourite shape and story.

These experiences help children make decisions and develop confidence.

Staff have high expectations for all children. Children achieve highly here.

They are eager to learn and work hard. Activities are engaging and purposeful. Children persevere when tackling challenging tasks, showing resilience.

Children are very proud of their learning. They enthusiastically show visitors and their teachers that they can count objects to five and beyond.

The school provides a wide range of educational visits.

Trips to museums, art galleries and orchestral performances broaden children's horizons. Children are excited about their learning. They share in detail what they know about King's Cross Station and Regent's Canal.

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

The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced year on year. The school has identified the important knowledge, skills and vocabulary it wants children to know and by when. The learning journey has been carefully broken down into manageable steps.

This ensures that children build on their previous learning. Teachers skilfully interweave early mathematical knowledge throughout the different areas of learning. Children enjoy singing rhymes and songs.

These activities help them grasp the ideas of 'one more' and 'one less'.

The development of children's communication and language is a priority. Interactions between staff and children are of a high quality.

In the role play area, adults emphasise words such as 'prepare', 'hot' and 'delicious'. Through carefully targeted physical activities, adults expertly use positional language such as 'under', 'over' and 'backwards'. Therefore, children have regular opportunities to hear and practise new words and different sentence structures.

Early reading is a strength. Stories, rhymes and songs have been selected so children experience high-quality texts and language. Children listen attentively as adults read to them.

Children know that if they select a book at any time, teaching staff will read it to them. Teaching staff provide opportunities for children to identify environmental sounds. This prepares children well for future phonics learning.

The school has processes to quickly identify children who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities. These children learn the curriculum alongside their friends. Teaching staff successfully adapt their teaching approaches to help these children access the exciting curriculum and achieve well.

Children's behaviour across the school is excellent. Teachers teach and model the high expectations for behaviour as soon as children join the school. Children have positive attitudes to their learning.

They show high levels of respect towards their teachers and classmates. Children take turns, share and collaborate very well.

The school's provision for children's personal development is exemplary.

It is woven into all aspects of school life. Adults encourage children to develop independence. For example, as soon as children arrive in the morning, they place their coats on their named pegs.

After using scissors, children put them away carefully and in the right place. This is because children learn the importance of respecting their environment. Children are given opportunities to value difference.

They celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year by singing, reading stories and creating artwork that explodes with colour.

Children learn to manage risk well. They know to use two hands on the outdoor climbing structure and to hold on when they cross the 'wobbly bridge'.

If children need help, adults guide them. They do this by gently holding their hand and talking through each step. This helps children to climb down safely and builds confidence.

Governors and school leaders are extremely ambitious for all children. They aim for children to achieve highly in an environment built on 'nurture and love'. Governors and leaders know what the school is doing well and what it needs to do so children continue to thrive and flourish.

Governors and leaders ensure that staff are well trained so they can deliver the curriculum effectively. Staff value the support they receive to support their well-being and the help given to manage their workload.

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 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 October 2019.

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