Oakengates Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Oakengates Nursery is a special place for children to learn, play and grow.

Children really enjoy coming to school. They are well supported to become confident. Children enter school with smiles on their faces and settle down to activities quickly.

Children are very enthusiastic and keen to talk. They said, 'I love my nursery. I love the hundreds of things to do.'



Parents and carers are very happy with the school and say that their children thrive. Parents receive regular information about their children's learning. They say that adults spend lots of time getting to know their children and want the very best for them.

The outside area is e...xciting and safe. Children are keen to explore, whatever the weather. The garden area provides an opportunity for the children to plant seeds and watch them grow.

Children know how to fill their watering can and water the plants.

Children behave extremely well. Adults are wonderful role models for them.

They show children how to be kind and to respect others. They help children to take turns and share. The nursery is a happy, harmonious and high-achieving community.

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

The executive headteacher and leaders have made many much-needed changes. They are leading the school extremely well. Leaders, including governors, want the very best for the children.

They have high aspirations. The curriculum is well thought out and leaders have ambitious plans for the children in their care. Adults are proud to work at the school.

This really shows when they work with the children. They enjoy interacting with them and seeing them develop.

Adults say the motto 'Love, laugh, learn' cascades through the whole school community.

Leaders have ensured that adults have had highly effective training to deliver the curriculum, especially literacy and mathematics. They have also provided adults with opportunities to develop their skills in the other areas of early years learning, such as understanding the world and expressive arts and design. However, staff are still developing their subject knowledge and expertise of teaching these areas.

This means that, while children make good progress across all areas of learning, their progress in understanding the world and expressive arts and design is not as strong as progress in literacy and mathematics.Adults make sure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. The leader of special educational needs ensures that no child slips through the net.

Children's additional needs are identified quickly, and they receive the right support to help them make progress. Children are well prepared to move on to primary school.The learning spaces and resources inside and outside are exciting and interesting.

They motivate and inspire children to explore, play and learn. Outdoors, there are lots of opportunities to develop children's physical skills, such as balancing on the benches. Children develop skills of curiosity, exploration and language through the resources provided, such as patterned teapots and willow pattern plates.

Leaders make sure that developing children's early literacy skills is a key focus. Adults read daily to children. Children enjoy books, stories and rhymes.

They select books independently from the book shelf, take them to the carpet and sit and enjoy them. Adults think very carefully about the stories they choose. For example, children were having fun learning about themes related to 'The Little Red Hen', such as baking, selling cakes in the bakery and painting pictures based on Van Gogh's 'Wheat fields'.

Phonics sessions support children to develop their reading skills well. Adults make sure that they keep a close check on what children learn so they can plan carefully what they need to teach next. Adults help parents to support their children with reading at home.

Adults effectively support children to develop their listening and speaking skills. They model spoken English accurately. They also encourage and challenge children to use sentences and new words when they are speaking.

For example, children were guided to talk confidently about sieving, stirring and mixing flour. Children are keen to talk about what they are good at. They take it in turns to talk together when they are playing and learning.

They repeat rhymes they have been taught, such as 'pass the jigsaw on and on'. Children are confident in role play. They showed great confidence when talking about their school and their learning.

Adults have created a setting where children feel treasured, valued and listened to. Adults work as a team and treat each other with respect and kindness. Children learn from them to be respectful and kind too.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. This ensures that they learn well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Keeping children safe is important in this school. A safeguarding culture extends to all adults and the governing body. Adults have regular training and are aware of risks.

Adults know how to report concerns.

Leaders follow up actions taken as a result of any concerns raised. They work with the local authority and other agencies to make sure that children get the help they need.

Effective record-keeping and processes are in place. When recruiting new adults to the school, questions about safeguarding form part of the interview process. Children are safe and confidently explore the environment indoors and outdoors.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Adults receive very effective professional development to ensure that the curriculum plans are well executed. This has been particularly successful in literacy and mathematics. However, adults are still developing their teaching skills and subject knowledge in understanding the world and expressive arts and design.

This means that children do not make as much progress in these areas as they do in literacy and mathematics. Leaders should continue to support adults to help them improve and develop their teaching skills and subject knowledge in understanding the world and expressive arts and design. This will enable children to make very strong progress in all areas of the early years curriculum.

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