Oliver Thomas Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Children and their parents and carers arrive at the school with smiles on their face.

Children eagerly enter their classrooms, meet their friends and start their learning. They are met by friendly and welcoming staff. Staff know all the children exceptionally well.

All staff have meaningful interactions with the children they work with.

Staff have extremely high expectations for all children. They make sure that every child meets their full potential.

The school empowers children to succeed through helping them develop their skills and knowledge. Staff expect children to make the right choices in the way they behave. They teach them how to do this, b...reaking down expectations so that every child can understand them.

Children learn to have respect for each other. They enjoy learning on their own and as part of a team. When faced with challenges, children do not give up.

The school provides children with rich opportunities, such as woodwork, growing plants, and watching butterflies grow. Children enjoy looking after animals, such as Pumpkin, one of the school guinea pigs. The annual community day is well attended.

At this year's event, all children got the chance to interact with a range of farm animals.

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

Leaders have designed their curriculum to be highly ambitious. Staff make sure that they have no limits or barriers for children to achieve well.

They support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) extremely well. The school's work to support all children is understood and consistently shared by all staff. This is achieved successfully because leaders have invested in high-quality training for all their staff.

Staff regularly partake in education research, which informs their approaches to teaching children highly effectively. They feel listened to by the school's leadership and that their well-being is always considered. Staff are extremely happy working here.

The school curriculum is built around the ambitious '20 things' staff have agreed. This enables all children to have a wealth of experiences and learning. Staff plan for children's needs very carefully.

This helps to meet the needs of each child exceptionally well. Staff support children to learn curriculum content with great confidence. Staff routinely check children's understanding.

They make sure that children have enough opportunities to practise using and understanding numbers and counting every day. The opportunities are hands-on and purposeful. This helps children to become confident in early mathematics.

Children of all ages demonstrate deep focus in their learning. For instance, children concentrated while digging for worms, pumping for water or counting the balls in the ball pit. Children with SEND achieve the best possible outcomes.

This is because staff know the children well and carefully plan their next steps. Staff work very closely with families. Parents highly value the school's help and are extremely happy with the progress their children make here.

Staff develop children's language skills expertly. Through modelling and carefully chosen questioning, staff manage to develop children's curiosity and deepen their understanding across all areas of learning.

Reading is at the heart of the school's work.

Books are carefully chosen to strengthen children's understanding of the curriculum. Carefully designed book packs are sent home for parents to use with their child. Staff read to children with enthusiasm.

Children are fully immersed in the stories they hear regularly.

Children across the school are highly motivated. They eagerly join in the range of learning activities set out.

Children behave exceptionally well across the school. They manage their own feelings maturely. Staff help children develop a sense of right from wrong.

They encourage children with regular messages about how to keep healthy, both physically and mentally. Parents are valued and fully included as part of their child's education. Staff work closely with them, providing them with the skills and resources to further develop their child's learning at home.

Children are fully prepared for their next stage in education, whether this is moving from the provision for two-year-olds to the classrooms for three- and four-year-olds or their next step to primary school. Leaders work closely with parents to make sure they form good habits regarding their child's attendance. This is carefully monitored by the school.

Children develop their independence and sense of adventure. For instance, children explore the outside area, which develops their wonder and curiosity about the world around them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.