Pembury House Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Pembury House Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a warm and welcoming school where children flourish. They settle in quickly and get off to an excellent start with their learning.

This is because the highly ambitious curriculum ignites children's curiosity, resilience and interest across a wide variety of topics. For example, children explore the 'growing garden' enthusiastically. They enjoy planting seeds and learning what nutrients plants need to grow and survive.

Children are exceptionally well prepared for moving onto their primary education.

Leaders have built strong working relationships with ...families. Parents and carers are full of praise for leaders and staff.

They said that staff are approachable and listen to their concerns. One parent commented: 'Staff are amazing and kind. My child learns something new every day.'

This view was typical of many parents.

A calm and purposeful atmosphere permeates the school. Children behave exceptionally well.

Minor upsets are dealt with quickly by staff. Children learn how to work together and make friends. This is because staff consistently model the school's 'rainbow rules' – to be gentle and kind.

Children follow instructions and take turns. Staff help the children to make the right choices so that they play and learn happily together. This ensures that children feel safe and are kept safe.

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

Leaders have designed an innovative and demanding curriculum centred on their high expectations for all children. Staff are fully committed to ensuring that every child has the very best start to their learning journey. As a result, children are well prepared for the Reception Year.

Leaders have identified the important knowledge and vocabulary children need to learn. They have sequenced this carefully so that children revisit and embed ideas over time. For example, children learn about Garrett Morgan, the inventor of the traffic light system.

The children then explore the components of simple circuits before investigating what happens if one of the components is missing. In mathematics, staff model vocabulary with precision. Children learn about capacity through sand and water play.

They explore, experiment, and investigate how much a container can hold before it becomes full. Children are expected to use the vocabulary they have learned accurately.

Staff use assessment effectively.

Their exceptional understanding of children's development means they are quick to spot and close any gaps in learning.

Reading is a high priority. Children enjoy listening to a wide variety of books, which engage their interest.

Children regularly take books home from the school's 'little lending library'. This encourages them to develop a love of reading, which they share with their families. Adults use every opportunity to develop children's spoken language.

Children develop their early awareness of phonics through joining in with familiar rhymes and stories. Sounds are introduced in a deliberate sequence and children practise saying these sounds each day.

Leaders have ensured that the school's outdoor environment encourages the children to investigate, play and learn.

Each step of children's physical development is carefully planned. Children develop and practise physical skills such as climbing and coordination. They balance on different beams and learn to take risks in a carefully supervised and safe way.

Staff are skilled at building children's confidence in trying out new activities that they have not come across before.

Provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is exceptional. Support is carefully planned to ensure that they access the same rich curriculum as their peers.

Children with SEND are identified swiftly. Leaders work closely with families to ensure that children get the support they need to help them succeed.

Leaders provide exciting opportunities for children's wider development.

They invite special visitors into the school regularly. For example, a dental nurse helps the children to understand why it is important to brush their teeth and eat healthily. Children find out about their community by going on 'welly walks' to explore the local area.

They visit shops and speak to the shopkeepers.

Leaders have ensured that staff are well trained. This means that children learn in an environment where staff respond to their individual interests and help them to build their knowledge and understanding over time.

Staff appreciate that leaders and governors are considerate of their workload and well-being. Staff said that they are proud to work at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Robust systems are embedded securely throughout the school. All staff receive regular training and refer concerns promptly to ensure that children are kept safe.

Leaders are quick to identify families who may need support.

They work effectively with outside agencies. This means that families receive the help and advice they need.

Staff teach children how to stay safe.

For example, when using the new climbing frame, children learned about assessing risks and how to play on the equipment safely.

Leaders and governors ensure that all pre-employment checks are fully in place and reviewed regularly.

Background

When we have judged a 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 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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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 in May 2017.