Reedley Hallows Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Children are happy at this friendly nursery school.

They arrive each morning with broad smiles, and they delight in the time spent with kind and nurturing staff. Children confidently welcome visitors and invite them to join in with their activities. They proudly showed inspectors their favourite books and resources.

The school has high expectations for children, including for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Most children achieve well. Typically, they move on to primary school ready for the next stage of their learning.

Children learn to behave sensibly and to follow the school's rules. Staff encourage them to be considerate an...d polite. They skilfully support two-year-old children to take turns and to share toys.

Children learn the words to use to express their emotions and to talk about how they feel. The school is a harmonious place to learn.

Children access a variety of educational experiences that enhance their wider development.

They take part in outdoor activities, such as parachute games and growing strawberries in the school's grounds. Children learn to care for living things, for example caterpillars and butterflies. These rich opportunities help children to learn more about the natural world and to develop new interests.

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

The school has devised a broad and engaging curriculum that flows seamlessly from the beginning of the provision for two-year-old children. There are many opportunities that children benefit from to explore, investigate and discover across areas of learning. Staff carefully select resources and activities that interest and excite children.

This helps to ensure that children, including those with SEND, gain a successful start to their education.

In most areas of the curriculum, children learn well. In the main, staff design and deliver activities that build on what children already know.

Typically, staff address any gaps in children's knowledge well. Nevertheless, during some activities, some staff are not clear about the important knowledge that children should learn. This means that some staff do not place enough emphasis on the knowledge that children need for future learning.

At times, this hinders children in making connections with their prior learning and prevents them from learning as deeply as they could.

Staff accurately identify and support the additional needs of children with SEND, including those who are in the early stages of language development. This helps children with SEND to successfully access learning alongside their classmates.

The school places a high priority on children's communication and language development. Staff use a variety of approaches to support children's understanding of daily routines, including by using sign language, pictures and real-life objects.Adults read well-chosen books at story times.

However, a small number of staff are still developing their own expertise in reading stories to children. This slows some children in developing a love of books and a broad understanding of stories.

The school has established clear routines and high expectations for children's behaviour.

This helps to create calm classrooms. Two-year-old children learn the importance of looking after resources. For instance, they enthusiastically help to tidy toys away.

Children relish the praise and rewards that they receive for behaving well and for trying their best.

The school takes steps to involve the children in their local community and to share a wide range of cultures. For example, through stories and events for Eid and Christmas, children learn about diversity among people and families.

Children develop an early understanding of fundamental British values, such as democracy, through voting for songs and stories. These experiences contribute well to children's broader development and their understanding of the wider world.

The governing body uses its expertise to provide the school with effective support and challenge.

The school engages well with staff and supports their workload and well-being effectively, for example by reducing the amount of paperwork that staff collect when they make assessments of children's development. This allows staff to focus on supporting children in their learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of activities, staff are not clear about the important knowledge that children should learn. This limits children in knowing and remembering more. The school should provide staff with appropriate training and support to help them to design and deliver learning activities that help children to build on what they already know.

• On occasion, a small number of staff do not read stories to children as well as they could. This slows how quickly some children develop a love of reading and limits their learning about stories and books. The school should ensure that staff have the knowledge that they need to foster children's love of reading.

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