Somerset Nursery School and Children’s Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Somerset Nursery School and Children's Centre continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Children flourish in this school.

They arrive happily each day, ready to enjoy the well-planned activities on offer. Children are taught the knowledge, values and skills they need to thrive. Daily routines are well established.

Adults look after children very well. There are warm and positive working relationships throughout the school. Adults have high expectations of what all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can achieve.

Leaders ensure that there is a strong focus on language development. ...This supports children to be independent and confident.

Children are encouraged to talk with confidence about how they are feeling and what they are learning.

They enjoy listening to and performing familiar rhymes and stories. 'Story time' is very popular. The indoor and outside learning environment is superbly organised.

This promotes children's independence strongly. For example, children can find all the resources they need to investigate, explore and play.

Children settle into school quickly and they behave exceptionally well.

They get along well with each other and are happy to share and take turns. Leaders promote a positive partnership with parents and carers who spoke highly of the school. They appreciated the care and support their children receive here.

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

Leaders have a clear vision for a highly ambitious curriculum. It sets out the knowledge and skills that children should gain as they progress through the school. Adults gather information about children's starting points and interests as soon as they join the school.

They use this information to build on what children already know and can do. Staff act promptly and work closely with parents and external agencies if they identify that any child needs extra help. There are also deliberate opportunities for children to revisit and rehearse key content.

This ensures that what children learn sticks in their memories. For instance, children applied their mathematics skills as they selected the right number of bricks to construct a tower.

Leaders use high-quality texts and stories.

Staff help children to learn new and relevant language. Adults are expert, enthusiastic storytellers, who bring traditional and modern tales alive. They encourage children to join in with familiar stories, for example, by acting out scenes in the outdoor area.

There are opportunities to sing songs throughout the day. Leaders have mapped out the key vocabulary that children will learn in each curriculum area carefully.

Adults help children to understand wider issues, such as faith and individual identity.

Staff use these to help children to understand about the importance of respect. Adults help children to understand about the world around them. They check that children have remembered what they have been taught.

This helps children to deepen their knowledge and skills. For example, children explained in detail what the school's newly hatched chicks needed to survive.

Leaders make children's wider development a priority.

Children learn about eating the right foods and keeping active, for example, when making a healthy cress sandwich. Adults promote healthy eating during snack and lunchtime. Leaders place importance on children learning about the natural world.

Children were very proud of the runner beans they had grown, for example.

The training staff receive is highly effective. Staff have the expertise they need to adapt activities quickly to ensure learning opportunities are not missed.

The approach to teaching communication and language is comprehensive. Adults model spoken language precisely, which inspires children to do the same. Staff introduce children to a range of visual resources.

This means that all children, including those with SEND, can access all activities fully.

Children with SEND have their needs identified rapidly and accurately. The approaches adopted by staff remove any barriers to these children's learning.

As a result, children with SEND make exceptional progress.

Adults know children well and use this knowledge to provide extra support for those who need extra help, such as to manage their feelings. Children listen well and show high levels of concentration during tasks and activities.

Staff coach children to take responsibility for their choices and actions. This is seen in the gentle way adults encourage and instruct children for long-term success. For example, adults guide children to put on their coats independently without relying on adult support.

The governing body knows the school well because of their regular visits and discussions with staff. Leaders ensure that staff feel valued and are mindful of their workload and well-being. Staff enjoy working at the school and felt supported.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders prioritise the safeguarding and well-being of children. They maintain effective safeguarding records and share information to help keep children safe.

All staff have relevant training to support them to identify when a child might be at risk of harm. This includes awareness of how children with additional needs might communicate their worries.

Staff encourage children to be open and share any concerns with their trusted adults.

They instinctively go to adults if they are unsure or need help. They are also taught how to keep themselves safe when, for example, climbing on equipment outside.

Background

When we have judged 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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in 2020.