St Philips Marsh Nursery School and Barton Hill Childrens Centre/Cashmore Early Years Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Philips Marsh Nursery School and Barton Hill Childrens Centre/Cashmore Early Years Centre continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Happy smiling children are the norm at this Nursery school.

Children are keen to attend and feel safe. Across both sites, staff provide caring support for children and families. Parents and carers are universally positive about their children's experience of Nursery.

They feel involved in the school and part of the community.

Children learn how to follow routines and take turns. They respond to adult support well.

Most flourish, building confidence and independence soon after they join. Children... receive a rich and broad curriculum that meets their needs. There are lots of fun activities to extend children's knowledge and experience.

Children love finding out new things and making friends.

Leaders bring the wider curriculum to life by organising trips, events and experiences. Children celebrate and learn about cultures and faiths that are similar and different from their own.

They benefit from learning in the garden, growing and taking care of plants to develop a love of nature. Staff do much to broaden children's interests. For example, children visit a micro-library to develop a love of books.'

Kitchen time' is a highlight for many. This enables children to learn about food preparation and the importance of healthy eating.

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

The school meets the statutory requirements of the early years foundation stage.

Both school sites sit at the heart of their communities and serve children and their families well.

The curriculum sets out exactly what children should learn and when. It breaks down the curriculum into small chunks and builds sequentially over time.

Children who enter the school not meeting their learning and developmental milestones mostly catch up because staff provide precise support. Staff are explicit in modelling at the right time the new learning across the curriculum that these children need.

Leaders and staff give careful thought to enhancing the curriculum for all children in order to address any gaps in children's knowledge which may have come about due to COVID-19.

For example, there is a strong focus on ensuring that children build their core strength and spatial awareness and learn how to take turns and listen.

Leaders prioritise children's early language development. Story time and singing are favourite activities for many.

A comprehensive package of staff training is successfully developing staff's knowledge. For example, staff's interactions with children extend children's speaking skills and help them learn new vocabulary well. However, at times, children play silently alongside others when they are capable of speaking in sentences until adults join the group.

This is because some staff do not observe and act precisely to maximise the plentiful opportunities on offer to help children to speak to each other in their work and play.

Staff enable children to become independent, through encouraging them to self-select resources and by setting time aside to teach children through the daily routine of 'tidy-up time'. Adults reinforce how children should behave.

They use gentle reminders to guide them in their play. This helps children learn how to manage their behaviour.

Leaders' identification, assessment and individual support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are strong.

Parents and carers agree. Most staff are skilled in implementing children's individualised plans. As a result, these children get the precise curriculum they need.

However, on occasions, a minority of children without additional needs do not learn exactly what they need to know next or do not have enough practice to secure new knowledge.

Leaders take staff workload into account. Staff teams work in unison.

Governors have a clear understanding of the school's effectiveness because they review the impact of their strategic decisions and ensure that the curriculum is delivered as intended. This ensures that children are well prepared for their next stage of education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff safeguarding training is up to date and in line with legislation. Staff know the signs that indicate a pupil might be at risk of harm. They report and record any concerns promptly.

Leaders demonstrate tenacity when dealing with safeguarding concerns. They are relentless in following up on concerns and work with external agencies when necessary. Systems in place to support children's well-being are strong.

For example, staff are meticulous in following the intimate care policy when changing children's nappies.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teaching is not shaped precisely to meet children's needs. For example, adults do not facilitate child-to-child interactions consistently well, or there are occasions when teaching does not enable children to have sufficient practice with their speaking or when learning new concepts.

Leaders must ensure that all staff have consistently strong knowledge of how to get and keep children talking. Leaders must ensure that teaching focuses on the essential knowledge that children need to know next.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

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 good in September 2013.