Staghills Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Staghills Nursery School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Children arrive full of smiles at Staghills Nursery School. They are greeted by kind and caring staff.

Children feel happy and relaxed. They know that adults will help and care for them should they become worried or upset.

The school has high expectations for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Many children achieve well. Typically, they move on to primary school ready for the next stage of their learning.

Children take part in learning activities with g...usto.

Staff help them to play and investigate in well-equipped classrooms and outdoor areas. Over time, children become independent and resilient learners. Children find their own coats and get themselves ready to go outside.

They proudly showed inspectors the new skills they have learned.

Children behave well. They are familiar with the routines of the school.

They learn to share resources and take turns while they play. Many children are able to talk about how they feel. This is because they learn the words to use to express their emotions.

Visitors are invited into school to provide children with meaningful real-life experiences. For example, a train driver and a farmer with a tractor. These experiences contribute well to children's wider development.

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

The school has undergone numerous challenges since the last inspection. Following a period of turbulence, the school is now in a position of greater stability. There have been many changes in the school.

However, the school pays close regard to the impact of these changes on staff's workload and well-being. Staff report that the school acts positively to help them to manage their workload.

The school and governors work together to ensure that the school is developing its educational offer and making improvements.

This includes developing the curriculum and positive attendance habits for children and their families in preparation for their next stage of education.

The school has recently taken decisive action to review and revise its curriculum. Overall, this curriculum thinking is successful.

In most areas of learning, the curriculum is organised seamlessly to enable children to build secure knowledge and skills from the beginning of the provision for two-year-old children.

Staff have benefited from high-quality training in recent times. In the main, staff deliver the curriculum well.

However, teaching expertise is occasionally less strong and does not always revisit and reinforce important learning. This means that some children do not deepen their knowledge as well as they could.

The school ensures that children with SEND benefit from a wide range of support.

Staff use their checks on how well children are learning to identify children's strengths and next steps. This information is used by staff to tailor learning to children's needs. This ensures children with SEND can access the curriculum alongside their friends.

Children's early communication and language skills are given the highest priority. Children are immersed in carefully chosen stories and songs. Many staff are strong role models for children.

They are highly skilled at engaging children in talk. Staff know that the repetition of key words supports children to learn and remember more.

Staff skilfully and sensitively teach children the expectations for their behaviour.

Two-year-olds learn how to be kind towards others. They understand the importance of looking after equipment and eagerly help to tidy toys away.

The school is alert to the barriers that prevent some children from attending regularly.

It has recently developed procedures to manage attendance and punctuality. Attendance is beginning to improve. However, some children do not attend school as often as they could.

This means that they miss out on important learning.

Children develop a strong sense of belonging through the school's personal, social and emotional curriculum. They learn about themselves, their community and the wider world.

Children learn about diversity and different families. For example, through stories and celebration events. Children develop an early understanding of fundamental British values, such as rule of the law.

They learn that school rules such as 'kind hands' and 'kind feet' are there to keep them safe. Children learn about the importance of staying healthy. For example, healthy eating and brushing their teeth.

These experiences contribute well to children's broader development and their understanding of the wider world.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• From time to time, teaching does not reinforce and deepen important learning.

This hinders some children from learning as well as they could. The school should ensure that it continues to support staff to deliver the curriculum consistently well. ? Some children are frequently absent from school.

This hinders their learning. The school should ensure it identifies any concerns around attendance effectively. It should continue to work with families to promote regular attendance, so that children do not miss learning and are well prepared for the expectations at primary school.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged outstanding for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 for overall effectiveness in September 2014.

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