West Heath Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

West Heath Nursery School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

West Heath Nursery School is a welcoming place to learn.

Children settle into school quickly because they are well supported by adults. The mission statement 'nurturing happy minds' is reflected in the ethos of the school. Staff focus on helping every child flourish and achieve.

This includes those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The school is a caring and safe place where staff commit to children's well-being. Staff ensure that children have clear knowledge of keeping themselves safe.

For example, children talk about the imp...ortance of holding hands, wearing hats in the sun and not talking to strangers.

Children behave well because staff use consistent strategies to encourage children's positive behaviour. Children follow the rules that the school has implemented, for example walking in school and saying kind words.

This helps classrooms to be calm spaces where children learn well.

Children encounter a variety of experiences that enhance their wider development, such as forest school and woodwork. They enjoy spending time in the exciting outdoor area.

Here, for example, they look for minibeasts and learn new vocabulary such as 'woodlice' and 'wriggle.' Children benefit from trips in the local community, such as to the shops and the farm.

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

The school has worked effectively to develop a curriculum that meets the needs of the children.

It has been adjusted and implemented from the beginning of this academic year. However, the curriculum design is sometimes not clear about the key knowledge that children need to learn and remember, and therefore the best activity to be selected. As a consequence, a few staff are less clear about interpreting the curriculum and how it should be taught.

The school knows it needs to refine the curriculum. Most staff have a strong understanding of child development and learning, and ensure children achieve well.

The school's focus on building children's communication and language skills is effective.

Staff use rhymes, songs and other activities to engage and inspire children. They build on children's comments and ideas to extend their knowledge.

Children develop a love of stories, rhymes and songs.

Storytime sessions are thoughtfully planned to meet the different ages and stages of children's development. In story time, the older children show a secure knowledge of the characters in the books they have studied. They join in enthusiastically with the rhymes in stories, such as 'The Three Little Pigs'.

Older children are taught initial sounds for objects. The use of songs and music helps to make this learning fun.

The school identifies children with SEND quickly and makes sure that they get the help they need promptly.

This is strengthened by effective partnerships with external agencies and with parents and carers. As a result, children with SEND benefit fully from their time at the nursery and achieve well.

The school understands the importance of working with parents.

For example, children and parents enjoy using a lending library, which allows them to share books at home. Parents attend workshops in school, such as pre-writing, mathematics and behaviour strategies. These initiatives help parents to support their children's learning.

The environment, both indoors and outdoors, is calm and well organised. Children respect each other and show great care. Outdoors, for example, the children balance on the climbing equipment and develop their body strength.

Such activities allow children to learn from trial and error, and make gains in their social, personal and physical skills. Similarly, indoors, children have opportunities to develop a range of skills. In mathematics, for example, children develop an appreciation of number and can count how many children were present in their group and record this using numbers.

The school understands the importance of giving children a broad range of experiences and opportunities. It gives children a chance to learn how to develop their independence, such as putting on their coats and changing into forest school clothes and wellies. Children help to prepare snacks, cutting up the fruit, and at lunchtime are encouraged to find their lunch boxes and water bottles and open their packets and boxes.

Staff are proud to work at this school. They value leaders' investment in them. They state that leaders are considerate of their work-life balance and that they feel supported and listened to.

Governors are ambitious for the school. They want the very best for the staff and children. However, those who are new to the role do not yet have the knowledge they need to provide effective challenge and support.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some aspects of the early years curriculum design are unclear. Staff do not always have the guidance they need to consistently ensure high-quality provision for all children.

As a result, in some areas of learning, children do not build their knowledge, skills and vocabulary over time as well as they could. The school needs to continue to refine the design of the curriculum to ensure all staff perform at the highest level and children are enabled to secure their learning and deepen their understanding better. ? Some governors do not yet have enough knowledge of the strategic aspects of the school's work, including the effectiveness of the curriculum.

This means that they are not able to support and challenge leaders effectively. The school needs to ensure that governors undertake appropriate training to develop a good understanding of their role and the impact of leaders' actions.

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 October 2013.