Westfield Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Westfield Nursery School is a happy place to be. Children arrive excited to see staff and friends.

Clear routines and expectations help to create a positive learning environment. This helps children to make a confident start to their learning.

Children are kind to each other.

On the rare occasions that children are not, adults remind them about having 'kind hands, kind feet and kind voices'. Children respond to these requests. The kindness extends to when they spend time with the school's guinea pigs.

They treat the animals with gentleness.

Children access a wide range of high-quality learning opportunities. Those who need extra help, includ...ing children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are well supported by staff.

Children are calm and focused during formal classroom-based learning and when playing outside. Activities such as a visit by farm staff, and from the police and paramedics, help children develop their interests beyond the curriculum.

Staff know the children and their families well.

Children are safe and well cared for. This helps them settle in and feel safe. They develop their confidence and independence quickly, for example waiting their turn to wash their hands after outdoor play.

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

There has been a strong emphasis on curriculum development following the previous inspection. The broad curriculum outlines what children need to know at different stages of development. Staff have a secure understanding of the curriculum.

They use the resources for each theme of learning to provide children with engaging learning activities that match their needs. This helps all children to achieve well.

The school prioritises children's early language development.

Children enjoy story time and singing. Each day, one child acts as the 'special helper'. This role helps to develop language, for example at snack times when they to ask other children what they would like to drink.

The school focuses on developing children's listening skills to help prepare them for more formal phonics lessons.

Effective training supports staff to teach lessons well. Staff chose activities carefully to foster children's curiosity and reinforce key vocabulary.

However, sometimes staff do not make the most of opportunities to deepen and extend children's learning. This means that children do not always develop their knowledge across the seven areas of learning as quickly as they could. Staff use checks on children's learning to improve the curriculum and to identify and support children who need extra help to keep up.

The school prioritises reading. Children choose to look at books and listen to adults reading during informal learning times. Bilingual books support those families who speak English as an additional language.

Parents come into school to read with their children each week. This supports families to develop a love of reading together.

Children with SEND have their needs identified accurately and early.

The school communicates effectively with parents and external organisations to ensure that children receive the support that they need to do well. As a result, children with SEND achieve well.

Children behave well.

Strong relationships between children and the staff mean children are confident to take safe risks as part of their outdoor learning. This helps them to develop their resilience.Staff teach children about the importance of healthy lifestyles.

The range of books used helps children develop their understanding of diversity and culture. Children learn about different religious festivals throughout the year.

Staff feel valued and appreciate support for their workload.

The school has used external support and training to improve the quality of education and effectiveness of leadership and governance. While effective systems and improved expertise are in place, leaders acknowledge that these are at an early stage of development. The school's checks on the quality of the curriculum are new and not fully established.

Some leaders are still developing their expertise. As a result, some of the school's ambition for pupils is not yet realised.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Not all teaching is adapted to challenge children to develop and extend their understanding across all seven areas of learning. This means that some children do not develop in all areas of the curriculum as quickly as they could. The school should continue to develop staff's approaches to teaching to help them consistently adapt and extend activities to develop children's learning.

• Systems that governors use to monitor the school's work are not yet embedded. This means that leaders' and governors' ambitions for the school are not yet fully realised. The school needs to ensure leaders at all levels, including governors, have the expertise to further advance and evaluate the impact of leaders' actions to improve provision.