Nursery Hill Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Nursery Hill is a warm and welcoming school, where everyone is cherished. Pupils enjoy their time in school and feel safe, happy and valued. They are caring and considerate of others and play happily with their friends at social times and at breakfast club.

Staff and pupils have a strong bond. Pupils, including those in early years, are confident to talk with staff about their concerns or worries. Bullying is very rare.

If it does happen, it is quickly tackled and resolved by staff. Pupils enjoy taking on extra responsibilities, such as being members of the school and eco council. Throughout the curriculum and assemblies, leaders provide opportunities for pupils to de...velop an understanding of the world outside their school.

Increasingly pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), have opportunities to take part in trips and visits. They have recently visited local museums and castles. Pupils are particularly excited about residential trips.

Praise postcards are powerful motivators. Pupils are proud to receive one of these. Pupils show compassion for their community by raising funds for local causes and joining in with events, such as Remembrance Day.

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

All staff and governors care deeply about pupils. They have navigated the school through some difficult times. Leaders build strong, supportive relationships with those in the school community.

Most parents recognise this and praise staff for the level of care they provide. All staff are proud to work at the school. They feel part of a dedicated and cohesive team.

Children begin to learn phonics as soon as they start school in the early years. Leaders' work to help children to read has been particularly successful. Pupils in other year groups also learn to read well.

Any pupils who struggle with their reading get the extra help they need to catch up.

A love of reading is evident across the school. Pupils are read to daily and enjoy visits to the library.

Engaging reading areas in all classrooms enthuse pupils. Older children read fluently and enjoy a wide range of books. In the early years, children regularly hear and repeat songs, stories and rhymes.

This helps them to develop their speaking and listening skills and enrich their vocabulary.

Leaders have developed a diverse and well-structured curriculum. They have outlined the knowledge that pupils need to know from the early years to Year 6.

Leaders have used external support wisely to help teachers to pinpoint the key knowledge to be taught, while also helping them to think about the best ways to share this knowledge with pupils. This is successful in most subjects.Recently, leaders made a decision to review and refine the mathematics curriculum.

This is because some activities did not focus carefully enough on the important learning that pupils needed to know and remember. In most cases, these changes help pupils to know and remember their learning. However, at times, this new approach is not followed consistently, so some pupils do not learn as well as they could.

Many pupils join the school at different times of the year. For these pupils, leaders offer a range of targeted extra help. This allows them to catch up with their peers.

So, although the outcomes for pupils from previous national tests are below average, current pupils' learning shows an improving picture.

Teachers check carefully that pupils can remember what they have been taught. This helps pupils to build their knowledge over time.

Leaders use this knowledge to identify any pupils with SEND. Teachers use a range of strategies to ensure that pupils with SEND can access the same curriculum as their peers. Teaching assistants are skilled and provide timely and specific support, where and when necessary.

In early years, staff think carefully about the activities on offer. They make sure that children have plenty of opportunities to practise what they have been taught. Children build up their knowledge across all areas of learning and are ready to move into Year 1.

Leaders ensure that pupils' poor attendance is challenged. They work well with external agencies to support families to develop good patterns of attendance. Most pupils respond well to leaders' high expectations of behaviour.

In early years, routines are well established. Pupils learn to take turns and ask for help when it is needed. However, there are times when staff do not reinforce the expectations for behaviour consistently.

When this happens, a small number of pupils do not follow the rules as well as they could.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and governors had created a strong safeguarding culture across the school.

They have ensured there are effective systems for the reporting of any concerns and work well with local agencies to prevent problems escalating. Leaders ensure that checks are made on staff to ensure that they are suitable to work with pupils.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe through the curriculum and visitors to the school, such as the fire brigade.

Pupils understand the features of healthy friendships. They learn how to tune into their own feelings and emotions by 'being their own best friend'.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• On occasion, staff do not reinforce the behavioural expectations across the school.

This means that some pupils' behaviour interrupts their learning. Leaders need to ensure that all staff members constantly reinforce these expectations, so that pupils are able to make the most of their learning. ? Leaders have recently made changes to the way mathematics is taught.

However, teachers are not yet constantly implementing the scheme as it is intended. Consequently, there are occasions when pupils do not remember important parts of their learning. Leaders should continue to develop the delivery of the mathematics curriculum, building on the improvements they have already made.