Colleges Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school Leaders and all staff put children at the heart of everything they do at Colleges Nursery School. They establish caring and nurturing relationships with the children and make sure that every individual child feels safe, happy and secure. As a result, children settle very quickly into school life.

The executive headteacher provides inspirational leadership for the school and has high aspirations for all families and children. She works tirelessly and determinedly to promote the importance of early years education. Governors are diligent and skilled in their roles.

They have an insightful understanding about the school's strengths a...nd monitor its performance closely. They support and challenge leaders to ensure that children receive exceptional care and education. Provision made for the care and education of two-year-old children is of a high quality.

Staff work very skilfully to provide guidance and support. As a result, two-year-old children thrive at Colleges Nursery School. Leaders organise, oversee and plan the curriculum to meet individual children's needs.

Within all of the early years areas of learning adults make full use of children's interests and personal experiences to offer activities that encourage children to explore and learn productively. The teaching staff have high expectations of all children. Consistently strong teaching ensures that children make substantial progress from their starting points.

Consequently, children are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their education. Children are inquisitive, confident and eager learners. They love school and always try hard.

All children, including those who are disadvantaged, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and the most able, achieve very well. Support for children who speak English as an additional language is excellent. This ensures that children develop their speech, language and communication abilities very quickly.

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about all aspects of the school's work. They typically comment on how well children settle, how much they enjoy school and how well they achieve. Careful scrutiny of the quality of teaching is undertaken.

However, leaders identify that, occasionally, adults miss the opportunity to guide, support and challenge children sufficiently in their learning.

Information about this school

All children in this school are in the early years foundation stage. Children's patterns of attendance at Colleges Nursery School varies.

Many children attend the Nursery for five half-day sessions each week. In addition, the school provides for two- to three-year-olds in the Daisy Room from 8.45am to 3.

45pm each day for up to 24 children at any one time. Furthermore, running alongside funded nursery places is Colleges' 'wraparound care' provision from 8.00am to 4.

00pm. There has been an increase in the percentage of children of minority ethnic heritage. The proportion of children who speak English as an additional language is above the national average.

The proportion of children with SEND is below the national average. Since the previous section 5 inspection, the school has federated with Brunswick Nursery School. The leadership structure has changed.

There is an executive headteacher who took up post in January 2016, a deputy headteacher who works across both schools and an assistant headteacher who is at Colleges. There have been some changes in governors since the previous inspection, including the appointment of two co-chairs. The children's centre shares the school site but is subject to a separate inspection.