Columbia Market Nursery School

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About Columbia Market Nursery School


Name Columbia Market Nursery School
Website http://www.columbiamarket.towerhamlets.sch.uk
Inspections
Ofsted Inspections
Address Columbia Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 7PG
Phase Nursery
Gender Mixed
Number of Pupils 48
Local Authority TowerHamlets
Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

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

What is it like to attend this school?

Children at Columbia Market Nursery School thrive in a nurturing and calm environment. They settle quickly, benefiting from caring relationships with staff, who know them well.

Parents and carers speak highly of the school's welcoming ethos and the strong sense of community it fosters. Children feel safe and confident, eagerly engaging with the wide range of activities provided. The school keeps children safe, ensuring that it has robust procedures in place to address concerns promptly and effectively.

The school ...has high expectations for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff work closely with families to identify what children's interests are, what they know and ensure that they progress well through the curriculum. Children are supported to be fully engaged in the activities and they concentrate well.

Children behave very well, reflecting the calm and respectful ethos established across the school. They are encouraged to manage their emotions and behaviour independently, and staff model appropriate responses. Children also learn how to stay safe and keep healthy.

The school provides children with many opportunities to share experiences. This fosters mutual respect for other's differences. The school's approach to fostering positive relationships ensures that children feel valued and included.

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

The school provides a rich and stimulating environment, where children are supported to grow as confident learners.The curriculum is ambitious and designed to meet the needs of all children. Leaders ensure that the curriculum reflects the school's context.

The school promotes a love of learning through high-quality books, engaging activities and meaningful experiences. Children benefit from targeted support so that they are ready to learn and can take part in activities confidently. Workshops for parents help them to be closely involved with this support.

The school also works effectively with external agencies, including to enhance children's language development and social skills.

Children achieve well here. The curriculum provides enriching activities that develop children's knowledge of the world they live in.

Children learn to communicate with their friends and build an understanding of being healthy. For example, they can explore the mud kitchen and grow their own fruit and vegetables. These hands-on experiences foster creativity, a connection to nature, and a sense of responsibility.

They also promote language development and help children to learn about how they can work as part of a team.

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and behave well. They engage enthusiastically in activities, sustaining focus for extended periods.

Rhymes, songs, and stories are used effectively to develop children's early communication and literacy skills. In some areas, however, the curriculum does not clearly set out the steps children need to take to build their knowledge and skills. For example, while teaching includes activities like counting or exploring shapes, there are instances when these activities are not building well on children's existing understanding.

Occasionally, opportunities to introduce ambitious vocabulary or extend children's thinking in everyday activities are not appropriately identified. Over time, this leads to children's development of knowledge not being as well supported as it could be.

The school supports children's personal development effectively.

Staff provide a variety of rich experiences, including visits to local community spaces and gardening projects. These initiatives contribute to building children's confidence, cultural awareness, and understanding of the world.

Attendance is monitored closely.

Leaders work effectively with families to ensure that they understand the importance of regular attendance. The school follows up on absences promptly.

Leaders are passionate and knowledgeable, driving a clear vision for high-quality early education.

Staff feel valued and supported, with workload managed thoughtfully. The governing body is dedicated to securing the school's future, working closely with leaders to address challenges and ensure the continued provision of high-quality education. Their proactive approach supports the school's ongoing development and sustains its positive impact on children and the wider community.

The school's thoughtful provision ensures that children feel valued and supported. This creates an environment where children succeed and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some areas of learning, the school has not consistently set out the steps of learning that children need to take in order to achieve the curriculum end goals. This leads to times when some teaching does not fully support children to build language, knowledge and skills progressively. The school should ensure that teaching is based on a clear understanding of how children's learning should progress towards achieving the identified curriculum goals.

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 October 2015.


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