Selly Oak Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Selly Oak Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Selly Oak Nursery School is a very happy place, full of excited children who love to learn.This is because leaders and other adults have consistently high expectations of what children can achieve and how they should behave. Children need only occasional reminders of how to treat others.

Children learn about their rights, such as the right to play and the right to shelter, and why these are important. Through well-established routines and songs, such as the 'tidy-up song', children learn about taking responsibility.

The exciting environment fills children with wonder at t...he world around them.

In the forest school, children hunt for minibeasts and build dens. Children love observing the chicks and caterpillars brought into school to enrich the curriculum. Visits to the theatre and musical performances broaden children's horizons, both culturally and socially.

Leaders see the school as central to the community. All members of the school community embrace the school's vision. As one parent said, 'I cannot fault the school'.

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

Children achieve exceptionally well because leaders and staff have exceptionally high expectations, and children rise to these. Leaders leave nothing to chance. They meticulously plan the curriculum and each activity to bring out the best in children.

Every interaction between adults and children expands children's vocabulary, which helps them to express their feelings or learn about good behaviour. The school day runs seamlessly due to the meticulous attention to detail that leaders and staff put into planning every aspect of the provision.

Through the curriculum and through well-established routines, adults teach children how to behave.

Children's personal, social and emotional development is threaded into all activities. At snack time, children develop confidence by acting as the group leader, handing out drinks and snacks, for example. In formal teaching sessions, children learn how to take turns and listen to others.

As a result, children behave exceptionally well and treat others with respect.

Staff carefully adapt the curriculum to take into account children's starting points. In phonics sessions, children enjoy learning letters and sounds at a pace that is right for them.

They sing songs and join in with gestures, which helps them to remember what they have learned. In mathematics, adults use mathematical vocabulary, so children quickly become familiar with it. As a result, children achieve well beyond expectations for their age in early reading and mathematics.

The headteacher, deputy headteacher and nursery teacher support staff skilfully to develop their practice. Parents value the committed and talented staff, who support their children so well. Every day, staff discuss children's learning, and they consider how to improve the curriculum further based on children's next steps.

Leaders want assessment to be an ongoing process, not a time-consuming administrative task. This is because they want staff to spend the majority of their time supporting children.

Adults know the children and their families well.

Staff support all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), very effectively. No child is excluded from any aspect of the curriculum. All children learn Makaton sign language, which helps them to communicate, especially those who struggle with speech or who speak English as an additional language.

Parents appreciate the workshops they attend to help them support children's learning at home.

Governors bring a wide range of relevant expertise to their roles. They are passionately committed to supporting the school.

They do not take at face value what leaders tell them. They work in partnership with leaders to continually review the impact of new initiatives. The impact of this commitment and hard work is evident, with happy, excited children who delight in learning.

Staff are well supported in terms of their well-being and workload. They are proud to work at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff quickly report any concerns about a child's well-being. They receive regular safeguarding training and updates. Adults know the children well and talk to parents immediately if they have any concerns.

Leaders ensure that children promptly receive the support they need. Staff record any concerns, which leaders analyse to spot trends.

Leaders carry out and record rigorous pre-employment checks on new staff.

Leaders and governors complete comprehensive checklists at each stage of the process.

Children learn how to keep themselves safe, both around school and beyond, by assessing risks and how to avoid them in the forest school or the playground.Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding.

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 outstanding in June 2013.