Staghills Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Staghills Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

What is it like to attend this school?

All children have great fun at Staghills Nursery School.

Staff have high expectations of children, including disadvantaged children. The grounds in which children learn are extensive and exciting. We watched as young children clambered up the steep hill into the wood.

They were full of excitement, determination and purpose. It was impressive to see how much they have remembered from their previous learning. The children noticed how similar the fire's smoke was compared to an ash cloud from a volcano.

The children learned about volcanoes last year.

Childr...en feel very safe. There are no recorded incidents of bullying.

They learn how to take risks in a safe space and how to deal with obstacles. Children's behaviour is impressive.

Children grow food in the allotment.

They also learn a great deal about recycling, care for living things and how to protect and treat the natural world. They learn about the awe and wonder of being in nature. They also sit captivated, listening to stories from a range of books.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve very well. This is a strength of the school. These children learn the skills and knowledge that they need for their future in primary school.

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

Leaders are continually looking to improve the school even further. The changes that they make are based on high-quality research. For example, staff have continued to improve how they teach mathematics.

Number and counting activities are an integral part of everyday learning. During the inspection, we saw children sitting in the forest and they counted the scoops of hot chocolate powder that they needed to make a drink. Children then worked out how many more scoops they needed and how much goes into a scoop.

Staff use as many chances as they can find to build children's knowledge of number and shapes. There is clear progression in the mathematics curriculum. This means that staff check that the children have the knowledge that they need before moving on.

Children with SEND and disadvantaged children achieve very well. Staff make sure that these children have the extra support that they need to keep up.

Leaders have devised a curriculum that enables children to lead some of their own learning.

Importantly, staff have identified the skills and knowledge that they want children to know. In expressive arts and design, children are encouraged to be creative. They explored what happened when they dropped a pipette filled with food colouring onto cornflour.

They watched how it made swirls and different textures and patterns. They were fascinated by the different shapes and colours. Children experience a wide range of artists and creative activities.

Leaders have made reading the main priority in school. Staff are well trained in teaching early reading. High-quality, well-chosen books are everywhere.

These include magazines, poetry, nursery rhymes and information books. They are the main stimuli for further learning. Staff use stories to generate ideas for children to have a go and explore.

Through books, children learn about right and wrong. They learn about life in different countries and people who have different religions. There is an excellent system in place to help children to catch up when they are falling behind in reading.

Children with SEND achieve very well in reading. Effective teaching helps them to learn new vocabulary and language.

Staff do not have to spend time sorting out low-level behaviour or bullying.

They have excellent relationships with the children. Children respond very well to adults' suggestions and instructions. Leaders look after the well-being and workload of staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Safeguarding is a high priority. The site is secure, and visitors are checked carefully to make sure that they have the right clearances to work with children.

There is a very good system to record any incidents. Absence is followed up well and staff address any unusual patterns in a child's attendance. Staff work very well with other agencies, such as health visitors and family workers, to help families and children.

This gives families the early help that they need. Children learn about how to stay safe in their everyday lives.

Background

When we have judged a maintained nursery 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 a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in September 2014.

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