St Edmund’s Nursery School & Children’s Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Edmund's Nursery School & Children's Centre has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's exceptional work to engage and include families creates a strong and harmonious sense of community. Each child and adult is valued, feels safe and can be successful.

The close work with families means that parents can contribute to the school's work to educate their children and keep them safe.

The day starts with a warm welcome by name, a 'hello' or handshake, and sets the scene for the kind and friendly routines that follow throughout the day. These strong relationships, and the trus...t created by them, are excellent foundations to ensure learning for all.

Children go busily about their work and play, quickly developing basic skills and learning about the world around them. Staff work alongside children, helping them develop their language and communication at every opportunity. Staff help children to understand their feelings and the feelings of others.

Learning continues at snack and lunchtime. Children help to set the table, serve the food and learn good table manners. As a result of well-planned learning opportunities and strong interactions between adults and children, children achieve well and are well prepared for primary school.

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

The school has the highest expectations of what the community can achieve together. Leaders' work to reach out widely and impact positively on society is quite unique. Leaders have an ambition for education that extends way beyond the school.'

Professional friendships' have a positive effect on children's attendance, education and well-being.They enable parents and carers to get support when they need it. They give the wider community the opportunity to access the services the school provides.

They ensure staff have the training and support they need to carry out their roles effectively.

The school has made deliberate choices about what children will learn over their time in the setting. This includes deciding which books children will know and love, the resources and language they will use and how they will learn to develop positive relationships.

It includes many opportunities to learn about the world in which they live, through real-life opportunities and visitors coming into school. For example, there was great excitement about the nocturnal birds and animals that were brought into school. Children connected the visit to the books they had been enjoying and eagerly found and talked about the photograph of themselves with the animals on the interactive whiteboard.

Songs and rhymes are used frequently throughout the day to establish routines, as well as to support learning. For example, children join in rhymes when they line up, get into a circle and start learning time together on the carpet. At story time, there are lots of smiles and children keenly join in with the parts of the story they know.

The school is very inclusive. Staff know every child is special, unique and entitled to high-quality provision and education. The school has created classrooms and outdoor spaces that allow every child, whatever their background or need, to work alongside their peers and be successful.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including those attending the early years enhanced specialist provision for pupils with SEND, are fully integrated into all aspects of school life.

All staff check whether the intended curriculum is being learned. Achievements are celebrated and noted, often with parents in the online system.

Assessment of what children with SEND can do and remember is precise. Careful thought is given to the progression of activities that help children learn and practise small steps of knowledge.

Leaders ensure that good routines in attendance are established well before children reach statutory school age.

As with everything they do, leaders are explicit and kind in their reasons and direction. They spend time with families to understand barriers to attending well and work patiently, but relentlessly, to remove these.

The professional development opportunities and support for staff provided by leaders are exemplary.

There is a continuous programme of staff learning alongside each other and from short videos taken in the setting. New staff and apprentices quickly learn how to best support children. Staff feel valued.

They work with leaders and other staff to find the best ways to manage workload and well-being.

Governors have a strong depth of understanding about the quality of education the school provides. They have been involved in the design of the curriculum.

They understand the strengths of the school and the impact these have on children and families. They are ambitious in their direction for continued improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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 February 2015.

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