Flatts Nursery School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mrs Julie Helm Headteacher Flatts Nursery School Ashworth Green Dewsbury West Yorkshire WF13 2SU

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Short inspection of Flatts Nursery School

Following my visit to the school on 19 December 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be outstanding in December 2014.

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Short inspection of Flatts Nursery School

Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I have identified some priorities for improvement which I advise the school to address. In light of these priorities, the school’s next inspection will be a full section 5 inspection. There is

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of

outstanding as a result of this inspection.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of

Children are happy at your school. You ensure that very careful planning means that there is a wide range of exciting activities for children to take part in, which helps them learn. I spoke with several parents and carers, all of whom said that their children are very happy at the school and that they are pleased with the progress children are making. Your staff get to know the children quickly, help them to settle in confidently and ensure that their individual needs are met well.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of

Since the last inspection, there have been some minor staffing changes and the number of children at the school has fallen. However, most staff have worked at the school for a long time and those whom I spoke to felt that you support them well. They also commented on the regular training they complete and how this helps to keep their skills up to date. The area for improvement identified at the last inspection was to ensure that children learn with real objects and situations in mathematics. This has been remedied well.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of

You review the quality of teaching and learning in the school. However, too often your evaluations are overestimated, and teachers are not given accurate guidance on how they can improve their practice. This is hindering school improvement and the progress that children are making from their starting points. Safeguarding is effective.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of

You, your staff and governors recognise the importance of ensuring that you are all well trained so that you have a secure knowledge of child protection issues. Your staff know who to turn to and that any concerns they may have about a child will be taken seriously. You ensure that routines, such as locking gates and carrying out daily risk assessments, are completed to help keep children safe. You work well with others, including the local authority. Current records are fit for purpose. However, along with the local authority, you have decided that an electronic system of recording information may be more efficient than the current system.

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Inspection findings

 You regularly review the quality of teaching and learning in your school. Your evaluations are often overestimated and this is preventing teaching and learning from being as good as they could be as teachers are not challenged. When you give feedback to your staff, you do not let them know clearly their strengths and weaknesses. They cannot, therefore, reflect on how they can improve their teaching to improve children’s outcomes. This also means that their continual professional development is rarely planned to meet their individual needs. It has also meant that school improvement priorities are not fully accurate in some areas.  Leaders and managers have developed a good system for assessing children’s progress from their starting points. The system you use follows the progress of individual children as well as key groups, such as girls and boys. The information the school holds indicates that from starting points which are typically below that

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Inspection findings

expected for their age, most children make good progress. Within an academic year, children are reaching stages of development that are more typical for their age. While you review this information and know the areas where children are not making sufficient progress, this analysis is not linked effectively to the school development plan.  Children learn in an extremely well-resourced provision. The equipment, both inside and outside, is excellent and teachers use it well so that children learn well through play. Teachers ensure that all the areas of children’s development are planned for. They make sure that they take account of children’s most recent interests when devising ‘in the moment’ activities. Consequently, children love learning to count, write and play together through topics such as Superman. Adults provide good opportunities to foster children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and for them to learn about British values. Readily available

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Inspection findings

resources make it easy for adults to focus on different aspects of these areas well.  Adults know the children well and are good at playing alongside them to help them learn. Adults happily play instruments and dress up, for example as one of the Three Wise Men, to help children learn more readily. They encourage them to play with their peers and consequently children mix very well together. Children have great fun, for example in the water tray, where they learn about capacity and forces. Adults model appropriate vocabulary well. Occasionally, adults could have higher expectations of children by getting them to be more responsible for the equipment they use and by encouraging them to speak in full sentences when answering questions.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 information on the quality of teaching and learning is used more effectively to:  inform school improvement priorities to give a more accurate analysis of strengths and weaknesses  give adults more opportunity to reflect on and improve their practice  align individual professional development more precisely to individual teachers’ needs  enable children to make better progress  information on children’s achievement is used more effectively to inform school improvement priorities.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Kirklees. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

The inspection was carried out on one day by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors. The inspector observed children learning at different times of the school day, in both child-initiated and adult-led activities, alongside the headteacher. The inspector observed children’s behaviour throughout the day, including lunchtime. The inspector studied a range of documentation, including children’s records of achievement, teachers’ planning, safeguarding records, policies and school information on progress. The inspector met with members of the governing body, members of staff and she spoke with representatives of the local authority. One parent responded to the Ofsted Parent View online text facility. One parent responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, not enough to view the results of this questionnaire. One member of staff responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire. The inspector spoke to at least seven parents. All these opinions were taken into

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