Hindpool Nursery School

Inspection of Hindpool Nursery School Bath Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 5TS

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Outstanding 29 and 30 March 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children enjoy coming to nursery. They and their parents and carers are sure of a warm welcome from their key workers. Children know where to find all of the toys and equipment that they like to play with. They especially enjoy their daily music and movement sessions. Some children said that this is their favourite part of the day.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders expect children to succeed. They provide children with activities that appeal to their interests. However, in many areas of learning, leaders have not organised the curriculum well. This hampers children’s learning in these areas.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children behave well in nursery. The simple rules and routines are easy for them to follow. For example, children know that they must put on an apron before they use glue to make a collage. They know when it is time to stop playing and to tidy up. Adults do not tolerate any bullying behaviour. They quickly step in to help children to resolve any difficulties.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children develop confidence and independence. They learn how to put on their coats and their wellington boots. They make choices about what to eat at the snack table. Children learn to share toys and resources. They show kindness and concern towards each other. Children know that they can turn to adults in nursery if they need comfort or reassurance. This helps to make them feel safe and happy.

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better?

Leaders have provided a curriculum that covers the areas of learning in the Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage. However, in most areas of learning, the curriculum is not organised clearly enough to ensure that children learn well.

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better?

Leaders have identified what children need to be able to do in each area of learning by the time that they leave the nursery. However, in almost all of these areas, leaders have not provided staff with enough information about the most important knowledge that children need to learn, or the order in which this should be taught. This makes it difficult for staff to make sure that children are learning everything that they need to know.

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better?

Leaders have ensured that staff with responsibility for early reading and mathematics have had suitable training to help them in their roles. As a result, they are able to provide useful guidance and support to help their colleagues deliver these aspects of learning. However, other staff have had fewer opportunities to develop their subject expertise. This limits their ability to support colleagues to teach the curriculum. 29 and 30 March 2022

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Leaders have made the curriculum for early reading a priority. Staff use their expertise well to provide activities that help children to recognise sounds in the environment and in familiar words, such as their names. This prepares children well for their future learning about phonics.

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Adults know how to make stories exciting. Children become familiar with a wide range of books. They love to hear these stories again and again. Children take these books home to share with their parents and carers. All children develop a real love of reading, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Leaders and staff work together to identify children who need extra help with their learning. Where children might have SEND, leaders work well with parents and with a range of professionals to make sure that these children receive the timely support that they need. Children with SEND achieve similarly to other children in the nursery.

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Staff make sure that they speak to children clearly, using language that they understand. Those staff who work with two-year-olds allow extra time for children to express their own thoughts and ideas. Adults introduce older children to a wide range of new words. For example, children listening to the story ‘The Gigantic Turnip’ talked about other words that mean big. These activities help to develop children’s communication and language skills.

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Children learn to manage their own behaviour in ways that are appropriate for their age. They learn to take turns and to listen when someone else has something to say. Adults support them to use words to resolve disagreements.

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Adults understand how children develop. They use this knowledge to provide activities that are appropriate to children’s stages of development. These activities help children to develop important learning characteristics, such as concentration, perseverance and curiosity.

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Children learn about different family units and the differences between cultures and faiths through stories and through celebrations, such as Diwali. They begin to learn about values such as democracy when they vote for which song or rhyme they would like to recite. These experiences support children’s wider development and help them to learn about the world around them.

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Governors and leaders are considerate of staff’s workload and well-being when they make decisions about the school. However, governors do not currently have a clear enough understanding of leaders’ work to improve the curriculum. This prevents them from holding leaders to account for improvements at the nursery. 29 and 30 March 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders provide staff with regular safeguarding training. Staff are well informed about signs of abuse and neglect. This helps them to recognise when children may be at risk from harm.

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Safeguarding

There are clear procedures for staff to report any concerns that they may have about a child’s welfare. Staff know how to follow these procedures. Leaders work well with a range of safeguarding professionals, such as family support teams, social workers and the police. This helps leaders to secure help for children and families who need it.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have put in place steps to keep children safe when using the internet. They share useful safeguarding information with parents to support children when they use technology at home.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In most areas of learning, leaders have not identified the most important knowledge that they want children to learn, or the order in which they need to learn it. This makes it difficult for staff to ensure that children are learning everything that they need to know to be ready for primary school. Leaders must ensure that they identify the most important learning for children, and the sequence in which it should be taught, so that adults can make sure that children can build up this knowledge securely.  Some of the staff who lead areas of learning have had little training to help them carry out their roles. This has limited the extent to which they can support and advise their colleagues in relation to their areas of learning. Leaders must ensure that staff who lead particular areas of learning have opportunities to develop their own knowledge further, so that they are well equipped to support staff in their delivery of the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

curriculum.  Governors do not have a clear enough picture of leaders' work to develop and improve the curriculum. This limits their ability to hold leaders to account fully for this work. Governors must ensure that they have the knowledge and expertise to support and challenge leaders about the quality of education at the nursery.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 29 and 30 March 2022

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 29 and 30 March 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10212223 Type of school Nursery

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 October 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, a new chair of the governing body has been appointed.  Leaders do not use any alternative providers.  The school has provision for the care and education of two-year-olds.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the nursery received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the nursery school.  The inspectors met with the headteacher and other senior leaders and with members of the governing body.  The lead inspector also spoke on the telephone to a representative of the local authority. 29 and 30 March 2022

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, expressive art and design and communication and language.  Inspectors also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects.  Inspectors looked at documentation and spoke with leaders and staff in order to evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding.  Inspectors took into account the responses to Ofsted Parent View and spoke to some parents at the school entrance. The inspectors also took into account the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.

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Inspection team

Mavis Smith, lead inspector Her Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Tim Vaughan Her Majesty's Inspector 29 and 30 March 2022

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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