St Anne's & Avondale Park Nursery School

Inspection of an outstanding school: St Anne's & Avondale Park Nursery School Sirdar Road, London W11 4EE

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school's overall judgement of outstanding as a result of this initial (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a full inspection were carried out now. The next inspection will therefore be a full (section 5) inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

St Anne’s and Avondale Park Nursery School is at the heart of the community. Parents and carers have nothing but praise for the school and its staff. During the Grenfell fire and the COVID-19 pandemic, the nursery stayed open to give much-needed support to children and their families.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children love their nursery. They wave goodbye to their parents and carers with confidence. Every day begins with a smile and a warm welcome from nurturing and dedicated staff. Staff support children to be kind, always caring and respectful of each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are ambitious and have high expectations for every child. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children play happily with their friends and learn to take turns. Behaviour is of a very high standard. Staff deal quickly with any incidents of bullying that rarely arise between children. There is always a familiar adult nearby to comfort and support any child who may have a concern.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children really enjoy their early learning and are curious about what is happening all around them. They love being active in the outdoor play areas and eagerly look forward to their visits to the local Forest School.

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

Leaders are ambitious for all children to become active and confident learners. In most areas of learning, leaders have established a curriculum where children are taught important knowledge in a planned and sequenced order. For example, in mathematics, children achieve well in all areas. Children’s physical development both indoors and 24 May 2022

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outdoors is equally very well provided for. However, in some other aspects of learning, such as the teaching of phonics and early reading, the curriculum is new and still developing.

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Leaders have placed reading at the heart of the curriculum. Children are surrounded by a wide range of attractive and diverse books that capture their interests. Some of these books introduce children to rhymes, counting and letter sounds. Others teach them about the wider world. In one session, children sang and repeated rhymes about a variety of ‘Green Speckled Frogs’. Adults read to children daily, including poetry and traditional folk tales from around the world. Children, including those with SEND, develop an early love of reading. Leaders have recently introduced a new scheme for the teaching of phonics, teaching children the sounds that letters make. This is not yet securely embedded in the curriculum, and requires further staff training and development.

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Staff’s clear understanding enables them to quickly identify any children who may be at risk of falling behind. Staff are skilled in supporting children with SEND. They ensure that all children with SEND learn the same curriculum as others in the school. Leaders have funded extra time for speech and language therapy to make sure that these children get the support they need. Children who are at an early stage of learning English benefit from extra group and individual support.

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Children behave very well in the nursery. They learn to follow simple rules and routines quickly. For example, children know when it is time to stop playing and tidy up. They walk sensibly indoors and only ever run when outside. Bullying is rare. Staff are vigilant and help children to understand how their actions might upset others.

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Governors challenge and support leaders well and are regular visitors to the school. They are committed to maintain and improve even further the high quality of education for children that leaders and staff provide.

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Leaders take staff workload and well-being seriously. Staff enjoy working here and feel well supported in all aspects of their work.

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Staff provide many opportunities for children’s moral, social and cultural development. Children take part in a daily session that allows them to be still, calm and reflective. There are regular visits from artists, musicians and writers. The children loved their recent science visitors when they were introduced to a wide range of mini-beasts and other wildlife. The Nursery children regularly visit the local Forest School where they take part in a range of exciting outdoor learning opportunities.

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Parents are overwhelmingly positive of this school. Parents said that their children thrive, and love coming to school. A parental comment, typical of many, was, ‘This nursery is one of the most magical places for any child to be; not only are staff qualified and caring, but they go out of their way to ensure each child is heard and their needs are met’. 24 May 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

A strong culture of safeguarding exists in this school. Leaders manage recruitment processes well and records are well maintained. Children’s safety, welfare and well-being are at the heart of the school’s work. Staff have regular training and are aware of potential risks in the local community. They are vigilant and know how to report concerns. Leaders act swiftly when vulnerable children require support. They share information with external agencies to make sure that children at risk are protected from harm.

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Safeguarding

Parents spoke positively about the help they have had from staff in ensuring that their children are kept safe.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some children do not learn all that they could while at the Nursery. Some important aspects of the school’s curriculum are in the process of being developed. For example, in early reading, the phonics programme that helps children learn about letters and sounds is new. Leaders need to provide further staff training and development to ensure curriculum intent and implementation are embedded securely and consistently across all areas of the curriculum.

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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 a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the fifth section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in June 2007.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 24 May 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. 24 May 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211448 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 21 February 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 St Anne’s and Avondale Nursery School is in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.  The governing body manages the school’s breakfast and after-school clubs.  The school federated with Avondale Park Primary School in September 2014.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the assistant headteacher and curriculum leaders. The inspectors met with governors, including the chair of the governing body, and spoke with a representative from the local education authority.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in communication and language, including early reading, mathematics and physical education. For each deep dive, the inspector met 24 May 2022

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with curriculum leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to children about their learning and looked at samples of work.  The inspector also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other aspects of early years education.  The inspectors observed children’s behaviour in lessons and at playtimes.  The inspectors reviewed a range of documentation about safeguarding. The inspectors scrutinised the records the school keeps in relation to safeguarding and welfare. The inspectors looked at the single central record of pre-employment checks and at records of staff training. They spoke with staff and pupils to understand the school’s culture of safeguarding.  The inspectors reviewed the responses submitted by parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, including free-text responses. The inspectors also reviewed the results of the responses to the staff survey and spoke with parents at the end of the school

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Inspection team

Sean Flood, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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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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