Wallace Road Nursery School

Inspection of Wallace Road Nursery School Wallace Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN2 7EE

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding 8 and 9 June 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Wallace Road Nursery is a special place. Staff value every child and know them really well. Most children are eager to explore the setting as soon as they arrive. They understand the routines well. Children who find it harder to settle get the right help and support to build their confidence so that they can join in the fun.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are ambitious for children. They want children to be curious, self-motivated and ‘open windows on the world’. Children make choices about where to play and what to do as independent learners. They become engrossed in what they are doing. They welcome their friends to enjoyable activities. Occasionally, children fall out. Staff intervene skilfully. They help children learn how to make the situation better.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children talk to adults readily when they are worried about anything. Staff take children’s worries and concerns seriously. Children feel secure with their trusted adults. Parents and carers feel that their children are safe and cared for well. They say that children get off to a great start. Comments such as, ‘I honestly couldn’t imagine sending my child anywhere else,’ are typical.

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better?

All staff prioritise children’s personal development. They spot children’s interests. They teach children how to explain what they would like to do. Children learn to recognise their own wants and needs. Staff model how to build friendships. They show children how to invite others to join their play. Children begin to understand how others feel and they adapt their play appropriately.

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better?

Leaders make sure that developing children’s language underpins the curriculum. Staff help children to speak in longer sentences. Staff help children who are at an early stage of learning English. They encourage children to use words to describe what they see and what they are doing. Occasionally, staff do not spot when children have not understood words or concepts well enough.

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better?

Children are highly engaged in their learning. This includes children who are disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children persevere when things go wrong. For example, when beads fall off a thread, they know that they can be threaded on again. They sustain their focus for long periods of time. Sometimes, staff use these moments to build children’s vocabulary. For example, they explain that elastic in a bracelet is stretchy. However, some opportunities to help children to learn new words are missed.

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better?

Leaders have made sure that there are plenty of opportunities for children to be active. Children learn to take risks using the equipment, for example safely riding a tricycle down a slope. Staff notice where children are trying to challenge themselves. For example, they help children to adjust their position to go down a slide 8 and 9 June 2022

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successfully. Staff encourage children to develop their confidence. For example, they ride a scooter in tandem until the child wants to do this by themselves.

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Children learn how to take care of themselves. They choose different types of fruit and vegetables during snack time. They pour their own drinking water. They enjoy sharing special times together, such as birthdays. However, children do not yet get enough chances to broaden their knowledge about different cultures in modern Britain.

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Parents praise the school’s effective communication. Typically, one parent stated: ‘I am always kept in the know about my child’s development and how the staff will support her in developing further.’ Leaders help parents to understand the importance of bringing their child to every nursery session. They help parents to understand the importance of school and get it right from the start.

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Leaders and governors check on staff’s well-being. They supported staff during the more challenging times of the pandemic. Staff feel well supported, and morale is high. They share leaders’ vision of putting children at the heart of everything that they do.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make sure that staff know the signs that they should look for that could indicate that a child may be at risk. Staff get regular updates. They know how to report concerns. Records are well kept and leaders check them carefully. Leaders make sure that families get the right help when needed.

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Safeguarding

Leaders work well with different external agencies. They are unafraid to make repeated calls to gain advice and support when needed. They pass information to the next school to make sure that children continue to get the welfare support that they need.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Curriculum thinking in a few areas of learning is not yet as sharp as it could be, for example in understanding the world. Leaders have not always identified opportunities for children to deepen their learning. Leaders should make sure that the curriculum in these areas of learning is refined further so that children gain the knowledge that they need to be fully prepared for the next stage of their learning.  Opportunities to extend children’s learning through staff interactions are not always exploited as well as they might be. Staff do not identify consistently well what children could learn next. Sometimes, children’s misconceptions are not addressed. Leaders should ensure that all staff clearly understand how children’s knowledge builds in all 8 and 9 June 2022

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areas of learning. They should make sure that interactions consistently develop children’s knowledge, skills and vocabulary.

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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.

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How can I feed back my views?

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

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 8 and 9 June 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.wallaceroadnurseryschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12 February 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There have been changes to the teaching staff of the school since the previous inspection.  The number of children on roll has declined since the previous inspection. Currently, the school does not offer places to two-year-old children.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

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 school 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 school.  Inspectors spoke with the headteacher. The lead inspector spoke with an adviser from the local authority, the chair of governors and other members of the governing body. 8 and 9 June 2022

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives into the following areas of learning: communication and language, physical development, understanding the world and mathematics. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders and visited sessions in the nursery. They spoke with children and staff.  To inspect safeguarding, inspectors spoke with safeguarding leaders, parents and staff. They scrutinised documents, including safeguarding records and policies.  Inspectors spoke with parents at the beginning and end of the day. They considered the views expressed on Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors considered a range of documents. They took into account responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Hazel Henson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Paul Heery Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 June 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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