Castleway Nursery School

Inspection of Leasowe Nursery School and Family Centre Twickenham Drive, Moreton, Wirral, Merseyside CH46 2QF

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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 Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 22 and 23 June 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leasowe Nursery School is a happy place for children to learn. Parents, carers and children are welcomed with a kind, warm and friendly smile as they arrive at school each day.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children feel safe. They trust staff to care for them when they need comfort or reassurance. Children benefit from the positive relationships that they have with staff. Adults help children to settle quickly into a supportive learning environment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders expect all children to do well. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children are eager to learn and they enjoy the range of experiences and activities that they are offered. However, in many areas of learning, leaders have not organised the curriculum effectively enough. This hinders children from achieving well and from learning all that they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children behave well in school. Bullying is not an issue. Children know that adults will step in quickly if they need help to sort out any difficulties.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The nursery is well organised and children know the school routines well. Children develop independence, for example they are confident to hang their coats up as they arrive at school. They can quickly find their name card for the register.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children enjoy the outside environment. It is full of varied, interesting and fun activities which contribute to their wider development. For example, in the woodland area children love to learn new skills, practise what they know and explore ways to solve problems.

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better?

The new school leadership team has wasted no time in trying to get this school back on its feet. They have ensured that a curriculum that covers all of the overarching areas of learning in the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’ is in place. However, in most areas of learning, leaders’ curriculum thinking is still in development. They have not thought in enough detail about exactly what children should learn. Leaders have not provided staff with enough information about the most important knowledge that children need to know and be able to do. Consequently, some children are not as well prepared as they should be for the next steps in their education.

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better?

Staff’s enthusiasm for learning engages children and encourages them to join in the activities on offer. However, the activities that some teachers prepare are not always well matched to the content that staff want children to learn. This holds a few children back in their learning and development. 22 and 23 June 2022

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In aspects of learning such as communication and language, staff are confident about spotting and checking what children know and understand. However, in some other areas of learning, staff do not have enough detailed knowledge of the curriculum to gather the same quality of information about how well children are learning. This means that staff do not know precisely what gaps children have in their learning, nor exactly how well children are learning across the curriculum.

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The provision for two-year-old children caters well for this age group. Staff build strong and trusting relationships with children. This, along with well-thought-out activities, enable these children to get off to a good start. Staff successfully encourage the youngest children to count, play, explore their environment and enjoy the stories that they hear.

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Leaders have begun to invest in staff training and they have appropriate plans in place to develop this further. For example, leaders have appropriately focused training on the quality of interactions that staff have with children. This training has helped staff to foster children’s development in communication and language.

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A love of books and stories are an important feature of school life. Children huddle around any adult that has a story to tell. At the time of the inspection, children were often seen initiating storytelling by taking a book to an adult to share with them.

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Older children enjoy being involved in small-group sessions to develop their listening skills and to prepare them to learn letters and sounds. However, children do not get enough chances to practise the sounds and skills that they are learning at other times in the school day. This means that opportunities are missed for children to consolidate their learning in relation to early reading.

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Leaders identify the additional needs of children with SEND early and accurately. They work well with parents and professionals to make sure that these children receive the support that they need. Leaders ensure that these children have the same opportunities to access the curriculum as their peers.

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Children play well together in a calm environment. Staff model important learning behaviours such as listening, concentrating and not giving up.

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Staff make sure that children learn about keeping themselves healthy. They talk to children about healthy snacks and food, as well as encouraging them to enjoy physical activity. Children learn how to recognise their feelings and how to manage them appropriately.

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Governors are holding leaders increasingly to account for their work to improve the curriculum. Together with school leaders, they know what is working well and what needs further work. Staff are well supported with their workload. Most are proud to work at the school. 22 and 23 June 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff and governors are well trained and knowledgeable about keeping children safe. The procedures in place to identify and report safeguarding concerns are well understood by all staff.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are strong advocates for vulnerable children and their families. Where safeguarding needs are identified, support is timely. Leaders engage well with external agencies when needed.

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Safeguarding

The curriculum provides opportunities for children to learn about their personal safety. For example, children learn about staying safe in the woodland area attached to the school and they learn how to use equipment correctly, such as scissors.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In several areas of learning, leaders have not given sufficient thought to the most important knowledge that children must learn. 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 should identify the exact curriculum content in these areas of learning so that staff know exactly what knowledge children must learn.  In some instances, the activities that staff design to support children’s learning are not matched closely enough to the content that staff want children to know. This prevents children from learning all that they could. Leaders must ensure that the activities staff choose for children match exactly to what they want children to know and be able to do.  Some staff do not use assessment systems consistently well to check what children know and understand across all areas of learning. This is partly because

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

leaders have not identified the exact content of the curriculum that staff should be assessing. This makes it difficult for staff to know precisely what gaps children have in their knowledge and understanding. Leaders need to identify the knowledge that children must learn across the curriculum and ensure that staff are confident in how to check what children know and understand across all areas of learning.  Children do not get enough chances to practise the sounds and skills that they are learning across the curriculum. This means that opportunities are missed for children to consolidate new learning. Leaders should ensure that staff provide opportunities for children to practice and reinforce their early reading and growing early phonetic knowledge across the curriculum. 22 and 23 June 2022

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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. 22 and 23 June 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10212226 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 9 October 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection in October 2019, Leasowe Nursery School and Family Centre has federated with Castleway Primary School.  As part of The Unity Federation, the school shares a governing body. An executive headteacher oversees both schools.  The school offers provision for two-year-old children.  Leaders do not make use of alternative provision.

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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 that the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken this into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors spoke with the executive headteacher and deputy headteacher. They also spoke to the special educational needs coordinator. They held discussions with staff, which focused on the well-being and the safeguarding of children. 22 and 23 June 2022

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 An inspector spoke with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. An inspector also spoke with representatives of the local authority.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including that relating to school improvement, safeguarding and the checks undertaken on newly appointed staff.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the responses received via the free-text facility. They considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff surveys. They also spoke to children throughout the inspection.  An inspector talked with children about their favourite books and stories. The inspector also observed children sharing a story with an adult.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, communication and language and physical development. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of

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lessons, spoke to teaching staff, observed children and spoke to some of them about their learning.

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Inspection team

Sue Eastwood, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Maria McGarry Ofsted Inspector 22 and 23 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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