Flatts Nursery School

Inspection of Flatts Nursery School Ashworth Green, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire WF13 2SU

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding 29 and 30 June 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Flatts Nursery School is a hive of activity where children love to play and learn. Children are happy and safe. They enjoy interacting with the well-thought-out activities that staff prepare. Leaders’ ambitious curriculum spikes children’s curiosity. Children develop positive attitudes to their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children are kind and thoughtful to one another. They are respectful and use their manners with everyone they speak to. Staff plan a range of opportunities to help children manage their feelings, from discussions during snack time, to listening to a range of books that help them learn about the world. As a result, children manage their emotions well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Positive relationships exist between staff and children. Children’s behaviour is good. They follow simple instructions and know the routines of the day. This is because they understand the three simple rules: ‘Be ready, Be kind, Be safe’. Staff reinforce these continually throughout the day.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children enjoy playing games and interacting with residents at the local care home. These visits help to develop children’s language and social skills. As one parent summed up, ‘I think the visit is brilliant and my child is very excited. It is a great way to show them (children) how to respect their elders.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders develop strong relationships with families from the moment children start Nursery. Leaders foster these through regular stay and play sessions, coffee mornings and parent workshops. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the ‘Brilliant staff’ and say they are ‘very caring and child centred.’

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better?

Despite the turbulence in staffing, leaders have developed a curriculum that is ambitious. They have taken into account the impact of COVID-19 on children’s communication, language and confidence. They have set out the knowledge and skills that they want children to be able to know and do. This prepares children for Reception Year.

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better?

Leaders ensure that children complete nine curriculum goals before they leave Nursery. Children progress through the four ‘milestones’ towards the goal. One of the goals is to play a board game with other children. The ‘milestones’ become more complex as children develop. For example, two- and three-year-old children play simple games, initially with one child that builds up to five children. Staff show children a photograph of an animal that they have previously learned. Children can say what the animal is and locate it on their card. They play well together, take turns and wait patiently until the photograph is revealed. Four-year-old children play increasingly complex board games, where they roll a dice and move their pieces 29 and 30 June 2022

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around the board. Children use mathematical knowledge they have learned, such as measuring in centimetres and metres.

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Staff plan exciting and engaging activities that help children build knowledge across areas of learning. Activities in the outdoor area spark children’s imagination. Staff support children to make giant installations using materials outside. Staff develop children’s mathematical vocabulary through activities such as measuring the height and width of tyres used outside. Staff encourage children to write for different purposes, such as writing a birthday card after they receive a letter from Mr Squirrel who they find hiding in a tree.

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Children love to listen to adults read the quality books leaders have carefully chosen. They cannot wait to finish off the end of the sentence being read to them. Staff select poetry books that encourage children to develop their sense of rhyme. Children enjoy reciting the stories and rhymes that they have listened to.

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Staff engage well with children. They develop children’s vocabulary through the conversations that take place during various activities. However, some adults do not consistently model the correct pronunciation of words. They do not always pronounce the correct sounds when supporting children to listen to the distinct sounds in a simple word. Leaders have not noticed this because they do not check the delivery of the curriculum often enough. As a result, some children learn incorrect sounds and words.

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Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Leaders accurately identify children’s needs quickly. Leaders work with parents and external agencies to plan the right support. Leaders ensure staff are trained so that they can effectively support children with SEND. Staff review children’s targets regularly. As a result, children with SEND progress well.

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Leaders plan opportunities to support children’s personal development. Children celebrate their own cultures and beliefs and those of religions such as Islam and Christianity. Leaders plan activities to promote this, for example, making lanterns for the Dewsbury lantern festival. Leaders encourage children to be active citizens. Children vote for their favourite snacks and which ‘box’ they want to play with during free time.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel well supported by the headteacher. They are confident that leaders take their workload and well-being into account and that they are listened to.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff receive regular training in safeguarding. Leaders use scenarios to develop staff’s understanding of what to do if there is a safeguarding incident. 29 and 30 June 2022

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Leaders work closely with a range of external agencies to support families in need. Staff record any concerns on the school’s safeguarding systems. Although incidents are dealt with, the actions that leaders take are not regularly recorded. Equally, staff record accidents that take place and inform parents. However, leaders do not analyse their safeguarding or accident logs to identify any patterns or trends. They rely on ‘good communication’ between each other.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some staff do not model the correct pronunciation of words to children or pronounce sounds correctly. As a result, some children use incorrect sounds and words themselves. These errors have continued, as leaders have not consistently checked on this aspect of the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that they check the delivery of the curriculum so that they can offer training and support to staff when necessary.  Leaders do not analyse the information that they record for safeguarding incidents and accidents. They do not identify patterns or trends in safeguarding incidents or accidents. Leaders rely on communication with each other to ensure that these things are responded to. Leaders need to ensure that they analyse information and identify patterns or trends so that they can mitigate future incidents.

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How can I feed back my views?

You can give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school, 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. 29 and 30 June 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10200739 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 19 December 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since last inspection there have been significant changes to staffing. This includes the appointment of a new headteacher.

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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 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.  A wide variety of school documents, including the school improvement plan, were reviewed by the inspectors.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, acting headteacher, representatives of the local governing body and held a discussion with a local authority representative.  Inspectors carried out deep dives into these areas of learning: communication and language, personal social and emotional development, literacy, mathematics and physical development. For each deep dive, inspectors spoke to the 29 and 30 June 2022

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headteacher, acting headteacher and observed specific children at different times of the day.  The inspectors took account the views of parents through informal discussions at the beginning of the school day and through parents’ responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspectors considered the school’s relevant policies and records, scrutinised the single central record and checked the school’s procedures for the safe recruitment of staff.

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Inspection team

Jenny Thomas, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Pritiben Patel Ofsted Inspector 29 and 30 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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