Maxilla Nursery School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Maxilla Nursery School 2a Bevington Road, London W10 5TN

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Outcome

Maxilla Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children enjoy coming to school every day. Leaders and staff strive to ensure that all children get off to a great start in their education. Staff are highly effective at helping children settle in, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This is a warm and welcoming school. Children benefit from a well-thought-out curriculum. Leaders’ expectations and ambition for all children are very high.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children love taking part in many stimulating and exciting activities. They are confident and articulate when expressing their thoughts and ideas to others. They develop curiosity and are encouraged to show great creativity in their play, indoors and outdoors. For example, children join in with and come up with many games using the extensive range of resources. They have fun learning about how to look after and water the plants in the planting area. Children also particularly enjoy coming together for a familiar story or song in ‘story time’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults know how to help children to behave in an excellent manner. They support children to play safely and with enthusiasm with each other. Adults are always on hand to deal with any concerns. Parents and carers greatly value the school as an inclusive environment where staff look after children well.

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

Leaders’ curricular thinking is highly developed. They ensure that the curriculum is ambitious and broad. Teachers support children’s communication and language development consistently well. High-quality interactions between adults and children help to embed key vocabulary effectively. This helps children to deepen their knowledge and skills. Staff are experts and skilled in supporting children to know more. They check children’s understanding regularly. This helps them to address any misconceptions early on. For example, adults supported children to identify and remember the properties of shapes accurately. 4 May 2023

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Adults encourage children to develop personally and socially. They have very high expectations of behaviour which children respond to positively. This helps children to remain focused on tasks and not to disrupt learning.

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Children have many creative opportunities here. Staff make sure that children’s language develops very well. This includes through staff sharing stories with children regularly. Children love to join in with rhymes and songs. They become familiar with a suitable range of books. Children enjoy retelling and creating their own stories. Staff model expertly to children how to use new vocabulary. For instance, they helped children to use words such as ‘under’, ‘next’ and beside’ accurately. The curriculum is carefully planned to build children’s early reading, drawing and writing. For example, children enjoyed cutting out and shaping letters for the school party invitations.

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Staff identify when children need extra help skilfully. They make sure that children with SEND take part fully in school life and activities. Additional support is consistently available, including, for example, input from specialists to improve children’s communication and social skills.

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Children understand the school rules and how to play and support each other. For example, they look after each other if they fall over when playing outside. Leaders promote many activities to help children to become healthy. For example, children enjoyed cutting fruit for a salad and learning about healthy eating. Children, including those with SEND, are supported to become confident and independent in their learning. For instance, with expert guidance from adults, children learn to use the nursery equipment safely, including hammers and nails when making objects outdoors.

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Children learn about different cultures and celebrate national occasions. For example, children enjoyed designing their coronation party invitations and making crowns. Adults support children to recognise different landmarks in London. Lunchtimes are calm and relaxing social experiences for children. Adults help children to cut their own food, use cutlery and say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Children take part in many sporting opportunities and go on lots of visits and outings. Leaders ensure that children learn about different roles that people can have in society. For example, children learn about people who help us such as doctors, nurses and the police.

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Staff spoke highly of the support that leaders provide for their workload and well-being. They appreciate that leaders emphasise the importance of spending time with children so that adults can develop a deep understanding of what children can do.

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Leaders, including the governing body, have a sharp oversight of the school. They think carefully about how to improve it further. Staff work very closely with parents. This helps everyone to work together to support all children to flourish.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 4 May 2023

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Leaders at all levels have developed a strong culture of safeguarding. Leaders and staff pride themselves in knowing their families and children well. Staff are extremely vigilant and trained regularly. This means that they have an in-depth understanding of different risks to children’s safety and well-being. Staff also know what to do if they have any concerns about children’s welfare.

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Leaders work closely with external professionals such as social workers and the local authority. Together, they identify factors that pose a risk to children and families, including those they may face in the local area. Leaders ensure that additional help is timely and personalised to children’s particular circumstances.

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Children are taught about how to keep themselves safe, including how to use equipment and resources in the classrooms safely.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged Maxilla Nursery school to be outstanding in February 2018.

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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.

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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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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. 4 May 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 February 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of a hard federation of two maintained nursery schools. The headteacher oversees both schools.  Leaders do not make use of 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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these areas of learning: literacy, communication and language, mathematics, understanding the world and physical development. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders. Inspectors visited each classroom and joined a range of sessions throughout the day. Inspectors talked to staff and children. They looked at documentation, including records of children’s learning. Inspectors also spoke with leaders about other areas of learning, including children’s personal, social and emotional development. 4 May 2023

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 Inspectors met with leaders responsible for safeguarding. Inspectors checked the record of staff suitability checks.  Inspectors held meetings with staff. They considered the responses to the online questionnaire for staff.  The lead inspector met with representatives of the governing body. He spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors met with parents at the start and end of the day. They also considered the responses to Ofsted’s surveys.

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Inspection team

Phil Garnham, lead inspector His Majesty’s 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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