Kings Norton Nursery School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Kings Norton Nursery School Westhill Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham, West Midlands B38 8SY

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Outcome

Kings Norton Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children are very happy and settled at Kings Norton Nursery. Whatever their starting points, children are exceptionally well supported in their learning and play. Staff are experts in understanding the needs of young children. In turn, children are inquisitive learners. The excellent start that they enjoy ensures that they are fully prepared for their next school. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged children thrive and achieve highly alongside their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults keep children safe, including when the children excitedly explore the learning environment and the captivating activities on offer. Staff always have children’s best interests and welfare at heart. Children are confident that adults will care for and support them. The exceptional relationships that staff have with children create a warm and secure atmosphere where all children excel.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour is exemplary. Children concentrate deeply. They are keen to persevere with a task until they get it right. Learning new skills excites the children. Children form strong friendships, and they care greatly for one another.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Visits to school by parents and their child take place before children start. This prepares the children well for when they join the school. Parents value the school’s work immensely.

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

The nursery is extremely well led. Leaders are highly ambitious for every child, irrespective of their starting points. The whole curriculum is progressive and builds over time. The nursery team meets regularly to discuss what the children need to learn next. The school’s motto, ‘ To value all children as individuals, promote their confidence and excitement in learning’, threads through the curriculum. Staff know what they want children to learn and when. Adults ensure there are no limits to what the children can achieve. 4 October 2023

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Leaders ensure that staff have strong subject expertise to deliver the curriculum. Staff use their expert knowledge to support children’s vocabulary development and extend children’s thinking and problem-solving skills.

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The school’s focus on building children’s communication and language skills is a strength. Staff adjust their interactions to meet each child’s needs. For example, when children are building with bricks, staff extend some children’s learning by encouraging them to describe and try out how to make the towers more stable. For other children, staff repeat important words and mime the actions. All of this is helping to develop children’s communication skills well.

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Staff promote reading well. Children develop a love of stories, rhymes and songs. Story time sessions are thoughtfully planned to meet the different ages and stages of children’s development. Staff use symbols and objects to help develop children’s awareness of what is coming up next. In addition, staff ensure that older children have a secure knowledge of the characters in the books they are reading.

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The environment, both indoors and outdoors, is calm and well organised. Children respect each other and show great care. They manage their behaviour well. Relationships between adults and children are excellent.

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The school’s provision for children’s personal development is impressive. There are many opportunities for children to develop their wider experiences. Leaders pay serious attention to teaching children about the positive difference they can make to the world and their community. For example, children learn about their rights, develop an understanding of the lives of children around the world and raise money for charities. In addition, the school runs several workshops for parents and their children. As part of these workshops, parents and children learn about safety and how children can keep themselves safe.

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Leaders value the dedicated and hard-working staff team. Staff feel extremely well supported by leaders.

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Governors set a clear strategic direction for the quality of education. They support the headteacher and staff very well in implementing plans. Governors know the school and community exceptionally well. They take the future direction and sustainability of the school very seriously.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 4 October 2023

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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 the school to be outstanding in September 2014.

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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' is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 4 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.kingsnortonnurseryschool.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19 April 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in September 2022. There have also been some staff changes since the previous inspection.  No pupils attend alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors completed deep dives in communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, and mathematics. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and spoke to some pupils about their learning.  Inspectors met regularly with the headteacher, who is also the special educational needs coordinator. 4 October 2023

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 Inspectors spoke to the headteacher and staff about children’s behaviour and about policies and procedures. The inspectors observed children’s behaviour.  The inspectors spoke to children, including children with SEND, to hear their views about their education as well as about behaviour and safety.  The inspectors reviewed information about other areas of learning and the wider curriculum.  The inspectors met with some parents and considered responses to the online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View.  The inspector spoke by telephone with the quality improvement and strategy early years adviser from the local authority about the work of the school.  The lead inspector spoke with the chair of governors and other governors.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around

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safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Lynda Townsend, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Carli Mccallin Ofsted Inspector 4 October 2023

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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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