Purley Nursery School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Purley Nursery School 58 Pampisford Road, Purley, Surrey CR8 2NE

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Outcome

Purley Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Purley Nursery is a happy and welcoming school. Staff share a heartfelt commitment to ensuring children get the best possible start to their education. This ambition is realised. The motto of ‘achieving and growing together’ is embodied by children and staff each day. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They feel well informed and know who to go to if they have any concerns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Purley Nursery provides children with a calm and purposeful space, where routines are well established and consistently reinforced. Children behave well during both focus sessions and at other times. They are kind and considerate, engage positively and play very well together. Children are kept safe at school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum is ambitious and well designed. Learning, both inside and beyond the classroom, is meaningful. Children enjoy climbing, riding the bikes and growing their own vegetables to cook. In the forest school, children experience an array of opportunities to sing songs, toast marshmallows and become immersed in the world around them. Everyone is focused on helping children to become confident and independent. For example, children experience their local community by visiting the shops, cafes and library. They learn about road safety when going out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children’s experience at Purley Nursery prepares them exceptionally well for the next stage of their education.

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

Leaders have established an ambitious curriculum that identifies the knowledge, skills and experiences children need to secure through each area of learning. The curriculum is designed to encourage children to follow their interests and learn through play while building the knowledge and skills they need. 14 November 2023

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From the time children join the school, staff work closely with parents and carers to understand each child’s interests, needs and circumstances. This information is used to inform the range of rich and interesting activities that underpin the curriculum. As a result, children engage in a stimulating mixture of familiar and new experiences that build knowledge and encourage curiosity. For example, children develop their understanding of colours by seeing them in the different contexts of fireworks, Diwali and Rangoli patterns.

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Children’s early communication and language skills are given high priority. For example, staff read and share stories and rhymes to children each day. These are chosen carefully for their rich content and repetitive phrases, which children learn and readily join in with. Staff set up opportunities linked to these books for children to extend their spoken language. This prepares children well for learning phonics from their Reception Year.

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Staff are well trained and knowledgeable about early education. Leaders and staff regularly take time to discuss what each child has been learning. This information is used effectively to refine what children need to learn next and identify any additional help they might need. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve well. This is because they are swiftly identified. Staff adapt activities and ensure that children get the right support to be fully included.

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Behaviour is calm, and the children move around the setting well, including at snack time. Mutual respect and high levels of care can be seen between staff and children. Children learn about and practise good behaviour. For example, they learn to take turns and listen when adults and other children are speaking. Leaders work closely with parents to make sure that everyone feels safe and that children attend school regularly.

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There are high expectations for children’s personal development. Lots of opportunities are provided to embody the values of the school, including being kind and respectful. The curriculum is designed to develop children’s independence. For example, they are encouraged to work with different people and ask for help when they need it.

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Staff enjoy working at the school. They feel valued by leaders, including those responsible for governance. Staff feel listened to and are confident that their workload and well-being are taken seriously by leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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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 14 November 2023

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serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in October 2013.

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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). 14 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Maria Reeve (Head of School) Joanne Richardson (Executive Headteacher) Website www.purley.croydon.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of a federation with one other local school. The executive headteacher works across both schools.  No use is made of alternative provision.  The school has breakfast club and after-school provision on site.

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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 held meetings with the executive headteacher and head of school. The lead inspector met governors and spoke with a representative of the local authority. 14 November 2023

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◼ Inspectors carried out deep dives in these areas of learning: communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, physical development and understanding the world. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, spoke to members of staff, visited sessions, and looked at documentation. ◼ Inspectors reviewed the single central record of staff suitability checks. Inspectors met with leaders responsible for safeguarding. They sampled safeguarding records. ◼ Inspectors observed children’s learning throughout the day. Inspectors spoke with children informally. They held meetings with key persons to talk about children’s learning and development. Inspectors reviewed the responses to the staff survey. ◼ Inspectors met with parents at the end of sessions. They considered parents’ responses to Ofsted’s parent questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Sarah Lack, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jonathan Newby Ofsted Inspector 14 November 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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