Ganneys Meadow Nursery School and Family Centre

Inspection of an outstanding school: Ganneys Meadow Nursery School and Family Centre New Hey Road, Woodchurch, Wirral, Merseyside CH49 8HB

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Outcome

Ganneys Meadow Nursery School and Family Centre continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children are provided with the best possible start to their education at this exceptional school. The school is highly ambitious for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children benefit from a wide range of learning activities. These are delivered by skilled staff who understand the individual needs of each child. Many children, including those with SEND, achieve extremely well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children do all they can to meet the high expectations of behaviour that the school has. This begins from the moment children join the provision for two-year-olds. Children learn the importance of sharing and cooperating with one another. Older children learn how to include others by welcoming them into their games. Children who need extra help to manage their emotions are ably supported by nurturing staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children are happy and enjoy coming to school. They benefit from caring and supportive relationships with staff. Staff help children to become more independent. Children are confident and clearly communicate their needs and opinions to staff. Children learn from an early age what it means to be part of a community. Activities such as singing at a local residential home bring this to life.

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

The school’s curriculum is aspirational. It is meticulously designed to meet the needs and interests of children, including those with SEND. The school has carefully considered what children should learn in the provision for two-year-olds and how this is built upon when they progress to the Nursery Year. The school has put effective systems in place to identify the additional needs of children with SEND. Carefully considered support and resources ensure that children with SEND progress well through the curriculum. 25 January 2024

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Staff are highly trained in educating young children, including two-year-olds. They have an expert knowledge of child development. Staff benefit from high-quality training. This enables them to craft engaging activities for children, both indoors and outdoors. These activities help children to connect new knowledge to what they already know.

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Staff teach the curriculum exceptionally well. Staff have a detailed understanding of where each child is up to in the curriculum. They carefully check that children have learned and remembered the important knowledge and skills. Staff identify and address any gaps in children’s knowledge with precision before they introduce the next steps in learning. When children leave the school, they are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Children attending the specially resourced provision for children with SEND (specially resourced provision) follow the curriculum alongside their peers. Staff tailor learning activities to meet these children’s individual needs. Staff are skilled in developing children’s language and communication skills, as well as supporting their social interactions. Leaders work effectively with a range of external professionals in supporting these children to achieve very well.

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The importance of developing children’s communication and language flows through the school. Staff skilfully help children to use words and gestures to ask questions and communicate their ideas. Staff explore new and interesting words as part of the different learning activities. Children hear lots of carefully chosen language repeated and modelled to them by staff. This helps to build children’s knowledge and understanding of vocabulary and language structures. For example, they confidently use mathematical language in their play, such as counting dinosaurs and asking for one more block.

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Children develop a love of books. Children, including two-year-olds, know and enjoy many stories, rhymes and songs. They learn about reading through the well-chosen stories and non-fiction books that staff share with them. These books inform, challenge and enthuse the children.

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The school’s clear rules and routines help to create calm classrooms in which children learn and flourish. Children act sensibly, take care of resources and are keen to explore the well-resourced classrooms and outdoor areas.

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Children benefit from an extensive range of wider development opportunities. As part of their learning about healthy lifestyles, children pick, wash and eat fruit from the school orchard. Children learn about different jobs through visits from people such as dentists, builders and police officers. They learn about different festivals during the year, and families come together at school for celebrations such as Bonfire Night.

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Governors work in close collaboration with the school to realise their shared ambition for continuous improvement. The school is highly considerate of staff’s workload and well- being when making these improvements. Leaders at all levels are focused on giving children the best possible start to education. Staff are extremely proud to work at the school. They appreciate the support that they receive, which helps them to deliver the 25 January 2024

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curriculum exceptionally well. Many parents value what the school achieves for their children.

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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 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in September 2017.

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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). 25 January 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 19 and 20 September 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school operates a specially resourced provision for children with SEND, which opened in September 2022. This caters for four- and five-year-old children with social and communication needs and complex learning difficulties. At the time of the inspection, there were 36 children on roll at the specially resourced provision.  The school includes places for two-year-old children.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.  The governing body operates a breakfast club and after-school 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. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken this into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: communication and language, early reading, mathematics and personal, social and emotional development. For each 25 January 2024

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deep dive, the inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to staff and looked at samples of children’s work. Inspectors spoke with children when visiting lessons.  The inspectors spoke with the headteacher, other school leaders and members of staff.  The lead inspector spoke with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. The lead inspector also spoke with a representative of the local authority.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders and staff; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children’s interests first.  The inspectors observed children’s behaviour in lessons.  The inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and well-being. They also

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considered the views of staff shared through Ofsted’s online staff survey.  The inspectors spoke with some parents and carers. They considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View. This included the free-text responses.

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Inspection team

David Robinson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Victoria Burnside His Majesty’s Inspector 25 January 2024

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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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