Alfreton Nursery School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Alfreton Nursery School Stanton Close, Alfreton DE55 7SH

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Outcome

Alfreton Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This Nursery school is a special place for children to learn and develop. Its ambition is ‘to make every child’s unique learning journey an inspirational adventure’. This is lived out every day. Children thrive because their needs are met exceptionally well. Highly skilled adults nurture and inspire children. Warm and trusting relationships are nourished. No limits are put on what children can achieve and accomplish.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Even before a child begins their journey at this Nursery, secure partnerships are established with parents and carers. Families are greeted and welcomed with a positive, personal affirmation. As one parent said, echoing the views of many: ‘This is the most wonderful Nursery. I wouldn’t want my child to attend anywhere else.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The learning environment is enticing and well considered. It sparks children’s interests and curiosity. Every week, children perform in a production to retell familiar stories. Each child has a role to play on the stage or behind the scenes. This includes costume designers, makeup artists and narrators.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Subtly, staff use images, signing and simple language to ensure routines are clear and consistently implemented. Additional ‘enhancements’ are provided for children who may need support to understand emotions. The impact of these enhancements is rapid.

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

The school’s curriculum carefully considers how key concepts and knowledge link to children’s stages of development. Through the acorn, sapling and oak stages of the curriculum, the school ensures that the children are provided with a rich, broad and ambitious curriculum. Woven into this is a programme for children to understand and regulate their own learning and thinking. 26 March 2024

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Adults have a deep understanding of how children learn and develop. They use research- led techniques and strategies to ensure that the Nursery environment and teaching help children have the best start to their early years education. Adults skilfully help children to learn new things through precise teaching and clear modelling. Parents are encouraged to join in and share with this learning. During a baking session, children used words associated with size, shape and texture. The dough was sent home to be baked. These moments are shared through photographs. When needed, the school supports families in establishing strong routines for attendance in preparation for statutory schooling.

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There is a clear focus on developing children’s communication and language skills. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn to communicate through pictures and symbols. Those who are at the early stages of learning to speak English receive targeted, precise support that helps them to understand key words and phrases in a repetitive manner. When appropriate, children learn to explain, justify and describe what they see, know and understand. For example, when learning about habitats, children discussed how, unlike humans, ‘John the cockroach’ had a skeleton on the outside of his body.

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Carefully chosen stories instil a love of reading for all children. They become engrossed in the emotions of a book. They join in with repeated words and phrases. Every moment is taken to promote learning. Adults encourage children to ‘zoom in’ on key aspects of the story so that they can be discussed and expanded on.

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Outdoor spaces are used exceptionally well to support children’s physical development. In the woodland area, children grow produce. They use tools and equipment to develop their upper body strength. They use the space with care and understand the rules to keep them safe. Children learn to express their ideas to movement and music. They learn to be musicians and appreciate the sounds and melodies they hear. They make marks to represent notation, providing instructions for the listener on how to respond through movement.

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Governors are passionate about their vision for the Nursery. They provide the school with a healthy amount of support and challenge. Staff feel valued. They are overwhelmingly proud to work at this Nursery. They welcome the opportunities they receive for professional development.

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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. 26 March 2024

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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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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in March 2015.

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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). 26 March 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26 February 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in September 2019.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgment 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 spoke to children to find out about their time at the Nursery school. They also spoke to a range of staff.  Inspectors spoke to the headteacher and other senior staff. The lead inspector spoke with a representative from the local authority and members of the governing body.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in communication and language, physical development and expressive arts and design. For each deep dive, inspectors visited adult-directed sessions and observed continuous provision. They spoke with staff about 26 March 2024

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the way these areas are planned and taught.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including leaders’ plans to improve the school, their self-evaluation documents and information published on the school’s website.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and children; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children’s interests first.  Inspectors spoke to parents on site. They also took account of parents’ and staff’s views through Ofsted’s online surveys

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Inspection team

Shaheen Hussain, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

George Huthart Ofsted Inspector 26 March 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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