West Heath Nursery School

Inspection of a good school: West Heath Nursery School 200 West Heath Road, Northfield, Birmingham, West Midlands B31 3HB

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Outcome

West Heath Nursery School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

West Heath Nursery School is a welcoming place to learn. Children settle into school quickly because they are well supported by adults. The mission statement ‘nurturing happy minds’ is reflected in the ethos of the school. Staff focus on helping every child flourish and achieve. This includes those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a caring and safe place where staff commit to children’s well-being. Staff ensure that children have clear knowledge of keeping themselves safe. For example, children talk about the importance of holding hands, wearing hats in the sun and not talking to strangers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children behave well because staff use consistent strategies to encourage children’s positive behaviour. Children follow the rules that the school has implemented, for example walking in school and saying kind words. This helps classrooms to be calm spaces where children learn well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children encounter a variety of experiences that enhance their wider development, such as forest school and woodwork. They enjoy spending time in the exciting outdoor area. Here, for example, they look for minibeasts and learn new vocabulary such as ‘woodlice’ and ‘wriggle.’ Children benefit from trips in the local community, such as to the shops and the farm.

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

The school has worked effectively to develop a curriculum that meets the needs of the children. It has been adjusted and implemented from the beginning of this academic year. However, the curriculum design is sometimes not clear about the key knowledge that children need to learn and remember, and therefore the best activity to be selected. As a consequence, a few staff are less clear about interpreting the curriculum and how it should be taught. The school knows it needs to refine the curriculum. Most staff have a 5 June 2024

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strong understanding of child development and learning, and ensure children achieve well.

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The school’s focus on building children’s communication and language skills is effective. Staff use rhymes, songs and other activities to engage and inspire children. They build on children’s comments and ideas to extend their knowledge.

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Children develop a love of stories, rhymes and songs. Storytime sessions are thoughtfully planned to meet the different ages and stages of children’s development. In story time, the older children show a secure knowledge of the characters in the books they have studied. They join in enthusiastically with the rhymes in stories, such as ‘The Three Little Pigs’. Older children are taught initial sounds for objects. The use of songs and music helps to make this learning fun.

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The school identifies children with SEND quickly and makes sure that they get the help they need promptly. This is strengthened by effective partnerships with external agencies and with parents and carers. As a result, children with SEND benefit fully from their time at the nursery and achieve well.

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The school understands the importance of working with parents. For example, children and parents enjoy using a lending library, which allows them to share books at home. Parents attend workshops in school, such as pre-writing, mathematics and behaviour strategies. These initiatives help parents to support their children’s learning.

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The environment, both indoors and outdoors, is calm and well organised. Children respect each other and show great care. Outdoors, for example, the children balance on the climbing equipment and develop their body strength. Such activities allow children to learn from trial and error, and make gains in their social, personal and physical skills. Similarly, indoors, children have opportunities to develop a range of skills. In mathematics, for example, children develop an appreciation of number and can count how many children were present in their group and record this using numbers.

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The school understands the importance of giving children a broad range of experiences and opportunities. It gives children a chance to learn how to develop their independence, such as putting on their coats and changing into forest school clothes and wellies. Children help to prepare snacks, cutting up the fruit, and at lunchtime are encouraged to find their lunch boxes and water bottles and open their packets and boxes.

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Staff are proud to work at this school. They value leaders’ investment in them. They state that leaders are considerate of their work-life balance and that they feel supported and listened to.

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Governors are ambitious for the school. They want the very best for the staff and children. However, those who are new to the role do not yet have the knowledge they need to provide effective challenge and support. 5 June 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some aspects of the early years curriculum design are unclear. Staff do not always have the guidance they need to consistently ensure high-quality provision for all children. As a result, in some areas of learning, children do not build their knowledge, skills and vocabulary over time as well as they could. The school needs to continue to refine the design of the curriculum to ensure all staff perform at the highest level and children are enabled to secure their learning and deepen their understanding better.  Some governors do not yet have enough knowledge of the strategic aspects of the school’s work, including the effectiveness of the curriculum. This means that they are not able to support and challenge leaders effectively. The school needs to ensure that governors undertake appropriate training to develop a good understanding of their role and the impact of leaders’ actions.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. 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 good 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. 5 June 2024

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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). 5 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7 November 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There have been many staff changes following the previous inspection.  The school does not use any 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 carried out deep dives in these subjects: communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, and literacy. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and some children about their learning and looked at samples of children’s work. 5 June 2024

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 Inspectors met regularly with the headteacher. They also spoke to the SEND co- ordinator.  Inspectors spoke to the headteacher and staff about children’s behaviour, policies and procedures. Inspectors observed children’s behaviour.  Inspectors spoke with children to hear their views of their education as well as about behaviour and safety.  Inspectors reviewed information about other areas of learning and the wider curriculum.  Inspectors met with parents to hear their views about the school.  The lead inspector spoke by telephone with the headteacher from a local school who supports the school.  The lead inspector spoke with governors.  Inspectors spoke with staff and considered responses to the Ofsted staff survey. They also considered the responses of parents to the Ofsted Parent View survey.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the

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extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children’s interests first.

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Inspection team

Lynda Townsend, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Amarjit Cheema Ofsted Inspector 5 June 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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