Maidenhead Nursery School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Maidenhead Nursery School School Lane, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7PG

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Outcome

Maidenhead Nursery School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children learn to become confident and curious learners in this wonderfully inclusive and nurturing school. From the moment children join, staff prioritise getting to know them and their families well. This means that children receive the support they need to help them excel. This particularly benefits the large number of children who speak English as an additional language or children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff use their expert knowledge and training to create fun and stimulating learning experiences that meet individual needs. These purposeful opportunities develop children’s knowledge and skills effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children learn to create elaborate stories using a wide range of impressive vocabulary. Children who speak Polish, Urdu or Punjabi are also supported well by multilingual staff. This rapidly enhances children’s language acquisition and comprehension. Consequently, these children quickly become fluent in English and communicate with their peers effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

High standards of care and education ensure every child achieves their best. Children show an excellent attitude towards learning and each other. They play cooperatively, forming positive friendships. The school rules about being ‘ready, respectful and safe’ are understood by all. Consistent routines, such as tidying up as you go, ensure children are respectful of their environment.

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

Staff use their expert knowledge of child development to teach an ambitious and broad curriculum. It starts with a very strong transition into the school. Home visits and staff vigilance aid the identification of any additional support that children with SEND may need. Staff use effective strategies, such as using picture references and choice boards, to help children with SEND have independent choice when completing tasks. Children quickly learn to focus and pay attention. This enables them to practise important skills over and over again, helping them to learn well. 21 May 2024

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The school’s curriculum fully meets the expectations of the early years foundation stage. Every area has been meticulously designed, with very clear, ambitious endpoints. The curriculum identifies the smaller milestones that children will achieve. Staff plan dynamically, consistently adapting learning experiences to help children gain a wide and impressive vocabulary and a secure grasp of number, space and shape. Children create their own story boards using images and toys. They take turns to make the story more complex and detailed. Twice each day, children sit and are enthralled as they listen to engaging staff read from a wide range of interesting books. These opportunities help develop children’s imagination and love of stories.

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Staff support children to manage their feelings very well. Quiet ‘Calm Corners’ help children to talk to staff about their worries, using books, images and toys. Staff use dolls to help children to problem-solve any conflicts they may have or to explore the importance of kindness and respect. Routines are so embedded, and understood by all, that transitions throughout the day appear effortless. A feeling of calm and order enables children to feel safe and well cared for. They love attending school, and they do so with regularity.

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The school draws impressively on the diversity of its multicultural context and wider community. Children and their families proudly share their heritage stories and learn about important cultural events, such as Eid and Easter. This enables children to learn even more about the wider world around them. Visits from doctors and paramedics help children learn about these important roles. They practise taking their pulse and learning about how the heart works. Children take care of their chickens and show high levels of responsibility when cleaning them out and collecting eggs. When learning about reptiles, a mobile zoo gives children the opportunity to hold snakes and lizards, making learning even more memorable.

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Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the inclusive approach of the school. They also feel embraced by the care and attention shown by staff. Equally, staff feel well supported and enormously proud of the work they do. They are relentless in developing and sharing their expertise with other local schools. Staff training is informed by educational research and is of excellent quality. This enables the school to provide an outstanding quality of education and care for all children.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 21 May 2024

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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 January 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). 21 May 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Sarah Cottle (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Website www.nurseryfederation.co.uk/maidenhead

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12 June 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Maidenhead Nursery School is federated with The Lawns Nursery School and Cookham Nursery School. The federation is led by an executive headteacher, under one governing body.  Nursery provision at the school is currently for two-year-old through to five-year-old children.  The school does not currently 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.  The lead inspector met with governors, including the chair of governors. The lead inspector also met with a representative of the local authority. 21 May 2024

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 To understand the quality of education provided by the school, the inspection team examined certain aspects of the early years foundation stage curriculum in detail (deep dives). This inspection included a deep dive in the specific area of mathematics and in the prime areas of communication and language and personal, social and emotional development. Inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders and staff. Inspectors observed the school in action, including watching activities and listening to interactions between adults and children.  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 extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors spoke with children about their experiences of school life. Inspectors took

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account of the views of parents, carers and staff through conversations and responses to Ofsted’s surveys.

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Inspection team

Michelle Payne, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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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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