Muriel Green Nursery School

Inspection of a good school: Muriel Green Nursery School Church Crescent, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL3 5JB

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Outcome

Muriel Green Nursery School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Muriel Green Nursery is a happy and nurturing place to learn. Children learn to become curious about the world around them through ‘discover’ and ‘do’ sessions. They question adults and each other to find out more. Children select equipment and engage in self- chosen activities with enthusiasm. They feel safe to take risks in their learning, such as jumping off a piece of equipment without help. This helps children to develop into confident, independent learners.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children have positive relationships with adults. They trust adults to help them with their learning and their care. Children behave well. They know the rules and routines and follow these sensibly. They interact with each other with kindness and respect. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to access the learning alongside their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children enjoy stories and rhymes. They appreciate visitors from other cultures coming to read them stories. This also helps them to learn about different religions. Children learn about staying safe and being active. For example, they learn how to approach dogs during their morning ‘golden’ run.

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

The school has created a curriculum that enables children to develop their interest and curiosity. In most areas of learning, the school has set out clearly what children should learn. In these areas, children learn and use appropriate vocabulary. They secure their understanding of important knowledge. Staff know what children can do and what they need to develop further. In a few areas of learning, the school’s planning for what children should learn is less precise. As a result, staff do not routinely have a clear understanding of what to teach, resulting in children not securing important knowledge and vocabulary as well as they could. 25 April 2024

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Developing children’s communication is at the centre of the curriculum. Staff ensure that this forms part of all learning activities. They encourage children to talk about what they experience. Staff are well trained. They know when to intervene and ask questions to deepen children’s learning. Staff support children with SEND to communicate. For example, through using signs and visual cues. Children listen attentively to staff and engage well in conversations. Staff follow children’s interests and model the language that they want children to use.

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Children are excited and interested in listening to stories. Staff foster this love of reading in children. There is a focus on using books to show children examples of real-life experiences. This includes, for example, going to the dentist and becoming a big brother or sister. Children actively seek out adults to read stories to them during independent learning. They enjoy the stories that staff read to them. This prepares them well for the next stage of learning and learning to read.

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Children enjoy attending school. The school works closely with parents to ensure attendance is a high priority. There are clear processes for families to report their child absent. This helps children and their families to develop positive attendance habits for the next stage of learning.

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Children participate in regular enrichment activities, such as local visits, cooking and snack time, where they learn to cut their own fruit. Lunchtime is well organised so that children can dine together as a ‘family’. This helps to develop further the positive relationships children have with each other. Children develop their self-care skills through serving their own food and pouring their own water. Children learn to develop a sense of belonging, through group activities.

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Governors understand their role well. They ensure staff have well-considered opportunities to develop professionally. Staff value the way leaders support them to improve their own subject knowledge. They are proud to work at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some areas of learning, the school has not set out precisely the key knowledge and vocabulary that children should learn. Staff are sometimes less clear about the knowledge that they should emphasise in these areas of learning. In these areas, children do not learn the appropriate knowledge and vocabulary to help them in future learning. The school needs to identify the knowledge and vocabulary that children should learn in all areas of learning so that staff can teach the curriculum highly effectively in all areas of learning. 25 April 2024

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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 July 2018.

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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 April 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Gemma Williamson and Hayley Yendell, Co- headteachers Website www.murielgreen.herts.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 July 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 two other nursery schools. The leaders share responsibilty for the other nurseries in the federation.  The school does not use any providers of off-site alternative education.  There is before- and after-school care on site run by an external provider.

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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 the governing body. 25 April 2024

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 During the inspection, the inspectors carried out deep dives into these subjects: communication and language, mathematics and personal social and emotional development.  Inspectors met with leaders and staff to discuss their plans for children’s learning and development. They observed learning both in classrooms and outdoors. They spoke with children and with staff and looked at examples of children’s learning.  The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, curriculum leaders and the inclusion manager.  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.  The inspectors considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including free-text responses. They also considered the online staff survey.

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 An inspector talked to parents at the school gate before the start of school.

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Inspection team

Nerrissa Bear, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Luke Wildig Ofsted Inspector 25 April 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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