Chichester Nursery School

Inspection of a good school: Chichester Nursery School St James Road, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 7AB

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Outcome

Chichester Nursery School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children delight in the time they spend at this busy, happy nursery school. Caring staff provide support to help children play and learn well. Staff know each child and their needs. Expectations are high. Assistance is offered at just the right time so that children build resilience but are not overwhelmed. For example, children rolling tyres up a hill are encouraged to have a go but offered help if they struggle. This means everyone can join in with counting to three at the top before experiencing the joy and excitement of releasing the tyres to roll back down.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Right from the start, children are taught to be kind and considerate. Staff model this behaviour and offer praise when children share and include others. The nursery is generally a harmonious place where children feel safe. They get along well together and behave well. Children learn to express their preferences, whether choosing fruit at snack time or selecting activities. They are gently encouraged to try new things when they are ready.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are positive about how their children’s education at the nursery helps their children grow in confidence They value the supportive relationships with adults and the friendships that their children are helped to make.

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

The school has devised a broad, engaging and meaningful curriculum. Children benefit from opportunities to explore, experiment and discover across all areas of learning. Resources and activities are carefully selected, which enthral and excite children. This helps ensure that all children are well prepared for the next phases of their education.

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

Highly effective support from adults helps children to sustain concentration for ever- growing lengths of time to help develop their play, language and thinking. Staff regularly check and consider what each child knows and can do. This helps them to identify the next steps each child needs to make. Children with special educational needs and/or 5 June 2024

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disabilities (SEND) have their needs carefully identified and supported so that they are fully included and successful.

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The school is rightly ambitious for the curriculum to continue to evolve. A process of further developing linked sequences of learning so that children build even more clearly on what they already know and can do is under way. Staff are positive about this process and the training and support they are being given to help bring this about.

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Developing communication and language is an important part of the provision. Staff help children to develop vocabulary, for example by naming a police car when a child offers the sound ‘nee-nah’, and then to communicate using phrases and sentences. Children with SEND who are part of the special support centre benefit from highly effective specialist communication and language support. Every opportunity is taken to introduce children to rhymes, books and stories. The book of the month is a source of joy for children who love retelling the well-known and well-loved stories.

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Children are well supported by established routines that help them to settle quickly into nursery. The school grasps opportunities to support children in understanding about themselves, their emotions and how to learn to manage them. Where children find this challenging, well-trained staff offer support and work closely with parents to help children to build positive behaviours.

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The school works with parents to select sessions that give the children the best chance to succeed and be in school. The school understands, and highlights to parents, the importance of regular attendance in creating good habits, learning and building relationships.

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The school takes steps to include the children in their local community and to share the range of cultures of children in the school. For example, children learn about Eid and explore henna hand patterns during Diwali. Parents use their skills and abilities, such as playing drums or cooking foods from a range of cultures, to help make these celebrations meaningful for children. Throughout the nursery, children are accepting of each other and inclusive. Everyone is welcomed and valued here.

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The school has a secure understanding of its strengths and what it needs to do to further improve. Leaders, supported by governors, evaluate processes to ensure that the school is compliant with statutory duties.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school is in the process of developing the progression of learning across the curriculum. Despite strong knowledge of children, occasionally staff miss opportunities 5 June 2024

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to move children on to the next appropriate steps. The school should continue to support staff in understanding sequences of learning to help them build successfully on what children already know and can do across the curriculum.

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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 February 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). 5 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Ruth Campbell (Executive headteacher) Clare Blanchard (Head of school) Website www.chichesternursery.org

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 December 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the West Sussex Nursery Schools Federation along with two other maintained nurseries. The nursery schools share a governing body and an executive headteacher.  The school includes a special support centre for up to 16 children with significant speech, language or social communication needs.  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. 5 June 2024

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 During the inspection, the inspectors met with school leaders. The lead inspector also talked to representatives of the governing body, both over the telephone and in person, and had a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: communication and language, personal and social education and knowledge, mathematics and understanding of the world. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited sessions to observe children learn and play, and spoke to practitioners about children’s learning.  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 reviewed responses to Ofsted’s parent and staff surveys. An inspector

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spoke to some parents at the beginning of the day.  An inspector talked to staff to gather their views about the school, including about their workload and well-being.

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Inspection team

Deborah Gordon, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Claire Martin-O’Donoghue 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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