Lee Royd Nursery School

Inspection of a good school: Lee Royd Nursery School Royds Street, Accrington, Lancashire BB5 2LH

p.1

Outcome

Lee Royd Nursery School continues to be a good school.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Children are happy at this vibrant nursery school. Kind and caring staff greet them warmly. Children enjoy playing and exploring in the school’s outdoor areas. They benefit from the many worthwhile learning opportunities that the school provides.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is aspirational for children and wants the very best for their academic, social and emotional success. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), typically achieve well. They move on to primary school ready for the next stage of their learning.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Children behave well. They share and take turns. Staff help children to learn good manners. Children say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ when sharing food and toys. Children in the two-year-old provision are ably supported to understand the rules and routines of the school. They join in with story times, singing and learning activities with gusto.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

The school seeks to create rich moments of learning that children will remember. Visitors to school, including Bollywood dancers, a nurse and a pilot, help to bring the curriculum to life. Children learn to care for living things, such as squirrels, caterpillars and chicks. These rich opportunities help children to learn more about the natural world and to develop new interests.

p.1

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

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum that meets the needs of all children, including those aged two years old and children with SEND. In the main, the curriculum identifies the knowledge that children should learn and the order in which this should be taught. The school strives to inspire children to learn. It provides them with the early building blocks of knowledge that they will need for later success.

p.1

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

Typically, staff deliver the curriculum well. They are adept at choosing appropriate activities and resources that help children to learn effectively. Staff draw on their in-depth 20 June 2024

p.1

2

knowledge of child development to identify the additional needs of children with SEND quickly. Where needed, staff adapt the way that they deliver the curriculum to help children with SEND to learn successfully.

p.2

2

The school takes a well-thought-out approach to develop children’s communication and language skills. For example, staff explain new words to children carefully and often. As a result, most children, including two-year-olds, become successful communicators. They develop a secure understanding of new and important words.

p.2

2

Children enjoy listening to well-chosen stories, rhymes and poems. Typically, staff revisit important knowledge in the books that they read to children. This helps children to develop a love of books. It also gives children the skills and confidence to retell stories independently.

p.2

2

In the main, staff take opportunities to address gaps in children’s knowledge. However, in one or two areas of learning, some staff are less clear on what children know and where their knowledge is less secure. On occasion, when staff do not check children’s understanding, important learning is not revisited. This means that some children do not deepen their knowledge as well as they could.

p.2

2

Children are remarkably keen to learn and to take part in activities. They proudly showed inspectors their learning environment and their favourite resources. Children understand simple rules and follow the routines of the school. Two-year-old children understand the importance of looking after equipment and enthusiastically help to tidy toys away.

p.2

2

The school has thought carefully about children’s wider development. Children learn about diversity among people and families. They know that there are people in the community who can help them, such as people who work in the emergency services. These experiences prepare children well for life in modern Britain.

p.2

2

Governors are proud of the school. They are committed to ensuring that staff feel valued and that children receive a strong start to their education. The school is conscious of the pressures on staff’s workload and takes positive action to minimise this. For example, it has removed any unnecessary paperwork involved in assessments of children’s development. This gives staff more time to support children in their learning.

p.2

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.2

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 At times, in some areas of learning, staff do not check children’s understanding of knowledge sufficiently well. As a result, in these areas of learning, some children are not as well prepared for the next stage of education as they could be. The school 20 June 2024

p.2

3

should support staff in identifying and addressing any gaps in knowledge that children have.

p.3

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.

p.3

Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2018.

p.3

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.

p.3

How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

p.3

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.3

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). 20 June 2024

p.3

School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

p.4

School details

Dates of previous inspection 13 and 14 November 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

p.4

Information about this school

 The school does not make use of any alternative provision.  The school provides early education for two-year-old children.  The school provides a breakfast and after-school club.  Since the previous inspection, several new staff have been appointed.

p.4

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 met with the headteacher. The lead inspector met with some governors.  An inspector spoke to a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these areas of learning: communication and language, mathematics and personal, social and emotional development. For each 20 June 2024

p.4

5

deep dive, the inspectors met with curriculum leaders, visited a sample of classroom activities and spoke with staff.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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 with children and observed their behaviour as they played in the nursery.  Inspectors reviewed documentation, which included leaders’ evaluation of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and documentation relating to children’s behaviour and attendance.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. Inspectors also spoke with some parents during the inspection.  Inspectors reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff. There were no

p.5

5

responses to Ofsted’s online survey for pupils for inspectors to consider.

p.5

Inspection team

Victoria Burnside, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

p.5

Inspection team

Sarah Barraclough His Majesty's Inspector 20 June 2024

p.5

6

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.

p.6

6

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.6

6

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.6

6

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.6

6

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.6