Comper Nursery School

Inspection of a good school: Comper Nursery School Hertford Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 3AJ

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Outcome

Comper Nursery School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children love coming to this nursery. They feel happy and safe. Staff build strong and caring relationships with the children. They provide consistently positive and encouraging support so that children develop well both academically and pastorally. Parents are united in their praise for the school. They value the induction arrangements that help their children settle quickly into nursery routines. One parent expressed the views of others when they said, ‘Staff put huge efforts into making nursery a magical experience for our children.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high ambitions for all children. The school’s values of ‘love, curiosity, courage and aspiration’ are thoughtfully embedded across every curriculum area. As a result, children develop high levels of confidence and independence. The school is inclusive. The specific needs of pupils are well considered. Trips, such as visits to local shops and an aquarium, are for everyone. This helps pupils to develop an appreciation of culture. Children are well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children behave well. They follow the nursery’s simple rules and well-established routines willingly. This ensures a calm and safe learning environment. On the rare occasions when someone is unkind, adults provide helpful support.

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

The school is ambitious for all children. Staff have mapped out the things children in this community need to know and be able to do by the time they leave. The school is mindful of the community the children live in. For example, children learn to ride bikes quickly and they are regularly taught about road safety. The curriculum has a strong focus on developing children’s social skills, ambition and resilience. As a result, children show high levels of concentration and perseverance when they encounter difficulties, and the nursery has a quietly purposeful atmosphere.

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

The school has placed a sharp focus on communication, language and literacy. Some 25 June 2024

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children speak English as an additional language, and some have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Therefore, the development of children’s communication and language is prioritised as soon as they join the school. During the day, children benefit from carefully chosen songs and nursery rhymes. Staff make story times stimulating, with children coming closer as they are captivated by what adults are reading to them. They join in with stories and copy the characters’ movements such as standing on one leg. During all learning experiences, adults reinforce important vocabulary. They encourage early language skills such as forming questions and exploring ideas to answer them.

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The school has ensured that most staff have the training they need to deliver the curriculum well. Many skilled staff use their secure subject knowledge and teaching expertise to develop children’s learning through play. They use every opportunity to present information clearly and develop children’s knowledge and skills. However, not all staff have had sufficient training. Their interactions with children are not quite of the same high quality. As a result, some opportunities to develop children’s learning are missed.

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Adults support children effectively, including those with SEND, to ensure that they make the progress they are capable of, and most do. Staff regularly check and discuss what each child has been learning. This enables them to identify and address any needs children may have promptly. This ensures that all children, including those with SEND, can take part in activities alongside their friends. For example, children were excited about giving directions to help others over an obstacle course. Staff provided a high level of challenge for confident children by inviting them to do the activity first. Staff introduced and modelled new knowledge and vocabulary which helped everyone. This led to some wonderful discussion, collaboration and risk management between the children as they guided their blindfolded teacher, successfully, over the course.

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The nursery has high expectations for children’s personal development. Staff choose activities carefully to support children to make better sense of the world around them. Children learn about different faiths and cultures. They enjoy exploring the important festivals from each other’s faiths, including Eid and Easter.

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Leaders are working closely with parents and carers to improve attendance. The school recognises the importance of this so that children and their families get into good habits in readiness to move on to their new schools.

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Staff enjoy working at this school. They feel valued and supported by leaders, including those responsible for governance. Staff feel listened to and are confident that their workload and well-being are considered carefully as further improvements are made to the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 25 June 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 A few staff do not yet have secure knowledge and teaching skills. This means that some misconceptions may go uncorrected and that some pupils do not always learn as well as they could. The school should ensure that all staff have the knowledge and skills they need to deliver the curriculum consistently well.

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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 June 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). 25 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Suzy Dixon and Hester Crombie (Co-Chairs)

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School details

Headteacher Catherine King and Sarah Weaver (Co- Headteachers) Website comper.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6 December 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school has provision for two-year-olds.

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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.  During the inspection, the inspectors met with school leaders. The lead inspector also met with the representatives of the governing body 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 mathematics. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited sessions to observe children learn and 25 June 2024

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

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Inspection team

Clare Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Tracy Good Ofsted Inspector 25 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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