Speedwell Nursery School

Inspection of Speedwell Nursery School Speedwell Road, Kingswood, Bristol BS5 7SY

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 5 and 6 November 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults pride themselves on the strong relationships they foster with children and families at Speedwell Nursery School. This begins as soon as children start school. Adults warmly greet children each morning. They have a deep understanding of the children and their interests. This helps children to settle quickly and feel safe. Parents and carers appreciate this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for all children. It has started to make improvements to the quality of education. These ambitions are not yet fully realised. As a result, the quality of education the children receive is variable and inconsistent in the way it enables them to build knowledge well in all areas of the early years curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults have high expectations of children. Children respond with enthusiasm and keenness. Songs help children to understand and follow the daily routines such as hand washing before lunchtime and circle time. There is a buzz of excitement as children transition into ‘explore’ time.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children learn how to develop resilience and independence. Adults encourage children to cut up their own fruit during snack time and put on coats and wellies to go outside. Children learn about difference and acceptance. The school celebrates diversity. This enables children, including those who speak English as an additional language, to embrace difference.

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

The school has been through a period of turbulence. Some staff and leaders have recently taken on new responsibilities. They are dedicated and passionate. However, the impact of their work is yet to have the results they are aiming for. The school has identified the end points they want children to achieve across all areas of the curriculum. Despite this, the school has not identified the most important knowledge so that all children successfully progress towards these endpoints. This hinders how well children learn the curriculum.

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

Rightly, the school has prioritised communication and language. As soon as children start school, staff check children’s language skills. The school uses this information to accurately identify any additional needs or gaps and help children learn specific vocabulary. Carefully selected stories help children to hear sounds in words and begin to recognise rhyme. Adults model the correct pronunciation of words and phrases to support children’s spoken language. During ‘bucket time’, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities learn how to listen for initial sounds in words. Adults use visual cues and Makaton to support children’s communication and language skills. As a result, these children build knowledge well in communication and language from their starting points. Children enjoy listening to a wide range of stories. They learn that print has meaning and use a range of props to retell different stories to each other.

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

Adults work closely together to discuss children’s progress and plan their next steps. However, this practice is not as effective as it needs to be in all areas of learning. This is 5 and 6 November 2024

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because the school is not clear enough about what children should know and remember. This makes it difficult for adults to check that children are building their knowledge cumulatively across all areas of learning.

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During adult-led sessions, staff use their expertise to ensure children learn important vocabulary and build knowledge well. For example, in mathematics, children learn to count objects, rehearse how to say different numbers and subitise. However, during ‘explore time’, children have too few opportunities to practise and build on their learning. Adults do not capitalise on these opportunities to practise and build on what children have learned before. As a result, some children do not deepen their understanding well enough across all areas of learning.

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From the start, children learn how to be kind. They know that it is important to ‘wait for their friends’ before they begin an activity. Children play together, take turns and help one another. They are curious about the world around them and are keen to share their ideas.

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Children develop a strong sense of belonging through the school’s personal, social and emotional curriculum. They learn about themselves, their community and the wider world. Adults support children to learn vocabulary that describes their emotions. They begin to recognise that their behaviour can impact their peers. The ‘little lights’ project supports children to build their confidence, take risks and learn to cooperate. Clear routines and boundaries, as well as timely reminders from adults, reinforce the important message about being safe.

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Supported by governors and the local authority, the school has strengthened its capacity to improve. It is now stabilised, focused and determined to make the necessary improvements so that all children receive the education the school aspires to offer.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The important knowledge and ambitious vocabulary children need to learn have not been fully identified. This means that children do not build knowledge cumulatively over time. The school needs to identify the component knowledge and ambitious vocabulary across all areas of learning so that children build a rich body of knowledge and achieve well.  The school has not ensured that all adults make the most of every opportunity to further children’s learning during independent times. As a result, some children do not deepen their knowledge and understanding of the intended curriculum. The school needs to ensure that all adults have the necessary skills and expertise in order to support children to know and remember more. 5 and 6 November 2024

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 Assessment is in the early stages of development. It is not used to check how well the children learn the curriculum. This means that any gaps in children’s knowledge remain. The school needs to ensure that assessment is used to check what children have learned, identify gaps and use this to shape the future curriculum design.

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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 and 6 November 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Jet Davis (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Website www.littlehayesandspeedwellnurseryschools .co.uk Dates of previous inspection 14 and 15 June 2022, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 Speedwell Nursery School is federated with Little Hayes Nursery School to form the Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools Federation.  The headteacher is the executive headteacher of both Nursery schools. She took up the substantive post in May 2024.  The school caters for two-, three-, four- and five-year-old children.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 5 and 6 November 2024

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these areas of learning: communication and language, mathematics and personal, social and emotional development. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, teachers and staff. Inspectors observed learning throughout the day and interacted with children.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other areas of learning.  The inspectors spoke with school leaders, staff, parents, children, governors and representatives from the local authority.  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

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the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children’s interests first.  The inspectors observed children’s behaviour in and around the school’s setting.  The inspectors considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey for parents, including free-text replies. Inspectors spoke with some parents during the inspection. The inspectors also considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.

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Inspection team

Wendy D’Arcy, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Fox Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 November 2024

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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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