Chalvey Nursery School & Early Years Centre

Inspection of a school judged outstanding for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Chalvey Nursery School & Early Years Centre Ladbrooke Road, Chalvey, Slough, Berkshire SL1 2SR

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Outcome

Chalvey Nursery School & Early Years Centre has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Chalvey Nursery School is a happy community where everyone feels welcome, including children in the ‘Butterfly Class’, the specially resourced provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) who have complex needs. Each day, staff greet families warmly using children’s home language to aid communication. Parents and carers rightly value the school very highly. Staff are highly committed to this welcoming ethos. For example, they lead regular parent workshops and offer tailored support for children.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s very high expectations are evident in children’s meaningful interactions, including with their peers. Children are impeccably behaved. They are happy because of the fun learning they experience and the many friendships they have formed. Staff use music and singing effectively. This helps children remember important learning and routines. Staff ensure daily story time fosters children’s early love of reading. Children learn repeated refrains and thrill in the build up to the climatic endings.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school helps children develop important character traits using stories and puppets. Children learn to be independent and resilient. Highly nurturing staff develop very strong relationships with children. Children know staff will help them if they need it. Consequently, children develop as confident learners able to access their learning environments successfully. 17 December 2024

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

The school’s curriculum is highly ambitious. It precisely identifies the key milestones that children are to achieve from the two-year-old provision into the Nursery Year. Highly skilled key workers manage ongoing checks to ensure staff have an informed understanding of what children need to learn. This helps children to flourish and be exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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

The school is particularly skilled at supporting children to secure important spoken language skills. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported expertly in their home languages to develop confidence in their play and learn English rapidly. Staff listen carefully to what children say in their conversations with them. They repeat these interactions with more complex words with the same meaning that children then use in their own speech.

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

The provision for physical development is exceptional. Staff develop children’s balance and gross motor skills through carefully designed outdoor activities. For example, staff encourage children to build using large objects skilfully and to develop their balance by navigating stepping stones. Inside, staff ensure children learn to stick and sort objects with tweezers to focus more on fine motor skills. Staff deftly build in opportunities to allow children to write, paint and draw using different equipment.

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

Staff are adept at building on children’s existing knowledge from across the curriculum. They provide children with memorable and worthwhile learning experiences. For example, the staff hid presents. This promoted counting, matching patterns and early writing in an innovative way. Staff are especially strong in knowing what children with SEND need help with. Those children who learn in the Butterfly Class have their needs met remarkably well. Staff work closely with parents and external agencies to ensure children are given the help and support they need. Children with SEND participate fully in all the nursery has to offer.

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

The school caters exceptionally well for pupils’ wider development. Staff interweave opportunities for children to learn about other cultural traditions and faiths in their diverse community. These differences are celebrated, and children learn to foster empathy and that all are equal. Children learn to stay safe. For example, they can identify how individuals from the emergency services can help them if they need it.

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

Staff expertly support children to settle quickly into the nursery routines. As a result, children behave exceptionally well throughout the sessions. The school works effectively with families to ensure that children attend the nursery regularly. This allows children to benefit from the excellent standard of education that the school provides.

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

The school’s leadership, including governors, knows its school exceptionally well. The governors bring valuable expertise to their oversight of the school’s work. They ensure staff are given the support they need to enjoy and do their roles well. Children flourish because they are at the heart of the school’s work. 17 December 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be outstanding for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding for overall effectiveness in July 2019.

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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, 17 December 2024

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looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 17 December 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Mahesh Yanambakkam

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 3 and 4 July 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The TLC Nursery Federation with Slough Centre Nursery.  The school has a specially resourced provision for children with SEND, which is known as the ‘Butterfly Class’. Children in this provision have profound and multiple learning difficulties. All children learning in this provision are currently undergoing assessments for education, health and care plans.  The school runs a breakfast club, a lunchtime club and an after-school club.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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. 17 December 2024

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher and other members of staff. They also met with members of the governing body and representatives of the local authority.  Inspectors focused inspection activity on the following areas of learning: communication and language; physical development; mathematics; and understanding of the world. For each area of learning, inspectors visited a sample of sessions and spoke with children about their learning.  Inspectors met some parents to gather their views of the school. They reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors also took account of staff responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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

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safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Laura James, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Louise Walker His Majesty’s Inspector 17 December 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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