Tunstall Nursery School

Inspection of a school judged outstanding for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Tunstall Nursery School Tunstall Road, Croydon, Surrey CR0 6TY

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Outcome

Tunstall Nursery School 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?

This is a wonderfully warm and welcoming place. Respectful, trusting relationships are at the heart of this delightful school. Parents and carers talk of how happy and safe their children are at school. Staff have high expectations for children’s behaviour. They establish clear routines. Children settle quickly and know what is expected of them. They behave exceptionally well. Children focus on their learning, sustaining concentration for impressively long periods of time.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children achieve well here across the curriculum. The school has designed a curriculum with ambitious end goals, broken down into clear milestones. Provision for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), or who are at the early stages of learning English, is excellent. Children secure strong foundations, which they can successfully and confidently build on in their next stage of education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school ensures that children benefit from a range of rich experiences during their time at Nursery. For example, the youngest children enjoy a range of activities in the school’s outdoor woodland area, such as building a fire and toasting marshmallows. Older children take the tram to a nearby forest, where they undertake more ambitious tasks such as den building.

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

The school ensures that the curriculum engages children from the outset. Staff design activities that link to a core text. This helps to immerse children in their learning. For example, when reading ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, children retell their own version of the 7 May 2025

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story using small characters and props. They repeat language from the text as they act it out. Other activities, such as growing beans and making coins for the giant, link to the text and have the clear purpose of developing children’s knowledge.

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Staff promote children’s language and communication at every opportunity. Even when children are riding bikes, staff encourage discussions about how many laps they have completed and what direction they are taking. Staff tune in carefully to how well children’s language is developing. Consequently, they are able to spot any children who are not making the progress they should in their communication skills. Adults then use highly effective strategies to support these children to ensure they catch up. This consistent approach supports children to develop as articulate learners, who are more than ready to move on to the Reception Year.

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Staff use their expert knowledge of how young children learn to tailor experiences, which ensure children progress through the curriculum. Staff clearly understand the different needs of two-year-olds and three- and four-year-olds. The curriculum is built to reflect this. Staff make frequent checks on how well children are learning. This ensures that staff can pick up quickly any children in danger of falling behind. This also means staff can spot when children need additional support to access the curriculum. Staff’s expertise in early years theory and practice means that they make highly effective adaptations for children with SEND where necessary.

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Staff are excellent role models in terms of behaviour. They remain calm and resolute in all their interactions. Staff are patient and kind. They explain to children the importance of sharing and taking their turn.

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The school ensures that children leave this school having had a range of enriching experiences. Children enjoy trips out to explore the local area, for example to the library, a local care home or to collect items associated with the seasons. Theatre groups visit the school to perform shows. Children attend the nativity at the local church and they delight in watching staff take part in a pantomime every year. This helps broaden children’s horizons and increase their general knowledge.

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The school has built excellent relationships with parents, who regularly share learning milestones from home. For example, one parent noted proudly how their child had learned to write his name.

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Staff are overwhelmingly positive about working at this school. They appreciate the support and guidance they receive and are very complimentary about how leaders take account of their welfare.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 7 May 2025

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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 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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding for overall effectiveness in February 2016.

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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). 7 May 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Jane Charman (executive headteacher) Kate Lanning (co-headteacher) Leigh McGuinness (co-headteacher) Website www.tunstall.croydon.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19 November 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school is in a formal partnership with Park Hill Infant School. The executive headteacher is responsible for both schools in the partnership.

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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.  Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, other members of the senior team and other staff. Inspectors also met with members of the governing body including the chair and the vice-chair of governors, as well as a representative from the local authority. 7 May 2025

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 Inspectors visited lessons and observed children within the provision, looked at samples of children’s work and spoke to children about their learning.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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.  The inspectors spoke to parents at drop-off and pick-up times and took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. They also considered the responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Jeanie Jovanova, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Jamie Hallums Ofsted Inspector 7 May 2025

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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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