Fakunmoju, Christianah Oluronke

Inspection of Strong Close Nursery School Airedale Road, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD21 4LW

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The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Previous inspection grade Good 24 and 25 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children flourish in this caring and inclusive school. They make excellent progress through the curriculum and meet the school’s high expectations for achievement. Children are proud of their achievements and are keen to share their successes with adults. They approach tasks with determination and enthusiasm, whether working with others or independently. The school prepares children very well for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour across the school is exemplary. This is because staff apply the behaviour policy with consistency. Staff use shared language to reinforce expectations. Children clearly understand what is expected of them and trust that adults will respond with care and consistency. This helps children feel safe and happy in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school strives to form strong relationships with families. Parents and carers value the school’s proactive support. This ranges from workshops on reducing dummy use to dedicated sessions for male carers that champion early reading.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Personal development is central to the school’s ethos. Whether working with the artist in residence or gardener, visiting local heritage sites, or connecting with elderly neighbours, children experience a broad and enriching range of opportunities. These help them to develop empathy and to understand what it means to be part of a community.

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

The school’s curriculum is underpinned by a detailed understanding of child development and enriched by a wide range of research. This strong foundation ensures that learning is purposeful and responsive to children’s needs. The curriculums in all areas of learning are coherently sequenced. This means that children build knowledge progressively over time.

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

Early reading is a cornerstone of the curriculum, with core stories woven into each topic. Children frequently choose to look at books in the provision. Adults bring stories to life through engaging and expressive reading. The school prepares older children well for formal phonics teaching. Children learn to tune into and recognise different sounds through a range of activities. Through the school’s work with an external partner, children regularly receive a book through the post. Parents report that this a source of great excitement for their children and helps to foster a love of books and reading.

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

Staff are diligent in their approach to understanding children’s individual starting points. They tailor the provision to ensure that all children make strong progress through the curriculum. Staff regularly check this progress and put additional support in place for any children at risk of falling behind. Staff receive comprehensive training. They are adept at developing children’s language and learning. Interactions between adults and children are consistently high quality. 24 and 25 June 2025

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The school has a specially resourced provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The children who access this are fully included in the life of the school. They work collaboratively with their peers in the mainstream school as well as being supported effectively by adults. The school works with a range of external specialists to ensure children with SEND get the support they need. Clear processes for identifying SEND mean children receive support quickly.

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The school’s exceptional personal development offer helps children to become confident and articulate. They talk enthusiastically about their learning. For example, one child recounted the story of ‘Luna Loves Library Day’ while others demonstrated their counting skills in the outdoor area. Children show care and respect for the school environment. Without prompting, they tidy up after themselves and look after each other. Adults actively promote independence. They are skilled at knowing when to intervene. This helps to prepare children for moving on to primary school.

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The school promotes the importance of regular attendance among families. It fosters positive attendance habits in preparation for children starting primary school.

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Leaders, including those responsible for governance, are unwavering in their commitment to continuous improvement. All decisions are guided by what will best serve the children and their families, reflecting a culture of care, integrity and high ambition. Staff workload and well-being is a priority for leaders. Staff appreciate this and are proud to work at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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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 24 and 25 June 2025

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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). 24 and 25 June 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 12 September 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has provision for two-year-old children.  The school has a specially resourced provision for children with a range of SEND. There are 30 places within this provision. Places are commissioned by the local authority.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  A breakfast- and after-school club operate daily. These are run by school staff and overseen by the governing body.

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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. 24 and 25 June 2025

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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.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other senior leaders. In addition, they spoke to members of the governing body and the education adviser from the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: communication and language, personal, social and emotional development and expressive arts and design. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited classrooms to observe children in the provision, spoke to teachers and spoke to some children about their learning. In addition, inspectors reviewed the curriculums in some other areas of learning, such as mathematics.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single

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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 safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first. In addition, inspectors considered how the school meets the early years welfare requirements.  Inspectors observed the behaviour of children in the provision and at lunchtime.  An inspector spoke to some parents and carers as they arrived at the school and considered their views through the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Parent View. This included reviewing any free-text responses.  Inspectors considered the responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Philippa Kermotschuk, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Judy Shaw Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 June 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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