Rockwood Nursery School

Inspection of Rockwood Nursery School Kingsland Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB11 3PU

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding 8 and 9 July 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children are happy and settled at this vibrant nursery school. Staff care deeply for children and get to know them well. They help children to understand emotions so that they can learn how to manage their own feelings. This helps children to feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for children’s achievement. This includes for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children typically learn well and enjoy a range of stimulating learning activities. For instance, they relish plentiful opportunities to develop their large-muscle skills in the outdoor areas. Children take their creations home to share with their families, such as drawings and mini pizzas.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children demonstrate positive behaviour. From the age of two, children begin learning to play happily alongside others. Children praise and encourage their friends. They develop their confidence when meeting new people.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides children with rich experiences that help to broaden their understanding of the world and explore new interests. For example, children benefit from small-group activities in the school’s woodland area. They learn how to be calm and mindful during well-being sessions. Children visit nearby places, including a park and a farm.

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

The school has successfully developed its curriculum since the previous inspection. Overall, the curriculum includes well-ordered knowledge that builds towards ambitious curriculum goals. Children get off to a strong start to their education. They are well prepared for their next steps in learning, including their eventual move to primary school.

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

Children with SEND are supported well. Their additional needs and barriers to learning are identified quickly and acted on, in partnership with external professionals, parents and carers. This helps children with SEND to learn well alongside their peers.

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

Staff understand how young children learn. Effective professional guidance and support from the school further enhances staff knowledge. Staff work together in small teams to determine learning activities and to check how well children progress through the curriculum. Nonetheless, at times, some staff do not implement the curriculum or adapt learning activities consistently well to help children to learn as effectively as they could.

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

Mostly, staff foster children’s communication, language and reading skills well. Children enjoy listening to and joining in with many stories, rhymes and songs. They have contributed to creating their own class storybooks. Staff read with animation to bring stories to life. They typically interact with children well across the school. However, occasionally, staff’s interactions with children are not fully effective. This limits how well some children build their knowledge and their understanding of new vocabulary. 8 and 9 July 2025

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The school is calm and orderly, including in classrooms, the outdoor areas and during social times. Children aim to please adults and generally follow instructions well. They are eager to join in with activities that spark their interest. The school’s approaches and close partnership with parents successfully foster children’s regular attendance.

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The school provides well for children’s personal development. Children begin developing their independence from an early age. For example, they pour their own drinks, help to prepare snacks and are encouraged to put on their own shoes, socks and coats. Children learn about the world around them, such as by looking after caterpillars and stick insects. They find out about other people in the community, including those with different jobs and those from different cultures. This helps to prepare children well for life in modern Britain.

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The governing body supports and challenges the school well, with a shared aim of continuing to improve the quality of education that children receive. Staff are positive about working at the school. They speak highly of the support that they receive, and they particularly value being able to work as part of a close-knit team.

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Parents value the regular communication that they receive from the school. Staff encourage them to share their children’s achievements from home. Parents commended staff for their support and care for their children’s education and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 At times, the school has not made sure that staff implement and adapt learning activities consistently well to support children’s understanding. This means that some children do not learn as well as they could. The school should support staff in implementing the curriculum consistently well.  Occasionally, staff’s interactions with children are not fully effective. This hinders how well some children build their knowledge and understanding of new vocabulary. The school should ensure that staff are equipped to better support children’s knowledge and skills across the curriculum.

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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. 8 and 9 July 2025

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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). 8 and 9 July 2025

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School details

Number of children on the school roll 124

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Victoria Bradshaw

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19 March 2024, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not make use of alternative provision.  The school offers a before- and after-school club for children.  The school provides educational provision for two-year-old children.  At the time of this inspection, there were no children aged five on the school’s roll.

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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). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 8 and 9 July 2025

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 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these areas of learning: communication and language (including early reading), mathematics and physical development. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders and visited classrooms and outdoor learning areas. Inspectors also considered the curriculum in some other areas of learning.  The lead inspector observed staff sharing books with several groups of children.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other school leaders. The lead inspector met with representatives of the governing body, including the chair of governors. He spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors spoke with children and observed their behaviour throughout the day as they played in the nursery, including at breakfast, lunchtime and in the outdoor areas.

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 Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation documents, improvement plans, minutes of governing body meetings and documents about children’s behaviour and levels of attendance.  Inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and their well-being. They considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record and took account of the views of leaders, staff and children. They considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children’s interests first.  Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. An inspector met with some parents during the inspection.

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Inspection team

David Lobodzinski, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sarah Gower-Jones Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 July 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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