Oxhill Nursery School

Inspection of Oxhill Nursery School Oxhill, Stanley, County Durham DH9 7LR

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good 1 and 2 July 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Oxhill Nursery School is a wonderful place for children to begin their journey of education. Children are happy here. Staff are kind and caring. They take time to get to know the children in their care and use this knowledge to make learning meaningful and fun.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is very ambitious for the children. It promotes independence from the earliest days in the school. Staff provide high-quality learning opportunities that excite and encourage children to explore their own ideas. Staff support them to do this through careful modelling and positive encouragement. The positive relationships that are formed help children to thrive here and feel safe and secure.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The personal, social and emotional development (PSED) of the children is at the centre of the curriculum. Staff model positive interactions to support children to learn how to interact with each other. This results in highly positive behaviours. Children learn and play happily alongside each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has been on a significant journey of improvement since the last inspection. The leadership team has been extended, and there is a distributed leadership system securely in place. This team have worked, with the support of governors, to introduce new practices and policies that have improved the quality of education swiftly.

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

The school has made remarkable progress since the last inspection. The school has improved the curriculum in all areas. There is clarity about what should be taught and when. For example, two-year-old children learn about plants and trees in the world around them. This learning extends into the pre-school, where children are taught about seeds, leaves, blossom and different flower names.

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

The well-planned curriculum supports staff effectively to plan interesting and exciting learning activities. These are used well to provoke children’s curiosity and interest in learning. Staff understand child development well. They adjust learning to meet the needs of the children at all stages of their development. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, systems to check children’s learning are at an early stage of development. This means that the impact of the new curriculum on children’s learning is not clear. The school is in the process of introducing a more formal system to check children’s learning, which will support them to do this.

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

The school places great importance on developing children’s communication and language skills. It has carefully identified core songs, stories and rhymes that build in complexity as children progress through the school. Singing is heard in every classroom. Children enjoy this. They love to join in and learn new words and rhymes as they sing.

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

The school has recently introduced a new approach to teaching mathematics. Staff are growing in confidence with this. Every opportunity is taken to promote mathematical skills, such as counting and number recognition as children have snacks or play. 1 and 2 July 2025

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The environment is used well. The school has extensive play areas outside that are used to encourage children to run, jump, climb and explore. For children who need greater support to access learning or who need a quieter place to play and learn, the school has set up a sensory classroom. This is used effectively to tailor learning and support individual success. Staff are skilled, knowledgeable and caring. They understand children’s needs clearly.

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The school places great importance on children’s personal development. Staff teach children about healthy eating and exercise. Children are given opportunities to grow, harvest and cook vegetables from the school allotment. Children learn to become more independent at snack times and when managing their own hygiene. Staff communicate this effectively with parents and carers so that they can work together to ensure that children are ready for their next stage of education.

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The school plans experiences to support children to learn about the fundamental British values, such as the importance of showing respect towards others. The school gives children opportunities that foster a sense of belonging to the local community, such as a recent school and family litter picking day, followed by the planting of a flower meadow. This encouraged the children to see the beauty of the natural world and the importance of looking after it.

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The school has started to develop other areas of the curriculum to ensure that children can learn about the wider world beyond their own community. While children do enjoy activities linked to some religious festivals, such as Holi, they do not have sufficient opportunities to learn about the diversity of the wider world. This limits children’s understanding about lives that may be different to their own.

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This school has made great improvements in a short space of time due to the shared vision for excellence of all involved. However, in some areas, they do not check the effectiveness of these improvements. Governors are both supportive and challenging in equal measure. They recognise and value the staff. There is a drive to improve further.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not identified how leaders at all levels will systematically check the impact of the measures they are taking to improve the school. As a result, while they have oversight of the improvements, they do not have a precise view of the impact of their actions on the provision. The school should ensure that effective systems are introduced to support further improvement. 1 and 2 July 2025

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 The school does not provide sufficient opportunity for children to develop curiosity or interest about the diversity of the world beyond the school community. This means that children do not begin to build knowledge and understanding about communities in modern-day Britain that are different to their own. The school should ensure that the curriculum provides meaningful experiences for children to appreciate the diversity of British society.

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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). 1 and 2 July 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10 May 2024, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, the school has extended the leadership structure in the school.  The school has provision for children from the age of two.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  Childcare provision is available before and after school. This is run by school staff and managed 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. 1 and 2 July 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.  During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other members of the extended leadership team. A meeting was also held with representatives from the governing body, including the chair. A representative from the local authority discussed the school’s journey since the last inspection with the lead inspector.  Inspectors focused on how the school met the requirements of the early years foundation stage curriculum. They carried out deep dives into communication and language (including early reading); mathematics; personal, social and emotional development and understanding the world. Inspectors also considered the school’s

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work in all other prime and specific areas of learning.  For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of learning sessions, spoke to teachers, and talked to children about their activities and learning. The inspectors also discussed the provision for pupils with SEND.  The inspector reviewed a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation document, safeguarding information, records and policies.  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 safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first. The inspector also met with the designated safeguarding leaders.  Parents’ views of the school were considered through their responses to Ofsted’s online

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questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses. The information from the staff survey was also considered.

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Inspection team

Andrea Batley, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Alison Ashworth Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 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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