Perry Beeches Nursery School

Inspection of Perry Beeches Nursery School 256 Beeches Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands B42 2PX

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

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has not taken effective action to address the weaknesses identified in the previous inspection. The curriculum is not fully developed and the school, including governors, have weak oversight of the school’s performance. This impacts on the quality of education that children receive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations for children. This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, in some areas of learning, these aims are not realised. This is because the school has not identified or reviewed the specific knowledge children need to achieve as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Caring relationships and high levels of supervision make for a calm and safe environment for children to learn in. Staff use their skills and experience to appropriately respond to children’s needs and guide their learning and development. Children are inquisitive and interested learners. They feel safe, confident and are keen to share their experiences with visiting adults.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children attend school frequently, behave well and love coming to school. This is due to the effective home-school partnership that exists. Parents and carers appreciate and value the support staff provide.

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better?

The school, including governors, does not have an accurate understanding of what works well and what needs to improve. Additionally, they do not have the capacity to make much needed improvements to ensure that children receive a good quality of education. These issues have been compounded over the past year by turbulence in staffing. Despite these difficulties, staff have maintained a focus on children’s safety and well-being. Consequently, children are safe at school, attend regularly and develop well physically and emotionally.

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better?

Children experience a broad curriculum that aligns with national expectations. The school has identified the concepts it wants children to learn. However, these concepts are not broken down into the steps children need to build their learning steadily and coherently. Staff typically focus on the tasks they set rather than on the crucial knowledge and vocabulary needed.

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better?

Conversations between staff and children happen naturally throughout the day. This aids children’s language development. However, staff do not routinely model or extend children’s language sufficiently. Staff do not encourage children to repeat back key words or extend their sentences to improve their speaking skills. However, children’s listening skills are well developed. They pay attention when adults explain things. 8 and 9 July 2025

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Children enjoy listening to, and joining in with, familiar stories, rhymes and songs. They select books from the school library to share at home with family members. Children learn letter names and many can use these to write their own names. This prepares them well for their next stage of education.

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Staff understand how children learn and develop. They draw on their skills to accurately identify children with SEND quickly. Additional teaching sessions, for example ‘Bucket’ group time, and specialist external support helps those with SEND to learn well. Staff use the information they gather to design future learning for children with SEND. However, the school does not review or update this learning where needed. Consequently, children with SEND do not learn as well as they should.

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The well-organised and well-equipped outdoor learning environment is a particular favourite with children. From the mud kitchen to the hilly cycle track, children have fun building their stamina, creativity and friendships with others. Both indoors and outdoors, children behave well and follow the routines in place.

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Children’s physical and mental health are a high priority in the school. This includes teaching children the importance of good hygiene, dental health, exercise and diet. The strong focus on children understanding their feelings leads to children being able to manage their behaviour well. With the help of ‘Colour Monster’ images, they learn to express their feelings. Children have space and time to help them settle down when needed.

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Children enjoy the many opportunities the school provides to extend their learning. From growing vegetables to releasing butterflies, children develop a keen interest in nature. Through stories and celebrations, children learn about diversity and cultural differences. They have an age-appropriate understanding of fundamental British values. This contributes to their broader development.

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Staff morale is low. They do not feel well supported in developing their knowledge and skills. However, staff are a united team and support each other well. This contributes to their well-being. Systems in place, to check how well children are achieving, are not overly burdensome. This helps reduce staff workload.

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Governors do not provide sufficient challenge to the school to ensure that children receive a good quality of education. Furthermore, governors do not have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and where improvement is most needed.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective but minor improvements are needed.

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Safeguarding

At times, staff absence means that there is insufficient oversight of the school’s system for recording concerns about children. This leads to information about 8 and 9 July 2025

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actions taken not being located as efficiently as it could be. Furthermore, governors and leaders do not have sufficient knowledge of safer recruitment practices. This has led to recruitment processes not being as robust as they could be.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school, including the governing body, lacks the capacity required to resolve ongoing issues and bring about improvements needed. Weaknesses in the school have not been picked up and addressed swiftly enough. The school should strengthen leadership capacity so that improvements are rapid and sustainable.  The school, including governors, have insufficient oversight of the school’s work. They do not have an accurate view on the effectiveness of school systems. This has resulted in some important areas, such as staff performance and the curriculum, not being monitored appropriately. Additionally, the school’s expertise in safer recruitment and the recording of concerns is not as robust as it should be. The school and governors should provide effective support and challenge for all staff and hold leaders to account fully. Governors and leaders should also develop their knowledge of safer recruitment and ensure that there is consistently

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

strong oversight of all safeguarding arrangements.  The curriculum does not identify the steps that children need to learn and practise to reach the curriculum’s ambitious end points. As a result, staff do not routinely teach the important concepts and language that children need to build their foundational knowledge. The school should ensure that the curriculum sets out the component steps that children need to learn to be successful, and that staff have the expertise needed to implement these successfully.  The school does not review or update agreed arrangements for children with SEND. As a result, staff do not adapt their teaching to achieve the next steps identified. The school should ensure that staff review and adapt the support children receive to ensure that they achieve as well as they should.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 8 and 9 July 2025

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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

Inspection number 10343718 Type of school Nursery

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4 July 2023 under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 In September 2023, Perry Beeches Nursery School federated with Marsh Hill Nursery School. An executive headteacher oversees both schools. The governing body also federated and a new instrument of governance was put in place.  Most children attend full time but some attend part time. Two classes operate in the school – Willow and Oak classes.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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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. 8 and 9 July 2025

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In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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 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 leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the executive headteacher, acting headteacher and three members of the governing body. The lead inspector also had a telephone discussion with a representative from the local authority and the assistant headteacher.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these areas of learning: communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, literacy and expressive art and design. For each deep dive, they held discussions about the curriculum, visited classrooms, spoke to staff and children, and looked at samples of children’s work.  The inspectors met with staff to talk about the curriculum, staff workload and

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well-being, and the behaviour and personal development of children.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: checked the school’s single central record; spoke to leaders about safeguarding procedures; took account of the views of staff and parents; 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 considered a range of documents, including the school’s self- evaluation and plans for development.  The inspectors observed children’s behaviour during lessons and at lunchtime.  The inspectors talked to parents before and after school and considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. They gathered the views of staff through discussions and from their online survey responses.

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Inspection team

Heather Simpson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Darryl Asbury Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 July 2025

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regulates and inspects to 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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