Pembury House Nursery School

Pembury House Nursery School

Address: Lansdowne Road, Tottenham, Pembury House Childrens Centre/Lb of H, London, N17 9XE Unique reference number (URN): 102071

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Exceptional

A significant number of children enter Pembury with well below age ‑ related expectations. This is particularly the case in communication and language and personal, social and emotional development. From these very low starting points, children make rapid and sustained progress because staff identify needs early and respond with precision. Gaps close at notable speed for children with language barriers, special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or wider vulnerabilities, including those attending for fewer hours.

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Achievement Exceptional

Children engage positively and deepen their understanding of early reading, writing and mathematical over time, which strengthens their learning across other areas. Children with SEND and those facing complex barriers to their learning benefit from precise targeted support. This enables them to participate fully and move forward confidently. Children supported through additional funding also make rapid progress in their engagement and concentration.

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Achievement Exceptional

As a result, children leave the nursery with secure foundations, confidence and independence. They develop skills that prepare them exceptionally well for the next stage of their education.

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Curriculum and teaching Exceptional

Leaders shape the curriculum with deep professional thinking. Their decisions transform outcomes for children. The curriculum is inclusive by design and highly responsive to children's starting points. Bespoke learning steps ensure that children with very low language levels receive teaching that is precisely matched to what they need next. Leaders make deliberate choices about how texts connect to the wider curriculum. This gives children meaningful opportunities to build knowledge at just the right moment, securing deep understanding.

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Curriculum and teaching Exceptional

Teachers skilfully translate the carefully designed curriculum into targeted daily practice. Small ‑ group teaching is used intelligently to accelerate progress, particularly for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or significant language barriers. Provision is intentionally engineered. Pared ‑ back and reintegrated resources help children sustain play, make purposeful choices and access quieter spaces when needed. Staff adapt interactions and provision with considerable skill so that children who are disadvantaged participate fully and make sustained progress. Staff use their deep understanding of the curriculum to adjust interactions in the moment. This helps children stay focused and build confidence.

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Curriculum and teaching Exceptional

Checks on children’s learning are continuous and purposeful. Staff use daily observations to carefully shape the design of the curriculum. Children with SEND benefit from precise adjustments that enable them to access the same ambitious content as their peers. Leaders secure accurate judgements through discussion and outward ‑ facing moderation that strengthens precision.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Inclusion is a golden thread that shapes decisions, staff practice and the daily experiences of children. Leaders use precise checks on learning to identify emerging needs and ensure that staff respond quickly. Learning is adapted with care so that children with complex barriers to their learning participate confidently alongside their peers. Children who speak English as an additional language are recognised as bringing valuable strengths. Their home languages and cultural identities are woven into daily routines to promote belonging and communication.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Children are very well supported through additional funding. They benefit from precise targeted approaches that build confidence, language and independence. Leaders analyse children’s development in depth, which leads to swift and sustained engagement. They work purposefully with families and external agencies to maintain stability and emotional security.

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Inclusion Exceptional

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported through staff’s detailed understanding of their individual needs. Progress is reviewed throughout the day. This leads to precise adjustments to routines, environments and interactions. Leaders draw on external specialists when further expertise is required. Staff consistently consider the needs of children facing wider vulnerabilities. They build trust and reduce barriers quickly so that children can participate fully and thrive. Responsive, in ‑ the ‑ moment adjustments remove barriers swiftly and enable children to sustain progress at an incredibly high level.

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Leadership and governance Exceptional

Leaders have a secure and insightful understanding of the nursery’s strengths and use detailed knowledge of individual children to shape well ‑ judged improvement priorities. Leaders’ decisions change life trajectories. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those facing significant barriers, achieve and thrive. Leaders remove obstacles rapidly that have lasting impact. They also reduce barriers for parents and carers, reflected in the deep trust that families place in the provision. All aspects of the school’s work are developed jointly with staff, creating shared ownership of practice and priorities.

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Leadership and governance Exceptional

Professional learning is precise, collaborative and embedded in daily practice. Leaders draw on evidence ‑ informed research and use it selectively to guide decisions that benefit children. Staff value leaders’ thoughtful approach to workload and the clarity with which expectations are communicated.

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Leadership and governance Exceptional

Community engagement is central to the school’s work. Leaders foster a culture where parents feel welcomed, informed and supported. The school's racial equity programme has shaped practice across the borough. This deeply embedded approach ensures that children see themselves represented in texts, images and role models. As a result, this sustained work strengthens identity, belonging and aspiration.

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Leadership and governance Exceptional

Leaders contribute meaningfully beyond their own setting. They have shaped an early years wellbeing project and share their expertise through conferences and collaborative work with other local authorities. This influence has strengthened practice in areas such as adaptive teaching, inclusive group times and early mark making.

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Strong standard

Governors use their expertise to provide highly effective challenge and maintain a clear focus on the right priorities. They monitor leaders’ actions with strategic precision and maintain rigorous oversight of their statutory duties.

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Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Personal development and wellbeing are a defining strength of Pembury. Leaders provide clear strategic direction. This ensures that children’s emotional security, confidence and sense of belonging sit at the centre of the curriculum. Pastoral support is distinctive. Staff understand children deeply and respond with care. This ensures that children with significant barriers to learning settle quickly and thrive.

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Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Personal, social and emotional development is woven through daily routines. Children learn to manage their feelings, build relationships and make positive choices because staff model calm interactions and guide them sensitively. High expectations are embedded in routine. For example, even the 3 ‑ year ‑ old children wash their plates after snack time. All children take responsibility for shared tasks, building independence and confidence.

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Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

The curriculum is designed so that children are given just the right level of support and challenge to become increasingly independent. Staff gradually remove scaffolding in a bespoke way. This helps children develop independence and sustain this over time. Staff place children in the 'stretch zone' with deliberate precision, so learning is challenging yet achievable. This approach builds resilience and motivation. Teaching helps children learn how to assess and manage physical risk. Children climb demanding equipment, balance, build structures safely and push physical limits with adult guidance. Real ‑ world risk experiences, such as using real tools or managing fire safely, deepen children’s understanding of risk and responsibility.

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Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

The wider personal development programme is rich and inclusive. Leaders design experiences that broaden children’s understanding of the world and celebrate the diversity of the community. The seasonal calendar, heritage project and carefully selected texts ensure that children see themselves represented and learn to value difference. Visitors such as musicians, theatre groups and artists add depth to children’s cultural experiences. Families are welcomed into learning through community walks, workshops and weekly practical sessions.

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Personal development and wellbeing Exceptional

Wellbeing is monitored rigorously. This enables staff to identify children who need additional support and respond quickly and precisely. Children leave Pembury with resilience, independence and a secure sense of self. They are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Attendance is overseen with clear strategic intent, and leaders respond thoughtfully to the challenges created by high mobility. The nursery experiences frequent movement of families, and leaders manage this carefully so that every child moves on safely and with continuity. From admission, parents and carers understand the school's attendance expectations because staff explain routines, the impact of absence and the support available. Leaders maintain consistent oversight of attendance patterns and respond promptly to emerging concerns, working with families to remove any barriers to attendance. Children who face additional challenges receive early help, and leaders support families effectively so that attendance improves. They support transitions thoughtfully and guide families when nursery provision is not immediately available in the area they have moved to. Leaders work closely with parents so that they can deepen early attendance habits and help

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

children establish positive routines as soon as they join the nursery.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Children behave extremely positively because the environment is calm, predictable and shaped by respectful relationships. Staff apply agreed approaches consistently well. This helps children feel secure. They sustain attention, follow routines and move confidently between activities. Staff precisely adapt approaches for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities so they can participate fully. Leaders see behaviour as a form of communication and use this understanding to refine provision so that children receive the support they need. Children show cooperation, growing independence and increasing emotional control.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Children at Pembury experience a warm, secure and deeply nurturing environment where they feel known, valued and safe. They arrive with confidence because the day flows in a calm, steady rhythm and relationships with staff are trusting. Children show that they understand how to behave in thoughtful and considerate ways. They cooperate with one another, respond to gentle guidance and show growing ability to manage their feelings and make positive choices. Children are well supported to shape their own learning.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Children enjoy their learning and approach activities with curiosity. They explore number, investigate shapes through building and construction, talk about stories with staff and choose books independently. Outdoors, they climb, balance and solve problems, judging risks with increasing confidence. Indoors, they move confidently through carefully designed zoned areas that support concentration and allow them to follow their interests. Children with additional needs participate fully because staff adapt activities thoughtfully and remove barriers through precise and responsive support. They benefit from finely tuned visual supports and expertly modelled language that enable them to take part with confidence and success.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Learning experiences are rich and woven into daily life. Children take part in creative projects, community walks and visits from artists, musicians and storytellers. These experiences broaden their understanding of the world and help them develop high aspirations for the future. Children learn to manage their feelings, persevere when tasks feel challenging and take pride in what they can now do. Staff check learning carefully and shape next steps. These foundations help them move into Reception with confidence and independence.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

Children belong to a community that celebrates identity and promotes inclusion. They see themselves reflected in books, displays and conversations. Relationships with families are central to the nursery’s work, and children proudly share what they have learned each week. For example, writing their name or talking about a recent project. Children speak positively about their experiences and know they can approach any member of staff if they need help.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue their work to ensure that all children establish positive habits of attendance at the earliest possible stage.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Melian Mansfield.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

This inspection took place from 3 June to 4 June 2026.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMI.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and other senior leaders during the inspection. They also met with members of the governing body, as well as a representative from the local authority.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school runs its own breakfast club and after-school club.

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About this inspection

The school does not use any alternative provision.

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About this inspection

Headteacher: Ruth Doak The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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