Abbey Wood Nursery School

Abbey Wood Nursery School

Address: Dahlia Road, Abbey Wood, London, SE2 0SX Unique reference number (URN): 100099

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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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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff are passionate about ensuring that every child feels welcomed and included. Staff identify children’s individual needs as early as possible. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other challenges. Staff welcome parents’ and carers’ views on where their children may need more help. They use careful assessments and observations to establish the additional support children require.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff provide excellent, tailored support. This is outlined in individualised plans that describe children's needs and set targets to help them thrive. Staff adapt learning precisely so that all children can achieve success. Staff check carefully how well their support is working. They review and update children’s individual plans so that they continue to progress. Additional funding is used effectively to support disadvantaged children’s access to wider development opportunities, such as educational visits.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders work very well with external agencies. They seek specialist advice on how to improve children's learning and train staff. For example, children benefit from speech and language therapy. Leaders prioritise communicating clearly with parents. They involve them in the planning and review of their children's provision. Leaders support staff to develop their expertise, for example, helping staff to regulate children’s behaviour and get them ready to learn.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children make steady progress across the curriculum. Typically, they build the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage of education. Staff prioritise language development and communication. As a result, children's speaking and listening skills are largely secure. Children form positive attitudes to reading. They get ready for early reading by identifying sounds in stories and letters in the environment. Children develop their physical abilities, such as the fine motor skills needed for writing, by cutting up fruit, using modelling dough and mark-making with paintbrushes and chalks.

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Achievement Expected standard

Children's personal, social and emotional skills are well developed. They form warm relationships with staff and their peers. They learn to take turns and show kindness to others. Children are curious. They persevere when tasks are challenging. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged achieve well. They make suitable progress from their individual starting points.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders have set clear expectations for regular attendance. They have established effective systems to track and analyse rates of attendance. Staff respond quickly when they spot a drop in the attendance of individual children. Leaders ensure that families experiencing challenging circumstances receive the support they need for their children to attend well. This work is effective, to a degree. However, leaders understand that more work is needed to boost attendance and set up good habits for later on in children's education.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders have created an environment where children feel supported and secure. Established routines help children to play and learn together happily. Behaviour is generally calm, and children respect each other’s feelings. Staff typically intervene quickly if there is a disagreement. They talk to children about what went wrong and help them understand each other's feelings. Staff prioritise good manners. They help children recognise when to ask for help and how to show gratitude. Bullying is not an issue. Children become increasingly independent as they get older. Staff support them to take part in resolving any conflicts that arise as they grow.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

The curriculum carefully sets out what children need to know in each area of learning. Leaders have a clear understanding of the quality of the curriculum and teaching. They are committed to working on any areas that still need improvement.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff focus on getting to know each child. They use this understanding to create inclusive learning. This includes designing activities and choosing texts to spark children's interest, as well as making adaptations to the curriculum to meet children's needs. In the main, activities encourage children to explore and extend their learning. Typically, staff interact effectively with children, developing their language skills and reinforcing their knowledge. Occasionally, staff interactions with children are not as effective. This means some children do not deepen their understanding and improve their language and vocabulary as well as they might.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Staff develop children’s skills and knowledge in early reading, writing and mathematics well. Children listen to stories and rhymes often. They practise recognising sounds in words, count the number of objects in stories and make marks with chalks outside. On rare occasions, staff do not sufficiently address children’s misconceptions. Consequently, opportunities to improve children’s emerging skills, such as correct pencil grip, are sometimes missed.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have a clear and accurate understanding of the school’s strengths. They know there is still work to do to improve aspects of the school’s offer, for example supporting staff to develop children's language consistently effectively. Leaders are aspirational for all children. They are especially proud of the provision offered to children with additional needs. Leaders ensure that these children are supported to access learning and wider activities fully. Leaders engage well with the local community. They take every opportunity to work in partnership with parents and carers, offering effective pastoral support to children and parents as needed.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Governors know the school extremely well. They have a secure understanding of their role and work effectively with leaders to improve the school. Governors are always ready to speak up and challenge leaders. They fulfil their statutory duties. For example, they ensure that they have a clear overview of safeguarding matters in the school. They have had suitable safeguarding training.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff are typically very positive about working at the school. They appreciate the regular training they receive and give examples of how it has improved their teaching. Leaders take staff workload into account and are considerate of staff wellbeing. Staff feel listened to and valued as a result. Parents are highly supportive. They particularly appreciate the support the school offers for children with additional needs and the warm, caring staff.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have created a well-designed personal development programme. They make sure all children, including those with additional needs, can access the full wider offer. For example, leaders use additional funding to ensure that disadvantaged children participate fully in educational trips.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Children learn how to keep themselves safe and what makes a healthy diet, for example through their daily fruit snacks and well-balanced lunches. Children learn from the diverse community within the school. They celebrate a range of festivals, such as Eid and Diwali. Every year, families get together for 'Heritage Week', when they share food, music and dance from their different cultures. Children are respectful and tolerant towards each other.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Staff encourage children to be increasingly independent as they progress though the school. Children learn important life skills such as washing their hands before eating. Children support each other. They learn to share resources as they work and play. Staff teach children the phrase 'kind hands' to help them treat each other gently. Children learn to care for the environment and animals through activities such as forest school and looking after newly hatched chicks. They develop a secure understanding of right and wrong through stories and incidental day-to-day learning opportunities.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Visitors to the school enrich children’s learning. For example, a visiting beekeeper taught children about bee colonies and the honey they make. Children acted out being a bee and collecting pollen. Children take part in community projects. For instance, they worked with an artist and local care home residents to create a mural at the front of the school. Children are involved in the life of the school, for example, by putting away resources tidily. There is scope for these activities to be extended further.

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

Children are happy and well cared for at this friendly and inclusive school. Familiar staff welcome children in each day so that they enter the setting feeling safe, secure and valued. Staff build strong relationships with parents and carers. They get to know children as individuals. Staff work diligently to understand each child’s background, needs and interests.

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

Typically, children show clear progress from their starting points. Children enjoy learning. They explore many activities, building their skills and knowledge well. They generally leave the school well prepared for the next stage of their education. Children with additional needs, such as those who are disadvantaged or have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), receive excellent support. Staff skilfully adapt the curriculum for them. For example, they provide practical and visual resources. Children with SEND learn well alongside their peers because staff carefully support their specific needs.

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

Overall, behaviour throughout the nursery is positive. Children learn to respect others' feelings. They think about how their behaviour affects those around them. Children generally follow the rules and routines well. They play and learn collaboratively. When things go wrong, staff typically step in and sort things out quickly. They talk to children about what they could do differently in the future. Leaders encourage regular attendance at school. They work to remove the barriers that prevent it.

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

A wide range of activities enhances the curriculum and extends children's experiences of the world around them. These are carefully matched to children's needs and interests. For example, children visit different museums and a local farm. Leaders ensure that all pupils can access these enriching opportunities.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that they continue to develop staff expertise in using consistently high-quality interactions to promote learning, particularly children's use of language and vocabulary, across the curriculum. Leaders should continue their work to improve children's attendance and reduce the number of children who are persistently absent.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Joanne Rawlings.

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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

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

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and senior leaders. They also held meetings with the members of the local governing body and a representative from the local authority during the inspection.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 23 June 2026

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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 school currently uses no alternative provision.

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What does this mean?

Headteacher: Gill Crowley 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 needs support 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. 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

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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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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