Brunel Nursery School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 May 2026

Children happily come into school, eager to take part in the different learning activities available to them. Many children attend school regularly. Children learn how to share and cooperate. They work together to build models and to create imaginary games. This brings to life the school's motto of 'learning together'. Staff help children to understand their different emotions and how to manage these. Children who find this more challenging are supported well by caring and nurturing staff. Incidents of bullying are not something that children experience at the school. The positive relationships that children have with staff helps them to feel safe. Many children at the school speak English as an additional language. These children benefit from extra support that helps them to develop their use of spoken English. Disadvantaged children and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the support they need to learn alongside their classmates. However, children do not achieve as well as they should. This includes developing some of the important knowledge and skills linked to early writing and mathematics. This limits how well prepared some children are for their next steps in education. Leaders and governors have not acted as quickly as they should to ensure that this is addressed. Children benefit from experiences that bring elements of the outside world into school. For example, children get to enjoy live shows from visiting theatre groups and performances put on by pupils from the nearby school. Children also begin to learn about important people in the local community and the roles that they serve. This includes by meeting police officers in school and by reading books about the fire service and other people that help us.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that the curriculum accounts for those children who join the school working below age-related expectations.
• Leaders should ensure that staff consistently use assessment information to design and deliver learning activities that help children to build on what they already know.
• Leaders should ensure that children typically achieve well in all aspects of literacy and mathematics by the end of the Nursery Year.
• Leaders and governors should ensure that key areas for improvement are effectively prioritised and addressed in a timely manner.
• Leaders should review their systems for identifying and assessing children's additional needs, so that greater consideration is given to children who may have overlapping barriers to their learning.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)