Lea Nursery School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 April 2023

Children at Lea Nursery School are well cared for. Staff ensure that every child feels welcome and valued. Staff know that starting nursery feels like a big step for children and do everything they can to help children to settle quickly. Children enjoy and learn from the wide range of engaging activities that staff plan for them. Children are currently learning about life cycles. Prior to Easter, they watched as chicks hatched from eggs that they had been caring for. They are now observing caterpillars to learn about the lifecycle of butterflies. Leaders are in the process of redeveloping some parts of their curriculum to ensure that all children can achieve the best possible outcomes. Leaders ensure that there are high expectations for every child's behaviour, but also that children are understood and supported with empathy when they struggle to manage. Many children have had fewer opportunities, prior to starting nursery, to meet and socialise with other children because of the pandemic. Leaders and staff recognise that these children need more help to build their confidence and learn to play together. Parents feel very positive about the school. They say that their children go to nursery with smiles on their faces. They recognise the positive changes the new headteacher has made since her appointment in January 2022.

What the school should improve

• In some areas of the curriculum, leaders have not considered the small steps of learning that build towards the ambitious goals set out within the school's curriculum carefully enough. As a result, sometimes, staff design activities without fully considering what children already know and can do, and what they need to learn next. Leaders need to ensure that staff understand how knowledge builds cumulatively towards the school's curriculum goals.
• Children do not receive enough opportunities to use and embed the new words and syntax they encounter in a broad enough range of contexts. This means that children who start nursery with less well-developed speech, and a smaller vocabulary bank, do not catch up with their peers as well as they might. As leaders continue to develop the curriculum, they need to be clear about the vocabulary and syntax they want children to learn. Leaders need to identify precisely the vocabulary and syntax that they want children to learn and support staff to deliver this expertly.

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