Monkchester Road Nursery School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 8 July 2025

Children enjoy coming to this school. They build positive relationships with their key workers. This helps children to settle quickly and feel safe and secure. Children behave well. On occasions when disagreements arise between children, staff are on hand to give them gentle reminders, such as to share and take turns. Children benefit from the consistent routines across the setting. These help them to know what is expected of them at different times of the day. The school has high expectations for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, in many areas of learning, these aims are not realised. This is because the school does not ensure that teaching is matched well to the needs of the children. Children enjoy the opportunities on offer to extend their learning. These wider experiences include weekly cooking sessions and visits to their school forest. This helps children to develop their independence skills, for example putting on their own jackets and trousers to work outdoors. Children and their parents and carers take part in regular trips and outings with the school. These are carefully designed to support families to become familiar with the local opportunities on offer, such as visits to the local beach.

What the school should improve

• The school does not make certain that staff can deliver aspects of the curriculum effectively. It does not ensure that staff focus enough on what they want children to learn from activities and there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. This means that children do not consistently benefit from the intended learning. The school should ensure that staff have the guidance required to deliver all areas of learning effectively.
• The school does not sufficiently develop children's language. Language is not modelled carefully enough or used to extend the words or phrases that children use. This limits how well children successfully develop the foundations for speaking and listening. The school should develop children's communication and language effectively, through staff's day-to-day interactions and teaching.
• The occasions available for children to make their own choices and follow their own interests when in the learning environment are limited. Children are not given regular opportunities to develop their own creativity and critical thinking skills through periods of sustained play. The school should ensure that the routines of the day do not obstruct the opportunities that children have to develop and apply their knowledge and skills.
• The school does not make sure that some of its procedures and policies, including aspects of record keeping related to safeguarding, are consistently followed by all staff. This can lead to important information not being recorded or collected in a timely way. The school should ensure that all staff follow its procedures and policies in consistent ways, particularly in relation to safeguarding

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