Ronald Tree Nursery School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 11 July 2024

Every child, and their family, are valued at this school. Adults know the children very well. They treat each one as an individual, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Adults use their knowledge of each child to provide opportunities in the curriculum that link to their interests. At school, the children have lots of opportunities to be outdoors. Children enjoy opportunities to visit the 'Green Patch', where parents and carers can come along too. They enjoy feeding the chickens and growing produce, such as tomatoes. They look forward to selling these plants during the nursery's 90th birthday celebrations. Adults model using positive language. This enables children, including those with SEND, to express their emotions and needs in an appropriate way. They learn to understand how their actions can have an impact on their peers and their feelings. This has reduced incidents of falling out. Any issues are quickly resolved so that children can get on with their learning. Children feel safe because the nursery environment is welcoming and harmonious. Parents say that the staff at this nursery are 'caring, compassionate and inspirational'. They comment on how their children have 'flourished' during their time at the nursery.

What the school should improve

• The school's work to refine the curriculum is not yet complete. The different documents staff use to plan and deliver the curriculum do not completely link together in a cohesive manner. This means that the sequence of learning that the children receive is not as seamless as it could be. The school needs to complete its work on the curriculum so that all staff are completely clear about precisely what children need to know and remember during their time at the nursery.
• The checks that the school makes on how well the early years curriculum is being implemented are at an early stage. Some staff are developing the leadership knowledge and expertise to make these checks. Therefore, in pockets, the curriculum is not fully implemented as intended. The school should ensure that the systems and processes to make checks on how well the curriculum is being taught and recalled by the children are understood and implemented well by all staff.

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