Thomas Wall Nursery School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 May 2025

Children are happy and settled here. They confidently explore the wide range of learning activities in the classroom and outside. Staff show them a great deal of care and provide strong examples of how to treat others, which children model in the way they interact with each other. The school enables children to feel secure, valued and supported, allowing them to express their needs with increasing independence. Staff have high expectations for what children will achieve. They are ambitious for children in the 'Dragonflies' specially resourced provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They support children to develop the knowledge and skills that they need to be prepared well for the move to primary school. Children are familiar with the school's routines, such as registering their names and putting their bags away when they arrive. Staff help them to practise tidying up and moving sensibly around the nursery. Children are encouraged to take responsibility. For instance, children take care of a giant snail in their classroom. Parents and carers have many positive things to say about this school. They value the clear and regular communication that helps them work in partnership with the nursery and support their children's development.

What the school should improve

• The school does not routinely encourage and support children to use a range of ambitious vocabulary in their own talk. As a result, children hear a range of ambitious language but are not as confident as they might be in using it. The school should ensure that children have opportunities to practise and use the key language that the school has identified for them to know.
• In a small number of instances, the school has not precisely identified the best approaches that staff should use to help children with SEND in the mainstream nursery to learn the curriculum. As a result, children sometimes have fewer opportunities to learn all that is intended and to interact with staff and other children. The school should ensure that guidance about how to support children is specific so that staff know how best to help them.

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