Ballysally Nursery School

Overview

The inspection found that Ballysally Nursery School has a “high level of capacity for sustained improvement in the interest of all the learners.” Parents and staff provided highly positive feedback, praising the commitment of the team and the “positive working climate.” The report highlights excellent progress for children across all curriculum areas and strong, inclusive support for those with additional needs.

Strengths

• Children make “very good to excellent progress” and demonstrate well-established self-management skills, moving confidently through daily routines.
• Staff interactions are of “very good quality,” using “intuitive and purposeful” questioning to extend children’s problem-solving and creative thinking.
• The provision is “highly inclusive,” with individual education plans ensuring children with additional learning needs make “very good progress.”
• Leadership promotes a “collaborative and highly child-centred approach,” with governors showing a “high degree of confidence” in governance arrangements.
• Parents are actively engaged through initiatives like “Stay and Play” sessions and regular home-link visits, enhancing the holistic development of children.

Areas to improve

• Staff need to ensure that “sufficient information is systematically recorded for each child in a manageable way” regarding progress tracking.
• Leadership must “develop further aspects of their written school development plan” to maintain improvement momentum.
• A number of safeguarding policies require updating to “reflect the most recent safeguarding guidance from the Department of Education.”

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding children “reflect broadly the guidance from the relevant Departments,” though specific policies need updating to align with the most recent Department of Education guidance.