Chatham Place Nursery School

Overview

Chatham Place Nursery School is described as a “close-knit” setting where children “enjoy attending” and feel “settled and supported by caring staff.” Leaders place the community at the heart of their work, creating a “welcoming place for all” with a “calm and orderly” environment. The report highlights that children “typically achieve well” and are “ready for their next steps,” including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Strengths

• Leaders “prioritise building positive relationships” and work closely with external professionals to provide “specialist support when needed.”
• Staff provide a “sensitive and individual approach” in the special educational needs unit, helping children with complex needs to “engage successfully.”
• Children “develop their communication and language skills well” and “progress well from their starting points.”
• The school fosters strong personal development, with children learning to “manage their own feelings and emotions” through dedicated spaces like the ‘Zen Den’.
• Parents “appreciate the support that leaders provide” and are actively involved through initiatives like a ‘book club’.

Areas to improve

• Staff should “further develop the knowledge and skills that they need to deliver the curriculum consistently well,” ensuring they make full use of opportunities to revisit important knowledge.
• Leaders should support staff in “checking how well children learn the intended curriculum” to identify and address gaps in vocabulary and knowledge.
• Routines and expectations, while generally embedded, could be “more precise” on some occasions.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with leaders establishing an “open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility” and concerns are “actively identified, acted upon and managed.”