Howard Street Nursery School

Overview

Howard Street Nursery School is rated as ‘Good’ across all inspection categories. The report describes a setting where children are happy, feel safe, and achieve well due to high expectations and an ambitious curriculum. Leaders provide effective support for staff well-being and ensure inclusive provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Strengths

• Children arrive confidently and feel secure, trusting staff to provide comfort and reassurance.
• Leaders have designed an ‘ambitious curriculum’ that identifies key knowledge and suits children’s development, including for two-year-olds and those with SEND.
• Staff successfully support children’s play, helping them develop communication skills, letter sounds, and a ‘secure foundation in communication and language’.
• Children behave sensibly, respect others, and learn to be ‘kind, well-mannered and how to share resources’.
• Leaders promote personal development through cultural events and trips, such as canoeing and woodland visits, fostering respect for differences.

Areas to improve

• Some staff, particularly in the two-year-old class, do not talk enough with children during play, meaning some miss opportunities to build knowledge. Leaders should ensure all staff ‘make full use of opportunities to support and extend children’s learning through discussion’.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are ‘effective’, with staff receiving regular training and acting quickly to address concerns while engaging well with external agencies.