New Mills Nursery School

Overview

New Mills Nursery School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection. Staff nurture children in a "friendly and welcoming" environment, ensuring they develop "secure foundations in readiness for the rest of their schooling." The school places a strong emphasis on language development and maintains warm, positive relationships with families.

Strengths

• Staff "take the time to understand and nurture children," carefully adapting the curriculum to reflect individual needs and backgrounds.
• The curriculum is "crafted carefully to plug any gaps in children’s early knowledge," using stories to help children learn key concepts and language.
• Children learn to "self-regulate and manage their feelings," developing empathy and trustworthiness through caring for the school’s guinea pigs.
• The school plays a "central role in its local community," loaning out resources like books and games to support family learning at home.
• Parents are "proud of the progress their children make," and relationships between staff, families, and children are described as "warm and positive."

Areas to improve

• The school should ensure that during independent learning, children "develop a breadth and depth of knowledge across all areas of the early years curriculum," as some currently do not deepen their understanding.
• Governors should consider "realistic and constructive ways of working" to ensure staff have a manageable workload, addressing concerns about well-being following recent restructuring.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.