Windsor Nursery School

Overview

This ungraded inspection found that aspects of the school’s work “may not be as strong as at the time of the previous inspection,” triggering a future graded inspection. While the school maintains effective partnerships with parents and provides strong support for children with special educational needs, inconsistencies in curriculum delivery and governance have hampered recent improvement.

Strengths

• The school “works effectively with parents and carers,” who are encouraged as partners through workshops and home visits.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are “prioritised,” receiving swift support from external professionals and achieving well in a “calm and nurturing” resource base.
• Staff foster strong relationships with children, promoting independence and resilience, with most children settling well and demonstrating good personal hygiene and social skills.
• Staff report being “positive about the support they receive to manage their workload and well-being.”

Areas to improve

• The curriculum must clearly identify the “precise knowledge, skills and vocabulary children need to know,” particularly in early reading and mathematics, to ensure effective progress.
• Governors should strengthen processes to “hold leaders to account for the school’s improvement,” as current oversight has not ensured improvements are made quickly enough.
• Scrutiny of recruitment systems must become more robust to ensure “the right checks and records are in place for all staff.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective,” although it notes that systems to check recruitment records are “not as robust as they should be,” creating uncertainty about potential gaps.