Eastbourne nursery school receives 'good' Ofsted rating

Schools are judged on five categories – the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision.

The Meadows Nursery School on Brand Road was inspected in February and scored 'good' in all categories.

This was the first routine inspection the nursery received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the nursery.

The manager and the inspector had a learning walk to help understand the curriculum.

The inspector held discussions with the manager and senior leaders to assess the effectiveness of leadership and management.

The inspector spoke with staff and parents and took account of their views.

The inspector observed staff interactions with children to help to assess the quality of teaching.

The report said: “Children are enthusiastic, happy and excited to see staff. They are eager to start the day, confidently find their friends and settle quickly into play. This shows that children feel safe and secure. Furthermore, children show high levels of independence. For example, they spread toppings on crackers and peel bananas at snack time. This helps to prepare children well for their next stage in learning.

“Furthermore, children look at books and listen to stories about people in other countries. This helps them to learn about and respect other cultures.

“Children are polite and enthusiastic learners. They thoroughly enjoy a range of activities that successfully ignite their curiosity. For example, they are excited to find worms and other insects as they go on a bug hunt in the garden. This also helps them to learn about nature and the wildlife found in gardens. Furthermore, children learn about nature and growing when they plant flowers and vegetables.”

However in the report, Ofsted wrote that that the school could ‘improve sharing of children's learning with parents, including targeted plans, to enable them to further build on children's learning at home’ and ‘review daily routines to ensure that children do not wait for long periods between activities.’