Colleges Nursery School, Cambridge

What it's like to be a pupil at Colleges Nursery School

Children thrive in a highly nurturing and stimulating environment. They are excited to come to school and eager to learn. Well-established routines help children feel safe, secure and valued. Children develop independence skills that help them navigate their environment. For example, they seek out their key workers to find out what exciting activities are planned for the day. Children are naturally curious and eager to explore the world around them. Secure relationships with staff create a deep sense of belonging. Children confidently seek support and trust adults to help them overcome challenges. Children achieve extremely well from their starting points because staff have an excellent understanding of their interests, needs and next steps in learning. Staff ensure that carefully planned activities capture children's curiosity. However, this practice is not always consistent. Staff build on children's knowledge and skills, enabling them to succeed in a range of learning tasks. High-quality interactions and carefully chosen vocabulary support children's language development. Children benefit from a rich reading culture that fosters a love of books. For example, staff share books linked to recent experiences, such as learning about the butterfly life cycle. Staff are highly attuned to children's social and emotional needs. They proactively support children to manage their feelings and resolve conflicts. This helps children develop independence and positive relationships. Children confidently use strategies such as sand timers to share resources fairly, for example when taking turns on the outdoor swing. The curriculum provides enriching experiences that broaden children's understanding of the world. Opportunities such as celebrating the World Cup, learning about environmental issues and meeting a beekeeper help children develop confidence, curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. This enables them to flourish socially, emotionally and academically.

What Ofsted says the school should do next

• Leaders should continue to develop the school's work on embedding vocabulary and high-quality interactions across all areas of learning and monitor the impact of this work.
• Governors should continue to support and challenge leaders to ensure that governors have an accurate understanding of the school's provision and its impact.

Colleges Nursery provides a warm, nurturing environment where every child feels valued and secure. Staff have excellent knowledge of each child's needs and interests, and use this to plan activities that help children achieve well and develop independence. The school is exceptionally good at preparing children emotionally and academically for their next stage of education through strong partnerships with families.

Safeguarding standards are met with an open culture where leaders fulfil all legal requirements and children are made safer and feel safe.

Local shop visits, clubs, workshops, beekeeper visit, bus station visit

Bus Stops