Canterbury Nursery School is an outstanding (Ofsted 2020) nursery school based in Bradford, that provides for children who have SEND within mainstream provision. They also have a specialist provision for children with SEND or complex medical and physical needs. The school’s vision of “connect, experience, grow” underpins the inclusive culture that the children learn and play in. A governor spoke in detail to our assessor about the commitment to meeting need for inclusion and SEND being central to decision making at Canterbury Nursery. Staff speak highly of the impact of the ‘Canterbury Family’ – “Canterbury is more than just a school – it’s a family and we want all of our children and families to feel confident and comfortable in who they are so that they can go out into the world and make the positive difference that only they can make”. These values are shared and promoted right from the top. Leadership show enthusiasm and determination to ensure that every child and their family is supported and nurtured at Canterbury Nursery School. It is evident that the community they serve is central to decision and policy making at the school. Leadership is active in their approach to providing an inclusive education, doing whatever it takes to ensure pupils can receive a breadth of opportunities and access resources on the first steps of their educational journey.
Knowing everyone on an individual level is important at Canterbury Nursery School. SLT welcome children and their parents/carers by name every day, providing the opportunity for parents and staff to share event updates, thoughts, and concerns with the school in an informal and welcoming environment. Parents are comforted by this strong relationship with staff and a sense of belonging is reinforced. Watching their children being escorted into school, by a member of staff with a smile, shows parents that all members of the Canterbury Nursery School are welcomed and cared for on a daily basis. This personal morning greeting also demonstrates the leaders’ depth of knowledge of each family, and their ability to engage in a manner best suited to the individual needs of that family. One Governor told our assessor that “Gate duty is my 15 minutes of happiness each day”. Parents are keen to voice their opinions with the school and the positive impact it has on their children. Feedback is thorough, highlighting the openness and honesty of communication, which in turn comes back to the positive engagement observed at the morning welcome. Parents are supportive of the prioritisation of CPD and effective recruitment in order to allow the children to succeed. They openly voice their trust in the school to provide for their child’s medical, mental health, or wellbeing needs. One parent told our assessors that “Staff can’t do enough. Anything we ask, they do”.
The provision for children in the nursery is excellent. The space has been used to drive the children’s immersion in language and oracy. Strategic processes are used to create unique and engaging learning spaces, with adjustments made to ensure each child can engage with their learning. Our assessor noted how children enter the space with confidence and joy, ready to learn every day, further validating the trust that parents put in the school. Staff have created an effective structure for learning, with children understanding and engaging with the high expectation/low pressure requests made by staff during learning. There is a calm and balanced environment in which to learn, and the Wellbeing Wednesday activity provides a space for children to focus on their wellbeing and make themselves ready to learn. Staff speak with great enthusiasm about the CPD offering to improve learning experiences. It allows them to provide tailored support for the children they work with: Forest School, Intensive Interaction, Autism, and EVC. External professionals are also brought in to support children and their families – Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Team, and Early Help are all woven into the inclusive fabric of Canterbury Nursery School.
School improvement is a shared value at the school, with staff striving for holistic excellence for all. The detailed knowledge of the children and families in their community ensure that targets have maximum impact, and that they continue to be proactive in their leadership. The school prioritises the development of the whole child, with all staff connected by a motivation for all children to succeed.