Inspection Report - Kings Road Nursery School

Kings Road Nursery School

DE Ref No 411-6216

Inspection Report - November 2025

The clearly defined vision of Kings Road Nursery School is focused on developing independent, confident and curious learners and working in partnership with parents and the community. Following a collaborative review of the longstanding school motto “Discover, play, grow”, it was retained as it accurately represents the nursery school’s ethos.
The School Development Plan has identified three priorities which are aligned to the needs of the children and the school. These include: professional learning opportunities for staff on developing the children’s thinking and wider skills; early identification and support for children with special educational needs (SEN); and developing outdoor planning. A more robust self-evaluation process, involving consultation, is required to inform fully the school development plan.
The planning for learning is flexible, concise and responsive to the interests of the children. The plans are working documents for the staff who adapt the provision in line with the children’s evolving needs and interests. The medium- and long-term planning requires further review to align more fully to the pre-school curricular guidance.
The learning environment reflects the school’s vison for child led learning, providing a free flow arrangement and thoughtfully planned spaces. The staff are developing well the children’s curiosity, independence, choice and exploration within these spaces. Open-ended resources and responsive staff interactions enable the children to follow their own interests and build on their own learning. The indoor and outdoor environment provide a wide range
of opportunities for physical development, with children designing obstacle courses, creating wheeled vehicles with large blocks and confidently engaging in energetic play, running up and down the slopes outside and building strength and co-ordination.
Almost all of the children manage daily routines with confidence and independence. Using the visual supports, the children self‑register, choose their snack and wash their dishes when they have finished their snack. They have formed positive relationships with their peers, and almost all engage in sustained and collaborative play. Most of the children’s language development is progressing well and they express ideas and engage confidently in conversation with the staff and each other.
The children have well-developed creative and fine motor skills through their art and craft work, independently selecting tools and resources to produce cards and pictures for their parents and grandparents. Early mathematical understanding is emerging through the children’s engagement in practical activities such as measuring with a tape measure, and counting the pieces of a jigsaw and the number of blocks in an obstacle course.
The school places great value on each child’s unique learning journey, celebrating individual progress and personal achievements throughout the year. The staff use consistently praise to build confidence and recognise what makes every child special. Learning is shared regularly through displays, digital applications and social media, highlighting the children’s own ideas, early mark making and individual creations.
There is a welcoming and inclusive ethos which is shared by all and is visible in the staff’s interactions with the children. Personalised learning plans show detailed knowledge of each child, have targets which are appropriate and ‘SMART’ and include parental contributions. The special educational needs policy is appropriately being reviewed to include the process for the identification of need and to align to the latest guidance from the Education Authority.
The staff value greatly the views of parents, which is reflected in the large number of home visits undertaken before the children begin their pre-school education. The staff encourage parental involvement in their child’s learning by offering workshops on play and language development, stay and play sessions, DE’s Getting Ready to Learn programme and speech and language information evenings. Parental evaluations detail that these opportunities are helping them to feel more confident and informed about how to support their child’s learning at home.
Parents support the life and work of the school by volunteering with outdoor maintenance and talking to the children about their professions, which enriches the curriculum and makes learning meaningful and memorable. Through culturally sensitive reading books and parent visits, newcomer children gain an understanding of their own and others’ festivals, foods and traditional attire which promotes inclusion and cultural awareness.
Purposeful partnerships have been forged between the staff and the local community which further enhance and enrich the children’s learning experiences. For example, a representative from the local library visits the school weekly to read stories to the children and a polytunnel was purchased through funding received from the Belfast City Airport Community Fund.
All of the staff are committed to professional learning to support more effectively each child’s learning and development needs. The staff have recently completed training on Makaton, speech and language and the potential needs of children born prematurely through DE’s Tiny Learners Award.
The school has achieved the Birch Award from the Northern Ireland Forest School Association, through which the children gain regular access to forest learning. Consequently, the children are supported to develop deeper relationships with the natural environment and a greater respect for nature. This learning is reinforced by visits from Belfast City Council and NI Water who talk to the children about recycling, water efficiency and sustainability.
At the time of the inspection, the evidence provided by the school demonstrates that the arrangements for child protection align to the current statutory guidance.

Next steps

Kings Road Nursery School provides a nurturing, engaging learning environment where the children are becoming confident, independent and motivated learners.

ETI will continue to work with Kings Road Nursery School as it addresses the area for action: to develop further the processes of planning and self-evaluation to inform more robustly the whole school provision.