Inspection Report - New Lodge Nursery School

New Lodge Nursery School

DE Ref No 111-0036

Inspection Report - November 2025

New Lodge Nursery School’s holistic vision is captured well in its meaningful strapline “Play, Learn, Belong” and reflects a commitment to nurturing each child. The vision is child-centered, developed in collaboration with the whole school community and guides effectively the school’s ethos and ongoing development.
The three-year SDP is detailed and reflects the school’s child-centered vision. It is well informed through thorough self-evaluation processes and shaped with valuable input from staff, parents and governors. The appropriately identified priorities are supported by detailed action plans and focus on: the implementation of ‘continuous provision’; the development of the school vision and values and the implementation of the Graduated Response Framework in relation to Special Educational Need (SEN).
The long- and medium-term planning has been reviewed to reflect in more detail the pre-school curricular guidance and skill progression. In the better practice the staff use effectively their ongoing observations and evaluations of the children’s learning to review the provision and adapt it to enable success in learning for each child.
The staff have high expectations for all of the children and know them well as a result of home visits, strong parental partnerships and the regular focussed and incidental observations. This understanding enables the staff to provide individualised support and foster independence through well‑established routines, clear expectations and learning opportunities which are tailored to each child and their interests.
The staff work collaboratively with the nursery school cluster. The recent focus to provide speech and language support across the school is providing early intervention and support for the children.
The nursery school embraces diversity which includes children entitled to free school meals, those identified with SEN and children from penultimate and target age year groups. The staff are attuned to the barriers to learning and are developing an inclusive learning environment where all of the children and families are welcomed, respected and supported to ‘belong’. Appropriately, the children’s cultures and festivals, such as Diwali, are shared and celebrated which creates an enriching and inclusive learning experience.
Records of concern are used very well by the staff to monitor the children’s progress, consult with parents and identify needs early. The PLPs are written well, and visual prompts of the children’s targets enable an inclusive and child-centred focus, which supports the children to understand their learning goals. Adaptive teaching is used well within the classroom to support returning children and those who are of penultimate age. All of the children are making progress from their individual starting points.
The children self-register and select confidently their play areas on arrival to the nursery school. Almost all of the children sustain their play, showing imagination and curiosity, particularly in the water areas, outdoor play and home corner. Language development is a notable strength; most children use expressive vocabulary in role play and respond confidently in their interactions with staff.
Almost all of the children’s physical skills are developing well, with children pedaling and balancing on bikes, navigating ramps and large outdoor equipment safely. They show good co‑ordination and strength through activities such as lifting large wooden blocks and using the water pump. The children’s mark-making and representational drawing skills are developing well and they enjoy music and opportunities for spontaneous singing. The children demonstrate an early understanding of the world around us and they eagerly take part in gardening and feeding the birds. Socially, most of the children interact with kindness and respect and share resources, supported by positive adult modelling.
The children’s successes are recognised and celebrated consistently through supportive staff interactions. Each child’s progress is captured in their personal learning journal, end of year scrapbooks and attractive displays of the children’s artwork and shared regularly with parents.
There is a whole school approach to staff professional learning which is empowering all of the staff to meet the diverse needs of the children. The staff routinely maintain records and evaluations of any learning they receive and implement associated strategies to support the children’s learning. For example the strategies which enhance children’s learning, such as the use of visuals and timers, are embedded well into classroom practice. Professional development has focused appropriately on language and communication, and the social, behavioural and emotional needs of the children. In the more effective practice, staff interactions with the children are a strength of the provision and impact positively on the children’s learning.
The staff know their local community well and take great pride in supporting the families and the children. Through home visits, the staff develop trusting relationships with parents and gain a better understanding of the support required, which is further detailed in each child’s ‘All About Me’ booklet. The children are supported very well to transition with the staff making visits to the local Sure Start projects and childcare providers, as well as providing the children with a book about ‘My Nursery School’.
Through growing links with external providers, the children’s understanding of sport, animals, music and reading is enhanced as they learn more about the world around them. Through these purposeful links as well as visits from the dentist, nurse and firefighters, the local community is made visible within the children’s own learning environment. The children also receive opportunities to explore their natural environment, having recently obtained the Eco‑school green flag award.
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

The children in New Lodge Nursery School are becoming independent learners in a child centred environment where the children are nurtured and supported by the committed staff to make progress in their learning. The nursery school is successful in living out its vision to provide a holistic learning experience where each child can “Play, Learn, Belong”.

ETI will continue to work with New Lodge Nursery School as it addresses the area for action: to develop further consistency in planning, teaching and assessment for successful learning.