Inspection Report - St John the Baptist Nursery School

St John the Baptist Nursery School

DE Ref No 513-6217

Inspection Report - March 2026

The team works cohesively and with a shared commitment to the school’s vision “A happy child will learn”. Together, they create a consistent, values‑driven and child‑centred ethos that is evident in the daily practice. The Catholic ethos is lived out authentically through daily routines, charitable involvement and whole‑school initiatives, all of which contribute to the warm and nurturing culture of the school.
The school’s vision is reflected clearly in the children’s high levels of enjoyment and engagement across the well‑planned provision. Most of the children achieve well across the pre‑school curriculum, showing increasing confidence, independence and positive learning dispositions.
School development planning is robust and strategically focused on well‑being, special educational needs and digital skills. These priorities have been identified through wide consultation and align very well to the needs of the nursery school community. The parent‑friendly version of the school development plan promotes a shared understanding and encourages families to play an active role in the school’s ongoing improvement work.
The highly reflective staff team review continuously the provision leading to increased daily outdoor learning opportunities for the children, which is impacting positively on their well-being, emotional regulation and engagement. The thoughtfully planned and carefully curated outdoor environment provides the children with a rich range of high-quality learning experiences. These include opportunities to plant and care for flowers and herbs, observe the birds using the bird boxes and feeders, and access a wide range of equipment that promotes effectively their physical development.
The governors are well‑informed, understand clearly the school’s context and priorities, and articulate a clear commitment to sustaining its child‑centred ethos.
Well‑structured and collaboratively developed planning, underpinned by robust digital observation and assessment processes, enables all children to make good progress from their individual starting points.
The curriculum is rich, well-balanced and developmentally appropriate, with notable strengths in personal, social, emotional, and language development; outdoor learning; and the purposeful use of digital technology. Staff interactions with the children are sensitive, skilful and responsive, meeting effectively the wide range of the children’s needs and enabling them to progress.
The children benefit from a safe, nurturing and emotionally secure environment. Well‑established routines, along with movement and mindfulness sessions, help them build confidence and develop awareness of their emotions. Most of the children are secure within these routines; they label their work, manage their snack independently and show developing social skills as they take turns and play collaboratively.
The children show a good interest in books, listen attentively during story time, retell familiar stories, and engage purposefully in mark‑making. They respond enthusiastically to rhymes and songs.
Naturally curious, the children explore and investigate the richly resourced learning environment with confidence. They develop their early mathematical awareness through purposeful counting, sorting and matching that occur naturally within the daily routines and play. As part of their ongoing self‑evaluation and curriculum review, the staff have identified appropriately the need to strengthen further the planning for early mathematical experiences in order to maximise opportunities for the children’s learning.
The staff engage in strategic professional learning opportunities which are developing their knowledge of autism and effective strategies to use with the children. Through the staff’s participation in the Department of Education’s Tiny Learners Award, they have strengthened their understanding of the developmental impact of premature birth and adapted the provision appropriately to meet the children’s individual needs. Written comments in the parental questionnaire affirmed the support that the staff provide to their child.
Approaches to celebrating success are well‑embedded. The children reflect on their learning through structured weekly evaluations of their play, and their progress is captured comprehensively in individual learning journals which provide a rich record of their achievements.
Purposeful and productive partnerships are a key strength of the provision. The staff foster meaningful relationships with parents and a wide range of early years and community organisations to promote continuity and enhance outcomes for families. For example, the use of a translation app on the school’s website, staff assistance with practical guidance in completing forms, and timely signposting to a range of local services, including the Wellness Centre, enables families to receive appropriate support. In particular, the well-established links with the local Sure Start, playgroup and primary school contribute significantly to smooth transitions and seamless progression in the children’s learning.
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

Guided by the vision, “A happy child will learn,” St John the Baptist Nursery School provides a caring, values‑driven and well‑organised learning environment that supports every child to make meaningful progress from their individual starting points. Excellent team-working, strong parental partnerships and high‑quality, child‑centred practice create a warm and purposeful ethos where every child is known, valued and supported to thrive.

ETI will continue to work with St John the Baptist Nursery School as it addresses the area for action identified by the staff: to strengthen further early mathematical development within the planning and daily routines to maximise the learning opportunities for the children.

ETI will also work with the school to share the examples of highly effective practice from which others may learn:

the well-designed and highly effective outdoor provision which supports the children’s learning across all areas of the pre-school curriculum; and
the well-established partnerships that enable the children’s needs to be met through collaborative and responsive practice.