Whitehall School Nursery

Expected standard

Last inspected Mar 2026

Ofsted rating for Whitehall School Nursery

Last inspected 17 March 2026 · Melanie Eastwell

What it's like to attend

• Children feel safe and secure because the staff spend time with them during their play and explorations, encouraging them through positive language and facial expressions to choose freely and to try out new experiences.
• Children are learning about the expectations for behaviour because the staff are good role models and make sure they take time to explain to them about being kind and thoughtful to others.
• Children are learning to be independent. For example, the staff encourage them to find their coats and to put their own shoes on before playing outside, they know where the tissues are kept and put them in the bin after wiping their nose, and they know the routine for washing their hands before meal times.
• Good relationships with parents help children to make progress, as staff work hard to ensure there is a joint approach to children's learning and promote the importance of the home learning environment.
• Children enjoy playing outside and they benefit from being able to have free-flow between the inside and outside areas. They are confident to explore the sand, scooping it up in the variety of containers or with their hands and carrying it about with them, watching it fall from their hands.
• When children reach the age of three, they are well prepared for their transition into the foundation unit of the main school. They take part in activities within the school, such as physical play and games in the school hall. They go for visits into the foundation unit, both with the nursery staff and with their parents, to meet the teachers, and the teachers come to spend time in the nursery unit.
• The children are safe because the staff are vigilant in their supervision and they respond to each child's individual needs.
• The nursery is recently established and the staff work very hard to provide good levels of care and learning to the children in their care. They have implemented reflective practice and have made some changes to their procedures and activity.
• Parents are highly complementary about their own and their child's experiences at the nursery. They comment on how friendly and approachable the staff are and how willing they are to work closely with them.
• This contributes to children being safe and provided with a good range of activities that help them to continue to make good progress.

• 1Expand children's experiences of natural play materials to enhance their learning about the world and different textures by, for example, providing a wide range of natural resources, such as pebbles, fruit and pine cones.
• 2Extend self-evaluation through careful monitoring, analysis and self-challenge to ensure that priorities for future plans continue to support children's achievements.