Nursery celebrates its 8th consecutive outstanding Ofsted report

Wingate Community Nursery School was yet again heaped with praise by education watchdogs.

This latest report means the Partridge Terrace nursery has been at the top of its game for more than 20 years.

In his report following the latest visit, Geoffrey Dorrity, of the Office for Standards in Education, the school’s continuous strive to offer young citizens the best start in life.

He said: “Children are enthusiastic, confident and independent learners. They are effectively supported to be inquisitive because of the way the highly skilled staff continuously enhance the learning environment to enable them to follow their interests.

“Children are encouraged to plan their own learning, and staff then use every opportunity this gives to develop further the children’s knowledge, skills and aptitudes. Staff are reflective and challenge the children but always give them the time to really absorb their learning. This means children are consistently engaged in purposeful tasks and activities, and not a moment of time is wasted.”

Becky Wood, headteacher at the Wingate nursery school said everyone is very proud of the achievement.

She said: “I have a brilliant team who work incredibly hard to make Wingate Nursery School the special place that it is for all of us – the children, the families and each other.

“I am thrilled to have maintained outstanding as a new headteacher and can say the experience was a very positive one, where we were able to share our work with a very interested inspector with a strong belief and understanding about high quality Early Years education.

“One of our most precious school values is to respect children and their childhood, alongside valuing each and every family on this journey together.”

In his report Mr Dorrity acknowledged the outstanding progress that children make at the East Durham nursery and they leave with skills and understanding that are above national expected levels for children entering reception classes.

He said: “The school’s initiative to enable children to explore their learning outdoors, is having a positive impact on outcomes for children eligible for early years pupil premium.

“Children love reading books with staff. The most able can discuss different authors, and name other titles they have written. They can identify with different characters in a story, and use their developing skills and understanding of how books work to predict what may happen next.

“Relationships with parents are extremely strong. They were in disbelief that anyone would have a complaint. There are many effective routes for parents to be involved in their child’s learning.”

The inspector said different cultures are valued in the nursery and the curriculum is strong.