Alver Valley School praised for expert use of nature and instilling love of reading following Ofsted

Alver Valley Infant and Nursery School, located in Falcon Meadows Way, has recently received its Ofsted outcome following an inspection which took place on January 14 and 15.

The inspection outlined that the school has high expectations of the pupils and teachers ‘expertly’ use time in nature to enhance learning.

The report said: “Right from the start in Nursery, parents and carers are confident in how staff support their children’s well-being. Pupils have many trusted adults to talk to.

“Children get off to a very positive start when they join the school. Adults are very caring and help develop children’s communication and language skills by skilfully interacting with them, extending their understanding.”

Ali Lockwood, head of schools, said: “Alver Valley is a really special place. We have an amazing curriculum that we have designed around the needs of our children and one of our aims is to make learning irresistable for children and that’s exactly what we’ve done in our curriculum - whether it’s through our hooks to books, whether it’s through our forest school provision that we have for children.”

The report also commented on how ‘leaders instil a love of reading’ which results in most pupils learning to read quickly. Teachers also ensure that extra support is provided for children struggling with reading and phonics so that all children progress.

The Ofsted report added: “Teachers are skilled at knowing how pupils learn best. They explain the learning clearly, questioning pupils to check that everyone has understood them. If there are any misunderstandings, these are quickly addressed.

“Children get off to a very positive start when they join the school. Adults are very caring and help develop children’s communication and language skills by skilfully interacting with them, extending their understanding.”

Jill Roseblade, executive headteacher, said: “We were really pleased with it because it really shone a light on the values that we hold dear to the school.

“It really reflected and highlighted those areas that we’ve really worked on hard and also the fact that the children come out so supportive of each other and there are such strong learning behaviours across the school.”

The safeguarding measures are effective and there is a strong culture of keeping children safe at the school.

For more information about the Ofsted report for Alver Valley Infant and Nursery School, click here.