A NURSERY and infants school has been praised in its latest Ofsted inspection.

Croftlands Infants and its nursery school Little Wagtails in Ulverston have both been rated as ‘good’ after they were visited by Ofsted inspectors in March and April respectively.

The school, which has 210 pupils aged two to seven on the roll, has maintained its ‘good’ rating following previous inspections in 2017 and 2012.

In the Ofsted report published online, inspectors noted leaders were ambitious for pupils to succeed.

It states: “The curriculum that they have provided for pupils is broad and interesting. Leaders have clearly defined what they want pupils to have achieved by the time they move on to junior school.

“Leaders provide meaningful opportunities for pupils’ development beyond the curriculum. For example, pupils participate in sports events and performances with pupils from other schools. They learn about different faiths and cultures.”

The report also praises the school for helping pupils develop an understanding of fairness, tolerance and trust through their special assemblies.

In areas to improve, inspectors said that in some subjects, subject leaders do not have a clear understanding of the impact of the curriculum in their subjects on pupils’ learning.

They also said that the curriculum for children in early years is ‘not clearly organised’ and staff do not have enough information about the most important knowledge children need to know.

Praise was also offered up to Croftlands Infant School’s nursery Little Wagtails which was registered in 2019 and is run by a voluntary committee made up of the school’s governing body.

The nursery, which has 24 children aged zero to two on the roll, employs five members of childcare staff who hold appropriate early years qualifications.

The report states: “Children show that they have strong attachments with staff in this welcoming setting. They smile as their key person comes to collect them from the gate.”

Inspectors praise staff for having good knowledge of how to help children develop their physical and social skills.

The nursery environment is carefully planned to encourage exploration, inspectors say.

In areas to improve, inspectors have said that there should be strengthened supervision arrangements to include rigorous monitoring of staff practice in order to raise the quality of provision even further.

Jo Procter, headteacher of Croftlands Infants & Nursery School said she was ‘so proud’ of the team at the school and nursery.

She said: “It is lovely to read comments such as; ‘Children show that they have strong attachments with staff in this welcoming setting’ and ‘all children receive lots of individual attention from the calm and friendly staff’ and ‘pupils get on well with each other and with staff. They said that their school is a friendly place for everyone.

“I am so proud of our whole team at Croftlands Infant & Nursery School. We all work together with children at the forefront of all we do.

“To be graded ‘good; in both recent Ofsted inspections is a fantastic achievement particularly following two very difficult lockdown years.

“I would like to thank our children, parents and governing body for their continued support.”