Sunderland nursery celebrated gaining top marks

Hylton Red House Nursery School has been praised by Ofsted and given an outstanding grade for the second time.

Inspectors visited the Rotherham Road school for a short inspection and were hugely impressed with what they found.

In their report, they said: “High priority is given to building upon children’s prior learning and to promoting their interests. Well-planned activities both inside and out ensure that children are confident in their environment and curious about the world around them.

“At the heart of the school’s excellent provision are the exceptional skills of the staff. They understand the needs of very young children and are able to extend children’s play through their intervention and skilful questioning, helping children acquire basic skills in a fun way.”

They said despite many of the children entering school with skills well below average for their age, they go on to make excellent progress, with rapid gains in their learning.

Disadvantaged children form more than half of the school’s population, but make the same outstanding progress as their peers.

Inspectors said: “The very strong ethos of care and support pervades the school so that all children have the very best opportunities to thrive in a safe and secure environment.

Catherine Barnett, headteacher at the school, said everyone is thrilled with the report and she is proud to work with a fantasic team of staff.

She said: “I feel the inspector recognised the incredible amount of work we put into developing our values and our vision.

“Early Years education is so important – children and their families deserve to have access to skilled staff who are not only knowledgeable but are truly supportive of a family’s needs.

“As an outstanding maintained nursery school, I worry that the valuable contribution we make to our community is under threat currently, due to early years funding issues. If maintained nursery schools were to close (of which there are currently nine in Sunderland) a huge number of vulnerable families will be impacted upon.

“However, we must remain positive, and we will continue to work tirelessly to provide the very best education we can for as long as we possibly can.”!