Walnut Tree Walk Primary School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 10/12/2004 Inspector Name Malini Parmar

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name Corams Fields Community Nursery Setting Address 93 Guilford Street London WC1N 1DN

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of Corams Fields & the Harmsworth Memorial Playground 302963

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name Corams Fields & the Harmsworth Memorial Playground Address Corams Fields, 93 Guilford Street London WC1N 1DN

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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ABOUT THE INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public that the nursery education for funded three and four year old children is of an acceptable quality. Inspection of nursery education also identifies strengths and weaknesses so that providers can improve the quality of educational provision and help children to achieve the early learning goals (elgs) by the end of the Foundation Stage. This inspection report must be made available to all parents. If the setting has been inspected previously, an action plan will have been drawn up to tackle issues identified. This inspection, therefore, must also assess what progress has been made in the implementation of this plan.

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Information about the setting

Coram's Fields Community Nursery opened in 1987. It operates from two rooms of a listed building situated within large enclosed community gardens in central London. The group has exclusive use of the building including access to an office, kitchen, toilets and an outdoor area. The nursery is registered to provide 24 places for children aged between three and five years. There are currently 14 funded three year olds and 10 funded four year olds on roll. The nursery supports children with special needs and children for whom English is an additional language. The nursery opens five days a week for 48 weeks of the year. Opening hours are 08:00 to 18:00 Monday through to Friday. This includes breakfast and after school facilities. Five qualified staff work with the children. The nursery receives support from the Early Years Support Teacher

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Information about the setting

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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How effective is the nursery education?

Corams Fields Community Nursery provides a range of worthwhile activities and children are making generally good progress overall. The quality of the teaching is generally good. Core staff have a secure knowledge of the foundation stage and of how children learn. This enables them to provide an interesting range of practical activities. Planning and assessment are evolving. Staff meet weekly to discuss and evaluate a programme of activities based around a theme. The process of using observations to identify children's learning priorities and use these to plan activities is developing. Staff interact positively with children and form firm relationships with them. They carefully frame questions to support and extend children's thinking and encourage them to talk about what they are doing. Staff skilfully model learning by becoming fully involved in children's play. Occasionally, challenges for more able children are insufficient; they have exhausted

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How effective is the nursery education?

all possibilities on offer and wander in search of other things to do. Opportunities to promote writing skills through play are sometimes missed. Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and use effective techniques to promote turn taking, sharing and an understanding of feelings to create an harmonious environment. Consequently the children's' behaviour is generally good. There are firm procedures in place to support children with special educational needs and for children with English as an additional language. Leadership and Management are generally good. The team are positive and motivated; they are valued and staff have good access to regular training. There is not yet a vigorous system in place, to evaluate the group's strengths and weaknesses or that of the educational programme. Partnership with Parents is generally good. They receive useful information and are systematically provided with records about their child's progress. Information about

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How effective is the nursery education?

how parents can become involved is limited.

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What is being done well?

• Teaching gives good support to children's personal, social and emotional development; children are interested in learning, staff use effective techniques to strengthen children's understanding about feelings to support positive behaviour. • The outdoor area is used well and provides children with appropriate physical challenges. Children benefit from choosing to play indoors or outdoors. Staff provide children with a range of interesting physical activities that children enjoy. • Staff carefully frame questions and the quality of discussion between adults and children is good. Children are encouraged to share their ideas and

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What is being done well?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 develop their vocabulary. • Staff develop positive relationships with children and model effective learning by playing alongside children.

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What needs to be improved?

• planning and assessment to ensure the effective use of observations and assessment. In order to identify individual children's next steps in learning and use any information gained from observations to inform the planning of activities • partnership with parents to ensure effective ways of encouraging parents to participate in the programme • effective systems in order to regularly monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the setting and that of the educational programme • opportunities for children to practice their emergent writing skills through play to reinforce writing for a purpose and challenges for more able children.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Generally good progress has been made overall in addressing the three key issues for action from the last inspection. The process of planning has developed to include the areas of learning. The group are currently developing a system of ensuring children's next steps are used to inform future plans. The assessment system is developing to ensure progress is recorded against the areas of learning. Parents now receive useful information about the Foundation Stage and the six areas of learning.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are confident and keen to learn. Firm relationships are established as children learn to share, take turns and work co operatively. They show good levels of concentration and motivation in their chosen tasks when completing puzzles. Snack time routines are used effectively to promote self-help skills; children slice fruit and pour drinks. Occasionally, challenges for more able children are insufficient; they have exhausted all possibilities on offer and wander in search of other things.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Generally Good Children speak clearly and confidently as they engage both adults and their friends in conversation and listen attentively to stories. They regularly absorb themselves in books and use them well to locate information. Children are encouraged to notice print and the sounds of letters in words through their play. Mark making is available daily but writing is not extended to other areas of play to support writing for many purposes, through play.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children count confidently. They benefit from the consistent use of mathematical language and receive good support to recognise shapes, colours and sizes. Children learn about calculating and more complex ideas through singing and practical activities. Good use is made of the number line to raise children's awareness of number progression. Children clearly enjoy using sand and water but there is little emphasis on raising awareness of space and measure.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Children benefit from programmed trips to learn about their local environment. They are adept at using tape to join materials and they carefully make models using construction kits. They learn about their own culture and the beliefs of others through planned topics. Children have access to few programmable toys and spend little time investigating everyday objects using tools. Children benefit from the skilful use of ribbons to observe the weather and delight in noticing directional change.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children benefit from selecting to play indoors or outdoors. They are set effective challenges in the outdoor area and develop control, co ordination and spatial awareness. Children skilfully learn to, slow down, stop and go according to the "traffic light". They reverse park their bikes, trucks and use large barrels to roll along the ground. Children strengthen their fine motor movements as they chop, cut, pour and learn to handle pencils and paintbrushes with increasing control.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Children are provided with regular opportunities to explore a range of materials. They eagerly paint, stick, play with sand and water to communicate their thoughts, ideas and feelings. Children have access to a range of instruments and have daily opportunities for songs. They frequently use the imaginative play area playing "mummies". The quality of their play varies with the amount of support they receive.

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Children's spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is fostered

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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OUTCOME OF THE INSPECTION

The provision is acceptable and is of good quality overall. Children are making generally good progress towards the early learning goals. The next inspection will take place in three to four years time.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

• continue to develop effective use of observations in order to identify individual children's next steps in learning and use any information gained from observations to inform the planning of activities • improve opportunities and experiences to challenge more able children • increase opportunities for children to practice their emergent writing for a variety of purpose through their play • develop rigorous systems to monitor and evaluate the groups' strengths and weaknesses and that of the educational programme.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

The provider must draw up an action plan within 40 working days of receipt of this report showing how the key issues detailed above will be addressed. The action plan must be made available to all parents and to the Local Authority if required. An evaluation of the action taken will form part of the next inspection of funded nursery education.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998

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