St John's Church of England Primary School

INSPECTION DETAILS

Inspection Date 14/02/2005 Inspector Name Joan Bernard

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SETTING DETAILS

Day Care Type Full Day Care Setting Name BELZ Nursery School Setting Address 96-98 Clapton Common London E5 9AL

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REGISTERED PROVIDER DETAILS

Name The Committee of The Committee of Belz Nursery School

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ORGANISATION DETAILS

Name The Committee of Belz Nursery School Address 96-98 Clapton Common London E5 9AL

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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

Belz Nursery School is based in the Belz Community Centre in the Clapton Common area in Hackney. The provision in available to boys from the local Orthodox Jewish community. Belz is registered to care for 64 boys between the ages of 3 and 9 years. There are currently 9 members of staff. The nursery school is presently open between the hours of 10:00am and 15:00 Monday to Thursday, and 10:00am to midday on Fridays. The provision is also open on Sundays from 10:00am to 15:00.

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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?

Belz Day Nursery provides a caring environment where staff encourage high standards of behaviour. Boys have a good relationship with staff who are caring and kind. Overall the provision for nursery education at the nursery is acceptable but has significant weaknesses. Teaching is not effective in helping the boys make sufficient progress towards the early learning goals Staff have a theoretical understanding of the learning outcomes of activities which results in teaching being adult directed and instructional. There's a vague understanding of the differences in practice between adult and child initiated activities. Consequently, teaching style is rigid with an emphasis on rote learning, with insufficiently planned practical activities. Teaching offers boys few opportunities to develop self care skills, though they do have free play and circle time, but boys spend a good portion of time seated around

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How effective is the nursery education?

desks in the classroom. Staff are not skilled in developing boy's competence in English because of their inability to speak English. Resources are varied and of satisfactory quality but their true potential are not always realised. The majority of staff's understanding of the early learning goals is not sufficiently realised in the planning of practical activities. Boys' are not sufficiently challenged in some areas of learning, notably mathematics and literacy. Management and leadership is satisfactory and has a desire to see the overall learning of the boys improve. With the help of outside agencies, such as Hackney Learning Trust they seek to improve the quality of planning, assessment and teaching. Partnership with parents is generally good. Parents trust the nursery and they are given opportunities to speak with staff about their children's progress. Parents are involved in their children's learning to the extent that they fill in a chart about their

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How effective is the nursery education?

child's learning at home and once returned this informs planning.

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What is being done well?

• The range of resources has improved. • Staff are caring and have the children's interest at heart. • There are strong links between the nursery, parents and the local community.

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What needs to be improved?

• the opportunity for children to take more initiative in their learning on a more regular basis.

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What needs to be improved?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Section 122 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 • more challenge in all aspects of the curriculum so as to provide breadth, depth,, balance and progression in the children's learning. • increase the provision for children to acquire competence in speaking, reading and writing English. • the need for planned balanced with unplanned activities where expected and unexpected outcomes are recognised and assessed.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

The setting has made attempts to raise the profile of English by having an English teacher in the setting twice a week, where each class received a total of one hour English. The range of resources has improved. The setting has placed staff on training programmes to increase their understanding of the early learning goals. The assessment of planning for children's progress now includes the six areas of learning. Staff are being encouraged to use assessment to inform planning. There are now more increasing number of occasions when boys are able to co-operate with each other. e.g. sand and water play, construction.

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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 Boys make satisfactory progress in this area. They are well behaved and obedient. Boys answer questions confidently and are excited during free play. Boys relate well to each other and staff.Teaching is highly directed and offers boys few opportunities to cooperate and negotiate with each other or develop self care skills. Boys are not sufficiently encouraged to use their initiative or discover for themselves. Boys await direction from staff and show little independence.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Boys are not making sufficient progress in this area. Boys' speaking skills are not particularly extended, in spite of answering questions and responding keenly to Bible stories. Teaching is mainly in Yiddish and the amount of spoken English is limited. There are unconnected bits of English which have no lasting impact on the boys' learning and their understanding of English. There are few practical activities to help boys understand the different purposes of writing.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Significant Weaknesses Boys are not making sufficient progress in this area. Activities in counting are repetitious and lacking challenge. Activities to help pupils to understand space and measure remains underdeveloped. There are insufficient opportunities for problem solving. The range of resources have improved but their impact on the boys' learning has yet to take effect. There are few planned activities that help boys' to develop and use mathematical language in problem solving.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Judgement: Generally Good Boys make satisfactory progress in this area. They design and make things using a range of construction equipment, even if at a basic level. Boys learn much about their past and culture by looking at the Bible. Boys explore their locality by visiting the local park and shops. They are encouraged to ask questions on how things work e.g. a torch. However, there's insufficient well planned activities enabling them to problem solve, explore and investigate for themselves the natural world

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Judgement: Generally Good Boys make generally good progress in this area. Boys use a wide range of tools and equipment. They use scissors, paint brushes and pencils with increasing control. Boys show awareness of their space and that of others, through the use of large equipment such as a trampoline and tunnel. The boys move safely and confidently through climbing frames. Boys slide, throw, catch, pedal and steer whilst recognising the changes in the active body. However, there is insufficient planned activities.

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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 Boys make satisfactory progress in this area. Boys sing festival songs as well as rhymes with much delight. They work with malleable materials creating two and three dimensional objects such as the Menorah. Boys use a variety of musical instruments, though more to accompany religious songs than to explore sounds and sound patterns. Boys have available a wide range of resources for role play. However, the full potential of these are not always realised due to adult control and lack of awareness.

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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 but has some significant areas for improvement. Children's progress towards the early learning goals is limited by some significant weaknesses. The next inspection will take place in one to two years time.

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WHAT THE SETTING NEEDS TO DO NEXT: THE KEY ISSUES

• Key Issues • Improve further staff knowledge of the early learning goals to ensure that they are aware of exactly what the children are expected to learn from planned and unplanned activities. • Improve teachers' understanding of how to transfer their knowledge of learning into planned practical activities where children can take the initiative in their own learning. • Give children more opportunities for challenge in subtracting, calculating, measure and the use of mathematical ideas to solve problems in daily routine. • Increase the provision for children to acquire competence in speaking, reading and writing English.

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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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