Crigglestone Nursery School

Crigglestone Nursery School and Early Years Centre Inspection report

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Age group 3–5 Inspection date(s) 12–13 January 2012 Inspection number 377703 Unique Reference Number 108137 Local authority Wakefield Inspection number 377703 Inspection dates 12–13 January 2012 Lead inspector Rosemary Eaton

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare provision, managed by the governing body, was inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Type of school Nursery School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3–5 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 82 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Kathryn Taubman Headteacher Anne Wilford Date of previous school inspection 11 May 2009 School address High Street Crigglestone Wakefield WF4 3EB Telephone number 01924 303290 Fax number 01924 303290 Email address enquiries@crigglestone.wakefield.sch.uk

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Registered childcare provision Crigglestone Early Years Centre Number of children on roll in the registered childcare provision Date of last inspection of registered childcare provision 11 May 2009 You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child's school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Rosemary Eaton David Halford Additional inspector Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. The inspectors observed six lessons in the nursery involving four members of staff. Meetings were held with staff and the Chair of the Governing Body, relating to both nursery and registered care. Informal discussions took place with children. The inspector looked at the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) but no responses were recorded. The inspectors observed the school's work, and looked at a range of documents including the school’s plans for its future development, samples of children’s record books, assessments of children’s learning, and examples of curriculum planning. The 30 questionnaires returned by parents were read and analysed as were those from staff.

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Information about the school

This is an average-sized nursery school. It offers part-time provision during school terms from 8.40 to 11.40am and 12.30 to 3.30pm. Most children are White British. Very few children have special educational needs or a disability.

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Information about the school

Registered early years provision is managed by the governing body and was inspected at the same time as the nursery provision.

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Information about the school

During the past year both nursery and registered early years provision have been affected by significant and unavoidable staff absences. At the time of the inspection, the assistant headteacher was absent and had been so since the start of the autumn term 2011. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key Findings

■ This is a good school. The headteacher makes sure that it runs smoothly and meets the needs of all children despite the current staffing difficulties. As a result children flourish and greatly enjoy their first experience of school.

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Key Findings

■ Children achieve well because they make good progress in all the areas of their learning. Great attention to every child’s welfare and structured approaches to daily routines mean that children joining the nursery settle extremely quickly and start learning straight away. They are prepared thoroughly for moving on to primary school.

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Key Findings

■ Teaching is good. Staff make effective use of the detailed information they collect about each child’s learning. They choose activities and resources carefully to interest children and cater for their different stages of development. There are some missed opportunities to extend children’s learning. For example, questions do not always make them think hard enough.

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Key Findings

■ Staff very clearly explain their expectations with regard to behaviour, and children rapidly appreciate the need to consider each other and to take care of their surroundings and equipment. They sustain their excellent behaviour at all times, including when they are learning independently. As a result children are relaxed and confident, showing that they feel entirely safe in school.

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Key Findings

■ The headteacher keeps a close eye on all aspects of the school’s work in her determination to provide as well as possible for every child. Management decisions are made after careful consideration and always with children’s best interests paramount. Parents are very positive about all aspects of the school, although a few would like more information about their children’s progress.

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Key Findings

■ The registered childcare provision meets children’s needs well. It results in busy, happy children who clearly enjoy their interesting activities and the company of staff and other children.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Ensure that staff take full advantage of opportunities to extend children’s learning by:  asking probing questions that encourage children to think hard  checking frequently on the quality of their independent play and intervening at suitable points in order to move learning forward.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Provide more information to parents about what their children have done and learnt and how parents can support learning at home by:  including more detail in children’s record books  ensuring that the books demonstrate the full range of children’s experiences.

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Achievement of children

Parents are happy with their children’s achievement and their confidence is justified. There are no evident differences in the achievement of different groups of children and, for example, the progress of those with special educational needs is just as good as that of other children. By the time they leave the nursery, children achieve best in aspects of their personal, social and emotional development and in their use of language in order to communicate. This is because these elements are promoted consistently throughout daily routines and activities.

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Achievement of children

Children soon learn the sounds made by letters and start to blend these together in order to help them to read simple words. Higher attaining and older children tackle unknown words such as ‘smell’ independently, saying each letter sound correctly before putting them together to read the word successfully. These children identify familiar words in books. All children hold books carefully and many show great enthusiasm for reading, turning pages one at a time in the correct order and looking with interest at illustrations. Children make good progress in writing, learning to form letters legibly and showing huge pride as their ability to write their name improves. They count and recognise numbers, and higher attaining children make sensible estimations, for example, about the number of toys of a particular colour.

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Achievement of children

Children show by their demeanour and expressions that they are interested in what they learn. During small group activities they often raise their hands to answer questions or volunteer information. They cooperate extremely well with staff and each other, regularly playing together collaboratively. In the creative area of the classroom, children showed each other how to operate the compact disc player, recording and playing back songs such as ‘Jingle Bells’. Their ability to learn and play without adult support is a strong feature of their learning. Children relish their opportunities to play outdoors; when there they get cracking immediately, choosing where to play, collecting resources and using their imagination as they give the dolls fresh air and exercise or cook an imaginary meal.

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Quality of teaching

Staff plan learning opportunities thoroughly, ensuring that children have a wide range of experiences. Activities are carefully chosen to support learning and motivate children. For example, in the numeracy area, two children became engrossed as they used model figures in a miniature landscape to retell and embellish a story. Children benefit from direct teaching of particular skills and knowledge, at levels matched accurately to their particular stage of development. Additionally, they have time to play and explore independently while staff conduct assessments to monitor specific aspects of each child’s progress. The outcomes of these assessments are used well to determine what individual children need to learn next. Usually, staff maintain a close overview of all the children in a particular area of the classroom but occasionally become so involved in recording their assessments that they do not check on independent learning frequently enough. This means that they miss

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Quality of teaching

opportunities to both observe how well children apply their skills during play and to encourage them to take another step forward in their learning.

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Quality of teaching

The inspection supports parents’ view that their children are taught well. Children’s behaviour is managed particularly effectively. Routines and systems are well organised and staff reinforce these with gentle but firm reminders when necessary. As a result, for example, children quickly learn that they must collect and wear a coloured band if they wish to play in a certain area. Guiding children to keep rules and explaining why they help everyone to have fair chances is one way in which staff contribute well to children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Staff strike a fine balance between expecting children to be as independent as possible, for example, when getting dressed for the outdoors, and judging when to step in to provide a helping hand before children get discouraged.

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Quality of teaching

Staff use a wide range of teaching methods. Setting an example and demonstrating to children is one of the most successful of these. For example, during outdoor play, one adult joined in with children as they used a variety of resources to act out the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. This helped them to develop their ability to play cooperatively and imaginatively and make use of the language they had heard when listening to the story. Questions are often used well to probe children’s understanding and encourage them to think hard. On occasions, though, questions prompt only ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers, because they are not framed in terms such as ‘Why…?’ or ‘What if…?’ and so children’s learning is not moved forward to any great degree.

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Behaviour and safety of children

Parents and staff are extremely positive about this aspect of the school. Children themselves say that they have lots of friends and that other children are kind. There is no evidence of any bullying behaviour. Even those who have attended the nursery for a very short time appreciate the high standard of behaviour expected of them, helped by clear structures and the encouragement of other children. For example, more experienced children point out when there are too many playing in the sand. Because they see that systems are fair and they will all have a turn, children do not squabble over resources. They work together extremely cooperatively to tidy up the classroom, sweeping up sand or putting books back in place. Even though they are excited when they go outside to play, children behave amazingly responsibly. They do not snatch or grab and they consider others when climbing on equipment or digging in the flower-beds. They are happy to help to put

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Behaviour and safety of children

out resources and the whole area is soon full of busy, happy and exceptionally well- behaved children. Wearing hard hats in the construction area helps reinforce children’s awareness of safety. They are very well aware of unsafe situations such as crossing roads and know that they must stay near their parents when out and about. Children learn about the particular dangers associated with, for example, fireworks and are taught how to respond in emergencies.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher demonstrates high expectations and communicates these clearly to staff. Currently, owing to staff absence, she takes full responsibility for monitoring, supporting and improving teaching. Important areas such as developing children’s writing have been the focus of recent and effective staff development. Consequently, despite staffing difficulties, teaching is good. Self-evaluation is honest and accurate. It leads to clear plans for tackling areas of relative weakness. These are largely effective in moving the school forward albeit, as a result of staff absence, at a slower pace than anticipated. There has been a range of improvements since the previous inspection, particularly in the provision outdoors. These developments, combined with the headteacher’s experience and expertise, provide clear evidence of the school’s capacity to continue to improve.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is good. It is well organised so as to meet the learning and development needs of all children. Led by the headteacher, the school has introduced an innovative approach to exercise incorporating elements of yoga, aerobics and dance to enhance children’s physical development and self-esteem. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Children are taught to cope with changes and difficulties in their lives, such as a new baby in the family, and to empathise with others. They are helped to appreciate that there are many different cultures and that people from them celebrate in various and fascinating ways.

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Leadership and management

The school actively and successfully promotes equality of opportunity and tackles discrimination. Children with particular barriers to their learning are identified quickly and any necessary support or extra help is provided whilst ensuring that they have full access to all activities and experiences. Members of the governing body contribute to this work, for example, through a visit to check that all new entrants are settling in well. Governors’ overview of the school’s work is enhanced by first- hand observations, enabling them to make informed decisions and ask pertinent questions of leaders. Governors are aware that some parents would like more information about what their children have done and learnt over a period of time. The books currently used lack detail and there is no clear rationale for the items they contain. Safeguarding meets statutory requirements and gives no cause for concern.

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childcare provision

The registered provision runs from 7.45am to 6pm every day of the year except bank holidays and three days between Christmas and New Year. Day-care is provided for children from eight months to three-years old. Childcare is available for children aged three to up to compulsory school age.

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childcare provision

Children make good progress in each of the areas of their learning. There are particular strengths in the personal, social and emotional development. Children get on well together and learn to share and take turns. Their behaviour is excellent and is particularly striking at mealtimes, which are sociable and very pleasant occasions, with children sitting together avoiding any tendency to distract or be distracted. Indoors and outside, children are active and use resources to the full. They clearly love to be outside and enjoy pedalling, climbing, rocking and sliding. A long caterpillar presents an intriguing challenge to the younger children as they try to crawl through it. It is one example of the good range of activities staff provide, stemming from their effective knowledge of the needs of young children.

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childcare provision

Attending to children’s well-being is given high priority with a comprehensive range of policies in place. The accommodation is well organised so the children in the day- care setting can learn and play in either ‘creative’ or ‘imaginative’ areas. Older children in childcare share some activities with the nursery and this helps to prepare them well for transition. Planning is matched well to children’s ages and needs, based on sharply focused observations by staff. The manager provides knowledgeable and highly committed leadership and maintains a clear picture of the performance of the provision and where more development is needed. As a result there have been improvements in the outdoor provision for children in the day-care setting, which has had an impact on their physical development and well-being. Because of the accommodation, providing the children in childcare with outdoor activities remains a feat of organisation but the staff make sure that they have as

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childcare provision

many opportunities as possible. Staff mobility and absences have tested management systems and taken significant time from developing the provision further. All welfare and safeguarding requirements are met.

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childcare provision

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage of the registered childcare provision, inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage Taking into account: Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage The quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage for the registered provision

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its childrens' needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its children well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its children. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its children. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes ( see www.ofsted.gov.uk ).

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the childs' work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school's efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils' punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well children acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school's overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which children are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the children' attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils' freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's main

findings from the inspection of their school.

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Wakefield, WF4 3EB

Thank you for being so friendly and helpful when we came to inspect the nursery. We did enjoy meeting you and seeing you working and playing together. The nursery is a good place to learn in. Here are some of the reasons why.  ■ You all learn a lot. We were very pleased to see how well you know the letter sounds. ■ All the adults are good at helping you to learn and looking after you. ■ They give you lots of interesting things to do. ■ Your behaviour is excellent. Well done! ■ You get on together so very well and help each other to learn and have fun. ■ The adults make sure that you play outside. We could see what a good time you have and you are careful to keep everyone safe. ■ Your headteacher makes sure that the school is safe, happy and busy. ■ Some of your mummies and daddies would like to know a little bit more about what you learn. We have asked the adults to help them.

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Wakefield, WF4 3EB

We send our best wishes to each one of you.

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Wakefield, WF4 3EB

Rosemary Eaton Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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