The Grove Nursery School

Age group 3–5 Inspection date(s) 13–14 March 2112 Inspection number 376452 The Grove Nursery School Children and Family Centre Inspection report

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Unique reference number 100771 Local authority Southwark Inspection number 376452 Inspection dates 13–14 March 2012 Lead inspector Madeleine Gerard

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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 72 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Richard Smartt Headteacher Kay Beckwith Date of previous school inspection 28 April 2009 School address Tower Mill Road London SE15 6BP Telephone number 020 7701 6629 Fax number 020 7701 3841 Email address kbeckwith@grove.southwark.sch.uk 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 educati on and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. The inspector spent approximately four and a half hours observing teaching and learning led by three teachers and ten additional staff, and held meetings with staff, parents and carers, and members of the governing body. The inspector took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. The inspector observed the school’s work, looked at work in children’s individual record books, and tracking data showing children’s attainment and progress. The school’s development plans and records for safeguarding children were also seen. The inspector considered responses to the 25 questionnaires received from parents and carers and 15 staff questionnaires.

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Information about the school

This is an average-size nursery school. The majority of children attend full time. The others attend part time, mornings or afternoons. The proportion of children from minority ethnic groups is above average, and a higher proportion of children than average speaks English as an additional language. The proportion of children known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The proportion of disabled children and those who have special educational needs is average. Most of these children have speech, language and communication needs. There have been a number of staff changes over recent years. The headteacher joined the school in July 2011. The children’s centre, provision for babies and children up to age three as well as the breakfast and after-school clubs, which share the school site, are the subject of a separate inspection.

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Key findings

 This is a good school where children are happy. They are valued, known as individuals and enjoy their time in the school’s safe and caring environment. Occasionally, activities for children to choose for themselves are not matched to the full range of abilities to raise their achievement further. This is why the school is good rather than outstanding.

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Key findings

 Achievement is good. From mostly low starting points, children make good progress to reach the levels expected for their age when they leave.

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Key findings

 Teaching is good. Teachers plan interesting activities inside and outside that promote children’s understanding and increase their knowledge. A wide variety of well-selected and engaging resources and equipment successfully motivate the children to learn. Regular and detailed observations of children’s interests and progress are used effectively to plan adult-led tasks that ensure children are suitably challenged in their learning.

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Key findings

 Children’s behaviour and safety are good because adults make their expectations clear and provide positive role models. Routines ensure children feel safe and are confident to join in activities with adults and other children in the inside and outside spaces. Children have a good awareness of how to use resources and equipment safely.

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Key findings

 Leaders, managers and members of the governing body work closely together. They have maintained the school’s overall effectiveness whilst successfully managing a number of staff changes since the previous inspection. Regular checks on the quality of teaching and the curriculum, together with systematic staff review and additional training for staff to improve performance, help to secure good provision. However, the monitoring of children’s self-selected activities is not quite as rigorously checked. Successful curriculum developments include the introduction of specialist music sessions and enhanced opportunities for children to grow their own produce in the school’s allotment.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure activities for children to select for themselves are tailored to the full range of children’s learning needs by September 2012, and check the impact of this work on children’s achievement.

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Achievement of pupils

The achievement of all groups of children is good. Most parents and carers are rightly confident that their children make good progress at the school and feel that the school meets their children’s particular needs. Children join the school with skills and capabilities that are generally below those expected of three-year-old children. Their knowledge and understanding of the world, and their literacy and numeracy skills, are often particularly weak. By the time they leave, the gaps are narrowing effectively so that their attainment overall is at the expected levels for their age. This includes children who are known to be eligible for free school meals, who respond well to the nurturing individual care provided.

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Achievement of pupils

Learning is typically enthusiastic and focused. Children are keen to get involved in tasks as soon as they can and quickly choose activities for themselves in the inside and outdoor spaces. They often sustain their interest in what they are doing, work hard and concentrate well. This was illustrated when boys and girls were examining the dried skeleton of a fish as part of a project exploring underwater life. They enjoyed the challenge of drawing what they could see in order to explore the various parts of a fish’s body. Children listened carefully as adults explained the functions of different parts of the skeleton and they thought hard about how to record on paper what they observed. Children learning English as an additional language made similar brisk progress to that of other children. They developed confidence in using key vocabulary because they listened carefully to the adults and repeated new words

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Achievement of pupils

accurately. Another group of children were fascinated by a baby octopus that the teacher used to explain how octopuses move underwater. They were eager to count the octopus’ legs and to describe its skin. They listened very attentively to explanations of how an octopus uses ink to hide from other creatures.

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Achievement of pupils

Disabled children and those with special educational needs make good progress in developing their skills. They establish positive relationships with adults and other children. They benefit from regular individual and small-group sessions tailored to their needs with well-trained staff and specialist therapists.

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Quality of teaching

In the survey, all the parents and carers agreed that their children are well taught at the school. Inspection findings endorse this view. Adults prioritise speaking and listening skills and extend children’s learning through discussion and questioning. Reading, and the pleasure of sharing stories, are promoted strongly. Adults regularly read to individuals and small groups. Children have access to a wide variety of appropriate books and were observed confidently selecting books for themselves to read and recounting stories to one another. Effective team work ensures children can choose a wide variety of resources, toys and equipment in the inside and outdoor spaces. The well-organised curriculum supports children to enjoy their learning and promotes spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Staff promote social skills consistently. Themed events, for example during book week, and visitors to the

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Quality of teaching

school, including African drummers during Black History month, foster cultural development. Children from a wide variety of different backgrounds work and play well together. Outings to the local area help children to develop their knowledge of the community.

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Quality of teaching

There is a good balance of adult-led tasks and opportunities for children to select activities for themselves. During adult-directed tasks, staff use their knowledge of children’s learning, progress and interests to adapt work to their individual needs. This helps children to build on what they know and can do already, whatever their ability or needs, and they make swift gains in their learning. For example, working with an adult, children practising their knowledge of numbers were constantly challenged to extend their skills of adding two numbers together. Occasionally, the pace of children’s learning is not as consistently brisk, when activities for them to choose are not as closely matched to the wide range of their abilities. This means that sometimes these activities are too difficult for some children or insufficiently challenging for others. As a consequence, children’s interest is not as consistently

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Quality of teaching

well engaged and sustained. Children enjoy growing plants and caring for the two guinea pigs that live in the school garden. Recently introduced experiences help children to learn about the natural environment and enjoy outdoor activities in local park woodland and in the school’s allotment. Independence is encouraged through well-established daily routines. Children know to find their name card and put it on the attendance board in the classroom when they arrive. All children are encouraged to tidy up at the end of the morning and afternoon sessions.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Most parents and carers confirm that behaviour is good. In the survey, two of the twenty five respondents felt that learning is disrupted by bad behaviour and another two disagreed that the school deals well with any cases of bullying. All parents and carers in the survey confirmed that their children feel safe at school. The inspection found children’s behaviour and safety to be good. They are friendly and welcoming. This helps children to settle, make friends quickly and feel secure when they join the nursery. Children make a good contribution to their own learning. They participate in activities enthusiastically and respond promptly to reminders from staff about the behaviour expected. They know to tell the adults should any problems occur and are confident that adults will help them. The inspection found no evidence of bullying of any kind. Children were observed readily seeking help from staff to deal with unkind

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

behaviour or disagreements over equipment. Issues were swiftly and effectively resolved with the help of the adults. Clear guidance to promote children’s awareness of road safety, and opportunities to explore the work of local emergency services, help children to understand how to keep themselves safe from harm. The school encourages regular attendance and punctuality to enable children to benefit from daily routines and valuable learning time.

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Leadership and management

Leaders, managers and members of the governing body work successfully, together with the staff, to tackle discrimination and promote equality well. This is shown by the equal progress that children make, whatever their needs. The school consistently prioritises the promotion of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Through extremely close links with the children’s centre and with its breakfast and after- school clubs, the school ensures that children, including those experiencing challenging circumstances, and their families, receive appropriate care and guidance to promote their well-being. Children, whatever their background or ability, have equal access to the school’s curriculum and do well during their time in the nursery. In a comment, typical of many, one parent or carer wrote, ‘The staff make a huge effort in ensuring that everyone is always welcome and supported.'

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Leadership and management

Accurate self-evaluation enables the school to identify appropriate priorities for improvement. Careful monitoring, together with professional development for teachers and other teaching staff, helps maintain a consistently good approach to teaching and children’s learning. Similar monitoring of teachers’ planning for children’s independent learning is not quite as effectively established. Since the previous inspection, the school has made improvements to the outside environment to promote learning. Inside, a new sensory room is used to support children in individual sessions and small groups. In the survey, all the parents and carers confirmed that the school helps them to support their children’s development. Family learning encourages parents and carers to take an active part in their children’s progress. This includes opportunities for parents and carers to spend time in the nursery with their children, library books to read with their children, and courses on a

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Leadership and management

wide variety of topics organised in partnership with the children’s centre.

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Leadership and management

Arrangements for safeguarding children meet statutory requirements; staff are well trained and the school site is secure and well maintained. All these strengths reflect the school’s capacity to improve further.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. 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 pupils. 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. 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). 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. 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 pupils’ 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 pupils 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 pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ 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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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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London SE15 6BP

Thank you for your friendly welcome when I visited your school recently. I really enjoyed my visit and seeing all the interesting things that you do. I particularly enjoyed observing all of you exploring the fish skeleton and the octopus. This letter tells you what I found during my visit.

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London SE15 6BP

The Grove Nursery is a good school. All of you get on together and are well behaved in the classrooms and outdoor spaces. Your parents and carers told me they like the school a lot. You understand clearly how to keep yourselves safe from harm. This helps to make your school such a happy place to be. You are enthusiastic to come to school and enjoy yourselves while you are there. You are all doing well in your learning. Those of you who need additional help are well supported so that you also make good progress.

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London SE15 6BP

I have asked the staff to make sure that all the activities that you can choose for yourselves are carefully planned so that they are the right level of difficulty for you. I would also like the school to check that this is helping you to reach even higher standards in your learning. All of you can help by continuing to think hard and concentrate when you work with the adults and when you choose activities for yourselves.

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London SE15 6BP

Finally, I would like to thank you again and wish you well in the future.

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London SE15 6BP

Madeleine Gerard 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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