Parkview Nursery School

Parkview Nursery School Inspection report

p.1

Age group 3–5 Inspection date(s) 3–4 November 2011 Inspection number 378419 Unique Reference Number 112089 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 378419 Inspection dates 3–4 November 2011 Reporting inspector Karen Ling

p.1

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

p.1

Type of school Nursery School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3–5 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 63 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dave Gabbett Headteacher Sue Smith Date of previous school inspection 9 March 2009 School address St George's Road Millom LA18 4JE Telephone number 01229 772840 Fax number 01229 773909 Email address head@parkview-nur.cumbria.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 education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children's services, and inspects services for looked after

p.1

children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.2

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.

p.2

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

p.2

You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

p.2

To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to 'Subscribe'.

p.2

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

p.2

Introduction

This inspection was carried out by two additional inspectors. The inspectors visited 10 sessions or parts of sessions, spoke with children and held meetings with governors, staff, parents and partners. They observed the school's work, and looked at planning, records of achievement and 25 parental questionnaires.

p.3

Introduction

The inspection team reviewed many aspects of the school's work. It looked in detail at a number of key areas.

p.3

Introduction

 Children’s achievement and the level of challenge received.  The quality of provision and impact on outcomes for children.  The effectiveness of leaders and managers in meeting the welfare, learning and development requirements. 

p.3

Information about the school

Parkview Nursery School is smaller than the average - sized nursery school. Most children are of White British heritage. There are currently no children with a statement of special educational needs or who speak English as an additional language. The nursery school is on the same site as Millom Infants’ School, Millom Children’s and Youth Centre and Millom Stepping Stones. The children’s centre offers a range of services for children and their families; Stepping Stones offers pre-school childcare and early education each weekday from 7am to 5pm.

p.3

Information about the school

The reports for these institutions are available on the Ofsted website at www.ofsted.gov.uk .

p.3

Information about the school

Children are admitted to the nursery school at the beginning of the term following their third birthday. It offers part-time places.

p.3

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

p.4

Main findings

This is a good nursery school and is held in high regard by parents and carers. Typical of many, one wrote, ‘This is a really lovely nursery, everyone is friendly; my child goes in happy and I leave him feeling relaxed.’ They are full of praise for the way in which staff help children new to the nursery school settle quickly. The excellent partnership with parents and carers contributes significantly to children’s achievement.

p.4

Main findings

Children enjoy their time here and all groups of children make good progress in all areas of learning because they are taught well. Staff give equal regard to the needs of all children and they flourish as a result of the excellent care, guidance and support they receive. Children’s skills and knowledge on entry to nursery school are variable but most are below those expected for their age, particularly in their communication skills. The strong focus on speaking and listening activities is effectively supporting children’s confidence in communicating in small and large groups. By the time they leave, children’s overall skills are broadly as expected and the gaps between different groups of learners are closing. Their spiritual, moral, and cultural development is promoted well with personal and social skills being promoted especially well.

p.4

Main findings

Children’s behaviour is exemplary and the nursery school is highly effective in keeping children safe. Staff consistently teach children how to stay safe and reinforce safe practices. This ensures that very quickly children learn the rules of how to use equipment and resources correctly. Children enjoy a breadth of activities both indoors and outdoors. There is an appropriate balance of adult-led and self-chosen activity and most aspects of the curriculum are covered sufficiently well. There are too few opportunities to link sounds and letters, practise simple calculation and play vigorously because they are not planned for systematically.

p.4

Main findings

The nursery school is well led and managed and the governing body fulfils its role well. Fundamental to the nursery school’s success is the clear focus of leaders and managers on continually bringing about further improvements to provision. Staff are dedicated and work well together as a team. Self-evaluation accurately highlights strengths and areas for improvement, such as the recently introduced planning system. The improved focus on children’s interests ensures that they are nearly always well engaged, but not all activities challenge children sufficiently. The detail of how to maximise learning opportunities by setting clear learning intentions for every child is yet to be embedded. The nursery school clearly demonstrates its good capacity for sustained improvement.

p.4

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve planning to develop further the extent to which children enjoy their learning and achieve well by ensuring that: - learning intentions are clear when following children’s interests - activities are differentiated so that every child receives sufficient challenge - letter sounds are practised and reinforced systematically, simple calculation is used regularly to solve problems and all children regularly benefit from vigorous play. 

p.5

Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

Children are eager to attend nursery school and every child achieves well. They quickly become familiar with daily routines and show good levels of independence. For example, they hang up their coat and eagerly join their key group ready for the session to begin. The inclusive ethos gives every child the opportunity to contribute, as they discuss events in their lives or an object they have brought from home. This is reflected in the following parental comment, ‘The school works hard to make certain that my child is comfortable, happy and included.’ Children show growing respect for each other’s similarities and differences; they welcome each other by name and communicate simple phrases to one another using signs. This enables children who lack confidence in speaking to contribute to the group.

p.5

Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

All children, including those who enter nursery school with communication skills well below those expected for their age, make good progress because of the focused adult input. Children are very settled and their individual needs are attended to well because of the very caring staff and effective key-worker system. They behave exceptionally well and show an excellent awareness of boundaries, rules and self- control. This is the result of staff consistently helping children to stay and feel safe by explaining the consequences of their actions. For example, children know they must put on safety goggles before hammering nails into wood, and they carefully climb down backwards from heights.

p.5

Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

Children regularly sing rhymes and number songs. They show good levels of concentration as they listen to adults and friends speaking and take turns in conversation. As the year progresses, more emphasis is placed on helping children to identify the sounds letters make; however, some of the more-able children are not receiving sufficient challenge soon enough. Children become confident at counting forward and backwards. They use counting to answer questions such as how many children are in the group and how many chairs are needed. They talk about size, shape and position in their play, for example, as they construct and adapt models. However, too few opportunities are planned for children to use simple calculation to solve problems. The local community with its natural resources and places of interest are used well to promote children’s knowledge and understanding of their own culture and the world around them. They also learn about aspects of different

p.5

Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

religions and traditions in meaningful ways. For example, during the festival of Diwali they made diva lamps from clay and created Rangoli patterns using different materials. As all the diva lamps were lit, children sat quietly and focused on their beautifully decorated lamps.

p.5

Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

Children confidently move between indoor and outdoor spaces. Boys and girls thoroughly enjoy building large structures with wooden blocks. They cooperate and share resources very well. As they manoeuvre the wheeled toys, they display a good level of spatial awareness, alerting friends and asking them to ‘mind out’. They learn basic hygiene routines, such as washing hands before eating, enjoy a variety of fruit and healthy snacks and help themselves to fresh drinking water or milk.

p.6

Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

These are the grades for pupils'/childrens' outcomes

p.6

2

Pupils' attainment 3 The quality of pupils' learning and their progress 2 The quality of learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their progress

p.6

How effective is the provision?

Staff make an initial assessment of children’s capabilities, likes and dislikes during initial home visits. This contributes towards their tailoring of provision to meet individual needs. Staff are skilled at generating conversation and asking questions. For example, when making play dough, children were asked to explain what was happening when hot water was added to the dry ingredients. ‘It’s all going sticky.’ several replied. Occasionally staff miss opportunities to ask open-ended questions or are too quick to provide the answer when talking with children. As a result some children receive insufficient challenge during some activities. More usually, staff develop children’s knowledge and understanding effectively by skilfully covering many aspects of learning through one activity.

p.6

How effective is the provision?

The curriculum places great emphasis on children’s personal, social, emotional and communication development. This successfully promotes children’s self-esteem and confidence to try new things. The approach to planning children’s learning has recently changed to place more focus on following children’s own interests. Staff are flexible in their approach so that activities can be changed or extended to reflect children’s attention and engagement. However, as yet, not all activities are planned in sufficient detail to ensure every child receives the right level of challenge. Children’s learning is enriched by planned visits to the woods nearby, the local shops, the library and other places of interest. Although there is good provision for physical activity, there are too few planned opportunities which ensure all children engage in vigorous play activities.

p.6

How effective is the provision?

The highquality care, guidance and support underpin the success of the nursery school. The following parental comment was echoed by many, ’My child was a little unsettled at first and quickly overcame that and now loves going and that’s due to the help and support from all the staff.’ Staff are sensitive, and key workers have a detailed knowledge of family circumstances and individual needs. The excellent collaborative partnerships with key agencies ensure staff provide highly-effective support to individuals facing challenging circumstances. Effective systems support any children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who speak English as an additional language, when they attend the nursery. Transition arrangements with the schools to which the children move are good and children are prepared very well.

p.7

How effective is the provision?

These are the grades for the quality of provision

p.7

2

The use of assessment to support learning 2

p.7

How effective are leadership and management?

Leaders and managers are steadily ambitious, and secure improvement well. The recently completed extension which offers a wonderful indoor sandpit is but one example. Development plans prioritise areas for development with clear targets. The headteacher provides a calm and determined drive to move the nursery school forward, and involves all staff in the process. The governing body is increasingly involved in the life and work of the nursery school. Some members have provided faithful support for a number of years and are extremely dedicated. They have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development, and provide appropriate challenge to ensure good outcomes for children. Information from data on children’s learning and progress is rigorously analysed and provides a clear picture for leaders and managers of the performance between cohorts. The information is also used to inform the quality of teaching and identify where more focus is required.

p.7

How effective are leadership and management?

The nursery school promotes equality of opportunity and tackles discrimination well. Safeguarding policies and procedures for the safety and well-being of children are robust and all welfare requirements are met. There is a comprehensive awareness of safeguarding issues among staff and the governing body. All staff and governing body representatives are appropriately trained in child protection and work exceptionally well with key agencies to provide effective support to children and their families. The nursery school has a highly positive relationship with parents and carers and engages them fully in their child’s learning. They receive regular formal and informal information about what their child is learning and how they can support them at home. More formal meetings are planned each term to discuss in detail their child’s progress. As one parent commented, ‘We receive a great deal of feedback on

p.7

How effective are leadership and management?

children’s development and I feel able to ask anything at any time from any of the teaching staff.’ The nursery school promotes community cohesion well. It makes good use of the locality, children’s holidays at home and abroad, and planned activities to raise awareness in ways that are meaningful to young children.

p.8

How effective are leadership and management?

These are the grades for the leadership and management

p.8

2

The leadership and management of teaching and learning 2

p.8

Views of parents and carers

The proportion of parents and carers responding to the inspection questionnaire was below average for a nursery school. Those who returned the questionnaires or who spoke to the inspectors are overwhelmingly supportive of the school’s work. All agree that children enjoy school and feel safe. Written and verbal comments overwhelmingly express their delight at the dedication of staff and how quickly their child settles at nursery school.

p.8

questionnaire

Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at Parkview Nursery School to complete a questionnaire about their views of the school. In the questionnaire, parents and carers were asked to record how strongly they agreed with 13 statements about the school. The inspector received 25 completed questionnaires by the end of the on-site inspection. In total, there are 63 pupils registered at the school.

p.9

Total % Total % Total % Total %

My child enjoys school 24 96 1 4 0 0 0 0 The school keeps my child safe 23 92 2 8 0 0 0 0 The school informs me about my child's progress 19 76 6 24 0 0 0 0 My child is making enough progress at this school 20 80 4 16 0 0 0 0 The teaching is good at this school 22 88 3 12 0 0 0 0 The school helps me to support my child's learning 17 68 7 28 0 0 1 4 The school helps my child to have a healthy lifestyle 19 76 6 24 0 0 0 0 The school makes sure that my child is well prepared for the future (for example changing year group, changing school, and for children who are finishing school, entering further or higher education, or entering employment) 14 56 8 32 0 0 0 0

p.9

Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school meets my child's particular needs 17 68 7 28 0 0 1 4 The school deals effectively with unacceptable behaviour 15 60 8 32 0 0 0 0

p.9

Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school takes account of my suggestions and concerns 15 60 9 36 0 0 0 0

p.9

Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school is led and managed effectively 21 84 4 16 0 0 0 0 Overall, I am happy with my child's experience at this school 22 88 3 12 0 0 0 0

p.9

Total % Total % Total % Total %

The table above summarises the responses that parents and carers made to each statement. The percentages indicate the proportion of parents and carers giving that response out of the total number of completed questionnaires. Where one or more parents and carers chose not to answer a particular question, the percentages will not add up to 100%.

p.9

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.

p.10

Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 43 47 10 0 Primary schools 6 46 42 6 Secondary schools 14 36 41 9 Sixth forms 15 42 41 3 Special schools 30 48 19 3 Pupil referral units 14 50 31 5 All schools 10 44 39 6

p.10

Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements were introduced on 1 September 2009. This means that inspectors now make some additional judgements that were not made previously.

p.10

Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The data in the table above is for the period 1 September 2010 to 08 April 2011 and are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ).

p.10

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.

p.10

Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100. Sixth form figures reflect the judgements made for the overall effectiveness of the sixth form in secondary schools, special schools and pupil referral units.

p.10

Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning, development or training.

p.11

Common terminology used by inspectors

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

p.11

Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving. Inspectors base this judgement on what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

p.11

Common terminology used by inspectors

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

p.11

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.

p.11

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. The following judgements, in particular, influence what the overall effectiveness judgement will be.

p.11

Common terminology used by inspectors

 The school's capacity for sustained improvement.  Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils.  The quality of teaching.  The extent to which the curriculum meets pupils' needs, including, where relevant, through partnerships.  The effectiveness of care, guidance and support.

p.11

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.

p.11

Inspection of Parkview Nursery School, Millom, LA18 4JE

Thank you so much for showing us around your nursery school when we visited recently. We had such a lovely time being with you all. You have a good nursery school and some things are outstanding. You do so many different things each day and have so much fun. You help to make the play dough, can make diva lamps out of clay, and so much more. Your mums and dads are really pleased with how well you are doing and told us just how much you enjoy being at nursery school.

p.12

Inspection of Parkview Nursery School, Millom, LA18 4JE

Your teachers and the governors know exactly what to do to make sure your school is a safe place to be. You also know how to keep yourselves safe and told us how you use things safely. We were really pleased to see how well your teachers look after you and how well you are learning to look after yourselves. You are given so many opportunities to talk and listen to each other and your teachers know how important this is. They know what to do to help each one of you, and think you are all very special. It was good to see you playing outside in the fresh air too. You all get on so well together and behave brilliantly. Well done all of you.

p.12

Inspection of Parkview Nursery School, Millom, LA18 4JE

We have asked your teachers to help you to do the best you possibly can. So they will be making sure that activities are not too easy but just right for you all. We have also asked them to give you more opportunities to play vigorously; that means make your heart beat fast because this will help to keep you healthy. We have also asked your teachers to help you practise the sounds that letters make once you are ready. You are good at counting and you know lots of number rhymes. We also think that you could be helped to use your counting skills better to solve number problems and we have asked your teachers to think about this when planning activities.

p.12

Inspection of Parkview Nursery School, Millom, LA18 4JE

Boys and girls, you are a credit to your school. It is no wonder your teachers enjoy being with you each day. Keep trying as hard as you do in everything you do. We wish you and your families all the best for the future.

p.12

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 .

p.13