Newburn Manor Nursery School

Newburn Manor Nursery School Inspection report

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Age group 3–5 Inspection date(s) 29–30 May 2012 Inspection number 377752 Unique Reference Number 108430 Local authority Newcastle Upon Tyne Inspection number 377752 Inspection dates 29–30 May 2012 Lead inspector Susan Waugh

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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 96 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Joe Laws Headteacher Celia Skilbeck Date of previous school inspection 10 December 2008 School address Townfield Gardens Newburn Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE15 8PY Telephone number 0191 2774180 Fax number 0191 2774182 Email address admin@newburnmanor-nur.newcastle.sch.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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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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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.

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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

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. The inspector observed 11 sessions taught by four teachers and five support staff. Meetings were held with a member of the governing body, parents and carers and school staff. The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school development plan, safeguarding policies and individual portfolios and tracking of children’s progress. The inspector also took account of the 77 parent and carer and 14 staff questionnaires.

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Information about the school

The school, which is of broadly average size for a nursery school, serves a wide area of the north and west of Newcastle. The vast majority of children are of White British heritage and no children are at an early stage of acquiring English. Two percent of children have special educational needs. No child has a disability. Children attend the school for three terms prior to beginning Reception class in different schools. All children attend for either five mornings or five afternoons each week, while the majority attend for some additional paid sessions, including breakfast- and after- school sessions, for the rest of the week. The school holds National Healthy school standard, Enviro School award and Investing in Children award. 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 an outstanding school. It has a warm and welcoming ethos where every child is valued and nurtured to achieve a high standard and to be an independent, confident and happy learner. All parents and carers who returned the questionnaire were overwhelmingly positive about the school. Comments such as ‘fantastic nursery school’ and ‘could not fault it in any way’ are typical. Despite the many outstanding strengths, individual targets for staff development do not always focus sharply enough on making teaching even better.  ■ Children enter the nursery at a stage of development below that expected for their age. They make excellent progress in all areas of learning and development. By the time they leave, they are all at levels expected for their age and most are exceeding expectations in communication, language and literacy and in mathematical skills.

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Key Findings

■ Teaching is outstanding and never less than good. The headteacher’s leadership and constant drive to improve the quality of teaching, guided by relevant research, enthuses all staff. The teaching of letters and sounds and of mathematical skills is particularly effective.

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Key Findings

■ Children’s behaviour is exemplary. They come to school eagerly each day, keen to embark upon new and exciting learning in an extremely safe environment. All staff are highly effective role models guiding children to resolve any conflicts which may arise. Children co-operate with each other keenly and work collaboratively as they play and learn.

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Key Findings

■ Led by the headteacher, and embedded by strong teamwork, the school embodies the philosophy that children learn to be emotionally intelligent, responsible individuals. The curriculum is rich in resources and experiences that lead to the children’s outstanding social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. Leaders and managers manage performance well through their clear understanding of the school’s strengths based on accurate evaluation.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Ensure that individual staff targets for development always focus precisely on how to make teaching even better.

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Achievement of children

All parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire agree, with good reason, that their children make outstanding progress. Excellent relationships, supported by careful observation and recording of achievements, ensure that each adult knows each child very well. They provide exciting and stimulating activities focused tightly on supporting communication, language and literacy and mathematical development, pitched at exactly the right level to ensure that children make rapid progress. For example, a small group of children were guided by the teacher to develop their understanding of number by recognising numerals and putting the correct number of objects in a bag. Each child had a different range of numbers to work with and some were sequencing the numbers, too. Through targeted activities to develop reading skills using letters and sounds, frequent opportunities to enjoy hearing stories and acting out well-known tales in role play,

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Achievement of children

children rapidly acquire an enjoyment of and confidence in reading. As a result, most children enter the Reception Year with skills and abilities above those expected for their age in these areas.

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Achievement of children

Highly individualised and targeted support for each child ensures that all make equal rates of progress in line with their capabilities. Those with special educational needs make the same excellent progress as that of their peers because their particular needs and interests are met by highly-skilled adults who support them.

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Achievement of children

Children’s skills and knowledge in all areas of learning and development are enhanced very well, both indoors and outdoors, by the wide range of resources and stimulating opportunities that are available. All children show exceptionally high levels of curiosity and independence. They confidently offer their ideas and keenly engage adults, who offer discreet, but very skilful guidance, as partners in their developing understanding. Consequently all make rapid progress to reach the levels of development expected for their age in all areas of learning, with many exceeding these levels.

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Quality of teaching

The overall quality of teaching is outstanding and never less than good. This is the case both when children are supported in small focused activities and when adults are supporting them to learn in their play. Parents and carers endorse this view of teaching. All staff display high expectations and act as excellent role models, offering praise and encouragement, which allow the children to flourish. Adults display enthusiasm, excitement and engagement during all opportunities for learning. During an activity to develop children’s reading skills, the adult positioned herself on the floor with the children, introduced a pirate character in an appropriate voice and became fully engaged in the search for clues, showing excitement and wonder when the treasure was found. She also expertly guided them to read the clues at the same time.

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Quality of teaching

When adults are supporting learning during children’s play, they immerse themselves in the activity with the children, allowing the children to lead, but always alert to opportunities to develop children’s understanding. A group of boys playing in the water successfully learned about mixing colours, capacity and the properties of water. This was as a result of carefully thought-out adult comments such as ‘I wonder why the red water has turned orange’ in response to an observation by a child.

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Quality of teaching

As a result of adults’ skills in offering open-ended questions and comments, children are constantly asked to reflect on what is happening, to solve problems and to think more deeply. When seven children wanted to play in the dough area, and there were only six chairs, they had to work together to come up with a solution themselves, applying the skills they had acquired in a real and relevant situation.

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Quality of teaching

Each adult’s knowledge of individual children is based on careful observation and tracking and means that the children receive the correct type of support that they require to make progress. Therefore, individual support for children with special educational needs is extremely effective, utilising specialist advice and resources, where necessary.

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Behaviour and safety of children

Children’s behaviour is excellent. Nearly all understand the importance of listening, sharing and taking turns. Many spontaneously apologise when there are occasional disagreements or someone is accidently hurt. Daily group time supports children to be secure and to develop their personal and social skills through fun activities and song, such as sharing their feelings or taking turns to share fruit.

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Behaviour and safety of children

Children learn to resolve conflicts for themselves and to understand the importance of respecting each other’s differences. They therefore co-operate harmoniously nearly all of the time. There are no recorded incidents of bullying or racism. Children, parents and carers have total confidence in the school to deal appropriately with any incident, should it arise.

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Behaviour and safety of children

Participation in a daily risk assessment of the outdoor learning space is just one of the many ways children learn to understand how to keep themselves safe and to manage risk. Other planned opportunities include learning how to keep safe while crossing the road and learning to use tools and equipment safely. Additionally, the consistent approach adults have to supporting children to resolve conflicts results in children having a heightened awareness of potential risk, but also of ensuring that they keep safe. Nearly all children attend school every day. Any absence is promptly followed up by the school and relevant agencies are engaged if necessary to support all children to attend school regularly and promptly.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher has fostered an ethos of excellence based on constant reflection, a positive approach and the importance of teamwork. All staff, no matter what their role, are fully committed to ensuring that their vision is realised and there is no sense of complacency. Constant adaptations to the curriculum ensure that it is tailored exceptionally well to meet the individual needs of new groups of children when they enter the school. For example, this year there has been an intense focus on developing children’s language skills through a range of targeted opportunities which has accelerated their development. This type of on-going, successful and highly- effective focus on achieving the very best provision and progress from year to year demonstrates the school’s outstanding capacity for continued improvement.

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Leadership and management

The excellent curriculum provides wide and varied opportunities and makes a significant contribution towards children’s social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. This high-quality curriculum, combined with the excellent support provided by adults, means that achievement is rising year on year.

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Leadership and management

Thorough and accurate self evaluation means that there are frequent opportunities at a school-wide level for staff to develop their practice, such as a recent focus on improving the quality of conversation with children, inspired by research into effective Early Years practice. Systems to track and target children’s progress are very detailed and highly effective at pinpointing what needs to be done next. However, targets for individual staff development do not have the same degree of sharpness on how to improve teaching even further.

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Leadership and management

The governing body provides effective support and offers appropriate challenge. It discharges its statutory duties well, ensuring that safeguarding procedures meet requirements. The school’s approach of knowing and supporting individuals to achieve as well as they can means that all children are given an equal opportunity to succeed without fear of discrimination.

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Leadership and management

All staff have developed excellent relationships with parents and carers who universally support the school. They are successfully engaged in being partners in their child’s learning journey, through daily planning, regular conferences with staff and home-school activities.

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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 to 31 December 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

Floor settings the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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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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8PY

 Thank you so much for being so friendly and helpful when I visited your school. I enjoyed seeing all of the exciting things you do to help you learn. It was lovely to see that you are all so happy and excited to come to school each day. Here are the main things I found out about your outstanding school.

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■ Your behaviour is excellent and you are very good at sorting out problems if they occur.

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■ You learn very quickly because all adults know you very well and that means they know just what to do and say to help you learn more.

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■ Everyone in school works really hard to make sure that your school is as good as it can be.

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To make your school even better, I have asked your teachers to find even more ways to help you learn as quickly as possible.

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I am sure you are all very proud of your school, how hard you all work and how kind you are to everyone.

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8PY

Susan Waugh 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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