Adderley Nursery School

Adderley Nursery School 1 St Saviour Road, Saltley, Birmingham, B8 1EH

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  From low starting points, children achieve exceptionally well from the time they join the Nursery.  Children at least reach and many exceed the levels that are nationally expected for four- year olds by the end of the Nursery Year.  Children rapidly develop outstanding behaviour and concentration because activities are so interesting. Excellent behaviour contributes a great deal to their excellent progress.  Teachers and support staff provide many inspirational and purposeful learning opportunities to interest and engage children.  When planning learning, teachers consider what children enjoy and base many learning activities on children’s interests. The impressive curriculum stimulates all children to be excellent learners.  A few children are brought to Nursery late. This means they miss out on excellent opportunities to learn and settle in, particularly at the beginning of morning and afternoon

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

sessions.  Highly effective organisation of staff means that senior leaders are constantly able to check the quality of teaching and learning and provide extra help and support for children who need it. Leaders’ actions ensure that all staff teach to a high standard so that children’s achievement is outstanding.  Both indoor and outside learning environments are highly stimulating, although the display of literacy and numeracy information does not fully support literacy and number work outside.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed children learning in 17 sessions, including in special groups, adult-led and child-initiated activities. These sessions were taught by the teachers and 12 nursery nurses, including some who are bi-lingual.  Joint observations were carried out with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, the headteacher, deputy headteachers and staff. The inspectors talked to children informally during observation times. An inspector met a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors looked at a wide range of documentation including school improvement plans and self-evaluation, as well as school data from the checking of children’s progress. They looked in detail at a sample of children’s ‘learning journeys’, showing their achievements. Documents detailing arrangements for safeguarding children were scrutinised.  No views of parents and carers were available in the online Parent View survey, but inspectors

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Information about this inspection

considered outcomes of a recent school questionnaire. A good number of parents gave their views on the school directly to the inspectors at the beginning of and during the school day.  Questionnaire responses from 26 staff were considered.

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Inspection team

David Speakman, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Linda Rowley Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than most other nursery schools.  Children attend full time for four-and-a-half days each week. They start in the September following their third birthday.  The very large majority of children come from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds, but the large majority is of a Pakistani heritage. A few children are White British.  Most pupils speak English as an additional language and are at the early stages of learning English when they join the school.  There are no children known to be eligible for the pupil premium.  Since the previous inspection, staffing has been restructured. Teachers have become team leaders, leading teams of four adults as key workers for around 28 children.  The staff identify early on children who need extra support. Typically, the proportion of pupils supported through early years action is similar to that of most nursery schools, but the proportions supported at early years action plus or with a statement of special educational needs

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Information about this school

are above average.  The Nursery school is part of Adderley Children's Centre. There is childcare for children aged from birth to three years. These provisions were not part of this inspection and are not reported on in this report.  Children are educated onsite. Alternative educational provision is not made elsewhere.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Explore further ways to encourage every parent and carer to bring their children to school on time so children do not miss valuable learning opportunities at the beginning of each session.  Further enrich the outdoor learning environment by displaying learning prompts for language and number, so more-able children become even more independent in their learning.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children enter Nursery with skills, knowledge and understanding much lower than most three- year olds. They learn rapidly and by the end of their Nursery Year, almost all achieve the age- related expectations in all areas of learning and, last year, about one in three children exceeded this level. Staff have built successfully on the good achievement reported at the previous inspection, which has been outstanding over the last two years.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children currently in Nursery are making excellent progress and have already developed many important skills to make them very effective learners. They are beginning to direct their own learning, make decisions and explore for themselves.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Most children speak English as an additional language and have had little experience of English before entry. The emphasis on adults talking to children enables them to very quickly understand simple instructions, build vocabulary and link actions and words to objects. When a group was shown a garden trowel, children quickly remarked, ‘We are going digging.’

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disabled children and those who have special educational needs are very quickly identified. Early assessments are completed in the child’s first language, so the coordinator can differentiate between special educational needs and language barriers to learning. All staff are aware of these children’s needs and extra help is specially focused on them so that they make outstanding progress, particularly in becoming independent.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The initial focus on personal, social and emotional development means that children quickly become confident enough to explore, ask questions and sustain concentration. Children listen carefully to adults, learn new words and engage in conversation as best they can. For example, when caring for the African giant snails, children picked up quickly a whole range of words and sentence patterns. They observed the snails and different characteristics of the fruit they had cut up to feed the snails with and learned to care for them. While developing their personal skills, they extended their vocabulary, improved early observation skills and learned about animals.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children very quickly develop physical capability. Before going outside, children are encouraged to put on warm clothes, which they do well, only needing occasional help with zip fasteners. In the garden area, they very quickly learn how to dig. Copying the teacher, they carefully dug up the beetroot they had grown. They play safely on the tricycle track, consisting of tricky hills and bends and accidents are very rare.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children enjoy counting and count accurately the number of children present during registration. They already understand that when a child arrives late, there is one more and know to count on. They use the interactive whiteboard well to match numbers and shapes.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children effectively engage in activities to support their creative development. They use paint to create colourful pictures and their drawings of themselves are generally accurate in the use of shape and position. They enjoy music and join in songs, remembering most words and tunes.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching is of a consistently high quality. All adults, teachers and support staff, are skilled at turning activities into learning opportunities. Times when pupils are in groups at the beginning of the morning and afternoon sessions are used not only as times to register children’s attendance, but valuable sessions to explain the day’s activities, develop basic skills in literacy and numeracy, and to settle children into school routines, preparing them for the day’s learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Adults enable children to explore, investigate and find things out for themselves. Little time is spent on noting children’s achievements; this is completed out of teaching time. Instead, adults use their time with children interacting, talking, developing language and guiding children’s learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Adults have created a rich and interesting learning environment, both indoors and outside, which they use exceptionally well to support learning. However, there is limited display of numbers and letters outside to support greater independent learning of more-able children or to promote outside activities with numbers and letters.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Children mostly learn through play, through investigating and through following their own interests. Adults are very effective observers and quickly respond to children’s interests. One highly effective lesson was planned in response to children having mentioned a mosque the previous day. The teacher had a model of a mosque, which she uncovered and pretended she knew little about these places of worship. Children shared a great deal of personal experience and knowledge, captivating other children’s interests.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Bilingual staff ensure the full inclusion of all children. They initially communicate with children with little English in their first languages, while gradually moving them into speaking English. This approach ensures that all children have equal opportunity to engage in learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The special educational needs coordinator ensures that any child who may need extra support is identified early. Plans are drawn up which clearly detail individual needs and these are shared with all staff at regular meetings. In this way, all staff are aware and able to meet the individual needs of disabled children and those with special educational needs, ensuring their excellent learning and progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children start school with very limited social skills but learn excellent patterns of behaviour very quickly. Because learning activities are highly stimulating, meaningful and engage children’s interest and attention, they persevere and concentrate for extended periods. For example, children busily cleaned potatoes they had grown and harvested, ready for making soup. Because they were engaged in purposeful activity, they persevered and developed their speaking and listening skills through chatting with each other.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Those children who find difficulty in settling in, in forming relationships or playing cooperatively are quickly identified. Effective support plans are devised, such as regular visits to ‘forest school’ sessions. The Nursery has a high success rate with these children, enabling them to make excellent progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children are safe in the Nursery and learn through safe play while indoors or outside. They exercise vigorously on the cycle track or climbing frames, but take only controlled risks. Daily checks by staff at the beginning of and throughout the day, ensure staff are aware of any potential hazards, such as slippery areas. Parents and carers have high levels of confidence in the Nursery to keep their children safe.  Children trust adults. During occasional disagreements, children ask adults for support. Through excellent examples set by staff, children are beginning to resolve any differences calmly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Poor punctuality is an ongoing concern of the Nursery staff. During the inspection too many children arrived late and missed out on really important activities at the beginning of the day.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. They develop very good spiritual awareness through visiting the ‘forest school’, caring for animals and working in the garden. Children are made aware of others’ cultures and lifestyles through talking about religion and festivals, building an awareness of each other’s backgrounds. Social awareness is excellent, exemplified by the way children sit around tables for lunch, eating with and talking to other children and how they work and play harmoniously together.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders’ restructuring of staff means that the knowledge and expertise of teachers is used exceptionally well to plan learning and check the quality of teaching of other staff. The deputy headteacher, as team leader, is highly effective in checking teaching and learning, intervening and supporting when necessary. As a result, the quality of teaching and children’s achievement has improved significantly since the previous inspection.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Children’s progress is monitored meticulously. Adults have a clear picture of where each child is achieving success and where they need help. Their day-to-day assessment of children’s progress is used to plan programmes of learning for each child and to ensure that all children learn across all the main areas of knowledge and understanding intended.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The setting of targets for teachers to help them improve their performance is rigorous and exceptionally well planned. All adults, teachers and support staff are subject to the process and are held accountable for children’s progress. Three strands are assessed: pupils’ achievement, leadership skills and the leadership of a whole-setting initiative – for example, promoting ‘forest schools’. This approach has a positive impact on the quality of teaching and learning, the subjects and topics taught and children’s achievements in all areas of learning.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school’s self-evaluation is accurate, based on first-hand observation of all learning activities and an assessment of children’s achievement. Planned actions are all relevant to moving the school forward and are focused on children’s well-being and learning.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority has designated the Nursery as effective and in need of minimal checks on its performance. The representative spoken to is fully aware of the high quality of provision and outcomes.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Safeguarding requirements are met. All adults connected with the Nursery have enhanced checks made on their suitability, and these are properly recorded. Staff work with families and support agencies to try to ensure the safety of children. Daily checks are made and all health and safety audits are complete and appropriately recorded.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders are very well aware of the impact that poor punctuality has on the learning of the few children who are late. Considerable efforts are already made to secure good attendance and punctuality form every child and every family. However, not all parents are yet fully convinced of the importance of their children’s punctual attendance at school to manage morning activities to ensure good punctuality every day.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  Governors know the school very well. They talk knowledgeably about its work and understand clearly the reasons for the improvement in standards. They hold the school to account, while being supportive. They make visits, both focused on specific priorities and more informal ones to inform themselves on teaching quality and achievement. They have productive links with staff who hold positions of responsibility. Governors have an accurate view of how well staff are teaching and of the impact they have on children’s progress. Consequently, they are able to determine whether promotion and better pay are justified for individual staff and set targets for the performance of each individual. Through a rigorous programme of training, governors have excellent levels of professional expertise, relevant to the work of the Nursery. They are fully involved in its strategic planning. They have a good grasp on the school budget, and

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The leadership and management are outstanding

understand fully the implications of the financial decisions they implement.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 103140 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 400588

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Nursery School category Community Age range of pupils 3–4 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 107 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sajda Butt Headteacher Jackie White Date of previous school inspection 24 September 2009 Telephone number 0121 464 4183 Fax number 0121 327 9367 Email address enquiries@addleyn.bham.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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. 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

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School details

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School details

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

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