Wentworth Nursery School and Children's Centre

Wentworth Nursery School and Children's Centre Cassland Road, London, E9 5BY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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.  The nursery is led with foresight, imagination and the determination to make a difference to children’s lives. Long-serving senior leaders and staff have been extremely successful in implementing consistently outstanding practice since 1998.  Leaders and managers have high levels of expertise and continually seek to refine, adapt and improve the way staff work to ensure children’s needs are met exceptionally well. Consequently, children receive an excellent start to their education.  Whatever their background, home language or ability, children make excellent progress, especially in their personal, social and emotional development.  Teachers’ use of highly innovative and creative methods quickly engages and sustains children’s curiosity and enthusiasm.  Staff are tremendously skilled in using signing, pictures and real objects to help all children understand what they are learning

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

about and what they have to do. Children quickly learn to use these methods too, successfully overcoming significant language barriers.  Children’s behaviour is exemplary. They become absorbed in activities that they have chosen for themselves, as well as those led by adults. They take responsibility for practical day-to-day tasks, look after each other, and play happily and cooperatively together.  Arrangements for safeguarding are meticulous. Children feel safe in school. They move around the nursery sensibly and use resources responsibly.  The vibrant, highly imaginative curriculum meets the interests of all the children and promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development strongly.  Leaders are often at the forefront of new ideas to make children’s learning even better. The recent introduction of modern information and communication technology, including ‘computer tablets’, has revolutionised the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

learning and communication skills of some disabled children and those with special educational needs.  Plans to extend the use of this technology to support learning and give parents more information about how to help their children at home are underway, but have not yet been fully introduced.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed five hours of teaching and learning, sometimes accompanied by the headteacher.  Activities in the morning, afternoon and at lunchtime were observed.  The inspector spoke with the children and shared books with them.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, members of staff with specific responsibilities for disabled children and those with special educational needs, English as an additional language and safeguarding, and representatives of the governing body and local authority.  The responses of 12 parents who completed the on-line survey Parent View were considered. In addition the inspector spoke to parents when they brought their children to the nursery, and took into account the results from the school’s own survey of families in 2012.  The school’s self-evaluation form, improvement plan, reports from governors of their visits to the school, notes of the checks made on the quality of teaching, arrangements for safeguarding,

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Information about this inspection

teachers’ planning, records of children’s progress and displays of their work were reviewed.

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Inspection team

Kath Beck, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This nursery is smaller than other nurseries nationally. Thirty-four children attend all day, while the rest attend for 15 hours weekly including one whole day.  Over two thirds of the children speak English as an additional language. Most are at an early stage of English language acquisition.  The proportion of disabled children and those with special educational needs who are supported through Early Years Action is higher than in most schools nationally. The proportion of children supported through Early Years Action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is also higher than found in most schools.  More than one third of the children have speech and language difficulties.  All children are educated on site. The school does not use alternative provision to assist any of its children.  The school is part of a children’s centre that is also led and managed by the headteacher and

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Information about this school

governing body.  Senior leaders and some staff have been at the school for many years.  The nursery is used by the local authority as an exemplar of exceptional practice.  Since the previous inspection changes have been made to the admission arrangements for children entering primary schools in the local authority. This means not all children stay at the nursery until they are five. Some children start when they are just three years of age.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Put into practice all of the current plans to use up-to-date information and communication technology as an additional resource to support children’s learning in school and at home.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 High quality data show that overall children’s progress is outstanding from their individual starting points. The school has been extremely successful in increasing annually the number of children making rapid progress and achieving highly for their age. Children are very well prepared for their entry to their primary school because they have high levels of independence, the ability to communicate their needs and strong foundations on which to base new literacy and numeracy skills.  Children make the fastest progress in their personal, social and emotional development. Through their own very positive relationships staff model for the children ways to show respect for others. Group work where children learn to manage their feelings, take turns, listen to each other and collaborate together develops their social skills quickly.  At the heart of the school’s success is its strong emphasis on ensuring that everyone has an

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

equal chance to succeed. The backgrounds, beliefs and differing abilities of the children and their families are highly valued.  All children, including those who speak English as an additional language or have speech and language difficulties, communicate very effectively. Children quickly pick up skills in signing and in using pictures and objects as prompts for talking to staff and their new friends confidently.  Staff provide children with very good examples of spoken English. Multi-lingual staff promote children’s language development in their home languages. ‘Talking pockets’ where children find hidden objects in an apron and ask each other questions about them help them to talk at length.  Children have many opportunities to develop early literacy skills. ‘Weather time’ helps them to recognise the days of the week, months of the year and vocabulary related to the weather each day. They delight in telling the adults the names and sounds of the letters they see in different

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

words. Children make marks to write their own stories, while some write simple words before they leave, and the most able read confidently.  Early mathematical skills are included in many fun activities and routines. These include competitions to collect beads of different shapes and thread them on a lace, and seeing how many bean bags can be thrown into a bucket. Children are already confident to count to five or ten in sequence.  Children make great strides in their physical development, riding two-wheeled bicycles with confidence. Art and craft activities, role play, drama, dancing and music add considerably to children’s excellent attainment in the expressive arts and design.  Staff supporting disabled children and those with special educational needs have exceptional expertise in dealing with the specific disabilities. They ensure the children also make rapid progress and are as independent as they can be.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 New information and communication technology resources are used by some children as a resource that offers engaging learning experiences that may not otherwise be possible because of their disability. Other children have used the technology to take photographs and make a comic strip of their ‘Heroes and Villains’ story. That said the new technology is not used by children as widely as it might be to support other aspects of their learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Parents rightly consider that teaching is of high quality. All staff are extremely knowledgeable about the most effective ways that children of this age learn and develop so they provide imaginative activities.  An excellent balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities is carefully planned to ensure that they offer the right level of challenge. Staff skilfully adjust the methods they use to maintain children’s interest and so they make rapid progress.  Activities provide rich opportunities for children to use their emerging literacy and numeracy skills. Children really enjoy the extremely effective and imaginative way they are taught to make dough. They talk excitedly about the feel and taste of the ingredients and respond enthusiastically to requests to stir the mixture until the timer shows it is time to stop. Probing questions help them to think about, and explain, what is happening to all the ingredients and

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

why the mixture needs to be cooked before they can play with it.  Exceptionally clear communications between all staff allow them to manage children’s behaviour in similarly positive ways, ensuring there is a happy atmosphere in which to learn. They praise the children for ‘good listening’, and ‘good sitting’ and give a ‘high five’ when children have been very successful.  Through home visits, information from the children’s centre, frequent small group work and checks on what children know and can do, staff gain in-depth understanding of each child’s precise needs. Weekly reviews of children’s progress help everyone to know what they need to do to make sure that they pitch the activities appropriately and all children achieve as well as they can.  High quality daily small group sessions for children who speak English as an additional language or have speech and language difficulties help them to acquire new skills through songs, rhymes,

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

stories and games. These also help children build confidence in their ability to communicate.  Individual and group sessions for disabled children and those with special educational needs are also of exceptional quality. Staff work closely with speech and language therapists and other professionals to supplement their skills and to introduce new ways to extend children’s learning.  Excellent relationships between the adults and children enable staff to make the most of every minute of the day to engage children in learning something new. They are skilled at knowing when to intervene and when to step back while children explore their own ideas.  Homework activities, including borrowing books to share with the family and drawing a picture of the front door of their home, help children see the link between learning in school and its application in everyday life.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Parents, staff and governors rightly believe that children’s behaviour is exemplary for their age. Those new to the nursery soon settle as older children show them what to do. Adults make clear to children what is expected of them and engage them in captivating activities.  Children proudly take on responsibilities for tasks, making sure rubbish is recycled properly and that tables are set correctly for lunch. They tidy up their toys carefully and make sure their models, paintings and other work are put away safely.  Children often become engrossed in their self-chosen tasks such as looking at books alone or with a friend. Their concentrated exploration of the properties of melting snow, and discovering what happens when sand in a shallow tray is moved around and light shines from underneath, helps them to become resilient problem solvers.  All children get along extremely well. None has been excluded on the grounds of behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

They are considerate towards each other, apologising immediately for accidentally standing on toes or fingers.  Children who stay to lunch enjoy this high quality social occasion. They sit with their friends and an adult, eating politely and sensibly, benefiting from the time to hold conversations about matters of their choosing.  Attendance is high. Children are so keen to attend, one parent said she had to bring her son to the nursery on a Saturday to show him it was closed and he could not go that day.  Children are kept safe. They use tools for cutting vegetables and sawing wood correctly. Those whose circumstances are known to make them vulnerable are looked after extremely well.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The pursuit of excellence in all the school’s activities is shown by the way in which outstanding practice has been sustained over a significant period of time.  Leaders and managers along with the strong staff team are highly ambitious for the children and their families. They reflect frequently on how they can change what they do to make sure children get the best possible start to school life. Consequently, the school has adapted extremely well to the changing circumstances of the locality in which it works.  To remain at the cutting edge, leaders and managers embrace new ideas. Currently, the school is developing its use of new information and communication technology as a resource to open up broader learning experiences for children. The school’s website is being developed to include films of how parents can help their children at home. The plans to extend this work are underway, but not yet complete.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Rigorous self-evaluation takes into account thorough analysis of the data about children’s progress and the views of staff, parents, governors and outside consultants. They are invited to give the highest level of challenge to ensure outstanding practice is sustained.  School developments are driven strongly by a succinct and well-defined development plan. All are clear about what they need to do to make the school even better. Training is closely linked to priorities for development. Staff with exceptional skills, for example in signing, and in information and communication technology, share these very effectively with their colleagues.  Robust performance management procedures maintain high quality teaching. Senior leaders check the quality of teaching frequently and staff observe and learn from each other.  The programme of work makes learning lively and interesting. It has recently been revised to

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The leadership and management are outstanding

include ‘Superheroes’ to motivate boys to want to learn even more eagerly. Trips out and special activities add much to children’s awe and wonder. Their paintings in the style of Renoir, Turner and African artists are exceptional.  The school through its children’s centre offers parents access to many services they may not otherwise reach. These help parents to share in the school’s efforts to overcome barriers in their child’s learning.  The school receives a ‘light touch’ approach from the local authority because it is used to share exemplary practice with other schools and settings.  The governance of the school:  There have been a number of changes to the membership of the governing body in the past two years. New governors have undergone training and brought fresh ideas as to how they can challenge and support the school, holding it fully to account. Visits to the school to review the partnerships with parents, safeguarding, and children’s behaviour and safety stimulated

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The leadership and management are outstanding

suggestions that were acted on swiftly. The recent parent survey was devised, carried out and the results analysed and published by members of the governing body. Their visits to the school as parents and as governors give them clear insight into the high quality of the teaching. They share the ambitions of all staff to make the nursery the best it can be. The school’s performance management systems are used very effectively to sustain high quality teaching, leadership and management. Financial rewards for this continued high level of success are constrained by limits to the budget and salary scales. Governors are fully aware of the quality of this nursery in comparison to others. Finances are managed with great care. Governors are planning ahead for any further budgetary changes and what this may mean in terms of what the school can offer.

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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 100212 Local authority Hackney Inspection number 400399

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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 ‒ 5 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 89 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jo Fernandes Headteacher Carolyn Maples Date of previous school inspection 11 ‒ 12 March 2010 Telephone number 020 8985 3491 Fax number 020 8985 3491 Email address cmaples@wentworth.hackney.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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