Pinxton Nursery School

Pinxton Nursery School Kirkstead Road, Pinxton, Nottingham, NG16 6NA

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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 children are extremely happy, busy and inquisitive. Their play is always purposeful. They make outstanding progress and are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.  The quality of teaching is outstanding. Teachers and other adults inspire children to think for themselves through exciting and well planned activities. All staff have high expectations for the children.  Staff know the children well and plan effectively to meet their individual needs. This means that children make rapid progress.  Disabled children and those who have special educational needs make excellent progress in response to the outstanding support they receive.  Children who speak English as an additional language make great strides in all areas of learning. This is because adults skilfully support them in the acquisition of language.  The well organised and attractive learning environment, both indoors and out, stimulates

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

children’s curiosity and leaves them eager to learn.  Relationships between children and adults are excellent. There is a close relationship with parents and carers who hold the school and staff in high regard. Consequently, behaviour is outstanding and children feel safe and well cared for.  The leadership team and governors work extremely successfully to make sure children make as much progress as possible. They regularly watch to see how effectively staff work with the children.  As a result of the outstanding leadership and management, the school has successfully maintained and improved children’s outstanding achievement and the high quality of provision since the last inspection. The school is continually seeking ways to improve standards of teaching and learning further, and involve parents and carers more in their children’s learning. It is well placed to do so.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed thirteen sessions during the inspection, including eight jointly with the headteacher.  The inspector held discussions with the Vice-Chair of the Governing Body, a representative of the local authority, subject co-ordinators and other members of staff.  There were insufficient returns to the online questionnaire (Parent View), but the inspector took account of the results of the school’s recent survey of parents and carers, and spoke with seven parents. The inspector also took into account the eight staff questionnaires returned.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked a t a range of documents, including data on children’s current and previous progress, the school development plan, performance management documentation and records relating to children’s behaviour and safety.

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Inspection team

Geoffrey Dorrity, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized nursery school.  Most children attend the school on a part-time basis.  The vast majority of children are of White British heritage. The remainder come from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds, such as Eastern European and the Traveller community. A very small minority speak English as a second language.  The school is an enhanced resource centre for children with disabilities and/or special educational needs, Consequently, the number of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.  The school is a designated satellite of South Normanton Children’s Centre.  Full day care for children from 0-5 years old operates from the school. This is managed through a community interest company and is subject to a separate inspection.  The school holds Healthy School status, the Basic Skills Quality award, Eco Schools Silver award and the Royal Horticultural Society award at Level 4.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further enhance parental involvement in their children’s learning, so that all parents contribute to their child’s learning journal

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children start school with knowledge and skills which are generally well below those typically expected for their age. Children of all abilities make outstanding progress during their time in the Nursery and leave to enter the Reception classes with levels that are often better than those typically expected for their age and at least in line with expectations.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children who are learning English also make excellent progress. The very strong focus on children’s speaking skills leads to rapid gains in children’s early communication skills, including reading and writing.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disabled children and those who have special educational needs make excellent progress from their individual starting points. Teachers make very good use of precise assessments of children's progress to help them build the skills and attributes, such as concentration and language skills, for their future learning. Consequently, these children are also very well prepared for the Reception class.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 There has been a very good trend of improving the skills acquired by less-able children and those whose circumstances make them vulnerable. This is because teachers expect the best for all children and are successfully narrowing the gap between their achievement and that of others. Both boys and girls make outstanding progress in all areas of learning.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children's early reading and writing skills are very well developed. They make very good progress in beginning to recognise the relationship between letters and sounds to form words. They identify their own names when they register at the start of the sessions. Children frequently make marks to represent writing in many different areas and contexts, such as writing shopping lists in the home corner, or when writing for a purpose in entering information into diaries in the office. They use different media, and write both indoors and out in their play. For instance, a group of boys who are particularly reticent to write are given squeezy bottles full of water to make large letter shapes on the ground.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children make outstanding progress in their early mathematical skills. They count and order numbers well in a wide range of activities. For example, when playing in the water they count how many items they have and calculate who has the most. The more able are further stretched when working out different ways to make five.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The outstanding quality of teaching has been maintained since the last inspection. School leaders regularly check staff’s ongoing effectiveness and, through training and guidance, raise their expectations even higher.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Staff make excellent use of accurate assessments of children's progress to plan work which enables them to do their best. They make frequent and detailed observations of children's learning in different circumstances, and gather information from parents and carers to reinforce these assessments. These information exchanges are effective and are recorded formally at meetings, but parents have less opportunity to record their contributions at other times.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 All staff are involved in the thorough lesson planning so that their expectations are consistently high, and activities challenge all children to do their best.  Early reading and writing skills are well taught. Group activities involving listening to and identifying different sounds help children to recognise letter sounds. Staff plan activities skilfully to meet the differing needs of groups of children. For instance, when teaching phonics, the most- able children seek and search for items beginning with a particular sound, whereas a less-able group search in a tray of foam for the letter shape that corresponds to the sound.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Staff promote children's independence extremely well. They make highly effective use of a wide range of different ways of teaching to do this. For example, they make very good use of role play, information and communication technology, and the equipment in the spacious grounds to engage and inspire children.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 All resources are stored in easily accessible containers both indoors and out, with clear labelling. Children are successfully encouraged to make decisions about what they want to use and to tidy up after themselves.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers and other adults ask searching questions to explore children’s understanding and to develop their thinking skills. They involve children very well in thinking about their own learning and how they can improve it. For example, when printing natural patterns, they are asked to reflect on the end result, and consider whether improvements could be made. When writing and drawing, children reflect on the presentation and amend their work so it is more accurate. When reading stories, staff question children skilfully to develop their use of imagination and predictive skills.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Disabled children and those who have special educational needs are given work which enables them to make outstanding step-by step-progress. Specialist staff provide sensitive and skilled support when needed, while encouraging children to work as independently as possible. They work closely with other professionals to plan future work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children’s behaviour is exemplary at all times. They respond extremely well to the high standards of care and support they receive. Their attitudes to learning are extremely robust.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children’s strong relationships and confidence with staff demonstrates they feel safe. Staff provide a sturdy sense of security and parents and carers agree that the school keeps their children safe.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children come to school regularly and very keenly start activities as soon as they arrive. They are clear about everyday routines, such as finding their name-card and registering at the start of the session, and understand about sharing equipment. Children have many opportunities for making friends. For example, they make excellent progress in learning to play together, and are often asked to find others to work with.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children learn to take small risks and work out how to keep themselves safe. For example, when climbing in a barrel on top of a frame they balance carefully, wait their turn, and make sure others are not at risk. They use knives carefully when cutting up their vegetables.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher knows the strengths of the school well, and identifies accurately actions to secure continuous improvement. Her high expectations and commitment are shared by all staff and governors and they demonstrate they have the capacity to improve the school further.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is ably supported by her deputy. All staff roles have been strengthened through careful delegation by the headteacher and through appropriate training. They are fully accountable for improving quality in their area of responsibility.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Effective checks on teaching provide a clear and accurate picture of its quality. All staff receive valuable feedback so they know what to do to further improve their practice.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 There is no discrimination evident in the school and there is a clear commitment to ensuring all children have equality of opportunities. Since the last inspection effective partnerships have been established with a school where pupils come from a wider range of ethnic backgrounds and with a school in Mombasa, so that children learn more about how others live.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school fosters good relationships with parents and other agencies. Parent and toddler groups, story groups and parenting classes are provided in partnership with the local children’s centre. Full day care is offered through the community interest company and runs all year round.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 There are strong professional relationships with other agencies that provide support for children with disabilities to ensure full access to the curriculum, or for those who may find learning more difficult than others. This has included training for all staff to support the physical needs of some children.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority provides ‘light touch’ support to this outstanding school.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  The governing body fulfils its duties exceptionally well. It makes sure the school is a safe place and that staff are suitably checked and trained in child protection matters. Governors have a full understanding of the school’s effectiveness through the use of a range of data and frequent reports from the headteacher. Governors play an important role in decision making, based on first-hand information on the quality of teaching and the children’s achievement. They have a good grasp of the school’s work by undertaking focused visits to the school and holding the senior leadership team to account. They check the quality of teaching by asking questions about data which shows how much progress is being made by different groups of children. They make sure that decisions about how to use funds available are rational and in the best interests of the children. They decide whether staff should be rewarded salary

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The leadership and management are outstanding

increases and review targets set for the headteacher.

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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 112483 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 401270

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 3–5 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 85 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dennis Kelly Headteacher Sherida Morgan Date of previous school inspection 14 June 2010 Telephone number 01773 863105 Fax number 01773 863105 Email address enquiries@pinxton.derbyshire.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

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

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

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