Rowland Hill Nursery School

Rowland Hill Nursery School White Hart Lane, London, N17 7LT

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because:

 Too few children achieve well because there is not enough good or better teaching.  Adults do not always insist that children sit, listen and then take part during activities, particularly during ‘Talking Time’ sessions. Consequently, some children are inattentive.  When adults talk to children they often do not reinforce or develop language effectively and check that children understand what has been said.  Assessments on the performance of individual children are not always accurate. Teachers do not routinely check thoroughly enough the assessments made by other adults.  Behaviour and safety require improvement because not all adults have high enough expectations; as a result, not all pupils behave consistently well.  There is not enough focus on sun safety.  Teaching and learning are not consistently well managed. Weaknesses in teaching have not been tackled quickly enough.  There is not enough emphasis in activities on

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because:

promoting children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Governors do not have precise enough knowledge about either the quality of teaching or children’s achievement.

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The school has the following strengths:

 When they receive good teaching, children achieve well.  Children have confidence in the adults who look after them. As a result, they feel safe and secure.  Many parents and carers are pleased with how their children are supported to learn through play.  Leaders and managers, including governors, have a sound understanding of the main strengths and areas for improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out with half a day’s notice and took place over two days.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and her staff, children, a few parents and carers, three members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector observed 14 parts of sessions taught by three teachers assisted by seven other adults working in the nursery.  School documentation was looked at including teachers’ planning, the nursery’s self-evaluation and improvement planning, documents relating to safeguarding and children’s ‘Special Books’.  The inspector took account of the 13 responses to the online survey, Parent View.  The views of the staff were considered through the analysis of 18 completed staff questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Nina Bee, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Rowland Hill Nursery currently offers places for 110 children who attend either full or part time.  Children come from a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of children who speak English as an additional language is above average.  The nursery has enhanced provision for six children with severe special educational needs. This provision is funded by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled children and those who have special educational needs supported through early action plus is above average. The number supported through early years action is below average.  Since the last inspection, there has been a high turnover of staff, including some teachers and senior leaders.  The on-site children’s centre and childcare provision for children aged two years are managed by the headteacher and the governing body but were not part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it makes a stronger contribution to pupils’ learning by ensuring that:  during adult-led sessions, particularly ‘Talking Time’, the need for children to sit properly, listen carefully and take part are all given a high focus  children’s social skills are developed well, particularly during lunchtime  adults question children effectively to reinforce and develop language and check their understanding  teachers oversee the assessment records of children’s learning and progress to check the quality of all contributions and ensure that the next steps in learning are planned accurately.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve children’s behaviour and safety by ensuring that:  all adults have high expectations regarding behaviour and do not tolerate any behaviour that is less than good  sun safety is given good attention.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:  teaching and learning are monitored frequently and rigorously and that weaknesses in teaching are tackled quickly  planning focuses effectively on promoting children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development  senior staff and governors have a good knowledge of how well children are achieving through accurate teacher assessments and a more detailed analysis of performance information  governors have better understanding of the quality of teaching and children’s achievement so they can carry out their roles and responsibilities more effectively .

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children’s levels of skills, knowledge and understanding are below those typical for their age when they enter the nursery. In relation to their starting points, too few children achieve as well as they might.  Approximately half of the children speak English as an additional language. Many adults talk too quickly and do not check children’s understanding. Language is not well developed during activities. Learning is too slow for all children but particularly for children who are new to learning English or having difficulty acquiring language skills.  Disabled children and those with special educational needs, including those who receive enhanced funding, are always well integrated in all activities. They make similar progress to their classmates’.  All children have a ‘Special Book’ which shows how well they are achieving as they take part in activities both inside and outdoors. Assessment data are analysed and graphs are developed to

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

show the children’s achievements across all areas. These assessment records do not always give a true picture of children’s achievement because teachers do not consistently check that all assessment contributions are accurate.  By the end of their Nursery Year, few children reach the expected levels for their age. Not enough children make good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because not enough pupils make good progress. Adults often do not set out the ground rules before children start activities. Children, therefore, do not always sit and listen properly, for example, during daily ‘Talking Time’ sessions when they recall what they have done. They are prone to fidget and sometimes get up and do not follow instructions and so have difficulty remaining focused. As a result, learning is not consistently good enough.  When adults question children they do not successfully reinforce and develop language and consistently check that children understand. Consequently, some children flit from activity to activity when they find the going difficult. Many children were seen moving on halfway through activities and staff did not encourage them to stay or ask them where they wanted to go next. This was seen particularly when children were in the exciting outside area. As a result, some

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

children’s engagement with activities is too superficial to deepen their knowledge and understanding well.  Children have many opportunities to play as they learn outside. Children were seen eating ice creams. They showed much enjoyment and were given choices as they decided which flavour they wanted. Opportunities were missed, however, to develop language and understanding. For example, children were allowed to nod and point instead of asking for their ice cream, to say please or thank you were not requirements, and questioning did not extend, for example, to ‘Why was the ice cream melting?’ Learning was not as good as it should have been.  Adults sometimes accept nods and one word utterances instead of modelling short answers to questions. Language, specific to the planned activities, is not automatically focused on and, at times, adults speak in sentences that are too complicated for some children to understand. This

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

is a further way in which adults do not always push learning on at a good enough rate.  As children eat their lunch, all adults do not focus effectively on the need to develop good table manners. Children, for example, were seen banging their knives and forks on the table as they waited for their lunch. They were not told why it is important to say please and thank you as they sit and eat. Children were allowed to say ‘want more’ and the correct way to ask for more was not modelled by the adult. Learning in language and social development is not rapid enough because of these weaknesses in teaching.  In a minority of sessions, teaching is good. Children learnt well as they used their imagination while playing in the ‘Ice cream Parlour’. They stayed well focused because their own interests had been taken into consideration when planning the activity and all thoroughly enjoyed what they were doing. The adult worked hard to develop language specific to the activity such as

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

‘chocolate’, ‘strawberry’ and ‘how many?’ There were good opportunities for children to record what other children wanted and to pay with pretend money and so they developed their language and mathematical skills well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

 Although there is a policy which guides staff on how to ensure children behave well, not all adults have high enough expectations regarding behaviour. Some children are allowed to misbehave and this is not always adequately addressed. For example, one or two children were seen not responding promptly enough to adult requests and were allowed to run off. At times, children are allowed to run around inside when it is not appropriate. A few staff noted on their questionnaires that behaviour was not always good and inspection evidence confirms this.  Despite the inspection evidence that behaviour is not good, there have been no recent exclusions, racist incidents or recorded incidents of poor behaviour. A few children display very challenging behaviour which is usually managed well.  When children are taught effectively, they behave well and display good attitudes to learning.  Children enjoy coming to the nursery and most attend regularly. Relationships between staff and

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

children are warm. All children have a key person to build a close relationship with and this works well. They have confidence in the adults who help them and so feel safe and secure and generally move around, inside and out, with confidence.  Adults do not always focus effectively on sun safety. During the inspection too many children were seen playing out in the hot sun without wearing sunhats which were freely available.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because not enough has been done to improve teaching. Even though the staff turnover has been high since the last inspection, leaders have not been consistently effective in ensuring that children learn at a good pace.  Since the previous inspection, the headteacher has successfully managed major restructuring issues relating to the high turnover of staff, including senior staff and teachers. She herself identifies that this, along with her commitments to the children’s centre, has slowed down improvements. At times, she has been ploughing a lonely furrow without a stable senior leadership team.  The headteacher has an accurate understanding of what constitutes good teaching and is aware that monitoring of teaching has not been regular or rigorous enough this last year.  The headteacher has established systems for staff to develop professionally through training and

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The leadership and management require improvement

courses. All staff, for example, have had training on the latest Early Years Foundation Stage guidance. Similarly, arrangements for performance management are secure and governors are adequately involved. All staff have an individual development work plan to improve their practice.  The headteacher has identified that not all assessments made by adults are accurate and, therefore, staff do not always have an accurate understanding of how well all children are achieving because of this.  The curriculum is planned in accordance with the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance and observations and scrutiny of children’s Special Books show that generally all areas are focused on. However, curriculum planning does not always promote effectively children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, during activities, opportunities are regularly missed to encourage children to talk to each other or to listen while others talk.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Parents and carers are generally positive about the education their children receive. Their children usually come bouncing in to each session with big smiles on their faces ready to learn as they play. This enthusiasm from children reflects the effective partnership with parents and carers to settle children in quickly when they begin in the nursery.  Self-evaluation is sound and priorities identified on the development plan are adequately documented. Governors are adequately involved in these processes.  The needs of the children who receive enhanced provision are known by the staff. They are well included and integrated in all the nursery does, as are disabled children, those identified as having special educational needs and those who speak English as an additional language. Adults ensure that all children are treated as equals and do not tolerate any discrimination.  The local authority has considered this school to require light touch support in the past. There

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The leadership and management require improvement

are plans for the local authority to provide support next term particularly in relation to improving teaching and learning.  The governance of the school:  The governing body has a sound general grasp of the school’s main strengths and weaknesses and the need to ensure that how well staff are paid reflects how well children achieve. However, governors themselves acknowledge that they do not have a precise enough understanding of the quality of teaching and information on children’s attainment and progress. Not all governors are experienced. Those that are relatively new recognise the need for them to develop their knowledge of their roles and responsibilities through additional training. Governors and staff ensure that children play and learn in a safe and secure environment. Statutory requirements for safeguarding children are met and risk assessments are drawn up to further children’s safety.

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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 102072 Local authority Haringey Inspection number 400527

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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 110 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Kay Dun Headteacher Julie Vaggers Date of previous school inspection 11–12 May 2010 Telephone number 020 88086089 Fax number 020 88017303 Email address admin@rowlandhill.haringey.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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