Boston Nursery School

The Boston Nursery School Church Road, Boston, PE21 0LJ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Children make good progress from starting points which are well below those expected for three-year-olds. Some children, including disabled children, those who have special educational needs and children new to learning English, make outstanding progress.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Nursery staff have a very thorough understanding of how young children learn. They provide a vibrant range of exciting and stimulating activities both indoors and outdoors.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Children rapidly develop outstanding behaviour and concentration because activities are so interesting.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Excellent spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered through a wide range of activities which open children’s eyes to the world around them.  Children settle very quickly into the day-to-day routine of the nursery and are very well prepared for primary school.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Relationships between parents, staff and children are very strong and parents are delighted with the progress their children make.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Staff are highly attentive to children’s welfare needs. Risk assessments and safeguarding procedures are robust in keeping children safe in the nursery.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The acting headteacher, staff and governing body have a detailed and accurate picture of the school’s performance. Development priorities are focused on continually improving children’s learning and ensuring a seamless period of transition to new leadership.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not enough teaching is outstanding to ensure that children’s achievement is outstanding.  Despite leaders’ improving checks on children’s progress, they are not yet sharp enough to ensure all staff have a clear view of how well individuals are doing across they areas they experience.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed children learning in 12 sessions, including in special groups, adult-led and child-initiated activities. These sessions were taught by teachers, teaching assistants including one who is bi-lingual, and nursery nurses.  Joint observations were carried out with the acting headteacher.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, the acting headteacher, the special needs co-ordinator and other staff. The inspector talked to children informally during observations and met a representative of the local authority.  The inspector looked at a wide range of documentation including school improvement plans and self evaluation, data on the checking of children’s progress, samples of children’s work in their learning journals and documents and policies relating to the safeguarding of children and their welfare and safety.  There were not enough responses on Parent View, the on-line questionnaire to register.

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Information about this inspection

However, the inspector met many parents bringing their children to school, had private conversations with several and received the views of other parents though letters sent in to the inspection.  Questionnaire responses from 13 staff were considered.

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Inspection team

Judith Straw, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school currently has 96 children registered.  Children attend for mornings or afternoons, some for the full day, from the September following their third birthday. Three-quarters of the children spend three terms in the school. The final quarter may attend for between four and six terms, depending on the date of their birthday.  Just over half of the children are of White British heritage with others from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds.  Currently half of all children speak English as an additional language. Over seven different languages are spoken, including Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Turkish.  The staff identify early on children who need additional support. Typically the proportion of children supported at school action is 25%. This year 17% are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.  Currently there are no children known to be eligible for the pupil premium, additional funding

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Information about this school

applied to the school.  All children are educated on site and there is no alternative educational provision elsewhere.  The substantive headteacher retired in December 2012. The senior teacher has been acting headteacher for the last two terms. New arrangements for leadership will be in place in September 2013.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching to ensure that children’s achievement is outstanding by  developing the new tracking system for checking and recording children’s progress so that it becomes an even sharper tool for addressing weaknesses in children’s learning and measuring their progress from their entry into the nursery until they move on to primary school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Most children start in the nursery with skills and knowledge well below those expected for three- year-olds especially in speaking, listening and personal, social and emotional development. In the current year, half of all children are learning to speak English as an additional language and many of these are at a very early stage. They settle quickly due to the staff’s sensitive approaches and soon begin to enjoy the happy atmosphere and well-planned opportunities to learn and play.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children make excellent progress in understanding the world through topics such as making maps, learning about other languages and investigating healthy food. Currently the children are excited about the little frogs they have reared in a tank and are learning about life-cycles and changes.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Boys and girls are highly motivated to try new things out, especially in the outdoors where the water area, foam bath and sandpit are especially appealing for experiments. Children are able to make choices for themselves and are never at a loss about what to do next. They work happily together, for example a ‘parachute session’ involving teamwork and co-ordination was highly successful so that every child had a turn in running under the parachute to gleeful shouts of encouragement from others.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children practice linking sounds and letters and are encouraged to learn to write their own and other people’s names. Each morning they register their arrival by writing their name. They love singing and often join in with nursery rhymes and other songs in circle time and while doing their own choice of activities. The development of language and numeracy skills are a strong focus and children soon start to use sentences and show a good awareness of numbers and shape. Early reading is encouraged throughout the day and families are able to borrow ‘story sacks’ to share reading with their children at home.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled children and those who have special educational needs and those new to English make at least good progress, and sometimes outstanding progress because of the extra sessions they have with different teachers. Children gain confidence as they become effective learners and achieve successfully. The different groups of children for morning or afternoon sessions and the minority who attend for full days all make equally good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 By the time they leave the nursery many children have reached the expectations for their age in all areas of learning and about a third of children exceed these expectations. This represents good progress for all children and outstanding progress for some. The strengthening of the system in place to track children’ progress is a step in the right direction to ensure that all children make outstanding progress and maximise their achievement.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Nursery staff have excellent relationships with children and this is a key reason why children settle so quickly, readily and happily to life in the nursery.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most adults are skilled in turning activities into learning opportunities. Times when children are gathered in groups at the beginning of sessions are used to explain the day’s activities and develop basic skills in literacy and numeracy. Teaching is never less than good and much of the teaching seen during the inspection was outstanding.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Adults enable children to explore, investigate and find things out for themselves. This half term the focus is on preparing for primary school so many sessions are linked to stories about school and the role-play area has the uniforms of the various new schools to which children will transfer.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Adults have created a rich learning environment, both indoors and outside, which they use exceptionally well to support learning. Adults are very effective observers of children’s learning and interests and follow up the enthusiasms of the children so that learning comes alive. During the inspection groups of children were visiting a local farm for strawberry picking. This led to lively discussions about the colour, taste and texture of strawberries.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The outdoor area is a particular strength in supporting children’s physical development, awareness of nature and understanding of the world. Many well-chosen resources enable children to develop confident numeracy and literacy skills while being outdoors.

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The quality of teaching is good

 A bi-lingual teaching assistant ensures the full inclusion of all children. Many have one-to-one sessions to build up their confidence as they learn to speak English and enjoy the range of experiences provided.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The special needs co-ordinator ensures that any child’s particular needs are picked up early so that the right extra support is provided. Individual Education Plans are drawn up and outside expertise is brought in where necessary. Regular review meetings ensure that all staff are aware and able to meet the individual needs of disabled children and those who have special educational needs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 On-going assessment of the children’s learning and development is built in to everyday practice but the analysis of progress made by different groups is not as sharply defined. The new tracking system set up last September is starting to have a positive impact in enabling adults to see exactly where children are making less obvious progress and resulting in much better planning to address these areas. Over the year staff have become more skilled in using this system, but are aware that they can improve its use still further, to assist children’s achievement.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children’s behaviour is outstanding because they are fully occupied in learning and playing from the start of every session. They are interested, concentrate and persevere for extended periods. Their personal, including spiritual, social, moral and cultural development is very effectively nurtured by staff who move the children’s knowledge, skills and appreciation of the world about them forward very successfully.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children are very happy to play together in pairs or groups. They readily take turns and show confidence in offering their ideas. Those children who find difficulty in forming relationships are quickly identified and helped to settle because of sensitive one-to-one support from adults. Children trust adults and are friendly and welcoming to visitors.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children are safe in the nursery and learn about rules for safe play both indoors and out. Daily checks by staff at the beginning of the day ensure any potential hazards are identified and addressed. Throughout the day staff are vigilant and ensure children are well supervised and that their learning and welfare needs are fully supported. Parents have very high levels of confidence in the nursery to keep their children safe.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Lunchtime is a social occasion for the minority of children who stay for lunch. Behaviour is excellent as the children enjoy healthy cooked lunches with a good balance of nutritious food. Fresh drinking water is available throughout the day, the snack table has a changing selection of healthy snacks and children know and follow good hygiene rules independently.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Most children attend regularly. The school keeps an accurate record and parents and children are made very aware of the importance of attending every day in order to ensure the best learning and progress. Children are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has been very effectively led and managed by the acting headteacher since taking on the role six months ago. In addition to driving forward improvements she has maintained her classroom role for part of each week. Very strong teamwork is a feature of the school’s continuing good effectiveness and all adults are involved in ensuring that children learn and are cared for to the best of their ability. Responses to the staff questionnaire were unanimous in their pride in the school and staff morale is high.

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The leadership and management are good

 Staff ensure that the curriculum is rich and engaging and meets the needs of all children so that they make at least good progress in the prime areas of communication and language, physical, and personal, social and emotional development. The school is rigorous in ensuring equal opportunities for all children to learn successfully.

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The leadership and management are good

 The setting of targets to help teachers improve their practice is well-planned and all adults are held accountable for the progress that children make. The professional development of staff is a budget priority.

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The leadership and management are good

 The nursery has an excellent relationship with parents who are unstinting in their praise of the staff and the progress their children make. Home visits, numerous courses to help parents understand how to support their children’s learning, weekly updates on what the children are learning and story sacks sent home regularly all ensure that parents are involved as partners in education and kept fully informed about their children’s progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s self evaluation is accurate, based on first-hand observation of all learning activities and an increasingly accurate assessment of children’s achievement. Development planning is focused on children’s well-being and learning and ensuring a seamless transition to new leadership arrangements in September.

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The leadership and management are good

 Staff ensure that all safeguarding and welfare requirements for children under the age of five comply fully with current legislation. All adults provide an outstanding level of care for children in this happy and nurturing environment.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority provides sound advice and support when requested.

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The leadership and management are good

 Day-to-day assessment practice is well-focussed but leaders do not have a clear enough picture of children’s overall progress. This is being addressed by the new tracking system which staff are getting to grips with so that they have a full understanding about the progress of all groups of children from entry to exit.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governance of the school is excellent. Governors are very experienced and know the school well. They provide drive, ambition and challenge. They hold the school to account while being supportive of all staff. They ensure all statutory duties are met including those relating to safeguarding and ensuring barriers are removed so that all children have equal access to learning. They make frequent visits and know at first-hand how well the nursery is performing. Consequently they are able to make fair decisions about promotion and salary increases. The governors undertake regular training and have a wide range of professional experience. They are fully involved in strategic planning, have a good grasp of the school budget and understand the implications of the financial decisions they make.

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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 126564 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 402407

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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 3–4 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 96 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alistair Godwin Headteacher Jane Dyer (Acting Headteacher) Date of previous school inspection July 2010 Telephone number 01205 358647 Fax number 01205 356741 Email address claire.taylor@boston-nur.lincs.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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