Clyde Nursery School.

Alverton Street, Deptford, London, SE8 5NH

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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

 Children make outstanding progress in developing their personal, communication and physical skills regardless of their background, home language or ability. All staff have high expectations for every child.  Both indoor and outdoor environments are highly stimulating. Teachers and support staff provide many inspirational and exciting learning opportunities which capture children’s enthusiasm for learning.  Children’s behaviour is excellent. They learn to play together exceedingly well. The rich curriculum enables the children to develop a sense of wonder in the world around them.  Teaching is managed extremely well. Regular checks on its quality lead to very effective approaches for developing staff skills and raising children’s achievement.  Arrangements for safeguarding are meticulous. Children feel very safe in school. They take care of resources and move around the nursery sensibly and use tools safely.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Partnerships are outstanding. Excellent links with the on-site day-care nursery and children’s centre help children to do really well.  Parents and carers are very happy with all that the nursery school provides. They are enabled to work in extremely close partnership with staff to support their children’s learning.  The headteacher is inspirational and, together with other senior staff, provides outstanding leadership. Staff and members of the governing body give strong support and work with total determination to make a real difference to children’s and families’ lives.  Overall, children have excellent opportunities to develop their understanding of the world. However, when children play with toys and models, staff sometimes miss opportunities for exploring how moving parts work.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 12 learning sessions provided by teachers as well as early years support staff assisting children in their learning. Most of the learning sessions seen were joint observations with senior leaders.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, senior leaders and teachers and a local authority representative.  Some of the nursery school’s documentation was scrutinised. This included teachers’ planning, safeguarding procedures, children’s work and data on children’s attainment and progress.  The inspector considered the 16 responses to the online Parent View survey and the nursery school’s own most recent parents’ questionnaire and also held informal conversations with several parents and carers.  The inspector considered responses to the 18 questionnaires returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Eileen Chadwick, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This average sized nursery school is part of the Clyde Early Childhood Centre. About two thirds of the children attend full time while the rest attend either in the morning or afternoon.  Children enter in the September after their third birthday and leave in the following July after spending three terms in the nursery.  There are much higher than average proportions of children from minority ethnic backgrounds, including those who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled children and those with special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is well above average.  There is a well above average proportion of children known to be eligible for free school meals but at the time of the inspection children of nursery age are not supported by pupil premium

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Information about this school

funding (additional funding provided for looked after children, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children from service families).  The nursery school provides wrap around care for children on the same site. This consists of breakfast club, after-school club and a holiday club.  The headteacher also manages the on-site children’s centre and the early years day care nursery for babies and children up to the age of three. The centre manages the Playbus which provides mobile play and learning provision for isolated communities around the borough for one morning or afternoon session for each child each week. These linked services were not inspected at this time and their inspection reports are available on the Ofsted website.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure staff make the most of opportunities for helping children to develop their interest in how simple moving parts work, for example on toys and construction kits, by stimulating exploration and discussion.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children join the Nursery with knowledge and skills at levels much lower than those expected for their age, including in personal, physical and communication skills. Rapid progress lifts their attainment so that the majority of children leave the nursery with skills that are at least at the levels expected for their age.  Children make outstanding progress. Adults’ excellent knowledge of the children’s needs enables them to provide a rich array of practical experiences finely tuned to each child’s needs.  Children make accelerated progress in their personal, social and emotional development. They settle very quickly because of the way adults tailor support to help each child to adjust to the nursery. Small-group work, for example ‘What’s in the box’ activities where children learn to manage their feelings and control their behaviour, take turns and listen to each other, helps social skills to develop quickly. Staff, through their own positive relationships and kindness,

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

model ways to show children how to respect others.  Children learn to communicate extremely well because there are so many real experiences for them to talk about. Those new to learning English make exceptional progress because they learn new vocabulary through enriched activities which mirror daily life. For example, adults skilfully develop children’s language through cooking activities or joining in children’s play in well- equipped role play areas, such as the playhouse or ‘ice cream shop’.  Disabled children and those with special educational needs also make excellent progress because adults pay close attention to their strengths and interests and use these to help these children develop in other areas. Those children who are known to be eligible for free school meals also make exceptional progress and the very large majority achieve the standards expected of this age by the time they leave.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children progress extremely well in developing their early literacy skills because staff know them as individuals and match experiences to their needs. Children learn to love stories and books and are gaining an early understanding of sounds and letters through songs and rhymes and noticing adults writing the letters that sounds make.  Children are encouraged to enjoy making marks and writing in many situations during indoor and outdoor play. These activities appeal to boys as much as girls, for example when being ‘builders’ in the construction area, both boys and girls eagerly record their findings on clipboards.  Children learn to count very effectively. They regularly gather together in small groups when adults match activities to each group’s particular needs. Children also use and apply early numeracy skills all the time such as when counting spoonfuls to make their soft modelling dough or recognising numbers on birthday cards

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Physical development improves rapidly. When playing and working inside and out, children benefit from a very well-resourced, attractive and safe environment. Children love being outside and ride wheeled vehicles with confidence and challenge themselves to use climbing equipment in their large exciting outdoor area.  Great strides are made in children’s creative development through imaginative role play and creating pictures and models with different materials. Their understanding of the world develops extremely well through local walks, visits to shops, the post office and cafes as well as farms and museums further afield. Children greatly enjoy using computers to help them learn.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Staff’s relationships with children are excellent. They communicate with the children in a naturally supportive way and there are high levels of respect and understanding. Staff manage children’s behaviour in positive ways which ensures there is a very happy and calm atmosphere. Staff are exceptionally skilled at helping reluctant children to turn into lively communicators.  All staff are extremely knowledgeable about the most effective ways that children of this age learn and provide exciting activities that encourage learning. They are skilled at turning every opportunity into a learning activity from the moment the children arrive so that children can make the most of every day.  Adults are very good indeed at stimulating imaginative play and also at extending communication skills and thinking. For example, when playing in the home corner children’s learning was greatly extended when a member of staff helped the children to suggest ideas and

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

follow their own lines of enquiry as they created ‘a party day.’  Careful planning ensures there is a perfect balance between adult-led and child-selected activities and that staff offer the right level of challenge. Whenever possible, learning is linked to real-life situations. Adults skilfully adjust the methods they use to capture the children’s interests to ensure they make rapid progress.  Individual and group sessions for disabled children, for those with special educational needs or those who have English as an additional language are also of an exceptionally high quality. Staff’s skills and approach are based on specialist knowledge and advice. This addresses children’s specific speech and communication skills and enables them to make rapid progress in their language development and adjust to nursery routines  Settings for play contexts are extremely well designed so they stimulate both girls’ and boys’

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

curiosity. Adults usually join in or give help at exactly the right moment to further children’s learning. However, during water play when children use the exciting pulley system for lifting small buckets of water or use construction kits, adults do not always enable the children to explore and talk about how simple moving parts work or introduce new vocabulary.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children settle quickly into nursery life because staff work closely with families to ease separation at the start of sessions. This, along with opportunities for parents and carers to spend time with their children at the start of morning and afternoon sessions, ensures children feel safe and secure.  Relationships between adults and children are excellent so that children thrive in the safe, secure and stimulating atmosphere. Adults give sensitive support so that children are willing to try unfamiliar activities and develop new interests.  Staff are very respectful of the wide range of cultural heritages and experiences in the community they serve. They carefully draw on this diversity to very strongly promote children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Children love being in the nursery and show impressive levels of confidence and independence when choosing their own activities. They learn to persevere because staff encourage them to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

follow an interest and motivate them to stick at it through positive comments, prompts on how to succeed and by playing alongside them.  Staff manage children’s behaviour extremely well and those who find managing their own behaviour more challenging show great improvements because of the excellent support that staff provide.  Children flourish during lunch times because staff ensure these are enjoyable, relaxed social occasions where good manners and conversation are encouraged.  The overwhelming majority of parents and carers are extremely pleased with how their children have settled, are kept safe and the way in which staff manage children’s behaviour. Some say that they successfully use the same approaches at home. No evidence of bullying or racist incidents was seen during the inspection and school records show that none has needed to be recorded.  The breakfast club and after-school care provide a happy and safe start and end to the school

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher’s exemplary leadership is underpinned by her extensive and detailed knowledge of her school. The deputy headteacher provides excellent support and senior leaders work closely together, sharing their expertise. Leaders and staff have clear roles and responsibilities which they carry out extremely well.  All policies and actions are driven by the interests of the child and all staff and governors share these principles. The nursery is extremely well organised and each session is meticulously planned so that never a second is lost.  The quality of self-evaluation is excellent and ensures that specific priorities for improvement, such as the enhancement of outdoor learning opportunities, accelerate children’s physical, social and language development. The nursery has made good improvements since the previous inspection, including in strengthening assessment and self-evaluation systems and this shows

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The leadership and management are outstanding

the nursery has a good capacity to continue to develop.  The performance of teachers and other staff is very well managed and staff respond very positively to opportunities to further develop their skills. The headteacher uses information from observations of teaching to make sure that teachers’ pay is linked to their quality of teaching and contributions to improvements in children’s achievement.  Children from a range of backgrounds and cultures learn and develop in this extremely harmonious community. All children, regardless of ability, background, needs or race are valued as unique individuals. There is no place for discrimination at Clyde and all children have access to the activities offered.  The local authority provides good support and has a clear knowledge of the school. It has had a particularly good impact in helping to promote the excellent links with other nurseries and feeder schools.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 An outstanding feature is the nursery’s seamless approach to education through its very close links with the on-site children’s centre and early years nursery. These fully support children and their families who have any problems in learning. For example, many parents and carers who do not speak English benefit from English language courses held at the centre and some parents and carers remarked how the school had helped them through difficulties.

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The governance of the school:

 Governance is very effective. Members of the governing body bring a broad range of expertise to benefit the school. They are extremely supportive and challenge the school to ensure that teaching and children’s achievements continue to improve. They understand data and know how well different groups are progressing. Governors are well trained, make frequent visits to the school, ask searching questions and make sure spending decisions have a positive impact on children’s progress. They are up to date with recent requirements for ensuring that pay is linked to staff performance. Governors ensure that all safeguarding requirements are fully met.

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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 100667 Local authority The London Borough of Lewisham Inspection number 425579

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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 95 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Joan Norris Headteacher Cathryn Kinsey Date of previous school inspection 9 February 2011 Telephone number 020 86923653 Fax number 020 86928978 Email address admin@clyde.lewisham.co.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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