Hylton Red House Nursery School

Hylton Red House Nursery School Rotherham Road, Red House Estate, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear

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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

This is an outstanding school.  This school is a highly valued part of the community. Parents are very appreciative of all that the nursery does for their children.  The headteacher’s inspirational leadership fires all staff with the enthusiasm and determination to provide the very best opportunities for every child to succeed.  The achievement of all children is outstanding. Regardless of starting points, or any barriers to learning, each child receives the care and support they need to make excellent progress.  Consistently outstanding teaching is underpinned by highly skilled staff who know exactly when to offer support and when to allow children to find out things for themselves to ensure that learning is always interesting, challenging and, most importantly of all, that it is fun.  Children’s behaviour is exemplary. They become absorbed in activities and feel very secure with the ‘homely’ welcome that they

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

receive. The rules and routines keep them very safe and secure.  Leadership and management are outstanding. Consequently, the school has rapidly improved through enhancements to the learning environment, support for two-year-olds and a coherent and relentless focus on monitoring and improving teaching.  Pupils with special educational needs are supported exceptionally well to make excellent progress due to the expertise and outstanding provision provided by the special educational needs coordinator.  Hylton Red House Nursery is a special place where the unstinting dedication and commitment of all staff transform children’s lives and prepare them extremely well for their next stage of education.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 18 learning sessions provided by teachers as well as Early Years support staff.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and special educational needs coordinator, three members of the governing body and a local authority representative.  Some of the Nursery school’s documentation was scrutinised including children’s learning journals, teacher’s planning and safeguarding procedures, progress data, the monitoring of teaching and other documents relating to the school’s work.  The inspector considered 46 responses to the school’s recent survey and discussed parents’ views towards the school at the beginning and end of school sessions. There were only four responses to the online Parent View survey.  The inspector considered responses to the 13 questionnaires returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Kevin Dodd, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is a larger than average-sized nursery  Children join the school the term after their third birthday and nearly all children transfer to the primary school located on the same site.  The majority of children are of White British heritage and speak English as their first language.  The proportion of disabled children and those with special educational needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also below average.  The school also provides for children from the age of two, but this is registered provision, and, therefore inspected separately.  A new headteacher and special educational needs coordinator were appointed in 2010.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 The school has already identified areas for improvement and is currently addressing these very effectively.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children join the Nursery with knowledge and skills that are below those expected for their age. All children make outstanding progress in their learning and the vast majority reach, and some exceed, the expected level in all areas of learning by the time they transfer to primary school.  A significant proportion of children join the Nursery each year with communication and language skills that are well below what is expected for their age. They, and all other children, make excellent gains in speaking, listening, thinking and early mark making because of the relentless focus on these skills whenever staff interact with the children. Staff lead by example in listening to and respecting children’s ideas. They speak clearly and simply so that children are able to imitate and learn correct speech patterns.  Children quickly become confident, independent learners who respond to the inviting selection of

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

activities provided for them. They eagerly explore and investigate what is on offer and then settle with good concentration to find out things for themselves.  School data about children’s progress show that they consistently make exceptional gains in their personal and social skills, which prepare them very well for the next stage of learning. The data also show that for the children who accessed the school’s registered provision from the age of two, progress accelerated significantly in this area together with children’s communication and language skills.  Children’s listening skills are systematically developed so that they can hear sound patterns and rhymes. This helps them develop early reading skills by first hearing then repeating sounds accurately. As they develop, children learn to recognise letter shapes and link these to some sounds. Each of these skills contributes to children’s understanding of the different forms of

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

communication. They sharpen their listening to stories so that they are able to hear and remember the main events and retell them to each other.  Children with special educational needs make exceptional progress and overcome some significant obstacles to their learning. The special educational needs coordinator has devised highly effective systems for measuring their small steps of progress and is vigilant in noting each tiny gain made by the children so that she is able to match activities to their learning needs and maximise their progress. She ensures that both children and parents are aware of these successes so that they can recognise and celebrate their achievements.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching is outstanding because staff have been well trained, share their ideas and skills freely with each other and are ambitious for every child to do well.  Excellent relationships between adults and children help the children make the most of their time in the Nursery. There is something new to learn every day and adults promote children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development extremely well. As a result, children develop a sense of wonder in the world around them, love learning, grow in confidence and relate extremely well to others.  Staff listen to children, understand their interests extremely well and enable them to develop and extend their ideas, such as when children planned an extension to their garden. Questions and conversations during this activity were tailored exceptionally well to individual children’s needs.  A perfect balance of adult-led and child-selected activities ensures children are able to learn just

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

as successfully through listening to and watching adults as by learning through play. For example, adult-led group sessions successfully introduce phonics (knowledge of sounds and their letters) and then children are helped to apply their learning during play. For example, children are encouraged to spot letters and well-chosen objects representing sounds, as they engage in shopping list activities.  Throughout the day, adults are interacting, talking, questioning, developing language and guiding children’s learning as children explore and investigate for themselves. Adults are very adept when joining in children’s play and extending their learning. For example, when a group of children began exploring the small creatures in a wildlife area, an adult helper intervened to extend their learning by challenging them to think about what they might eat, where they might live and how many different insects they could count and recognise.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Adults have high expectations of what each child can achieve. Observations of children’s learning are used exceptionally well to support individual children, including those with special educational needs as well as more-able children.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children develop excellent attitudes to learning. They enter the Nursery at the start of each session eager to explore the excellent range of activities. They are active learners who relish finding out things for themselves, and many delight in sharing their learning with adults and other children.  Behaviour is outstanding because nurture groups are used effectively to help children settle into nursery. Staff have high expectations of behaviour and are skilled at using praise to manage children’s behaviour. School records show that incidents of misbehaviour are extremely rare.  The wide range of activities in the very well-organised and attractive indoor and outdoor areas has a very positive impact on engendering the development of both boys’ and girls’ love of learning. The calm and purposeful atmosphere is the result of excellent relationships and the right levels of challenge for all children. Children are confident that there is always someone to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

help them.  Children love the Nursery and attend regularly. They thrive in the safe and secure atmosphere. Parents are unanimous that their children are safe while there. No evidence of bullying or racist incidents was seen during the inspection, and school records confirm that there are none.  Children are very well cared for and pull on their boots and waterproof clothes when playing in the outside area in cold weather. They know routines very well and quickly respond to adults’ requests for ‘quieter indoor voice, please’ if they become overexcited.  Children learn how to judge what is safe for them, having learned about safety in their work and play both indoors and outside.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher’s drive and determination to continually improve the school are very well supported by all staff. Senior leaders monitor the work of the Nursery very well and are constantly looking for ways to improve what is available for the children. For example, they are constantly making improvements to the indoor and outdoor areas and making sure that the needs of younger children entering the Nursery are fully met while ensuring that a sharp focus on older children is maintained.  The performance management of staff is robust. It is used effectively to make decisions about promoting teachers on the teachers’ pay scale.  Senior leaders and governors are clear about the school’s strengths and where there are opportunities for further development. Any relative weaknesses are tackled quickly and effectively. The refining of assessment processes to capture the small gains made by children with special educational needs is an excellent example of how the school is prepared to

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The leadership and management are outstanding

challenge its existing effective systems to make them even better.  The management of staff performance is very well monitored and findings used to identify where further training is needed. Excellent leadership of teaching has ensured that this continues to improve from already high levels. All staff are held to account for children’s progress, and as their questionnaires confirm, they all feel highly valued and morale is high.  Strong teamwork enables good information about children’s learning to be shared continually, so that all are aware of the needs and interests of children. Any child who needs extra help is quickly identified and staff specialist expertise is pooled to find ways of helping a child to overcome obstacles to their learning.  All children have excellent equal opportunities to succeed. More-able children and those with special educational needs benefit from detailed planning to meet their individual needs from the

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The leadership and management are outstanding

support of the highly skilled and dedicated special educational needs coordinator.  The outstanding curriculum is constantly developing to provide new interests and challenges for children. The school has responded well to the recommendations of its previous inspection and provides many opportunities for children to develop literacy and mathematical skills and has rightly identified a need to involve parents more in their children’s learning and develop its website to enhance their understanding of the curriculum.  The local authority’s support has been exemplary. It supports and advises the school in its constant drive for improvement. The school values this and has acted immediately on any recommendations. The local authority has also had a particularly good impact on helping to promote links with other nurseries which is a current priority identified by the school and is providing excellent opportunities for staff development.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 All safeguarding requirements are met. Procedures are rigorous and robust and the school acts swiftly on any issues identified.  Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. One parent wrote, ‘I’m proud to say my son has been part of Hylton Red House Nursery’.  The governance of the school:  Governors are well informed about the quality of teaching, the management of staff performance and how teachers are rewarded. They know the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and how rigorously these are tackled. They have a good understanding of how well the school is doing and of how popular it is in the community and regularly challenge and support senior leaders to make further improvement. Finances are well managed and governors ensure that regular health and safety checks keep children and adults safe on site.

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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 108748 Local authority Sunderland Inspection number 425724

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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 2–5 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 103 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Richard Bell Headteacher Christine Collins Date of previous school inspection 17 November 2010 Telephone number 0191 553 5405 Fax number 0191 553 5405 Email address hrh.nursery@schools.sunderland.gov.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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