Pembury House Nursery School

School Report Pembury House Nursery School Lansdowne Road, Tottenham, London, N17 9XE

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  The headteacher and assistant headteacher provide good leadership to a staff team who are dedicated and highly committed to children and their families in the community.  Most children begin school with levels of skills and knowledge that are well below what is typical. By the time they leave, most achieve the expected level of attainment for their age.  Children make good progress in their language and communication skills because adults provide regular and well-planned small-group sessions.  Children’s behaviour is good. The caring and safe environment staff provide means children settle in well to school.  Teaching is good with some that is outstanding because staff know the children well and are skilled at teaching children routines so that they are better prepared to learn.  The curriculum provides a stimulating range of experiences for children and opportunities for parents and carers and children to work

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

together.  Parents and carers are highly positive of the school. One parent said, ‘As a single dad, I could not have done it without the school’s help.’  Senior leaders and the governing body bring a range of skills to provide clear strategic direction which have helped teaching and achievement improve.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Staff do not take every opportunity to develop children’s mathematical skills, in particular for the more able children.  Observations of teaching do not routinely provide staff with targets relating to improving children’s learning.  Assessments do not always give evidence that children can achieve the skills and understanding identified as their next steps in learning. As a result, the planning of future activities is not always accurate.  A few children do not attend regularly.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 11 sessions in all areas of the school, of which seven were shared observed jointly with the assistant headteacher. A range of work and the adults’ written observations in the children’s ‘special books’ were also scrutinised.  Discussions were held with members of the senior leadership team, the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative of the local authority.  There were insufficient responses to Parent View, the Ofsted online survey. The views of 58 parents and carers who responded to the school’s questionnaire were taken into account. The inspector also spoke with parents and carers at the beginning and at the end of sessions.  The inspector looked at documentation such as policies, including those relating to safeguarding, the school’s analysis of the progress children make, the school’s monitoring of teaching and the development plan, governing body minutes and logs relating to behaviour and absence.

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Inspection team

Mirella Lombardo, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is an average-sized nursery school.  The school provides a wide range of services to families in the local community, including day care from 8am until 6pm throughout the year and a breakfast club. The governing body also manages the Pembury Children’s Centre; however, it did not form part of this inspection.  The majority of children attend part time, for either a morning or afternoon session. A few children attend for the full day.  The majority of children are from minority ethnic backgrounds; most are in the early stages of learning to speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled children and those who have special educational needs supported through early action is average. The proportion supported at early action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is high.  The school does not use alternative provision to support any of its children, and is not eligible to

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Information about this school

receive pupil-premium funding.  The school works within a consortium of three nursery schools which provide training across the local authority.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop the quality of teaching so that it is outstanding by making sure that:  targets given to adults after observations of teaching are clearly focused on strategies which will improve children’s learning  assessments recorded by adults include evidence relating to children’s targets so that the planning of future activities is more accurately focused on children’s next steps in learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve children’s attainment in mathematics by making sure that:  adults take every opportunity to develop children’s mathematical skills through problem- solving activities which particularly challenge the more able children  adults increase the emphasis on number indoors and outdoors and in focused teaching sessions.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve attendance for those children who do not come to school regularly by working closely with their families.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Many children join the nursery with a range of skills and experiences that are well below the levels which are typical for their age. Their communication and language skill levels are particularly low, with many only using a few words when they start nursery. They make good progress so that by the time they leave the school, their skills are close to the levels expected for their age.  The strong focus placed on developing speech and language means most children make good progress in this area. The school has worked closely with speech and language therapists to develop the expertise of their own staff to lead focused sessions.  Early reading and writing skills are developed well because of well-planned teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they represent). For example, in one session for more-able children, the teacher encouraged children to blow feathers across the floor to practise the shape their mouths

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The achievement of pupils is good

need to make to sound out the letter ‘p’. Later these children chose items from a shop stall and this enabled the teacher to check if children could distinguish between items beginning with the letter ‘p’ and those beginning with another letter.  Opportunities to develop children’s understanding of number are less developed, particularly for those children who are more able. These children are not always sufficiently challenged, for example in counting beyond ten and identifying the numerals that they represent or being given problems to solve involving numbers.  Disabled children and those who have special educational needs who join the nursery with very low-level skills and development make good progress. Adults set children clear routines and have high expectations of their behaviour. They are also taught communication skills in small groups on a daily basis. As a result, children are better prepared for learning, in particular the children

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The achievement of pupils is good

with more complex additional needs, including autistic spectrum disorders and global learning delay.  Children who speak English as an additional language are also supported well. They make good progress because staff are skilled in language development and offer small focused sessions to build children’s confidence in speaking and introduce them to a wide range of vocabulary.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good, with some that is outstanding, because staff know how to develop children’s understanding well in most areas. Adults regularly play with the children and use these opportunities to develop children’s imagination. For example, in one session outdoors, children sat in a boat with an adult looking out into the ‘open sea’, while another adult acted as a shark in the water while the children enthusiastically suggested ways of catching the shark.  Staff have a secure understanding of how young children learn, promoted by the assistant headteacher’s strong knowledge of the early years. This means adults promote children’s confidence well and encourage them to be independent learners. Routines are developed as soon as children start school; for example, the ‘what’s in the bag?’ activity provides a structure to small-group sessions and sets out the expectations of ‘good looking, good listening, good

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The quality of teaching is good

talking’.  As soon as children start school they are taught to use a camera and are encouraged to take photographs of what they like in the nursery, and this helps adults find out about individual children early on. Children upload their photographs, print them and then choose their ‘best’ photographs to display at the entrance on a ‘photo wall’ and share with their parents when they come to pick them up. Adults encourage children to talk about their photographs and develop stories around them. Later parents and carers are encouraged to take a ‘photo walk’ with their child in the local environment, and this provides an opportunity for parents and carers and their children to work happily together.  The best learning observed was when adults showed children what they were expecting and sustained children’s attention. For example, in a session for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, the adult demonstrated short activities such as pouring flour through

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The quality of teaching is good

a sieve, to encourage children to repeat key words such as ‘pour’, making it very clear through actions and drawings when one activity finished and another started.  Adults regularly check children’s progress and record their observations in the children’s ‘special books’; however, these records do not consistently make reference to the children’s personal targets. As a result, assessments do not always provide evidence that a child has been successful in meeting their targets and therefore the planning of future activities is not always accurately focused on what individual children need to do next in their learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The positive relationships between adults and children are a particular strength. Children form strong bonds with the adults around them and they say that they enjoy being at nursery. Transition into the nursery is managed well with ‘stay and play’ sessions with their parents and carers and so children quickly adapt to their new environment.  Children are actively encouraged to evaluate their own learning by looking through their ‘special books’ with adults and their parents and carers.  Parents and carers are very positive about the way the school keeps their children safe. Many parents and carers commented on how they had noticed improvements in their children’s behaviour and that they had become more independent and confident since joining the school. They know that discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.  Safety is given a high priority, building on the school’s work following past disturbances in the

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

local area. Children were able to talk confidently about what to do if someone does something you do not like, one child saying, ‘Say you don’t like it, don’t just do it back to them.’ Children were able to talk about adapting their behaviour according to where they are in the school; one child said, ‘We walk to keep safe and run outside.’  Children’s ability to share, take turns and be polite helps them to behave well. During lunch, children sit in small groups with an adult and are encouraged to develop good social skills. Children say they enjoy the school meals, which provide them with healthy options to choose from.  The school encourages regular attendance and this has improved for children who stay at the school all day. The school is developing ways of making known to families the importance of attending well to improve learning. For example, at parent meetings held during the inspection,

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

parents and carers were presented with their children’s progress visually on a graph and given information on their attendance. However, a few children continue to miss a lot of school.  Behaviour and safety are not yet outstanding because improvements in behaviour are not yet evident in records kept by the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior leaders have a strong vision for how the school works within the community. All staff are positive about the work of the school and leaders encourage staff to work together closely. The school development plan contains clear actions for the further development of the school.  Parents and carers are highly positive about the school. All opportunities are used to develop their involvement, including a well-attended parents’ forum. Regular training is offered to parents and carers as part of the local ‘Strengthening Families’ project.  Parents and carers are encouraged to share experiences with their children. For example, in the recent ‘Big Draw’ event, parents and carers took part in activities to promote the use of drawing and mark making in developing early writing.  Staff are given wide access to training, as leaders place a strong emphasis on making sure staff are highly qualified. Many have been supported by governors to access higher education courses

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The leadership and management are good

on a part-time basis.  Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is developed well. For example, adults perform plays and act out traditional stories for the children and when children join the school they are encouraged to bring in a special item from home, which is kept safely in a basket and shared together.  Improvements since the last inspection include the way leaders check the progress children make over time and how this information is used to let parents and carers know how well their child is doing in all areas of learning. Parents and carers commented on how well informed they were because of the regular opportunities they have to meet with school staff.  Children learn through a variety of activities planned by adults, which include visits to local shops and museums. In a recent project, ‘The Magic of Tottenham’, children left photographs they had taken of the local environment around in the environment as ‘gifts’ to share with the community

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The leadership and management are good

what they thought was beautiful.  The checking of teaching and learning is carried out regularly by school leaders. However, targets set for adults to improve their teaching after observations have taken place do not focus sufficiently on what will improve children’s learning. Rather, they are sometimes general targets relating to that individual’s role in the school.  The local authority offers light-touch support to the school. It has given the school opportunities to lead a local project on developing a coordinated approach to working with children who are at risk and, as part of a local consortium of nursery schools, to lead training for other schools.  Good links with the school’s children’s centre and the work of the school’s early intervention coordinator mean that the school is able to work closely with specialist teams to support individual children and to address wider issues concerning families. This helps to make sure that

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The leadership and management are good

all children have equal opportunities to thrive.  The governance of the school:  Governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development as they visit the school regularly, check children’s ‘special books’ and are provided with information about how well the school is doing. They place a strong emphasis on developing the skills of the staff in the school. They are aware of the quality of teaching and are knowledgeable about how staff are appropriately rewarded for high performance and how underperformance is tackled. They provide strong financial management of resources to meet the school’s priorities. They make sure they keep updated by attending regular training, for example in the areas of special educational needs, understanding data and performance management. Governors ensure policies are regularly reviewed and are accessible to parents. They make sure that all safety and safeguarding requirements are 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 102071 Local authority Haringey Inspection number 429518

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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 77 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Melian Mansfield Headteacher Val Buckett (Headteacher) Date of previous school inspection 7 – 8 March 2011 Telephone number 020 8801 9914 Fax number 020 8801 9914 Email address admin@pemburyhouse.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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