Brougham Street Nursery School

Brougham Street Nursery School Brougham Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 2ES

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 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.  This school is a highly valued part of the community. Parents are very appreciative of all that the school offers. The view of one typifies that of the vast majority: ‘It is just what my child needs; it’s like home from home!’  Achievement is good. When children move to full-time education they are well prepared for learning.  High-quality activities give children a good understanding of nature, a love of books and the capacity to make decisions for themselves. Children make rapid gains in their physical development.  Teaching is good and has outstanding elements. Very imaginative approaches inspire children and develop crucial personal skills to access education later on in life. Very good use is made of learning outdoors.  Behaviour and safety are excellent. Parents are unanimous that their children are cared for and looked after well.  Disabled children, those with special educational needs, and those who speak

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

English as an additional language receive very well managed support. At all times, their inclusion is total.  The curriculum links closely to the children’s interests. Excellent connections to outside organisations widen children’s learning.  The headteacher leads the school very well. All staff share the same ambition for the school and are enabled to constantly improve their skills through training.  The governing body has the necessary expertise, support and challenge to secure the school’s improvement in future.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Children do not have enough opportunities to reflect on how well they have achieved in activities and to develop an understanding of what they might do even better.  The most-able children are not consistently challenged.  Staff are not yet fully involved in the school improvement process.  Assessment is not refined well enough to give a clear picture of the progress and achievement of different groups and trends over time.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed children’s learning throughout the nursery setting, including activities children had chosen themselves, others led by adults, and small group work. Seven sessions were observed. Three of these were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings and discussions took place with the headteacher, staff, the Chair of the Governing Body and with a representative of the local authority. Additional meetings were arranged with the manager of the children’s centre.  The inspector looked at key inspection documents including data on children’s progress, safeguarding procedures, self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, minutes of the governing body meetings, teachers’ planning and children’s ‘learning journey’ booklets.  Account was taken of the 18 responses to the online survey (Parent View) and of the four responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

David Byrne, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is a smaller than average-sized nursery school.  It offers parents up to 15 hours provision each week for children from the term after they reach three years-of-age. The hours can be taken whenever best fits the parents’ needs. 3rd birthday  The large majority of children are of White British heritage, with a minority of pupils from other minority ethnic backgrounds. A small proportion of children speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled children and those who have special educational needs supported through Early Years action is broadly average. The proportion of children supported at Early Years action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also broadly average.  During the inspection, the substantive teacher was on maternity leave; this post was covered by a long-term supply teacher with considerable experience of nursery education.  The school is accommodated in a building that is integrated with the local children’s centre and

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Information about this school

adjoins a local primary school. The provision in the children’s centre is inspected by Ofsted separately.  The school manages, in addition to the nursery, provision for children aged from birth to two and for two to three-year-olds. Each setting is inspected separately; their reports are available on the Ofsted website.  In addition to the nursery entitlement, the school offers opening hours from 7.30am to 6pm each day and holiday care.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and children’s achievement from good to outstanding by:  giving children more opportunities to reflect on how well they have achieved in their activities and to understand how they can do better  establishing a consistent approach to challenge the most-able children  develop systems for assessment to give a clear picture of the progress and achievement of different groups and trends over time  involving staff much more in planning how to improve the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children join the nursery with widely varying experiences, knowledge and understanding. From their starting points, children make good progress. When the children move onto full-time education, the proportion in line with expectations has increased at a good rate and some develop skills that exceed expectations. There are, however, occasions when some of the most- able children are not challenged enough to enhance and extend their literacy skills or to use numbers to solve simple problems.  Children make good progress in their personal, social and emotional development. This is because of the strong emphasis adults place on developing these skills, and the high quality relationships the school builds between adults and children. Children settle quickly due to the staff’s sensitive approaches. They enjoy the happy atmosphere and well-planned opportunities to learn and play. Children rapidly become independent learners as they ably choose resources,

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The achievement of pupils is good

both indoors and outside, and take responsibility for taking out and putting things away.  Physical development has a high profile and, as a result, children make rapid progress in developing their coordination and ability to use equipment with reasonable accuracy. Outdoors they benefit from activities such as climbing, walking, cycling and jumping. They dig in the sand and balance as they walk around the deep planters in the garden.  Indoors, they quickly develop skills of dressing, putting on coats and using zips, and they start to work with small tools and resources to make marks on paper. Scissors, chalks, paintbrushes, pencils and pens are used with reasonable accuracy. They explore resources that can be moulded and shaped, for example, children explored chocolate scented play-dough and used rolling pins and pastry cutters to create shapes.  All children make good progress in mark-making and early writing activities. Children enjoy

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The achievement of pupils is good

sharing books. They are keen to share a book with adults, sitting quietly and listening well. Staff encourage children to read with their parents at home using story sacks and this boosts children’s enthusiasm for reading. By the time children leave the nursery, many recognise their own names and some name letters and the sounds they make.  Most children develop a good awareness of number, shape and space. They show confidence as they count the number of frogs as part of a poem and recognise the number of pieces of fruit they can select during snack time.  Boys and girls are motivated to try new things out, especially outdoors where the sand pit, access to scooters and to the garden area are especially appealing. They develop good ways of working things out for themselves. For example, a group of children worked well together to find ‘dinosaur’s teeth’ in the sand pit. The achievement of boys and girls is similar.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled children, those who have special educational needs and children who speak English as an additional language make good progress. This is because staff provide for their needs very well. Some children have difficulties with speaking and listening. Where necessary, external staff give specific support to individuals, so all children make good progress. The use of signing, symbols and pictures by staff help children to understand routines, make choices and have their needs met.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff have a good understanding of how young children learn through practical, play activities. They are extremely skilled at working alongside children, enabling individuals to follow their interests and subtly intervening to give specific support or challenge. Staff know the children and their families well. Parents think very highly of all practitioners in the school and appreciate both the quality of teaching and the caring approach provided.  The learning areas indoors and outside are an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of exciting and very carefully selected activities. The high quality of activities is testament to the skill and dedication of the staff team, all of whom work together very closely to plan precisely for the children’s needs. Both indoor and outdoor areas provide many opportunities to involve children in activities which promote curiosity and a love of learning. Resources are wisely selected to motivate children, help

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The quality of teaching is good

them develop their concentration and build up their ability to make choices and be independent. The hustle and bustle of learning is at times so frenetic that children do not get enough time to think about their own achievement or how to improve.  Children’s interests and enthusiasms are skilfully identified, often incidentally, when they are exploring and playing. Staff are very skilled at adapting activities as they go along to meet individual needs. They are also able to identify children who need additional help. Where required, one-to-one support is given as the child learns alongside others.  Questioning effectively encourages children to talk about what they are learning. Opportunities are, at times, missed to extend the learning of the most-able children and to help them explore new ideas. A particular strength of teaching is the regular exposure children have to explore the outdoors and interact with the natural environment. Their encounters with nature have a

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The quality of teaching is good

significant impact on all aspects of their learning, especially their personal and social development, their ability to be creative and expressive, and their language and communication skills.  Children with disabilities and those with special educational needs benefit from tailored support to meet their needs. An effective strategy gives children extra support to become good listeners and to develop their confidence to speak, for example, soft toys give children a purpose to speak and to develop new vocabulary.  Staff are reflective and daily discuss, evaluate and review children’s learning. Accurate judgements of each child’s attainment and progress are recorded. Staff are not as knowledgeable about the trends and patterns of achievement of different groups and children over time. The school’s action plan has rightly highlighted the need to improve all staff’s knowledge of the value of using data to improve teaching and achievement.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Behaviour and safety throughout the nursery are outstanding. Staff use positive praise and encouragement and children’s behaviour is managed consistently well. Children’s spiritual, moral and cultural development is very effectively nurtured.  A calm atmosphere encourages extremely strong relationships. Children are confident in the staff, knowing that there is always someone to help them. Some children arrive at school feeling insecure and in need of support. Staff immediately pick up on this and put into practice very effective strategies to help them settle. At times, this involves looking after the school guinea pigs, Koochie and Icepig, or bathing Ralph the school tortoise. Such activities take the child’s mind away from whatever is worrying them and they quickly settle.  Children are very happy to play together in pairs or groups. They show respect to one another, trust adults and are friendly and welcoming to visitors. Children who find difficulty in forming

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

relationships are quickly identified; they are helped to settle because of sensitive one-to-one support from adults. The nursery is a harmonious community and all children, including those with disabilities and special educational needs, are effectively included.  Children are safe in the nursery and learn about rules for safe play both indoors and outside. They are given excellent opportunities to understand about risk and to how to keep themselves safe. For example, staff guide children to use cutlery safely when they are taking their snacks.  Group time, snack and lunch times contribute well to children’s social and emotional development. They enable children to develop crucial skills of personal hygiene and awareness that healthy food can be enjoyable. Children who stay for lunch behave exceptionally well and learn how to use cutlery properly and develop good table manners. Lunchtimes provide

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

opportunities for children to talk together with an adult, learning to share and develop good manners. They thoroughly enjoy these social occasions and are courteous and polite.  Attendance, although not statutory, is carefully monitored by the school. The vast majority of children attend regularly at the times agreed with parents.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides strong, ambitious and enthusiastic leadership. Supported by a knowledgeable governing body and dedicated staff team, the headteacher is uncompromising in her determination to secure the best possible achievement for every child.  Together, all involved with the school promote equality of opportunity very well for the large majority of children and ensure that discrimination of any sort does not exist. Everyone shares the same desire and determination to give each child the best possible start. Responses to the staff questionnaire were unanimous in their pride in the school and staff morale is high.  The school knows its strengths and areas to develop. The systems for monitoring and evaluating the school’s success have improved since the previous inspection. Increasingly staff are involved in the process of evaluating the school’s successes but still not as much as they could be. This

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The leadership and management are good

reduces slightly the staff’s influence on some aspects of decision making to take the school forward.  Training is effective and linked to the management of staff performance. The headteacher places much emphasis on developing her own skills and those of staff. She encourages everyone to learn from other settings and to acquire additional professional qualifications.  The curriculum for the Early Years Foundation Stage is adapted to match the philosophy of the school. The headteacher and staff have a strong picture of how young children learn and set high expectations for children’s independence, creativity and their ability to think for themselves. The vast range of activities provided promotes children’s very good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Staff successfully liaise with, and involve parents as vital partners in their children’s education. Parents are very positive in their praise of the staff and the progress their children make.

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The leadership and management are good

Effective communication through the individual learning portfolios and regular consultation meetings are just two of the ways in which the school helps parents to be partners in their children’s learning. Several parents commented that the school ‘helps the family as much as the child’.  Excellent links with the integral children’s centre enhances many aspects of the support given by the nursery to children and their families. Close and productive links with other schools ease the transition for children moving on to full-time education.  The local authority recognises the good progress made by the nursery since the previous inspection. Its involvement has diminished as a result but it still offers support and guidance where requested.  The governance of the school:  Since the previous inspection, several new members have added a wide range of experience and expertise to the governing body. Under the strong leadership of a skilled Chair of the

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The leadership and management are good

Governing Body, every governor is committed to continuous improvement. They carry out their statutory duties and give good support and challenge to the school, whilst being very supportive of staff.  The performance management of the headteacher is underway and governors understand the link between children’s progress, the quality of teaching and any increases in salary. They know what the school is doing to tackle any underperformance.  Governors manage financial resources well, spending the school’s income wisely to support children. They make sure the school complies with all health, safety and safeguarding requirements.

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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 121268 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 428834

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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 53 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Katie Smith Headteacher Angela Harrison Date of previous school inspection 20 March 2012 Telephone number 01609 797053 Fax number Not applicable Email address admin@broughamstreet.n-yorks.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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