Harewood Centre Nursery School

Harewood Centre Nursery School Harewood Avenue, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF8 2ER

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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 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 of all abilities make good progress especially in their personal, social and early reading, writing and counting skills. Children are happy, hardworking and curious about the world around them. By time they leave they are well prepared for primary school.  Disabled children and those with special educational needs make outstanding progress. This is in response to the careful planning to meet their individual needs and very good support they receive.  The quality of teaching is good. It is sometimes outstanding. Adults skilfully question children and involve them in making decisions about their own learning.  Children's behaviour is outstanding and they feel very safe. This is built upon the excellent relationships between staff, children and their parents.  Well organised classrooms and challenging outdoor activities promote children's positive attitudes to learning and their social, moral,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

spiritual and cultural development well.  The headteacher provides clear-sighted and rigorous leadership which is driving the school forward. She is well supported by all staff with leadership responsibilities and a knowledgeable and ambitious governing body.  As a result, children's achievement and the quality of teaching and learning have continued to improve since the previous inspection.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Occasionally adults miss the opportunity to interact with children in order to further develop their independent learning skills and to provide further challenge.  Sometimes teachers do not make full use of visual and other resources to give children more clarity in their learning.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed a wide range of sessions in the nursery over the two days, including joint observations with the head of centre and other senior staff.  Discussions were held with children, the Chair and other members of the Governing Body, a representative of the local authority, and members of staff.  The inspector took account of 11 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and responses to the school’s own consultation with parents. The inspector also talked to several parents during the inspection.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents, including data on children’s current and previous progress, school development plan, performance management documentation and records relating to children’s behaviour and safety.

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Inspection team

Andrew Clark, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average-sized nursery school.  The large majority of children are from White British families. A small proportion of children are of Eastern European heritage and speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled children and those who have special educational needs supported through early years action is average.  The proportion of children supported at early years action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is broadly average.  The school provides additional 'wrap-around' care for children outside normal school hours through its breakfast and lunchtime clubs.  There is a pre-school on site. It is managed by the governing body and is subject to a separate inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching to further children's raise achievement by:  making sure that adults regularly interact with children in order to further develop their independent learning skills, provide further challenge and enrich their speaking and listening skills  making full use of visual and other resources to help children clarify and deepen their learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Overall, children start school with skills that are below those typically expected for their age, particularly in speech and language and other aspects of communication. Children of all abilities make at least good progress during the time in the Nursery school and leave with skills which are typical for their age and sometimes higher.  There has been a good trend of generally improving standards since the last inspection. Both boys and girls make good progress in a wide range of areas of learning.  Disabled children and those with special educational needs make outstanding progress from their individual starting points. For example, children with significant speech difficulties learn to communicate very well through a mixture of verbal and sign language and to make decisions for themselves. Strong individual, and often specialist support, helps children to access all areas of learning and grow in confidence and independence.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children of all abilities make good progress in developing their personal and social skills. This lays a firm foundation for their future learning. For example, they listen attentively to their teachers and to each other and follow instructions carefully. They increasingly make decisions about their work and play and stick at activities until they are completed.  The most-able children achieve well because they have opportunity to use their initiative and develop skills to a higher level. For example, a group worked systematically together in sorting Christmas parcels by size and shape and arranging them on a vehicle in order to deliver them safely.  Children who may be in vulnerable circumstances and find learning difficult also progress well and largely reach standards close to those of their peers. The close partnership with parents ensures that teachers know the children's needs well from the start and tailor learning to their

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The achievement of pupils is good

needs.  Children's progress in their speaking and communication skills is good. They learn to speak clearly to each other and adults. They use an increasingly wide and pertinent vocabulary in their role-play and group time activities. The strong focus on communication skills in both English and children's heritage language helps those who speak English as an additional language to progress well.  Children's early reading and writing skills are well-developed. They learn to recognise writing in labels and displays. They make good progress in recognising the relationship between letters and sounds to form words. Children identify and write their own names when they register at the start of the sessions. They make marks and form letters when writing their Christmas cards, for example, and the most-able children independently write a number of familiar words in simple sentences by time they leave.  Children's progress in their early mathematical skills is good. They count and order numbers well

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The achievement of pupils is good

in a wide range of activities. They make good progress in recognising written numbers and matching them accurately to the correct number of objects. They name common shapes such as circles and triangles and use their knowledge well in, for example, creative and construction work.  Although children's achievement is good overall, they sometimes do not make the very best progress they could by fully challenging them and further improving independent learning skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The good quality of teaching has been built on since the previous inspection. All staff are involved in aspects of lesson planning and assessments, particularly for their key groups, and overall expectations are high. The classroom areas are attractive and stimulating and the use of the outdoors for problem-solving and independent learning has improved well since the previous inspection.  Teachers make good use of accurate assessments of children's progress to set work which enables them to do well. They make regular evaluative observations of children's learning in different circumstances and gather information from parents to reinforce these assessments. Parents are immensely proud of the thorough and attractively presented record books of children's progress which are regularly shared with them. These are a good improvement since the previous inspection.  Teachers and other adults ask searching questions to explore children’s understanding and to

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The quality of teaching is good

develop their thinking skills. They enable children to make a contribution to their own learning through, for example, group discussions and games. They involve the children in thinking about their own learning and how they can improve it.  Reading and mathematical skills are systematically and progressively taught through both targeted group sessions and reinforced through activities children select for themselves. For example, children follow a session on shape recognition by painting circular wheels on their large Santa sleigh.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are given work which enables them to make outstanding step-by-step progress. Teaching assistants and other adults provide sensitive and skilled support when needed while encouraging children to work as independently as possible.  Teachers promote children's independence well. This contributes to the good achievement by

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The quality of teaching is good

the most-able. All resources are stored in easily accessible and attractive containers both indoors and out with clear labels and photographs of the contents to encourage children to choose for themselves.  Role-play areas, such as the home-corner and post office, engage children's imagination within familiar surroundings. This helps children in vulnerable circumstances develop their self- awareness and confidence. In the best lessons, adults subtly participate in the children's play to guide and deepen their learning.  Sometimes children are left for too long in their independent activities without any adult interaction and questioning. This limits the opportunity to provide further challenge or enrich speaking and listening skills.  Teachers do not always make enough use of visual or other resources, especially in group work, to make things clear to children. For example, by using number or letter displays which are too

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The quality of teaching is good

small for everyone to follow or not reinforcing new learning with pictures, words or the use of information and communication technology.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children's behaviour is outstanding throughout the school day. They are polite and friendly towards adults and each other.  Children have a very good understanding of how their behaviour affects others and that they should be kind and considerate. Children collaborate extremely well with others and tidy up with enthusiasm.  Teachers make excellent use of a wide range of children's literature, songs and rhymes to reinforce positive attitudes and to promote children's health and well-being.  Children attend regularly and are ready to work. Parents frequently comment on their children's eagerness to come to school and to see their friends and teachers. This contributes well to their readiness for primary school.  Staff have excellent relationships with parents which help children settle in to school life quickly and effectively.  The school very carefully tracks children's personal development and is quick to address any

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

emerging emotional concerns. Staff help children with social and emotional difficulties to manage and improve their own behaviour by providing a good sense of security and offering specialist support and training when it is needed.  Well planned activities on family life, babies, schools and people who help others contribute to the children's safety and sense of well-being. Detailed daily feedback to parents helps smooth the very rare occasions when children do not feel as happy as usual.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher's clear vision and ambition for the school is fully shared by all staff, governing body and parents. There is a continuous pursuit of high standards in all aspects of the school's work. This is evident in the good improvements to the outdoor environment for learning since the last inspection and the excellent links with parents.  Rigorous assessment systems support the good and improving quality of teaching and learning. As a result, self-evaluation is accurate and the school is aware that the few inconsistencies in the quality of teaching are yet to be fully addressed to improve achievement further.  The headteacher and teachers provide good role models to their colleagues and are skilled in assessing the quality of teaching and setting challenging targets for teachers to aspire to. Those with subject and other leadership roles are committed and thorough in their work. They work

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The leadership and management are good

closely as a team and are effectively involved in monitoring and promoting their areas of responsibility. This has contributed to continued development since the last inspection.  The school receives appropriate support from the local authority. The school takes good advantage of a range of training opportunities. It works closely in partnership with other similar schools to develop assessment and planning procedures for the Early Years Foundation Stage. The school has piloted several learning projects for the local authority, particularly for special educational needs and communication skills.  Staff are held accountable for the progress their pupils make and have to meet stringent criteria in order to achieve the next salary level.  The management of the performance of teaching and support assistants and provision of good quality training has a significant impact on children's learning, particularly for disabled pupils and

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The leadership and management are good

those with special educational needs.  Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strongly promoted. There are many creative and physical activities throughout the day promoting children's health and well-being. Visits, for example to the post office, and regular visitors contribute to all aspects of children's personal development.  The school tackles any very rare issues of discrimination well and promotes equality of opportunity.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is well informed through the detailed headteacher's reports and detailed analysis of children's progress. Governors are committed to enhancing their own skills and becoming even more rigorous in the checks they make when visiting the school. They ask challenging questions of the senior leadership to ensure that all decisions are based on firm foundations. They bring a wide range of relevant skills and experiences and are well led and

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The leadership and management are good

managed. The governing body ensures that financial resources are efficiently managed and know how this impacts on children’s achievement. Governors see that targets to improve the performance of staff are reviewed carefully and that teachers’ pay is linked to how well children are doing. They ensure that safeguarding meets statutory 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 108134 Local authority Wakefield Inspection number 425903

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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 34 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jack Kershaw Headteacher Christine Harling Date of previous school inspection 24 January 2011 Telephone number 01977 722835 Fax number 01977 722835 Email address headteacher@harewood.wakefield.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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