Evesham Nursery School

Evesham Nursery School Four Pools Lane, Evesham, WR11 1BN

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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 Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Exceptional leadership from the headteacher, along with experienced staff and a well- informed governing body, has enabled this school to make rapid improvement since its previous inspection.  Parents speak highly of the provision which their children receive. They say they are well informed, their children enjoy coming and they are always made to feel welcome.  Warm and friendly relationships help children to settle in quickly, enjoy all that is on offer, make good progress and achieve well.  Teaching is good. Caring adults, who have a good understanding of how these young children learn, plan activities that are interesting, exciting and in line with the children’s interests and abilities.  Behaviour is good and at times, outstanding. Everyone quickly learns what is expected, both inside and outside. Children move around confidently and enthusiastically and are eager to learn because they feel safe and secure.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Underpinning the school’s success is the determination for improvement. Staff and governors have clear procedures to improve the practice of all adults who work with the children. These are closely linked to school development priorities.  Improving teaching and learning to good has been a particular success. Whole-school visits to outstanding settings have enthused all staff to aim for the best and to improve their practice.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 At times, more-able children are given work that is too easy for them when they take part in reading and writing activities.  Sometimes, adults do not stress to children the importance of listening carefully and not shouting out during large group sessions so that everyone has a chance to speak.  Although they collect much information, staff do not have a clear picture of how well children are doing as a whole school across all areas of learning.  Children are not always reminded to put away resources when they have finished with them.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out with half a day’s notice and took place over two days.  The inspector observed 11 parts of sessions, observed with the headteacher, taught by two teachers and five teaching assistants.  A range of documentation was looked at, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement planning, teachers’ planning, safeguarding documents, minutes from governors’ meetings, along with information relating to progress and achievement of the children.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and other staff, children, two members of the governing body, a representative from the local authority and a few parents.  There were 19 responses on Parent View, the Ofsted online survey. The inspector also analysed 35 questionnaires sent out to all parents during the Autumn Term 2013.  The views of the staff were considered through the scrutiny of 10 completed staff questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Nina Bee, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Evesham Nursery is smaller than the average-sized school and provides part-time nursery education for 70 children. Acorns, the additional, on-site provision for two-year olds, was not part of this inspection.  Most children are from White British backgrounds with a minority who speak English as an additional language. Most of these are from Eastern European backgrounds.  The proportion of disabled children and those who have 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 below average. Most of these children have speech and language difficulties.  The school is not eligible to receive pupil premium funding.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching to outstanding by:  ensuring that more-able children are given hard enough work to do as they develop their reading and writing skills  focusing more effectively on the importance of all children having a say so that others listen carefully and do not shout out during large-group sessions  refining the wealth of information that is collected on individuals, across all areas of learning, so that staff gain a clearer picture of how the school is doing as a whole  making sure children put away toys they play with as they learn to tidy up behind themselves.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the nursery with skills, knowledge and understanding below those expected for their ages. Approximately a third of the current cohort speaks English as an additional language and are on low levels of learning English. A few children have speech and language difficulties. The large majority of children reach the expected levels by the time they are ready to enter Reception classes with a few exceeding these levels.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 All children, including disabled children and those with special educational needs and children who are on the early stages of learning English, achieve well. Children’s individual progress is carefully tracked and additional support is given if necessary. As a result, children make at least good progress in all areas of learning. School information shows that a few children make outstanding progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Good procedures before children start at the nursery, such as home visits and opportunities to visit the nursery, along with exciting activities organised each day, enable children to settle in happily and become eager learners who achieve well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children were seen learning well as they played outside in the pretend snow which had been made by adding soap to puddles. They took turns to use brushes to move the ‘snow’ around and had such fun as they spoke about the colour white and how they had made the snow. All were suitably dressed in waterproof outfits and boots as they chatted with each other. Afterwards, they sensibly changed into more suitable clothes and shoes for inside play. Those who needed help confidently asked an adult.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The outside area is used effectively to enable children to achieve well in all areas. For example, lower attaining children were seen being sensitively supported using natural objects such as fir cones, sticks and leaves to count. The adult focused well on counting accurately up to five. Others gained lots of confidence as they balanced and walked along a low wall they had made from a pile of wooden bricks.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 On a few occasions children’s progress is not as fast as it should be when there are minor weaknesses in teaching relating to not enough focus on promoting children’s listening skills or challenge for the more able.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Parents are pleased with the progress their children make.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Parents think that their children are taught well. Staff generally have high expectations. They relate expertly with individual children and small groups and skilfully craft activities to suit their interests, abilities and needs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Children of almost all abilities, including disabled children and those with special educational needs, learn well. Staff are extremely aware of the levels the children are working towards. They liaise with external specialists, for example, to support children who have speech and language difficulties to enable them to learn as well as their classmates.  Children who speak little or no English are sensitively supported and learn well because adults focus effectively on making sure that language is developed at every opportunity.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The way adults reflect on the impact of their practice on children’s learning is outstanding. Short meetings at the end of each session help them to build on children’s interests and plan future sessions. They expertly identify what they should do next to move forward the learning of individuals and groups while discussing things that have gone well and where alterations are necessary.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Children were observed safely using scissors and glue as they enthusiastically made ‘Humpty Dumpty’ from pieces of paper and card. Children worked amicably alongside each other in their small group while an adult sensitively used questions to extend their thinking.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Outside, excited children made mud pies in their outdoor kitchen. They used vocabulary such as ‘sloppy’ and ‘messy’ and all identified why they needed to wash their hands when they went inside.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The suite of computers is a popular resource in the classroom. Children learn well and can easily move the cursor around the screen to create a number of actions as they played many different computer programs. They show much enjoyment, used the computers safely and often worked without an adult. Most are confident to ask adults for additional support if they need it.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Occasionally, when children work in larger groups, adults do not stress the importance of children listening and not shouting out so that all can have a turn. Children who know all the answers are sometimes inclined to shout out and dominate the learning. This means that lower attaining children and those who are less confident in speaking do not always take a full part and do not do as well as their classmates.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Adults know who the more able children are but at times they are not given hard enough work to do, particularly in their development of reading and writing skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 ‘Learning journeys’ which build up a record of children’s achievements, are kept for each child. Adults use an electronic program which allows them to take photographs of children learning and link it to the area of the curriculum they are working at. These folders are a valuable resource. They remind children what they have done and allow parents to see how well their children are getting on.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of children is good and at times outstanding. Adults create a positive, caring environment and show children what is expected of them, they learn as they play either in pairs, small groups or alongside each other, both inside and out. Consequently, children are usually well behaved and obedient.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Lunchtime behaviour is outstanding. Children sit and eat their lunch showing that they have learnt excellent table manners. They identify the food they eat such as broccoli and ‘see in the dark carrots’ and show a very good understanding of how to use their cutlery successfully. They are very polite and know that it is important to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep children safe and secure is good. Children quickly feel safe and secure because settling in arrangements are thorough and parents are welcome at the start of each session. Parents say that all staff are approachable if they have a concern or worry. Procedures such as these enable staff to develop strong links with parents.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The staff keep comprehensive risk assessments to ensure that children are kept safe. These cover all areas of risk, such as in the outside area which is checked for safety before every session. Just occasionally, staff do not remind children about putting toys away after use, or picking up things they have dropped on the floor, to make sure nobody trips on them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Over the last few years, there have been no incidents of poor behaviour recorded by staff and there have been no racist incidents. Adequate systems are in place to record any, should they occur.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance was recently identified by the staff as not being good enough. More stringent procedures have been put in place and current attendance shows an improving picture.

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The leadership and management are good

 In this nursery, there is a relentless drive for improvement. The headteacher has gained the respect of governors, staff and parents. Staff morale is high and parents are pleased with all the nursery does. All staff and governors work hard to make sure that children flourish both as they learn and as they make friends with everyone.

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The leadership and management are good

 All leaders and managers, including the governors, focus effectively on making sure that children receive at least good quality teaching and support. Improvement planning is thorough and has focused on the correct priorities. All staff and governors are involved and they have an extremely accurate understanding of how successful their work is. The local authority has supported the school well since the previous inspection and now, rightly, offers only light-touch support.

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The leadership and management are good

 A well-organised plan for training teachers is linked to the school improvement plan and to any needs identified through managing their performance. A focus has been whole-school visits to outstanding nursery settings. Staff say how much these visits have enhanced and developed their practice and enabled them to see exactly what they are aspiring to.

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The leadership and management are good

 There is a comprehensive system to track children’s progress and gives staff a good understanding of how well individuals are achieving. However, senior leaders understand that they do not currently have a clear enough picture of whole-school attainment and progress in all areas of learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 All staff and governors make sure that children are treated equally and discrimination is not tolerated. Parents, during discussions, when filling in questionnaires and on Parent’ View, agree.

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The leadership and management are good

 The nursery provides a well-balanced curriculum which effectively promotes the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the children. Consequently, they learn how to get along with each other and begin to understand what kindness and respect are all about. Learning about different cultures and other celebrations, through visitors being invited in, enables them to start to be aware of differences in people and places. Children, for example, sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and then listened as a Polish volunteer showed them how it sounded when it was sung in Polish.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance has improved greatly since the previous inspection. The governing body is now well informed, through regular, focused visits and is involved in most aspects of the work of the nursery. Consequently, governors are able to challenge and give good support when necessary. The governing body knows how well children are doing because performance information is shared with them. Governors speak confidently about the systems, to improve the quality of teaching, which have successfully moved teaching from satisfactory to good since the previous inspection.  Governors talk confidently about the electronic program which adults use to record their assessments of individuals and groups. Many governors go on courses to develop their understanding and knowledge of their role. There is an annual planner for governors which has been developed as a result of additional training they have received. Statutory

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The leadership and management are good

requirements are met and arrangements for safeguarding are secure.

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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 132104 Local authority Worcestershire Inspection number 431172

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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 2–4 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 70 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Nikki Hewitt Headteacher Marian Gager Date of previous school inspection 26 April 2012 Telephone number 01386 423118 Fax number 01386 422590 Email address head@evesham-nur.worcs.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

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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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