Kings Norton Nursery School

Kings Norton Nursery School Westhill Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham, B38 8SY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Early years provision Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher, senior staff and members of the governing body are committed to the highest possible outcomes for all groups of children. They have done much to establish the nursery’s fine reputation and high standards of teaching and achievement.  The school is highly effective due to outstanding teaching, rigorous planning of exciting learning opportunities, outstanding relationships and a continuous drive by all staff to improve on previous best performance.  All groups of children make accelerated progress in all areas of learning because staff know exactly what to teach them due to accurate assessment of their prior learning. They are exceptionally well prepared for learning in Reception classes.  The school has secure systems to evaluate all aspects of provision. Nevertheless its computerised systems for tracking the progress of different groups of pupils are both cumbersome and time consuming. This prevents targets for

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

teachers’ performance from being even more precise.  Children’s behaviour and their attitudes are exemplary due to the high emphasis that is placed on developing values of respect and planning exciting learning opportunities that contribute extremely well to children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Children are safe in school due to the highly stringent procedures for safeguarding and their understanding of how to keep themselves safe.  Parents are delighted with all that the nursery has on offer and are unanimously supportive of the school.  On occasion, staff miss opportunities to push more able children further to record their mathematical thinking by mark making.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector spent two days in the school and completed 11 observations of teaching led by two teachers and four practitioners. The inspector was accompanied by the headteacher for most of these observations.  The inspector observed the full breadth of the school’s indoor and outdoor activities and talked to children at work and play.  The inspector met with a group of parents and carers to seek their views on the quality of education provided by the nursery school.  The inspector analysed the responses of 21 staff who completed Ofsted’s questionnaire.  Discussions were held with the Chair of the Governing Body and two members of the governing body, including the governor with responsibility for safeguarding. The inspector held meetings with a member of the local authority, teachers and senior leaders.  The inspector looked at a range of documents, including the school’s own data on the progress of

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Information about this inspection

different groups of children, school improvement planning, monitoring of teaching and learning and staff appraisal, minutes of the meetings of the governing body, and records and policies relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.

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Inspection team

Bogusia Matusiak-Varley, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The nursery school offers 130 part-time places for three- and four-year-old children. Children are taught in five groups by five practitioners.  Most children attend part-time. Children who meet specific criteria laid down by Birmingham local authority attend full-time.  The majority of children are from White British backgrounds. A small number of children speak English as an additional language.  Fourteen per cent of children have disabilities or special educational needs. Five per cent have statements of special educational needs. Most of these children have speech and language difficulties or autism spectrum disorders.  There are no children for whom the school receives the pupil premium, although 22 per cent of pupils are eligible for it.  The nursery is part of Camp Lane Children’s Centre. The children’s centre was inspected separately in the same week as the nursery school. The inspection report can be found on www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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Information about this school

 The headteacher is a local leader of schools and provides support to several schools in Birmingham.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Sharpen the targets for accelerating children’s progress, which are used to manage teachers’ performance, by improving computerised systems for managing data.  Accelerate the rates of progress of the more able children in mathematics by providing more opportunities for them to mark make and record their mathematical understanding.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Accurate self-evaluation ensures that the school is consistently improving all aspects of provision. The headteacher, deputy headteacher and governors, together with a team of highly competent and well- trained practitioners, demonstrate through improved outcomes that they have the capacity to improve further and maintain their outstanding status. They have successfully addressed the key issues identified in the previous inspection.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Effective monitoring of performance has ensured that the quality of teaching and learning is consistently outstanding. The headteacher and governors, through the modelling of professional standards in all of their undertakings, have created a culture where each individual is valued and this enables staff and pupils to flourish.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The use of target setting for practitioners to improve their work is effective. The computerised systems provide accurate data for each child, but they do not give precise enough information for groups of pupils. It is very time consuming for leaders to drill down for this information.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Parents are delighted with the information that they receive on their children’s learning and development. They know what to do at home to help them learn.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Children have access to exciting and varied learning opportunities both indoors and outdoors. Many opportunities are provided for children to practise outdoors what they have learnt indoors, such as understanding the meaning of a steady beat, taught in a music session and enhanced by tapping musical instruments outdoors.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Staff assess children’s learning regularly and are familiar with their preferred learning styles. Daily and weekly meetings focus on children’s progress and ensure that all staff are aware of what the next steps of learning are required for children to maintain outstanding achievement.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The wide range of learning opportunities underpinned by the school’s values of tolerance and respect for everyone, together with excellent opportunities for children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, contribute to their outstanding personal development.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Succession planning is thorough, and the school has put in a programme of developing middle leaders, but there has been a recent turnover of staff and this has not yet been fully implemented.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  Governors fulfil their statutory duties ensuring that staff are suitably checked and trained in child protection. Regular health and safety checks are carried out, and risk assessments are undertaken to ensure safety for all.  Governors know about the quality of teaching and how staff salaries relate to effectiveness. They receive detailed information about the rates of progress of different groups and they regularly challenge the headteacher for up-to-date information on whether all groups of pupils are making the same rates of progress.  They have been involved in developing the values of the school, ensuring that children leave the school well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Governors have undertaken a skills audit so that, collectively, they have the appropriate experience and knowledge to execute their duties effectively.  Governors seek the views of stakeholders so that they have a clear picture of how the school is

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding and parents say that the school has made a big difference to the behaviour of their children.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children show an awareness of the needs of others and offer help when they see that it is needed. Behaviour is exceptionally well managed throughout the school due to the consistency of application of the behaviour code by all staff. There are no incidents of bullying or name-calling.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Attendance is excellent. Disabled children and those who have special educational needs make their needs known through the staff’s use of visual cards demonstrating both emotions and activities. This helps them understand daily routines and contributes to their safety in the classrooms.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children have excellent attitudes to learning and become deeply engaged in activities. Staff are vigilant to their needs and help them develop vocabulary and sentence structure by becoming involved in their play.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Children look up to their teachers. They respond immediately to instructions and are very respectful and courteous towards adults and visitors. Pupils’ manners are exemplary. They say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ when they are encouraged to eat their fruit and ‘excuse me’ if they urgently want to have their say when someone else is talking. They treat all resources with respect and are expert at putting resources away quickly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is exemplary. Children feel safe and secure as they know the routines that they have to follow. They are encouraged to take small risks such as climbing high on the climbing frame to put out pretend fires. Children know who to go to should they feel sad, and they know not to use ipads unless supervised.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The care shown for children is outstanding, enabling them to feel happy and safe in school. Parents are happy with the school as shown in their positive response to the on-line Parent View survey.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have a clear understanding of each individual child’s needs and value his/her uniqueness. Children trust their teachers and are not frightened to have a go at new aspects of learning because they know that they will have the support that they need.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers’ detailed planning and accurate observations of their pupils’ learning contribute to the success of this school. Teachers constantly review and reshape tasks and activities based upon their ongoing assessment of their pupils’ prior learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have expert understanding of how children learn. They foster skills of curiosity and exploration, encouraging children to have a go. They consistently praise children for their efforts and this contributes to their high self-esteem.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs respond well to the one-to-one approach teachers give to help them get over any particular barriers to learning. This is evident in the teaching of early listening and speaking skills.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 All practitioners provide a highly stimulating learning environment where learning is governed by pupils choosing what they want to learn. This is coupled with stringent support for developing early reading, writing and mathematical skills. Very occasionally, adults miss opportunities to ensure that the more able pupils have the opportunity to mark make in mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers are expert at asking questions to deepen children’s understanding. Recent training is paying dividends as children are more than happy to explain their thinking and are talking in full sentences. Teachers consistently help children develop their play into meaningful learning activities. This has an excellent impact on developing children’s skills of creativity as they are able to develop stories based upon their play.  Outstanding relationships and excellent attitudes to learning prepare pupils well for their next steps of learning in the Reception class. A highly positive learning environment is reflected in the high quality of displays around the school and the exciting range of activities such as the role play area outdoors.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children enter the nursery with skills and knowledge below those typical for their age in all areas of learning. All groups of children, including disabled children and those who have special educational needs, make rapid and sustained progress. When they leave the school, all groups of children are securely within age-related expectations, with a third exceeding these expectations. Their progress is outstanding due to highly focused learning and excellent relationships with staff who are expert at moving these children on in their learning.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children are able to identify initial sounds, find their own name cards and those of their friends. Approximately three quarters of the class can form their letters correctly and can match letters to sound. The more able children can count to 30 and find the corresponding numeral. They have a good understanding of mathematical vocabulary and they know when there are too many children in the sand pit.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children know how to learn. They concentrate, persevere and know when to ask for help. They have excellent social skills and together solve many problems.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 More able children achieve well in all areas of learning and make rapid progress due to the excellent questioning skills of teachers used to deepen their understanding. On occasions when involved in mathematical activities, they could be achieving even more by mark making and forming their numbers.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disadvantaged pupils achieve well, especially in speaking and listening, and parents are amazed at the rate at which they acquire not only vocabulary but also accurate sentence construction using correct tenses.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Analysis of three years data shows that consistently high standards are maintained and there has been an improvement in early writing since the last inspection due to the excellent range of opportunities provided for pupils to develop their skills of coordination.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Parents are delighted with the outstanding progress that their children make in learning and the fact that they are so well prepared for the next stage in their education.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 All children in this school are in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The report sections above evaluate the school’s quality.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 103129 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 448080

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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 3–5 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 130 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Judy Preever Headteacher Maureen McGillicuddy Date of previous school inspection 12 July 2012 Telephone number 0121 6753993 Fax number 0121 6752827 Email address enquiry@kingsnorton-nursery.bham.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 and 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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