Hednesford Nursery School

Hednesford Nursery School Eskrett Street, Hednesford, Cannock, WS12 1AR

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Parents are extremely satisfied with the provision their children receive. At the start of each session, children happily separate from the people who bring them to nursery and select activities with confidence. They quickly develop positive attitudes to learning.  After a decline in standards since the previous inspection, the recently appointed headteacher, her relatively new staff and governors have been very well supported by the local authority to ensure that good provision is maintained. A system to track children’s performance in all areas has been introduced. Data collected illustrate the good progress children make in all areas.  Governors have received much additional training and guidance and, consequently, are more confident and knowledgeable of their responsibilities than previously. They are now fully involved and support and challenge when necessary.  Leaders ensure that the children play and learn in a

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

safe and secure building and that they receive good-quality of teaching.  Staff morale is high. Warm and caring relationships are developed with the children and their parents, and everyone works effectively together to ensure that children achieve well in all they do.  Self-evaluation is accurate and everyone is involved in the development of the nursery. Teaching is good and adults focus well on the children’s own interests and plan exciting activities, which promote spiritual, moral and social development effectively and enable them to learn well.  Children behave well because adults generally have high expectations regarding being kind and considerate towards each other as they play and move around the building.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

When children learn in larger groups, adults do not always explain the importance of listening carefully when others are speaking. A few children consistently shout out, which results in a lack of engagement and concentration, and sometimes learning is disrupted.  When leaders check the quality of teaching, adults are not always given points for improvement to develop their practice.  Children have too few planned opportunities to develop their understanding of the culturally diverse society in modern Britain and the wider world.

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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 nine parts of sessions, taught by two teachers and six nursery nurses. Almost all of these sessions were observed jointly with the headteacher.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documents such as: the planning that adults use to support their teaching; information about children’s previous and current performance; the nursery’s self-evaluation document; the learning journey profiles of the children; safeguarding documentation and minutes from meetings of the governing body.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and her staff, governors, parents, children and a representative from the local authority.  There were too few responses to take account of Ofsted’s on-line survey, Parent View. Nevertheless, the inspector took account of approximately 15 responses to the school's questionnaire in March 2014 and

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Information about this inspection

nine responses to a questionnaire from the governing body in July 2014.

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Inspection team

Nina Bee, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Hednesford Nursery is smaller than the average-sized nursery school.  The school is situated on the same site as a children’s centre and provides part-time nursery education for 25 children. The provision for two-year-olds and wrap-around care were not inspected. These aspects are relatively new and have not been inspected yet.  The large majority of children come from White British families.  A few children are identified as disabled or having special educational needs.  No children speak English as an additional language.  The headteacher has been in post since January 2014. She is also the headteacher of the other nursery school in Staffordshire. A lead teacher deputises for the headteacher in her absence.  Since the previous inspection, more staff have been appointed due to an increase in the number of children on roll. Almost all current staff have been appointed since the previous inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching by ensuring that, when children sit in larger groups to learn, adults check that they all understand the importance of listening when somebody else speaks so that everyone is fully engaged and sustains concentration.  Improve leadership and management by:  giving all adults improvement points and then checking to ensure they have been acted upon  ensuring that children receive more planned opportunities to develop an awareness of the culturally diverse society in modern Britain and the wider world.

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The leadership and management are good

 Following a decline in standards and concerns raised by the new headteacher and the local authority, the headteacher, her lead teacher, staff and governors have worked very successfully in partnership with the local authority since January 2014 to ensure that children receive good provision in this nursery. As a matter of urgency, they instigated a review of the governing body, made sure that the learning environment was safe and secure and that children receive good quality teaching and achieve well.

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The leadership and management are good

 All safeguarding issues identified previously have been successfully addressed. The headteacher and her staff carefully track each child's performance, in all areas, by continuously assessing how well they are doing. Recent school data and classroom observations show that children are making at least good progress. The key workers develop learning targets for each child to work to. All children are treated equally and individual needs are catered for well. The improvements that have been made clearly show that there is capacity to improve further.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum is well planned according to the Government's most recent guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Although spiritual, moral and social development are promoted well, cultural development is not as strong. Children have too few planned opportunities to begin to develop an awareness of the different cultures found in modern Britain or in the wider world.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teaching has recently been monitored by the headteacher and an external specialist. However, improvement points, which are later checked to see if practice has improved, are not given consistently to individuals. As a result, minor weakness in teaching have not been identified and rectified.

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The leadership and management are good

 Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the nursery provision for their children. They are delighted at how quickly their children settle and enjoy all that is on offer. Parents say that staff are approachable, give them lots of information on how their children are doing and address their children’s individual needs.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors are knowledgeable, confident and aware of their responsibilities because they have received training in all areas. As a result, they are much more involved than previously in the work of the nursery and so are capable of supporting and challenging when needed. For example, when reviewing policies and practices, they are keen to give their advice and opinions. When discussing issues, they are confident to ask questions to clarify or deepen their understanding.  Governors are involved in and understand processes and practices, such as the monitoring of teaching, how teachers’ performance is managed and how the quality of teaching is related to their pay structure.  Governors have been heavily involved in reviewing and improving safety and safeguarding issues. This ensures that, whether children are inside or out, they learn in an environment that is safe and secure.

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The leadership and management are good

Governors are not yet sufficiently involved in promoting children’s developing awareness of different cultures and life in modern Britain

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of children is good. They quickly learn the nursery rules and how to behave. Children were seen waiting patiently taking their turn as they used the computers and when selecting rolling pins and cutters to shape dough. They learn the importance of being kind towards others and share the toys and equipment they use because all adults are excellent role models. Adults expect children to behave properly; for example, children sensibly lined up to move to another room during one session and then settled down promptly to start their learning.

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Behaviour

 Behaviour as children eat their packed lunch is good. Children thoroughly enjoy this social event. Adults develop language effectively as they ask them simple questions about the foods they eat. The more confident children talk about what they have been given to eat. During lunch and snack-times, they identify different fruits and vegetables and begin to develop an awareness of what is healthy. Children know the importance of washing their hands before eating and respond positively to doing this.

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Behaviour

 Occasionally, when children sit and learn in larger groups, some of them shout out and interrupt the adult or child who is speaking. The need to listen when adults or other children speak is not always promoted effectively. This behaviour interrupts the flow of learning and does not ensure that all children are engaged and sustaining concentration.

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Behaviour

 Recorded incidents of poor behaviour are very few, although there is a consistent system to record any that occur.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep children safe and secure is good. Children quickly learn rules which keep them safe. For example, they know that running inside is not allowed but, outside, where there is more space, it is acceptable. Adults are vigilant about keeping children safe. If they see a child who has forgotten the rule regarding running inside, they sensitively address it. Children are constantly given clear guidance when using items such as scissors or the computers. There are clear checking procedures for all personnel who have regular contact with children and for when children are collected at the end of sessions.

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Safety

 Parents have not identified any issues regarding the behaviour or safety of the children and have access to all policies and procedures on the nursery website.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is generally of a good quality which enables children to learn well in all areas. Staff check children’s learning through a number of ways, such as on-going assessments and observations, learning journey profiles and by linking with parents through the use of home-school diaries. Adults know each child well, and planning is thorough. Key workers identify targets which focus on the individual needs of every child during all sessions.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Children quickly develop positive attitudes to learning and what is expected of them. Most children are confident at selecting the exciting and interesting activities that have been planned for them. For example, children were very keen to have a go at touching the cooked sparkly spaghetti and then cut it up with the scissors that were nearby. Mathematical language, such as 'short' and 'long' was developed well as they spoke about length with the adult who was supporting them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Learning is good because, when adults interact with children in one-to-one or small-group situations, they usually respond positively and listen with interest, although this is not always the case when all of the children are together. Activities are well planned for their ages and stages, and regularly reinforce and develop skills and knowledge across many areas of learning. For example, children were observed playing outside using building bricks in the ‘building site’ that adults had previously set up. This activity quickly progressed to children building roads and identifying the need for cars and later chalk to number the spaces in the car park. Much language was developed along with number and social skills as children thoroughly enjoyed their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Activities interest the children, and adults ensure that children participate well. For example, children enthusiastically developed their knowledge of letters, sounds and numbers during group time. The adult had high expectations of children completing the task and listening properly. Explanations and instructions were clear and the activity was well resourced. Additional support was provided for one or two children, by an extra adult, who contributed well to the learning that was taking place.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the nursery with skills, knowledge and understanding below those typical for their ages. Few children enter with levels higher than those expected for their ages. The most recent data show that, by the end of nursery, most children reach levels typical for their ages, and this represents at least good progress from their starting points. Few children exceed the levels typical for their ages.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children achieve well in all areas because the curriculum focuses well on all areas of learning for children of this age. Learning journey profiles are detailed and clearly show the good progress that children make, as do the recent performance data that are collected on each child.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 All children make good progress because activities are well thought out and suitable for the children’s ages, and adults address individual needs effectively through the targets they set for each child. Every child’s performance is individually tracked in all areas of learning. Disabled children and those who have special educational needs are suitably supported in the nursery and through close links with home and so achieve well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children who are more advanced than others also make good progress because they are given individual targets and appropriate additional support when necessary.

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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 123962 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 448112

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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 25 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gwen White Headteacher Sara Bailey Date of previous school inspection 19 September 2011 Telephone number 01543 512225 Email address headteacher@hednesford.staffs.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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