Sunny Brow Nursery School

Sunny Brow Nursery School Sunny Brow Road, Archer Park, Middleton, Manchester, M24 4AD

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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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher is an inspirational leader. She is supported by a highly effective team and knowledgeable governing body who share her drive for excellence in all areas of nursery life.  In-depth knowledge of the school’s strengths and areas for development and well-planned opportunities for professional development has enabled the school to maintain its outstanding effectiveness and to improve further.  Excellent relationships and a consistent approach to children’s learning enable children to develop high levels of confidence and enthusiasm for school. They are happy and settled and are very keen to learn.  Children’s behaviour is outstanding. They play fairly and, from an early age, learn to cooperate and take turns.  Children excel in all areas of their learning. Their speaking and listening, physical and personal skills are outstanding. As a result, children are very well prepared for their next stage of learning.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The extended outdoor learning area is exceptionally well planned to create an exciting and memorable environment for children. In this magical place, children develop high levels of independence and curiosity.  Teaching is outstanding. Well-planned, exciting activities grab children’s attention. Learning is fun so that children persevere for good periods of time.  An extremely caring, welcoming and safe setting means that children feel very secure and love coming to the nursery. Most attend very regularly.  Leaders have recently introduced a new assessment procedure to further enhance the vigilant checks they keep on each child’s progress. Ways of evaluating this information are at an early stage of development.  Partnerships with parents are outstanding. All the parents who completed the school’s questionnaire and those who spoke with the inspector showed high levels of satisfaction and all would recommend

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed a number of extended sessions in the nursery both indoors and outdoors, one of which was a joint observation with the headteacher.  The inspector held discussions with staff about their training, planning of activities and systems for checking children’s progress. She also met with a representative from the local authority, and held meetings with governors and parents.  The inspector took account of the 21 parental responses to a questionnaire conducted by the school and also a survey completed by staff. There were insufficient responses to the online (Parent View) survey for them to be taken into account.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents including the data on children’s progress, the school’s evaluation of its strengths and areas for development, records of children’s work, documents relating to safeguarding and the school’s plans for future development.

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Inspection team

Brenda Clarke, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average sized nursery school.  Children join the school in the term after their third birthday. Parents may also buy additional sessions at the childcare provision that is run by the governing body. This provision offers before and after school care plus additional hours in the setting.  The nursery is registered to provide playgroup sessions for a maximum of four children over the age of two years at any one time. It also runs a weekly eight-place ‘tots group’ for children aged up to two-and- a-half years. This group is subject to a separate inspection and reports of its quality can be found on the Ofsted website.  Nearly all children are White British.  The proportion of children who have special educational needs is below average. .  The headteacher has been appointed since the last inspection and has been in post for two years.  The school holds a Leading Aspect award for an extended outdoor learning programme.

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Information about this school

 The school is accredited to provide specific help for children with speech and language delay and/or language.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Refine assessment procedures to ensure that teachers have an exact overview of strengths and areas that require fine-tuning.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher has an exceptional knowledge and understanding of child development and early years practice. She has high expectations of the staff team and is inspirational in communicating a very clear view of how successful the school can be.  A comprehensive programme of training helps staff to improve their skills. This, together with good opportunities to develop and utilise these skills in the classroom, leads to high levels of expertise and staff confidence.  Staff, from the headteacher to the caretaker, work as a united team. There is a consistency of approach and plans for development are fully supported by all. Staff have ownership of their areas of responsibility and know that their contributions are valued. This leads to very high staff moral, as indicated in the very positive feedback evidenced in staff questionnaires.  Performance management is organised well and linked effectively to salary progression. Each individual is

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The leadership and management are outstanding

challenged to improve their performance and to take on new challenges that deepen children’s learning. For example, one member of staff has developed the use of music in the classroom and during the inspection children were observed responding enthusiastically to music through dance and moments of stillness.  The headteacher vigilantly checks the quality of provision. A new system of tracking children’s progress has been introduced. It is used very effectively to track each child’s individual progress and to provide additional support when issues arise. It has yet to be used more fully as a management tool to evaluate class trends and to identify and fine tune areas where children’s progress is not quite as strong, for example, the slight dip in children’s early reading and writing shown by the school’s own assessments in last year’s nursery class. The headteacher is fully aware that assessment information could be used more

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The leadership and management are outstanding

strategically and has already put training in place to meet this need.  The curriculum encourages the children to be reflective, thoughtful learners. Children are taught to investigate, question and take risks within well-defined boundaries. The resources for learning are of a very good quality and are used in an outstanding way to add interest and depth to children’s learning. The exceptionally well-thought-out learning environment encourages children to become creative and independent learners.  Highly effective systems, well-documented procedures together with frequent checks ensure the safety and well-being of staff and children. All safeguarding requirements are met.  Parents speak highly of the school. The good opportunities for them to be involved in their children’s learning result in high levels of confidence in the school’s provision.  A strength in provision is the way in which the needs of all children are met. For example, the headteacher

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The leadership and management are outstanding

undertook additional training to better provide for children with a specific medical problem.  The local authority offers school improvement support to the school. The strength of the school’s work, especially its expertise in outdoor learning, is recognised and is signposted as an example of best practice.  The governance of the school:  Governors offer good support and challenge. They fully understand the school’s aims and ethos and play an active part in planning the future direction of the school.  Governors fully understand the quality of teaching and the importance of a clear link between pay and performance. Challenging objectives for the headteacher are set and reviewed regularly.  Governors bring a range of skills and expertise to support and enhance provision. For example, they have developed plans for the long-term financial stability of the school.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of children is outstanding.  Although most children have only attended the nursery for a few weeks all have learnt to behave well, work independently, share resources and play fairly. This is because adults are excellent role models for children of how to behave and get along with others. Staff take every opportunity to extend children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development from the minute they arrive at school.  Staff support children very well and help them to develop high levels of confidence. This enables children to take risks and attempt new learning confidently.  Because the planned activities are interesting and varied children quickly become absorbed in their learning and persevere and concentrate for extended periods of time.  Using puppets, staff help children learn tolerance. Children are rewarded for showing fairness and friendship to others.  Children play exceptionally well together and, because they are listened to by adults, they learn to listen

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Behaviour

to one another. In their play, there are lots of opportunities to take turns and to help each other. For example, one child placed another’s straw in their milk carton for them at snack time. The grateful child replied with a quiet ‘thank you’.  No opportunities are missed for children to develop their personal and self-help skills. Dressing for outdoor learning provides an excellent example of children’s developing independence as they find and dress in over-trousers, wellingtons and outdoor clothing. All persevere and display a ‘can do’ attitude.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep children safe and secure is outstanding.  There are no recent recorded incidents of bullying or racism. Parents say that their children feel very safe and are eager to come to the nursery each day.  Children are taught to identify risks in their play; for example, avoiding berries and fungi in the wooded area.  While being given great freedom and choice in their learning, children are very aware of the boundaries they must not cross.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching is outstanding over time. Adults have very high expectations of all children. School records and teachers’ planning books and evaluations confirm that teaching is of a consistently high quality over time.  Teachers’ planning is extremely detailed and is based on very thorough, ongoing information about how well children have learned in earlier activities. This means that children are challenged to build on what they have already learnt and enables them to tackle new learning with confidence. Information is shared with parents in the children’s learning journals so that parents can support their child’s learning at home.  Staff are particularly skilled at developing children’s speaking skills. The use of pertinent questioning helps children to think deeply about their learning. Staff work alongside children in their play and use every opportunity to teach new words and phrases. They use ploys such as ‘What will you tell your Mummy

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

about this?’ to help children put into words their new knowledge and vocabulary.  Adults make learning fun as when children placed their hands in paint to mix lighter and darker shades of blue or when finding seed heads in the outdoor learning area.  A strength in teaching is that staff ensure that all children sit, look and listen appropriately to adults, helping them to give their full attention to new learning.  The exciting environment supports the development of creative and imaginative learners in an outstanding way. Adults continually work and play alongside children helping them to put their ideas and suggestions into practise, for example, when building a tall tower in the construction area, children were challenged to rearrange the bricks to make the tower more stable.  The provision for those children who undertake additional sessions is carefully planned to ensure that they have their normal nursery sessions alongside other carefully planned activities. This makes their longer

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

day interesting and varied with good opportunities for relaxation.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Most children start nursery able to learn with the skills they have already. By the time they leave, children’s physical development, communication skills and their personal, social and emotional development are very strong so that they are very well prepared for their next stage of learning. This represents excellent progress.  Children make rapid progress in speaking skills, which staff encourage at every opportunity. Children’s vocabulary is continually extended, for example, using the words ‘lilac’ and ‘indigo’ when mixing paints.  Children show an excellent awareness of mathematical language as they talk about the big, medium and small leaves they find in the outdoors and know that when they use magnifying glasses the seeds look ‘enormous’.  Children quickly develop an enjoyment of reading and of books. Selecting from a well-displayed range they sit on comfy chairs and share a book with friends or an adult. They write enthusiastically in the home

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

corner diaries.  Boys and girls achieve equally well as a result of the very detailed knowledge adults have about each child and the excellent range of activities that suit different children’s needs.  The support for children with special educational needs and for those who experience difficulties in their learning is very effective. Children’s special needs are identified early and additional help and support provided. School staff are accredited to provide specific help for children with delayed speech and language delays and/or disorders and staff members skilfully use signing techniques to reinforce children’s learning.  The most able children are especially well challenged so that a significant minority is well on the way to meeting the Early Learning Goals that would normally be expected by the end of the Reception Year when they enter Year 1.  Children are skilled at using a range of equipment. For example they handle binoculars in the outdoor area

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

and demonstrate good hand-eye coordination when using the computer or a programmable toy.

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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 105760 Local authority Rochdale Inspection number 448088

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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 52 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Henry West Headteacher Janet Cook Date of previous school inspection 8 February 2012 Telephone number 0161 643 3306 Fax number Not applicable Email address office@sunnybrow.rochdale.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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