Otley Street Community Nursery School

School report Otley Street Community Nursery School Otley Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 1ET

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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 and her team passionately believe children only truly thrive and achieve their best in an atmosphere where families are respected, valued and encouraged to participate fully. This ethos underpins every aspect of the excellent work of the school.  Leadership capacity has been strengthened recently, which has allowed the school to continue to move forward rapidly. Leaders know the school very well and are constantly working to improve it further.  Parents are incredibly enthusiastic about school and very proud that their children come here. They are fully involved in almost all aspects of its work and highly value the welcome they receive.  All adults have very high expectations of how children will behave. Time is spent helping children learn how to play together harmoniously and what to do if a problem arises. As a result, behaviour is outstanding.  Exceptionally warm and caring relationships create

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

an atmosphere where children are nurtured and are very secure. They quickly learn tolerance, respect and to be part of the school community.  Children are developing a very good understanding of the need to care for the wider world. They are proud to be ‘water savers’ and very enthusiastic about looking after the birds and insects they see in the garden.  Teaching is outstanding and underpinned by a very good understanding of how children learn. Outdoor learning has improved significantly since the last inspection and now offers children many exciting opportunities for exploration and adventure.  Activities are interesting, appealing and carefully planned to help each child learn. Occasionally opportunities are missed to extend children’s learning further, particularly through a lack of technology to capture a moment or find out more about a discovery.  Sensitive and thoughtful discussions help develop children’s language and their thinking skills. There

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

are many opportunities to develop early reading, writing and mathematical skills. Children’s enthusiasm for story is delightful to see.  Achievement is outstanding. Children make very good progress from their starting points and by the time they leave they are very well prepared for the Reception class in the school they join.  Children with special educational needs receive excellent individual support and a high level of consistency. This enables them to make the same very good rates of progress as other children.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed a wide range of sessions, both indoors and out, including group sessions, activities led directly by adults and ones children had chosen for themselves. Two observations were conducted jointly with the headteacher.  The inspector looked at a sample of children’s learning stories. She also looked at displays of children’s work and information available for parents.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and members of staff, a group of three governors and a representative of the local authority.  The inspector took account of the 30 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), the school’s own consultations with parents and spoke informally to several parents.  The inspector looked at a range of documents including those relating to safeguarding, reports on teaching and data on children’s progress.

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Inspection team

Nora Waugh, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is an average sized nursery school. It serves a market town and outlying villages in the Yorkshire Dales.  Most children attend nursery for two and a half days at either the beginning or the end of the week although some choose to attend for three hours every morning or afternoon. More flexibility is available for parents who need it. Families can also purchase additional sessions.  Children start nursery the term following their third birthday and stay until transferring to the Reception class of one of several local schools.  Most children are White British. A few children from minority ethnic backgrounds speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled children and those who have special educational needs is below average.  Nine children currently receive extra help while in nursery. This is mainly to develop either their spoken language or their personal skills.

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Information about this school

 An outreach branch of Skipton Children’s Centre was co-located in the nursery school building but left in December 2014. The school now has sole use of the building. Close links to the children’s centre remain in place.  The school is a Green Flag Eco-School.  The school is an active member of the Craven Area Schools Teaching and Learning Alliance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Extend children’s learning even further by developing more opportunities to build on their interests, particularly through the use of technology.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Everyone involved in this school believes passionately that each child is a special individual, to be cared for and nurtured, so that they develop into happy and capable learners.  The headteacher knows the school exceptionally well and has a very good understanding of its many strengths. Teamwork is excellent with everyone being very enthusiastic and hardworking. No one is ever complacent and the whole team carefully consider what is needed to improve the school further.  The governing body decided after the last inspection to increase leadership capacity in school. As a result, middle leadership is thriving and has played a significant part in the recent improvements in learning opportunities and provision for play. All staff regularly access high quality training linked to school priorities. Salary progression is linked to individuals having achieved their targets.  Checking on performance is regular and thorough. This enables the headteacher to know the difference

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The leadership and management are outstanding

actions have made. Ensuring children develop a high level of confidence and skill in early reading, writing and mathematics is pursued relentlessly. Introducing large ‘doodle boards’ to encourage mark making has led to a tremendous enthusiasm for drawing and writing among boys.  The nursery curriculum is excellent. Children have a wide range of opportunities for play and learning both indoors and out. This is extended by regular visits into the local community and sometimes further afield. Events in nursery are held regularly and often involve parents. Recently they were invited in to watch the dragon and lion dances as part of the children’s Chinese New Year parade. All aspects of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are exceptionally well promoted.  There is a complete commitment to ensuring equality of opportunity in school. Children and their families thrive in the nurturing atmosphere. Parents cannot speak too highly of how well their children settle and

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The leadership and management are outstanding

quickly become part of the school community. They develop tolerance, understanding and appreciate that we are all different. This gives an extremely good start to life in modern Britain. The school is proactive in making sure no discrimination takes place.  The headteacher goes the extra mile to consult with parents on all aspects of school. Extremely detailed feedback is requested at regular intervals and given willingly. Parents are encouraged to contribute to learning journals and to add any special achievements or events at home to the display boards in school. Parents are delighted and could not praise the school more.  The school has a strong commitment to sharing its expertise and excellent practice across the early years sector. It is a very active member of the Craven Area Schools Teaching and Learning Alliance.  Policies and procedures to keep children safe and protected in school are comprehensive and are reviewed

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The leadership and management are outstanding

regularly. The school works very closely with other agencies to support children’s needs.  The local authority offers light touch support. It is working closely with the school in developing their role in promoting good practice across the sector.  The governance of the school:  Governors know the school very well and provide high quality strategic leadership. They receive data regularly and know how well children achieve. Curriculum governors regularly carry out learning walks looking at specific aspects of provision. Governors see themselves as part of the school team and are very supportive but are also prepared to ask hard questions and take difficult decisions when necessary.  Governors are assiduous in carrying out all their statutory duties and have an excellent understanding of them. They are very aware of the importance of excellent financial management and are proactive in supporting it. They only agree financial rewards for staff once targets have been met and are aware of

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The leadership and management are outstanding

the steps to take should there be any under-performance.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of children is outstanding.  Children love coming to nursery. They are enthusiastic learners who cannot wait to get involved. Their delight and enjoyment of the drama workshop for World Book Day celebrations was fantastic. Children are independent, able to make choices and concentrate on chosen activities for long periods of time.  Time is spent when children first come to nursery explaining routines and why it is important to be kind to each other. Children learn what to do if conflict arises. As a result of this, and the very high expectations that all adults have, children behave extremely well in nursery. Older children regularly sort potential disagreements out for themselves.  Children take exceptionally good care of the environment. They turn off taps, switch off lights and understand how to compost left over food. They take part in bird watching in the garden and go in groups

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Behaviour

to buy fruit for snacks from the local market. These activities are giving children an excellent start to understanding the importance of caring for the wider world.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep children safe and secure is outstanding.  Relationships throughout are exceptional. The high levels of care and the genuine friendliness and warmth towards everyone who comes into the nursery create a place where both parents and children feel very safe and secure. Parents are absolutely certain their children are safe in school.  A huge amount of work has gone into ensuring children are wonderfully supported both settling into nursery and in moving seamlessly on to their next school. Children who need time to adapt to new experiences are given that time. Parental worries and concerns are dealt with quickly and effectively. Practice is regularly reviewed.  Children are taught how to stay safe in nursery. They learn to use scissors and tools safely and where to be extra careful outside on damp days. The school environment is well organised and well maintained.  Attendance is excellent. Families are strongly encouraged to bring children regularly and any unexplained

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching is consistently of an extremely high quality. The school’s own records, and evidence in children’s learning journeys, confirm that this quality has been maintained over time. This excellence stems from the detailed knowledge practitioners have of both child development and individual children. Adults know exactly the most effective way to support each child in their learning.  Children learn so well because they are extremely motivated and happy. Relationships are excellent and they thrive on the gentle encouragement offered. Staff are very skilful at knowing when to give children time to develop their own thinking and when to intervene and challenge children further. Adults know exactly how to move learning forward.  Children work in a range of different ways, both indoors and out, sometimes with adult support and sometimes on their own. This gives variety and balance and ensures all children benefit from direct

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

teaching each day. Activities are vibrant and children access them with confidence. Occasionally opportunities to extend learning further are missed, particularly because the use of appropriate technology by children is limited.  The main focus when children start nursery is in helping them develop language and personal and social skills. Children quickly become very articulate and confident. Those who are hesitant or need to practise the sounds of speech, work at times in smaller groups to develop these essential skills more rapidly. As a result of these more structured sessions, these children are quickly able to participate fully in all activities.  Children are excited by story and they talk confidently about books. While listening to stories for World Book Day children’s love of books was almost tangible. Mark making is a very popular activity and older children confidently sound out words orally and write recognisable letters and numbers.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Children count with assurance and recognise numbers, in some cases up to and beyond 20. Their mathematical thinking is expertly developed through play as when digging in the garden and comparing the length of two worms that they had found.  The learning environment has improved considerably as the result of training and development undertaken by the team. The outdoor area offers spaces for adventure or to hide in as well as a wide range of resources children can easily access themselves. At the same time it retains many of the qualities of a traditional garden. Indoors is very well resourced. Children are encouraged to be imaginative and creative in how they approach their play.  Planning is thorough but flexible and allows adults to adapt activities to follow children’s interests. It is based on regular and accurate assessment and allows children’s learning to both build and to consolidate over time. Learning journals are beautifully presented and show clearly what children have experienced in

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children enter nursery with skills that are broadly typical for their age. There is very little difference in their attainment across the different areas of learning. Children make at least good and often better progress so that by the time they leave nursery the majority are working at levels above those typical for their age. This represents outstanding achievement.  Children’s personal development and their language skills are particularly strong. This is because of the high priority given to these by the school, and to the swift and skilful intervention work for the group of children at risk of falling behind. This early support allows them to catch up quickly and in some cases achieve exceptionally well by the end of nursery.  A lot of time and effort goes into tracking children’s progress. This is regularly reviewed and confirms that progress is consistent. Any fluctuations can be identified quickly and addressed before they become a

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

problem.  Children quickly develop early reading, writing and mathematical skills. Children enjoy story, writing and counting and many demonstrate skills more typical of children already in school.  Disabled children and those with special educational needs make the same very strong progress from their starting points that other children make. This is because, as well as receiving high quality individual support, the school also works very closely with families ensuring that these children receive consistency between home and school.  There is little difference in attainment between boys and girls. In the story session observed, boys were every bit as enthusiastic as girls. They enjoy early writing and regularly make little books of which they are very proud.  Children who enter nursery at a comparatively early stage of learning English make rapid progress. The emphasis on developing language and the opportunities for small group work serve them very well.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The most able children do very well. Parents are very pleased at how well they are prepared for school and how proud they are of everything they can do. Occasionally opportunities to extend learning and challenge their thinking even further are missed.

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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 121269 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 449484

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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 79 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Janet Booth Headteacher Patricia Lord Date of previous school inspection 8 November 2011 Telephone number 01756 793075 Fax number 01756 709502 Email address admin@otleystreet.n-yorks.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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