Granville Plus Nursery School

School report Granville Plus Nursery School

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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

 This is a happy school where children make good progress because they are well provided for.  Children behave well and show positive attitudes to learning.  Teaching is good. Staff have a good understanding of what will enable young children to learn and plan activities that capture children’s interest.  Support for those who are disabled or who have special educational needs is outstanding. Consequently, such children make rapid and sustained improvement.  Children are very well cared for. The school’s work to keep them safe and secure is outstanding.  The high proportion of children who do not speak English as their first language make very good progress.  The school is well led and managed. The headteacher and senior leadership team, effectively supported by the governors, have successfully overcome the issues that required improvement at the last inspection.  Leaders’ views of the school’s effectiveness are

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

accurate and expectations are high. Consequently, the school is in a very good position for further improvement.  Parents and staff are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They have great confidence in the way children are helped to achieve well in their personal and academic development. Home-school links are outstanding and make a significant contribution to children’s learning.  Support, teaching and care for children who attend the Additional Resource Provision (ARP) for those with autism are outstanding. Children benefit immensely from being taught by very well-trained staff.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 Teaching is not outstanding. In group work, where children are focused on teacher-directed activities, it is not always clear what they are supposed to be learning.  During activities that children choose for themselves, sometimes opportunities are missed for adults to extend learning by talking with children about what they are doing.  Despite recent improvements, the roles of curriculum coordinators are underdeveloped. Such middle leaders are not all clear about what they need to do to raise the quality of teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed children’s learning in a variety of activities, indoors and outside. He was often accompanied by the headteacher.  The inspector met with the Chair of the Governing Body and other governors, members of staff and a representative of the local authority.  Examples of children’s work and their profile books, which record progress, were scrutinised.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at school documentation. This included data on children’s progress, evidence of self-evaluation and procedures for managing staff performance.  He paid careful attention to the ways in which the school keeps children safe.  There were too few responses to Ofsted’s online Parent View survey for the information to be used in this inspection. The inspector evaluated the school’s own recent survey of parents’ opinions. He met parents at the start of sessions to seek their views about the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector took account of staff views as expressed in 27 Ofsted questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Michael Burghart, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This nursery is smaller than the average-sized nursery school.  The proportion of children who are eligible for free school meals is well above average.  Approximately half of the children stay all day, while the others attend either in the morning or afternoon.  Children come from a wide range of ethnic minority backgrounds. Over three quarters speak English as an additional language.  The nursery manages specially resourced provision, on behalf of the local authority, for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs in the form of an Additional Resource Provision (ARP). There are 11 nursery-age children identified as having autism. For much of the time these children are integrated with all of the others in the nursery, but there are times when they are taught in small groups.  The proportion of children who are disabled or have special educational needs is above average. The school is not currently in receipt of the extra government funding known as the pupil premium.

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Information about this school

 The on-site childcare for children aged six months to three years is managed by the headteacher and the governing body. This was inspected at a different time under a different Ofsted framework.  Following the inspection in June 2013, when the school was judged as requiring improvement, a monitoring visit by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) concluded that good progress was being made.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching from good to outstanding by ensuring that staff:  always make it clear to children what it is they are learning in focus-group time  interact with children sooner, especially in activity time chosen by the children, to get them to discuss what they are doing and more readily extend their understanding.   Improve the contribution to leadership and management of curriculum coordinators by:  clarifying what is expected of them in managing their subjects  providing coordinators with effective support and training in how to monitor and improve the impact of teaching and support on children’s progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 There has been significant improvement in the way that the school is run since the last full inspection. The vision, ambition and high expectations of the headteacher and governors are underpinned by extensive use of data. This leads them to form accurate views about the school’s effectiveness. Plans for improving the nursery are comprehensive and proving effective.  Leaders have created an ethos where learning and good behaviour, within the principles of early years education, are highly valued. This is much appreciated by children, parents and staff.  Senior leaders check teaching and its impact on children’s progress rigorously. They are well aware of the strengths and areas for improvement and have improved their action plans so that they are effective in driving the school forward. Examples of the success of this include: - better group teaching at the end of each session, known as ‘island time’, where staff bring children

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The leadership and management are good

together to discuss what they have learnt that day - improved resources for information and communication technology and their use to promote literacy, mathematics and children’s knowledge of the world.  The leadership and management of support for disabled children and those who have special educational needs are outstanding, as is the way the ARP is run. Children make outstanding progress. Their integration into activities with other children is a good example of the school’s very effective promotion of equal opportunities and commitment to see that no child is discriminated against.  The role of curriculum coordinators, as part of the school’s middle leadership, is underdeveloped. Staff are willing, but lack clarification about what to do and when to check and further develop their subjects. They do not have a clear idea of the priorities of the school’s development plan. Nevertheless, the whole-school

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The leadership and management are good

approach to planning and reviewing what children learn is successful in providing the required curriculum, making it enjoyable as well as relevant.  Leaders plan well for children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Children are being well prepared for life in modern society and introduced to British values from the very start of their time at the school. Appreciation of different cultures and customs successfully builds on the rich variety of backgrounds of children in the school.  The school works very effectively with parents. It offers support to them in training opportunities that will help them to play an active part in their children’s education as well as encouraging them to join in activities which benefit the school’s reputation as part of the community.  Since the last inspection the school has benefited from the support of the local authority in identifying strengths and areas for improvement and forward planning.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s arrangements for safeguarding children meet statutory requirements and are particularly effective in keeping children safe and well cared for.  The governance of the school:  Governors are well aware of the school’s strengths and areas for further improvement. They make regular visits to the school to see for themselves the impact of their decisions on children’s achievement.  They are well informed and make good use of data to evaluate children’s progress and the progress of the school in general compared with other nurseries.  Governors are in a good position to be able to challenge senior leaders over the school’s performance. They frequently do so to good effect, for example, seeking an explanation of the need for more hours of teaching support before coming to a decision.  They have a good understanding of the quality of teaching, how the school manages teachers’ performance and how to tackle any staff underperformance. They ensure that they only reward good or

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The leadership and management are good

better practice. Governors manage the budget effectively to reward good practice.  Governors bring a wide range of skills and experience, for example, in terms of finance and safe recruitment of staff. Regular training extends their expertise and effectiveness.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Parents, staff and children are adamant that this is typical.  Children are keen to come into the school at the start of sessions. They eagerly choose one of the many activities laid out for them. They enjoy learning and are obviously happy to be at Granville Plus. This is the key to the school’s good attendance.  On the very few occasions when children fall out with each other, staff swiftly help them to get over problems. Children understand that their actions affect other people and for this young age have a good appreciation of right and wrong.  Children show a high level of respect for others, whatever their background or special needs. Their growing awareness of diverse lifestyles makes a strong contribution to the school’s caring ethos and their personal development.  There is no evidence of any form of bullying. Children get on well together in activities they choose for

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Behaviour

themselves and when working in groups, inside and out. They have a well-established sense of what is fair. Children deciding for themselves who would be able to take part in the trike ‘Grand Prix’ demonstrated considerable negotiation skills. Children are learning how to take turns, share and know that it is important to listen to other children as well as staff.  For most of the time, children show positive attitudes. However, this is not so obvious for some boys during tidy-up time. Staff ensure that everyone does join in, but occasionally this takes more time than it should do.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  Arrangements to assess risks and to ensure that access to the site and building are secure are very effective. All aspects of safety are rigorously monitored. The issues of health and safety, identified in the inspection of 2013, have been fully addressed. Parents emphatically told the inspector that their children are kept safe and children say that they feel safe in school.  Policies and procedures are very regularly updated. Child protection has a high priority and there are close and particularly effective links with outside agencies such as health and social services.  Children are able to say how to keep themselves safe, for example, when catching a bus and when working in the kitchen. They were very enthusiastic about the visit of a chef to help them cook couscous safely. They transfer the principles of cleanliness that they have learnt into their own cooking in the

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Safety

‘Granville Café’.  Without restricting children’s opportunities to learn from taking risks, such as jumping down from the climbing frame or using hammers and saws, staff carefully monitor activities to see that children do not hurt themselves. Arrangements for taking care of children who are ill are very good. Contact with parents is prompt and records are well kept.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Children throughout their time each day are in contact with a range of staff in different activities. This makes a good contribution to children’s learning and progress. Observation techniques have been much improved since the last inspection. There is now a clear system for recording and sharing evaluations among staff.  Teaching is typically good. The staff demonstrate that expectations are high and that as a good team they all take on the role of teachers and share responsibility for children’s development. Planning is good, with daily reviews of success in terms of individual children. This is especially effective in supporting the progress of those who are disabled or have special educational needs and those who speak English as an additional language.  Children’s progress is carefully recorded in their profile books with photographs and examples of work annotated and evaluated. Teachers and key workers use these to determine what children know,

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The quality of teaching is good

understand and can do, in preparation for the next steps of learning. This information forms the basis for data used by senior leaders to show the school’s progress and identify where further improvements to teaching can be made.  Teaching of literacy and mathematics is effective in helping children to make good progress in learning to express themselves and to solve simple problems. Helping children to appreciate how to read is a strength of teaching in this school; this is further supported by very good links with parents.  Children who are disabled or who have special educational needs are very well taught.  Improvements to the use of information and communication technology in the form of computers and programmable toys are effectively introducing children to modern technology.  Teaching for those in the ARP is outstanding. Staff are acutely aware of the needs and potential of children on the autistic spectrum and make learning fun as well as relevant. Relationships are excellent

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The quality of teaching is good

and children are particularly well cared and provided for, personally and academically.  Areas for further improvement in teaching include making sure that in focus-group time children understand what it is they are supposed to be learning. Teachers do not always promptly encourage children to talk about what they are doing in the free-flow activities they choose for themselves to make the most of the learning opportunities provided.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the school with skills and experience at levels typically below, and in some cases well below, those expected of the age group. This is especially the case in communication, language and literacy, and personal, social and emotional development.  They settle in quickly because they are extremely well cared for and feel safe and secure. Children swiftly form strong relationships with their teachers and key workers and make rapid progress because they are well taught across all areas of learning. They respond enthusiastically to interesting and exciting activities. This represents a clear improvement since the time of the last full inspection when progress was deemed to be in need of improvement. Better teaching, assessment and planning are at the heart of continuing improvements to achievement, with the result that children are being well prepared for the Reception Year.  Children do particularly well in learning to speak and listen and in terms of their personal development.

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The achievement of pupils is good

Progress is outstanding in learning to work and play with other children and in developing an understanding of the British values of respect and tolerance. Through choosing which activities they want to do, children develop their independence. They learn the need to follow rules and instructions as a result of the high expectations of staff during group times.  Those children for whom English is not their first language make outstanding progress in acquiring the language to be able to make the most of the skills and potential they have in other aspects of the curriculum.  The high priority given to literacy in this school pays dividends. Children are introduced to identifying letters and sounds in a system known as phonics, and this helps them to begin reading.  Children show a really healthy interest in books and treat them with care. Storybooks about animals are used successfully as a stimulus for reading in group work with teachers and key workers. Children enjoyed

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The achievement of pupils is good

using books to find out about the animals they had seen in a very recent visit to the local wildlife park. This is an effective introduction to the development of simple research skills. By painting animals, making models of minibeasts in dough and writing the names for labels on displays, children enhance their creative and physical skills as well as developing their early writing.  Mathematical development is successfully taught as a result of good planning that identifies where opportunities are to be found in the different activities laid out in each session. Children make good progress in counting, sorting and spotting differences. This gives them a good grounding in simple addition and subtraction as well as in recognising shapes and patterns.  Features of cooking in the café include measuring and comparing how big and how heavy things are. Children also do this while block building outdoors and in using pulley systems to raise heavy articles. By

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The achievement of pupils is good

the time they leave, most children have a secure understanding of numbers at least to 10. They are beginning to make links between the vocabulary of mathematics and concepts such as ‘smaller and greater than’.  The most able children make good progress and achieve well. For example, there are instances where children are already well on course to reach some of the early learning goals which are set for the end of the Reception Year in infant schools.  Children make slower progress when they are not sure what they are learning. When they have too few opportunities in free-flow time for a dialogue with staff, opportunities are missed to get children to use their language skills to explain what they are doing and consolidate their understanding.  Those children who are disabled or who have special educational needs make outstanding progress against the targets set for them. Their specific needs are well catered for, based on very good assessment

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The achievement of pupils is good

and planning. Excellent relationships with staff very successfully encourage such children to learn without fear of failure.  The progress of children who are part of the ARP is outstanding. They achieve extremely well in learning to be a part of the school, as well as against the very small steps of their individual development plans. Learning to take turns and listen are key to the progress children make.

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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 101492 Local authority Brent Inspection number 462183

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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 Community Age range of pupils 3–5 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 53 plus 11 in the Additional Resource Provision Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dr Roald Vesteeg Headteacher Lesley Benson Date of previous school inspection 11–12 June 2013 Telephone number 020 760 44620 Fax number Not applicable Email address admin@granvillpluscc.brent.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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