Effra Nursery School and Children's Centre

School report Effra Early Years Centre 35 Effra Parade, London, SW2 1PL

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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

 This is a happy and caring school. It is popular with parents.  Leaders, managers and governors work together effectively to ensure that the quality of teaching is good and that children achieve well.  Leaders and governors have improved important aspects of the school’s work. Children’s progress is measured more accurately. Leaders’ plans for future improvement are robust and focused on the school becoming outstanding. The school is on an upward journey of improvement.  Leaders and staff engage very effectively with parents. They keep parents informed about how well their children are doing. Parents praise the school for its support of the whole family.  Middle leaders provide strong support for senior leaders. This ensures that children learn a broad range of skills.  The school promotes children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development strongly. It instils in children a love of nature.  The school promotes children’s understanding of

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

British values effectively. All members of the school respect one another’s heritages and backgrounds.  Children behave well and get on well together. They are willing to learn. Children are ready to cooperate, and wait their turn when using the play equipment.  The school keeps children safe from harm. Safeguarding procedures are robust.  Teaching has a good focus on improving children’s reading, writing and number skills. This prepares children well for the next stage of schooling.  Children achieve well at the school. The inspectors’ observations of children’s learning indicate that their achievement is good. School information and records of children’s learning over time confirm that progress is good.  Children with a range of additional needs achieve well. Adults give each child prompt individual attention. This meets their needs effectively. They make progress in line with that of others at the school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Adults do not always challenge children, particularly the most able, to ensure they achieve as well as possible.  Adults do not consistently give children enough time to think their ideas out and enough opportunities to learn to express themselves.  Adults do not always give children enough support before they use computers, in order that children understand clearly what they are required to do.  Leaders do not consistently ensure that adults apply advice about how to improve the quality of their teaching.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors looked at the children’s learning in the indoor and the outdoor play areas. The headteacher joined the inspectors for several of their observations. The inspectors observed the children eating lunch, tidying up and taking part in group sessions. They attended staff planning meetings.  The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and with the Chief Executive Officer of the Loughborough Federation. They met members of the senior and middle leadership teams.  The inspectors held a meeting with the Chair of the Governing Body, together with three other governors. They also met the local authority’s Primary and Early Years Advisor.  The inspectors took account of the 14 responses to the Ofsted online survey (Parent View). The inspectors also spoke to a large number of parents.  The inspectors took account of the 22 responses to a questionnaire for members of staff.  The inspectors looked at a range of documents. These included the school’s own views of how well it is

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Information about this inspection

doing, the school’s improvement planning, safeguarding arrangements and the minutes of meetings of the governing body.  The inspectors looked at information on the children’s attainment and progress, and examined records relating to their behaviour and safety.

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Inspection team

Natalia Power, Lead Inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than the average-sized nursery school.  The provision for two-year-olds in the school is inspected separately and did not form part of this inspection.  The headteacher has been in post since January 2015.  In January 2015, the school entered a soft federation with Loughborough Federation. The federation links a number of local authority primary schools, three children’s centres and resource units for pupils with hearing and visual impairments. Effra is the federation’s only nursery school. The chief executive officer of the federation is a national leader of education.  Effra retains its own governing body. In addition to managing the nursery school, the headteacher manages the linked children’s centres, both onsite and offsite.  The governing body manages a breakfast club and after-school care provision.  Children come from a wide range of ethnic heritages. The proportion of children who speak English as an

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Information about this school

additional language is higher than average.  More pupils than average are entitled to support from the early years pupil premium. This premium is additional government funding for children who are eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority. The school has not yet received the additional funding.  The proportion of children who are disabled or who have special educational needs is higher than average.  Around one in three children attend full time. The rest attend part time in various flexible arrangements to reflect the parents’ preferences.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is outstanding and results in children making rapid progress in all areas of learning, by:  increasing the level of challenge in tasks and activities, so that children, particularly the most able, achieve as well as possible  making sure that adults consistently give children more time to think their ideas out and provide them with better opportunities to learn to express themselves  improving the extent to which adults support the development of children’s computer skills by ensuring that children understand clearly what they are required to do before they start programs.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of leadership and management by ensuring that adults apply the advice of senior staff about how to improve the quality of their teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have successfully created a culture where children learn well, because the teaching is consistently good. They have also created an environment where the children are calm, behave well and are ready to learn and explore new ideas.  Leaders know their school well, and clearly identify the areas of its work that need to improve. Their plans for future school improvement are robust and cover the right priorities. Leaders are ambitious for the school to be outstanding, and have made significant and much-needed improvements. For example, they have improved the ways of checking children’s progress in their learning, so that governors, staff and parents can see more clearly how well children are achieving. The school is well placed to continue to improve.  Middle leaders provide strong support to senior leaders, managing important areas of the children’s learning effectively.  The specialist early years team at the local authority provides strong and knowledgeable support for the

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The leadership and management are good

school, helping it on its journey of improvement.  Leaders manage the quality of teaching well. They frequently observe teaching and offer useful advice to adults on how they can improve. However, they do not always make sure in subsequent observations that their previous good advice has been rigorously applied. This is why teaching is good but not outstanding.  Leaders have detailed plans for making effective use of the early years pupil premium when it becomes available. They carefully check how well children currently entitled to free school meals are achieving. This vigilance has resulted in a narrowing of the gap between their achievement and that of other children at the school.  Nursery schools are not eligible for the additional funding for sports and physical education available to primary schools. Nevertheless, the school makes sure that children have plenty of opportunities to run, climb, balance and ride wheeled vehicles.

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The leadership and management are good

 In this inclusive and happy school, all children have an equal opportunity to succeed. There are no records of children using racist or other unkind language at the school. Children from all faiths and heritages get on well together and there is no discrimination against anyone.  A strength of the school is its engagement with parents. All those who spoke to inspectors or responded to the online survey agreed that their children are safe and happy at the school. The school keeps parents well informed about how their children are achieving. Several parents told inspectors that the school provides support to the whole family in times of need.  Children learn a wide range of topics, providing them with a balanced education. Adults make sure that children develop good language and number skills. These give children a secure start to their schooling, ensuring that they have the skills needed when they transfer to the Reception class in their next school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school makes sure that children acquire a good understanding of British values, and of life in modern Britain. Tolerance and inclusiveness are successfully promoted. For example, children learn about the celebrations of the many faiths and cultures represented at the school.  The school promotes children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very effectively. For example, the school’s garden is a nature haven in the school’s urban environment, and children learn to feel wonder at its diversity. Inspectors observed children’s excitement at pulling up carrots themselves, washing them and then eating them at snack-time.  The school effectively fulfils its statutory obligation to keep children safe. Adults who work with children are rigorously checked. The doors and gates to the school are secure.  The governance of the school:  Governors are effective and are committed to the school. They know its work well and involve

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The leadership and management are good

themselves willingly in its activities.  Governors have a good understanding of how well the children are learning. Though there are no nationally agreed figures on children’s achievement in the nursery sector, governors know how well children are achieving at the school and assure themselves that children make good progress. Through the detailed headteacher’s reports to governors, they know how well the different groups of pupils are doing.  Governors assure themselves that the quality of teaching is consistently good. They visit the school often and observe the children’s good engagement in their learning. They make a valuable contribution to the school’s management of the performance of adults. They understand the link between the extent of children’s achievement and teachers’ progression along the pay scales. They are not afraid to tackle any underperformance by staff, should it occur. This enables them to get good value for money from

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The leadership and management are good

the staff.  Governors effectively meet their statutory responsibilities to keep the children safe. They undertake site visits. They make sure that disqualified persons cannot gain employment at the school. They are well trained in all aspects of safeguarding, such as in safer recruitment.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of children is good. Children want to learn and are typically prepared to stick at tasks, particularly those involving a high level of interaction with adults.  Children from a wide range of backgrounds and heritages get on well together. They cooperate well. For example, children enthusiastically attempted to play tennis with one another, using plastic racquets and soft balls. Those in the queue were ready to wait patiently for their turn. Adults encourage this good behaviour by using sand-timers to reinforce the need for children to wait for one another.  Behaviour is not outstanding because children sometimes become restless, for example when they are kept sitting outside for too long, waiting to begin the afternoon’s activities.  Squabbles are rare, and this is because the adults manage the children’s behaviour well. For example, an adult patiently encouraged a child who had snatched a toy from another to see things from the other

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Behaviour

child’s point of view. This kind of adult attention encourages a calm and cooperative atmosphere.  Children attend school punctually and regularly. Those who stay for breakfast club or for the after-school care provision receive healthy food and enjoy worthwhile activities which keep them busy and settled.  Lunch arrangements promote good manners. Children eat at family-type tables, with an adult showing them how to behave. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves, for example by scraping out their own plates when they have finished eating.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep children safe and secure is good. The site is secure, with outer and inner doors locked. The school checks closely which adult is picking up the children after school. The school ensures that people who work with children are rigorously checked. Those responsible for child protection are well trained and keep their training up to date.  School records confirm that there is no bullying or name-calling. Children are too young to experience cyber-bullying through social media. However, the school is vigilant about e-safety. The use of mobile phones is not allowed in the school. The computers used by the children have no access to the internet, so children cannot accidentally encounter any disturbing images.  Children who experience bumps and bruises are given swift attention. Careful records are kept, and parents are informed of any injuries requiring treatment.  All adults are clear about any food intolerances or dietary requirements that children may have. These are

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Safety

written clearly on their lunch place-mats.  The school is careful and reliable in administering any medication needed by children.  The school understands that children need to take small risks to test themselves. Adults help them to do this in a safe and supportive way. For example, children are helped to overcome any nervousness about jumping from a height onto a soft mat. The adults ask them how much help they need, offering a hand if the child is wary, until they grow in confidence and need no further help.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is consistently good. There are some particular strengths. For example, adults make sure that activities of all kinds give children the opportunity to develop literacy and numeracy skills.  Teaching promotes children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development strongly. Inspectors observed, for example, the children’s absorption in making ‘perfume’ from the herbs growing in the garden. Adults patiently helped them to explore the different smells, and to mix the herbs with water and fill bottles to take home. This activity promoted a number of skills, including literacy, as children wrote their own name labels for the bottles. Above all, however, it brought the children close to nature and helped them feel a sense of wonder and awe.  Teaching is not outstanding, because adults do not always provide enough challenge, particularly for the most able children. As a result, they do not always make rapid progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Adults are eager to promote children’s speaking skills. Sometimes, however, their very eagerness causes them to interrupt children’s replies to their questions. As a result, children do not always have enough time to explore their ideas fully, and enough opportunities to use language to express themselves.  Children have some good opportunities to learn technological skills, for example by using cameras to film what is around them. However, adults sometimes miss opportunities to develop their computer skills. Occasionally, children start a computer program but do not understand what they are expected to do. They then sometimes wander off before seeing the task through.  Adults successfully encourage children to read good books. The reading area is a comfortable and inviting place, and children readily go there to share a book with an adult, or to read on their own. Some children are so enthusiastic about reading that they sit on a chair like an adult, holding a book open for other

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The quality of teaching is good

children to see, and talking about the story.  Adults promote writing as often as they can. For example, an imaginative activity to prepare children for going on holiday provided them with the opportunity to present their ‘passport’ by making marks on paper or writing their names.  Adults provide frequent opportunities to promote number skills. For example, in snack-time, children counted apple chunks and decided how many they needed to give one to each child and also to the adult. Water play is used to introduce children to measuring and deciding on the capacity of different vessels.

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is good

 Children from all backgrounds and heritages achieve well in their time at the school. School figures, records of children’s work and inspectors’ observation of children’s learning all confirm that they make good progress.  The children’s starting points vary considerably. Children arrive with a range of pre-nursery experience. By the time they leave, all have made good progress.  The children who are eligible for support from the early years pupil premium achieve well. School figures show that gaps are closing quickly between their achievement and that of other children at the school. Currently, there is little difference in the attainment and progress of the two groups.  Adults do not consistently give the most able children sufficiently stimulating tasks and challenges. As a result, these children do not always make as much progress in their learning as they could.  The parents who spoke to inspectors confirmed that the school quickly identifies any individual special

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is good

needs a child might have. The school works in effective partnership with parents and a range of external agencies to meet children’s needs. Consequently, disabled children and those who have special educational needs make good progress.  Children who speak English as an additional language achieve well. Adults use a range of ways, including pictures and dual-language books, to help them to settle in quickly and become familiar with the school’s routines. As a result, these children quickly learn to communicate in English.

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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 100551 Local authority Lambeth Inspection number 448073

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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 144 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Catherine Bewley Headteacher Jan Bennett (Headteacher) Richard Thornhill (Chief Executive Officer, Loughborough Federation). Date of previous school inspection 27 September 2011 Telephone number 0207 7338425 Fax number 0207 7336791 Email address admin@effra.lambeth.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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