Brougham Street Nursery School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Michael Pettavel Headteacher Brougham Street Nursery School Brougham Street Skipton North Yorkshire BD23 2ES

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Short inspection of Brougham Street Nursery School

Following my visit to the school on 28 November 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in December 2013.

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Short inspection of Brougham Street Nursery School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the nursery since the last inspection. Since your appointment, you have used your previous experience as head of an outstanding setting to continue to move the nursery forward. The governing body is equally strong and, together, you are effective drivers for change. Your ethos and philosophy of ‘children first’ has been adopted by staff across the nursery, and all activity is seen to be focused on the child. As one parent commented, ‘My child is thriving, and the staff support the children as individuals. They make a point of really understanding what makes each child tick.’

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Short inspection of Brougham Street Nursery School

Your evaluation of the strengths and areas for improvement of the nursery are accurate. You have pinpointed how to improve further, correctly prioritised actions and taken the staff with you. This means improvements can already be seen, and you know exactly what to do next to secure more rapid progress for all children. The support for children who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is a strength of the nursery. Parents comment on the high quality of support both they and their children receive. Staff have high expectations for children’s behaviour and this is evident in the excellent behaviour of children in the nursery. In observations during the inspection, all children were consistently engaged in learning; however, you are aware that there is a need for staff to continue to ask them more searching questions, when it is appropriate. Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of Brougham Street Nursery School

The safeguarding of the children in your care is a priority. One of your first actions, when you came into post, was to commission update training from the Local Safeguarding Children Board to ensure that all staff training was up to date and included all aspects of safeguarding. You have introduced rigorous procedures to ensure that any concern about a child is monitored, recorded and swiftly acted upon if necessary. You are tenacious in ensuring that those most vulnerable children access the support and protection that they deserve. You maintain comprehensive casefiles which are efficiently stored chronologically and effectively tell the story of these children and their families. Children’s individual needs are considered either at the point of referral, or in writing any plans and actions. All children are effectively taught to keep themselves safe from abuse through learning, for example, the underwear rule.

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Short inspection of Brougham Street Nursery School

The governing body takes its responsibilities seriously and undertakes a safeguarding audit on a termly basis, ensuring that training, paperwork and procedures are at least meeting requirements and are fit for purpose. Governors also monitor the progress of any children who are looked after to ensure they are making at least satisfactory progress.

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Inspection findings

 All staff are now involved in the development of the nursery and appreciate the value placed on their views by leaders and managers. They contribute well to the nursey development plan and self-evaluation process. They are also supporting the continuing development of the school through their performance management targets. They know these targets are clearly linked to the nursery development plan and arise from the nursery self-evaluation. They say they feel ownership of these documents and are now all working towards the same ends.  The exciting and stimulating learning environment is effectively enriched by specific projects led by skilled members of staff, meaning that the curriculum is broad and balanced. For example, an art project which resulted in an exhibition in the heart of Skipton and the year-long ‘cardboard project’ with a cross-cutting theme based on the work of a national artist were greatly appreciated by the

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Inspection findings

children, parents, staff and the community. The effective audit of the learning environment, undertaken by you and the staff, means that children are able to successfully focus on their learning. Staff are highly skilled in ensuring that children who have SEN and/or disabilities are included in all activities and learning. Staff are all trained to meet any individual needs, and those children who are entitled receive high-quality individual support.  Through your learning walks and being on the ‘shop floor’ you ensure that children are following hygiene routines. Behaviour management is strong and there are rarely any incidents. Staff have high expectations and are firm in ensuring that children follow routines. For example, children know they must put resources back where they belong before they can move onto their next activity.  Staff are extremely good at developing children’s vocabulary, and consistently

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Inspection findings

use the correct terminology in their conversations. For example, when observing difference and change of state in ice indoors and out, or when asked why water always moves down a channel, staff introduce the vocabulary of gravity. The high-quality challenge set by the staff during child-led learning is often of a very high standard. For example, when racing balls down a gutter, children were observed moving their learning on by redesigning the track. Through skilful and challenging questions, staff supported the children to use higher-level thinking to adapt and change their own designs. The children persisted at this activity until they were successful. Staff then gave excellent praise and feedback. Your own observations demonstrate how, at their best, staff give support and advice like this to children to help them understand how they can improve. However, this is not reinforced often enough to ensure rapid progress.

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Inspection findings

 The governing body is highly skilled in its role of support and robust challenge. Governors know how well each group of children are progressing because of the detailed data reports they receive from the headteacher. They know that children are making good progress over time from different starting points. They analyse the progress of different groups of children. They closely monitor how effectively any additional funding is spent. They know that children who have SEN and/or disabilities are making even better progress because you make sure they get every support through other partners, such as physiotherapists and speech and language specialists. Children eligible for pupil premium support make good or better progress during their time in the nursery. Governors recognise that the website did not meet requirements but have taken effective steps to remedy this, and have introduced a termly monitoring timetable to ensure it remains up to

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Inspection findings

date.  When children start in the nursery, and when they move to their next school, arrangements mean they settle in quickly. You go the extra mile to guide and support parents to ensure that children who have SEN and/or disabilities access the right provision to meet their needs. Parents say how healthy relationships are between them and the staff, and that the online observation and assessment tool enables them to know how their children are progressing. Parents attend activities such as Bonfire Night or helping to prepare resources for the cardboard project; however, they are not as involved in supporting their children’s learning.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 staff consistently use more searching questions to reinforce critical thinking skills in children  parental involvement in their children’s learning continues to develop.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for North Yorkshire. This letter

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Next steps for the school

will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely

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Information about the inspection

The focus of the inspection was to check whether the good standards identified at the previous inspection had been maintained and to find out how well particular groups of children were progressing. I held a variety of meetings with you and your teacher. I observed adult-supported learning jointly with you in the nursery. I considered a range of evidence including the school improvement plan, leaders’ self-evaluation and children’s work. I also reviewed minutes from governing body meetings and other documentation.

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Information about the inspection

I met with three members of the governing body and with the school improvement adviser. I considered the 15 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and spoke with four parents. I also took account of the nine responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire.

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