Aspiring Foundations Federated Nursery Schools - Warrington Road Nursery School

Inspection Report Warrington Road Nursery School

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110959 Unique Reference Number Halton LEA 278560 Inspection number 30 November 2005 to 1 December 2005 Inspection dates Mr Colin Smith CfBT Lead Inspector Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Castle Street School address Nursery Type of school Widnes Community School category Cheshire WA8 0AR 3 to 5 Age range of pupils 0151 424 4686 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0151 424 4686 Fax number 69 Number on roll Mr P Black Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Ms Fiona Kirby Headteacher 10 October 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278560 30 November 2005 - 3 to 5 1 December 2005 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an additional inspector.

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Description of the school

This average sized nursery school draws children from a wide range of social backgrounds. Almost all children are of white British heritage and enter the nursery with attainment that is broadly typical for their age. Temporary care is provided for a few slightly older children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities or who are at an early stage of learning English. A daycare centre is attached to the nursery but is housed in the original building. The nursery itself has been temporarily moved into a nearby primary school, while the new children's centre is built. The school has gained three achievement awards and an inclusion and healthy schools award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Warrington Road Nursery School, 30 November 2005 to 1 December 2005

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Grade: 1

This is a highly effective nursery that provides excellent value for money and an outstanding education for its children. The headteacher and staff have an accurate and realistic understanding of the school's effectiveness. Prior to the inspection, the school judged children's personal development and the level of care provided to be outstanding and all other areas to be good. The work of the school is, in fact, outstanding in all areas. The school's modest judgement reflects the conviction that there is always more to do. For example, the need to strengthen the way data is analysed to measure how well the school is performing in relation to others has been correctly identified and work has begun. The school has built very effectively on the many positive outcomes of the previous inspection. The continual search for excellence illustrates its outstanding capacity to improve. Inspired leadership and management have promoted a very clear vision of how children

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Grade: 1

learn. The many strengths and commitment of all members of staff has been harnessed very successfully in providing the best for the children. Teaching is excellent, not least because its impact on children's learning is continually evaluated. The highly stimulating curriculum ensures that children's different learning and personal needs and their interests are fully met. Consequently children's achievement is exceptional in many areas and standards are higher than expected overall. The extremely high level of care provided by staff, in partnership with parents and external agencies, ensure that all children are fully included and their safety is assured.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Continue to improve the analysis of assessment data to gain a sharper picture of how well the nursery is performing in relation to other schools.

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Grade: 1

Children's achievement is outstanding overall. Virtually all children make at least the two levels of progress expected and almost a third achieve three levels. Standards are exceptionally high in the areas of personal social and emotional development, communication language and literacy and knowledge and understanding of the world. Children make good progress in their mathematical, creative and physical development and reach standards higher than expected for their age. Three consecutive achievement awards have been gained in recognition of improving standards. The school has high expectations of its children and sets realistic targets for improvement. With excellent teaching and good parental support these targets are often exceeded. A strong feature of the nursery is the very good progress made by children, irrespective of their different starting points. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities

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Grade: 1

make significant strides in achievement in response to highly effective support from nursery staff and outside agencies. The excellent progress made by more able children 2 Inspection Report: Warrington Road Nursery School, 30 November 2005 to 1 December 2005 is reflected in the outcomes, showing that a third of the children reach the learning goals expected of children a year older. The acquisition of key literacy, numeracy and independent learning skills provides a very firm foundation for children's future education.

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Grade: 1

Children's personal social and emotional development is outstanding and a major contributor to their highly successful learning. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. Learning about China and counting in Spanish, develops children's appreciation and respect for other cultures. The wonder of learning shines through many exciting experiences, such as making costumes and dressing up as butterflies. Children become totally absorbed in their activities and show extremely high levels of maturity when encouraged to plan what they should do and where they should work. The day begins when they find their names to signal their safe arrival and ends when they explain what they have discovered. These well-established routines enable children to learn to make informed decisions and develop an unusually high degree of independence in learning for their age. Within this atmosphere, their

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Grade: 1

self-esteem, confidence and capacity to work together develop very successfully. As a result, their attitudes to learning and behaviour are exemplary. The acquisition of the healthy schools award reflects children's very good understanding of healthy lifestyles and staying safe. They develop a growing appreciation of their place within the school and wider community. Their enjoyment of school is reflected in their regular attendance and very happy faces.

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Grade: 1

The quality of teaching and learning is outstanding. A vast range of ever-changing, highly stimulating, activities engages children's interests and stirs their curiosity. Children were transfixed at the sight of frozen mackerel and sea bass. One child exclaimed, 'How can they swim if they haven't any legs?' A very productive discussion on tails and fins ensued because of the teacher's highly effective questioning skills. The excellent use of assessment plays a key part in children's very successful learning. Their skills and understanding are carefully recorded, along with their personal interests. These factors form the basis of planning the next activities to ensure a good level of challenge extends the learning of all children. The management of children's behaviour is exemplary. The atmosphere is buzzing. Not a moment is wasted. Even during snack time, children learn to count, add and speak confidently as they explain what they have learned. Children's response to

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Grade: 1

encouragement to explore and discover is striking. They learn confidently and independently, sharing their ideas with each other. Careful consideration of the way 3 Inspection Report: Warrington Road Nursery School, 30 November 2005 to 1 December 2005 children learn is particularly beneficial to those who find learning difficult. Children learning to speak English were highly stimulated to talk by making pictures appear on a large screen.

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Grade: 1

The outstanding curriculum provided is highly stimulating. The strong philosophy that children learn most successfully when they are encouraged to follow their interests is borne out in their excellent progress. Meticulous planning ensures that the Foundation Stage curriculum is followed carefully, but different children's pathways through it may vary. For example, whist one group studied the human skeleton another examined sea creatures. The depth to which children learn and the high levels of motivation they display are very much at the heart of their exceptional progress in aspects of language and in their knowledge and understanding of the world. Rigorous assessments made of children's learning ensure that their different needs are fully met. Learning support is highly successful in catering for those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, the most able ones are encouraged to extend their skills

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Grade: 1

and talents. Keeping healthy and staying safe are high on the agenda and strong links with the community enrich children's learning very successfully.

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Grade: 1

The outstanding level of care, guidance and support is a highly significant factor in children's excellent personal development. From the moment children step inside the nursery they are enveloped in a warm, secure and safe environment. Staff respond immediately to any signs of uncertainty and tackle any barriers to learning successfully. Children are not allowed to fail, including the very vulnerable ones placed in nursery's temporary care. They soon return to their own schools with increased social skills and confidence. The nursery maintains excellent links with external agencies. The headteacher coordinates the providers expertly to focus attention where it is most needed. The guidance children receive through assessing their needs and supporting their learning is first class. Children are immensely proud of their achievement files and 'Learning stories'. These brightly illustrated documents enable staff, parents and children to

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Grade: 1

know exactly how well children are achieving and the steps they should take next.

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Grade: 1

Outstanding leadership and management are at the root of children's excellent progress and exemplary personal development. The work of the headteacher in setting standards and extending good practice is first rate. Staff work highly effectively to include all children and make their learning experiences memorable. An ambitious climate of 4 Inspection Report: Warrington Road Nursery School, 30 November 2005 to 1 December 2005 self-improvement, shaped by the views of staff, governors, children and parents, has been established. Despite past successes there is no complacency. New strategies are constantly tried out, examined and evaluated. This is why the school judged leadership and management, and other areas, to be good rather than outstanding. In the school's view, the search for excellence has no limit. Advanced expertise in nursery education places the school at the frontier of change. The three members of staff undertaking degrees in child education constantly feed

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Grade: 1

back their knowledge to increase staff awareness of how children learn. Although senior staff knew exactly how well individual children were progressing last year, they realised they needed to make more effective use of assessment data to measure school performance. A promising start has been made but the headteacher is correct in making this a key improvement point. Governors provide good support and encourage the school's very effective links with external agencies. The many strengths identified at the time of the previous inspection have been maintained because of the desire to enable every child to learn as well as they possibly can. The same determination fuels the drive to continue to move forward. 5 Inspection Report: Warrington Road Nursery School, 30 November 2005 to 1 December 2005 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Warrington Road Nursery School, 30 November 2005 to 1 December 2005

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 1 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 1 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 1 How well do learners achieve? NA 1 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 1 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 1 The behaviour of learners NA 1 The attendance of learners NA 1 How well learners enjoy their education NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 1 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 1 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 1 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 1 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for helping with the inspection. You are very lucky to be able to attend such a fine nursery school. All of these things about your school are excellent. - The way you behave and your enjoyment of learning. - The work done by your headteacher and other adults. - How well cared for you all are. - The progress you make and the things you learn to do. There is only one thing to improve. - Teachers have started to compare how well you are learning with children in other schools but they need to do more of this to make sure that your school continues to do well.

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