The Nottingham Nursery School and Training Centre

Age group «AgeRange» Inspection date(s) «InspectionDates» Inspection number «InspectionNumber» The Nottingham Nursery School and Training Centre Inspection report

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Unique reference number 135108 Local authority Nottingham Inspection number 381805 Inspection dates 18–19 January 2012 Lead inspector Rajinder Harrison

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare provision, managed by the governing body, was inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Type of school Nursery School category Community Age range of pupils 2–5 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 154 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Bev Angell Headteacher Jill Robey Date of previous school inspection 24 June 2009 School address Denman Street West Radford Nottingham NG7 3AB Telephone number 0115 9159090 Fax number 0115 9159091 Email address admin@nurseryschool.nottingham.sch.uk

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Registered childcare provision EY381068 The Nottingham Nursery School and Training Centre Number of children on roll in the registered childcare provision Date of last inspection of registered childcare provision 24 June 2009 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 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

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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 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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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk 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.

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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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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Inspectors observed four teachers and 12 support staff in 20 part or whole lessons for approximately nine hours overall; while some of these sessions were led directly by teachers and support staff; in others children were free to choose activities for themselves. Inspectors talked to a number of children, parents and carers, staff, representatives from the governing body and partnership providers. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at the school’s policies on safeguarding and child protection, tracking of children’s progress, curriculum information, school improvement planning, and the school’s self-evaluation. Inspectors also took into account the 44 responses to the parents’ and carers’ questionnaires.

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Information about the school

This school is larger than average; it accommodates 98 full-time places. All children are in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Most attend from three to five years of age. A small number access the government provision for two year olds. Over 80% of children are from minority ethnic backgrounds; and around 54% of these children are at an early stage of learning English as an additional language. An above average proportion of the children are known to be eligible for free school meals. The percentage of disabled children and those who have special educational needs is above average. Their particular difficulties are in: speech and language, communication, and social and emotional development. From January 2012 the school is registering, on a temporary basis, up to 20 children who have not been allocated places in the Reception Year in local schools.

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Information about the school

Childcare is managed by the school governing body. The centre offers day care and holiday childcare for up to 33 children from two to eight years from 08.00 - 9.00 and from 3.30 - 17.00 during term time and school holidays.

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Information about the school

Training courses for Early Years Foundation Stage practitioners are provided in a separate part of the building on-site. This provision is not part of the inspection.

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Key findings

 This is a good school. Overall provision is good, with examples of outstanding practice. Children’s behaviour is outstanding and they are very safe at school. As a result, children are very happy and become readily absorbed in activities.  Relationships throughout are outstanding, as is the provision for outdoor learning. The vibrant outdoor area provides excellent opportunities for children to extend their confidence, independence and love of learning.  All groups of children achieve well and make good progress towards the goals they are expected to reach by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Progress in their personal, social and emotional development is outstanding; it is good in all the other areas of learning.  Children who attend from the age of two are integrated into school fully and benefit considerably from this early start.  Children who have specific individual needs or are new to learning English are

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Key findings

identified quickly and receive appropriate help to participate fully.  Children develop the skills leading up to early writing well, but opportunities are missed, particularly for the more-able, older children to apply their knowledge of sounds and letters by practising reading and writing skills more often.  Teaching, while good overall, is not consistently so; occasionally more-able children are not challenged sufficiently.  Leadership is good; regular review of children’s progress and the centre’s work informs development planning.  Partnerships with parents and carers are good but parents do not always have the information they need about their children’s learning and progress to help them achieve more.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 In order to raise achievement further, provide more opportunities for children, particularly the more-able, older children, to practise their reading and writing skills regularly.  Ensure that teachers always offer appropriate challenge to children of all abilities in order to make all teaching good or outstanding.  Provide parents and carers with more detailed information about:  what their child is learning  how well their child is achieving  what parents and carers can do to help their children achieve more.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter the Nursery with skills that are well below those typical for their age and low in areas such as their personal and social development, knowledge and understanding of the world and communication and language skills. Parents and carers are accurate in their views that their children achieve well at the school. All children make good progress, including disabled children and those who have special educational needs, those of minority ethnic heritage and those learning English as an additional language. Bilingual teaching helps children who are learning to speak English to access activities so that they feel secure and achieve well. By the time they leave, most children’s attainment is in line with national expectations for their age and higher in some areas of learning. Children make huge gains in their personal, social and emotional development, particularly in their confidence and independence. They develop a love of learning and often show sheer delight in the

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Achievement of pupils

experiences provided for them and in their own spontaneous discoveries. Excellent use of outdoor space helps children extend their ideas and thoughts about aspects of the world they have not considered previously. For example, children are captivated by upturning logs and fallen leaves to find mini-beasts. A wide range of activities promote children’s physical development and their hand-to-eye coordination and creative skills; they develop a high level of skill as they work with small hand tools, manipulate dough, climb apparatus, make music and feed worms to the chickens.

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Achievement of pupils

Children progress well in their knowledge of numbers and calculating through singing rhymes, playing games and making predictions, and find out about shapes and measures as part of practical everyday activities. Their transition from mark-making to forming letters and writing for a purpose and for reading independently is less well developed. Children learn about letters and the sounds that they make but do not always have enough opportunities to practise these skills, particularly the more-able, older children. However, children’s excellent attitudes, highly developed social skills and confidence in the face of new experiences instil in them a love of learning that should serve them well in the future.

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Quality of teaching

Parents and carers are accurate in their views that teaching is good. Teachers’ understanding of children’s early learning is evident in a number of exemplary features. Where teaching is outstanding teachers ask probing questions and encourage children to predict what might happen, for example, as they programme controlled toys or turn the soil over. These activities motivate and capture children’s imagination and promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development most effectively. By encouraging children to forage for food for the chickens, children realise that finding food is not easy. Introducing resources, for example, torches, to seek out creatures in dark spaces, increases children’s interest and patience as explorers. Frequent outstanding interactions between adults and individuals or small groups encourage children to ask questions about their activities. Where teaching is satisfactory, teachers are less adventurous in their use of resources and activities do

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Quality of teaching

not always challenge the most-able children. While children continue to behave extremely well in these lessons, the pace is sometimes too slow to ensure good progress.

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Quality of teaching

The curriculum is planned well and children have numerous opportunities to develop their creativity. In particular, they have access to good quality equipment such as building blocks, containers and natural objects that they can use to act out their stories and solve problems. Daily adult-led sessions include work on letters and sounds and writing. However, there are not enough opportunities for children to practise forming letters, writing for a purpose and applying their knowledge of letters and sounds and older, more-able children are not always encouraged sufficiently to undertake reading and writing activities.

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Quality of teaching

Staff use assessment information well to plan exciting and stimulating activities and ensure that children who need individual support are identified early and receive the help they need to participate fully. Staff produce detailed observations of children’s learning and informative records of their progress. They meet regularly with the children’s key workers to discuss children’s learning and use the resulting information to match future activities to the next steps in the development of individuals.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Children’s behaviour is outstanding and they feel very safe at school. Those who have only just started have settled quickly and are eager to enjoy all that is offered because they want to be at school. A few of the very youngest children show some tearful moments but because the school is a very calm, friendly environment, they form trusting relationships with staff very quickly. Children adopt class routines by watching and learning from others. Older children help younger ones, for example, in showing them where things belong. Children are particularly sensitive to the needs of children who have special educational needs. For example, if any child is occasionally disruptive, they disregard this and continue their work; they treat each other with kindness and respect. While the outdoor spaces are extensive, children find their feet quickly and navigate up and down the steps and slopes confidently and

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

enthusiastically. Bumps and knocks are rare because staff set high expectations for behaviour at all times and monitor activities closely. Children share toys, particularly the wheeled toys that are especially popular and voluntarily give these up if there is a queue. Children’s cooperation is exceptional and in this climate of mutual respect, incidents of bullying, as parents agree, are extremely rare. Behaviour at lunchtimes is impeccable; children enjoy their food and time to relax.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Children readily choose from the varied activities on offer and are curious and imaginative. They become quickly absorbed and concentrate for extended periods of time. For example, children were totally engrossed in learning how to programme their controlled toys and in counting the number of steps each toy moved. Children delight in feeding the chickens, with one exclaiming, ‘Wow! That is the coolest thing ever!’, when a chicken took a worm out of his hand. They show very good awareness of safety; they wash their hands before snacks and move out of each other’s way when exercising. Parents and carers raise no concerns about behaviour and safety and say that their children are cared for very well.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher is committed to improving the school, as is evident from children’s improving achievement over the last two years. Senior managers lead the school well; governance is now good. The governing body is strongly supportive of the school and involved in its strategic development. There is a strong drive for improvement and the school has developed well since its last inspection. The school’s capacity to improve further is good.

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Leadership and management

Leaders make effective use of monitoring to evaluate practice, particularly in relation to children’s personal development. The curriculum is good and meets the needs of all children well. It is highly effective in promoting children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Bilingual staff offer over 16 languages to support children learning English, and early interventions ensure that disabled children and those who have special educational needs receive appropriate help quickly. Effective training is in place to modify the curriculum for the Reception age children who have just joined the school. Improved data gathering has enabled leaders to track children’s progress more accurately to ensure that they receive equal opportunities. Rigorous analysis of this data has highlighted that the more-able, older children do not always achieve as well in their reading and writing as they do in other areas of learning. Monitoring of

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Leadership and management

teaching however is not always as rigorous.

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Leadership and management

Children play and develop in an environment where staff value all backgrounds and cultures equally and discrimination is not tolerated. Particular strengths include the way the school supports those whose circumstances may make them particularly vulnerable, and the way it encourages children to learn to recognise and manage risks for themselves. Procedures for safeguarding children meet requirements.

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Leadership and management

Staff work well with parents, carers and with other organisations. Parents and carers appreciate the school’s many activities that help them support their children. Parents and carers of children who have special educational needs speak highly of the support they have had from the school. In the words of a parent, ‘The school caters for children with so many different needs but does so in a caring, friendly way.’ While all parents and carers know that they can come into school anytime to ask for advice and help, they do not always have the time to talk to staff about their child’s learning and achievement and how they can help their children more.

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childcare provision

 Parents speak very highly of the Nursery; they say their children love being there and achieve well as a result. Parents’ views are accurate.  The Nursery takes good care of children; children are happy because they feel very safe and secure here. They form very trusting relationships quickly. Children who start at two particularly benefit from this early care and support.  They achieve well because staff plan interesting activities that children enjoy; children have fun learning, develop confidence and cooperate at all times; their behaviour is outstanding.  Children who need specific help are identified early and links with other agencies to support these children and their families are good.  The Nursery offers a good range of activities during the holidays that parents and carers find particularly valuable in enriching their children’s learning. Very few children take up the before- and after-school provision offered.

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childcare provision

 Partnerships with parents and carers are good; parents are kept well informed if the staff have any concerns about individual children; parents and carers are encouraged to talk to staff if they are worried about their child.  Leadership and management are good; the headteacher, staff and members of the governing body have a good understanding of the needs of children in their care and work hard to support the children and their families effectively.

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childcare provision

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage of the registered childcare provision, inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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childcare provision

Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage Taking into account: Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage The quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage for the registered provision

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Nottingham, NG7 3FL

Thank you for making us so welcome when we visited your school. We had a lovely time looking at all the interesting things you do. We found that you go to a good nursery. There are many examples of outstanding practice. The best things about the Nursery are:

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Nottingham, NG7 3FL

 you are very happy and safe at school and play together really well  you try very hard when you are finding out new things and really enjoy learning  your behaviour is outstanding and you get on exceptionally well with each other  you know how to keep yourselves safe  the outdoor area is outstanding because it includes so many exciting things for you to do  the adults take really good care of you and make learning fun.

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Nottingham, NG7 3FL

The headteacher and other staff are doing a good job and they want to make your school even better. We have asked them to help you to make more progress with your reading and writing, especially with forming your letters and using what you know about letters and sounds to practise reading and writing more regularly. We have also asked them to make all your lessons good or outstanding and to make sure your parents and carers have the information they need about what you are learning and how well you are doing at school so they can help you more at home.

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Nottingham, NG7 3FL

We hope you carry on enjoying all the lovely activities in the Nursery and the childcare, and enjoying every day there

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Nottingham, NG7 3FL

Rajinder Harrison Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', 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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