Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

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

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Ms Michele Barrett Executive Headteacher Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre Australia Road White City London W12 7PH

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Short inspection of Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

Following my visit to the school on 7 November 2018, 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 outstanding in December 2013.

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Short inspection of Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

This school continues to be outstanding.

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Short inspection of Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

The leadership team has maintained the outstanding quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are deeply passionate about early years education, and this has provided the momentum for the school to ensure that all children make excellent progress. You are well supported by the centre managers and the senior teacher, and together you have an insightful knowledge of the children and the families at the school. This enables you and your team to tailor make learning experiences that appeal to the children and to ensure that they are very well cared for. Your staff share this belief and work as an effective team that place the children at the core of everything they do. Parents are unanimous in their praise for the school, and one said to me that, ‘This school is excellent. I give it top marks!’

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Short inspection of Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

Because of your clear leadership, all staff share in your vision of providing children with the confidence they need to become active and successful learners. Staff work very closely with parents, whom they recognise as children’s first educators. The school gathers important information on children’s interests even before they start at school. This means that children settle in quickly, gain confidence in their surroundings and make excellent use of the available resources. You use the space you have creatively. The sizeable outside area dovetails seamlessly with warm and inviting classrooms. All adults are highly skilled at providing friendly, respectful and well-judged interaction with children of all abilities. This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Their needs are very well cared for so that they too make important gains in their development. One parent went to great

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Short inspection of Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

lengths to tell me about how supportive the school had been in ensuring that her son was getting the help he needed from external agencies so that he now makes excellent progress.

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Short inspection of Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

The school has a very friendly atmosphere which is valued by children and their parents. In conversation, parents told me that their children are very happy and enjoy coming to school, and that they find the staff always available to listen to any information or concern they may wish to share. As a result, children behave impeccably and hold very positive attitudes towards the school.

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Short inspection of Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

You have an accurate view of the school’s main strengths and those areas that could be further developed. Rightly, you are very proud of the use of the outdoors to capitalise on children’s natural curiosity about the world and are constantly seeking to develop this provision even further. As well as having a strong belief in this approach, its success is also evident in the assessment information which is gathered regularly throughout each year. All leaders, including those with responsibility for an area of learning, have been involved in monitoring the quality of teaching and learning. Governors, too, have been able to observe the quality of teaching for themselves. As a result, everyone is clear about how the school can improve further, and leaders are taking the right actions to make these improvements.

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Short inspection of Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are complete. All checks on the suitability of staff to work at the school are in place. Clear systems exist for staff to make referrals when concerns arise, and subsequent actions are followed up effectively. Leaders work very well with families and external agencies to ensure that pupils receive well-targeted support when required. Staff training, including that related to the ‘Prevent’ duty, is up to date. Staff have a good knowledge of potential concerns within the local area. This increases their vigilance in spotting and reporting concerns about children’s well- being.

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Inspection findings

 We agreed three lines of enquiry for this inspection. The first of these related to how well leaders are ensuring that children make excellent progress over time, and supporting children’s readiness for their continuing journey into primary school.  The school has developed a child-led approach that uses the interest of each child as the stimulus for learning and the development of core skills. For instance, the children’s fascination for pumpkins following on from Halloween was used as a stimulus for reading activities. This was further linked to creative opportunities, including the gleeful construction of a pumpkin-based helicopter.  Mathematics teaching is also excellent. For example, during a small group activity the teacher enthused the children to collect water from puddles and carry their collection around an obstacle course. The teacher reinforced the correct use of positional language and reflected with the children about the exact meaning of

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Inspection findings

each word.  At each stage, staff record children’s achievements carefully. Staff then compile this information to show that the development of children’s skills is rapid and maintained over time.  Senior leaders, including governors, have a very useful information management system which they use to look at the progress made by each child. This could be developed further so that they can evaluate whether all main groups of children are always learning as well as they could.  As a second line of enquiry, I looked at leaders’ actions to capture and enhance children’s innate enthusiasm as a basis for providing an excellent quality of education. The school environment has been thoughtfully designed so that it capitalises on this. From the very start of the day, children are encouraged to be independent thanks to clear routines such as the self-registration labels.  A key feature is the creative use of the outside space, which groups of children

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Inspection findings

explore with relish, either with friends or in a carefully designed small group activity led by an adult. Children’s weekly ‘Forest School’ sessions at Wimbledon Common is integrated into the work done in school and provides invaluable opportunities for children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world.  The school use a ‘key worker’ system. Each of the highly skilled adults can get to know the interests and skill levels of all the children in their group in detail. Staff meet regularly to plan activities that capitalise on this knowledge.  For our third line of enquiry we looked at the work of the school to ensure that children with SEND make the best progress they can. This is because you have been focusing on this area as part of school development planning.  The school’s special educational needs (SEN) coordinator has worked highly effectively to ensure that this group of children are very well supported. Through

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Inspection findings

her insightful and decisive work, she has ensured that children most in need get the right support quickly. The school goes above and beyond what is required and keeps a very close eye on all the classes through regular and detailed monitoring.  Children present with a wide range of SEN, including autistic spectrum condition and speech and language disorders. Teachers are well prepared to meet the needs of these children and make excellent use of support staff so that all children can thrive in an atmosphere of support and inclusion. Teaching assistants make an invaluable contribution to learning at the school.

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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

 they strengthen the use of information that they gather about progress to help them identify groups of children who may be at risk of not achieving the best progress possible. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the director of children’s services for Hammersmith & Fulham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I held several meetings with you and senior staff. I met with three governors and held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority. You accompanied me on visits to classrooms, where I observed children as they played inside and outside. I met with parents informally at the start of the day and held a brief meeting with two parents at the end of the day. I also evaluated a range of school documentation, including school development plans, safeguarding records and information about current children’s achievement.

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