Ronald Openshaw Nursery School

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

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Mrs Alison Lentz Headteacher Ronald Openshaw Nursery School Henniker Road Stratford London E15 1JP

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Short inspection of Ronald Openshaw Nursery School

Following my visit to the school on 27 February 2019, 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 October 2013.

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Short inspection of Ronald Openshaw Nursery School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Ronald Openshaw Nursery School

You and the staff team know families extremely well. You have high aspirations for all children in the school and are highly inclusive. You and your leadership team are reflective and continually strive to improve the provision for the children in your care. You have now begun to disseminate strong practice beyond the school, and all staff who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire were positive about every aspect of the school, including how it is led and the quality of education for children. Parents and carers who sent texts via Ofsted’s free-text service were overwhelmingly positive about the school and clearly hold the school in high regard. One parent summed up the views of many by stating that the school is ‘a happy environment where children can thrive’. Another said the school is a ‘brilliant, inclusive and enriching space’.

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Short inspection of Ronald Openshaw Nursery School

You have successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection report. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment in the school is now consistently strong and governors are effective in their roles. You provide excellent training for your staff. Many are exemplary practitioners. However, you have identified that training is not as focused on the skills needed to disseminate practice effectively to develop others. This means that you do not fully exploit opportunities to share your strengths with each other and with staff in other settings.

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Short inspection of Ronald Openshaw Nursery School

You, your leaders and governors have ensured that there is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Safeguarding arrangements are robust and records are well maintained. Checks on the suitability of staff to work at the school are in place and are regularly monitored by the governing body.

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Short inspection of Ronald Openshaw Nursery School

Staff appreciate the training and regular updates that they receive. As a result, they understand what procedures they must follow should a concern arise, and subsequent actions are followed up effectively. You have fostered very positive relationships between staff, children and their families, and work closely with families and external agencies to ensure that children receive prompt, well-targeted support when required. Staff know to check the environment regularly for potential hazards, and clear risk assessments ensure that practice is safe, including for children with complex health needs.

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Short inspection of Ronald Openshaw Nursery School

Staff and the parents that I spoke to, or who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, believe the school to be a safe environment. During my visit, I observed happy, independent children who moved around the space with confidence.

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Inspection findings

 For my first line of enquiry, I evaluated how effective leaders are at meeting the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) so that they make good progress. I chose this because you identified this as an area of strength in the school. The school has a high proportion of children with SEND, and has a resource provision for children with complex needs.  Leaders are highly knowledgeable about aspects of SEND and how to best support children and their families. One parent commented, using Ofsted’s free- text service, that staff ‘help us with everything we have to face’. Practitioners are well trained and have a detailed understanding of individual children’s needs. They plan exciting, multisensory learning opportunities. The staff I observed had an extremely positive disposition which encouraged a can-do attitude from the children. As a result, children are often engrossed in activities for long periods.

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Inspection findings

Parents I spoke to were complimentary about how the inclusive environment and integrated approach benefit all children.  You and your leaders have developed a highly inclusive culture in which all children, some of whom have highly complex needs, play cooperatively together. Integration of children who have a place in the resource provision is seamless, yet they also have opportunities to have high-quality, bespoke learning experiences when required. All children I observed were confident, independent learners who participated in activities across the provision, guided by their interests. Practitioners ensure that those with the most complex needs can make choices, explore the environment and participate in whatever the other children are doing.  Special books are used extremely well to provide evidence of gains in learning and development. The voice of the child in these books is strong and staff have

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Inspection findings

taken extra care to ensure that special books are fully accessible to all children. For example, one visually impaired child had a large multisensory special book to enable him to access it. As a result of your work, children with SEND are extremely well supported and make strong progress over time.  For the second line of enquiry, I evaluated how effectively you have improved speaking and communication. I chose this because you identified speaking as an area of priority last year following lower-than-expected results in the two-year- old provision. You have focused on ensuring that there is high-quality modelling of language throughout the school. I observed practitioners interacting skilfully with children to move them on in their learning. They use a range of strategies to develop speech and understanding, such as confirming or correcting what children are saying and modelling new vocabulary to develop their speech

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Inspection findings

further.  You and your leaders quickly identify children who are not where they should be for their age or are not making the progress you would expect. You make effective use of a range high-quality programmes and interventions to support children. Children with more complex needs are enabled to communicate through a range of communication aids, such as signing and visual cues. The practitioners I observed were well trained and confident in using these approaches.  Leaders have ensured that training is available for parents so that they can support their child at home. Home-learning tasks, such as vocabulary walks, also promote high-quality interaction. Parents commented via Ofsted’s free-text service about the strong progress their children are making in speaking. One parent said, ‘The targeted small-group speaking and listening sessions have really helped with expressive language.’ The result of your focus on language is that

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Inspection findings

children are now making strong progress in speaking and communication, often from low starting points.  For my final line of enquiry, I evaluated the effectiveness of the governing body. I chose this because governance was judged as requiring improvement at the previous inspection and some information relating to governance was missing from the school’s website.  Governors have successfully addressed areas of weakness identified in the previous inspection. They commissioned a review of governance and have acted on its findings. Governors now have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They are supportive of the headteacher and staff in the school but also understand the need to challenge and question decision-making.  Governors now have a clear committee meeting structure in place. The minutes of governors’ meetings that I read evidence that governors routinely explore and challenge information they receive from you and your leaders. The careful

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Inspection findings

distribution of roles has ensured that aspects of the school are regularly monitored, including safeguarding and SEND.  Governors know the school well, including current strengths and areas for development. They visit the school often to see practice for themselves and disseminate this to the governing body as a whole. As a result, they are now proactive and effective in their roles but acknowledge that they need to ensure that the website is kept up to date so that information relating to governance is easily accessible.

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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

 information about the governing body is easily available to parents on the school’s website  they continue to work collaboratively with other schools to disseminate strong practice  they continue to develop the skills of staff to share expertise within and beyond the school.

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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 Newham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I held meetings with you, office staff and other school leaders, including members of the governing body. I spoke to a local authority school improvement adviser over the telephone. I talked to parents as they dropped off their children, considered the 19 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s parent questionnaire, and read 29 comments provided via Ofsted’s free-text service. I considered seven responses to the staff questionnaire. I visited all rooms with senior leaders, spoke to children and observed activities in the rooms and learning spaces. I scrutinised a range of documents provided by the school, children’s special books and school policies and procedures, as well as checking the school’s single central record.

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