Cherry Trees Nursery School

THE CHERRY TREES NURSERY SCHOOL

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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THE CHERRY TREES NURSERY SCHOOL

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary 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. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Hawkins Road Bedford Bedfordshire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The Local Education Authority

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mr N Hubbard

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 22 October 1996 Cherry Trees Nursery School - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members Mr Martin Newell Registered inspector Mr Bernard Harrington Lay inspector

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Lynrose Marketing Ltd. Bungalow Farmhouse Six Mile Bottom Newmarket Suffolk CB8 0TU

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The Registrar Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Cherry Trees Nursery School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 5

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL 11

The school provides a vibrant stimulating range of learning experiences that ensure children make good progress. The quality of teaching is very good . It capitalises on every opportunity to enhance children’s learning The safe, secure yet challenging learning environment fosters nurtures in children very positive attitudes to school Expectations of learning and behaviour are high ; as a result children achieve to their potential and behave very well The provision the school makes for children’s personal development is excellent. Equally impressive are the relationships between children and staff Procedures to ensure children’s welfare are of a high standard The quality of the leadership by the acting headteacher is very good and is a significant factor in the effectiveness of the school The school uses all its available resources in an impressive manner to enhance children’s learning The home visiting programme is of a high standard

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED 15

The development of schemes of work to support children’s work in their creative development and their knowledge and understanding of the world. Procedures for the regular monitoring and evaluating of teaching and learning. The involvement of all governors in supporting and monitoring the work of the school

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

This is a nursery school which at present provides 117 part-time places and 11 full-time places for children aged between 3 and 5 years old. As children approach their fifth birthday, they have one full term of full-time schooling before they start compulsory education. It is also the policy of the school to offer a full-time place where the special needs of an individual child and family indicate that this would be beneficial. The school provides education for a wide ethnic mix of children, that includes black Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Italian. Approximately half of the school population is of white ethnic origin. For approximately half of the children in school English is an additional language or children are at an early stage of English language acquisition. The school is situated in the ward of Cauldwell which, according to Bedfordshire County statistics, has a high level of indicators of

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

deprivation. The school has no determined catchment area and so children also attend from equally deprived areas such as Kingsbrook. The school is part of a Social Inclusion Project which entitles it to additional nursery nurse provision for a day and a half each week. This has allowed the school to further extend its excellent arrangements for home visiting and to further support those children finding it difficult to settle into school life. Three children are on the school’s register of special educational needs, two of whom have Statements of Special Educational Need. Seven children are eligible for free school meals. The school’s assessments of children’s attainment when they start school, discussions with staff and inspection findings clearly indicate that many children start school with low levels of language, mathematics and personal and social skills. A small percentage of children are well above this level.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very good school where children are provided with an extensive range of stimulating and exciting learning experiences, that enable them to make very good progress. The quality of teaching is very good because of the high quality learning environment that is created, the excellent team work, the detailed planning and the high expectations. The school is led in a most effective manner by the acting headteacher, who leads by example in her teaching and knows exactly what the school needs to tackle next to make it more effective. Taking into account the attainment of children when they start school, the very good progress that they make and the overall effectiveness of the education provided, the school is providing very good value for money.

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What the school does well

• The school provides a vibrant, stimulating range of learning experiences that ensure children make very good progress; • The very good quality of teaching means that every opportunity is capitalised on to enhance children’s learning; • The learning environment present in school fosters and nurtures very positive attitudes to school in the children; • Expectations of learning and behaviour are high; as a result most children achieve to their potential and behave very well; • The provision the school makes for children’s personal development is excellent. Relationships between staff and children are excellent; • Procedures to ensure children’s welfare are of a high standard; • The quality of leadership by the headteacher is very good and is a significant factor in the effectiveness of the school; • The school uses all its available resources in an impressive manner to enhance Cherry Trees Nursery School - 7

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What the school does well

children’s learning; • The school provides a high quality home visiting programme.

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What could be improved

• Schemes of work to support children’s work in their creative development and their knowledge and understanding of the world; • Procedures for the regular monitoring and evaluating of teaching and learning; • The involvement of all governors in supporting and monitoring the work of the school. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school has made good progress since the time of the last inspection. The school has defined, agreed and published a central mission statement that is reflected in all that the school provides. All staff have worked very hard to devise and implement schemes of work for all the key areas of learning. Only those for creative development and knowledge and understanding of the world remain incomplete. The schemes of work that have been completed are of good quality and ensure that children’s prior experiences are built upon and developed. The responsibility for developing schemes of work has been delegated well. The governing body, in response to the previous report, developed a curriculum committee to help it monitor the work of the school. The high turnover of governors, which is not unusual in nursery schools, meant that a committee structure did not prove to be a successful way in which to monitor the work of the school. This area, therefore, is still in need of further

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

development. Although not identified as key issues, the school as part of its programme of self-evaluation has improved the quality of mathematical provision, greatly enhanced outdoor play and learning activities, developed baseline assessment, improved the partnership with parents and improved the quality of its planning. The commitment of all who work at the school to providing and maintaining a high quality of education means that the school is well placed to continue to develop and improve.

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STANDARDS

The table summarises inspectors’ judgements about the achievements of pupils in relation to the national desirable learning outcomes by the time they leave the school.

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Performance in: Key

language and literacy D mathematics D personal and social development C other areas of the curriculum C well above average above average average below average well below average A B C D E

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Performance in: Key

Assessment data provided by the school, together with dialogue with staff, and inspection findings show that many children start school with poor language, mathematical and social skills. During their time in the school the high quality curriculum that is provided together with the very good quality teaching means that children make very good progress. The small percentage of children who start school with average or above average attainment levels exceed the nationally recommended Desirable Learning Outcomes by the age of five in all areas of learning. The low starting point of the other children means that by the age of five attainment in language an literacy, mathematics and knowledge and understanding of the world is below average. The children’s attainment in their physical development, creative development and personal and social development is at an expected level. The progress made by children who have English as an additional language is similar to other children in

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Performance in: Key

Cherry Trees Nursery School - 8 school. All who work in the school have a real commitment to raising standards and to providing a rich and varied range of learning experiences. These factors have a significant impact on the very good progress that all children make during their time at Cherry Trees Nursery School.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Very good. The safe and secure, but exciting learning environment the school creates nurtures very positive attitudes to learning and creates a place where children want to come and learn. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Very good. The high expectations staff have of behaviour results in children following routines, sharing resources and playing together in an harmonious manner from an early age. The older children provide very good role models. Personal development and relationships Excellent. Relationships between staff and children are excellent and they feel happy and relaxed in one another’s company. The school places much emphasis on children’s personal development and children rise to the challenge. They show very good levels of independence. Attendance Satisfactory. The majority of children arrive on time to school. Discussion with children clearly shows that they enjoy coming to

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Teaching of pupils:

8 lessons seen overall Very good Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Teaching of pupils:

The quality of teaching is very good. Teachers and support staff work together in an excellent manner ensuring that children receive an excellent range of activities from which to further their learning. Planning is of a high standard with clear objectives outlining what they want children to learn. Expectations are high in terms of personal as well as academic development. Every opportunity is seen as a learning opportunity whether it be emptying or filling containers in the water tray, weighing or measuring for baking, cutting and recognising shapes in dough, or digging for and counting worms in the garden. All these activities make learning fun and children respond with a sense of awe and enthusiasm. This high quality combination of teaching and learning is at the root of the very good progress that children make. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 9

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Excellent. The school provides high quality learning activities both within the classroom and in the outdoor areas that enhance children’s learning. The school has recognised the need to develop schemes of work for the learning areas of knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development so that children’s development in these areas consistently builds upon prior learning. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good. Children are well supported by all staff. Their needs are fully met through the curriculum.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal development, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development The school places a great deal of importance on children’s personal as well as their academic development. The children are encouraged to be independent from an early age and to take a full and active part in all aspects of school life.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils This is a very caring and supportive school. Every care is taken to ensure children’s welfare and well being at all times, particularly at the start and end of each day. The school maintains an excellent record of children’s attainment during their time in nursery.

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Aspect Comment

The school has worked hard to forge a strong and effective partnership with parents. It has been successful. The excellent systems that the school has put in place for home visits makes a significant contribution to the smooth start children make at the school. Parents greatly appreciate the efforts the school makes through home visits and how approachable all staff are should they wish to discuss any issues regarding their children. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 10

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and manage-ment by the headteacher and other key staff The headteacher provides very good leadership. She has a very secure grasp of the school’s strengths and what is necessary to further improve the school. In her time as acting headteacher, she has led by example and in doing so has gained the full respect of staff, parents, governors and children. The headteacher is very well supported by a dedicated team of staff who make a significant contribution to the high quality of education the school provides.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The Governing Body is led well by a committed and supportive Chair of Governors who visits the school on a regular basis. Although other governors visit the school, the procedures to monitor the quality of education the school provides are not focused or vigorous enough.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance The school has recently instigated procedures to monitor the quality of teaching and learning across the school. The next stage of development that the school has rightly identified is the need to ensure that monitoring is carried out on a regular and systematic basis and that evidence of good practice is shared, and weaknesses, should they occur, tackled.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources The school makes excellent use of all available space and resources. The school makes impressive use of the outdoor accommodation and garden for creative play, physical play and for raising children’s awareness of life and growth cycles of plants, flowers and insects. In addition, staff use the garden area and the willow Millennium Dome to enhance children’s experiences of the natural beauty of the world in which they live.

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Aspect Comment

The overall quality of leadership, the team spirit and the support of governors helps to create an atmosphere in school where teachers clearly enjoy teaching and children are keen and eager to learn. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 11

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• The fact that their children like school; • The progress that their children make; • Behaviour in school; • The quality of teaching; • The approachability of the school; • The high expectations that the school has; • The strong links between home and school; • The way in which the school is led and managed; • The manner in which the school helps children to become mature and responsible. • The information they receive about how their children are getting on;

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspectors agree with the very positive views of parents which are reflected in many of the inspection findings. The school provides good reports on children’s progress and opportunities for parents to meet teachers to discuss each child’s progress. In addition parents have open access to a book that is an excellent record of children’s progress. These books are given to parents when children leave the nursery. All staff are available at the start and end of each day for parents to discuss any problems should they arise. These arrangements are judged to be of a good standard. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 12

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The school provides a vibrant stimulating range of learning experiences that ensure

1. All activities are very effectively planned around six key areas of learning and children receive a very broad, stimulating and well balanced range of learning experiences. Very good emphasis is placed on the development of early literacy and numeracy skills and there are many very good quality opportunities for children to develop these skills through practical activities, which include structured and free play tasks. In every session a range of stimulating activities is provided that arouse great interest and curiosity in the children. As a result children are learning very effectively. Children are given opportunities to dig for worms and then examine them using a magnifying glass; they make salt dough and then cut out specified shapes; “hidden gems“ are placed in a block of ice and children have to find different solutions that will melt the ice quickly and they get the treasure. Writing corners are attractive and well resourced and entice

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The school provides a vibrant stimulating range of learning experiences that ensure

children to develop their skills. Work benches with an excellent array of tools including hammers, saws, vices enable children to develop their manipulative skills. The cumulative impact of the activities is that children are highly motivated throughout the sessions. The exciting nature of the tasks captivates their interest and they stay on one activity for long periods of time. Children show high levels of concentration. All these factors mean that children are constantly learning and as a result make very good progress. The very effective teaching by all staff makes sure that they are constantly assessing and recording what the children have learned and where they may have had difficulties. This is then fed back into the planning and slight adjustments may be made to the type and range of activities on offer the next day.

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children’s learning

2. Teaching is a real strength of the school. It contributes significantly to the very good progress that children make and to their enjoyment of school.

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children’s learning

3. Teachers and support staff work very well together as a team, are very enthusiastic and clearly enjoy their work. The children respond to this atmosphere by being willing learners. Planning is of a high standard. Staff put a great deal of time into preparing for each and every session. They set up exciting activities that are well resourced and staff are very clear about what they want children to gain from each activity they take part in. When baking, for example, the staff use incisive questioning to develop children’s language skills or enhance their numeracy skills through the counting, weighing, estimating and measuring of all the ingredients.

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children’s learning

4. All staff have high expectations and this has a powerful impact on the progress that children make. Although many children have poor language skills when they start school, this does not diminish teachers’ level of expectation. They ensure that all tasks are pitched at an appropriate level, and carefully directed questions and open-ended tasks probe children’s thinking. The children are set tasks which allow them to show their own originality. This is often seen in the variety of models that are built or the paintings that are created. For a significant percentage of children, English is not their first language. The skilful teaching concentrates on building these children’s confidence in using language in lots of role play situations before developing their ability to read Cherry Trees Nursery School - 13 and then write. As a result children make very good progress in acquiring English. 5. Each session is very well organised. Each adult knows exactly which activities they are

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children’s learning

to support or to provide direct teaching input into. There is an excellent team spirit amongst all staff. Children feel very comfortable approaching any member of staff knowing full well they will be treated with respect and sensitivity. The school has an excellent rota system for supervising outside activities. Whether playing in the sand, digging for worms, measuring how much a plant has grown or climbing the pirate ship, children are very well supervised but are also in constant discussion with staff who ensure that they are learning something at every opportunity.

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children’s learning

6. The school places great emphasis on children developing as independent learners. A great strength is the manner in which even the youngest children are expected to share resources, tidy and wash up, to listen attentively to instructions and to respect one another. This means that there is very little time wasted in sessions. At the end children can be seen happily washing paint bushes, hanging up aprons, sweeping up sand. Children get on very well with each other. The school is an harmonious place where little time has to be spent dealing with disagreements. Instead the teachers can concentrate on teaching and children on learning. All staff are keen to enhance children’s social as well as their academic development. Consequently they use activities such as water play, the use of large wheeled toys, or role play as opportunities to stress to children the importance of sharing, of co-operating and of

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children’s learning

respecting one another. Again this is another example of how the school uses each and every activity in a subtle manner to reinforce and extend children’s learning.

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very positive attitudes to school

7. A significant number of children start school with relatively poor language and numeracy skills. Within a short period of time they start to develop confidence and a high level of interest in all that is happening around them. The attractive displays and the well structured activities that cover all aspects of the curriculum provide a vibrant learning environment. The development of children’s mathematical skills through water play, the use of the outside play area and garden to develop children’s appreciation of the natural world, the opportunities to develop children’s fine and gross motor skills using large play equipment and the work benches, all help to generate a love and enjoyment of learning. The children respond to this environment in a very positive manner. They quickly become conversant with the routines of the school and respond very well to their teachers' expectations. The manner in which children come into

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very positive attitudes to school

school is impressive - gleefully singing their names at registration and eager to get started with the day's activities. Children listen most attentively when the activities on offer are explained. When children start work staff pay careful attention to how many children are allowed on any activity at a given time. Such is the interest generated by many of the activities that children stay with a particular activity for surprisingly long periods of time. They work with interest and enthusiasm and are more than happy to relate what they are doing to visitors. The older children provide very good role models for the younger ones. They can often be seen helping their younger classmates or reminding them to listen or sit quietly during story time. Children clearly enjoy school. This is evident in all they do - writing and sending letters at the post office, singing, attending the baby clinic, building a space ship. Children take part in all activities with a

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very positive attitudes to school

sense of pride and achievement. They respond very well to the level of independence that is expected of them. They make choices and decisions when selecting and using resources and are always keen to tidy up after each activity. Children show a real keenness to do their best. The quality of the learning environment present in school Cherry Trees Nursery School - 14 together with the children’s very positive attitudes to school contribute significantly to the very good progress they make. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 15

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potential and behave very well

8. All who work at the school have high expectations of what the children are to achieve and how they are to behave. The school caters for a wide ethnic mix of children including Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean, Italian. The school is an harmonious place where children of all different religions and cultures get on well with each other. From an early age children are encouraged to show respect for one another and their beliefs. This is an expectation of the school and the children respond well. Central to the life of the school is the fact that each child will fulfil his or her potential. This is reflected daily in the high quality of teaching where tasks set are challenging but achievable for children of all ability levels and all cultures. Children’s behaviour in and around the school is consistently very good and has a positive impact on their learning. Whether in the classroom or in the outside play area children share

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potential and behave very well

resources, play very well together and show a good appreciation of the impact of their actions upon the well being and happiness of others. Older children were observed being prepared to miss their time on the climbing frames or to use large wheeled toys to enable impatient younger classmates to have a turn. Children are often polite and well mannered to visitors and one another. Playtimes and lunchtimes are pleasant social occasions where children play happily together. Inspection findings support the very positive view of parents regarding behaviour. No inappropriate behaviour was observed during the inspection and the school has good procedures in place to deal with incidents of bullying or aggressive behaviour should they occur.

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potential and behave very well

The provision the school makes for children’s personal development is excellent.

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Equally impressive are the relationships between children and staff

9. A significant number of children start school with relatively poor personal and social skills. The school is well aware of this and so it is one of the aims of the school to nurture and foster children’s personal and social development at every opportunity. The school is very successful. Children are fully involved in the daily routines of school - such as bringing or taking registers back, washing up after baking activities, returning equipment after they have used it. Many instances were observed of children helping their classmates - often this is without prompting from an adult. Staff know the needs of young children extremely well and this is reflected in how they seek to enhance children’s personal development. If children need a quiet time for reflection, or time out of the busy classroom atmosphere, there is a quiet reading area where they can sit and look at a good range of books in a calm atmosphere. Children were seen sitting quietly

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Equally impressive are the relationships between children and staff

discussing the contents of books, again with little adult guidance. Excellent use is made of circle time where for example, children were asked to reflect on what they had done that morning and how they could do better. The session ended with the teacher praising each child for a specific piece of good work they had completed that morning. The children left for home feeling proud of what they had achieved. A small number of children stay for lunch. This opportunity to fine tune children’s learning is not missed as staff sit with the children. Constant conversations enhance children’s language skills. In addition children choose the amount of food they eat, talk about healthy eating and living and also learn new protocols such as using a knife and fork. The success of the school’s emphasis on personal development is reflected in how well children from many different ethnic backgrounds play and work together. All children and staff are

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Equally impressive are the relationships between children and staff

relaxed and confident in one another's company. Children are very confident in approaching any member of staff knowing full well any problems they have will be dealt with in a sensitive and supportive manner. The excellent relationships between all staff and children make for a very pleasant working atmosphere and an environment that is Cherry Trees Nursery School - 16 most conducive for learning. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 17

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Procedures to ensure children’s welfare are of a high standard

10. The school places a great deal of emphasis on children’s welfare. Each and every day a wide range of activities are provided that greatly enhance children’s learning. The level of supervision is very good with a high number of adults present at all times. The school makes excellent use of its outdoor accommodation and ensures that when children are on the climbing frames, using tools, playing with large wheeled toys, that they are always well supervised. Staff are very adept at making children aware of potential hazards without taking the fun out of learning. Parents feel very strongly that this is a caring school where children’s welfare is of great importance. Inspection findings support this view. The school has particularly good procedures in place at the start and end of each session to ensure that children are only handed over to known and registered adults.

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factor in the effectiveness of the school

11. The positive ethos of the school, the very good progress children make and concern and care of the individual are as a result of the very good leadership and management provided by the acting headteacher. The school has made good progress since the last inspection and is well placed to continue to build on its many strengths and the very good quality of education it provides.

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factor in the effectiveness of the school

12. At the time of the inspection, the school was led by an acting headteacher. During her time in post she has led by example and has gained the full respect of parents, governors, staff and children. The headteacher had developed a strong sense of teamwork and all who work at the school are committed to ensuring that all children achieve their potential. Rather than resting on its successes the school is constantly looking to improve. Under the guidance of the headteacher the school evaluates its own performance and, as a result, has improved the quality of mathematics teaching, improved the quality of links between home and school and improved the opportunities for children to learn through more efficient use of the outdoor accommodation. All these initiatives have contributed significantly to the progress children make. Parents speak highly of the work of the school and in particular the quality of teaching.

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factor in the effectiveness of the school

13. The headteacher, in consultation with the staff, has drawn up a focused improvement plan that accurately identifies priorities for development. The headteacher clearly knows the school's strengths and weaknesses and is equally clear as to how to bring about improvements.

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factor in the effectiveness of the school

14. The school has a significant number of children from differing ethnic minorities. The disadvantaged area which the school serves means that it is part of a Social Inclusion Project. Both these factors means that the school has additional support staff. These staff are managed in an effective manner and the headteacher ensures that their skills and talents are used to the full to have the most beneficial impact on the progress that children make. The shared commitment of the headteacher, teachers, nursery nurses and support staff together with the excellent manner in which they work together makes a powerful contribution to the quality of education the school provides.

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factor in the effectiveness of the school

15. The ethos of the school is excellent. Children have very positive attitudes due in the main to the excellent learning atmosphere that staff have created. Relationships are excellent. The atmosphere in school is warm, welcoming and friendly. Children from many different cultures work and play in harmony. There are justifiably high levels of Cherry Trees Nursery School - 18 parental satisfaction. The school is giving very good value for money.

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children’s learning

16. Teachers prepare for teaching sessions very effectively. All the resources that the school has at its disposal are used in an impressive manner. Children bake pizzas and make salt dough. They make extensive use of the water play to examine which objects sink or float. Each day opportunities are provided for children to compare wet and dry sand - with excellent questioning such as “Does it flow ? “, “Can you build with it ? “. When working with a range of materials children are asked to examine the best ways of joining them together. Children use musical instruments to examine the different sounds that can be made. When cooking the children talk about the changes brought about by heating and freezing. The school provides children with magnifying glasses to look more closely at small insects, or magnets so that children can explore the concept of magnetism. Outside opportunities are provided to examine how things move –“what

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children’s learning

requires a push, what requires a pull?” The garden provides the perfect environment for finding minibeasts. The well thought out and planned garden area means that children can experience at first hand the concepts of “growing” and “changing” through observations of the seasons, as well as developing a real sense of awe and wonder of the world in which they live. This excellent use of all available resources makes an important contribution to children’s academic and personal development.

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The home visiting programme is of a high standard

17. Before children start school staff visit the child's home. Here the first foundations of the strong home - school links are laid. The staff discuss many issues with parents including how they can best support their child's education. Discussions with parents show that they clearly value this visit because it provides them with an opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have. The school’s involvement in a local Social Inclusion Project provides the school with the opportunity to provide additional home visits for children who are finding it difficult to settle into school routines. These are greatly appreciated by parents. The school has an excellent system whereby individual books are kept which record, through photographs and samples of work, children’s progress through the school. When the child leaves school the book is given to parents as a memento. Nearly all the parents who responded to the questionnaire sent out

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The home visiting programme is of a high standard

before the inspection stated that they felt happy and comfortable about approaching the school if they had any concerns. The readiness of staff to talk to parents at the start and end of each session is a sign of the school's commitment to working closely with parents. Parents are welcomed into school at any time either to help or to spend time with their child if he or she is experiencing difficulties in settling in. The mutual respect between staff and parents adds much to the harmonious ethos and atmosphere that is clearly prevalent in school. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 19

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The development of schemes of work to support children’s work in their creative

development and their knowledge and understanding of the world.

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The development of schemes of work to support children’s work in their creative

18. The school has written and implemented schemes of work to support children’s development in language and literacy, mathematics, personal and social development and physical development. These have been most effective in ensuring that children’s prior attainment is systematically built on and enhanced in these key areas of learning. The school has rightly identified the need to write and implement schemes of work for children’s creative development and their knowledge and understanding of the world so that all children receive a range of planned experiences and activities in these key areas of learning which systematically build on what has gone before. Although children are presently being provided with challenging and stimulating experiences in these areas of learning, the provision relies heavily on the very good quality of teaching.

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The development of schemes of work to support children’s work in their creative

Procedures for the regular monitoring and evaluating of teaching and learning.

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The development of schemes of work to support children’s work in their creative

19. The school uses a commercially produced system of school evaluation to assess what it does well and which areas of school life could be improved. Recently the school has introduced procedures to assess the quality of teaching and learning. This has been carried out by the headteacher on a small number of occasions. It is important that teaching and learning are monitored on a regular basis and appropriate feedback given to staff in order to disseminate the very good practice that clearly exists and to tackle and weaknesses should they occur.

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The involvement of all governors in supporting and monitoring the work of the school

20. The school has a committed Chair of Governors who frequently visits the school and meets with the headteacher on a regular basis. In addition a small number of governors have made visits to school to make themselves more aware of how the school operates and its strengths and areas for development. Being a nursery school there is a relatively high turn over of governors in a short period of time. Consequently not all governors have an in depth knowledge of the school or are aware of its strengths and weaknesses. The school has tried hard to overcome this issue since the time of the last inspection when it was identified as a key issue. The suggested recommendation of a committee structure did not prove successful. The school has rightly identified the need to examine ways in which governors can become more active in holding the school to account for the quality of education it provides. At present too few governors make

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The involvement of all governors in supporting and monitoring the work of the school

planned, focused visits during the school day or visit lessons, or are actively involved in helping to set the priorities of the school and monitoring progress towards them. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 20

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

1) write and implement schemes of work for children’s creative development and their knowledge and understanding of the world to ensure that prior attainment is systematically built on and developed (paragraph 18)

p.20

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

2) ensure that the quality of teaching and learning is regularly monitored so that the very good practice that clearly exists is disseminated across the school and weaknesses, should they occur, are tackled (paragraph 19)

p.20

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

3) ensure that all governors are more actively involved in holding the school to account for the quality of education it provides by :- • setting up regular, focused visits during the school day ; • contributing to the setting of school priorities and monitoring progress towards stated targets. (paragraph 20) Cherry Trees Nursery School - 21

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 6

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

0 62.5 37.5 0 0 0 0 The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 70

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals 7 FTE means full-time equivalent.

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 2

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 3

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

English as an additional language No of pupils

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 36

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 7

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 12

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Teachers and classes Financial information

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Qualified teachers and support staff Financial year 1998/99

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 4

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 17.5 £

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of education support staff 4 Total expenditure 193569

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total aggregate hours worked per week 130 Expenditure per pupil 2847

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Balance brought forward from previous year 913

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils per FTE adult 9 Balance carried forward to next year - 887 Cherry Trees Nursery School - 22 FTE means full-time equivalent. Cherry Trees Nursery School - 23

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 68 28 4 0 0

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 64 32 4 0 0

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 50 25 0 6 19

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 64 28 4 4 0

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 88 8 4 0 0

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 68 28 0 4 0

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 84 12 4 0 0

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 80 16 4 0 0

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 76 20 4 0 0

p.23

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 50 23 18 4 4

p.23