Bradley Nursery School

BRADLEY NURSERY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 30 th April - 2 nd May 2001

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BRADLEY NURSERY SCHOOL

Short 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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BRADLEY 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. Bradley Nursery School i

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Bradley Road East Nelson Lancashire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs. S. Nike

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: November 1997 Bradley Nursery School ii

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Team members

25372 Mike Thompson Registered inspector 12387 Diane Willson Lay inspector

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Team members

Westminster Education Consultants Old Garden House The Lanterns Bridge Lane London SW11 3AD

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Team members

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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Team members

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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Team members

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Bradley Nursery School iii

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

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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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Bradley Nursery is situated close to the centre of the town of Nelson. There are 141 children on roll, all of whom attend on a part-time basis. Seventy-one children come for the morning session and 70 for the afternoon. Almost two-thirds of children are from homes in which English is not the principal language spoken, and about half are in the early stages of developing skills in English. The majority of these children are from Punjabi-speaking families. A small number of children are identified as having special educational needs and three have statements of special need, which entitle them to extra help.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The buildings date from 1938. There are two classrooms: blue nursery and green nursery, linked by a corridor. Children are allocated to one of these two rooms for registration purposes, but once registered they are free to choose from the activities available in either of the classrooms. Each room is staffed with a teacher and a team of nursery nurses, bilingual assistants, and special needs support assistants. There is a spacious outdoor play area.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school serves the Bradley ward of the town, but a small number of children come from neighbouring districts. The local area comprises terraced Victorian housing, some of which is privately rented, and semi-detached local authority properties. The ward has very high levels of social deprivation.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school is popular with parents, and all places are taken. Children are admitted at more than one point in the year. Firstly, those aged three by the end of August are admitted at the start of the school year. If the number on roll is not at the admission limit there are further intakes of three year-olds in January and again in April. At the time of admission, about one in every ten children had received some form of pre-nursery experience through parent and toddler groups or play groups. Some children are well prepared for nursery; these children are confident in using language and have reasonable social skills. However, most have limited ability to express themselves and initially need help to work and play independently. Overall, attainment on entry to the school is very low in comparison with what is normally expected of three year-olds.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

At the age of four, children transfer to reception classes in local primary schools. Currently, 17 schools take children from Bradley Nursery.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very good school. Children make rapid progress because they are very well taught and are provided with lively and interesting activities. The acting headteacher provides very good leadership and knows what the school needs to do to make it more effective. When account is taken of the very low attainment of children when they start school and the overall effectiveness of the education provided, the school gives good value for money. Bradley Nursery School 2

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

• Children are very well taught. • The school provides children with a wide and stimulating range of learning experiences. • Children make excellent progress in developing their personal and social skills; their behaviour and their attitudes towards the school are excellent. • The cultural backgrounds of the children are celebrated very well. • The acting headteacher leads and manages the school very well, and all staff work together as an effective team. • Children flourish within the school’s caring environment.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

• Long-term curriculum planning. • The systems for monitoring the children’s experiences in 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 its last inspection in 1997. The three key issues identified in the 1997 report have been fully addressed. These issues related to:

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

• improving opportunities for children to work in groups based on prior attainment, and the better monitoring of provision for children who are learning English as an additional language;

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

• helping parents to become more involved in their children’s learning by: ∗ keeping them better informed; ∗ encouraging them to borrow books; ∗ developing a system to enable parents to keep the school informed about their children’s experiences of books and stories at home;

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

• making better use of opportunities to develop children’s spiritual awareness.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The acting headteacher works regularly with children who have been identified as higher-attainers. Very good support is provided for children who are in the early stages of learning to speak English, and this support is carefully monitored. Systems for keeping parents informed have been greatly improved. Children take books home each week, and a record sheet enclosed in the child’s ‘book bag’ enables parents to make comments. Where parents have limited skills in English, there are daily opportunities to discuss issues with bilingual staff. Staff are skilled in making good use of children’s moments of discovery, and in this way develop the spiritual aspect of children’s learning. Bradley Nursery School 3 In addition to the action taken in response to the key issues from the previous inspection, the school has worked hard to improve in a number of other ways. Some of the most recent improvements are as

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

• curriculum planning has been revised to reflect the new Foundation Stage curriculum introduced at the start of the school year; • record-keeping has been adjusted in line with the new curriculum; • a new system has been developed for assessing children shortly after they start school; • ‘story sheets’ have been devised to ensure better equality of opportunity for children in story time; • written guidance has been produced for staff working with small groups of children in the ‘Family Room’.

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STANDARDS

Assessment data provided by the school shows that, on entry, about two thirds of children have poor language and mathematical skills and about half have limited social skills. The high quality curriculum the school provides, together with the very good quality of teaching, results in children making very good progress in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development, knowledge and understanding of the world and in their physical and creative development. Despite this very good progress, children’s attainment in communication, language and literacy is well below average when they transfer to the reception classes of local primary schools at the end of their year at Bradley Nursery. In mathematical, physical and creative development, and in their knowledge and understanding of the world, children’s attainment is below what is normally expected at the age of four. Children make excellent

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STANDARDS

progress in their personal, social and emotional development, and by the time they leave at the age of four they attain standards close to those normally expected of children of this age. This is because the school provides a caring environment in which children feel secure and grow in confidence, and because it places a strong emphasis on encouraging children to work independently.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Excellent. Children enjoy being at school. They remain involved in their activities for long periods of time, and work busily and purposefully. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Excellent. Children respond to the school’s very high expectations of their behaviour. Personal development and relationships Relationships within the school are very good. From a very low starting point, children make excellent progress in developing social skills and show good levels of independence. Attendance Satisfactory. Extended holidays taken in term time are a problem. Bradley Nursery School 4

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Teaching of pupils:

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:

Eight of the fourteen teaching observations were very good, three were good, and three were satisfactory. No unsatisfactory teaching was seen. Teachers plan carefully so that, between the two nurseries, there is a wide range of interesting activities for the children. All staff have a very good understanding of the ways in which very young children learn, and they take every opportunity to develop children’s skills, particularly in literacy and numeracy. For instance, when having a break for milk, children are encouraged to first work out how many cartons might be needed for their group. The school places very good emphasis on ensuring that the individual needs of all children are met.

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Teaching of pupils:

As a result of the very good teaching, children work busily because they have so much to interest them. They develop social skills and skills of independence at an excellent rate because these are built into all activities. For example, ‘snack time’ in the blue nursery involves the children in sharing ingredients to make their own snack. The very good routines established in both nurseries help children to rapidly grow in confidence as they make choices about what they are to do next. The staff’s high expectations of children’s behaviour are evident in the children’s excellent response. Careful attention is paid to issues of equal opportunity within activities. For example, ‘story sheets’ have been devised for staff, to ensure that no matter which member of staff takes a story session the questions asked and the way in which the text is explored are similar. The work of the bilingual assistants is also very important in ensuring that all

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Teaching of pupils:

children play a full part in activities even when they have very limited understanding of English. Bradley Nursery School 5

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Very good overall. The activities planned are varied and interesting. They are firmly based on the belief that children learn best by being actively involved in what they are doing. There is a good balance between all the areas of learning in the Foundation Stage curriculum. 1 However, while some of the weekly planning is of the highest quality, improvements need to be made to the long-term overview of the curriculum. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Very good. Staff know all the children well and give very good help for children with special learning needs. Many improvements have been made in the school’s provision. Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Very good. Four of the staff are bilingual in English and Punjabi. Their work is vital in helping many children to feel more confident. They help to keep many parents informed about what is happening at school, and are

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Aspect Comment

positive role models for the children. Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Very good overall. The provision for children’s moral and social development is excellent. The cultural backgrounds of the children are celebrated very well. Opportunities to develop children’s spiritual awareness are well used.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Procedures for child protection and for ensuring children’s welfare are excellent. However, the way in which the school monitors children’s choices of activities could be improved.

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Aspect Comment

1 The Foundation Stage curriculum is intended for children from the age of three. Children move from the Foundation Stage curriculum to the National Curriculum in the school year after their fifth birthday. Bradley Nursery School 6

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The acting headteacher provides very good leadership and management. She has a very secure grasp of the school’s strengths and knows what has to be done to improve further. All staff are committed and hardworking, and are an effective team. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governors are supportive and make useful contributions to the work of the school. They ensure that statutory requirements are properly met. The school’s evaluation of its performance Teachers are good at examining what they do and seeking ways to improve. Governors are very well informed and have a clear grasp of the strengths of the school and the areas to be developed. The strategic use of resources The school does not have a fully delegated budget, and most of its costs are met by the local authority. Those finances directly controlled by the school are used well to purchase materials and equipment. In these cases,

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Aspect Comment

principles of ‘best value’ are always considered. The school uses its staff, premises and equipment very well.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• Their children like coming to school. • Their children are well taught and make good progress. • The children are well behaved. • All staff are approachable. • The school works closely with parents. • The school is well led and managed. • The school helps the children to develop social skills. • Information from the school.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Inspectors’ judgements support all the positive views expressed.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The concerns of some parents about the information they receive from the school are not borne out by inspection evidence. The evidence indicates that systems for keeping parents informed are very good and are significantly better than those found in most schools. Bradley Nursery School 7

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

1. The quality of teaching contributes strongly to the very good progress the children make and to their enjoyment of school. Teaching was very good in eight of the 14 parts of morning or afternoon sessions observed during the inspection. Teaching was good in a further three observations and satisfactory in the remaining three.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

2. Teachers and support staff work very well together, both in their separate blue nursery and green nursery teams and as a whole. They are very enthusiastic and clearly enjoy their work. The children respond to this atmosphere by being willing learners. Some of the weekly planning is of the very highest quality. Teachers put a great deal of time into preparing for sessions and ensuring that children are provided with the same range of things to do regardless of whether they attend for the morning or for the afternoon. Activities are exciting. The format of directly supervised activities is often changed from day to day, while remaining linked to the same learning objectives. Where planning is at its best it gives all of the staff team within a room a clear understanding of what children should gain from each of these activities. This helps to ensure equality of opportunity for children, because different adults supervise

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

3. Communication between all staff is very good. This is essential because each member of staff is responsible for recording and monitoring the progress of a small number of individual children, known as their ‘story group’. Staff have daily contact with their groups for ‘story time’ and for ‘Family Room’ activities 2 such as music and movement. However, for much of the rest of the time individual children move between blue and green nursery. The information about children derived from the observations of other staff members is therefore very important.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

4. Teachers meet daily with their teams on an informal basis to discuss what is planned and to share information, and all staff meet formally at least three times a week. Consequently, all staff are fully aware of the range of work planned and of what their colleagues are doing, and all staff get to know all children very well.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

5. A particular strength of teaching is the way in which teachers take every opportunity to try to develop children’s skills in language and mathematics. For instance, an activity focusing on tasting different types of fruit is also used as an opportunity to develop children’s vocabulary by getting them first to feel and describe the fruit. The task of making a model of an animal from re-cycled materials also becomes an opportunity to count the number of legs. All staff engage in almost continual conversation with the children. They talk clearly and calmly and encourage the children to participate. They use

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

2 Staff use the Family Room on a rota basis to teach their story groups. The activities taught in the Family Room have a specific focus and are used as opportunities to assess what the children can do. During the course of a term, the ‘focus’ activities taught in this room cover all of the areas of learning of the Foundation Stage curriculum. Bradley Nursery School 8 questioning well, and this helps children to move forward in their understanding. Staff skilfully help children to extend their vocabulary by using and talking about unfamiliar words. Children learning English as an additional language are very well supported. Bilingual assistants usually achieve a correct balance between using Punjabi to help children to understand what they have to do and encouraging them to develop skills in speaking and understanding English.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

6. The school places great emphasis on developing children' s skills as independent learners. For most of the time, children are expected to choose what they are to do. Once children arrive at a supervised activity, staff achieve a good balance between directing what is to be done and at the same time allowing the children to develop their own ideas.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

7. The relationships between the staff and children are very good. Consequently, children trust members of staff and are confident to approach them for help. All adults are very sensitive in their dealings with the children, and this helps each child to develop independently. Children who are quieter are gently encouraged to join in. Staff work with the children in a calm and quiet manner. This provides a very good role model for the children and, as a result, they respond well to the high expectations of good behaviour set for them. The teaching of skills related to personal and social development is frequently outstanding. It is based on the premise that children learn to relate to others and become more mature when they feel valued and secure.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

8. In ‘story time’ sessions, staff capture children’s attention and imagination very well by reading expressively. By making good use of the school’s ‘story sheets’ staff skilfully involve all children in developing understanding of the text. For example, the story of ‘Handa’s Surprise’ gives many opportunities to talk about the favourite fruits of the different animals featured and to relate these to children’s own preferences. Staff use thoughtful questions which often require children to use more than a single word as an answer, although the poor speech patterns of many children make it difficult for them to express themselves clearly.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

The school provides children with a wide and stimulating range of learning experiences.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

9. The activities planned for the children are varied and interesting. As a result, children concentrate on their tasks for lengthy periods and do not waste time. The working atmosphere within the school is busy and purposeful. All activities are based on the six key areas of learning of the Foundation Stage curriculum 3 , and a good balance between these areas is achieved. There is a very strong emphasis on learning through play. All activities are very well used as opportunities to develop children’s skills of literacy and numeracy.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

10. Curriculum planning is based upon topics and, where appropriate, activities link in to these themes. For example, work was planned around a theme of ‘wild animals’ during the period of the inspection. The activities based on this theme captured the imagination of the children and added an extra dimension to their learning. A ‘jungle adventure’ was set up in the green nursery, by transforming indoor

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

3 The six areas of learning are: Personal, social and emotional development, Communication, language and literacy, Mathematical development, Knowledge and understanding of the world, Physical development and Creative development. Bradley Nursery School 9 climbing apparatus with camouflage netting, and it was used to develop children’s skills of observation through role-play. Children taking part in this activity equipped themselves with hats, backpacks, binoculars and torches before going off to find the various toy animals hidden around the area. They recorded their ‘finds’ by using crayons to put marks against pictures of the animals. In the blue nursery, the theme was extended to include a range of exotic fruit such as mangoes, passion fruit and pineapples. By using the text of ‘Handa’s Surprise’ as a basis for an activity, children were helped to practise counting and to develop their skills in matching numbers of fruits to the digits 0 to 7. Children took turns

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

to dress up in very good animal costumes, as lions, tigers or elephants. The outdoor play area was also used to good effect. For example, a ‘play house’ quickly became a hide for observing animals.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

11. Photographic evidence shows that the school is very good at enriching children’s learning by making use both of planned activities and of those which occur by chance. Learning is made exciting and interesting by visits to such places as the local fire station and a bakery, and by visitors to the school, such as an ambulance crew and the owner of a local pet shop. Special events, for instance the celebrations of a wide range of festivals and the weddings of members of staff, are also used as a focus for children’s learning. Even mishaps are used to stimulate children’s interest in the world around them, such as the day when the man from a local garage arrived because a car belonging to a member of staff had broken down.

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Children make excellent progress in developing their personal and social skills; their behaviour

and their attitudes towards the school are excellent.

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Children make excellent progress in developing their personal and social skills; their behaviour

12. A significant number of children start school with poor personal and social skills. The school is well aware of this and works hard to develop children’s skills at every opportunity. For example, when children arrive at the school at the start of morning or afternoon sessions they are expected to register themselves. They achieve this by going to the registration area, taking out the card which has their photograph mounted on it, and turning the card over when replacing it in the card holder, thus revealing their name written on the reverse side. Apart from times when children are in their ‘story group’ or have whole-class music sessions, they are expected to choose what they do from the very wide range of exciting activities provided for them. During the course of the inspection, all children were making these choices confidently and were moving between activities sensibly. The number of children who can take

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Children make excellent progress in developing their personal and social skills; their behaviour

part in each activity is usually limited, either because of the amount of space allowed or because of the quantity of equipment available. When children arrive at activities at which all places are taken, they understand that they have to wait. They do this without complaint or upset, and get on with something else while they wait their turn. Children enjoy coming to school. During the period of the inspection children did not mind being separated from their parents at the beginning of sessions, and after registering themselves they quickly chose their first activity. On many occasions children’s enjoyment of activities such as stories or music and movement sessions was very evident from their laughter and their eager participation. Their excellent attitudes to school are due to the stimulating range of learning opportunities provided for them, to the very good quality of teaching, and to the confidence shown by parents in the

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Children make excellent progress in developing their personal and social skills; their behaviour

work of the school. The children’s excellent behaviour is the result of the school’s high expectations, the consistent and calm way in which rules are enforced, and the role models provided by all staff. Bradley Nursery School 10 The cultural backgrounds of the children are celebrated very well.

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Children make excellent progress in developing their personal and social skills; their behaviour

13. In addition to the large number of children of Punjabi heritage, the school also has children of Chinese, French and Czech origins, as well as those of English descent. Evidence from photographs, previous planning and work on display shows that the school regularly takes opportunities to develop children’s awareness of different cultures from around the world. There are a number of bilingual books for the Punjabi-speaking children and, in the blue nursery, there are some materials in French. A very wide range of festivals, such as Christmas, Eid and Chinese New Year, is used as the basis for activities to excite and interest the children. During Eid, many children come to school in their best clothes and everyone celebrates by eating party food such as pakoras and samosas. Staff used the Chinese New Year celebration as an opportunity for children to make lanterns, eat Chinese food, and imitate a

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Children make excellent progress in developing their personal and social skills; their behaviour

traditional ‘dragon dance’. English traditions are not overlooked as children produce artwork based on the Bonfire Night celebration, receive presents from Father Christmas, and try the complexities of maypole dancing.

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The acting headteacher leads and manages the school very well, and all staff work together as

14. The acting headteacher, seconded from one of the local primary schools, has been in post for almost two years. During the past year, the local authority has been reviewing nursery education in the area and no permanent appointments have been made.

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The acting headteacher leads and manages the school very well, and all staff work together as

15. The acting headteacher monitors the work of the school closely through her scrutiny of planning, her daily contacts with all staff and children, her observations of activities taught in the ‘Family Room’, and her own teaching of groups of higher-attaining children. Using the information gained from her observations, she has formed a very clear view of the specific strengths and weaknesses of the school and is working hard to make the school even more effective. Within her time at the school she has ensured that the curriculum and the way in which children’s progress is recorded reflect the new Foundation Stage requirements. She has ensured greater equality of opportunity within the sessions taught to ‘story groups’, through the introduction of ‘story sheets’ and the written guidance provided to staff for sessions taught in the family room. She has also been instrumental in establishing assessment of

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The acting headteacher leads and manages the school very well, and all staff work together as

children on entry to the school, so that the progress they make can be measured more precisely.

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The acting headteacher leads and manages the school very well, and all staff work together as

16. The developments that have taken place have been successful because the staff share the commitment to improvement shown by the acting headteacher. All adults in the nursery work very well together as a team. They share duties and responsibility for activities, and work effectively within well- established routines. They meet regularly on a formal basis and constantly exchange information about the children in an informal way. The strong teamwork and the very good role models provided by all staff contribute strongly to the very good progress made by the children.

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The acting headteacher leads and manages the school very well, and all staff work together as

Children flourish within the school’s caring environment. Bradley Nursery School 11 17. Children benefit greatly from the excellent quality of care provided at Bradley Nursery. They rapidly grow in confidence because they feel secure, and they learn to co-operate and to work within groups while also valuing the independent choices made by themselves and other children. 18. The school is very well staffed. In addition to the three teachers, there are four nursery nurses, four bilingual assistants, and two special needs support assistants. This gives a ratio of one adult to every five or six children. Children are therefore never far from an adult should they need any help. All staff are trained to give first aid and all are clear about child protection procedures. For a part of each session, children play outdoors if the weather is fine. On these occasions, almost all of the staff are with them to

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The acting headteacher leads and manages the school very well, and all staff work together as

keep a close watch and also to play with them and to ensure that they get the most out of the very wide range of equipment available. Very careful attention is given to the health and safety of the children. For this reason the outdoor play area is thoroughly checked before it is used, because it is sometimes a target for criminal damage out of school hours.

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The acting headteacher leads and manages the school very well, and all staff work together as

19. The very good system of putting children into ‘story groups’ for some activities ensures that the adult in charge gets to know the children in the group very well and develops a special relationship with them. Day-to-day routines, such as the excellent system for ensuring that children are safely collected by their parents or carers at the end of sessions, are indicative of the school’s concern to put the welfare of the children first at all times.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

20. Curriculum planning is largely a compilation of weekly plans. Some of this weekly planning is of a very high quality and provides very detailed information of the activities and of the learning objectives. All of the weekly planning is evaluated, and these evaluations help to inform work in future weeks.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

21. A detailed scrutiny of the weekly planning shows that a good balance between the elements of the Foundation Stage curriculum is achieved. This occurs because of the regular evaluations completed and the teachers’ response to them. There is, however, no overview of the curriculum to set out in broad outline what is to be covered in each half term unit of work. The school recognises this as a weakness, particularly since some of the children arrive during the course of a school year and leave during the course of the following school year. It is therefore important to ensure that these children are provided with new learning opportunities. For this reason, the school is considering developing a two-year cycle of topics as a basis for its planning.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

The systems for monitoring the children’s experiences in school.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

22. A significant strength of the school’s provision is the way in which children are encouraged to become independent in their learning. To enable this to happen, the school allows children to move between the activities set out in either the blue or green nursery. The school recognises that this system also has a potential weakness, which lies in the recording of what children have chosen to do as they Bradley Nursery School 12 move between rooms. It has developed a number of ways of addressing this shortcoming. Staff directly supervise certain activities, and when children visit one of these their achievements are sometimes carefully noted. Supervising adults also present children with ‘stickers’ to celebrate what they have achieved, or write notes on self-adhesive labels. These are then attached to the children so that their parents and the members of staff responsible for monitoring their progress can read about what they have

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

done. On other occasions staff informally discuss children’s achievements in supervised tasks. One staff member, supervising ‘snack time’, said that she did not record what children achieved. Instead she tried to remember so that she could pass on information to the children’s ‘story group’ leader, who is responsible for updating their records. Staff also take their ‘story group’ for short story sessions and for carefully planned group activities in the family room. These opportunities help them to develop their assessments of the individuals within their groups. The information gained in this way contributes to the impressive ‘special books’, which are carefully compiled for each child as a record of what they have achieved during their time in the nursery. However, the present system results in only some of the key learning being recorded, and all other choices that children make are not tracked. Careful observation of

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

the choices made by one child during the course of half of a morning session showed that in only one of the activities visited was any note made of what she had done. The current system does not help adults to ensure that all children will experience the breadth of the very good range of learning opportunities planned for them. Bradley Nursery School 13

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

23. In order to improve further, the acting headteacher, staff and governors should:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Produce a long-term curriculum overview to map out what is to be covered in each unit of work.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Develop a system for monitoring the choices made by children as they move from room to room. Use this information to ensure that all children experience a similar range of activities. Bradley Nursery School 14

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of lessons observed 14 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 9

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Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

0 8 3 3 0 0 0 The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

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Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery

Number of children on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time) 141 part-time equivalent to 70.5 full-time Number of full-time children known to be eligible for free school meals N/A FTE means full-time equivalent.

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Special educational needs Nursery

Number of children with statements of special educational needs 3 Number of children on the school’s special educational needs register 8

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English as an additional language No of children

Number of children with English as an additional language 90

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Mobility in the last school year No of children

Children who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 18 Children who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 14 Bradley Nursery School 15

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Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 3.1

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Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

Number of FTE children per qualified teacher 22.8

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Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

Total number of education support staff Total aggregate hours worked per week

p.20

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

Number of FTE children per FTE adult 5.4

p.20

£

Balance brought forward from previous year N/A

p.20

£

Balance carried forward to next year N/A

p.20

£

* calculated by the Registered Inspector

p.20

£

A full financial statement is not available. All staffing costs and most premises costs are met by the local education authority (LEA). Financial information provided by the LEA showed all expenditure, but did not detail the basic budget or the additional funding for special educational needs allocated to the school by the LEA. Bradley Nursery School 16

p.20

Questionnaire return rate

Number of questionnaires sent out 141 Number of questionnaires returned 100

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know

My child is making good progress in school. 63 33 1 0 3

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know

Behaviour in the school is good. 76 20 0 0 4

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know

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 52 34 6 3 4

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know

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 56 27 10 5 2

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know

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 72 22 2 0 4

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know

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 55 35 5 0 5

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know

The school works closely with parents. 63 29 4 2 2

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know

The school is well led and managed. 72 24 2 0 2

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know

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 65 29 0 0 5

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know

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 45 40 2 2 12

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know

71 per cent of questionnaires were returned. 25 parents or carers attended the pre-inspection meeting with the Registered Inspector. The views expressed at the meeting were overwhelmingly supportive of the school.

p.21