Walton Lane Nursery School

Walton Lane Nursery School

Dates of inspection: 11 th – 12 th December 2001

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Walton Lane Nursery School

Inspection number: 230559 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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Walton Lane 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. Walton Lane Nursery - 5

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Walton Lane Nelson Lancashire Postcode: BB9 8BP

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: Lancashire Education Authority

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mr D. Hardacre

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 27 th January 1998 Walton Lane Nursery - 6

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members 17531 Mr P. M. Allen Registered inspector 8922 Mrs B. McIntosh Lay inspector 17310 Mrs A. McAskie Team inspector

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

6 Bridle Dene Shelf Halifax West Yorkshire HX3 7NR

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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 Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Walton Lane Nursery - 7

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REPORT CONTENTS

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 Children’s 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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PART B: COMMENTARY

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS 18 – 20 Walton Lane Nursery - 8

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Walton Lane Nursery is an average sized nursery school situated on the outskirts of Nelson in an area of social and economic difficulty. The school is in the middle of an area to be designated ‘Sure Start’, a community based programme designed to improve support for families and children before and from birth to four years of age. The school was awarded ‘Beacon’ status in the September prior to the inspection. Eighty children attend part-time for either the morning or the afternoon session, the vast majority for one year prior to starting at one of the local primary schools. The majority of the children come from the immediate area of the school, with around a third coming from the wider area. There is a small minority for whom English is an additional language, virtually all of whom are at an advanced stage of English language acquisition. The school assesses children’s attainments on entry which, overall, are

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

below what could be expected, especially in speaking skills and in personal and social development. There are two children on the register of special educational needs. It is not known how many are eligible for free school meals. In recent times, the school has developed a wide range of extra facilities to support the needs of the children, their families and the local community.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very effective school which has many strengths. It gives the children a wonderful start to their school lives. The quality of teaching is very good enabling all children to achieve well relative to their abilities. The children make good progress and, if the current rate of progress is sustained, most are likely to achieve most of the nationally prescribed Early Learning Goals, most notably in personal, social and emotional development, in the physical area of learning and in the creative area. The headteacher continues to provide excellent leadership and management. The school makes very effective use of all the funds available to it.

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What the school does well

♦ The very good quality of the teaching enables all children to achieve well. ♦ The excellent leadership of the headteacher impacts very strongly on the school’s will to continue to develop and improve. ♦ The school is developing excellent provision and facilities to support the growing needs of the children and their families within the community. ♦ There is very good provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. ♦ The excellent learning resources and well organised learning environment have a very positive impact on the quality of education. ♦ The children’s very good attitudes and behaviour, together with their enthusiasm, have a significant impact on the quality of their learning.

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What could be improved

♦ There are no significant areas for improvement. Walton Lane Nursery - 9

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school has shown a good improvement since the last inspection in January 1998 and the issues from the report have been addressed. The school now makes more use of assessment information when planning and when grouping children. When identifying the impact of initiatives on standards, the school now makes more use of evaluative measures. Although reference is made to all areas of learning in the children’s Record of Achievements the school has clear plans to develop this further. The many improvements made since the previous inspection include better self-evaluation of the school’s performance, improved information and communication technology provision and better levels of staffing and resources. There are stronger parental and community links, partly through the excellent provision of extended services. There is a shared commitment and capacity for further improvement.

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STANDARDS

There is no standards table for nursery schools as children normally leave before the end of the Foundation Stage.

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STANDARDS

The national Early Learning Goals identify expectations for most children to achieve by the end of the Reception year in primary schools. In communication, language and literacy and in the mathematical area of learning, the majority of the goals are likely to be achieved by virtually all the children. The children are likely to be less successful in the higher level competencies in these areas. In knowledge and understanding of the world, virtually all the goals will be reached by the children, whilst in personal, social and emotional development, in the physical area and in the creative area, the children are likely to reach all the goals. Although children of all abilities achieve well and make good progress, few, if any, are in line to exceed the goals.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Attitudes are very good. The children respond with enthusiasm to all the school has to offer. They arrive at the beginning of each session with a sense of excitement about what they will be doing. Behaviour Behaviour is very good and sometimes exemplary. The children respond very well to the very high expectations made of them and they co-operate well together. Personal development and relationships Personal development and relationships are very good. The children are becoming increasingly independent learners who often engage very well in their tasks. Attendance Attendance is good and children love coming to school.

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Aspect Comment

The children’s very good attitudes, behaviour, personal development and relationships contribute very positively to the quality of their learning. Walton Lane Nursery - 10

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Teaching of children:

Quality of teaching 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 children:

Overall the quality of teaching by the teachers and the nursery nurses is very good. In a small number of lessons it is good and in a small number it is excellent. The teaching is of a high quality across all the areas of learning. One strong feature of the teaching is its consistency in approach. There is very focused, purposeful teaching in group time. The teaching meets the needs of all the children, including those with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language, resulting in the very good quality of learning. The very effective teamwork of the staff, contributes significantly to the very good quality of teaching which the children receive.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum The curriculum is broad and balanced containing an exciting range of activities. Many of the activities include a number of the areas of experience and they invariably capture the interest of the children. A strong focus is in the area of personal, social and emotional development. Provision for children with special educational needs The children are very well supported by all members of staff, enabling them to achieve very well in light of their learning difficulties.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for children with English as an additional language There is good provision for these children and they are enabled to make quick and significant progress.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for children’s personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development The provision is very good. The school is an exciting place in which staff promote care and concern for others, where reflection is valued, where right and wrong are understood and where children are taught to value everyone.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its children The children’s care and welfare are at the heart of all the school does. The school is currently improving its assessment of children’s progress so that it is more closely linked to the stepping stones which lead to the Early Learning Goals.

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Aspect Comment

The school has an excellent partnership with the parents. The school is developing excellent provision and facilities to support the growing needs of the children and their families within the community. The school is inclusive to all groups of children in all of its practices. Walton Lane Nursery - 11

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The headteacher’s dynamic leadership is outstanding and ensures a very clear direction for the work of the school. She leads a very able, conscientious team who have a strong commitment to the school and its children. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governors are very supportive and loyal to the school. Their involvement extends beyond the school and into all the other aspects of care provision. The school’s evaluation of its performance The school has made very good progress in self evaluation which leads to clear priorities for development. The strategic use of resources Very good strategic use is made of resources. The school does not manage a delegated budget but gains substantial funding from external sources, including from its status as a ‘Beacon school’. Funding is used efficiently and good consideration is given to the

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Aspect Comment

The school is well staffed. Very good use is made of the cramped indoor space and the very good outside play area is a large and exciting resource. The excellent learning resources and well organised learning environment are strong features of the school.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

♦ The school works very closely with parents and is very approachable. ♦ The children like school, make good progress and behave well. ♦ The leadership and management and the quality of the teaching. ♦ The way the school helps the children to become responsible. ♦ There were no areas identified by parents for improvement.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The excellent partnership with parents is a significant strength of the school and has a positive impact on children’s learning and development. The inspection team agrees with the parents that this is a very good school. Walton Lane Nursery - 12

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The very good quality of the teaching enables all children to achieve well

1. The children in the Nursery benefit enormously from the high quality of the teaching by the teachers and the nursery nurses. In seven tenths of the activities observed the quality of teaching was very good. In just over one tenth of the lessons it was good whilst in just under a fifth it was judged as excellent. The teaching is of a high quality across all the areas of learning.

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The very good quality of the teaching enables all children to achieve well

2. The very good teaching leads to very good learning. Its quality has a very positive impact on children’s attitudes and behaviour because of the very high expectations held by staff. Teachers and nursery nurses are very clear about what they want the children to learn and work effectively to enable the learning to take place. In doing this, they focus on the needs of the individual children, be they children who have English as an additional language, children who are higher attainers or children who have special educational needs. This enables all the children to achieve well and is one of the Nursery’s many strengths.

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The very good quality of the teaching enables all children to achieve well

3. One feature of this very effective teaching is the use of focused questioning. This was very apparent in an activity where children were working with a programmable robotic toy. ‘How many units do you want the robot to travel?’ asked the nursery nurse. This helped the children to think about what they were doing and very quickly the children became adept at pressing the appropriate buttons for the number of units to travel and the direction to take. After programming the toy with a ‘zero’, the children were helped to understand that ‘zero’ is the same as ‘none’. The questioning throughout is enthusiastic and challenges the children to think deeply. Learning is fun and the children laugh and chortle when the number of units programmed into the robot means that it ‘crashes’ into a cupboard. This is used to make a teaching point. The children are very well engaged in their learning. ‘Tomorrow we might be

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The very good quality of the teaching enables all children to achieve well

able to turn round corners,’ concludes the nursery nurse.

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The very good quality of the teaching enables all children to achieve well

4. Very effective teaching taps into the interests of the children. During the inspection the theme of ‘dinosaurs’ was being explored and this was capturing the imaginations of the children. Some of the children, including a number of boys, were becoming very knowledgeable about dinosaurs. In a well planned, well resourced and well supported outdoor activity, a group of children were creating a ‘Dinosaur Trail’, where the children had to ‘hide’ their model dinosaurs. This valuable mathematical activity focused on the language of position. The children were enabled to describe the whereabouts of their dinosaurs in terms of position; for example ‘behind the shed’, ‘on top of the table’, ‘under the bridge’, ‘next to the caravan’. All the children achieved well in this activity because of the excellent quality of the teaching which promoted effective learning.

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The very good quality of the teaching enables all children to achieve well

5. One strong feature of the teaching is in its consistency of approach, whether with a large group, a small group or on an individual one-to-one basis, such as in one activity observed. In this activity, a child was decorating a Christmas card he had made. He was helped to consider which shape to use to decorate his card, to draw round a template and then to cut out the shape carefully, using the appropriate ‘left handed’ scissors. The teacher gave very clear guidance, effectively modelling language. The quality of the intervention was of a very high order; it promoted the child’s self-esteem. The outcome of the activity was that the child had Walton Lane Nursery - 13 practised a range of skills in creating a card of which he was proud, safe in the knowledge that he was valued as a person.

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The very good quality of the teaching enables all children to achieve well

6. Very good quality storytelling is part and parcel of the teaching and learning. The children become engrossed in the telling of ‘Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs’, developing good listening skills and enjoying a shared experience. ‘You listened very quietly to that story,’ observed the teacher approvingly. Through careful, focused questioning the children are helped to reflect on which parts of the story they liked. They learn to listen to one another and are helped to value one another. The activity concludes as so often in the Nursery, with an appropriate song. ‘A dinosaur came to visit you, he roared’, they sing, happy to make up new verses. ‘Did he frighten you?’ ‘No!’ cry the children with an enthusiasm which characterises their learning.

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The very good quality of the teaching enables all children to achieve well

7. The very good quality of teaching is inclusive; it meets the needs of all the children, resulting in the very good quality of learning. The staff work well together, supporting one another often with humour and banter which the children enjoy and this teamwork contributes significantly to the very good teaching which the children receive.

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to continue to develop and improve

8. The headteacher’s dynamic leadership is outstanding and ensures a very clear direction for the work of the school. She has initiated a strong sense of purpose, shared by the staff, the governors and, increasingly, the parents. There are clear mission statements built into the school’s policies, indicating very clear aims and values, especially of educational inclusion. These include equality of access to the curriculum which the school does well to achieve in respect of all children, including those for whom English is an additional language and those with special educational needs.

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to continue to develop and improve

9. The headteacher leads a very conscientious team who have a strong commitment to the school and its children. The professional partnership between the headteacher and the recently appointed senior teacher is working effectively and productively in shaping the way all the new initiatives are being developed. They share the will to review and develop the school in order to make an effective school still more effective.

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to continue to develop and improve

10. The governors are very supportive and loyal to the headteacher and the school. Their involvement extends beyond the school and into all the other aspects of care provision which are being developed. The headteacher encourages this involvement. Governors are appreciative of the guidance they receive from the headteacher on curricular matters. They appreciate her commitment to the school, the way she helps them focus on priorities and her ability to make them feel part of the team. Through her, they are gaining a clear insight on how the school can continue to develop and improve. In addition to the governing body, the school has a ‘Voluntary Management Committee’ whose function is to manage the extra services under the heading of ‘The Rocking Horse Club’.

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to continue to develop and improve

11. Good induction procedures and very good staff training have helped in the development of a corporate, team approach. Teachers, nursery nurses and other staff members all work well together, having ownership of the very positive climate that has been created, which enables all children to achieve well. There is a common approach to teaching and learning, Walton Lane Nursery - 14 with high expectations made of the children. Like each child, each staff member is valued for their contribution to the life of the school.

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to continue to develop and improve

12. The headteacher is a very effective teacher who acts as a role model for other members of staff. Her teaching is very carefully considered and delivered with an enthusiasm that rubs off on everyone else. The quality of her teaching is underpinned by the very good relationships between the children and the staff and the ones which are fostered between the children themselves. This promotes self-esteem in a community where every child’s needs are paramount.

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to continue to develop and improve

13. All parties are consulted about the very detailed school development plan which guides the work of the school. Priorities are determined and acted upon in a structured, coherent way. Largely due to the efforts of the headteacher, the school gains substantial funding from external sources, including its status as a ‘Beacon school’. This enables the school to be well staffed and very well resourced which impacts very positively on the quality of education provided.

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to continue to develop and improve

14. The school has made very good progress in the processes of self-evaluation. Teaching and learning are monitored and staff are encouraged to reflect on their own effectiveness and how it may be improved. Planning is closely monitored. Children are assessed on entry to the Nursery and during the year, which gives good information on ‘value added’ aspects and evidences the good progress that the children make. The school has firm plans to continue to develop the assessment arrangements further by linking them more closely to the stepping stones which lead to the Early Learning Goals.

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to continue to develop and improve

15. The headteacher is also successful in promoting a strong ethos of parental involvement and ‘parents as educators’. This has been the starting point to exciting developments in the work of the school. The school has developed its extended services to support the growing needs of the children and their families within the community. This area is one of the school’s strengths, the details of which are described in the following section of this report.

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to continue to develop and improve

16. The recent developments have arisen in no small measure because of the enthusiasm and foresight of the headteacher. This is just an example of the way her excellent leadership impacts very strongly on the school’s will to continue to develop and improve.

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needs of the children and their families within the community

17. The school is providing excellent provision and facilities to support the growing needs of the children and their families within the community. It recognises its role as a first link with parents and its vision is of a ‘one stop shop’ co-ordinating a range of facilities. All initiatives started are as a result of a thorough evaluation of need and of the potential impact on the school. There are currently 20 such services on offer and an equal number either just beginning or in the pipeline. The very strong commitment of the headteacher, supported by an enthusiastic and willing staff, has enabled the school to make considerable progress in a relatively short time. The work is underpinned by the excellent relationships between the school and parents who hold the school in high regard. There is a strong ethos of parental involvement in the school and of parents as educators. Parents are very appreciative of the

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needs of the children and their families within the community

work being done to provide these services which many use on a regular basis.

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needs of the children and their families within the community

18. The first venture was the ‘Rocking Horse Club’ set up to provide care for children during the lunch-time period and before and after school. This is a valuable, independently run, facility funded initially by the Parent Teacher Association but now funded by contributions from Walton Lane Nursery - 15 parents. A management committee of volunteers oversees the organisation and financial arrangements. The headteacher is currently exploring ways of extending the club to families unable to use it for financial reasons. The club has a very good range of stimulating resources and the staff plan a good a range of activities similar to those provided during nursery sessions. Relationships and supervision are of high quality. This facility has recently been extended to provide holiday care and now operates for 49 weeks of the year.

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needs of the children and their families within the community

19. The lack of building space restricts the school from offering full day care but, by imaginative use of the very limited space, is able to provide a parent toddler group for three days per week and the ‘Unicorn Child Minders’ Club’, a session for child minders to bring their children to play together, one morning per week. These sessions are very successful providing a range of stimulating activities which children enjoy and which enable them to mix with the older children in the Nursery and become familiar with their surroundings. An access worker, who is a nursery nurse, has been appointed to give guidance to the child minders. In one lesson seen, her approach to telling the story of ‘The Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly’, using a doll and various toy animals as stimuli was very successful and, towards the end of the story, even the babies were joining in. Other nursery nurses join in the activities at the ‘Parent and

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needs of the children and their families within the community

Toddler Group’ and provide good role models. The parents and carers value these sessions, especially the contact with other adults and the guidance offered by the school staff.

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needs of the children and their families within the community

20. Other facilities offered include a pupil and parent library, a toy library, the ‘P. B. Bear’ shared reading scheme to encourage education in the home and parent and pupil educational visits to such places as ‘Eureka’. ‘Top Tots’ is a ‘lads and dads’ group where reading books which focus on physical activities are taken home to encourage boys with their reading.

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needs of the children and their families within the community

21. There are also support services for parents which include special educational needs support groups, speech therapy and a health visitor’s weekly surgery plus monthly seminars on specific health issues. A range of counselling services is available including ‘Homestart’, a voluntary service to families in crisis. The school also acts as facilitator for various adult education courses offered by a local further education college including the ‘Doorstep Project’ to address improving skills and a course on developing parents’ information and communication technology skills.

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needs of the children and their families within the community

22. A great deal of time and effort has been invested in trying to improve educational facilities in the community in the firm belief that these will have a positive effect on children’s learning. The school has been awarded its Beacon status for its work both in and out of school, work which it is committed to developing further.

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There is very good provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

23. The school is an exciting place where staff promote care and concern for others, where reflection is valued, where right and wrong are understood and where children are taught to value everyone. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural education are very important aspects of life in the school and feature in some way in most of the teaching sessions.

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There is very good provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

24. There are daily opportunities for children to reflect on things which make them happy or sad, things which they enjoyed in lessons or about their special friends. All staff value children’s ideas and encourage them to talk about their feelings; for example, the children are fascinated by dinosaurs describing them as ‘scary’; they wonder at their size and the fact that they no longer exist. Their delight in lessons is clear to see especially in singing and story Walton Lane Nursery - 16 sessions where teachers use props and dramatic voices to make learning an exciting experience. In one such session they were very concerned when Harry left his toy dinosaur collection on the train. The school celebrates religious festivals such as Eid, and the Chinese New Year as well as the various Christian festivals. This is the first step in developing insights into the values and beliefs of others.

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There is very good provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

25. The provision of a wide range of stimulating activities and consistently applied rules result in very good and sometimes exemplary behaviour. Children are too busy and interested in their activities to misbehave. They are aware of what is considered acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and they follow the daily routines such as wearing coloured bands for certain activities. They take turns readily, using a sand timer to denote the length of time at an activity which is more popular. A bell signals the end of sessions and children efficiently help to clear up. The children are taught the need for good manners through the very good examples set by staff who have high expectations of their behaviour. The children are rapidly learning the importance of living in peace and harmony.

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There is very good provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

26. All staff provide very good examples of good social behaviour through their warm and constructive relationships with one another and with the children. The excellent quality of interaction enables the children to succeed well in their activities and this promotes their self- esteem. Staff are very supportive, whilst at the same time they encourage the children to be independent and to solve problems. Children willingly share when using construction toys or co-operative wheeled vehicles. They sometimes share the outdoor play area with younger children who visit the parent toddler group or child minder sessions and they are taught to be more careful at these times and to include the younger children in their activities. The garden is well used to teach them to care for living things such as animals and plants.

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There is very good provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

27. The school provides opportunities for children to celebrate the diversity of cultures within the school community. They are made aware of the richness of their own and other cultural traditions. The good range of books and resources, reflecting a multicultural society, are attractively displayed. In one activity observed a teacher read the word December in various languages. The school celebrates Eid and Diwali enlisting the help of parents and students from the Asian community. Ethnic food is provided for celebrations. Book appreciation time promotes a love of books and traditional rhymes and stories. The play corner is very well used to develop a sense of everyday life. It is currently a well stocked shop with a wide range of goods for sale and very good use is made of the kind of signs and labels children would find in local shops.

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There is very good provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

28. The school outdoor area is well used to encourage children to notice and record features around them. Children develop an awareness of life beyond home and the Nursery through walks in the local area. Emphasis is given to noticing such things as buildings, roads and signs. Mapping the journey to and from school becomes an activity involving parents. Visits are made to places in the local town such as the police station, the library and the local supermarket. One group of children visited the grounds of a nearby school for a Teddy Bears’ Picnic.

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There is very good provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

29. The very good provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is one of the school’s many strengths and the children respond well in each of these areas. The quality of the provision has a very significant impact on the life of the school. Walton Lane Nursery - 17

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very positive impact on the quality of education

30. For a child, walking into the Nursery must be like entering an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of opportunities for exploration and learning. The Nursery provides a very high quality environment which is rich in language and rich in colour. In spite of the very limited size of the main room, every inch of space is used to good effect. The room is well ordered, clean and well maintained. As the parents and carers arrive, there is a warm welcome and a buzz of excitement.

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very positive impact on the quality of education

31. The work is well resourced in each of the six areas of learning. Review and development of resources is an ongoing process, so that there is a programme of replacement and improvement. The room is flexibly used with a wide range of areas, each well supported with resources. For example, the computer area contains three computers in an attractive and comfortable space with a lot of labelling of key words and a good range of software to support children’s early learning. The children are attracted to the computers because they are always switched on. During the inspection children were developing good mouse skills, being well supported in using a program which helped them to practise letter recognition and letter sounds. ‘I’ve done it!’ said a child on successful completion of the task. The resources and learning environment support the teaching and impact very positively on the quality of learning.

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very positive impact on the quality of education

32. The area of communication, language and literacy is particularly well resourced. There are hundreds of picture books around the Nursery, including ones on Christmas and the current theme of dinosaurs. Children are allowed to take books home whenever they wish. The school makes good use of its collection of ‘Storysacks’. Children enjoy using the small world equipment, such as the castle, the masks and costumes and the puppets; they develop listening skills through the range of tapes used in the listening stations. They become well engaged in the daily time for reflection and ‘book appreciation’ time which concludes each session. They enjoy learning through role-play, in a variety of interesting contexts such as hospital, a farm and a vet’s surgery.

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very positive impact on the quality of education

33. At the time of the inspection, the role-play area was set out as ‘The Walton Lane Toy Shop’. This is a valuable, well organised learning resource with scope for learning across most of the areas of learning. It is full of language such as ‘Entrance’, ‘Fire Exit’, ‘Open’, ‘Closed’, ‘Please pay here’ and ‘How many dinosaurs will you buy?’ Children use money, purses, a number line, a telephone and a cash till. ‘Do you want a receipt?’ said one child. Many of the toys have price tags which have been written on the computer by the children. Once in the toy shop, (where children understand the ground rules for how many are allowed in) the children co-operate well, talking to one another as shopkeeper or shoppers; they can play with a wealth of toys and games, many of them educational, including an abacus and jigsaws. During the inspection, the children observed in this learning environment became well engaged

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very positive impact on the quality of education

for good periods of time, learning through effective and purposeful play, often enhanced by the intervention and questioning of one or more of the many adults in the Nursery.

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very positive impact on the quality of education

34. The school makes good use of its extensive and well resourced outdoor play area. This supports the physical area of learning through a very good range of small apparatus, together with a wealth of large toys and equipment, including wheeled vehicles, a number of which involve sharing, such as the ‘police car’ where the driver pedals along with two passengers at the back. These are very popular with the children who showed good levels of co-operation and a good understanding of the ‘rules’ for outdoor play to ensure safety for all. Walton Lane Nursery - 18 35. The outdoor play area is well used to support children in all the areas of learning. During the inspection a valuable activity on the ’Dinosaur Trail’ taught children to use mathematical vocabulary concerned with position. The area provides paths and walkways to explore, together with trees, flowers and plants. Children benefit from imaginative play in a

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very positive impact on the quality of education

traditional traveller style caravan. A well equipped garden shed provides a valuable resource for children to plant and grow seeds and bulbs.

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very positive impact on the quality of education

36. The excellent level of resourcing, supports all the services being developed to extend the work of the school so that it more fully serves the needs of the children and their families. During the inspection, these resources were being used very effectively to support the activities of the ‘Rocking Horse Club’ at lunchtime and after school, at the childminders’ session and also at the parent and toddlers’ session. In this way, the excellent learning resources and well organised learning environment are having a very positive impact on the quality of education provided, not just for the nursery children, but also for the ten month old babies, the toddlers and the parents and carers involved with the school as it becomes an increasingly more significant focus of the community.

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school have a significant impact on the quality of learning

37. The children’s very good attitudes, behaviour and personal development are a strength of the Nursery, helping create a very calm, orderly and purposeful environment. This has a significant impact on the quality of learning.

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school have a significant impact on the quality of learning

38. Children are very happy to attend the Nursery. They enter at the beginning of the sessions full of excitement and enthusiasm and they are very keen to explore the full range of activities provided for them. Children can spend considerable lengths of time at a chosen activity that interests them showing good levels of concentration and persistence. This was evident when children enjoyed using a rolling pin to flatten the dough and carefully used the Christmas templates to make their shapes; they took great delight in showing each other what they had made and worked out between themselves when it was necessary to add more flour to the dough as it became too sticky to handle.

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39. Children’s behaviour is always very good and often exemplary. This confirms the views expressed by parents. Children sit beautifully during whole group discussions and listen attentively to the teacher. They know they should put their hands up and, although their enthusiasm sometimes gets in the way, they usually wait to be asked if they have something to say; they listen carefully when others are speaking. Nursery rules are clearly understood by the children and they follow them well because all staff consistently apply them. For example, children observe little things such as sensibly putting their hands on their knees so that no one treads on their fingers when others are asked to move to the front of the group. Children move quietly between various activities and they have a noticeable respect for resources and tabletop displays. During the inspection there were several musical Christmas toys on display.

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school have a significant impact on the quality of learning

These fascinated the children and they were trusted to pick them up and play with them because staff knew they would be treated carefully.

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school have a significant impact on the quality of learning

40. Children’s personal development is very good. They are fully settled into nursery life, growing rapidly in confidence and developing good work habits. Relationships at all levels are very good and make a significant contribution to the teaching and learning. Part way through each session, at the sound of a bell, children clear away and tidy activity areas very efficiently Walton Lane Nursery - 19 and quickly assemble on the carpet. This is done spontaneously and with a minimum of fuss. Staff are very supportive of the children and encourage them to become increasingly independent thus helping them gain in confidence and self-assurance.

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school have a significant impact on the quality of learning

41. Children are encouraged to make choices and do things for themselves; for example, when talking about the programmable robotic vehicle, they soon worked out for themselves what the various controls were for and that the on/off switch was needed to make it work. Sometimes children are happier working on an activity independently rather than collaborating, although there are many instances of excellent co-operation as children play together and share the toys; for example, children supported each other very well building space ships out of three-dimensional shapes and, during outdoor play, when using the co-operative vehicles. During role-play children buy and sell toys developing purposeful conversation and asking relevant questions such as, ‘How much does this cost?’ and ‘Do you want anything else?’

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school have a significant impact on the quality of learning

42. The very good attitudes, behaviour and enthusiasm of the children make a significant contribution to the effective learning which goes on in the Nursery. Walton Lane Nursery - 20

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and children 29

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The table gives the number and percentage of sessions observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each session represents more than four percentage points.

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 40

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals N/A

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 2

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

English as an additional language No of pupils

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 4

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 6

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 10

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year.

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

N/A – information not available. Walton Lane Nursery - 21 Teachers and classes Financial information *

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Qualified teachers and support staff Financial year 2000/01

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 3

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of children per qualified teacher 20 : 1 £

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of education support staff 4 Total expenditure 16,002

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total aggregate hours worked per week 93.75 Expenditure per pupil 400

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Balance brought forward from previous year 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of children per FTE adult 10 : 1 Balance carried forward to next year 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 1

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 2

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 2

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

FTE means full-time equivalent. Walton Lane Nursery - 22 Results of the survey of parents and carers

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Percentage of responses in each category

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

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

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

My child is making good progress in school. 48 43 0 0 9

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Behaviour in the school is good. 62 32 0 0 6

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 27 11 11 4 47

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 48 28 9 0 15

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 85 13 0 0 2

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 40 34 0 0 26

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school works closely with parents. 74 24 0 0 2

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school is well led and managed. 94 6 0 0 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 74 26 0 0 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 68 15 2 0 15

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

This standard Ofsted questionnaire is used in all primary schools and, as such, contains some questions which are not fully appropriate for nursery schools; this accounts for a considerable number of responses in the ‘do not know’ column.

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