Camrose Early Years Centre for Children & Families

CAMROSE CENTRE FOR EARLY YEARS

Dates of inspection: 18-20 February 2002

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CAMROSE CENTRE FOR EARLY YEARS

Inspection number: 230801 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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CAMROSE CENTRE FOR EARLY YEARS

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. Camrose Centre for Early Years - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Camrose Centre for Early Years Tenby Road Northampton

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: Northamptonshire Local Education Authority

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Ms Susan Moxon

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 22 June 1998 Camrose Centre for Early Years - 5

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Team members

7336 Lindsay Howard Registered inspector 13895 Angela Smith Lay inspector

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Team members

Staffordshire and Midlands Consortium The Kingston Centre Fairway Stafford ST16 3TW

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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 Camrose Centre for Early Years - 6

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6 - 11

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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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The Camrose Centre 1 is situated near the centre of Northampton. It is an integrated Early Years centre formed by the amalgamation of a Social Services Day Nursery, an Education nursery unit and a multi-disciplinary Early Childhood Centre. Since 1997 it has opened all year and operates a range of services that include nursery education and care, parent and adult learning, and family and community support. During the inspection there were 38 boys and 35 girls attending part-time. Most children enter the nursery when they are three years old but some, who are referred with a range of needs, start when they are two. At present 30 of the children on roll were referred to the centre. The centre is open 48 weeks a year and children attend for four part-time sessions each week. On Fridays, four year olds attend a further session and there are also drop-in sessions for children under the age of five and their families. There is a wide range of sessions for parents, carers

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

and young children. There are 21 children identified as having special educational needs such as autism, speech and communication disorders and severe learning difficulties. One of these children has a statement of special educational needs. Eleven children speak English as an additional language, seven of whom are at an early stage of acquiring English. The majority of these children speak Bengali. One child belongs to a Somali refugee family.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very effective Early Years centre. The children enter with levels of attainment that are well below those expected. They make very good progress through the very high quality of teaching they receive and leave with attainment that is mainly in line with expectations in most areas. The leadership and management of the headteacher and deputy headteacher are excellent and are central to the work and ethos of the centre. The management team gives high quality support to the centre and this makes a strong contribution to its work. All staff have very high expectations of children’s behaviour, their attitudes to work and what they can achieve. Parents value highly all the services that are available at the centre. The centre provides very good value for money.

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What the school does well

• There are very high quality relationships between all the adults and children who use the centre and because of this the children’s attitudes and behaviour are excellent. • The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the management team are of the highest quality. • The partnership the centre has with parents is very effective. • The monitoring of the children’s academic progress and personal development is excellent. • The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum, ensures all children make very good progress

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What the school does well

1 Throughout the text of the report the word ‘centre’ is used because it is the Camrose Centre. In headings the word ‘school’ is used so that this report has the same headings as all other reports. Camrose Centre for Early Years - 8

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What could be improved

• There are no areas for improvement other than those already identified by the centre in their development plan: These areas are all included in the integrated ‘Educare’ that that the centre is to provide. This is ‘wrap around care for nursery children aged 2 – 4 years, and day-care for babies and toddlers 0 – 2 years. It aims to reduce the percentage of children who live in households where no-one is working, and to provide 100 per cent good quality education and childcare.’ 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 centre was last inspected in June 1998. It has made very good improvement since then and has the capacity to sustain its high levels of performance.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The centre introduced separate sessions for four year olds once a week to improve the standards in speaking, reading, writing and the use of number. Children receive individual, paired and small group focussed teaching in this session. Standards have improved and children are on course to reach their own personal best. All members of the management team now have clearly defined roles for monitoring specific areas of the centre’s work. The local education authority, as the appropriate authority, has improved its role in providing support and direction. The management team has decided to issue an annual report for parents and to hold an annual meeting. This is more than the team are required to do and is an indication of their desire to involve parents more in the work of the centre. The headteacher and deputy headteacher have continued their rigorous programme of monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching. This programme slowed down while the

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

headteacher was seconded for 8 months but is now back on course. There has been appraisal training for all staff to enable them to take part in the monitoring through observing their peers’ lessons. This has been of great value to everyone and has helped to further improve the quality of teaching. The centre has rigorous procedures for checking children’s absence that it consistently follows. Reasons for absence are analysed and information is produced for the management team to scrutinise. The centre has very effective strategies for ensuring educational inclusion and equality of opportunity which are totally integrated into the centre’s everyday practice. Despite their best efforts attendance is still low. However, given the context of the centre and the non-statutory nature of pre-school education, it is unlikely that attendance levels can be improved much more.

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STANDARDS

Children enter the school with attainment levels that are generally well below those expected of children of this age. Their gross motor skills, such as their ability to run, jump and skip, within their overall physical development are mainly in line with expectations. They make very good progress while they attend the centre and leave with attainment that is in line with expectations in the areas of personal, social and emotional development, creative and physical development, and knowledge and understanding of the world. Their attainment in communication, language and literacy and mathematical development remain below expectations. They achieve very well.

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STANDARDS

The children make excellent progress in their personal, social and emotional development and this is the reason for their very good progress in all other areas. Children relate very well to each other Camrose Centre for Early Years - 9 and to the many adults who work in the centre. At first they are less confident with visitors, but soon gain confidence in the supportive atmosphere and respond with a smile or a reply. They move around the large nursery space confidently, going from room to room in pursuit of an activity they want. When they have decided what to do they concentrate for long periods of time, becoming absorbed in the task. They are enthusiastic, love coming to the centre and make full use of all the activities offered. They learn to speak with growing confidence and listen well to adults and to each other. Most children are beginning to write, making recognisable letter shapes and a few write their

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STANDARDS

names. They love to listen to stories and point out characters and events in the illustrations. Older children talk about the contents of reference books on such topics as the seaside. For example, ‘That’s a crab – so’s that, but it’s a different colour.’ They enjoy counting objects, and the older children can do this accurately to 15. They understand some mathematical concepts relating to sharing and size. When they made a jam sandwich one child said, ‘Cut it in half.’ Another responded, ‘No, there’s seven of us.’ Most children recognise circle, triangle and square. The cooking activities seen during the inspection enabled children to develop their scientific knowledge. When they made jelly the children learnt that hot water from the kettle melted the jelly cubes but when the cubes were put in the water tray they did not melt completely or quickly. They were amazed when they saw that the whipped egg whites became solid when cooked. There are many

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STANDARDS

creative activities, such as painting, printing, cutting and sticking that engage the children’s attention. They become skilled in the use of brushes, scissors and glue. The excellent provision for outdoor activities promotes the development of physical skills. They ride or scoot bikes at speed, kick a large ball accurately to another person, climb up, down and through a wide range of larger apparatus. A group of children used the bike with a trailer to deliver orders from the bakery to a row of ‘houses’. Children had fixed numbered paper ‘letter boxes’ on doors for the deliveryman to call at. They make very good progress while they attend the centre, resulting in standards that are in line with those expected of children of this age in most areas.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Excellent. Children love coming to school and make the most of all the opportunities offered to them.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Very good. Children behave well at all times. They understand what is expected of them and why and respond well.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Excellent. Children work well together. These relationships are very effective in supporting children’s desire to learn and their respect for others.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Satisfactory, in the context of this centre and the non-statutory nature of nursery education

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Aspect Comment

The children’s enthusiasm for school is high. They show a keen interest in a wide variety of activities and concentrate very well. They quickly become independent, choosing and finding their own resources and serving their own snacks. The management team continues to rigorously pursue improving the level of attendance through raising the parents’ and carers’ awareness of the importance of regular attendance so that more children have access to the excellent education Camrose Centre for Early Years - 10 offered.

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Teaching of children in: Nursery

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 in: Nursery

All the teaching is of very good quality. This is an improvement since the last inspection when it was judged to be good. The management of the children is excellent and enables them to access all the areas of the curriculum. The high quality and use of ongoing assessment ensures that staff know exactly what to plan to enable children to move on to the next stage in learning. Staff have very good knowledge and understanding of the curriculum for young children and plan exciting activities to deliver it. The basic skills of language and literacy are taught through real situations, such as role- play and cookery. These methods are very effective. All the staff work very effectively together, creating a seamless process of learning throughout the entire time children are at the centre. The needs of all the children, including those with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language, are met very effectively through this approach. Children quickly acquire

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Teaching of children in: Nursery

skills, knowledge and understanding in all areas of the curriculum through the great efforts they make. They develop interest and concentration in their work through the appropriate activities offered. They soon become independent in their learning and personal care and this better enables them to fully access the curriculum.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Very good. The well-planned curriculum is rich with appropriate activities, visits and visitors.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for children with special educational needs Very good. The high quality provision ensures that the needs of these children are met.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for children with English as an additional language Very good. There is appropriate support for these children who are encouraged to speak English when they feel ready. Good quality bi- lingual support provides the children with familiar language in which to develop new concepts and try out their newly acquired English vocabulary.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for children’s personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Very good. The centre places great emphasis on this area of the children’s development. It is at the heart of the curriculum and enables them to make very good progress in all areas of the curriculum.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its children Excellent. Procedures for supporting and monitoring academic and personal development are of the highest quality. The curriculum is very well planned with appropriate emphasis being placed on the children’s Camrose Centre for Early Years - 11 personal, social and emotional development. The activities are relevant to the children so that their learning is based on the real situations created for them.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and manage- ment by the headteacher and other key staff The headteacher performs the very complex task of managing the various agencies that operate at the centre extremely well. The headteacher and deputy headteacher provide a very clear educational direction for the work of the centre. All the highly committed staff manage the activities of the centre extremely well.

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Aspect Comment

How well the management team fulfil their responsibilities The management team are very supportive of the centre and fulfil their responsibilities very well. They have a very clear idea of the centre’s strengths and what they would like to improve. They have an excellent vision for the future development of the centre.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance The centre is very clear about what it needs to do to improve its performance and constantly strives to improve what it offers the families it serves.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources The centre does not have a devolved budget, but uses the funds it does have to provide high quality resources.

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Aspect Comment

The centre’s generous accommodation is very well used by the many groups based there. The outside area comprises a large covered space, garden and grassed areas and hard surfaced paths. This facility is used well by the children and promotes high quality learning. The centre applies the principles of best value appropriately.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• The children love coming to the centre. • The high quality of teaching and support. • The information they receive about their child’s progress. • All the adults at the centre are very approachable. • The children are expected to work hard, behave well and achieve their best. • The centre is well led and managed. • The centre works closely with parents. • No concerns were expressed.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection team totally agrees with the very positive views expressed by the parents and carers in both the questionnaires and at the parents’ meetings. Camrose Centre for Early Years - 12

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There are very high quality relationships between all the adults and children who use the

centre and because of this the children’s attitudes and behaviour are excellent.

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There are very high quality relationships between all the adults and children who use the

1 Staff work hard to create trusting relationships, firstly with the families they serve and later with the individual children when they attend the play sessions and the nursery. When children start in the nursery parents are encouraged to stay until their child feels ready to be left. Children are able to explore all the areas and activities provided with an adult they know. Staff talk at length to parents about their child’s needs and parents build up a trust in the staff. At the parents’ meeting one mother said, ‘You can talk to them (the staff) about anything.’ When staff feel they cannot help with a specific problem they ensure that parents get help from the right people. As the parents become more relaxed so do the children. They become less anxious about being left and join in readily with activities. Children engage with whatever activity they choose, be it playing alone with the small world toys,

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There are very high quality relationships between all the adults and children who use the

painting or joining a group cooking or playing in the water tray.

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There are very high quality relationships between all the adults and children who use the

2 Adults treat the children with respect, accepting the experiences that they bring to the centre and encouraging them to succeed. This enables children to develop positive self-esteem and good attitudes to learning. Adults are very good role models when they interact with the children and other adults. The children learn to copy their behaviour. All the relationships within the centre are very positive and support the children’s desire to learn. Children feel valued for what they can offer and this encourages them to succeed further.

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There are very high quality relationships between all the adults and children who use the

3 Staff have high expectations of children’s very good behaviour that they promote through gentle reminders and general conversation. Children learn to take turns and to share. When there is a high demand for a ride on the trikes they fetch the large timer and wait for all the sand to run through before claiming their turn. They play with small world toys, such as the train set, sharing the engines and carriages, and waiting for one train to pull out of the station before the next arrives. They know that special aprons have to be worn for painting, water play and cookery. They fetch their own aprons and hang them up when they have finished. They tidy up at the end of a session.

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There are very high quality relationships between all the adults and children who use the

4 They are increasingly able to make choices and act independently. Snacks are available for most of each session and children choose when to have them. They serve themselves with food and pour their own drinks. They successfully served the jelly that they had made the day before. One day they made themselves a slice of toast and chose the topping. At lunchtimes they decide what they would like and say please and thank you when served. They pass cutlery round the table and know what items they need for each course. They are encouraged to try unfamiliar food and they do this sensibly. At both these sessions they talk quietly to each other and the adults.

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There are very high quality relationships between all the adults and children who use the

5 Children become interested in all kinds of activities and through their excellent attitudes and behaviour develop into enthusiastic learners. They take responsibility for their personal hygiene, washing their hands after visiting the toilet or playing in the sand. The children work Camrose Centre for Early Years - 13 in an atmosphere that is free from oppressive behaviour, including bullying, racism and sexism.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

management team are of the highest quality.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

6 The management of the multi-use centre by the headteacher and the management team is of the highest quality. The headteacher, along with the workers in the services that use the centre, manage the complex needs of their clients, the centre users, the generous accommodation and the needs of a large number of children extremely well. There are many daily administrative demands upon the time and expertise of the headteacher, who deals with them all fairly and expertly. The clearly stated aims of the centre are at the heart of all that it offers. They embrace the total needs of children and parents and carers in both learning and living settings.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

7 The management team is composed of a representative from each of the major agencies involved in child care, local authority representatives and elected parents and staff. They are a highly professional team who are totally committed to providing the highest quality of education and care for those who use the centre. They have a very clear idea of the strengths of the centre and an equally clear vision of the ways in which they would like to provide an even better service. One of the overall aims of the centre is ‘to promote continual improvement in the quality of provision’. Their commitment to this is impressive. They have appropriate priorities for the centre’s development plan and at present are involved in improving the accommodation so that more services can be embraced.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

8 Since the last inspection the management team has worked hard to address all the key issues in the report. The management team is now involved in the monitoring and evaluating of teaching and learning. This has contributed to the improvement in the quality of teaching and learning. Each team member is paired with a member of staff, to an aspect of the curriculum. This enables the management team to understand the demands of that particular aspect and to ensure that long term development planning meets them. The team publishes an annual report for parents and follows it up with a meeting. Although this is not a statutory duty for the management team it feels that this helps parents feel more involved in the work of the centre. They will soon seek views from parents about the further development of the centre. This is commendable.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

9 There are appropriate strategies for staff appraisal and performance management in place. These relate to the non-teaching pay and conditions under which all staff work. Training for all staff to help them monitor the quality of teaching and learning has resulted in good quality peer appraisal with feedbacks that have led to an overall improvement in the already good quality of teaching and learning.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

10 The deputy headteacher oversees day-to-day management of the nursery very effectively. This is a complex task as each day, as well as the normal nursery sessions, there are other groups meeting and using the facilities. The deputy headteacher manages the highly committed team of teachers and nursery nurses very well, so that all are completely and equally involved in the planning and delivery of a high quality curriculum. Camrose Centre for Early Years - 14 11 The headteacher and deputy headteacher have a very clear vision for the education provision they make. This is completely shared by all the staff, who have appropriate delegated responsibilities, such as to children with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language. The way the staff work together to ensure the centre’s educational vision is met is impressive

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

12 The centre does not have a delegated budget. It uses the money it does receive extremely well. The centre is well resourced for all areas of learning and the resources are well maintained. The accommodation is very generous, well organised and looked after. It is well used by all the groups. The excellent outside accommodation used by the nursery children promotes and supports many areas of high quality learning.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

13 The unit cost per pupil is high. Nevertheless because of the very high quality of teaching and the very good progress the children make the centre gives very good value for money.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

The partnership the centre has with parents is very effective.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

14 Parents have very positive views about the work of the centre. They stress how it helps their children learn and what it offers them. They value highly the wide range of services on offer.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

15 Some parents learn about the services of the centre from their health visitor or their family doctor. Others learn about them from friends and neighbours. The centre is well known in the local area and a few parents and carers drop in to pick up one of the many attractive leaflets about the services. The centre is open 48 weeks a year, closing only for a week at Christmas, two weeks in the summer and for Bank Holidays.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

16 Often parents’ and carers’ first contact with the centre is the Toy Library. They are made to feel welcome by the workers and their children try out the toys. Workers advise parents about the toys that are suitable for the developmental needs of their children. Books about parenting and videos for children are a welcome new addition to the services. At present parents come from all over the town and the surrounding villages to use the library. There are plans to have a mobile library to travel to other areas and also to deliver the large toys parents have chosen to their homes. Parents value this service for the chance it gives them to meet other parents, as well as the opportunity to try toys that might be too expensive for them to buy.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

17 Parents continue their contact with the centre through the ‘drop in’ sessions and the ‘Stay and play’ group. At these, children play under the supervision of trained staff who plan activities suitable for a wide age range of children. Parents learn how to play with their children through example and by asking questions in a friendly supportive atmosphere.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

18 Course for parents include one-off courses, such as alternative therapy and aerobics, and longer courses in computer skills. Many of the parents have had no further education or were irregular, uninterested attenders at school. The heads of services at the centre work hard to encourage parents to say what skills they would like to learn and then to set up the Camrose Centre for Early Years - 15 courses. A free crèche is always available for parents during these courses. Parents say they would not have gained these skills if they had had to pay for the courses and a crèche.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

19 Another type of course on offer is the ‘Learning is fun’ series. This is run by nursery staff in one of the nursery rooms. During the inspection the session was about learning through using small world toys. Parents listened to the staff talking about what children could learn, then, in pairs, went into the nursery to note what they saw. A lively debate followed about the ways in which children learn best. These sessions help parents to support their child’s learning at home as well as understanding how they learn in the nursery. A friendly partnership builds up between those who attend and those who deliver the sessions.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

20 A range of support groups is based at the centre. These include a confidential support group for women who have suffered domestic violence, a Bangladeshi Women’s Group and a Women’s Support Group. For all of these a free crèche or in-group supported play is available. The Bangladeshi group arranges shopping trips and visits that these women are not allowed to make on their own. All of these groups give support to women, some of whom are isolated, abused or vulnerable through providing a safe place to meet. The workers gain the confidence of the women and are able to give them practical help and advice. The children gain from their play sessions and when they are old enough are able to settle quickly into the nursery classes.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

21 Nursery staff make a home visit to all children before they start in a nursery class, whether they have attended any of the informal sessions or not. The information gathered at this meeting is the start of the impressive monitoring of children’s all-round development that continues throughout their time in the nursery. Children are allotted to a key worker for the time they attend the nursery. Parents bring their children into the classrooms at the start of each day and collect them from there at the end of the session. The staff and parents are able to talk to each other on an informal basis. This daily contact builds up parents’ trust in the staff and enables staff to work more effectively with the families and promote the well- being of child and parent. A few parents feel comfortable enough in the nursery to stay and help.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

22 Parents receive an informative written report about their child’s achievement and progress each term. One session each term is an open one when parents can discuss their child with staff more formally and contribute to their child’s record of achievement by sticking pieces of work and photographs into the folder. This involves parents in their child’s learning and lets them celebrate achievement.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

23 Parents also receive an annual report from the management team evaluating the past year’s work and relating future developments. They can also attend a meeting to discuss this report. This helps the parents feel part of the work of the centre. Camrose Centre for Early Years - 16 The monitoring of the children’s academic progress and personal development is excellent.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

24 Monitoring of the children’s all-round development begins with the information gained during the home visits made prior to the children attending nursery. This information is used to plan activities that each child can access and feel comfortable doing. Each child has an observation card for each broad area of development and for other discrete areas such as information and communication technology. Staff who are supporting children working in each area enter observations onto the cards. Staff also focus upon specific children for a week and enter observations for these children too. The observations are of high quality and ensure that staff know exactly what stage of learning or ‘stepping stone’ children have reached.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

25 Key workers evaluate the observations regularly. This enables them to plan for each child’s next stage of learning. It also shows what activities the child does or does not access on a regular basis and how children are settling into the nursery routines. Staff also note the areas of development that children are better at, and where they are less successful. This information is related to all staff at the daily evaluation meetings, and activities are planned that will support all children at all levels.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

26 At the heart of the curriculum is the personal development of the children. The staff believe that ensuring the complete well-being of each child enables them to reach their academic and personal potential. When a child enters the centre staff concentrate on making sure she or he is comfortable in the environment. They are shown where to go to the toilet and that they can ask for help if they need. They are taught to wash their hands at appropriate times. Snacks are available to children whenever they want them. This initial instruction helps the children to become independent and to make choices. The layout of the nursery is such that all equipment is readily accessible to children so that when they are choosing what to do they do not need help to find equipment. This leaves staff better able to observe children and prepare for what they need next rather than just supplying their immediate needs. Staff

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

are also able to interact with children constantly, promoting their thinking and increasing their vocabulary.

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The leadership and management by the headteacher, deputy headteacher and the

27 This is a strength of the centre. All that the centre offers to the children is set within the desire to nurture and develop the child’s potential through monitoring and then meeting their perceived needs.

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

ensures all children make very good progress.

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

28 Ten sessions were observed covering all areas of the curriculum and included sessions for children with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language. The quality of teaching was very good in nine of the sessions and good in the other. This is an improvement since the last inspection when teaching was judged to be good.

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

29 There are two indoor teaching bases in the centre and one outside teaching base which is open for about two-thirds of each session. These are supervised on a rota basis by all staff. Camrose Centre for Early Years - 17 The proportion of staff to children is generous and contributes significantly to the high quality of support children receive.

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

30 At the beginning of each session the children come eagerly into the nursery, ready to embark upon the activities, often without a backward glance at their parent. Some of those who have just started are reluctant to leave their parent but soon cannot resist the lure of the activities and break away from their parent. Some parents stay to talk to staff or look at the activities. Children register themselves by finding their name card and putting it on their group board. Some then head straight for the role-play area and are immediately queueing up for a table at the café, while those who had arrived earlier take orders and cook the meals. Others stand in a base and look around, taking stock of what is on offer before making their way towards the activity of their choice. At each activity there is an adult ready to engage in conversation and play alongside the children. If no one joins that activity staff

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

31 The staff’s very good knowledge of how children learn is used to very good effect in planning interesting activities. The detailed half-termly planning is thorough, planned by all staff and follows the Foundation Stage curriculum. This corporate approach ensures that all staff have a clear understanding of how to promote children’s learning. Individual members of staff draw up weekly plans, using the half-termly plan, for the areas they are supporting. These are displayed on boards in the bases and adapted during the week as the needs of the children develop. All the activities have very clear learning intentions for individual children. All staff reinforce the basic skills of literacy and numeracy in all areas of the curriculum. For example, children engaged in actual cooking counted the number of eggs they used and looked at the symbols on the microwave oven to see how many minutes they needed to

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

cook the meringues. Children playing with the programmable truck learnt the positional words forward, backwards, turn, right, left while having great fun.

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

32 The morning and afternoon sessions follow the same pattern. They begin with free choice activities and children go immediately to their chosen area. In the role-play area several children were using the café. Some were cooking and some were serving at the tables. The teacher gave the children who were waiting a menu printed with words, prices and pictures. They sat on a bench studying it. When the teacher returned they told her what they wanted. She prompted them to choose the type of drink and the sandwich filling. There were many opportunities for the children to see printed words in the open/closed sign and the please wait here label as well as the symbol for no dogs allowed . Play continued with children paying at the till. Some used coins but some paid with credit cards and were asked to sign the pay slip. The children were polite to each other and entered into the roles with realism.

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

Learning intentions to develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills were being met at many levels, from the quiet two year-old who pointed to his choice of menu, to the older four year-old telling the children being kitchen staff, ‘ Oh, no! They want more sandwiches. ’

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

33 The children use the outside play area for a greater part of each session. The space is set up in the same way as an indoor space with many similar activities as well as those more suited to the outside. Children visited the baker’s shop, looking at the prices and paying with toy money. Throughout the time spent at the shop staff prompt the children by asking questions, Camrose Centre for Early Years - 18 ‘Is it someone’s birthday? Do you want a birthday cake?’ and ‘Have you got enough money to pay for those buns?’ Two children on a bike and trailer delivered bread to the houses represented by paper letterboxes stuck to the doors. They were told which house to visit and tried to find the correct symbol. There were labels such as up, down, along, through, climb and slide on the interesting arrangement of climbing apparatus. Staff pointed to these and helped the children to follow the instructions. The children enjoyed this

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

activity and moved carefully on the apparatus, holding tightly to the rails. They stopped doing this when they came to the flexible tunnel, clambering in and sliding swiftly down with shouts of laughter. Staff kept a careful watch on the more timid, who wanted to try this but were not certain they could do it. They encouraged them to have a go while allowing those children who were very confident to repeat the action again and again.

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

34 The last part of the session begins with large group time when all the nursery children sit together for a musical activity. The children watched spellbound as a teacher unzipped a case to reveal a clarinet in pieces. She put it together a piece at a time, blowing at each stage to show the children that it was not ready to play proper music. When the reed completed the instrument and a musical note was heard the children’s faces lit up. She asked the children to see if they could recognise a tune. Several of the older children were able to name each tune correctly. This was a good example of how staff, on a daily basis, provide for children’s spiritual development. This session was followed by small group time when children heard a story in separate rooms. Children with special educational needs who find it difficult to sit in a large group, or listen to a story for more than a few minutes, are

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

taken by an adult for individual activities appropriate for their developmental needs. Children with English as an additional language were told a story in Bengali. The bi-lingual support assistant moved from English to Bengali and back again, ensuring all the children understood the story and responded in their home language. She reinforced their development of spoken English by repeating some phrases in English. In these ways children feel fully involved and the needs of all are met.

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

35 The staff expect children to quickly become independent, to collect the resources they need and to take responsibility for their own personal care. Children concentrate well and sustain their interest for increasingly longer amounts of time. They move confidently about the nursery, relating well to all adults. They take turns and share. Many of them demonstrate a mature attitude to their work.

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The very high quality of teaching and learning, alongside a rich, well-planned curriculum,

36 The teaching and provision for these young children is of a very high quality. The planning supports all children’s individual needs. The expectations of the staff are of the highest order and is one of the main reasons why children make such very good progress. The children are managed in a planned unobtrusive way so that they want to learn new things, behave well and feel good about themselves. Through the high quality ongoing assessment, staff know what children need to do next and plan accordingly. The resulting planned activities are of such relevance to the children that they make enormous intellectual, physical and creative efforts to complete them and by so doing make very good progress.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

Camrose Centre for Early Years - 19 37 There are no areas for improvement other than those already identified by the centre in their development plan. These areas are all included in the integrated ‘Educare’ that that the centre is to provide. This is ‘wrap around care for nursery children aged 2 – 4 years, and day-care for babies and toddlers 0 – 2 years. It aims to reduce the percentage of children who live in households where no-one is working, and to provide 100 per cent good quality education and childcare.’ Camrose Centre for Early Years - 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 sessions observed 10 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and children 9

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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 Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor Number 0 9 1 0 0 0 0 Percentag e 0 90 10 0 0 0 0

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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 10 percentage points.

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Children on the school’s roll Nursery Number of children on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time children) 36 Number of full-time children known to be eligible for free school meals N/A

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Special educational needs Nursery Number of children with statements of special educational needs 1 Number of children on the school’s special educational needs register 21

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

English as an additional language No of children Number of children with English as an additional language 11

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of children Children who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 19 Children who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 12 Camrose Centre for Early Years - 21 Camrose Centre for Early Years - 22 Attendance

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Authorised absence Unauthorised absence % % School data N/A School data N/A 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

Teachers and classes Financial information

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Qualified teachers and support staff Financial year 2000/01 Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 3 Number of children per qualified teacher 10.7 £ Total income 377551 Total number of education support staff 12.1 Total expenditure 366215 Total aggregate hours worked per week 451 Expenditure per pupil 8720 Balance brought forward from previous year Number of children per FTE adult 2.1 Balance carried forward to next year 11336 FTE means full-time equivalent.

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 0 Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0 Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0 Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) FTE means full-time equivalent. Camrose Centre for Early Years - 23 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. 11 4 0 0 1

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Behaviour in the school is good. 10 3 0 0 3

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 2 6 1 0 1

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 13 1 0 0 2

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 13 3 0 0 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 11 2 1 0 2

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school works closely with parents. 12 3 0 0 1

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school is well led and managed. 12 3 0 0 1

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 12 2 1 0 1

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 12 2 0 0 2

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Summary of parents’ and carers’ responses

Parents views at the meetings were as positive as those expressed in the questionnaires.

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