Mary Paterson Nursery School

MARY PATERSON NURSERY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: Monday 29 th – Tuesday 30 th April 2002

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MARY PATERSON NURSERY SCHOOL

Inspection number: 244765 Mary Paterson Nursery 2 Short inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 Mary Paterson Nursery 3 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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MARY PATERSON 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.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: 13 Riverton Close Off Ashmore Road London

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Loraine Hancock

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: July 1998 Mary Paterson Nursery 5

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Team members

1569 Michael Hewlett Registered inspector 11084 Jane Hughes Lay inspector

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Team members

Thatchways Elworth Avenue Widnes Cheshire WA8 9JW

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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 Mary Paterson Nursery 6

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT [ 6 ]

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Mary Paterson is an average sized nursery school situated in the London Borough of Westminster. There are 65 children, aged between two and four years old, of whom 35 are girls and 30 are boys. Most attend part-time with 20 staying all day. The majority of children live in the immediate area where there are high levels of deprivation within the local community. The children are taught by four teachers, including the headteacher. In addition, there are two early years educators who work full time. Two learning support assistants, one full time and one part time, are employed to work with children who have special educational needs and another early educator is deployed to provide extra support for children learning English as an additional language. Two more early years educators are employed to work with children who have special educational needs, funded through the borough’s special needs department. Thirteen per cent of the children have been identified as having special

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

educational needs, with the majority having speech and communication difficulties. This is a higher percentage than when the school was last inspected. A much bigger group, 54 per cent, is learning English as an additional language with most at an early stage of language acquisition. The majority languages spoken are Bengali and Arabic but there are fourteen languages represented in total. Children’s attainment on entry to school varies considerably but is below average overall. This is particularly true of their communication skills and their personal, social and emotional development. Protracted building work has had a big impact on the school during this academic year. For most of the year, children were split between two sites and only returned to school in January 2002. The building work has still to be completed.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very good school with some excellent features. Most children are on line to reach the expected standards by the time they leave. The school is very well led and managed, relationships are excellent and the teaching is very good. Children are given an exciting range of activities and they make very good progress during their time in nursery. It provides a very good basis for children’s future learning.

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What the school does well

• Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning • Staff provide children with an exceptional range of activities. Their teaching is very good and often it is excellent • The headteacher provides outstanding leadership and is well supported by key staff. The school is very well managed • Establishes an excellent atmosphere for children's learning and, through this, enhances all aspects of children's personal development

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What could be improved

• Information for parents and communication systems need to be re-established so that they return to their former high quality

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school was last inspected in July 1998. It was a successful inspection and only a small number of issues were identified. The school has continued to make good progress in the intervening years, whilst Mary Paterson Nursery 8 maintaining the high quality provision recognized last time. Sessions are better organised now so the ‘tidy up’ time works well in both the morning and afternoon sessions. The previous inspection indicated that the needs of higher attainers were not always met, particularly in early writing skills and mathematical development. Greater challenge is now provided for the higher attainers with individual learning priorities of all children more closely targeted than before. Some developments have been delayed due to the problems with building work. Communications with parents have been more difficult during this last year because children were housed in different schools and records were not always

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

updated regularly. Now that the school is back to normal these problems are being addressed. Priorities for the future are agreed and clearly understood by all staff and the school is very well placed to build on its current achievements.

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STANDARDS

Children follow the Foundation Stage curriculum which is recommended for both nursery and reception classes. Their early progress through the different stages known as ‘Stepping Stones’ indicates that the majority are on course towards achieving national standards. These are known as the Early Learning Goals which cover the areas of literacy, numeracy, personal development and knowledge and understanding of the world as well as children’s physical and creative development. Children are expected to reach these goals by the end of reception. The standards children reach represent good achievement because most of them arrive in school with standards that are below average for their age. This is particularly true of children’s ability to express themselves in English and in their personal development where their standards are well below what would normally be expected when they start. The very good progress they make in these areas is due to high quality teaching that focuses on

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STANDARDS

improving their skills. It results in most of the children becoming confident and assured, ready to share their views and opinions with others. Most of the activities are led by the children themselves, but the adults who work with them carefully guide their learning so it remains purposeful. Standards improve because children are taught in small groups and because staff carefully identify their individual learning needs so accurately. As a result, they receive just the right level of support. A good example of this is seen in the way children who have special educational needs are integrated into all the classroom activities but encouraged to work at their own level. A high proportion of children are learning English as an additional language and most are at an early stage in this. Nevertheless, because they receive very good teaching from all staff and are encouraged to be confident and try out new words, their

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STANDARDS

skills in English improve quickly. The school checks on standards achieved by different groups and the inspection confirms their findings that there is no significant difference in the attainment of boys and girls or any other groups.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Children are really eager to participate in the many exciting activities planned by staff. Behaviour Excellent. Children know how to behave in different settings and follow the rules very well. Personal development and relationships Relationships are of the highest order. Children are very resourceful and are becoming increasingly independent.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Average. The majority of children arrive on time. Mary Paterson Nursery 9 Children participate with limitless enthusiasm in all areas of school life. They work extremely well with adults and enjoy excellent relationships with the whole community. Their personal development is greatly enhanced as a result.

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Teaching of pupils:

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

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Teaching of pupils:

Teaching is very good overall and often it is excellent. This is an even better picture than when the school was last inspected. A particular strength of the teaching is the exceptionally wide range of interesting and relevant activities that teachers plan for the children. These grab their imagination, keeping them interested and involved. As a result, they learn more quickly and can apply what they have learned in practical situations. For example, a group decided to equip their ‘pirate ship’. They knew that their hammocks would have to be different sizes so they used tape measures to work out how long each one needed to be. Their level of understanding was far greater because the teaching had helped them to use their knowledge of number to solve a problem. The quality of the teaching is consistently very good across all areas of the curriculum. Although children are encouraged to pursue their own interests and become independent learners, staff demand a great deal from them. They are

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Teaching of pupils:

consistently challenged to improve their work, for example, not settling for the first answer or looking at ways they might improve a model they have made. The organization of the teaching groups, where each child is allocated to a key worker, is another factor that supports the high quality teaching. It means that no child can slip through the net or miss out on the support they need. In addition, excellent systems are in place to make sure children’s individual needs are shared with other colleagues who might be working with them during a session. This ensures everyone offers an appropriate level of guidance and knows which activities children should be guided towards. Children who are new to English are helped to access the full curriculum through skilled bilingual support. Similarly, those children who are identified as having special educational needs are very well taught. They have detailed individual education plans which set out clearly what staff and parents want them to achieve.

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Teaching of pupils:

These children are included in all aspects of nursery life and this commitment to the inclusion of all is another outstanding feature of the teaching.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Excellent. The school provides an exceptional range of activities for the children and this helps to develop their early learning.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for children with special educational needs This is a strong feature of the school’s work. Provision is very good because children’s individual needs are carefully assessed and planned for.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for children with English as an additional language Very good systems are in place to identify and then provide for children’s particular needs. Bilingual support is very effective. Mary Paterson Nursery 10 Provision for children’s personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Excellent. Children’s development is particularly noteworthy because staff provide a consistently rich variety of experiences for them.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its children Very good. Staff are extremely sensitive to their needs and make the very best use of information when planning what children should learn next. The school establishes warm relationships with parents and compiles a very strong body of evidence about what each child can do. Some parents feel this information is not updated often enough.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and manage- ment by the headteacher and other key staff The headteacher’s leadership is outstanding. She leads by example and has established a clear educational direction for the school. She is very well supported by the deputy headteacher and the rest of the staff team.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Very good. The governors have no delegated powers, as the local authority is the responsible body. Nevertheless, governors are actively involved in the life and work of the school. They fulfil their role as ‘critical friends’ very effectively.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Very good. The school regularly checks on how successful it has been and is always trying to improve its practice. Outside consultants provide a valuable role in evaluating performance.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Excellent. The school is successful in making sure it gets good value when spending its money and this has resulted in an excellent range of high quality resources.

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Aspect Comment

Staffing levels and accommodation are very good. Resources for learning are excellent and they are very well organised so that children can choose for themselves.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• The school is well led and managed • Children make good progress and the school is well regarded locally • Staff are easy to approach and are very friendly • Children enjoy school and they behave very well while they are there • Children with SEN and those learning English as an additional language are very well supported • Some parents felt they did not receive enough information about children’s progress. They also commented that some individual records were not updated often enough Mary Paterson Nursery 11 Inspection findings confirm the parents’ overwhelmingly positive views. They are very supportive and value what the school has to offer. Nevertheless, inspectors agree that, during this school year there were some difficulties. This was due to the disruption caused by the building work which has meant that, for most of the autumn term, children were relocated to two different sites. Communication

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

systems and access to updated records have suffered as a result. Mary Paterson Nursery 12

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

1. Children of all abilities and from all backgrounds make very good progress during their time at Mary Paterson nursery. In their personal, social and emotional development and in their acquisition of English language skills, they make very good progress. This means the majority are well on target to meet the standards expected within the Early Learning Goals. Indeed, some of the older children are already reaching these levels in some of the areas. Parents are naturally pleased with what their children achieve and with their children’s levels of attainment.

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

2. There are many reasons why the children do so well. They include their very positive attitudes to learning and enthusiasm for what they do, the high quality of the teaching that encourages children to take risks and the exceptional leadership. These key features combine to create an exciting and stimulating environment.

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

3. In personal, social and emotional development, staff insist that children take responsibility for their own learning and their own resources. They are expected to be independent and make choices. Even the very youngest are expected to clear away the equipment that they have used and realize that if they do not it will have an impact on others who want to use it later. This aspect of the school’s work was criticized last time but now it is much better. A very good example of how successful children are in this aspect was seen when one child was reluctant to join in ‘tidying up’. The teacher working with her quietly explained what was expected and found some pens that had not been returned to their basket. At first the girl ignored the requests but the teacher’s persistence and encouragement eventually persuaded her to do as she was asked. She then received praise as she cleared the pens away and what she had achieved was celebrated with the rest of the group. On a later occasion, the

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

same girl was observed organizing her friends in the home corner as they tidied their playthings away. She used the same language that the teacher had used in the previous conversations.

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

4. The majority of children make very good progress in improving language and communication skills. Understandably, this aspect is given a high priority because so many children arrive in school with a limited grasp of English. Staff take every opportunity to improve children’s listening and speaking skills. For example, role-play is used as an excellent vehicle for children to improve their spoken English. One group listened to a story about “Pumpkin Soup” read by an adult. It grabbed their interest and many in the group were able to retell it, some using the same intonation as the adult. Others found this more difficult and needed extra support so that they could take part in the discussion. Nevertheless, they played a full and active part in the session, deciding how to place in order the pictures that represented the story and then engaged enthusiastically in the play that followed. Higher attainers worked happily

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

alongside those who struggled with their English as they described the events in the story in much more detail with one boy commenting “that picture definitely goes there because that’s the start of the story. I’m certain because I listened carefully”.

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

5. Most children are developing a good understanding of number and are especially good at applying what they know in practical situations. Measuring each other to find out how long their hammock needed to be was just one example of this. Children talked confidently about the shape they needed to create and why one girl’s hammock needed to be longer. “She’s much taller than me so we need more space for her. That piece won’t be long enough!” Another group talked confidently about the size and shape of water containers as they played with them. They organised the containers according to size and then worked out how much more water would be needed to fill them. Mary Paterson Nursery 13 6. An outstanding feature of the school is the way the rich cultural diversity of the local community is celebrated through its work. Children have begun to understand many of the features of the world around them. For example, they use a map of the world which is on display in one of the classrooms to

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

show the countries where many of their families originate. Many are beginning to show an understanding of their culture and that of some of their classmates. They talk happily about family events such as a new baby due to arrive at home and how they will help to look after it. Children’s ability to design and make models is very good. They are able to use tools safely to create objects that they have seen in reference books or that are part of their current topic. Two boys made a wooden sword, “just like that Captain Hook had”. They used a hacksaw to cut the wood to the correct length and then joined the pieces together, carefully hammering nails into the exact spots that they had agreed on. They kept offering each other advice and showed good levels of maturity as they checked and re- checked that the finished product met their exacting specification.

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

7. Children make good progress in improving their creative skills. They make sensible choices as they decide what materials they should use, as they create their own collage pictures. Similarly, most are very accomplished as they roll dough into bread shapes, deciding between themselves which would the best shape to use if they had to sell them. Children know a good range of songs and are keen to join in. They are enthusiastic in their singing, often combining some songs they know with number rhymes which helps them to apply their mathematical knowledge.

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

8. All aspects of physical development are well represented within the curriculum and children make good progress in this area too. The quality of their work in the outdoor area is particularly good. They make excellent use of it, moving around with good co-ordination skills and recognizing the need to share the space with others. The exciting range of activities provides a stimulating environment in which to learn. For example, children helped to design a pulley system complete with string and a bucket attached to one end. This enabled them to ‘haul on board’ - the supplies that they needed on their ‘pirate ship’. Because they are used to working in this way, children are very proficient at using tools and equipment. They take it for granted that if they need to build something then they choose suitable tools and equipment and start to organize it for themselves. A good example of this was seen in the way they made the weapons they thought pirates might need to keep themselves safe if they

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Enables children to make very good progress and achieve well in all areas of learning

reached a desert island. They selected what they needed to use without reference to adults, took responsibility for their own learning and showed very good levels of independence.

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

9. The quality of teaching was judged to be very good during the last inspection. These high standards have been maintained and built on. There is now a much higher proportion of excellent teaching. All practitioners provide children with a rich diet of activities which ensures they are given the full range of entitlement to the Foundation Stage curriculum.

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

10. The school bases its work on first hand experiences and aims to provide children with a range of skills and opportunities that will support a growing independence. Staff make learning fun. For example, different groups of children make a weekly visit to a variety of local places of interest. Working with staff, they make a video recording of their trip which is then shared with the rest of the children in nursery. This then becomes the focus of activities for the forthcoming week. A good example of this was seen during the inspection. A group had visited the ‘Cutty Sark’ and then gone on a river cruise. They brought the information and film back to nursery and shared it with their classmates. A theme of ‘Pirates’ became the focus of the week and this really fired children’s imagination as they relived the sailor’s life and recreated scenes from the past. Staff work very hard to organise an exceptional range of activities, many linked to the topic that encourage children to learn

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

Mary Paterson Nursery 14 new skills. Because staff work so closely together, there is a consistency about their approach to teaching that helps children feel secure and results in teaching of such high quality.

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

11. Another feature of the high quality teaching is the way in which all staff are prepared to take risks and try out new ideas. They refuse to settle for second best and are always striving to improve their practice. An excellent example of this was seen towards the end of the inspection. Children had shown a great interest in the kind of food that sailors might eat and how it could be cooked. Adults encouraged children to use reference books to find out the information and they talked animatedly about what they needed to do. It was agreed that fish would be an important part of the sailor’s diet and that it would be probably be cooked on an open fire, “because they didn’t have ovens or microwaves in those days and they needed something hot”, said one girl. The conversation then centred on how heating food brought about many changes, comparing it to other materials such as metals and the way they responded to heat. When the teaching is so practically based and so

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

immediate, with adults responding to situations and being adaptable, children learn far more quickly.

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

12. In all their work, staff demonstrate very high levels of subject knowledge, excellent questioning techniques and a clear understanding of how young children learn. They use open ended questions such as “What do you think is happening?” and “What would happen if … ?” Very good examples of these approaches were seen during story sessions. Children listened to a story and then retold it using models of animals to recreate the scene. The adult working with them asked challenging questions that made them think and extended their understanding, making good links with other stories they might know. She would not settle for their first answer and asked them to explain what they meant.

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

13. The excellent resources and accommodation are strengths of the school and staff make very good use of them to improve their teaching. The outside areas, including the garden and the climbing apparatus, are exceptional and are consistently harnessed by staff to provide a wider curriculum. For example, they encourage children to observe closely and then talk about what they have seen, discussing changes they have spotted since they last explored this part of the school. Such imaginative use of the school’s facilities keeps children interested and keeps them actively involved. They really enjoy their work, finding these activities stimulating and exciting. For example, one group noticed that snails had started to move around in the compost. The adult working with them asked why this might be a good place for snails to live and the discussion extended to other living things and what was needed to remain healthy and survive. Children were able to bring their own experiences of animals

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

and pets to the discussion and thus add to the relevance and the immediacy of the situation. The indoor learning environment is of a similarly high standard. It is rich, attractive and exceptionally well cared for.

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

14. All groups of children within the school are equally well taught. This is because the staff identify their needs early on and then track their individual progress. A feature of the teaching is the way in which the success of each activity and children’s response to it is carefully evaluated. As a result, little escapes the staff as far as children’s curriculum needs are concerned. Some very good examples of this were seen in the way in which higher attainers are given more challenging activities when they have completed a task so that their work is not too easy. These decisions are carefully planned by staff so that the pace of children’s learning suits their needs. Similarly, children who have special educational needs are very well taught. They each have a detailed plan which sets out targets for them to work towards. All staff contribute to these plans when organising activities and regular meetings

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

are held to ensure that suitable progress is being made and children are making the most of opportunities on offer. In all their work, staff set tasks that build children's confidence and encourage them to take on new challenges. This is especially important, as so many children are new to English. The tasks on offer take full account of children’s knowledge, understanding and abilities but equally important is the way staff work hard to raise confidence and self esteem. For example, during a role- Mary Paterson Nursery 15 play activity, one girl who had little English was closely supported by a bilingual assistant who made sure she was able to take a full and active part in the play with other children who had better language skills. The adult working with her showed great patience and supported her attempts to try some of the words she knew. The adult offered ideas and suggestions but did not offer solutions. The girl

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Staff provide an exceptional range of activities for the children and teaching is very good

persevered and took a full part as she and her friends recreated a scene from home. Because the adult guided and supported the learning so well, language skills improved and the child took a great pride in what she had achieved.

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school is very well managed

15. The headteacher has shown outstanding leadership and vision in guiding the school since her appointment. The school has faced huge challenges during this academic year brought about by the building work. It is a mark of the headteacher’s good management that throughout this period, high quality nursery provision has been sustained.

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school is very well managed

16. There is a belief within the school that every child can succeed. The leadership of the headteacher makes sure that this aim is delivered in practice and that children are known as individuals. She has a clear vision for the future direction of the school, putting the wellbeing of children and their achievements first. She is exceptionally well supported by the deputy headteacher. Both are outstanding teachers and, together, they lead colleagues by example. All colleagues show a high level of commitment to raising standards and improving children’s skills. A good example of this was seen during the brief team meetings held each day. The headteacher is very skilful in chairing these meetings, making sure that no time is wasted and that the focus is on the needs of individual children. All staff contribute and agreements are made about the areas that children need to experience and observations that should be made about how well they do. It is apparent just how much knowledge

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school is very well managed

they have when they describe their plans for the day, for example, one member of staff said, “I think this boy needs to be persuaded to practise his language skills much more during this morning; it seems as though he has been coasting. Can we all be aware of this, provide more opportunities and then record any observations of what he achieves?” Such detailed knowledge and regular monitoring of each child contributes to the very good progress they make.

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school is very well managed

17. Despite its success and high profile within the local community, there is no sense of complacency found anywhere within the school. Staff are constantly reviewing their practice, looking at ways in which they can improve and are prepared to take advice from a variety of sources. For example, the headteacher observes teaching and provides each member of staff with constructive feedback. In addition, external consultants and advisers are used effectively to support and evaluate the work of the school. This helps to ensure that staff keep abreast of current developments in early years education and that monitoring arrangements of their practice is rigorous. This was apparent in the way a recent training day was successfully used to reconfirm the school’s aims and philosophy as well as drawing up an honest assessment of those areas that the school needed to address. These included re– establishing information and record keeping systems that had inevitably been adversely affected during

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school is very well managed

the autumn term when the children and staff were relocated to two different sites.

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school is very well managed

18. These external evaluations are complemented by an excellent school development plan. It sets out clearly what the school hopes to achieve for its children and, because it focuses on the right priorities, it has a direct impact on the school's success. All staff and governors contribute to the plan knowing that their views and opinions will be valued and listened to. Governors play an active part in the life of the school. Individual members visit regularly, are valuable advocates working on behalf of the school and have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Mary Paterson Nursery 16 19. Analysing its own performance and checking on the progress made by individuals and groups of children are other areas that the school successfully addresses. By doing this throughout the year, it identifies early on those children who might need extra support and who, potentially, could

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school is very well managed

underachieve. Staff then use their regular meetings to organize, at an individual level, activities which help these children to improve their skills. For example, they target those groups who need intensive language support or pick out children who need to be given tasks that are more demanding so that their interest can be sustained.

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The school establishes an excellent atmosphere for children's learning and, through this,

enhances all aspects of children’s personal development.

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The school establishes an excellent atmosphere for children's learning and, through this,

20. Committed and enthusiastic staff make this an exciting place for children to come to every day. An unusually strong sense of community exists between children, staff and parents, a testament to the extraordinary energy levels shown by adults as they create a multitude of stimulating learning experiences for children to enjoy. Staff play to the school’s strengths; in particular, they ensure that they wring every last learning opportunity from the garden area. This is a veritable wonderland for the children who effortlessly live up to the expectations of the staff who work with them. They are encouraged to work co-operatively in most things and never more so than when role-playing a part of ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’. Children took turns to choose what to put in the wicker basket and then worked as a team to pull it across ‘the sea’ to the lighthouse using a pulley system of ropes. Of

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The school establishes an excellent atmosphere for children's learning and, through this,

course, they loved this and were even able to taste the different foods and to decide if they liked them or not – even the mustard sandwiches.

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The school establishes an excellent atmosphere for children's learning and, through this,

21. There is a great sense of fun, coupled with significant levels of trust in the staff, in all areas of the school. This enables children to make the most of each day at the school and to learn to appreciate the beauty and wonder of the world around them. A remarkable example of staff and children embracing such a golden opportunity came during a torrential afternoon downpour. Children and adults participated in a ‘barbecue’ session, where the children were able to help light a fire of twigs, keep it going in the pouring rain, recap on the different types of fish they had bought that morning and discuss how the fishmonger removed the scales. They watched in fascination as the flames flickered in the wind and the fish sizzled in the rain until ready to eat. Many children were eager to answer questions and to talk about the red snapper and mackerel they were cooking.

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The school establishes an excellent atmosphere for children's learning and, through this,

22. Throughout, the teacher talked to the children and asked them questions, letting them participate and extending their personal development and their knowledge and understanding of the world. Above all, she made the learning such fun and treated them with respect and affection so that they participated in a memorable afternoon together.

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The school establishes an excellent atmosphere for children's learning and, through this,

23. The school enables children to visit a large number of culturally diverse settings during the year as it organises weekly trips around London. These broaden and diversify the curriculum offered to children and help them and their families to understand that all traditions have a right to be respected. Staff make certain that the school caters for all the children. Guided by the very clear vision of the headteacher and her deputy, every aspect of the school’s provision adds to each individual child’s personal development which is of the highest order.

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return to their former high quality

Mary Paterson Nursery 17 24. This is a school committed to working in partnership with parents at every level to ensure the active involvement of each parent in their child’s progress. Staff work hard to establish good relationships with parents who greatly value the school and the very positive impact it has on their children’s development. Home visits provide an effective introduction to the school and the interesting weekly newsletters provide daily breakdowns of what is happening in school; as a result, parents are able to support their children’s learning better. Parents attend weekly meetings on topics they choose and they also attend termly curriculum evenings. Care is taken by staff to ensure that parents from different cultural backgrounds can access a meeting relevant to their particular circumstances.

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return to their former high quality

25. The long term building work, which is still unfinished, has created a huge impact on many aspects of home school links. Children were split between two different school sites for four months and the work has been behind schedule for a significant period of time. This has prevented key workers from being in regular contact with their group; it delayed the new intake of children until October 2001. It is unsurprising that communication with parents, particularly about their children’s progress, suffered during this protracted period. As a result, some parents were unsure about the progress their children were making because individual records had not been updated as regularly as usual.

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return to their former high quality

26. The headteacher and staff are keenly aware that some aspects of communication with parents have suffered during this time of transition. All the available evidence during the inspection points towards a renewed effort to re-establish the pre-existing very good links with parents and carers. The newly built parent and community room has the potential to play a significant part in this process and is an excellent resource.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

1) Re-establish information systems and links with parents and carers so that they are kept fully informed about the work of the school and the progress their children are making. This will involve updating children's records more regularly and making sure they are readily available for parents to view.

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 12

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

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 five percentage points

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Information about the school’s pupils

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

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 13

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Information about the school’s pupils

FTE means full-time equivalent. ( only 20 pupils attend full time so the figure shown represents the number of full time children who are eligible for free school meals)

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 3

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 14

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 35

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 4

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 4 Mary Paterson Nursery 19

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff Financial year 2001

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 4

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 12 £

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 6.5 Total expenditure 264714

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 250 Expenditure per pupil 6618

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance brought forward from previous year 20753

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per FTE adult 8 Balance carried forward to next year 11673

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 1.0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 2.0

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Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

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

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Recruitment of teachers

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

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Recruitment of teachers

FTE means full-time equivalent. Mary Paterson Nursery 20

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Questionnaire return rate

Percentage of responses in each category

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Questionnaire return rate

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

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Questionnaire return rate

My child is making good progress in school. 53 35 11

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Questionnaire return rate

Behaviour in the school is good. 73 24 4

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Questionnaire return rate

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 28 24 5 4 39

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Questionnaire return rate

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 58 33 7 2

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Questionnaire return rate

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 73 20 7

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Questionnaire return rate

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 48 35 2 15

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Questionnaire return rate

The school works closely with parents. 60 36 4

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Questionnaire return rate

The school is well led and managed. 64 33 2

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Questionnaire return rate

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 57 36 7

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Questionnaire return rate

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 50 27 5 18 George Dent Nursery - 21

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