Hornsea Nursery School

HORNSEA NURSERY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 3 rd & 4 th May 2005

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HORNSEA NURSERY SCHOOL

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

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HORNSEA 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. Hornsea Nursery School i

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Nursery School category: Maintained Age range of pupils: 3 to 4 years Gender of pupils: Mixed Number on roll: 118 part-time (59 FTE)

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Telephone number: 01964 534396 Fax number: 01964 534396

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body Name of chair of governors: Cllr Mrs B Y Jefferson JP

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 28 th June 1999

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

• The school caters for children aged three and four. Currently there are 118 on roll: 62 boys and 56 girls, all of whom attend on a part-time basis. Generally, morning sessions cater for the older children and afternoon sessions for the younger ones. • Children join the Nursery on a termly basis and also leave on a termly basis. They spend five terms in the Nursery, then transfer to a primary school to complete their Foundation Stage with one, two or three terms in a Reception class. The time they spend in Reception depends on their age: the youngest group have only one term. • Ten children have special educational needs. Of those, the needs of five are more severe, and one of the five has a statement. The needs of the five children include speech and communication difficulty, autism and global developmental delay. • No children have English as an additional language. • There are three children in public care.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

• Attainment on entry to the school is broadly average. • The school is involved in the Teaching Children Talking Project. Hornsea Nursery School ii

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities 25470 J Morley Lead inspector The Foundation Stage

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

9333 K Schofield Lay inspector 29188 G Ulyatt Team inspector The Foundation Stage

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

20038 G Watson Team inspector The Foundation Stage Special educational needs

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be made initially to the inspection contractor. The procedures are set out in the leaflet ‘Complaining about Ofsted Inspections’ , which is available from Ofsted Publications Centre (telephone 07002 637833) or Ofsted’s website (www.oftsed.gov.uk). Hornsea Nursery School iii

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED BY PUPILS 3

Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL 5

Teaching and learning The curriculum Care, guidance and support Partnership with parents, other schools and the community

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OVERALL EVALUATION

Provision at Hornsea Nursery is satisfactory with some good features. Children make adequate progress overall during the five terms they spend at the school, although there are significant differences across the six areas of learning: they achieve well in two, satisfactorily in three and underachieve in one. Children behave very well and have a real interest in learning – two key features that fit them well for their next stage in education. Children with special educational needs (SEN) achieve well because of the very good quality support they receive. Standards of care are very good. Teaching, learning, leadership and management are all satisfactory.

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The school’s main strengths and weaknesses are:

• Children achieve well in the personal, social, emotional and physical aspects of their development. • Children underachieve in the development of early reading, writing and calculation skills. • Children’s attitudes to school are very good, as is their behaviour. • Provision for children with SEN is very good. • Too frequently, the staff’s daily planning focuses on what children are to ‘do’ rather than on what they should ‘learn’. • The school’s response to assessment information is unsatisfactory. • Children are cared for very well. • There are very good links with the local community.

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The school’s main strengths and weaknesses are:

The school has successfully tackled the four key issues identified in the previous report: more careful monitoring of teachers’ work, greater consistency of approach, better use of computers and the introduction of performance management for teachers. Children’s very good behaviour and attitudes have been maintained. Provision for physical development has improved, but elements of mathematical development and language development are less effective now than they were in 1999. Overall, therefore, improvement has been satisfactory.

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

Children achieve satisfactorily overall. They enter the Nursery with skills and aptitudes that broadly match those of children of a similar age nationally. Thereafter, their progress is uneven across the six areas of learning. They achieve well in personal, social and emotional development, and in the development of physical skills. Achievement is satisfactory in creative development, in knowledge and understanding of the world, and in most aspects of mathematical development. However, achievement in the calculation element of mathematics and in early reading and writing skills is inadequate because the school’s expectations of what children can achieve are not high enough. In the areas where achievement is good, children are likely to exceed the national expectations of five-year-olds. Where achievement is satisfactory, they are likely to meet those expectations. Where achievement is unsatisfactory, they are unlikely to reach them.

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Provision for children’s personal qualities, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural

development, is good. Children behave very well and have equally good attitudes to the experiences on offer. There is a friendly atmosphere in the school, and children clearly feel at ease with all adults. They get on amicably with each other and are becoming increasingly independent. Hornsea Nursery School 2

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The quality of education provided by the school is satisfactory. The quality of teaching is

satisfactory overall, although all adults possess intrinsically good teaching skills. These shine through in their relationships with children and, as a result, have a particularly positive impact on their personal, social and emotional development. Teachers are less effective at developing children’s early reading, writing and calculation skills. This is partly because staff sometimes base their planning around an activity rather than focusing on what they want children to learn. It is also because, in some aspects of provision, they expect too little of children. In these aspects, children achieve too little during their five terms in the Nursery. This weakness is crucial, especially for the youngest children (those with birthdays in April to August inclusive), because the time they spend in the Nursery accounts for five of the six terms of their entire Foundation Stage experience. The school collects extensive and very accurate information about children’s attainment and

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The quality of education provided by the school is satisfactory. The quality of teaching is

achievement across all six areas of learning. The results are recorded systematically, but limited action ensues. This is unacceptable, particularly because differences in achievement between different strands of learning are so marked, and yet are not being picked up and acted upon.

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The quality of education provided by the school is satisfactory. The quality of teaching is

The curriculum is satisfactory. It is broad, but there is some lack of balance between the six areas of learning. Accommodation and resources are good overall, and the outdoor accommodation is very good: spacious, well equipped and suitable for activities linked to each area of learning. It is a shame, therefore, that children do not have free access to it: the area is used for 45 minutes in each 150-minute Nursery session. Children are cared for very well. This is evident in the easy relationships with adults and the speed with which they settle at school. Links with parents are satisfactory and those with the community are very good.

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LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher oversees a Nursery in which children feel safe, secure and happy, and achieve well in all elements of their personal and physical development. She acknowledges the need to use assessment information more effectively and to raise expectations of children in other areas of learning. She recognises the important part that good teamwork will play in achieving these goals. Governance is satisfactory. Governors fulfil all of their statutory duties and talk accurately about the strengths of the school. They are not aware of the areas in which children are underachieving.

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PARENTS’ AND PUPILS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

Questionnaire responses show that parents think well of the school and feel that their children enjoy their time in the Nursery and achieve well. Although mainly justified, there is some need for the school to raise children’s achievement in the development of early reading, writing and calculation skills. Children settle rapidly and come happily to school.

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The most important things the school should do to improve are:

• Raise expectations of what children can achieve in reading, writing and calculation. • Ensure that planning focuses on what children are to learn during the time allocated to an activity. • Respond more rapidly and effectively to the information generated by assessment. Hornsea Nursery School 3

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Standards achieved in areas of learning

Children achieve satisfactorily overall, although there is a significant variation across the six areas of learning. In some areas children are well on course to exceed the standards expected by the end of the Foundation Stage, while in others they are falling short of doing so.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Children achieve well in personal, social and emotional development, and in physical development. • Children do not achieve well enough in the acquisition of early reading, writing and calculation skills.

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Commentary

1. When children join the Nursery their skills and aptitudes are close to those usually found in children of a similar age. During their time in the Nursery they make variable progress along the ‘stepping stones’ towards the goals that they should reach by the end of the Reception Year in the school to which they transfer. They achieve well in the personal, social, emotional and physical aspects of their development, and are on track to exceed the goals expected nationally of children aged five. They do not achieve well enough in the development of early reading, writing and calculation skills, and are likely to fall short of those goals. Achievement in other aspects of mathematical development, in creative development and in their knowledge and understanding of the world, is satisfactory. In these areas children are likely to meet the standards expected.

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Commentary

2. Children join the Nursery in the term in which they will be three and transfer to the Reception class in their next school in the term prior to their fifth birthday. Hence, children spend five terms in this nursery school, and these are followed by one, two or three terms in Reception, depending on when their birthday falls. The youngest children spend five of the six terms of the Foundation Stage in this school; for the oldest it is five terms out of eight. While the system itself disadvantages some children, the school’s practice in the areas in which its provision is weak adds to this because it leaves a disproportionate amount of work to be covered by the receiving school.

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Commentary

3. The organisation of the curriculum successfully places a great deal of emphasis on encouraging high standards of behaviour and positive attitudes to school. Relationships between children and adults are warm and, as a result, children achieve well in personal, social and emotional development. They do not always develop their independent skills to the full because, on occasions, adults are too eager to tidy up after children, and children are frequently denied the choice of using the outside area. Hence, they do not develop their independent skills to the full.

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Commentary

4. Achievement in communication, language and literacy is inadequate overall despite some impressive work linked to the Teaching Children Talking Project. The weakness lies in the development of early reading and writing skills. For example, children typically transfer to Reception having achieved just three or four of the nine ‘stepping stones’ in each aspect. The Nursery environment is noticeably short on print in enticing and attractive formats. Because children are not in a ‘print rich’ environment, their early reading and writing skills are slow to develop. Hornsea Nursery School 4 5. Achievement in mathematical development is satisfactory overall, but weak in the calculation strand where children transfer to their new school having typically met just two or three of the nine ‘stepping stones’. Given the ratio of time spent in the Nursery as opposed to Reception, this rate of progress is unacceptable. As is the case with early reading and writing, children have inadequate

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Commentary

exposure to the kind of experiences that would enable them to acquire these skills. There is a noticeable absence, for example, of tactile numbers, letters or words in the Nursery.

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Commentary

6. Children achieve adequately in their knowledge and understanding of the world and in creative development. They achieve well in physical development, particularly because of the quality of the outside environment and of its resources.

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Commentary

7. Several children in the Nursery have SEN. The amount of one-to-one support for these children is generous and the quality of it is very good. As a result, they achieve well in relation to their capacity to do so.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities

Attitudes to learning are very good. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms, is very good. Relationships throughout the school are very good. Children’s personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Parents make a satisfactory effort to ensure attendance of their children.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Children learn to behave well because all adults have consistently high expectations. • Children enjoy coming to school, and relationships between all members of the school community are very good. • Children benefit from working with several adults while having one in particular to whom they relate closely.

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Commentary

8. Adults in school have high expectations of behaviour and provide very good role models in their dealings with children and each other. As a result, children develop a very clear understanding of what is expected of them; their reactions are polite and responsive. Relationships are very good; this results in cooperative working and helps children to develop friendships. In turn, the high quality of children’s behaviour contributes to their very good attitudes to learning. They concentrate well and show eagerness when responding to the teachers’ questions. They are happy when working either independently or as a member of a group, and they are very interested and involved in all activities.

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Commentary

9. Children are clearly excited at coming to school and settle in quickly. They like being part of the school community and enjoy the many activities that encourage the development of a more mature character. Children are very well supported, and each of them is fully included in the learning that takes place. All children work in groups and have a designated adult to help them. Although they interact with all adults in class, they know that there is a particular person to whom they can relate and seek help from.

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Commentary

10. Those children who have SEN sometimes rely on the help of an adult to complete activities. This help is always to hand and, as a result, these children are encouraged to make some choices and gain in independence. For example, some children receive help from a teacher who is a specialist speech therapist. As a result, children in the group become more confident. Hornsea Nursery School 5 11. Teachers value children’s ideas and provide very good opportunities for them to reflect, use their imaginations and develop their spiritual awareness. For example, the school has a scheme called ‘Think of Each Other’, which encourages children to be considerate to one another. The caring attitude extends to other less fortunate people through the children’s enthusiastic involvement with charitable causes, such as the Meningitis Trust. Children have a good sense of what is right and wrong. They are confident socially: inquisitive but polite and courteous.

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Commentary

Throughout the inspection, children were seen to be respectful and kind to others. They willingly help each other to tidy up after classroom and playground activities. Their understanding of different cultures is good because the school celebrates different festivals during the course of the year, as is shown in a wonderful collection of photographs.

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL

The quality of education provided by the school is satisfactory. While adults have good, basic teaching skills, the weak quality of planning in some of the six areas militates against good learning. Accommodation is good overall, and outside it is very good. Resources are good. The curriculum is satisfactory. Care, guidance and support are very good. The partnership with parents is sound. Links with the community are very good and those with other schools are satisfactory.

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Teaching and learning

Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Assessment information is good but inadequate use is made of it.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Work linked to the Teaching Children Talking Project is of very good quality, and the less able children benefit greatly from it. • Teachers are good at establishing very good relationships, behaviour and attitudes amongst the children. • Planning is weak when it focuses on activities rather than on what children should learn. • Good assessment information is gathered, but the use made of it is unsatisfactory.

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Commentary

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection in 14 lessons Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very poor 0 1 8 5 0 0 0 The table gives the number of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

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Commentary

12. The quality of teaching observed ranged from very good to satisfactory, but was predominantly of good quality. This is a fair reflection of the skills of the adults who work in the Nursery. Overall, however, the quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory rather than good because there are two weak features in provision that are not always evident in individual sessions.

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Commentary

13. Firstly, in ‘focused time’, some adults plan ‘activities’ for children, rather than having as the focus of their planning what it is that they want children to learn. As a result, children are sometimes not told the purpose of the activity, or what it is that their teacher wants them to know, understand or be able to do at the end of the session that they couldn’t do at the beginning. As well as limiting their opportunities to ‘help’ in their own learning, not knowing the purpose of a task sometimes limits the time they want to spend on it. This was the case, for example, when they had a large lump of clay with which to work, without adequate discussion about what the possible outcomes might be, or what skills could be developed while the clay was being worked. Hornsea Nursery School 6 14. Relationships between adults in the Nursery appear relaxed and warm, and children are at ease with them. This lays the foundation for the very good child/adult relationships that exist and

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Commentary

establishes an environment in which children are keen to learn. Adults have consistently high expectations of children’s behaviour. As a result, the children behave very well and concentrate hard for a significant period of time. Some older children, for example, sustained their concentration for 30 minutes while matching a range of two-dimensional shapes presented to them in a variety of colours, sizes and orientations.

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Commentary

15. The best teaching was seen in a small group session linked to the Teaching Children Talking Project. The adult who led the session had created her own good quality resources. She led the session at a brisk pace, and the children were excited and interested throughout.

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Commentary

16. Children with SEN are supported very well. One-to-one support is of very good quality, and those working with an adult in a group have activities that are well matched to their stage of development.

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Commentary

17. The school gathers good quality assessment information and records it systematically in individual profiles. When children transfer to their new school, the information is collated and a summary is forwarded with the child. During their time in the Nursery, however, there is no ‘at a glance’ overview of the achievements of the children. This makes it difficult for the headteacher or staff to see the ‘big assessment picture’ on an on-going basis and to act upon it. The lack of such information has meant that the very significant difference between achievement across the six areas of learning (and, to some extent, between strands within them) has not been acted upon from the collated data. Hence, although collection and recording systems are good, the action taken as a result is unsatisfactory. It has allowed underachievement in reading, writing and calculation to continue for too long. For example, the differences were clear in the data collated in July 2004 and

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The curriculum

The curriculum is satisfactory. It is broad and is adequately supported by visits and visitors. Accommodation and resources are good.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Provision for children with SEN is very good. • ‘Celebration weeks’ enhance children’s understanding of other cultures. • A strategy to promote children’s talking skills has been successfully incorporated into the curriculum. • The internal accommodation is good, and outside it is very good. • The very good outdoor accommodation is not being used to its full potential. • Some elements of communication, language and literacy, and mathematical development, are not developed in line with others.

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Commentary

18. Provision for children with SEN is very good, as is the support they receive. Teachers and support staff are well qualified and give individual children all the help and support they need. They have resources that are appropriate, including information and communication technology (ICT) resources such as touch-screen technology that does not demand mouse or keyboard skills, and simple control devices that develop fine motor skills and a sense of manipulation and direction. A small number of higher achieving children are given more challenging work in discrete groups, particularly in communication, language and literacy, and mathematical development. Hornsea Nursery School 7 19. There are times when the curriculum is ‘suspended’: when special events and celebrations from different faiths and cultures become the focus. These are the ‘celebration weeks’ during which all areas of learning are planned, in workshop style, to contribute to the theme, such as Diwali and

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Commentary

the Chinese New Year. This is distinct from the regular topic approach and contributes well to children’s spiritual and cultural development.

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Commentary

20. With the help of the local authority’s speech therapy department, a member of staff has received extensive training in the implementation of a strategy to enhance children’s communication and personal development. She works with a small group of children from each session, morning and afternoon and has given training to support staff so that the targeted children receive three sessions each week. Assessment of the children’s progress shows that one of the benefits of the strategy is that their self-esteem has improved through their ability to communicate their own success.

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Commentary

21. The teaching and learning resources are good. The internal accommodation is good and the outside accommodation is very good. At present, the outside curriculum is not sufficiently developed to provide spontaneous and extended access for children in all areas of their learning and aspects of their development. However, the school has identified this shortfall and is eager to receive guidance to correct it.

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Commentary

22. In the area of communication, language and literacy, children’s reading and writing skills are less well promoted. Children’s mathematical development does not include sufficient emphasis on calculation skills.

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Care, guidance and support

The school’s procedures for the care, welfare, health and safety of the children are very good. The support and guidance given to all children is very good. Children have a very good and trusting relationship with at least one adult in the Nursery.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pastoral care is very good, and the school makes good provision for the social needs of families. • Procedures for children’s induction into the school are very good. • Children have well-documented records of achievement.

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Commentary

23. The school is committed to providing very good pastoral care. Staff are accessible and responsive to children’s needs. There are very good procedures in place for the welfare of the whole-school community, including all aspects of health and safety, such as risk assessment. The school makes excellent provision for first aid treatment because all staff are trained for medical emergencies.

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Commentary

24. The school has made secure safety provision for the times when parents leave their children at school and come to collect them. Adults who work in school routinely check that children are brought safely into school, and only a known adult collects children at the end of the school session. During the time when children are in class, the outside door is securely locked.

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Commentary

25. There are very good arrangements for induction into the Nursery which enable children to settle into the school routine. The Home/School Liaison Officer provides children and their families with a high level of support by making home visits as well offering subsequent visits during school holidays. This is aimed at building positive relationships by having a better understanding of the children. Senior staff at the school believe that this arrangement has been particularly successful with the few parents who have taken up the offer. Hornsea Nursery School 8 26. Each child has a record of achievement comprising samples of work that they have completed. The children who are able to do so write their name on their work. Teachers or their assistants put the name and date on the work for the other children. The records show the attainment of children at ‘landmarks’ in learning through the ‘stepping stones’ and form the basis of

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Commentary

teachers’ assessment for planning learning targets. The record of achievement also helps with the report used when children transfer to their next stage of education in the primary school. When it comes to meetings between parents and teachers, the record provides a very practical demonstration of achievement. Children’s record of achievement is regarded as their own property and, typically, they take great care of it.

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Commentary

27. There are very good procedures for the identification and assessment of children with SEN, and detailed individual plans are written to ensure that they make good progress.

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Partnership with parents, other schools and the community

The school’s partnerships with parents and other schools are satisfactory. Links with the community are very good.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The school is well supported by the local community. • Good mechanisms are in place for the transfer of children to primary education. • The school is developing ways of increasing consultation with parents.

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Commentary

28. Links with the local community are well established and make a very effective contribution to the learning opportunities that can be offered to the children. For example, as the school photograph album shows, children found the visit from the fire service exciting as well as educational. The school values its local community and sees this as a helpful resource to add interest to children’s learning and help them to achieve more. The school has benefited from generous sponsorship from the proceeds of the Hornsea Carnival, and Hornsea Lions funded the installation of a hut in the playground.

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Commentary

29. There are good links with the two primary schools to which children transfer for their next stage of education. The great majority of children migrate to the adjacent primary school, where a good relationship is known to exist. A comprehensive report is prepared for each individual child. Hornsea Nursery School is closely involved with other Nursery schools and primary schools in the area that support each other very well. The school also works well with colleges and secondary schools by providing work placements for students. The students not only gain experience but also provide an additional resource to help in the school.

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Commentary

30. The school has a declared aim of consulting parents on matters such as providing more information on how to help children at home. At the start of each term, a display about what their children will be learning is provided on the school notice board near the entrance to the school. Parents receive a written report on their child's progress in the term prior to transfer to primary school. Verbal reports are given at parent/teacher consultation evenings which are held each term.

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Commentary

31. Parents seen during the inspection were quite content with the school and know that their children are happy in school. However, there is not a great deal of parental involvement. For instance, only two parents, from the same family, attended the pre-inspection meeting for parents. Although only five parents come into school on a regular basis, there are always willing helpers when the need arises. For example, one mother has made curtains and another parent gave up two days of his time to paint the benches in the playground. Hornsea Nursery School 9

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LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. The governance of the school is satisfactory. The leadership and management of the headteacher are satisfactory.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The management of SEN provision is very good. • There is a commitment to inclusion that is shared by all adults in the school. • The deployment of support staff is good. • There is a thorough assessment system, but insufficient use is made of the data to raise standards. • The strategic plan for the school’s development is good in principle, but does not include costings.

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Commentary

32. The views of the governors in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of the school match those of the headteacher. In terms of how well the children achieve, their views are not wholly accurate. Governors are aware of what the school does well, but have an inadequate understanding of some areas requiring improvement. They meet regularly either as sub-committees or as a whole governing body and discuss planned action fully: nothing goes through ‘on the nod’. They fulfil all of their statutory duties.

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Commentary

33. The needs of children with SEN are very high on the agendas of all staff and are evident in most aspects of the school’s provision. The headteacher, who is the special educational needs co- ordinator (SENCO), values the support and guidance available from a range of external agencies and uses them effectively to ensure that she and her colleagues can be ready to meet the needs of children joining school. Support staff are deployed effectively in helping individuals to take part in learning activities both in groups and in one-to-one support sessions, and to achieve well. Teachers and support staff work together closely and share a clear understanding of the progress made by children with SEN. This promotes a team ethos in school.

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Commentary

34. The priorities of the school improvement plan have been identified from a scrutiny of the progress made in achieving the developments of the previous plan and from feedback from colleagues who have responsibility for specific aspects of the curriculum. In this area too, the school takes advantage of advice from outside agencies and officers of the local education authority. However, too little account is taken of the results of their accurate and thorough assessments in specific areas of learning, including the skills of reading, writing and calculating.

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Commentary

35. The current school improvement plan does not include estimated costs of any of its priorities. Whilst the management of a devolved budget is in its early stages, the overall intentions of the school improvement plan cannot be regarded as achievable when their costs are not known.

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Commentary

36. Expertise gained through individuals’ professional development is shared with colleagues. However, this does not always result in swift action, limiting the speed at which necessary change can be introduced. For example, there are much needed changes to children’s immersion in language.

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Commentary

Financial information for the year April 2004 to March 2005 Income and expenditure (£) Balances (£) Total income 232,744.00 Balance from previous year 1,572.00 Total expenditure 216,760.00 Balance carried forward to the next 17,556.00 Expenditure per pupil 1,860.00 Hornsea Nursery School 10 37. The carry-over figure includes amounts to cover additional staffing costs, repairs and maintenance that have been planned, and to provide a further repairs and maintenance contingency. This is an acceptable explanation. Hornsea Nursery School 11

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AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

The quality of provision in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory overall, with some good features.

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AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

38. Children are admitted into the Nursery in the term after their third birthday, stay for five terms and transfer to the Reception class in their new school in the term before the one in which they will be five years of age. Some children started at the Nursery a few weeks before the inspection, while others will leave to go into Reception classes in September.

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AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

39. The Nursery is warm and inviting for all children. Adults work well as a team to ensure that children settle well and that all have equal access to the range of experiences on offer. Children achieve particularly well in personal, social and emotional development. The curriculum, although broad, is not balanced with too little time allocated to aspects within the key areas of communication, language and literacy, and mathematics. Adults are aware of the need to further increase the time allocated to outdoor provision and to ensure that all areas are sufficiently included.

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AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

40. Attainment on entry is at the expected level, and children achieve steadily. Teaching is satisfactory, but the effectiveness of teaching varies depending upon the type and focus of the different activities. Staff observe children regularly, and assessment procedures are in place. However, the valuable information gathered is not used sufficiently in the planning and preparation for learning. Standards in the key areas of communication, language and literacy are below what is normally expected of this age group. In mathematics, overall, they are at the expected level, but in aspects of number work they are below. As a result, the majority of children are unlikely to reach the Early Learning Goals by the time they leave Reception classes. Provision for children who have SEN is very good because of the quality of the individual support offered.

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Provision in personal, social and emotional development is good.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Adults create a caring environment, and this encourages children and builds their confidence. • When activities inspire children, they concentrate well. • Children learn to work and play in harmony, and this develops into good relationships. • Children show high levels of interest when activities are well organised. • Adults teach children about other cultures in an interesting way.

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Commentary

41. Children show great confidence in the Nursery environment because adults are good, caring role models. They value what children have to say and show how much they value their work by displaying it to full advantage. Teaching is good, and children achieve well.

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Commentary

42. There is a good balance between activities provided by staff and activities from which children can choose. Children show sustained levels of concentration when the activity inspires them. For example, they spend considerable time building models and towers with adult support. However, when activities do not have a clear purpose, children soon lose interest and their attention drifts. This occurred at the writing table and at the clay table because adults did not explain to children what they were supposed to be learning. The lack of clear structure and purpose allows a small number of children to flit from activity to activity, and valuable learning opportunities are lost. Hornsea Nursery School 12 43. Many children have established friendships, sharing equipment and taking turns; they play well together in small groups, in the home area and in the sand. They share tricycles and some actively seek their special friend to join them at activities. Behaviour is very good because staff

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Commentary

interact sensitively and work with children in very small groups; the rooms are spacious and plenty is on offer. Children also sit well together in a larger group for stories and singing sessions. Children are clear about right and wrong because adults give simple but clear explanations. When two children wanted a bucket at the same time, a vigilant adult talked about sharing in a way that the children could understand. Staff have high expectations, and children are sure about boundaries: they follow rules and routines well, lining up sensibly when moving around the building. They know that running indoors is not allowed.

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Commentary

44. Children are well supported when using the toilet and washing hands. Hence, they gradually become personally independent. They often help tidy away, but the resources are not always labelled or organised in a way that encourages children to take on enough responsibility. Adults tidy away for them too often. In areas where activities have a clearly designated area, such as the role- play area, children show high levels of involvement, but where activities encroach on one another, interest levels quickly disappear because it is more difficult for them to maintain concentration.

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Commentary

45. In this all-white British community, the Nursery allocates time to special projects. Children are taught about special events, such as Chinese New Year, through painting, modelling and food tasting. Children learn about the African continent through well-planned displays of animals, books and fabric.

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COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Provision in communication, language and literacy is unsatisfactory.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Adults give high priority to speaking and listening skills, and children achieve well. • The curriculum is sufficiently broad but it lacks balance. • Too little attention is given to the importance of print in the environment, and very few children learn to read and write. • Regular assessments take place but are not used enough to plan for future learning.

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Commentary

46. The teaching itself is satisfactory, but overall provision is unsatisfactory because too little time is allocated to the development of more formal language development, especially phonic skills, which leads to unsatisfactory achievement in early reading and writing. Achievement in speaking and listening skills is satisfactory.

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Commentary

47. Adults plan a range of speaking and listening activities to enhance children’s learning. In particular, the 14 children who are targeted through the Teaching Children Talking Project make very good progress with their language development in these sessions. The role-play scenario in the Nursery changes regularly and varies throughout the year. It has been a lighthouse, a flower shop and is currently a restaurant. This means children use many different words as they play. Adults read to children regularly. The book area is inviting, and children often browse through Hornsea Nursery School 13 books or ask adults to read to them. They listen well to stories whether they are in a small group or a larger one. During snack time adults encourage children to talk about their recent activities, to use ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and to talk sensibly to each other. These activities support children’s

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Commentary

48. The Nursery does not give enough emphasis to letter sounds through regular play activities. As a result, children do not make enough progress in this aspect of learning. Letters are not clearly displayed and there is not enough ‘child friendly’ print in the Nursery environment. Children do not have opportunities to recognise their name through regular routines. The youngest children know how to handle books and turn pages, and they already have favourite stories. Older children use pictures to retell favourite stories such as one about a tiger. Adults use their voice well when reading to children. However, they do not always give enough attention to discussing the characteristics of the story or to challenging children to predict for themselves how a story might end. The Nursery has a reading scheme, but there was no evidence of children learning to read using it. The characters from the scheme and the important words in the first books are not

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Commentary

displayed to inspire older children to learn to read.

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Commentary

49. Children have plenty of opportunities to work with paint and pens indoors and chalk outside. There is also a designated writing area, but because writing activities do not always have a clear purpose, they do not sufficiently interest or inspire children enough. As a result, very few children choose to write, and valuable learning opportunities are missed. Adults provide name cards and some children write a few letters of their name. Common words are not displayed to help those who are ready to write through play. This means that children who are about to go into a Reception class have limited skills. The Nursery has identified a need to improve children’s fine finger skills and allocates time to encouraging children to manipulate dough, thread beads and use writing implements.

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Commentary

50. Staff assess children’s learning well by talking with them and asking them questions as they work with them. They allocate time to observe them at play on a regular basis. Adults have a good understanding of what each individual child can and cannot do, and this is recorded meticulously. The information that is available about individual children is not being used adequately to direct and target their learning during activities when they could be practising and reinforcing their basic skills.

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MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Provision in mathematical development is satisfactory.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Children learn about shape and size because good emphasis is given to this aspect of mathematics. • The school’s long-term plans do not focus strongly enough on the calculation element of this area of learning, with the result that some children are insufficiently challenged.

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Commentary

51. Teaching is satisfactory and children achieve steadily. Adults plan interesting activities to promote children’s understanding of size and shape, and children achieve well in this aspect of mathematics. For example, they easily identify a small yellow triangle because adults plan interesting games with shapes. Children match shapes and draw round shapes. They consolidate their learning by sorting shapes as they play. They learn to construct tall and short towers and to compare them with their own height. In this way they develop a good understanding of comparison and size. They crawl over, through and under apparatus outdoors and clearly understand mathematical vocabulary. Children thread objects and make repeating patterns.

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Commentary

52. Adults teach children a range of songs and rhymes to help them understand how numbers up to 5 increase and decrease. In focused, small-group teaching sessions adults sometimes talk about Hornsea Nursery School 14 how many children are present and how many have yet to come. They encourage children to show the correct number of fingers. However, there is no clear number line in the Nursery to help children find the numbers they are learning about, and children rarely record numbers they know. Adults do not provide challenging activities for children in mathematics. Children are supported to find out what 2 more of a given number is, but they do not record this information in a pictorial way to consolidate understanding, and adults do not show them how this could be done. Outdoor planning shows activities for children to sequence numbers to 10, but because the activity is not inspiring enough very few choose to play, and worthwhile opportunities are lost. Adults do not always take

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Commentary

full advantage of daily routines to help children see that mathematics is all around them. For example, during snack time they do not discuss cutting fruit in half or quarters.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Provision in knowledge and understanding of the world is satisfactory.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• There is good emphasis on learning about living things. • Adults plan a range of worthwhile experiences to give children an insight into the world around them.

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Commentary

53. Teaching is satisfactory, and adults provide a range of activities to encourage children to observe and explore. Achievement is satisfactory. Adults make good use of stories such as ‘Handa’s Surprise’ to encourage children to look closely at different types of fruit. In a good session children used magnifying glasses to examine fruit. They were able to handle each piece, smell them and then talk about the differences. Children enjoy these well-focused sessions. Adults record children’s ideas in writing, but do not take into consideration where children are seated; for some the writing is upside down. Children observe plants growing and show great excitement when the leaves of the potato plant begin to appear above the soil. They carefully watch the peas they have planted and check out the root system. The Nursery recently invited the ‘Mini-Zoo’ to school so children could observe more exotic pets first-hand.

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Commentary

54. Children use the computers and learn to control the mouse because adults provide painting games to enhance their skills. They encourage children to watch carefully as their work is printed. Children have daily planned activities where they learn to join components and make models. Children talk freely with adults about people in their lives. They have brought in photographs of themselves as babies and recognise changes and growth. Adults plan a range of first-hand experiences to give children an insight into the world around them. Fire fighters are invited to the Nursery to share their working life with the children. Children play with a road and rail layout and find out about traffic. They pretend to be builders on a building site when playing outdoors. Children develop an awareness of their own culture and the culture of others through celebrations as they occur throughout the year. The vicar has supported their understanding by coming to the

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Commentary

Nursery and performing a christening on a doll. Hornsea Nursery School 15

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Provision in physical development is good.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Children achieve well in large movement skills because they have regular access to challenging equipment outdoors. • Health and bodily awareness are not explained clearly enough to children. • Good emphasis is given to improving eye-to-hand co-ordination, so children’s skills are improving.

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Commentary

55. Teaching is good, and children achieve well. Staff take children outside each day, and they master the art of crawling through the tunnel and over equipment. They learn to balance along a beam and climb up the slide. Some already use alternate feet. Children play with small equipment and learn to throw and kick balls. They learn to jump onto shapes and into hoops. At times, adults give attention to skill development and children learn how to co-ordinate their hands and feet when riding tricycles. They are encouraged to push hard on the pedals. They show children how to balance when riding scooters. Adults encourage them to pull hard and watch carefully when using trolleys. Children have a good sense of space and many use the opportunity outdoors to run vigorously, stop and start and generally enjoy the spacious area.

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Commentary

56. Adults provide healthy snacks each day, but do not emphasise why milk and fruit are good for you. They do not explain the reasons behind vigorous and regular exercise. Adults make sure children know why they have to wash their hands after going to the toilet and after messy play.

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Commentary

57. Children are developing their fine finger skills and are beginning to learn to control brushes, felt pens and chalk. They learn to assemble simple structures, being aware of the need to balance each object carefully. Adults provide dough each day so children handle it with confidence. They manage to roll it into balls so they are the correct size for baking cases. They make ‘peas’ of different sizes. They handle spades with accuracy when playing in sand and use paintbrushes well when painting with water.

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CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Provision in creative development is satisfactory.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Adults give good emphasis to this area of learning, so children achieve steadily. • Role-play is very well planned, so children benefit in many ways.

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Commentary

58. Teaching is satisfactory, and children achieve steadily. There is a range of creative activities on offer each day, and adults encourage children to experiment for themselves. Children paint spontaneously and learn to mix colour. They have some sensory experiences with bubbles in water. They make sand castles outdoors. They learn to handle clay, and plans indicate they will soon learn to make simple models. In music, children have a good repertoire of rhymes and songs. They experiment with instruments displayed both indoors and outside. They learn to clap their hands to a steady beat and have a go on the African drums. Hornsea Nursery School 16 59. Children play with imagination because adults play with them and model creative play. In the ‘Mc Hornsea Restaurant’, four children played sensibly together showing very good imagination and for an extensive period of time. Role-play is very popular with children because it is varied

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Commentary

throughout the year and planned with great care and attention. Hornsea Nursery School 17

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The overall effectiveness of the school 4 How inclusive the school is 3 How the school’s effectiveness has changed since its last inspection 4 Value for money provided by the school 4

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Overall standards achieved 4 Pupils’ achievement 4

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities 3 Attendance 8 Attitudes 2 Behaviour, including the extent of exclusions 2 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 3

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The quality of education provided by the school 4 The quality of teaching 4 How well pupils learn 4 The quality of assessment 5 How well the curriculum meets pupils’ needs 4 Enrichment of the curriculum, including out-of-school activities 4 Accommodation and resources 3 Pupils’ care, welfare, health and safety 2 Support, advice and guidance for pupils 2 How well the school seeks and acts on pupils’ views 8 The effectiveness of the school’s links with parents 4 The quality of the school’s links with the community 2 The school’s links with other schools and colleges 4

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The leadership and management of the school 4 The governance of the school 4 The leadership of the headteacher 4 The leadership of other key staff 4 The effectiveness of management 4

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Inspectors make judgements on a scale: excellent (grade 1); very good (2); good (3); satisfactory (4); unsatisfactory (5); poor (6); very poor (7).

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