Edith Cadbury Nursery School

Inspection Report Edith Cadbury Nursery School

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103150 Unique Reference Number Birmingham LEA 276860 Inspection number 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006 Inspection dates Bogusia Matusiak-Varley AI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Somerford Road School address Nursery Type of school Birmingham Voluntary aided School category West Midlands B29 5LB 3 to 4 Age range of pupils 0121 4753098 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0121 4753098 Fax number 65 Number on roll Mrs Sally Bateman Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Christine Danks Headteacher 14 February 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 276860 4 May 2006 - 3 to 4 4 May 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report 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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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Edith Cadbury Nursery is a non-fee paying nursery with charitable status, which is partly funded by Birmingham City Council. The nursery serves the area of Weoley Castle. All 65 children attend the nursery fulltime. Children’s overall attainment on entry is at the level expected for their age. There are very few children who have English as an additional language and a very small proportion of children have learning difficulties. At the time of the inspection, the headteacher was away from school. A teacher was deputising for her.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Edith Cadbury Nursery School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006

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Grade: 2

Edith Cadbury Nursery provides a good quality of education and good value for money, This judgement is shared by both the inspectors and the school. Parents are pleased with the quality of education provided. Children are making good progress in all areas of learning and many are on course to exceed the standards expected for their age by the time they transfer to Reception classes. Although their progress is good, it occasionally slows when children select activities for themselves which do not have a clear enough learning purpose. Children have good attitudes to learning and behave well. They are developing independence but some opportunities are missed in teachers’ planning to help children to become even more independent. Teaching and learning are good with outstanding features such as the way in which teachers use questioning to challenge children’s thinking and develop their understanding. The curriculum is good, well planned and enriched with an imaginative

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Grade: 2

range of opportunities for children to learn using their senses. Assessments are thorough but recorded observations of children are too descriptive and do not always show what children can and cannot do. This means that the assessments are not always as useful as they should be. Children are well cared for, guided and supported by a highly dedicated team of staff who are passionate about their work. The leadership and management of the nursery are good but school self-evaluation, whilst satisfactory overall, is not sufficiently sharp and rigorous. Self-evaluation helps the school to maintain its good provision but it does not do enough to improve it further. As a result, the management committee cannot fully evaluate the impact of its spending decisions and staff are not always aware of what they need to do in order to improve. Nevertheless, the nursery has made good improvement since the last inspection and has the necessary capacity to improve

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What the school should do to improve further

Ensure that all activities have a clear purpose in promoting learning and increase the planned opportunities for the development of children’s independence. Improve the evaluation of what children know, understand and can do when carrying out assessment observations. Make self-evaluation more rigorous in identifying how provision might be improved so that staff and the management committee can work together even more effectively.

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Grade: 2

Achievement and standards are good for all groups of children including those with learning difficulties, English as an additional language and those capable of higher attainment. Children do well because their individual needs are well catered for. Children make good progress in all areas of learning so that many are on course to reach 2 Inspection Report: Edith Cadbury Nursery School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006 standards above those expected for their age by the time they transfer to the Reception Year. On occasions, when children choose activities for themselves from a range provided, their rate of progress slows down because they are not sure of the purpose of the activity. This prevents them from doing even better. Skills in communication, language and literacy develop well. Children speak clearly and listen well to their teachers and to their friends. Early reading skills develop well and children make good gains in identifying initial sounds. All children can write their

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Grade: 2

names by the time they leave the nursery and children who are higher attaining successfully write simple sentences. Children use mathematical vocabulary well and gain good confidence in working with numbers. They also develop good skills for their age in using computers.

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Grade: 2

Children’s personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is good. Children have good attitudes to learning and behave well. They are aware of the need to share toys and equipment with others. Attendance is good. Children love coming to nursery. They part confidently from their parents at the beginning of the day and many do not want to leave their activities to go home. Children are increasing in independence and can put out and tidy away their own play equipment but do not always demonstrate skills of independence such as preparing fruit for snack time on their own. Children work well together in teams. They have good knowledge of healthy eating and know that they should eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. They show awareness of safe practices and are sensible when using large outdoor play equipment. Children make a good contribution to the nursery community, for instance,

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Grade: 2

they clear away plates after lunch. They successfully develop skills for their future, such as in using computers.

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Grade: 2

Good teaching ensures that children make good progress and learn well. There are several outstanding features, such as the quality of teachers’ questioning skills. Excellent and probing questioning enables children to clarify their thinking and speak in extended sentences. Teachers continually upgrade children’s language and model correct language. For example, in the library sessions teachers point out that authors not writers write books and illustrators not drawers draw pictures. Staff continually talk to children and help them develop their vocabulary. Staff know the children very well and consistently support them in building up their confidence. They carry out detailed observations of the children but sometimes their 3 Inspection Report: Edith Cadbury Nursery School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006 written observations are no more than a description of what a child has done and are not linked to a direct focus for observation. Although assessment is used well overall

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Grade: 2

to move children on in their learning, the descriptive records result in not all assessments being as useful as they should be. Occasionally, in free play, valuable learning opportunities are missed because children are unclear about the purpose of the activity. These minor shortcomings prevent children’s progress from being even better. A strong feature of teaching is the passion that all adults have in ensuring that all children are stimulated into wanting to learn. Every day, lessons are discussed and improvements made. Teachers are true professionals who have good knowledge of how young children learn.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum meets children’s needs well. There is a good balance between adult directed activities and those that children select for themselves but, sometimes, the purpose of free choice activities is not clear enough. When this is the case, children’s learning is not as effective as at other times. The outdoor environment is used well to promote learning, especially when children are gardening and using outdoor play equipment. Good attention is given to developing reading, writing, mathematical development and information and communication technology. The role-play area is used well and good opportunities are provided to develop children’s creative skills. Visits to Weoley Castle Square are well planned for developing vocabulary and early mapping skills. Good opportunities are provided for children to use their senses; for example, when playing in wet sand, children are given shells, seaweed and plastic frogs so that they can carefully observe their features using

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Grade: 2

magnifying lenses. Activities, such as World Book Day, enrich the curriculum well.

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Grade: 2

Children are well cared for, guided and supported and this contributes to their good progress. The good range of assessment procedures enables teachers and adults to have a good understanding of the children’s strengths and areas for development. However, this information is not yet fully used as a focus for the staff’s observations. As a result, some observations are not as informative as they could be in identifying what children do well and where they need specific help. The indoor and outdoor areas are kept safe and free of major hazards. Good child protection arrangements are in place. Healthy eating and the promotion of healthy lifestyles are high on the nursery’s priorities. Parents are kept well informed of the many opportunities provided for healthy eating, sharing fruit and taking regular exercise. 4 Inspection Report: Edith Cadbury Nursery School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management of the headteacher and management committee are good and ensure that children receive a good quality of education and care and make good progress. All staff work well together as a team with a common purpose because of well established procedures and a strong focus on doing well for the children. Although satisfactory, self-evaluation procedures require sharpening. The analysis of how well teaching and the curriculum contribute to children’s learning is not very thorough. This prevents the managing committee from evaluating the cost effectiveness of its spending decisions. At the time of the inspection, the teacher in charge was deputising for the headteacher and leading the nursery well. Parents value the nursery highly and are pleased with their children’s progress. The school has made good progress since the last inspection and, based on its track record of good quality provision, has the capacity to make

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Grade: 2

further improvement. 5 Inspection Report: Edith Cadbury Nursery School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Edith Cadbury Nursery School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 3 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse NA Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

What a lovely day we spent with you when we came to inspect your nursery. ? We think that you are very polite, well behaved and we are very pleased that you enjoy learning. ? Your headteacher, teachers and management committee are doing a good job looking after you and giving you a good start to your education. ? Your outdoor climbing frame is lovely. We have asked the adults to help you to learn even better by giving you more help when you choose toys and activities. We have also asked them to plan more activities that you can do on your own. The adults will be making careful notes of how well you are getting on so that they know even more about what you need to learn next. They are also going to look even more carefully at how they can improve the nursery for you. We hope that you continue to enjoy the next stages of your education as much as you have enjoyed being at Edith Cadbury Nursery.

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