Crigglestone Nursery School

Crigglestone Nursery School Inspection report

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108137 Unique Reference Number Wakefield Local Authority 277912 Inspection number 18 °19 January 2006 Inspection dates Joyce Taylor Reporting inspector

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

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Nursery Type of school Community School category 3 °5 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Elizabeth Bell Chair Mrs A Wilford Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection High Street School address Crigglestone Wakefield West Yorkshire WF4 3EB

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01924 303290 Telephone number 01924 303920 Fax number

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3-5 Age group 18 °19 January 2006 Inspection dates 277912 Inspection number .

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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 an additional inspector.

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Description of the school

Crigglestone Nursery is a very popular school. It is situated just south of Wakefield and caters for children from birth to five years old. There are 89 children in the nursery class who attend for part-time sessions of two and a half hours in either the morning or the afternoon. Some of these children remain on site all day attending wraparound care facilities as well as their nursery session. All the nursery children are of white British heritage. The proportions of children having learning difficulties and/or disabilities are well below average with a tiny proportion having a statement of special educational need. This is a school with a stable pupil population, little staff turnover and strong community links. It has gained Achievement awards and was previously identified as a Beacon school.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 7 Inspection Report: Crigglestone Nursery School, 18 °19 January 2006

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the documentation used when monitoring and evaluating staff in order to track developments and record effective improvement strategies. ■ Ensure governors track new developments more effectively in order to evaluate their success fully.

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Grade:

Teaching and learning are outstanding. In mathematics, for example, three year olds giggled and hugged themselves with excitement as a feely bag containing two-dimensional shapes passed among them. The enjoyable activity ensured they rapidly learned the names of the shapes. In a story session, the teacher's particularly useful interpretations of the text ensured the older children understood the dilemma suffered by a 'big boy' who had to put up with a naughty baby brother. They listened extremely attentively and everyone thoughtfully answered the particular question directed at them during the story telling. Activities are planned with meticulous attention to earlier assessments so that tasks stretch children and support their different abilities. Between the focused teaching sessions, whilst children explore very high quality free choice activities, all staff work with one or two children at a time moving their learning forward and recording what they know and can do. All children

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Grade:

are assessed each day as they move through steps designed to match their capabilities. Assessments are used to show how quickly children make progress and highlight strengths or weaknesses in any area of learning.

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Grade:

The curriculum is outstanding. Exciting activities ensure that whilst some children work with staff others have a wide and fascinating choice of activities to ensure they make very good progress. In the mathematics area, for example, small Russian dolls, beautifully painted in metallic and glittery paint, captivate the children as they are fitted into silvery boxes of varying sizes. In the outdoor area, many activities are provided to encourage children to find out how things work and they eagerly tackle, among many other tasks, large-scale building, passing and overtaking each other safely on their bikes and bouncing enthusiastically on inflated rubber shapes. Policemen, health visitors and postmen, amongst many others, visit the school and widen the children's experiences of their local area. Children also walk around the immediate area to 4 of 7 Inspection Report: Crigglestone Nursery School, 18 °19 January 2006

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Grade:

become more aware of their environment. All staff ensure that tasks support personal development, as well as focusing on areas of learning, for example, they expect children to take responsibility for tidying up. The very effective curriculum for personal, social and emotional development reflects the hard work and effort the school has invested, resulting in a calm and caring community.

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Grade:

The school provides an outstanding level of care for the children. Staff know the children extremely well and immediately go to any child who looks unsure or unhappy. Children are highly valued and treated with great consideration. They trust and like the adults they work with and feel completely confident and secure in classes and outdoors. The school works most effectively with outside agencies and parents to ensure children receive any additional support they may need. All staff receive training in child protection and arrangements to ensure the school is a safe place are most effective. The outstanding assessment of children's progress and standards makes sure staff identify what children need to learn next in order to speed their learning. Notes of children's personal development or of any learning difficulty record their well-being alongside standards and provide a very clear picture of these young learners.

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Grade:

5 of 7 Inspection Report: Crigglestone Nursery School, 18 °19 January 2006 .

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Grade:

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 7 Inspection Report: Crigglestone Nursery School, 18 °19 January 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for your help when I visited your school earlier this month. I enjoyed talking with you about your work and finding out about the things you like doing. I found that your school is an especially good one, mostly because your headteacher is brilliant at spotting how to make things better. Your teachers work very hard and are particularly good at helping you do well in your work, and they provide lots of exciting things for you to play with. Whilst you are at school you are very good. You get on together extremely well and are kind and helpful to each other, you seem to thoroughly enjoy all the things you do. I have asked your headteacher and governors to keep up their good work so that all the new ideas in the school are looked at very carefully and remembered for the future. I hope you carry on enjoying school and helping your teachers make Crigglestone Nursery School a lovely place to learn.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

7 of 7 Inspection Report: Crigglestone Nursery School, 18 °19 January 2006

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