Baylis Court Nursery School

Inspection Report Baylis Court Nursery School

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109761 Unique Reference Number Slough LEA LEA 278261 Inspection number 6 February 2006 to 7 February 2006 Inspection dates Sue Vale AI Reporting inspector

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

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Oatlands Drive School address Nursery Type of school Slough Maintained School category SL1 3HS 3 to 4 Age range of pupils 01753521917 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01753523709 Fax number 101 Number on roll Mr D Almond Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs V Smith Headteacher 8 November 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278261 6 February 2006 - 3 to 4 7 February 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 an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Baylis Nursery School is located in a deprived area of Slough. Over ninety per cent of children have English as an additional language; speaking over 20 different languages. The largest minority ethnic group has its heritage in Pakistan. The substantial majority of children have very low levels of skill, knowledge and understanding when they start school, especially in language and personal, social and emotional development. The majority of children spend three terms in the nursery. The school holds Investors in People status and has a Healthy schools silver award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Baylis Court Nursery School, 6 February 2006 to 7 February 2006

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Grade: 2

The school judges its overall effectiveness as good and inspection evidence agrees with this. Children and their needs come first at Baylis Court and well-established long-serving staff have created a warm caring ethos based on the Reggio Emilia method of early years teaching. Issues raised in the previous inspection report have been successfully tackled. The nursery is in a strong position to build on its strengths.Good teaching and an interesting curriculum enable children of all abilities and backgrounds to make good progress in their learning. The strong emphasis on speaking and listening is particularly successful with the increasing number of children with English as an additional language. However, there is a lack of visual displays such as alphabet charts and number lines for the children to refer to when practising their writing, reading and reference skills.Observations of what children know and can do are good but the

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Grade: 2

information is not always used well enough to move the children on to the next stage in their learning. Leadership and management are good. The care and welfare and the personal development of children is central to how the nursery is led and managed. Attendance remains poor, despite good efforts by the school to encourage improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

* Improve the use of information from observations to identify more clearly what steps need to be taken to help the children move on to the next stage of their learning.* Improve the use of displays and resources to stimulate more effective learning of language skills in order to develop children's reading, writing and reference skills further.* Improve attendance, encouraging parents not to take holidays in term time.

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Grade: 2

The nursery judges children's achievement and standards as satisfactory. The children actually achieve well, and make good progress in acquiring new skills, knowledge and understanding. Almost all start school with very low levels of language. The strong focus on developing children's vocabulary and speaking skills ensures that the children are confident, keen learners who learn quickly. By the time they leave children are working at levels in all areas of development, except language, which are in line with those expected for their age. There is no significant variation in the performance of minority ethnic groups. Parents are pleased at the progress their children make in developing skills in communication, language and literacy. Some more able children are hindered in their early reading and writing skills because there are insufficient language displays to reinforce learning. The small numbers of children with learning

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Grade: 2

difficulties or disabilities are fully involved in nursery life and also make good progress. 2 Inspection Report: Baylis Court Nursery School, 6 February 2006 to 7 February 2006

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Grade: 2

The children make good progress in their personal development. The nursery encourages them to become happy, inquisitive learners. Attendance still remains an issue as it was at the time of the last inspection. A number of families take their children on extended holidays to visit relatives, and children miss out. Despite this, relationships between home and school are strong and the introduction of healthy living and parenting classes is having a positive impact on children's personal development and the well-being of the whole family. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are good. Children enjoy healthy snacks and meals and they participate eagerly in physical activities. Their mature, enthusiastic attitudes to learning prepare them well for their next stage in their education. The nursery is central to the local community and parents and learners make full use of what it offers.

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Grade: 2

The inspection confirms the nursery's view that teaching and learning are good. Lessons are well prepared. The staff's good knowledge of the early years curriculum and how young children learn ensures that activities are well planned and relevant. Children want to participate and are eager to try out new activities. The needs of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds are effectively met. Bilingual support assistants work well in supporting the development of children's language. For example, a small group of children who are in the early stages of learning English were supported well by a bilingual support assistant in learning new words when pretending to cook with play dough. Although the teaching of communication, language and literacy is good, staff do not make enough use of displays to reinforce learning.Children share ideas and play together well. When talking to a friend one said, 'we no fight, we play together'.

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Grade: 2

Children genuinely enjoy learning. They are proud of what they do, and eager to share their new knowledge with adults. Adult observations of what the children know and understand show the progress they make. However these observations are not always used to plan the next stage, or to move the children on in their learning.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is interesting, relevant and inclusive and does much to develop children's independent learning and freedom of choice. Most staff have been well-trained in child-centred learning and this has a strong impact on planning. Hands-on activities make learning fun and staff are good at providing exciting opportunities both inside and out-of-doors. The majority of children are at the early stages of learning English and a high priority is given in the curriculum to the development of speaking and extending the children's vocabulary. A number of children are learning letter names 3 Inspection Report: Baylis Court Nursery School, 6 February 2006 to 7 February 2006 and sounds but there are few letters or charts or number lines around the setting for the children to refer to. There are good links with the local schools which are on the same site. Throughout the year children have many opportunities to enhance their

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Grade: 2

learning through visits to places of interest; these include visits to the farm, local parks for seasonal walks and even trips to the seaside. Visiting musicians and puppet shows further enhance the curriculum when they visit the nursery.

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Grade: 2

A comment written by one parent, 'I am very pleased with the genuine care expressed by each teacher', sums up the ethos which pervades the care and welfare of the children at Baylis Court. The nursery is safe and secure and staff work closely with parents to ensure their children's well-being. Vulnerable children are effectively looked after. All adults have been trained in child protection procedures. Risk assessments are carried out regularly, both around the nursery and for when they go out on trips. Health and safety matters are dealt with effectively and quickly. Individual and small group work enhances children's personal, social and emotional development so that they become confident and happy learners. There are a number of opportunities for parents to be involved in learning alongside their children. Healthy living and parenting classes are regularly held and welcomed by parents; as one commented, 'the nursery is now there

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Grade: 2

for the community, it's really welcoming'.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. Strong teamwork by all involved means that there is a common vision of putting the children first. The school is aware of its strengths and weaknesses and mostly accurate in its evaluations, but tends to be modest about its assessments of achievement. Parents who have been involved with the nursery over a number of years comment on how improved it is and how happy they are at the way the headteacher has actively encouraged parents to be involved in their children's learning.Governors are supportive and ask relevant questions of the leadership. They ensure that statutory requirements are met. Family learning, and involvement of parents in their children's learning, are sought wherever possible. Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection such as improving teaching and learning and altering the curriculum to support the needs of children. The school has good capacity to improve.

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Grade: 2

4 Inspection Report: Baylis Court Nursery School, 6 February 2006 to 7 February 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. 5 Inspection Report: Baylis Court Nursery School, 6 February 2006 to 7 February 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 2 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 3 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 4 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 2 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

Thank you for all your help when I visited your nursery. I enjoyed watching your lessons and your play and talking to some of you. You go to a good nursery. This is what I found out. * you behave very well and obviously enjoy all the activities the teachers set out for you to do* the staff look after you well* the teachers are very good at explaining things to you and they make sure that you understand what you are learning* you make good progress in your learning, particularly in learning to speak English* your headteacher and all the staff work very well together as a team and provide you all with a good start to your education. For your nursery to get even better they need to make sure that the staff use what they know about you to plan the next stage of your learning. Some of you need to come to nursery more regularly. Your teachers need to have more displays up such as the alphabet and number lines

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

to help you with your learning.I enjoyed working with you very much.

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