Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre

Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre Inspection report

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100315 Unique Reference Number Hammersmith and Fulham Local Authority 285762 Inspection number 8 °9 October 2007 Inspection dates Jo Curd 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 Maintained School category 1 °5 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 144 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Huw Richards Chair Mr Michael Pettavel Headteacher 17 April 2002 Date of previous school inspection Australia Road School address London W12 7PH 020 8743 7339 Telephone number 020 8749 7723 Fax number

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1-5 Age group 8 °9 October 2007 Inspection dates 285762 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

This Nursery is part of an Early Years Centre, which is accredited as an Early Excellence Centre and a Children's Centre. The Centre offers day care for children from 18 months old; extended day care before, after school and in the holidays; and this Nursery school. The Centre works in partnership with a Community Nursery offering care for children from birth. It is situated in an area of high deprivation. Children in the Nursery come from a very wide range of backgrounds. A high proportion are eligible for free school meals, are from minority ethnic backgrounds, have English as an additional language, or additional needs including learning difficulties and disabilities. There has been a recent reorganisation of senior management posts. Two senior managers are relatively new and another started in September 2007. The headteacher, who was previously the deputy headteacher for a year, took up his current position in September

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, 8 °9 October 2007

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Grade: 2

This is a good and very inclusive Nursery. Children and families value it greatly. Its high levels of care and extremely good links with other professionals have been a lifeline for many children, especially if they are vulnerable or face particular challenges and difficulties. Effective teaching and learning and a rich diverse curriculum contribute to the good achievement of all the children and excellent preparation for their later life and learning. Some parents described the centre as a 'godsend' to them. Others were grateful for the support they received as parents and many described how much their children had learned and developed at the Nursery. As one said, 'I cannot speak highly enough about Randolph Beresford. The start that my daughter has had has been fantastic ... she is now happily at school having had an excellent grounding in Nursery'. Leadership and management are good. The headteacher successfully manages and coordinates

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Grade: 2

the many staff and services of this busy Centre. He has high ambitions for all the children, the staff and the Centre. He has made some strategic decisions, which have improved the staffing structure and the Nursery as a whole. For example, he has divided the heavy workload and scope of a deputy headteacher into two. A strong, but relatively new, senior management team and a dedicated and diverse team of staff ably assist him. Over the past year, leaders and managers have developed a clear and extensive school development plan. Self-evaluation is strong and has identified most key strengths and weaknesses of provision. Substantial grants have been secured to renovate the garden, and part of the budget has been wisely held back to redecorate inside accommodation. Whilst leaders and managers have a good overall understanding of the Nursery, some aspects of monitoring and evaluation, including that of

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Grade: 2

adult interactions with children, are adequate. Although staff continually monitor the quality of teaching and learning, they have recorded little about teaching, focusing instead on the outcomes of learning. Whilst this has given helpful information about achievement and has helped staff plan suitable activities, it does not directly address or improve the quality of teaching. Although care, guidance and support are good, written documents are not always easy to use and do not always reflect the Nursery's good practice. Children are happy and enjoy their time at Nursery. Although many start with skills, knowledge and understanding below those expected for this age, they are keen to learn and most eagerly engage in a wide range of interesting and relevant activities. There are good opportunities for children to learn on their own, with peers and with adults. They are all successfully learning as they play. All the children achieve well. By the time children leave, overall standards are broadly

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Grade: 2

in line with expectations for this age. Very good relationships throughout the Centre and increasingly consistent expectations contribute to the children's good behaviour, confidence and independence. Some parents described how well their children had settled and had developed from being uncertain and shy to running in to join friends and engage in play. Children are developing good attitudes to health, such as recognising the importance of eating vegetables and taking exercise. They are successfully learning to take calculated risks, such as jumping and swinging on the gymnastics equipment, and play sensibly and safely together. Their views and opinions are sought and valued and they eagerly help with tasks such as taking the register to the office and tidying up. The Nursery has made good progress since its last inspection. Because of its accurate self-evaluation, dedicated staff and clear vision for the future its capacity for improvement is

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Grade: 2

good. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, 8 °9 October 2007

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Grade: 2

As a nursery school, the Foundation Stage is completely covered by the Overall Effectiveness section.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the quality of teaching and learning by developing the monitoring and evaluation of adults' interactions with children. ■ Implement plans to redecorate accommodation and renovate the garden.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that written documents about care are easy to use and clearly show the Nursery's good practice.

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good. Although children enter the Nursery with a wide range of knowledge, skills and understanding, these are generally below those expected for this age. Skills of communication, language and literacy are particularly low. A high proportion of children have additional needs, including learning difficulties and disabilities. A strong partnership with other professionals, including speech therapists and physiotherapists, help support these children well. Because of effective teaching and learning and a broad, interesting curriculum, all the children make good progress in all areas of learning. By the end of Nursery, standards are broadly in line with expectations for this age.

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Grade: 2

Children are happy and enjoy coming to Nursery. Some attend most sessions. Despite support and concerted encouragement, other children, largely because of pressures and challenges on their families, attend more sporadically. Attendance overall is satisfactory. Behaviour is generally good. Children are beginning to use the Centre's new behaviour policy, stressing positive attitudes and responsibility, but some still need adult support, guidance and praise. They quickly gain independence and confidence and learn to take risks such as climbing and jumping safely. They are robust and deal with the gentle knocks of life, such as falling off a bicycle, positively and healthily. Children are enthusiastic about their learning, especially all the photographs in their profiles, which they love looking at. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Children develop a good sense of awe and wonder in the spacious and natural elements

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Grade: 2

of the garden, even though much of this is unkempt and jaded.

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Grade: 2

Learning is good because children are provided with a wide range of interesting stimulating activities, use a wealth of accessible resources and are given many opportunities to work on their own, with peers and with adults. They successfully develop communication skills and learn about the world around them through many varied first hand experiences, outings and visitors. Children with English as an additional language or learning difficulties or disabilities are 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, 8 °9 October 2007 supported well by specialist teachers and warm, supportive assistants. Most elements of teaching are good. Activities are usually well focused, well paced and interesting. However, some opportunities to extend learning through discussion and play are missed. Most monitoring and evaluation have focused on learning rather than teaching. Senior staff have already used this

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Grade: 2

to improve some aspects of teaching but the scope of monitoring is not yet sufficiently broad to ensure that developments are thorough and consistent. Whilst the Centre's well focused Development Plan has identified the need to improve this monitoring, implementation is not yet complete.

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Grade: 2

Children enjoy a diverse range of activities, which cover all areas of learning well. Opportunities for physical development are particularly good through structured sessions on gymnastic equipment and on a range of two- and three-wheeled vehicles outside. Although accommodation, inside and out, is jaded, space is used well. There is a good balance between adult led and child chosen activities, allowing children time to discover and pursue their own interests, as well as ensuring they all have a rich breadth of experience and teaching. Staff use assessments and observations well to plan activities, which meet the needs of different children, including those who learn more quickly, those with additional needs and those who have English as an additional language.

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Grade: 2

All the children and their families are cared for and supported well through positive relationships with staff, family workshops and parents' groups. Excellent links with external agencies and professionals contribute well to this. Children who have English as an additional language, and those who have learning difficulties or disabilities, are supported well through carefully planned programmes, sensitive assistants and specialist professionals. Procedures for health and safety are thorough and effective, even though written documents are not always easy to use and do not always clearly show the Nursery's high quality practice. Staff discuss children's progress each day and record ongoing observations in extensive profiles, which cover all areas of learning. Goals for each child's future learning are planned and shared with children and parents each term. Children love looking at their profiles, which staff use well to help these young children

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Grade: 2

understand what they have done and how they can further develop their learning.

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Grade: 2

The relatively new senior management team has gelled well. The different posts complement each other well, and enable each to focus and work more effectively on their specific remits. Improvement since the last inspection is good. Nearly half the governors are new. They are supportive of the Centre and are beginning to hold the Nursery to account for its work. An example of this is their role in improving the quality of meals, by challenging the standard of food provided. Assessments of children's progress are detailed and thorough. Staff use these well to meet the needs of different children, including those who learn more quickly or easily. Links with families, 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, 8 °9 October 2007 other professionals and agencies are excellent, providing additional support and finance for all that the entire Centre offers. The involvement of parents in cooking is just one example of how

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Grade: 2

these links successfully extend children's learning and contribute to social cohesion in the community. Whilst self-evaluation is good, some aspects of monitoring, evaluation and recording are only satisfactory. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, 8 °9 October 2007 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, 8 °9 October 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, 8 °9 October 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, 8 °9 October 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

17 October 2007 Dear Children Inspection of Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre,London,W12 7PH Thank you for being so friendly and welcoming when I visited your Nursery recently. All the things you told me really helped me with my work. You have a good Nursery that you really enjoy. It was lovely to see how busy you all are, with so many different things to do. Staff care for and support you and your families well. You are all making good progress in your learning. Most of you behave well and are beginning to do lots more things for yourselves, such as taking your coats off and hanging them up without any help at all. It was lovely to see how keen you are to help, such as taking the register to the office and tidying up. There are three things that I think will make your Nursery even better. One is for staff to look carefully at the way they work with you so that they can make this even better for your learning.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

The second is to redecorate some of the building and improve the garden. The third is to write down how the adults look after you all. Perhaps you can help by telling the staff what helps you in your learning and continuing to take good care of your building and garden. With best wishes to you and your families, Jo Curd Additional Inspector. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Randolph Beresford Early Years Centre, 8 °9 October 2007

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