St Anne's & Avondale Park Nursery School

St Anne's Nursery School Inspection report

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100473 Unique Reference Number Kensington and Chelsea Local Authority 285806 Inspection number 13 June 2007 Inspection date Bernice Magson 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 75 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Colin Salmon Chair Miss Joyce Clark Headteacher 5 March 2001 Date of previous school inspection Freston Road School address London W10 6TT

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020 8969 1024 Telephone number 020 8964 4627 Fax number

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3 °5 Age group 13 June 2007 Inspection date 285806 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

St. Anne's Nursery was established in 1908 and is reputed to be the oldest nursery school in London. It admits children to full time education from a socially diverse community of north Kensington. A third of children speak English as an additional language. A small number of children have learning difficulties and disabilities. After school care and other extended services are also provided on the same site.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 10 Inspection Report: St Anne's Nursery School, 13 June 2007

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Grade: 1

St Anne's Nursery is an outstanding school that provides children with an excellent start to their education. Under the leadership of an outstanding headteacher, standards are above average and the quality of education is exceptional. Parents are very appreciative of all the school has to offer. 'The Nursery is a sanctuary, where staff are dedicated to the needs of each child and with lots of love all around,' commented one parent, and others strongly agree. Children's personal development is excellent. They feel safe and secure because staff know them extremely well. Relationships are outstanding. 'My child runs in every morning with a smile and loves his teachers,' one parent remarked. Children play happily together and take turns willingly, exemplifying the school's aims of respect for themselves and others, and mutual trust and tolerance. They behave extremely well. Central to the school's success is the rigorous monitoring of children's performance and the

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Grade: 1

introduction of effective activities to engage and motivate. In lessons, children are inquisitive to learn about the world around them. As a result, they achieve exceptionally well. When racing cars down a track, some children learnt rapidly about forces and distance, and others increased their knowledge of pattern and texture by observing and touching a corn snake. The classroom is an exciting place with a breadth of experiences, which covers the curriculum extremely well and develops their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding very effectively. Teaching is of a high quality. Staff have very high expectations and set tasks which are achievable, yet challenging. Team work is excellent and, as a result, learning is continuous. Children from different backgrounds and with different needs are very well-integrated. There is regular, planned, small group work which offers more focused learning experiences, for

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Grade: 1

example for the more able children. A high priority is given to involving parents in their children's learning and a very strong partnership has developed. Parents appreciate the very good information which they receive about their child's progress. Very popular with parents are the family workshops. 'They've helped me recognise the importance of play' commented one parent, and others proudly spoke of books, toys and games made for use with their children. Leadership and management are outstanding. The headteacher has high aspirations and leads by example. She has continued to develop the school very effectively and rigorously monitors its performance. She is ably supported by senior managers and governors. Other staff are enthusiastic about the recent development of their leadership roles and standards and the quality of provision are starting to benefit from their expertise. The school has an excellent

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What the school should do to improve further

• Extend the leadership and management roles of staff in order to develop the ethos of shared responsibility and the quality of provision

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Grade: 1

Achievement is excellent. From a wide range of starting points, children make excellent progress and reach standards well above expected goals for their age by the time they leave the Nursery. This is because adults assess their progress rigorously and then use the information very effectively to extend their learning. Many children have a weakness in personal and social skills 4 of 10 Inspection Report: St Anne's Nursery School, 13 June 2007 on entry and activities to raise standards are a key priority. As a result, most children are confident and independent learners. More able children achieve very well, because additional support is focused on their specific needs. Good attention is given to the children with learning difficulties and disabilities and they attain the targets in their individual education plans. The children at an early stage of learning English achieve as well as their peers because they are

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Grade: 1

well-integrated and have very good levels of support focused on their specific needs.

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Grade: 1

Children's personal development and well-being, including their spiritual, moral social and cultural development are excellent. Parents strongly confirm that their children enjoy school and attendance levels are good. Relationships are outstanding. Children play together happily, taking turns and sharing equipment amicably. They have a very good understanding of right and wrong and comply very well with school rules. For example, when playing with wheeled toys, they take turns good-naturedly and without any adult advice. Children are developing a very good awareness of healthy lifestyles and enjoy outdoor play. Children were seen to chat easily with others. They talked about likes and dislikes, as they made a fruit salad together, clearly showing that they have a good understanding of the value of eating fruit and vegetables. Their excellent attitudes and competent basic skills prepare them well for primary school and

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Grade: 1

The quality of teaching is outstanding and, as a result, children learn extremely well. Teachers have very high expectations of each child and plan learning programmes for them meticulously. Outstanding team work and careful planning ensures that informal play and direct teaching merges seamlessly, both indoors and out. The expertise of staff is used very efficiently to develop learning experiences in greater depth. For example, at one time, a small group of children happily sang nursery rhymes with a music specialist, while another group worked on number recognition and measured various classroom objects. Effective support and guidance is provided for children with learning difficulties and disabilities and they achieve very well. Children with social and emotional needs were happily engaged in small group activities and improving rapidly, because very high levels of praise marked their small improvements. Those

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Grade: 1

children speaking English as an additional language are integrated very effectively in all activities and achieve as well as their peers.

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Grade: 1

The school has an excellent curriculum that fully meets the needs of all children. With great care the curriculum is planned to build on children's experiences and interest. There is a very good emphasis on the acquisition of personal and social skills. A vibrant learning environment excites and engages pupils. Winding through the centre of the outdoor classroom is an attractive garden and planted by the children. Often, children watch the wild birds which are attracted to it, while others use it as an obstacle course for their wheeled toys. Many activities daily are planned to develop in children a sense of awe and wonder. As they examined the skin of a 5 of 10 Inspection Report: St Anne's Nursery School, 13 June 2007 snake, they marvelled at its skill in shedding its skin. Visitors and parents are often involved in enhancing the curriculum, such as in reading stories. Visits into the community and, recently,

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Grade: 1

to London Zoo are effective in developing children's knowledge of the wider world. A bi-lingual lending library operates weekly and caters very effectively for children in a multi-lingual school.

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Grade: 1

The care, support and guidance of children are outstanding. Parents and carers have considerable confidence in the pastoral care and support provided by the school. They are pleased that their children enjoy school so much and feel safe and secure. All arrangements for ensuring health and safety, risk assessment, first aid and child protection are fully in place. Staff teach children how to make safe choices when looking after them selves, showing them how to keep safe and use tools wisely. If required outside agencies provide additional support for children with special needs. Effective procedures are in place for observing, assessing and tracking the progress of children. Targets are set and reviewed daily to ensure that children are challenged effectively. Comprehensive records are kept of each child's progress and are shared regularly with children and their parents. Parents are very appreciative of the school's effort in producing these profiles,

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Grade: 1

which are a detailed record of their child's nursery education.

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Grade: 1

Leadership and management are excellent. The school is led very ably by an outstanding headteacher. Under her guidance the school maintains high standards and provides an excellent quality of provision. The deputy headteacher has used her expertise very well to develop a very good health and safety programme and also provides good leadership of the excellent provision for the children with learning difficulties and disabilities. The use of self-evaluation is excellent. The various skills of the headteacher and senior managers are competent in identifying the next steps in the school's development, introducing change, monitoring actions and evaluating outcomes. Other staff are enthusiastic about the on-going development of their roles and the quality of provision is benefiting from their expertise. Governors know the school very well and provide excellent direction undertaking their roles responsibly. Funds are managed efficiently

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Grade: 1

and targeted very effectively to perceived needs, such as for the proposed change to a children's centre. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: St Anne's Nursery School, 13 June 2007 .

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Grade: 1

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: St Anne's Nursery School, 13 June 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? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 1 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

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

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 1 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 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?

1 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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: St Anne's Nursery School, 13 June 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 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets 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? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: St Anne's Nursery School, 13 June 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

25 June 2007 Dear Children Inspection of St Anne's Nursery School,London,W10 6TT Thank you for making me so welcome when I visited your school recently. I enjoyed finding out about all the interesting things you are doing, such as your recent visit to London Zoo. You should be proud of your school - it is excellent. These are the things that we found out. What I really liked about your school is: • you enjoy school very much and work hard in all activities • all the staff give you lots of exciting and interesting things to do • you are very kind and polite to each other • your parents and carers are very pleased that you come to this nursery. I have now asked the headteacher and senior managers to involve the grown-ups more in making your school even better. I hope that you continue to enjoy your time at St. Anne's Nursery School. Yours sincerely Bernice MagsonLead inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: St Anne's Nursery School, 13 June 2007

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