Haven Early Years Centre

Inspection Report Haven Children's Centre

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115830 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 290338 Inspection number 21 °22 September 2006 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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Harris Road School address Nursery Type of school Gosport Maintained School category PO13 0UY 3 °5 Age range of pupils 01329232095 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01329823977 Fax number 130 Number on roll (school) Mrs Jeanie Lo-Ying Chair The governing body Appropriate authority (Acting) Mrs Karen Hooper Headteacher 3 March 2003 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 290338 21 °22 September 2006 3°5 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

Haven Early Years Centre opened in 1997 and was designated a children's centre in 2004. It is registered to provide full day care for 150 children under eight years of age, up to fifty of whom can be under two. The Nursery has seventy full time equivalent places for children from age three to five including ten full time equivalent places for children with complex learning difficulties and disabilities. Most of the children in the Nursery attend part time for just one year. Other professionals and specialists including family support and portage workers are based at the centre. The head teacher has been on secondment for a year and is due to be replaced in January 2007. The senior manager is currently covering this position. There have been significant changes in the organisation of the centre over the past year. From the age of three, children in day care are now integrated into the Nursery. Children in the two groups who had

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Description of the school

previously been based in different parts of the building now play and learn together.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Haven Children's Centre, 21 °22 September 2006

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Grade: 1

The overall effectiveness of Haven Nursery is outstanding. The heads of nursery and care have worked together extremely well over the past year and have led and managed significant changes in the organisation of the centre. All the children over three now learn and play together and the centre runs as a cohesive whole. Although these changes have been very time consuming and challenging for all involved, they are proving highly beneficial for all the children's learning, care and overall provision. Children with complex and profound learning difficulties and disabilities are integrated, settled and cared for very well and are making very good progress. All the children including those with complex learning difficulties and disabilities play together well, to the benefit of all. Some of the parents of children who do not have these additional needs have chosen Haven because of this. Care, guidance and support are outstanding. All the staff, including day care staff,

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Grade: 1

nursery staff and the many professionals attached to the Centre work well as a team. Communication is very good. Because of this children and their families are supported extremely well and children's successful learning continues outside the nursery sessions, contributing well to progress and personal development. Personal development is outstanding because staff understand child development and know all the children so well. They provide an excellent curriculum which covers all areas of learning and is firmly based in play and practical experience. Children successfully develop healthy lifestyles through trying a variety of fruit and vegetables at snack and lunch time and playing with a range of equipment outside. Children enjoy learning, are eager to attend and generally play together well. Behaviour is good because staff know all the children well and respond to them skilfully and positively. Children develop good levels of confidence and independence. Good progress,

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Grade: 1

relationships and eagerness to learn are likely to stand them in good stead for later life. Day care and nursery staff work well together and different roles and responsibilities are difficult to distinguish. Staff have taken on new roles of care and teaching well, ensuring that children are stimulated and safe. There has been good progress in the quality of teaching over the year and this is now good, contributing well to children's progress and personal development. Leadership and management are outstanding. Leaders know the staff, children, families and centre well. They are constantly seeking ways to improve its effectiveness. Due to the busyness and change of the past year self evaluation documents have not been updated. They no longer present an accurate picture of the Centre's provision. Progress since the last inspection has been good. Based on this successful track record capacity for further improvement is good.

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What the school should do to improve further

Update self evaluation documents to fully show the Centre's outstanding provision. 2 Inspection Report: Haven Children's Centre, 21 °22 September 2006

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Grade: 1

Children's achievement is outstanding. They make rapid progress in all six areas of learning. Their progress in personal and social development is particularly good because of the consistent praise and support of staff which fosters confidence, independence and a willingness to learn and move on from mistakes. Progress in communication, language and literacy is extremely good because of the well planned programmes such as 'nursery narratives' and 'songs and rhymes' and the sensitive way in which staff encourage conversation. Progress in mathematics is now very good because of effective planning and very good use of a wide range of resources. Children with learning difficulties and disabilities make particularly good progress because of detailed assessment and effective one to one teaching from sensitive staff. These children are also successfully integrated with other children and benefit from good care and

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Grade: 1

management at home from well supported parents.

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Grade: 1

Children's personal development and well being are outstanding. They are praised, guided and supported very well and their behaviour is very good. They are eager to come to the centre and their attendance is good. They are well cared for and feel safe. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. This is largely because of the engaging learning environment in which children explore and reflect upon many features of life at first hand. Children's ideas and initiative are greatly valued and they clearly make a strong contribution to their nursery community, for example, coming with their families at weekends to dig, build and paint the nursery garden. Children develop very good levels of confidence and independence. One boy who painted a picture without adult support, found his name sticker, peeled it off and stuck it on his picture. He then put it on the rack to dry and put the paper back of the

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good with some outstanding features. The well thought out environment, including attractive and stimulating displays, and the way that interesting resources are organised support children's learning very effectively. The high expectations, open ended questioning and consistency of staff help all children's learning including those with learning difficulties and those who learn more quickly. In the Nursery there is generally a good balance between activities chosen by the children and those led by adults. There are new aspects to these roles which most staff have accepted well. At the time of the inspection most of the children were very new 3 Inspection Report: Haven Children's Centre, 21 °22 September 2006 and some needed additional guidance and support. Learning in some of the adult led activities was reduced when the adult was needed to support other children elsewhere.

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Grade: 1

The curriculum is outstanding. It covers all the required areas exceptionally well and is firmly based in practical experience and play. All the children's developmental needs and interests are met very well because of detailed assessment which is used well to plan and organise resources in the learning environment, guide adult input and direct teaching. Learning is successfully enriched through visitors such as fire fighters and special days such science exploration and weekend gardening sessions. Children benefit greatly from the support and training given to their parents as effective learning and positive experiences increase at home. Successful learning, especially for children with learning difficulties and disabilities, is enhanced through the good and growing links with other settings, helping children to move smoothly between stages of their education.

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Grade: 1

The care, guidance and support of children, both physically and emotionally, are outstanding. Staff know all the children very well. Considerable time is devoted to observing and assessing their progress throughout the year. Findings are recorded, discussed in detail and used well in teaching and planning. Extremely effective support is given to their families, which enables positive learning to continue at home. Many parents spoke glowingly of the way that staff have listened to them and helped them. Several talked of how their children had struggled at previous groups and had had various difficulties at home. Through courses, such as 'Confident parents confident kids', parents have learned effective strategies to manage their children who are now settled and happy. One parent reported, 'I don't know what we would have done without Haven'.

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Grade: 1

Leadership and management are outstanding. The many significant changes, including those in the organisation and leadership of the centre over the past year, have been led and managed extremely well by the acting head teacher of the Nursery and head of care. They have been very successful in retaining staff and building their morale and commitment. The centre is now a cohesive whole in which all the children are exceptionally well cared for and achieve outstandingly well. The acting head teacher has kept a strong focus on teaching and learning and improved tracking records so that the centre has a clear idea of each child's progress. Leaders and managers know the centre, and all the children and families well. Self evaluation documents do not currently reflect this. The chair of governors is experienced and knowledgeable about 4 Inspection Report: Haven Children's Centre, 21 °22 September 2006 education and child development. She leads the other governors well in generally

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Grade: 1

encouraging and challenging the centre. 5 Inspection Report: Haven Children's Centre, 21 °22 September 2006 .

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Grade: 1

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Haven Children's Centre, 21 °22 September 2006

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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 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 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 2 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 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. 7 Inspection Report: Haven Children's Centre, 21 °22 September 2006

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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? 8 Inspection Report: Haven Children's Centre, 21 °22 September 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for having me in your nursery. I enjoyed my time with you all very much. I particularly liked having lunch with some of you and hearing all about the colours of your rooms at home. Thank you for being so friendly and helpful, especially when many of you have only been there for less than three weeks. You all behaved very well and are quickly learning to share and play with each other. You are very good at choosing and using all the lovely activities and equipment that your teachers organise for you. You are learning well in all you do especially working and playing on your own, with friends and with your teachers. Your whole nursery seems very calm and relaxed. Your teachers work very hard to provide so many things for you and are always thinking of new ideas, approaches and activities. They have been so busy that they have not had time to write down why the whole of your nursery is so good. Thinking about this will help them with their

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

work, show them what is really important in your learning and help them not to work too hard. Perhaps you could help by thinking of and telling your teachers what you like best and what helps you most to learn at nursery. It was lovely to meet lots of your mummies and daddies too and to hear about how much your nursery helps them. Please thank them for their time and comments. I appreciate them very much. Thank you again. Carry on behaving well and learning lots. Jo Curd Lead inspector 9 Inspection Report: Haven Children's Centre, 21 °22 September 2006

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