Bridlington Nursery School

Bridlington Nursery School Inspection report

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117695 Unique Reference Number East Riding of Yorkshire Local Authority 290901 Inspection number 25 °26 April 2007 Inspection dates Elisabeth Linley HMI 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 3 °4 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 111 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Pat McRae Chair Mrs Jean Wallace Headteacher 1 March 2001 Date of previous school inspection Butts Close School address Bridlington YO16 7BS

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01262 678485 Telephone number 0000 Fax number

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3 °4 Age group 25 °26 April 2007 Inspection dates 290901 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 one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Bridlington Nursery School is currently operating in temporary accommodation whilst the building of the Children’s Centre is being completed. When ‘Phase 2’ is finished the nursery will move into its new building; this is expected during the summer term. Children attend the nursery at different times during the day to fit in with the needs of their families. There are the equivalent of 60 full-time places at school and most of the children attend on a part-time basis. Close links are established with the day care provision based at the Children’s Centre and some children attend both settings. Since the last inspection, an acting headteacher has been appointed who has recently become the acting head of the Children’s Centre. Her successor has been appointed and will take up the permanent post on 1 September 2007. Other changes in staffing have occurred and the nursery now has a senior teacher. The nursery was awarded the Healthy Schools Award in 2004.

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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: Bridlington Nursery School, 25 °26 April 2007

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. Partnerships with parents are outstanding. The vast majority of parents are extremely positive about the quality of opportunities provided for their children. They particularly value the excellent care that their children receive. An outcome of this is that the children love to go to nursery where they play and work hard. As one parent said, ‘My daughter loves nursery and can’t wait to come back when it is the holidays!’ The school has developed well given the disruption it has faced in recent years and given its current temporary accommodation. This is in no small measure due to the skill and enthusiasm of the acting headteacher. She has led the school well as it moves towards becoming part of Bridlington’s first Children’s Centre. She has harnessed the skills of the staff and empowered them to succeed in their different roles. They in turn have responded positively. As a team they

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Grade: 2

are effective in their management roles and contribute well to the good leadership and management of the school. Governors too have made significant strides as they have taken on their new roles and responsibilities. Working effectively with the acting headteacher, they have managed well the required staff restructure for the Children’s Centre. Work is now required on strengthening school improvement planning. This is so that priorities to aid the school’s further development are carefully monitored and evaluated so that the impact of action taken can be measured effectively. Children achieve well during their time at nursery. This is because a strong emphasis is placed on developing their personal, social and emotional skills, which enables them to build confidence in their own ability. At the same time the nursery works hard with children to develop their language and communication skills and this helps their learning across the curriculum. The

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Grade: 2

children’s good personal development contributes significantly to their overall achievement. They enjoy school and this is because learning is made fun. The good variety of interesting and stimulating opportunities planned across the curriculum makes the nursery a good place to be. It is no wonder that their attendance is good. All the staff clearly enjoy themselves too! Teaching and learning are good and staff are conscientious in planning activities that meet children’s interests. Targets for children’s future learning are yet to be formalised. Since the last inspection much work has taken place to improve the quality of education provided for children who attend the nursery. As a result, the school’s knowledge of its strengths and areas for development are secure. The nursery provides good value for money and is well placed to improve further.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that targets for children’s future learning are clear so that their progress can be carefully monitored and evaluated during the course of their time in nursery. • Improve planning so that priorities for future improvement have clear outcomes that can be monitored and evaluated with rigour.

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Grade: 2

Children achieve well in the nursery because learning is fun and teaching is good. The school’s records show that most children join nursery with skills that are below what might be expected. So, as soon as children start school, a clear focus is provided to promote their personal, social 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Bridlington Nursery School, 25 °26 April 2007 and emotional development. With structured opportunities that encourage and enable children to succeed, they soon develop the confidence to try new things and build well on the skills they already have. Through projects such as ‘SALLEY’ and ‘Teaching Children Talking’, children’s communication skills develop well and all children benefit from the focussed support provided. As a result, children who are identified with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve as well as their friends. By the time the majority of children leave nursery and move on to primary

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Grade: 2

school most attain standards across the areas of learning that are broadly in line with expectations for their age.

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Grade: 2

Children really enjoy coming to nursery. They are encouraged to attend and parents respond positively knowing that their children are safe and happy; as a result, children’s attendance is good. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Children respond well to the responsibilities they are given; they help to tidy up and carefully share out fruit or vegetables at snack time trying hard to remember to say please and thank you. They learn about healthy eating and working safely, for example, when baking or working outside. Children’s behaviour is good and they develop good relationships with each other. Through charity events they begin to learn and understanding about the importance of helping others. In a similar way they develop an early knowledge and understanding of other cultures, for example, by learning about celebrations such as the Chinese New Year. Their good achievement in their personal

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Grade: 2

development and in their communication skills, contributes well to their future learning at primary school.

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Grade: 2

Children are grouped with a key worker and the relationships that are developed between children and staff are of high quality. This organisation contributes effectively to the quality of teaching and learning which are good. Staff know the children very well and carefully plan to meet their needs in the activities they provide. They use very effective questioning skills to ensure that children develop their thinking and are always challenged to achieve the best they can. Children quickly become independent and confident learners and they know the importance of being good listeners. This was shown in a good session, when children were keen to act out the story of the Little Red Hen. Children listened carefully and enjoyed hearing their friends take on the part of animals in the story. As a result of quality opportunities for learning, children learn and achieve well regardless of their ability.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is rich and varied. It promotes a good range of practical activities both inside and outdoors. Careful attention is given to aid all children, for example, where appropriate children are taught to ‘sign’ to help them in their language development. Considerable thought has also been given to encourage boys and girls to learn by using resources that appeal to them. Writing on clip boards outdoors, for example, is an activity that particularly appeals to the boys. Similarly, activities to promote children’s understanding of information and 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Bridlington Nursery School, 25 °26 April 2007 communication technology, for example, by using remote control cars and by taking photographs with the digital camera, makes this aspect of the curriculum fun. The nursery provides a good balance of direct teaching and independent choice. Children have freedom to choose from well

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Grade: 2

planned opportunities that are set against focussed adult led activities. This contributes well to developing children’s independence and their good achievement.

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Grade: 2

Children receive a good start to their education. Parents comment on the outstanding level of care that their children receive. An important feature of this aspect of the school’s work is the time taken to build excellent relationships with parents to ensure that they are confident in the school. Children too, develop trust and confidence in their key workers and other staff. Very effective partnerships exist with the Centre’s day care providers and with external agencies whose professional expertise is used well to aid the support of children who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Child protection procedures and risk assessments are in place reflecting the high priority given to children’s health and safety. Partnerships with the main feeder school are very good and the nursery works hard with other schools as well to ensure that transition to primary school is as seamless as possible. Children are guided particularly well

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Grade: 2

in their personal development. In respect of their academic guidance, key workers carefully adapt planning to meet children’s needs on a day-to-day basis and record the progress they make. Setting targets for children’s future learning, however, is as yet to be organised.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good overall. The acting headteacher leads and manages the school well. She has developed a good team who are totally committed to the children and their achievement; they are effective in their different roles. The day-to-day running of the nursery is good. The inclusion of all children is central to the vision for the school’s development; this is embraced by staff and governors alike. Leaders, managers and governors know their school well; however, planning for future improvement does not link the action to be taken sufficiently well with the expected outcomes for children. Governors are very supportive of the nursery. As a group they benefit from the considerable expertise of individuals; for example the Vice Chair, who leads the way in providing both challenge and support to school. Governors are totally committed to their new roles as governors of the Children’s Centre. They have

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Grade: 2

successfully appointed a new Head of Centre and have restructured their own committees so they can further improve their role as critical friend to the school. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Bridlington Nursery School, 25 °26 April 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. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Bridlington Nursery School, 25 °26 April 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? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 3 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

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 behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Bridlington Nursery School, 25 °26 April 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: Bridlington Nursery School, 25 °26 April 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

27 April 2007 Inspection of Bridlington Nursery School, Bridlington, YO16 7BS Dear Children I had a lovely time when I visited your nursery recently. I could see that all the people at nursery look after you very well indeed and that you are happy and safe. I thought you were all good children and that you played very nicely together. You enjoyed working hard and choosing from lots of different activities. It was good to see that you can work and play outside with the sand, bikes and cars and lots more. Inside too, you can do lots of different things. I really enjoyed watching you act out the story of the Little Red Hen. It is no wonder that you all do well at school. Your nursery is going to be part of the new Children’s Centre; that is exciting for everyone. So I have asked your teachers to make sure that they plan carefully for your future so that all of the children who attend nursery continue to do well and so that your school can get even better.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Best wishes Elisabeth Linley Her Majesty’s Inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Bridlington Nursery School, 25 °26 April 2007

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