Madeley Nursery School

Madeley Nursery School Inspection report

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123347 Unique Reference Number Telford and Wrekin Local Authority 292638 Inspection number 13 March 2007 Inspection date Joyce Cox 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 82 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Lucy Duggan Chair Sarah Cole Headteacher 27 May 2002 Date of previous school inspection Bridle Road School address Madeley Telford TF7 5ET

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01952 388210 Telephone number - Fax number

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3 °4 Age group 13 March 2007 Inspection date 292638 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 Additional Inspector over one day.

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Description of the school

Madeley Nursery welcomes children from three to four years old. Children attend either morning or afternoon sessions. Attainment on admission is in line with the expected levels for children of this age but a significant proportion have weaker communication skills. Almost all the children come from White British families, with a very small number from minority ethnic backgrounds who are at an early stage of learning English. A below-average number of children have learning difficulties or disabilities.

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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: Madeley Nursery School, 13 March 2007

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Grade: 1

This is an outstanding Nursery where children of all abilities and backgrounds succeed and thrive. One parent, summing up the views of many, wrote, 'This is a brilliant place because of the excellent facilities and great atmosphere.' Others say that the staff are very skilled, caring and encouraging, which ensures that children make exceptional progress in their personal, social and emotional development and are well equipped for their future lives. It is obvious from the moment the children and parents enter the Nursery, where they are warmly met and welcomed every day by the staff, that this is a happy, safe and lively place where learning is fun. Staff sensitively encourage all children to become confident and happy learners, prepared to try out new experiences and activities. As a result, achievement is outstanding and progress in all the areas of learning is exceptional. By the time they leave the

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Grade: 1

school, children are working at levels which are in advance of those expected for their age. A rich and varied curriculum, combined with high quality teaching, provides constant pleasure, excitement and adventure. Perceptive assessment makes sure all children's individual leaning needs are identified and met. Adults have excellent relationships with each other and the children, and inspire confidence and success. Consequently, the children's behaviour and attitudes are exemplary and contribute much to their outstanding achievement. Leadership and management are outstanding. Led by the highly competent and experienced headteacher, the staff are constantly looking for ways to improve their work. They share a passionate commitment and determination to provide high quality Nursery education. This is reflected in the drive to raise standards further and the skilful ways in which the school has evaluated and refined its work over the years. Excellent progress has been made since the last

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Grade: 1

inspection, particularly in improving provision for information and communication technology (ICT) and tracking children's progress. There is clear evidence of outstanding capacity to build on the school's strengths. Governors provide excellent support to the school and are increasingly involved in evaluating its work. The one area to address in this otherwise extremely successful school is to further develop the exciting outdoor environment to provide a wild and growing area to enhance children's knowledge and understanding of the world. The Nursery has established excellent relationships with parents, who express complete confidence in the staff and the excellent care, guidance and support they provide.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Extend the exciting outdoor area so children can explore the natural world.

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Grade: 1

Children's attainment exceeds that expected for their age by the time they leave Nursery. They achieve exceptionally well and are very well prepared for their Reception classes. Children with learning difficulties and disabilities make rapid progress because of sensitive, loving support and the exciting practical activities and resources that capture their interest. This is also true for the few children who speak English as an additional language. Although some children's speech and language skills are weaker than in other areas, the Nursery's clear focus on this aspect ensures they progress very well. More-able children's learning needs are also successfully met by carefully planned group work. 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Madeley Nursery School, 13 March 2007

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Grade: 1

Children blossom with confidence because the staff value them and listen to their ideas. They develop extremely positive attitudes to learning because the adults make it so enjoyable and exciting for them. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Children are friendly towards each other and mix well together. They organise their own activities and invite others to join in, are very welcoming to visitors, saying: 'Don't worry if you're lost, I'll come and find you.' This is a happy, interesting and exciting Nursery where children quickly become confident enough to work independently and rapidly learn to take turns and share resources. They remain busy throughout sessions, persevering with tasks and responding positively to encouragement and praise that spurs them on to try even harder. Excellent relationships, friendships and behaviour ensure the Nursery is a great place to be. Because staff

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Grade: 1

successfully make the most of learning opportunities, children very quickly learn to celebrate different cultures in the community around them, enjoying Chinese New Year celebrations, for example. Children also enjoy eating healthy fruit snacks at break times and have free access to water for drinking. Children are consulted regularly on resources and equipment they would like, and learn to contribute to the community by being 'helper' of the day. They know how to keep themselves safe by sticking to the rules such as sharing toys and respecting other children's space when playing outdoors. The skills children learn, together with the independence they develop, are preparing them extremely well for later life.

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Grade: 1

The teamwork amongst staff is excellent, with the interests and various learning needs of the children at the forefront of thinking. As a result of impressive research and detailed analysis of their practice, staff have a superb understanding of how young children learn. This knowledge, coupled with excellent relationships, is applied skilfully to meeting the needs of each child. This level of individual attention works exceptionally well for all children, including those with additional needs, who are set precise, achievable goals. A strong feature of the teaching is the way staff seize opportunities to develop children's ideas by playing and exploring alongside them and using questions and comments very skilfully to extend children's thinking. For instance, as a result of inspirational and very creative teaching, children were fascinated and made exceptional gains in understanding their local environment when placing staff's and children's

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Grade: 1

photographs on a large map. Assessment of children's progress is very thorough and parents are fully involved as they can share children's daily learning via a slideshow of activities displayed on the interactive whiteboards.

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Grade: 1

The curriculum is varied and rich and is based on an excellent understanding of the learning needs of young children. The Nursery has received national recognition for its very impressive work in curriculum planning and documenting of children's learning. Staff achieve an excellent balance between following and extending the children's interests and ensuring all areas of learning are covered. Excellent use is made of the indoor and outdoor environments and exciting and enticing resources are provided. The staff and children are currently planning to construct 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Madeley Nursery School, 13 March 2007 a wild area, which will enhance the stimulating outdoor facilities even further. Staff are also particularly skilled at using ICT to record children's progress and parents say the attractive and informative website is a very useful tool to 'track the teaching and learning.' Visits to places

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Grade: 1

in the local environment, together with visitors and special events, add richness to the curriculum and broaden children's horizons. Excellent links with external agencies extend children's learning. The curriculum includes plenty of opportunities for children to learn about how to keep safe and healthy, such as daily outdoor physical activities and how to handle equipment like hole punches and scissors safely.

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Grade: 1

Staff care exceptionally well for the children and support families very effectively through family literacy and healthy eating workshops. Adults are sensitive and friendly and this helps to create an atmosphere in which children feel really secure and are eager to learn. Parents are unanimous in their praise for the deep knowledge staff have of their children. One writes, 'Children feel respected and valued, giving them the confidence to offer opinions and take chances.' Staff are aware of the procedures for child protection and those to ensure health and safety. Children are gently guided in their work by skilled staff who know precisely how to help them make progress.

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Grade: 1

The school has an excellent track record in maintaining a high quality of education and outstanding levels of care. The headteacher has successfully built a high-performing team who show great commitment to evaluating their practice and striving to improve it even further. Evaluation of the school's work is perceptive and self-critical and leaves no room for complacency. For example, the school identified the need to raise boys' attainment in mark making and successfully achieved this by using a range of interesting activities. Consequently, standards rose. The headteacher has created a vibrant, happy ethos which is reflected in the highly imaginative curriculum and stimulating teaching. As a result, there are high levels of achievement by children of all abilities and backgrounds. Governors offer considerable support and are adept at assessing the school's work and monitoring its initiatives. Staff and governors

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Grade: 1

are very good at listening and responding to parents' views and children's needs are always put first. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Madeley Nursery School, 13 March 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: Madeley Nursery School, 13 March 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: Madeley Nursery School, 13 March 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: Madeley Nursery School, 13 March 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I enjoyed my visit to your Nursery very much. I really enjoyed watching some of the exciting things you do indoors and outdoors. I know your mums and dads think that your Nursery is a very special place and I agree with them. There are lots of wonderful things about your Nursery: • You are very good at working hard, helping each other and listening to your teachers. • The staff care about you very much and make learning really interesting and fun. • Your headteacher is very clever at running the school and makes sure you all have a good time and do well. • Everyone in the Nursery is happy and friendly and they all work together to make it an exciting place for you. • Anybody who needs extra help is always given it. • You love learning new things and are very good at sharing, taking turns, talking and being kind to each other. The staff have lots of good ideas to make the Nursery even better and I agree with them that

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

it would be great to build an outdoor wild and growing area for plants and fruit and vegetables. I am sure you will have lots of good ideas about what you would like to do with it. It was great to see that you are all so happy at Nursery and doing so well. I wish you all the very best for the future. 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Madeley Nursery School, 13 March 2007

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