Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre

Inspection Report Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre

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130861 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 293646 Inspection number 24 January 2007 Inspection date Sue Vale 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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Eastbrook Road School address Nursery Type of school Alton Maintained School category GU34 2DR 3 °5 Age range of pupils 0142087675 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0142089964 Fax number 56 Number on roll (school) Mrs Sue Meekings Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Jane Heath Headteacher 13 May 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 293646 24 January 2007 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

Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre is a nursery with 60 children attending part time. Of these, fifty per cent of the places are designated for children with learning difficulties and disabilities. Most children start attending nursery in the term following their third birthday although there are some under threes attending. Attainment on entry for mainstream children is broadly as expected in most areas of learning but lower in language skills.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, 24 January 2007

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Grade: 1

Bushy Leaze Early Years centre provides an excellent education. The Nursery judges its overall effectiveness as good, but it is clearly better than this. Inclusion and equality of opportunity are central to all that the nursery does. A number of parents commented how, 'All the children are treated as equals and all offered the same opportunities,' and this, 'makes them into individual shining stars.' The children are eager to participate and start joining in activities before they have even taken their coats off. The Nursery is very well led by the headteacher. It is her passion and enthusiasm for inclusion that makes it the unique place it is. Most of the children in maintained places begin Nursery with broadly average knowledge, skills and understanding. A number have lower than expected skills in communication language and literacy. The large numbers of children with designated special needs places have varied and complex

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Grade: 1

needs which are dealt with very well indeed. This means that all children make very good progress against their prior abilities. Staff know the children, their families and their needs very well indeed. Consistently very good teaching and a curriculum which is adapted to cater for the individual needs of children ensure that children progress and achieve very well. This provides them with a strong foundation on which to build their next steps for learning. Children's personal development and well-being and the care, guidance and support which they receive are outstanding. An area of excellence is the involvement of families, and family learning and support. The Nursery plans to develop this further as they work towards becoming a children's centre. The Nursery has maintained high standards since the last inspection. Although the expenditure per child is high, because the nursery employs extra staff to support those

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Grade: 1

children identified with learning difficulties and disabilities, it provides good value for money. The Nursery has excellent capacity to continue to improve and maintain its high standards.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Build on the firm start already made towards becoming a children's centre, particularly by increasing the involvement of children's families and the community.

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Grade: 1

All children achieve very well. The large number of children with complex learning difficulties and disabilities in many cases make rapid progress in their development, albeit in little steps. Children rise to the challenges they are set in their learning and development and they make very good progress in acquiring new skills and understanding. Many start Nursery with low levels of ability and a significant minority have limited communication skills. Most children who have maintained places in the Nursery achieve well and reach standards expected for their age by the time they leave. 2 Inspection Report: Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, 24 January 2007 Some exceed in the areas of personal, social and emotional development. Children who have a designated special needs place, whilst they are not necessarily working at a Foundation Stage level, nevertheless also achieve very well. They make rapid progress

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Grade: 1

against their previous abilities both physically and developmentally. A large part of this achievement is down to the encouragement and outstanding engagement and interaction with staff. Well planned activities, including imaginative play, are geared to the individual needs and interests of the children. Speaking and communication skills are strongly encouraged, and this helps children to achieve well. The introduction of the use of 'Makaton' is having a positive effect on the progress made by those children with autistic and communication learning needs.

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Grade: 1

Children's personal development and well- being are excellent. They make very good progress in their personal development. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Children are very eager to come to nursery. This is helped by the interesting learning environment, both indoors and outside, that motivates and stimulates their curiosity. They are well prepared for the next step in their education. Children make a positive contribution to the Nursery community. They work safely, and are encouraged to adopt a healthy life style. Individual and small group work, planned to meet the individual interests of children, enhances their personal, social and emotional development and this helps all children to progress well. Parents also feel very well supported, 'a lovely warm, friendly atmosphere,' is of particular importance for those who have children with specific learning difficulties and disabilities. Many parents comment that both they are their

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Grade: 1

children are 'made to feel special and accepted.'

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Grade: 1

Teaching is very good with some outstanding adult interaction with the children. This really helps them to make very good progress and to learn. All adult educators who work with the children have a very good understanding of their individual needs and abilities. This is very important in planning and adapting the curriculum to the individual needs of both maintained nursery place children and for those children with learning difficulties and disabilities. Adults are very good role models. They have the balance right between when to leave children to explore and find out things for themselves and when adults need to be involved in order to challenge and move children's learning on. This was seen when one child with complex learning needs became fascinated with his reflection in the mirror. One teacher fetched a simple booklet to show different facial expressions and encourage him to try them out. This took an individual's interest

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Grade: 1

and turned it into a learning experience, which would help him to understand and 3 Inspection Report: Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, 24 January 2007 communicate with others. This is an example of why children make such rapid progress in their learning. Effective systems are in place to track children's progress. Staff use assessment information well to match work to children's abilities, providing very good support for those with learning difficulties and disabilities.

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Grade: 1

The curriculum is very good. Excellent knowledge of how young children learn ensures that staff plan and prepare activities which really influences and supports children in their learning. A number of children are not ready to work at the Foundation Stage curriculum level and adults are very adept at working within the 0-3 early years curriculum in order to cater for individual needs and requirements. This planning for the needs of individual is also successfully used for those who are ready and able to reach higher levels. Basic skills are taught well through encouragement, interesting practical 'hands-on' activities and visual learning techniques. There is good use of information and communication technology through the use of an interactive whiteboard used by the children themselves. Children with learning difficulties and disabilities are fully integrated and, as one parent commented, 'the nursery has

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Grade: 1

The Nursery is safe and secure and staff work very closely with parents to ensure their children's well-being. The outstanding work done with families and the support shown for children with learning difficulties and disabilities reflect the positive care and guidance given to children and families alike. Activities such as the Saturday morning play club for fathers and children, outreach work before the children even start at Nursery; individual care and help for families are all praised in the many letters received by parents. Staff are trained in child protection procedures. Risk assessments are carried out regularly, both around the nursery and for when children go out on local trips. The academic guidance is good. Children's progress is tracked carefully through their individual files, and this information is used to plan learning activities.

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Grade: 1

Leadership and management are outstanding. The Nursery is very well led by the headteacher. Her determination that all children are capable of achieving, however small the achievement is, and celebrating this, is central to the nursery's success. All staff work together well as a team and have a shared vision for the inclusion of all who attend the nursery. It is very much a team effort. This inclusion includes the involvement of parents and families so that, in particular, those parents of children with learning 4 Inspection Report: Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, 24 January 2007 difficulties and disabilities also feel very included and part of their children's education. 'I am very impressed at how the staff have supported both my daughter and myself through her special needs placement.' The Nursery accurately identifies key strengths and areas they wish to improve, such as its development into a fully fledged Children's

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Grade: 1

Centre. Professional development is given a high priority in the school for all staff and governors and this helps keep expectations high of what can be achieved. Parents' views are regularly sought and taken into account when planning activities. There is good governance of the school. Strengths and areas for development are reviewed, questions asked and findings acted upon The very large capital carry forward is designated to support the further development of the Early Years Centre into a children's centre. The nursery is very well placed to continue providing a very good start to children's education. 5 Inspection Report: Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, 24 January 2007 .

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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: Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, 24 January 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 2 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? 3 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?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 3 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. 7 Inspection Report: Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, 24 January 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? 8 Inspection Report: Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, 24 January 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I really enjoyed visiting your Nursery. It is a lovely friendly place to learn and a wonderful start to your education. I really liked the way the teachers look after you. You and your teachers do lots of things really well; • You are very good at playing and working together. • You are very happy at your nursery and obviously want to go there every day. • You work very hard and learn lots of interesting things • Your teachers also work very hard and make what you learn interesting. • Your teachers care for you very well and are very good at looking after those of you who need extra help and support. Your headteacher and other staff are very good at what they do. They are working very hard to get ready for turning the Nursery into an even more special Children's Centre. With best wishes Sue Vale Lead inspector 9 Inspection Report: Bushy Leaze Early Years Centre, 24 January 2007

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