Evesham Nursery School

Inspection Report Evesham Nursery School

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132104 Unique Reference Number Worcestershire LEA 293943 Inspection number 12 June 2006 to 12 June 2006 Inspection dates Laurie Lewin AI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 which gives Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools the authority to inspect any school in England. The inspection is to be treated as a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Four Pools Road School address Nursery Type of school Evesham Maintained School category Worcestershire WR11 1DG 3 to 4 Age range of pupils 01386 423118 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01386 422 590 Fax number 52 Number on roll Mr Matthew Hutchins Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Naomi Christelow Headteacher 4 March 2002 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 293943 12 June 2006 - 3 to 4 12 June 2006 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 one Additional Inspector. The inspector studied data about the school, observed lessons, viewed children’s work, looked at a wide range of school documentation and talked with staff, parents, the children and the chair of governors.

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Description of the school

The school catchment takes in the whole of the town of Evesham. Most local housing is owner-occupied, but there are some pockets of social deprivation in the region. Children are nearly all White British, with a few from other ethnic backgrounds. Most children starting in the nursery show attainment that matches the levels expected for their age.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Evesham Nursery School, 12 June 2006 to 12 June 2006

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Grade: 1

My child is so happy to come to school. She loves all the things she does there. It’s so well thought out and planned, with everything possible done to make the children happy ….with lots of brilliant activities. It’s a really wonderful place for children to learn and play. The view expressed above is echoed by many parents and confirmed by this inspection, which shows the school is doing an outstanding job and provides excellent value for money. A visitor to the school is immediately captivated by the calm, purposeful atmosphere in which the buzz of excitement shows children keying in to a wide range of interesting activities from the moment they walk into the building. On arrival at the start of morning and afternoon sessions, there is a seamless transition from home to school, with children excitedly and enthusiastically launching into activities with their friends. Lively and attractive wall displays celebrate the children’s achievements and give credit

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Grade: 1

to the tremendous array of interesting projects underway, such as the work carried out in relation to regular trips to the Forest School outdoor education centres. Children talked with interest and excitement about their ‘adventurous’ experiences with mapping and exploration during these visits. Another highly successful initiative in the classroom sees children designing their own mini projects under close staff guidance. These projects typify the excellent curriculum provision and the approach of the staff in continually seeking to improve opportunities to boost children’s learning in a challenging and exciting way. Top quality teaching in the school is modelled around making full use of all of these projects, with staff seizing on opportunities to get children to discuss their experiences wherever possible. Staff work as a highly effective team to provide a well thought out programme of activities. They provide children with a finely tuned blend of individual

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Grade: 1

support, whole-class teaching and independent activity. All of this work leads to children making excellent progress and reaching high standards in their work. Staff are especially skilled at drawing on children’s ideas and getting them to think in a creative way. As a result, children develop a sophisticated level of confidence and independence for their age, often negotiating and collaborating with each other in a very mature way. Staff use their comprehensive observations and record keeping superbly to guide and support all individuals. In this way, they ensure that no children fall behind and all individuals are fully challenged to do their best. The high quality support and guidance also means that children’s personal development is excellent and their behaviour is exemplary. Through their very close monitoring of progress, staff understand the children’s needs very well and make sure precise targets are set

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Grade: 1

to help individuals constantly improve. They keep up a close relationship with all parents and carers to boost this support further, and make full use of outside agencies whenever they feel that extra expertise or support will help. 2 Inspection Report: Evesham Nursery School, 12 June 2006 to 12 June 2006 Excellent leadership and management, and the outstanding work of the headteacher in particular, mean that the school has moved from strength to strength since it was last inspected. The headteacher is especially skilled in getting all of the school community to work together to ensure provision continually improves in the future. She provides a climate in which staff and governors feel empowered to work as an energetic and highly effective team. This ensures that the school can only head onwards and upwards in the future. Highly regarded by all parents and by the local authority, the school is a centre of excellence for children’s provision at this age group. What

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Grade: 1

sets the school apart is the fact that despite its outstanding nature, staff still feel they can improve things. For example, through their current thorough and accurate evaluation of performance, they have identified rightly the need to improve some aspects of children’s mathematical development to the same high levels as other areas of learning.

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Grade: 1

The children do very well. Many of them speak clearly and confidently in simple sentences. They are highly adept for their age at using equipment such as computers and digital cameras. Staff are very successful at getting children to work independently with their own projects and problem solving activities. The school’s progress records show that, while children make excellent progress and achieve high standards overall, their mathematical development is slightly below their achievement in other areas.

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Grade: 1

Children’s excellent progress stems from the strong independence, confidence, eagerness to learn and outstanding relationships they develop with staff and each other. Good manners and best behaviour are fully embedded in all routines. Children’s friendly attitudes and readiness to talk about what they are doing are strong indicators of the sense of security and safety they feel. Comments from parents such as ….. ‘my child is so happy to come to school’ and ‘without Evesham Nursery, my son would not be the happy little boy he is’, firmly underline this outstanding personal development.

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Grade: 1

Outstanding teaching is reflected in the top quality planning for all activities and the extensive use that staff make of all resources at their disposal. The experienced and confident approach of the staff mean that they are not afraid to ‘take risks’ and push the boundaries of what they do in terms of searching out new ideas to make learning increasingly full of challenge and fun for all children. 3 Inspection Report: Evesham Nursery School, 12 June 2006 to 12 June 2006

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Grade: 1

Staff have devised an excellent curriculum that has a very well thought out balance between pushing children ahead academically, giving them a broad range of understanding through practical exploration, and promoting their overall well-being in areas such as health and fitness. Every space both indoors and outdoors is used to maximum advantage to boost children’s learning, and the school makes excellent use of visits, visitors and its links in the community to promote areas of the curriculum as fully as possible.

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Grade: 1

All necessary procedures are fully established to ensure children’s safety and well-being. Through comprehensive monitoring of progress, staff have a highly detailed insight into children’s academic needs. They use the information gathered to set precise targets for each individual and follow up on this with intensive support to ensure children move ahead rapidly and with confidence. This support is further backed up by staff maintaining regular and close liaison with parents.

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Grade: 1

Everyone pulls together in this school because the headteacher creates a climate in which staff and governors all feel valued and inspired to do their best. Working closely together, they have created a clear vision to show where the school is going. Through accurate self-evaluation, they know what works well, and rapidly pick up on any areas of provision that need boosting. 4 Inspection Report: Evesham Nursery School, 12 June 2006 to 12 June 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 5 Inspection Report: Evesham Nursery School, 12 June 2006 to 12 June 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 1 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 1 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 1 How well do learners achieve? NA 1 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 1 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 1 The behaviour of learners NA 1 The attendance of learners NA 1 How well learners enjoy their education NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 1 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 1 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 1 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 1 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 1 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 1 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I enjoyed coming to visit you. Thank you for chatting to me and helping me find out what a fantastic school you have. Here are some of the things I liked especially: You work really well and try hard with all of the activities you do. You are very friendly. I especially enjoyed talking to some of you about the great adventures you have during your Forest School visits. You are all very polite and helpful and it was good that at lunchtime one of you even checked that I had washed my hands! I really liked your special individual projects and it was very interesting to look at the wall displays about these. I can see that you have lots of fun in all of your activity areas, such as in the beach hut and in the hairdressing salon. I am thinking about whether I should come back to get a haircut sometime! All of the staff do a terrific job in teaching you and helping you to do excellent work. Your headteacher and all of the adults work really well together to keep things improving. They

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

have a good new idea to get you working even better with maths. Many thanks again for all of your help.

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