Ethelred Nursery School and Children's Centre

Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre Inspection report

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100552 Unique Reference Number Lambeth Local Authority 307412 Inspection number 20 October 2008 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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Nursery Type of school Community School category 3–5 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 67 School (total) The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Paul Raikes Chair Mrs Glenda King Headteacher 20 September 2004 Date of previous school inspection 10 Lollard Street School address London SE11 6UP 020 7582 9711 Telephone number 020 7587 0711 Fax number

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3–5 Age group 20 October 2008 Inspection date 307412 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. 2 of 9 Inspection Report: Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre, 20 October 2008

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors. The inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated:

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Introduction

■ how effectively the school uses assessment information to plan what children need to do next ■ provision for children who are new to learning English

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Introduction

■ the impact of the curriculum on achievement and standards, and how the Nursery are supporting the increased number of boys to girls. Evidence was gathered from the school's records of pupils' attainment, 'special books' planning and policies, observations of teaching and learning and discussions with staff, governors and children. An analysis of 55 responses to the parents' questionnaire was carried out.

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Description of the school

Ethelred Nursery School and Children's Centre is located in Lambeth, much of which is an area of significant economic deprivation. It is uniquely situated in between three tower blocks on the top of the garage roofs. Approximately half of the children who attend the centre are learning English as an additional language. Around a third of children are entitled to free school meals. Approximately a quarter of children are identified with learning difficulties and/or disabilities ranging from physical disabilities to specific delay in speech and language acquisition. There are almost twice as many boys as there are girls in the current cohort. The Nursery has Investors in People and the Healthy Schools award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre, 20 October 2008

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Grade: 1

Ethelred Nursery School provides an outstanding start to children's education. Parents have high praise for the Nursery and the children's centre, a typical comment is that; 'The school is a great resource and more than meets the needs of children and parents' and 'The staff are unfailingly friendly and supportive'. Over two thirds of the children begin Nursery aged three with skills and abilities, which are below those expected for children of their age in personal, social and emotional development and in communication language and literacy. Outstanding teaching and an exceptional insight into individuals' interests and abilities caters for the 'unique child'. Parents of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and those whose children are new to learning English also comment that their children are provided for exceptionally well. The Nursery is astute in adapting the curriculum in order to support the large number of boys who are in this year's

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Grade: 1

cohort. Popular culture and lots of role-play around 'super heroes' engages the boys fully in all that is on offer. As a result, all children make extremely good progress, from their starting points and achieve outstandingly. The Nursery is extremely well led by the headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher and inclusion manager, who along with the whole staff have high expectations of what can be achieved. Self-evaluation is used well and the Nursery as a whole is reflective about their achievements and how they can improve what they offer. Putting the child at the heart of all that they do and outstanding attention to detail is why children make such rapid and successful progress in their learning. Governors fulfil their roles well and are proactive in working with the headteacher and staff to evaluate the school's strengths and to plan improvements. They are very involved with the future vision for the development of the Nursery and children centre

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Grade: 1

as a central and integral part of serving the local community. Along with the new build and plans for possible expansion, they are serving the needs of the children and their families very well indeed. As one mother who is also a governor said, 'My son really loves being at this Nursery. He feels safe and secure and has built strong relationships...he has also made lots of friends. He is learning so much and is stimulated in so many different ways everyday'. As a result of the excellent leadership and management and the way that individual children's needs are catered for the Nursery consequently has outstanding capacity to continue to improve. Links with outside agencies and organisations such as 'Roots and Shoots' are excellent and successfully promote the children's well-being; consequently community cohesion is also excellent. The learning environment is exciting and stimulating, and allows children to learn through play.

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Grade: 1

The free flow of movement between the inside and outside areas means that children widen their learning experiences and grow in confidence. The small amount of space available is used extremely well, perched as they are on top of the garage roofs! Outstanding team work, combined with a stimulating learning environment, contributes significantly both to the children's obvious enjoyment of Nursery and to their excellent achievement. Teachers, early years educators, and teaching assistants make learning a constant source of pleasure. The children showed excellent enjoyment and excitement and a sense of adventure, whether learning how to hammer nails into wood, singing and dancing to newly learnt songs or searching for mini beasts in the garden. The interest that is generated encourages the children to concentrate on their activities and to persevere, and this aids their learning. 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre, 20 October 2008

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Grade: 1

The frequent observation and recording of each child's progress and interests provides a comprehensive record of their development. Regular observations, feed into assessments of what children know, can do and understand. These in turn feed into daily planning and the children's targets and consequently identify their next steps for learning very well. These are shared between the children's key workers and parents. A small but vital missing link is the sharing of these targets amongst all members of staff. Standards reached by the time they leave the Nursery show that children make excellent progress in their learning. A number of children achieve particularly well in mathematical development. Role-play activities such as going to the hairdressers and the barbers are a key reason why children achieve so well in their language acquisition. Adults play along side the children, role modelling correct use of language, and explaining the sequences of what has to

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Grade: 1

happen when you go to the hairdressers and the barbers. This really helps those children who are new to learning English to make rapid progress in developing their understanding of new key vocabulary. Outstanding welfare and care arrangements contribute significantly to the children's excellent personal development. They make rapid progress in their personal, social and emotional development because the staff understand the needs of young children. They give high priority to helping them to develop confidence, independence and self-esteem. They are also very supportive of children's families, for example a recent review showed that increasing numbers of children are actually starting at Nursery who are not yet out of nappies. The Nursery ran a series of sessions focussing on self-care to help families in this area. The Nursery is actively encouraging fathers to be a positive part of their children's learning

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Grade: 1

experience. Consequently, fathers are regularly coming into Nursery to read stories to the children. This has been an overwhelming success, and is reflected in the number of fathers from the Nursery who also attend the local library with their children for story telling sessions on a Saturday morning. This is a positive contribution to the children's excellent spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. During the time of the inspection, Black History Month was being celebrated and children have benefited from storytellers, theatre groups and learning how to drum like African drummers. This is another reason why children make such rapid progress in their development because these opportunities are integrated into their learning experiences. The majority of children attend regularly. Unfortunately, there are a small but persistent number of families who do not, despite the Nursery encouraging them to do so and

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Grade: 1

this interrupts their learning. There are excellent opportunities to learn about and to understand about healthy lifestyles, they learn about how to eat healthily through growing their own food and cooking it.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Share children's individual targets for learning amongst all members of staff.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Encourage regular attendance amongst some families. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre, 20 October 2008 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre, 20 October 2008

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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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EYFS?

Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well being? 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

1 How well do children in the EYFS 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/or disabilities make progress

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children?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 1 The behaviour of learners 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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The quality of provision

1 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 1 How effectively is the welfare of the children in the EYFS promoted? 7 of 9 Inspection Report: Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre, 20 October 2008

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Leadership and management

1 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed? How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 1 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 1 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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 of 9 Inspection Report: Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre, 20 October 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

03 November 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre,London,SE11 6UP Thank you for making us feel so welcome when we came to visit your Nursery. It was lovely to see how well you get on with each other and all the lovely and exciting things that you have to play with. Lots of you talked to us and told us all about what you were doing. It was good to see how hard you work and how well you share things. I hope that you have enjoyed your time in the hairdressers. You go to an excellent Nursery and these are some of the very good things about it.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You achieve very well and make very good progress in your learning.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your teachers are outstanding and provide an excellent curriculum for you to follow. You are fortunate to be able to try out lots of exciting new things. ■ You obviously enjoy coming to Nursery and have a great time there.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The teachers care about you and you are looked after very well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The Nursery is very well led by your headteacher, and she is supported extremely well, by all the other adults, your key workers and the Governors. We really liked your special grey books, which show all the lovely things that you do, and also the files where your key workers make notes about all the things you can do, and which show what you need to do next in your learning. We have asked your key workers to share these targets and points with all members of staff. Most of you regularly come to Nursery but there are a few who do not come often, and this slows how quickly you learn. I have asked your headteacher to try to encourage all of you to come to Nursery every day. Yours sincerely Sue Vale Lead Inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Ethelred Nursery and Children's Centre, 20 October 2008

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