College Green School and Services

College Green Nursery School and Services Inspection report

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101491 Unique Reference Number Brent Local Authority 307708 Inspection number 5 June 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 Maintained School category 3 °4 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 37 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Chris Murdoch Chair Mrs Wendy Yianni Headteacher 17 January 2005 Date of previous school inspection 161 College Road School address London NW10 3PH 020 8969 2179 Telephone number 020 8969 2169 Fax number

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3-4 Age group 5 June 2008 Inspection date 307708 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 an Additional Inspector. The inspector 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 ■ how well the care, guidance and support for children helps their personal, social and emotional development ■ the impact of the curriculum on achievement and standards.

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Introduction

Evidence was gathered from the school's records of pupils' attainment, planning and policies, observing teaching and learning and discussions with staff, a governor and children. An analysis of 28 responses to the parents' questionnaire was carried out. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail, but the inspector found no evidence that the school's own assessments, given in its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

Most children join the school at the start of the term after their third birthday. They all attend all day. Approximately a third of the children come from minority ethnic backgrounds and are learning to speak English as an additional language. The nursery has a higher than average number of children with learning difficulties and disabilities due to the fact that it has places for six children with hearing impairment. Six were on roll at the time of the inspection. Fewer than average children are entitled to free school meals.

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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: College Green Nursery School and Services, 5 June 2008

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Grade: 1

College Green Nursery School provides an outstanding start to children's education. Parents have high praise for the school, typically commenting that the school has, 'a very creative and warm environment,' and 'we are very lucky to have such a wonderful place to send our children to in this neighbourhood'. Most of the children begin nursery with skills and abilities, which are similar to those expected for children of their age. Outstanding teaching and an exceptional insight into individuals' interests and abilities caters for the 'unique child'. As a result children make extremely good progress, achieve well, and in many instances exceed expected standards by the time they leave nursery. Staff hold a morning 'walk about' where, after a review of the previous days work, they plan activities according to the current interests and abilities of the children. This really supports children's learning and, because all staff are involved in the planning and execution

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Grade: 1

of ideas, means that children's progress in learning is accelerated. The nursery is extremely well led by the headteacher who, along with the whole staff, has high expectations of what can be achieved. Self-evaluation is used well, although on occasions it is far too modest in the nursery's own judgments of itself. 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. As a governor commented, 'We always, in our meetings, think what is the impact of all our decisions on the children'. Putting the children at the heart of all the governors and staff do ensures that children, whatever their needs or abilities, are able to fulfil their potential. The nursery consequently has outstanding capacity to continue to improve. The curriculum is broad and well planned with practical and engaging activities that allow

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Grade: 1

children to learn through play. The learning environment is exciting and stimulating. The free flow of movement between the inside and outside areas means that children widen their learning experiences and grow in confidence. Children appreciate and enjoy their time outside. Whilst the outside area is used well, it is not as stimulating or exciting as the inside. The governors and staff have clear ideas about how they would like to develop the outside area, but at the moment it is tired and in need of refurbishment. Outstanding teaching, combined with an outstanding curriculum, contributes significantly both to the children's obvious enjoyment of school and to their excellent achievement. Teachers make learning a constant source of pleasure, excitement and adventure. The interest that is generated encourages the children to concentrate on their activities and to persevere, and this aids their learning. The frequent observation and recording of each child's progress and interests

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Grade: 1

provides a comprehensive record of their development. Standards in communication, language and literacy, personal and social development and mathematical development are very good. Children really enjoy learning and solving problems for example, during 'tidy up' time, children were putting away the bicycles and matching the number on the bike with the number on the wall. One of the bikes 'number 4' was missing! Children hunted high and low to find it and to match it to the right number. Whilst this was not only great fun, children were learning to recognise numbers at the same time. The needs of children with learning difficulties and disabilities, including those with hearing impairment, are carefully considered, and the support provided enables them to make very good progress. Children who are learning English as an additional language also make very good progress 4 of 9 Inspection Report: College Green Nursery School and Services, 5 June 2008

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Grade: 1

because they are supported well. Links with outside agencies and other schools are excellent and successfully promote the children's well-being. Outstanding care, guidance and support 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 and give high priority to helping them to develop confidence, independence and self-esteem. This process begins even before the children start school, with home visits. In a survey of parents carried out last year by the nursery, parents unanimously said that they felt that they were a part of their children's learning, and that they felt very included. Visits and special events, such as the 'family art day,' contribute to the children's excellent spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. In one conversation overheard between two

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Grade: 1

boys, both of whom wanted to be 'Batman' the one duly acknowledged his friends feelings and kindly agreed that he, 'could have a turn at being Batman tomorrow'. This shows that the children quickly learn to share, take turns and work together because these opportunities are integrated into their learning experiences. The majority of children attend regularly. The children behave extremely well. There are excellent opportunities to learn about and to understand about healthy lifestyles. For example, they learn about how to eat healthily through cooking and during the inspector's visit they were making banana bread. Delicious, healthy lunches are cooked on the premises and children really enjoy them.

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Grade: 1

As a nursery school, the Foundation Stage is completely covered by the Overall Effectiveness section.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the outside learning areas so that they become as exciting and stimulating as the inside of the nursery. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: College Green Nursery School and Services, 5 June 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: College Green Nursery School and Services, 5 June 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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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? 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 effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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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 extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 How well learners enjoy their education 2 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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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 of 9 Inspection Report: College Green Nursery School and Services, 5 June 2008

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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 1 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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 of 9 Inspection Report: College Green Nursery School and Services, 5 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

16 June 2008 Dear Children Inspection of College Green Nursery School and Services,London,NW10 3PH I enjoyed visiting you at the nursery. Thank you for making me feel so welcome and for inviting me to play with you. It was lovely to see how well you get on with each other. Lots of you talked to me and told me all about what you were doing. It was good to see how hard you work and how well you share things. I do hope that no more bikes go missing. 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 a really 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 well looked after.

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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 the Governors.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I have asked the adults to improve the outside play area so that it is as exciting and delightful for you all as the inside area. Yours sincerely Sue Vale Lead Inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: College Green Nursery School and Services, 5 June 2008

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