Bushbury Nursery School

Bushbury Nursery School Inspection report

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104285 Unique Reference Number Wolverhampton Local Authority 308562 Inspection number 11 July 2007 Inspection date Barbara Crane 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 86 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Jane Gardener Chair Sheila Ordidge Headteacher 30 November 2004 Date of previous school inspection Bushbury Lane School address Bushbury Wolverhampton WV10 8JP

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01902 558118 Telephone number 01902 558118 Fax number

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3-4 Age group 11 July 2007 Inspection date 308562 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.

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Description of the school

This Nursery serves an area in which many families face considerable social and economic challenges. Most children come from White British families but a few come from other ethnic groups. The proportion of children with learning difficulties is above average. Children's attainment when they start at the Nursery is well below what might be expected for their age, particularly in language.

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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: Bushbury Nursery School, 11 July 2007

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Grade: 1

Bushbury Nursery provides children with an excellent start to their education. Children love attending because they enjoy learning with the adults and their friends. The friendly atmosphere is founded on the warm relationships between the staff, the children and their families. Parents say that they see the difference their children's attendance makes to their development as well-rounded individuals. They are full of praise for the way in which the staff know their children and give them what they need to grow in confidence. The Nursery's excellent partnership with parents and other agencies, such as health services, greatly benefits children's sense of security and their well-being. Children make very rapid strides in their learning because the teaching is outstanding. The staff know how children learn and give them the freedom to follow their ideas in the ways that best suit the individual child. Adults praise children's efforts so that they try even harder. Children's

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Grade: 1

achievement is excellent and they are very well prepared for the future. Fast and consistent progress for all groups of children means that most reach the expectations for their age in nearly all areas of learning by the time they leave the Nursery. Children's outstanding personal development and well-being are nurtured through excellent care, guidance and support. Adults are patient and there is an atmosphere of mutual respect so that children know their views are important. Children have excellent manners, behave extremely well and show consideration for each others. The excellent curriculum provides children with plenty of stimulation to explore and investigate. The thoughtful organisation of sessions means that times for quieter reflection are balanced by more active sessions. Music, art and dance are frequently used as channels for children to extend and communicate their ideas. On just a few occasions, opportunities are

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Grade: 1

missed to stimulate children's interest and develop their early skills in writing. This is because the resources available are not always sufficiently inviting to children. Very effective support for children with learning difficulties promotes their rapid progress towards their targets. First-rate leadership and management ensure that all children join in and benefit from what the Nursery offers. The staff are a talented group, with a shared vision of how to get the best for the children; their high level of expertise allows them to do so. The Nursery's excellent self-evaluation is firmly based on checking what is happening to find out what works and where improvements can be made. The Nursery has the right priorities and there is excellent capacity to improve. This is demonstrated in the effectiveness of initiatives to improve children's skills in calculation and linking sounds to letters.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that there are always interesting resources available to encourage children to write.

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Grade: 1

Children's achievement is excellent. Their speedy progress means that they quickly make up ground from a much lower than average starting point. This picture is the same for boys and girls and for all ethnic groups. By the time they leave the Nursery, most children reach the expectations for their age in most areas of learning. The level reached by most children in communication, language and literacy is below the expectation for their age but most children started at a very low level in this area and have made fast progress. Many go beyond the expectations for their age in their personal, social and emotional development because of the 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Bushbury Nursery School, 11 July 2007 high expectations and sensitive guidance by adults. As a result of this secure platform of skills, children are very well prepared for the next stage of their education. Children with learning difficulties make excellent progress because their needs are well identified and catered for.

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Grade: 1

Children who can learn at a faster rate than most get the level of challenge they need to go that bit further.

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Grade: 1

The way in which children come into Nursery at the start of sessions shows how much they enjoy their time there. They cannot wait to greet their friends and the adults and get started on activities. Children's attendance is excellent, reflecting the extent to which they and their parents are pleased with what the Nursery provides for them. Children's personal development, including their spiritual, social, moral and cultural development, is outstanding. They put into practice what they have learned about working together to solve problems and being considerate to others. This was demonstrated when five children played out parts of cooks and negotiated with each other to ensure that each of 12 paper cases was filled with the same amount of cake mixture. Children's exemplary behaviour helps to make the Nursery a happy place for everyone. They know how to keep themselves and others safe. In outdoor play, they are active and make

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Grade: 1

the most of opportunities to climb, balance and push the boundaries of their physical skills. Their understanding of how to eat healthily is well developed. As one child put it, while enjoying snack time, 'Milk and fruit make you big and strong.'

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Grade: 1

Teaching ensures that children develop independence and perseverance as well as providing a sense of fun in learning that engages children. Children's experiences are used very effectively by adults as a starting point to develop their learning. Questions probe children's thinking very successfully. Adults are very good at recognising the moment when children are ready to move on in their learning. This is because of close observations of children's progress. They make the most of opportunities to provide sensitive teaching for individual children. There is a very good balance between this timely intervention and simply letting children get on with it so that they learn for themselves or from other children. The staff notice how individual children learn best and give them opportunities to do so. For example, children who like to reflect on or extend their learning through telling stories, or expressing their ideas through drawing or

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Grade: 1

dancing are able to do so. Children listen carefully to adults because they themselves are listened to.

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Grade: 1

The Nursery provides a lively and creative curriculum through which children learn the full range of skills they need for the future. A wide range of visits and visitors extends the boundaries of children's experiences. Children are given time to explore and the stimulating environment means that they use their senses to learn. Music, dance and art play a huge part in developing children's thinking and confidence and increase their enjoyment in learning. In one session, for example, a child responded to music by drawing and asked the musician to play higher and 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Bushbury Nursery School, 11 July 2007 higher notes to represent the roofs he was drawing. The children's learning blends together in activities that enable them to use their skills in new situations. This means that children meet with success and want to learn more. There are just a few occasions when resources to invite

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Grade: 1

children to develop early skills in writing are not as varied or stimulating as the resources in other areas. There is a very good balance of times when adults take charge of what children will learn and occasions when children decide what they will do. Adults are quick to seize upon children's ideas and use these to extend children's learning.

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Grade: 1

Warm relationships and sensitive encouragement mean that children thrive in a climate of trust. The staff have an excellent knowledge of children and their families and use it well to support children's well-being. The easy communication between home and school means that both staff and parents know how to help children to do their best and to feel happy and confident. Parents say that the 'Stay and Play' facility enables a smooth transition into the Nursery. Procedures for safeguarding children are secure. Adults give excellent attention to promoting children's awareness of the importance of leading healthy lifestyles, including hygiene. Excellent support and guidance are provided for children with learning difficulties. There is prompt and effective intervention if problems are identified and parents are fully involved at every stage so that they can help to support their children's progress.

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Grade: 1

The talented staff team are united in their desire to provide a high quality start for children's education. Senior staff work with great enthusiasm to get the best out of colleagues and the children. They have created a climate in which everyone shares the same philosophy. Outstanding leadership and management ensure that the staff extend their skills through professional development that focuses on the right things to improve children's learning. The staff share their expertise very successfully, and this, combined with their pleasure in being with the children, means that children do very well. The effectiveness with which the staff check and identify what is working well and work to improve is reflected in the way in which children's calculation skills have improved. Governors provide good support and are well informed. They are steadily developing their ability to ask pertinent questions to help the Nursery improve

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Grade: 1

even more. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Bushbury Nursery School, 11 July 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: Bushbury Nursery School, 11 July 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? 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?

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: Bushbury Nursery School, 11 July 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: Bushbury Nursery School, 11 July 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

11 July 2007 Dear Children Inspection of Bushbury Nursery School, Wolverhampton WV10 8JP Thank you for the welcome you gave me when I came to your Nursery. I could see why you enjoy it so much and why parents are so glad that you go there. You are getting an excellent start because the Nursery is such a lovely place to learn new things and make friends. This is what I found out on my visit:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You are all doing really well and learning everything you need for the next school you go to.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Everyone is friendly and you all help to make your Nursery a happy place because you behave so well and are polite and kind to each other. ■ The grown-ups are very good at teaching you and make sure that you have lots of fun while you are learning. ■ You have lots of exciting things to do! I could see how much you liked dancing, drawing and making music. ■ You know how to stay healthy by eating and drinking the right things, as well as keeping active. ■ The grown-ups know you very well and take great care of so that you are safe and happy.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The people in charge want the best for you and know how to make things even better.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I have asked the grown-ups to do just one thing to make your time at Nursery even more exciting. This is to make sure that there are plenty of different things to tempt you to make marks or write about your ideas. I know you will enjoy this because you have so many good ideas. Keep enjoying being with your friends and doing your best. I wish you all the very best for the future. Mrs Barbara Crane Lead inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Bushbury Nursery School, 11 July 2007

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