Bensham Grove Nursery School

Bensham Grove Community Nursery School Inspection report

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108320 Unique Reference Number Gateshead Local Authority 309646 Inspection number 1 April 2008 Inspection date Linda Buller 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 °5 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 67 School The governing body Appropriate authority Cllr Joe Mitchinson Chair Miss Karen Little Headteacher 1 February 2005 Date of previous school inspection Sidney Grove School address Bensham Gateshead Tyne and Wear NE8 2XD 0191 433 4090 Telephone number 0191 433 4090 Fax number

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3-5 Age group 1 April 2008 Inspection date 309646 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 the following issues: how effectively the school is improving standards and achievement in linking sounds and letters, writing and knowledge and understanding of the world; how effectively the provision of a key worker for each child contributes to their achievement and well-being, and how well leadership and management bring about improvement. Evidence was gathered from the school’s self-evaluation, records of children’s progress and the assessments of the standards they attain, from observing teaching and learning, from analysis of children’s records of achievement and from discussions with children, staff and governors. Parents’ responses to the Ofsted questionnaire were analysed. Other aspects of the school’s work were not investigated in detail, but the inspector found no evidence to suggest

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Introduction

that the school’s own assessments, as given in its self-evaluation were not justified and these have been included in this report.

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Description of the school

Bensham Grove Nursery School shares its accommodation within a Children’s Centre Nursery which was registered as integral to the this maintained nursery school in 2005. Extended services, including day and out-of-school hours care are provided by the Centre and are used in conjunction with nursery provision to meet individual needs. This means that although the Bensham Grove Nursery provides mainly part-time places for children from their third birthday, many parents extend this to full-time provision through the addition of the child care element. The nursery draws children from an area where socio-economic circumstances are lower than the average nationally. Most children are of White British heritage and speak English at home. The proportion of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average. The Children’s Centre Nursery was not part of the inspection.

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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: Bensham Grove Community Nursery School, 1 April 2008

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Grade: 1

This is an outstanding nursery school. There are significant strengths in systems of leadership and management that lead to sustained improvement and children’s outstanding achievement and personal development. Children benefit extremely well from the excellent quality of care, guidance and support they receive. This view is borne out by parents who in the main are delighted with the school’s work. They make comments such as, ‘fantastic school, great balance between structure and play. I leave my daughter confident she will be safe and happy’. Children love coming to the nursery and attend regularly. The nursery environment is one of care and security where children develop their confidence and meet new challenges. The special emphasis on children’s emotional development results in rapid gains in their personal and social skills including high levels of independence. Children are clear about what is expected of them,

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Grade: 1

and their behaviour is excellent. They work and play extremely safely together and learn how to live healthily by eating fruit and enjoying active outdoor play. Those who find learning difficult or who are upset, for whatever reason, are very sensitively supported by the staff. An excellent partnership is in place between the school and other agencies, for example, children whose speech is under-developed are supported well by specialists. Many benefits arise from the excellent links between the maintained nursery and the Children’s Centre Nursery, not least that the attainment on entry to the maintained nursery is rising. Attainment on entry to the nursery is now typical of children of this age in most areas of learning due to the increasing number of children who are benefiting from the children’s centre provision. Children who take advantage of the centre’s early learning opportunities have a smooth and trouble free transition

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Grade: 1

into nursery education. Outstanding leadership and management have ensured that the nursery has continued to make excellent progress since the previous inspection, which found all aspects to be very good. The school have improved children’s achievement with a greater emphasis on what each child needs to learn next. As a result, by the time they leave the nursery the majority of children are now attaining levels well above those expected for children of their age having made very good progress from their given starting points with no significant difference in the achievement of different groups. Self-evaluation is very rigorous and has been used to great effect to set priorities for improvement. This includes increased opportunities for children to extend their knowledge and understanding of the world and for the development of their early writing skills. Very effective links are made between areas of learning so that at all times of the day children

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Grade: 1

are improving their knowledge of letters and sounds, an area of learning previously identified as an area for further improvement. One of the key factors in the nursery’s success is the allocation of a key worker for each child. Not only does this provide each child and their parents with a named adult with whom they know they can share any problems and concerns but also ensures effective monitoring of how well children are doing. Staff work extremely well as a team. Teaching meets the needs of all children very effectively with good use made of the information gained from monitoring to plan exciting experiences and activities. Whether children are exploring the changes in the tadpoles or setting out tea with the special china tea set staff engage them in meaningful conversation which extends their knowledge and understanding. As a result, children discover that learning is an exciting and fun activity that comes from a range of stimulating experiences

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Grade: 1

and they are very well prepared for the next stage of education, both academically and socially. 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Bensham Grove Community Nursery School, 1 April 2008 The senior leadership team, led very effectively by the headteacher, is always looking for ways to improve the nursery; they are keen to make provision even stronger. Governance is very effective and governors are fully involved in monitoring the outcomes for children. The nursery is in a superb position to continue to improve in the future.

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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

There are no significant areas for improvement. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Bensham Grove Community Nursery School, 1 April 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: Bensham Grove Community Nursery School, 1 April 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? 1 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 1 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: Bensham Grove Community Nursery School, 1 April 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: Bensham Grove Community Nursery School, 1 April 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

3 April 2008 Dear Children, Inspection of Bensham Grove Community Nursery School, Gateshead, NE8 2XD Thank you very much for welcoming me to your nursery school. I really enjoyed chatting with you. The things you told me helped me to learn a lot about how much you like coming to school. Your mums and dads think that you go to a fantastic school, and I agree with them. Your nursery is a really good place to learn. I liked seeing how well you get along. You are really good at being friendly with each other and sharing your games. You do very well in helping to keep yourselves fit and healthy by eating fruit each day and having lots of exercise when you play outside. All of the grown-ups work really well together to make sure you have lots of interesting things to do indoors and outside. They look after you very well and make sure that you are safe and happy. Everyone works really hard to make sure you all learn as well as you can and to make

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

sure your school gets better and better. This is why they now make sure you have lots of chances to learn your letters, to watch things grow and to find out things on your own. It is really good that you are all doing so well and I hope you carry on enjoying school and learning lots of interesting things. Yours sincerely, Linda Buller Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Bensham Grove Community Nursery School, 1 April 2008

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