Chalvey Nursery School & Early Years Centre

Chalvey Early Years Centre Inspection report

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109765 Unique Reference Number Slough Local Authority 310090 Inspection number 30 June 2008 Inspection date Vanessa Ward 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 107 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Kevin Redman-Brown Chair Mrs Kate Makinson Headteacher 1 July 2002 Date of previous school inspection The Green School address Chalvey Slough SL1 2SP 01753 536293 Telephone number 01753 694611 Fax number

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3-5 Age group 30 June 2008 Inspection date 310090 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 successfully the school is improving standards and achievement in mathematical development ■ how the apparent strengths in the care, guidance and support that the school provides, including how successfully children are encouraged to understand how well they are doing ■ how effectively the school evaluates its progress and plans for improvement.

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Introduction

The inspector gathered evidence from the school's records, planning and policies, and by observing teaching and learning. She also held discussions with staff, governors and children and scrutinised parents' questionnaires. The inspector did not investigate other aspects of the school's work in detail, but found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as given in its self-evaluation, were not justified. These assessments have been included in the report.

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Description of the school

Children are admitted to the school at the start of the term after their third birthday. They attend the school for between three and five terms. Most of the children attend either every morning or afternoon, with a few children attending full-time. Nearly all of the children are from minority ethnic backgrounds, the largest group being of Pakistani heritage. The proportion of children who are learning English as an additional language is above average. More pupils than usual have learning difficulties and disabilities. These include children with communication, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The school has a resource unit that has ten places for children with speech, language and communication difficulties, including autism. The school provides extended hours in the Nursery classes and is involved in family work, adult education and a holiday play scheme.

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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: Chalvey Early Years Centre, 30 June 2008

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Grade: 2

Chalvey Early Years Centre is a good school. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school, describing it as 'a lovely place for children to learn', where the staff are 'very friendly' and there is 'a lovely atmosphere'. Parents are welcomed into school and this provides valuable opportunities for them to speak to the staff. Good leadership and management, a strong sense of teamwork and commitment to improvement among staff and governors, are key factors in the school's success. The school has made significant improvements since its previous inspection. This record of well considered and effective improvement indicate that it has good capacity to improve further. When children are first admitted, their skills are often well below those generally found in three-year-olds. In addition, a high proportion of children are at the early stages of learning English. Nevertheless, good teaching and a stimulating curriculum enable children of all abilities

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Grade: 2

to achieve well and make good progress. This, combined with a strong focus on developing children's independence, prepares them well for the next stage in their education. However, by the time they move to their next school few children achieve the goals expected, particularly in mathematical development. The school is already using a range of strategies to improve all areas of mathematical development, focusing on counting and understanding mathematical language in particular. Whilst these are having some success, the school recognises that it is necessary to continue to give high status to mathematical development in classroom displays, and to take every opportunity to reinforce and extend children's understanding of mathematics through play activities. The school has worked hard and successfully since its previous inspection to raise achievement in communication, language and literacy. This has included a significant focus on promoting a

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Grade: 2

love of books and reading in the children. The staff provide many opportunities for the children to enjoy stories, to develop early reading and writing skills and to understand the different purposes of writing. A letter sent to the children from a bear, complaining that he had no home, prompted the children to build one for him. The sharing of books helps the children to develop positive attitudes to reading. They are particularly excited by The Bear Hunt story and enjoy acting it out in class, and especially in the 'jungle' outside in the garden. All of the staff make learning interesting and exciting, and this is reflected in the children's obvious enjoyment. A good level of care, guidance and support is apparent throughout the school. This contributes significantly to the children's good personal, social and emotional development. The school rightly focuses on this area when children are first admitted. This means that they soon become

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Grade: 2

familiar with school routines and most behave well. Children new to the school settle quickly and happily as a result of the good care and individual attention they receive. Additional support is provided for children who are at the early stages of learning English, and this helps them to feel secure and ready to learn. The school is developing its support for gifted and talented children. Procedures to keep children safe are well established and effective. The school involves children satisfactorily in understanding how well they are doing by sharing samples of their work that are kept in special books. Links with other schools and outside agencies, such as speech therapists, are successful in promoting the children's well-being. The extended school services enable the staff to get to know parents and their children before they are admitted. Children in the resource unit are supported very well in school and through links with other

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Grade: 2

agencies, and this helps them to make good progress from their starting points. 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Chalvey Early Years Centre, 30 June 2008 Leadership and management are good. The school's process for self-evaluation is comprehensive. All staff and governors are suitably involved in the process and the views of parents are valued and taken into account. Teachers take responsibility for school priorities and contribute to school development effectively. A new system is being developed for recording children's achievement. It is improving the way the school tracks children's progress and intervenes to provide extra support where needed. Governors carry out their responsibilities conscientiously. They are developing their roles well, and are supportive of the headteacher in bringing about school improvement. They are currently increasing their monitoring roles. The wide range of activities available to the children, both indoors and outside, does much to

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Grade: 2

stimulate their interest and to provide opportunities for exercise. Children eat healthily in school and know that their hearts will beat faster when they exercise. Frequent educational visits, such as a visit to Windsor that took place during the inspection, further enhance their learning. The garden area is very well designed and provides opportunities for all areas of learning to take place outside. The staff place resources so that children can get them out and put them away easily, which helps them gain independence and take on responsibility. Relationships between staff and children are very positive and this helps to boost the children's self-esteem and ensures that they feel safe. All of the staff show that they respect the children and listen carefully to, and value, their comments. This helps the children to foster positive attitudes to learning and enhances their spiritual development. The school makes good use of its diverse

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Grade: 2

cultural make-up by celebrating a range of cultural events. The need to improve attendance continues to be given high priority and the school is working closely with parents to promote this. Children enjoy their time in the school and achieve well, in both their academic and personal development. One parent summed up the views of many, saying, 'our child is making good progress. His behaviour and confidence have improved and he wants to go to school every day'.

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Grade: 2

As a nursery school, the Foundation Stage is covered fully by the Overall Effectiveness section of the report.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Increase the opportunities provided to raise achievement in mathematical development, particularly in the areas of mathematical language and counting. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Chalvey Early Years Centre, 30 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: Chalvey Early Years Centre, 30 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? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 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 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 2 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?

2 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: Chalvey Early Years Centre, 30 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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 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: Chalvey Early Years Centre, 30 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

11 July 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Chalvey Early Years Centre,Slough,SL1 2SP Thank you for welcoming me into your school. I really enjoyed my day with you. It was good to see how much fun you were having riding around your track in the garden, washing the bikes and splashing in the water. I like your bear hunt, but I think I am too tall go through the jungle. Your parents think that you go to a good school, and I agree with them. What I like most about Chalvey Early Years Centre is that:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ the grown-ups teach you well and this helps you to learn many things

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ everybody looks after you very well and makes sure that you are safe and happy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you get lots of exercise when you play outside and you eat fruit in school, which helps to keep you healthy ■ there are lots of interesting things for you to do inside and outside

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ all of the grown-ups work really well together, such as when they helped you to feel happy when you first started. Everyone wants to make your school even better, and I have asked your headteacher to think about how the grown-ups can help you even more as you learn to count and understand numbers. I hope you carry on enjoying school and learning lots of interesting things. Yours sincerely Vanessa Ward Lead Inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Chalvey Early Years Centre, 30 June 2008

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