Lord Street Nursery School

Lord Street Community Nursery School Inspection report

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112471 Unique Reference Number City of Derby LA Local Authority 310896 Inspection number 15 °16 October 2007 Inspection dates Jackie Cousins 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 °4 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 93 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Lisa Bailey Chair Mrs Christine McCrone Headteacher 23 June 2004 Date of previous school inspection Lord Street School address Allenton Derby Derbyshire DE24 9AX 01332 349363 Telephone number 01332 349363 Fax number

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3-4 Age group 15 °16 October 2007 Inspection dates 310896 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 is a larger than average sized nursery school. Nearly all the children are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of children with learning difficulties or disabilities is average. There is an enhanced resources unit for these children, within the school premises. The level of knowledge that many children start at school with is significantly below the national expectations for three year olds. A few children are in the early stages of learning to speak English as an additional language. The proportion of children who join or leave the school part way through the taught year is in line with most schools. The school has recently gained the Healthy School Award. It is an Early Excellence Centre and is a designated Children's Centre.

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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: Lord Street Community Nursery School, 15 °16 October 2007

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Grade: 2

Lord Street Nursery is a good school and gives good value for money. It has a few outstanding features. The school's leadership places great importance on welcoming children from all backgrounds and abilities and includes them well in all activities. This means that children thoroughly enjoy and are fully involved in nursery life. They are cared for, guided and supported extremely well by staff. Parents are welcomed into the nursery at the start and end of sessions, and this helps children to settle quickly. The school's leadership and staff have an outstanding relationship with parents. All parents who responded to the questionnaire were totally positive about the school. One parent summed it up by saying, 'I feel my child has progressed very well due to the excellent activities and the friendly staff. I would recommend this nursery to anyone.' Very thoughtful work with specialists and other agencies ensures children's well-being and

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Grade: 2

their needs are met. The school and staff work extremely well to draw the community together. Parents attend courses at the community room to develop their own knowledge and understanding as well as accessing the childcare. Children achieve well because the staff challenge children successfully and so standards are in line with expectations by the end of the nursery year. When children start at the nursery, a significant proportion have levels of knowledge, which are considerably below those expected for three year olds. They catch up quickly during their time at Lord Street because teaching is effective. The good range of activities which are provided for children to explore allows them to develop their basic skills well. Occasionally, planning for the main activities does not set specific objectives and so it is not easy for staff to evaluate how successful they have been in meeting them. How children's individual targets will be worked on is not consistently identified

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Grade: 2

on session planning and this means that they are not always given as many opportunities as they could be to progress towards these. Outstanding children's personal development is clearly seen in their extremely positive attitudes to learning and very good levels of concentration. Children behave exceptionally well because staff manage them excellently. A 'sensory room' is used successfully to stimulate and interest children in a variety of ways to ensure children's emotional and learning needs are met. Children adopt healthy lifestyles excellently because the school encourages them to eat well and take regular exercise. The children learn to brush their teeth thoroughly because of staff's good levels of expertise and awareness of the importance of this aspect of healthy living. Children are well prepared for the next phase of their education because of their sound levels of understanding in literacy and numeracy and their extremely well developed social skills.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management, including governance, are good and governors are involved successfully in high quality self-evaluation of the provision. The school has rightly identified that the outside learning area could contain even more imaginative resources which would enhance children's learning. Extremely clear leadership from the headteacher and senior leaders mean that staff feel part of a strong team where their ideas are valued. The nursery is in a good position to continue to improve in the future.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Develop planning for sessions so that it contains more specific learning objectives and links more clearly to individual children's targets. ■ Continue to improve resources for the outside learning area ensuring that children have wider opportunities for exploration and extension of their learning. 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Lord Street Community Nursery School, 15 °16 October 2007

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Grade: 2

In partnership with staff, the school's leadership sets challenging targets for raising children's attainment and successfully meets these. This ensures that children achieve well and standards are in line with expectations when they leave. Those children from minority ethnic groups make good progress. Children with learning difficulties or disabilities achieve well because they receive very effective support. Careful assessment of all children means any children who are learning to speak English as an additional language are identified and they receive good support from staff. Boys and girls make similar progress. This is partly because the staff are very aware of the different ways that children learn and use resources well to interest boys and girls.

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Grade: 1

Children enjoy their time at the nursery immensely and attendance is good. This is mostly because of the enthusiastic approach of staff to all activities. Children develop very positive relationships with adults and with each other. The children make a good contribution to the community. For instance, children are involved in working with local people well in many festivals such as harvest festival. The children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Their self-esteem is promoted effectively as a result of the extremely positive way that staff speak to them. Their self-confidence develops very successfully because they are encouraged to have a go, be independent and persevere with tasks. Children understand right from wrong very clearly and know the importance of taking turns. Their awareness of other cultures is good. For instance, they learn in detail about the festival of Eid. Staff help children

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Grade: 1

to understand the dangers in and outside school, so they are well aware of how to keep themselves safe. For example, children learn to use crossing places carefully when they cross the road.

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Grade: 2

Teaching is effective and helps children make good progress. The use of a key worker with a small number of children enables staff to give children a considerable amount of individual attention and get to know them well. Staff have good levels of expertise and understand how young children learn. The use of oral feedback is good and so children learn about how they have been successful. Staff effectively encourage children to be independent and think for themselves. Time is used well because children select some appropriately challenging activities which teachers have created. Good teaching methods develop children's basic skills. For example, children learn to cut out pictures accurately because they complete practical cutting activities. Resources are utilized well, such as when children dress up as pirates and learn to retell stories for themselves. Assessment information is used to good effect. Individual education plans for

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Grade: 2

children with learning difficulties or disabilities are very detailed and the coordinator evaluates them extremely thoughtfully. Planning for sessions does not always set specific learning objectives or refer to how children's individual targets will be met. 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Lord Street Community Nursery School, 15 °16 October 2007

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Grade: 2

The good curriculum provides children with a rich and interesting range of activities. Successful monitoring by the school's leadership ensures that a wide range of opportunities is available to children throughout the year. Children learn to use information and communication technology well. They learn to control small devices effectively. Children's physical development is provided for well because the outside area is used daily. The provision has included a strong and appropriate emphasis on the development of basic movement and dance skills. For example, children learn to move over and under objects carefully because climbing equipment is used to create an obstacle course. The school has rightly identified that resources for the outside learning area are not fully developed.

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Grade: 1

All staff offer children a dedicated and outstanding level of welfare and care. This ensures that children develop into mature and responsible young people. Their personal needs and welfare are extremely well supported by all staff. Children are strongly encouraged to lead healthy and safe lives. Arrangements to settle them into the school are very good. Staff are available at the beginning and end of every day to discuss any concerns with parents. Health and safety issues are checked carefully and are sorted out effectively by the school. Risk assessments are carried out regularly. The school works carefully to safeguard children and procedures meet requirements. Appropriate checks are carried out on all staff before they start working in the nursery. Academic guidance is good. Children's targets are shared well with parents every term.

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Grade: 2

Good leadership and management have brought about effective improvement since the last inspection. Some of these improvements include the very successful ways that the school works with the community. Services on offer to children and parents have been developed significantly and parents can take advantage of day care between the hours of 0800 and 1800 almost all year round. Staff have undertaken a considerable amount of training to improve their own skills. The leadership of children with learning difficulties or disabilities is excellent. All children have already been screened, in particular, to identify those who would benefit from extra language development activities. The school has started to track children's attainment and progress thoroughly in all areas of learning. However, the tracking system does not always identify the more able children from initial assessments. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Lord Street Community Nursery School, 15 °16 October 2007

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Lord Street Community Nursery School, 15 °16 October 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? 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 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?

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 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?

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: Lord Street Community Nursery School, 15 °16 October 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 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? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: Lord Street Community Nursery School, 15 °16 October 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

17 October 2007 Dear Children Inspection of Lord Street Community Nursery, Derby DE24 9AX Thank you for helping me to find out about your school. I enjoyed watching sessions and talking to you. I really enjoyed your singing. You are lucky to attend such a happy and friendly nursery. Good things about your school include:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ your enjoyment of school life is excellent

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you make good progress and behave very well

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ your headteacher has really good ideas about ways to improve the school

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ teaching is good and staff work hard to make sessions interesting

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you are encouraged very well to lead healthy and safe lives

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ the school works really well with you and your parents

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ teachers and staff care for you excellently.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I have asked your school to look at how they can make things even better. I hope that you will help teachers by listening to them carefully. The most important things are:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ developing the planning for each session

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ continuing to improve equipment for the outside area.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Keep working hard at Lord Street Community Nursery School. Jackie Cousins Lead inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Lord Street Community Nursery School, 15 °16 October 2007

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