Aclet Close Nursery School

Aclet Close Nursery School Inspection report

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113972 Unique Reference Number Durham Local Authority 311434 Inspection number 12 May 2008 Inspection date Sue Sharkey 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 78 School The governing body Appropriate authority Cllr John Lethbridge Chair Mr J C N Birbeck Headteacher 1 September 2004 Date of previous school inspection Aclet Close School address Bishop Auckland County Durham DL14 6PX 01388 603006 Telephone number 01388 603006 Fax number

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3-4 Age group 12 May 2008 Inspection date 311434 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. The inspector evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: how well the school supports and challenges identified groups or individuals; how well the school makes use of both indoor and outdoor provision when planning the curriculum; how the school successfully develops personal and social skills. Other aspects of the school’s work were not investigated in detail, but the inspector found no evidence to suggest that the school’s own assessments, as given in self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in the report.

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Description of the school

This is an average sized nursery school serving an area of considerable social disadvantage. The number of boys is almost twice that of girls. All children are of White British heritage and come from a wide mix of social and economic backgrounds. A smaller than average number of children have been identified as having learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Most children join the school in the term following their third birthday.

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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: Aclet Close Nursery School, 12 May 2008

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Grade: 1

This is an outstanding nursery school, which serves its local community extremely well. Parents think highly of it and are full of praise for the excellent staff. They say that their children love attending nursery because of the great variety of different activities and the outstanding level of care. Parents are very appreciative of the extended provision at lunch time and greatly value the support and excellent communication the nursery provides. Under the guidance of an outstanding headteacher, children achieve well from a starting point, which, for most children, is below national expectations. By the time they leave, the majority of children have exceeded the levels expected for their age, particularly in personal, social and emotional development. Children make very good progress in speaking and listening skills through extensive opportunities which allow them to listen to, and use, spoken and written

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Grade: 1

language. Curriculum planning is excellent, with a clear focus on the enhancement of social skills and language development. Children are excited to come to the nursery and love to learn new things. This is because relationships between staff and children are so good and because a well-planned, stimulating curriculum supports their learning well. All staff have a very clear understanding of how children learn. They are committed to doing their very best for the children in their care and as a result children feel completely safe and secure and enjoy their learning. The care, guidance and support of children is outstanding, and a strength of the school. Child protection policies and safety procedures are in place and checks are made of everyone who works in school. The school has excellent links with a wide range of organisations and agencies that support the all round development of the children well.

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Grade: 1

Teaching is outstanding. There is an excellent balance between indoor and outdoor activities and very good facilities, providing shelter for sun and rain, enable children to learn outdoors whatever the weather. There is a very good balance between activities led by adults and those that children chose for themselves. Children have opportunities to make music, control the flow of water as they make group decisions on how to best use it, as well as explore and design their own investigations using recycled material. As a result children discover that learning is an exciting activity that comes from a range of stimulating experiences. The school welcomes visitors from the local community and provides outings, such as to a local farm. The curriculum is rich and diverse. Children find out about other countries and plan their ‘holiday’ in the travel agent discussing where they would like to visit and making arrangements on the telephone.

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Grade: 1

Festivals are celebrated; children make curries and dance to Indian music when it is Divali, experiment with using chopsticks for Chinese New Year and enjoy the Christmas story. The school has been working at ensuring that tasks are always challenging enough for the most able children, and they have succeeded well. Interaction between adults and children is of a high quality, which contributes to the very good gains that children make in the development of their speaking and listening, as well as personal and social skills. Children develop a good understanding of the need to keep healthy and the developing outdoor area helps them to enjoy energetic play. They are enthusiastic during snack time when fruit and drinks are enjoyed, whilst staff foster good social skills. There are a wide range of opportunities for children to take on responsibilities; these include children being responsible for their own actions as well

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Grade: 1

as working with groups of other people, including visitors. The children are encouraged to contribute to the community and enjoy fund raising for local and international projects. Teachers encourage appropriate behaviour by guiding children to develop a sense of what is right and wrong. As a result behaviour is excellent and the relationships between children and with adults 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Aclet Close Nursery School, 12 May 2008 are extremely good. Attendance is above average. Children thrive in the calm and purposeful environment where all are valued and encouraged to succeed. They are confident learners who listen attentively, share and have respect for others. Children are extremely well prepared for the next stage in their education. The school is very thorough in assessing what children can do. Planning and record keeping are good and staff regularly observe children’s progress in each area of learning. Teachers track this progress very closely and constantly adjust their

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Grade: 1

learning to ensure that they provide the right challenge for each child. The system enables teachers to easily identify the needs of children with learning difficulties or those who have particular gifts or talents. The school works very closely with parents by keeping them up to date about how their children are doing and involving them in their children’s learning. An important part of each day is selecting a book to take home and share with parents. The leadership and the management of the school are outstanding. The headteacher, ably supported by the assistant headteacher, successfully motivates staff and has extremely high expectations. Team work is excellent and the skilled staff continually strive to develop and improve the education of the children in their care. As a result there is excellent capacity to improve. Governors provide good support and increasingly challenge the school’s work. The

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Grade: 1

chair of governors has a firm understanding of the strengths of the school and the areas for development but not all governors are involved as actively as they could be. The school works well with other educational establishments, for example, by providing placements for trainee nursery nurses.

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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

■ Strengthen the role played by all governors so that they are able to play a full part in maintaining the school’s strong provision and outcomes. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Aclet Close Nursery School, 12 May 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: Aclet Close Nursery School, 12 May 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: Aclet Close Nursery School, 12 May 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: Aclet Close Nursery School, 12 May 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

13 May 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Aclet Close Nursery School, Durham, DL14 6PX I enjoyed my visit to your school very much. Thank you for talking to me and telling me all about the exciting things you do. I could see how much you enjoy being inside school as well as outside. I was very impressed with the way you worked so well together and were able to explore outside and plan how the water on the hill should be used! Your mums, dads and carers think that your school is a very good place to be and I agree with them. I watched you inside school as well as outside and I was pleased to be able to buy pink flowers from the flower shop as well as be given advice on how to plan my holiday at your travel agent. You were really well behaved all the time. I enjoyed your singing and was pleased to be able to join in with some songs that I knew, particularly ‘The Wheels on the Bus.’ It was lovely to see you enjoying school and I could tell that you were learning through all the different activities

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

that the grown- ups organise for you. There are many grown-ups who help your headteacher run your school. I have asked the governors if they could be a little more involved, so that they can help make sure that your school continues to be excellent. Thank you for helping me find out about your school and for being such good children. Best wishes Sue Sharkey Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Aclet Close Nursery School, 12 May 2008

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