Great Coates Village Nursery School

Great Coates Nursery School Inspection report

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117697 Unique Reference Number North East Lincolnshire Local Authority 312675 Inspection number 9 June 2008 Inspection date Linda Murphy 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 104 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Alan Walmsley Chair Mrs Christine Penszor Headteacher 1 June 2004 Date of previous school inspection Station Road School address Great Coates Grimsby DN37 9NN 01472 231231 Telephone number 01472 231231 Fax number

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3-4 Age group 9 June 2008 Inspection date 312675 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 the following issues:

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Introduction

■ children’s achievement in knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development ■ the role of the governing body.

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Introduction

Evidence was gathered by observing lessons, scrutinising children’s work, assessment data and school documents and holding discussions with the headteacher, other staff and a representative of the governing body. 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 its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

The school serves a mixed residential area. Children attend either morning or afternoon sessions for between three to five terms prior to transfer to local schools. Most children are White British: very small proportions are from other ethnic backgrounds. Of these, very few are at an early stage of learning English as an additional language. The school provides day care which is inspected separately.

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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: Great Coates Nursery School, 9 June 2008

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Grade: 2

This is a good school which provides good value for money. Most parents agree that children have a ‘fantastic start to school life’ in this nursery, are ‘happy and confident’ and ‘very well prepared for their next schools.’ The quality of care the setting provides and the arrangements for children’s outdoor learning are outstanding. Children’s progress in personal development is outstanding. This is because the staff set exceedingly high standards, provide tremendous role models and are exceptionally skilled in helping children settle quickly into the school and into their daily tasks. Children form excellent relationships with the staff and with each other and this helps their learning. Children have high levels of independence and are very good at making decisions. They take turns and use their initiative very well. They enjoy school enormously as reflected in their excellent attendance. They quickly gain an exceptional understanding of keeping healthy. For example,

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Grade: 2

at snack time they prepare fruit and vegetables to have with their milk and benefit from great opportunities to play in the fresh air and keep fit. They know the importance of staying safe because staff discuss problems and consequences with the children and invite a host of visitors such as from the fire service and police to develop children’s understanding. Children behave very well and contribute a great deal to their class communities. Children begin school with skills that for most are typical for their age. All groups of children achieve well. As a result, by the time the children leave the majority are at a level higher than expected for their age in all areas of learning. In their knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development children’s progress has historically been satisfactory rather than good. Currently, their development is accelerating well in these areas because of the staff’s

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Grade: 2

improved focus on children’s speaking and listening skills. For example, in role play children are increasingly imaginative because of their improving command of vocabulary and confidence in sharing ideas. For the faster and slower learners individual ‘step-by-step’ programmes of activities meet children’s needs well and enable them to work at a pace that is just right for them. Children from minority ethnic groups, including those at an early stage of learning English, achieve as well as their classmates because great care is taken to meet their needs through regular checks on their progress. The diversity of family life is celebrated and this encourages racial harmony. Children learn very effectively in response to the good teaching. Adults provide a calm, industrious and challenging atmosphere in which the children thrive and are very in tune with the children’s needs. Assessment information is used well to plan the children’s learning and

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Grade: 2

also to inform parents about the progress being made. At times, insufficient attention is given to pencil control which slows the development of children’s handwriting skills. On occasion also, the staff’s questions do not probe and extend children’s learning sufficiently. The curriculum is of good quality and is very responsive to the interests of the children. Staff are confident to take children’s interests and ideas as a starting point for discovery. This is how children came to find out about pirates, for example, and why they are exploring a topic about the seaside. The curriculum provides a good balance of activities and makes excellent use of the outside area. This provides a very stimulating learning environment which includes very well chosen resources to capture children’s interests and imagination. For example, the ‘secret garden’ is a haven of adventure for the children with staff at hand with innovative ideas to

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Grade: 2

4 of 9 Inspection Report: Great Coates Nursery School, 9 June 2008 nurture their interests. The school is responding very well to the new Early Years Foundation Stage requirements in undertaking a major review of curricular planning. All staff and the governing body go out of their way to make sure that excellent care is taken of the children. Arrangements to safeguard children meet requirements. Good partnerships with other schools and agencies means that extra help is always readily available for those children who need it and that children transfer to new schools with much confidence. Leadership and management of the school are good. The headteacher sets a clear direction for children’s learning and has good support from other staff. For example, curricular revisions are developing well because senior staff make good use of training and work very well as a team. The school has improved well since the last inspection. As a result of regular reviews which lead

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Grade: 2

to clear priorities for development, it is well set to continue to improve in the future. Self-evaluation is mostly accurate. The governing body is supportive and knows the school increasingly well. However, governors do not evaluate the school’s work sharply enough in order to challenge the staff to make further improvements.

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Grade: 2

As all of the children are under five, this section is covered by the 'Overall effectiveness of the school'.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Extend children’s interests more effectively by planning more focused questions.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that the governing body evaluates the school’s work rigorously in order to provide appropriate challenge for improvement. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Great Coates Nursery School, 9 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: Great Coates Nursery School, 9 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? 2 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 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: Great Coates Nursery School, 9 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: Great Coates Nursery School, 9 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

10 June 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Great Coates Nursery School, North East Lincolnshire, DN37 9NN I enjoyed my visit to your Nursery and seeing all the exciting things you do. I found out that Great Coates Nursery School gives you a good start to school. This is because the headteacher does a good job and all the other grown-ups work well as a team and set a great example for you. Your mums and dads think it is a good school too. The teaching is good and as a result you are extremely good at doing things on your own and in organising yourselves. You get on really well with grown-ups and other children. All of this helps you to be good at learning new things. I know you are happy at school and really enjoy what you do there because you come to school almost every day. The school is very good at helping you to be safe and also how to eat properly; for example by giving you healthy snacks such as fruit and milk.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

To make things even better, the grown-ups are going to build on your ideas so that the activities they set out are even more interesting to you. The grown-ups are going to check even more how well you are doing. You can help by continuing to have fun and do your best in your work and play. I send you all my best wishes and hope you all enjoy school in future. Mrs Linda Murphy Lead Inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Great Coates Nursery School, 9 June 2008

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