Bognor Regis Nursery School

Bognor Regis Nursery School and Childrens Centre Inspection report

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125807 Unique Reference Number West Sussex Local Authority 315314 Inspection number 12 November 2008 Inspection date Joyce Cox 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 0–4 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 133 School (total) The governing body Appropriate authority Jean Ensing Chair Sian Rees Jones Headteacher 4 October 2004 Date of previous school inspection 85 Victoria Drive School address Bognor Regis PO21 2TB 01243 642924 Telephone number 01243 866014 Fax number

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0–4 Age group 12 November 2008 Inspection date 315314 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. 2 of 9 Inspection Report: Bognor Regis Nursery School and Childrens Centre, 12 November 2008

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors, who evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: how the nursery staff work to raise children's calculating and reading and writing skills; the effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels in terms of their impact on provision and outcomes; and what the staff are doing to target the hard-to-reach and vulnerable families. Evidence was gathered from: the school's self-evaluation; the school's assessment records; observation of the school at work; discussions with staff, parents and governors; and an analysis of parental questionnaires. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail, but the inspectors found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as given in its self-evaluation, are not justified. These have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

Children come from a diverse range of backgrounds. The two largest groups are from White British and Polish families. The school has an integrated special support centre for eight children with complex learning and communication difficulties. The centre provides an extensive range of integrated services, support and day-care facilities for families and children as well as part-time nursery provision for children aged three and four. The school is recognised locally and nationally as having outstanding, innovative early years' practice and is currently being featured in Early Years publications. The school offers a range of extended services through the development of the children's centre core offer. There are various groups for very young children including drop-in toddler groups. A childminders' network is based at the centre and two family support workers provides a variety of individually negotiated packages. Parents' coffee mornings every Wednesday include

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Description of the school

a health visitor drop-in service. There is a weekly Polish Parents' Group, a breastfeeding workshop for expectant parents and breastfeeding support for new mothers. A toy library is open weekly, offering a range of resources for practitioners and parents. A weekly stay-and-play session for teenage parents is run in partnership with health professionals. There are baby massage sessions and a sleep clinic run by a community nursery nurse. Dads' Breakfast (for male carers) runs every Saturday morning with a family day on the first Saturday of every month. The centre also provides chlamydia screening and contraception support and resources.

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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: Bognor Regis Nursery School and Childrens Centre, 12 November 2008

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Grade: 1

This outstanding and inspirational nursery and children's centre provides high quality education and care. The key reason for its many successes is that the headteacher is a superb leader who has the highest possible aspirations for herself, her staff and children. The headteacher and staff clearly value each child as being uniquely special. A sensitively planned induction programme means that all children have a very happy and successful start to their education. An outstanding partnership with parents and carers is swiftly established and the wide variety of parenting classes ensure that parents are fully involved and familiar with the centre before their child joins. Baby massage and breastfeeding support sessions are just two of the excellent opportunities available. Babies and toddlers in the 0 to 3 provision develop a strong sense of security through close and caring contact with key adults who spend time with them and their

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Grade: 1

families and whom they get to know really well. The all-round development of the youngest children is successfully promoted by activities specially planned or adapted to their needs. They can choose what they want to play with, gradually developing longer periods of concentration as they use all their senses. The homely, nurturing environment and the welcoming, smiley staff ensure that the home–school bond is firmly established. Staff are exceptionally skilled at encouraging very young children to communicate. They are also enthusiastic play partners, happily sitting in the sand pit or singing nursery rhymes with the babies and toddlers. Parents feel valued and active partners because staff spend time with them to gather information about their children. One parent commented, 'Staff are always helpful and interested and we are delighted that our children learn so much and are so well cared for.' The 0 to 3 provision is very

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Grade: 1

popular and has a long waiting list. In order to accommodate parents' wishes for places, the accommodation requires enlarging to provide more rest and play facilities. On entering the school, visitors are instantly struck by the exciting, stimulating and vibrant learning environment. Bright rooms filled with excellent displays convey the outstanding achievements of the children and the high expectations of staff. The children are excited to come to school and love to learn new things. This is because relationships between staff, children and parents are excellent and because a well-planned, stimulating and exciting curriculum, indoors and outdoors, supports their learning exceptionally well. The stunning outdoor learning area is freely available at all times. Children love being outside and confidently learn to take risks in a safe, supervised environment. They can happily dam streams, swish through long

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Grade: 1

grass and create dens. They quickly learn what healthy food is by growing their own fruit and vegetables. The excellent after-school care provision uses these outdoor facilities and children excitedly put on their coats and small miners' headlamps and use their torches to explore and discover in the dark! Children's personal development and well-being are excellent because adults provide warm physical and emotional care so that children feel very safe and thrive. They behave very well and work and play in harmony with no squabbling. Children work very well with adults and independently. The nursery indoor area is skilfully organised into workshop areas to cover all the areas of learning. Through the enticing range of high quality equipment and activities provided, the outstanding teaching ensures children are constantly challenged and motivated. Assessment of children's learning and development is excellent so that children needing extra

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Grade: 1

help or more challenge are swiftly identified and provided for by individual or group sessions. Detailed observations of children's interactions with their friends and adults provide staff with an excellent picture of the next steps in children's learning. Colourful photographs and detailed 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Bognor Regis Nursery School and Childrens Centre, 12 November 2008 observations are noted in children's records of achievement, which are shared with parents and provide an excellent account of children's early learning. From a lower entry point than is typical for their age, especially in terms of their calculation and reading and writing skills, children, including those who learn English as an additional language, attain above the expected standards in all the areas of learning on entry to their reception classes. Children make exceptional progress in their speaking and listening skills

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Grade: 1

because the talented staff are so skilled at interacting with children. Those children who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities make excellent progress, relative to their starting points and capabilities. Staff sensitively and gently encourage all children to communicate in more than single words and use gestures and sign language if necessary. A bilingual teaching assistant often engages with children in their home language to settle and reassure them. A parent from a minority ethnic family said, 'My child has made big, big progress. He speaks English, not my language now.' The headteacher and her staff give top priority to promoting the welfare of all children. A systematic and rigorous approach to safeguarding protects children and reassures parents. Adults are vigilant in enabling children to learn how to keep themselves safe. The setting is exceptionally well equipped and secure and this safe and very supportive environment enables

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Grade: 1

children to blossom and become very good learners. Good health and well-being are promoted very effectively and necessary steps, such as always wearing protective clothing for nappy changing, are taken to prevent the spread of infection. Excellent links with a wide range of outside agencies provide very high levels of support for children and their parents. Children are totally happy, secure and confident and parents say how much their children love school. The headteacher has successfully developed an outstanding staff team totally focused on providing high quality early years education. Middle managers are totally involved in monitoring the centre's developments. The governing body has an excellent knowledge of the school's work. Rigorous and accurate evaluation of every aspect of the school's performance leads to considered and highly effective action. The setting's education and care, and its range of

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Grade: 1

extended services, are highly effective in meeting the needs of children and parents. The school actively embraces and celebrates the community it serves and successfully reaches out to all families. Everyone is treated with unconditional respect and resources are carefully selected to reflect different cultures. This innovative nursery and children's centre makes a significant difference to the lives of numerous children and families.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Enhance the accommodation for children aged 0 to 3 to create an additional area for quiet play and rest. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Bognor Regis Nursery School and Childrens Centre, 12 November 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: Bognor Regis Nursery School and Childrens Centre, 12 November 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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EYFS?

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 capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

1 How well do children in the EYFS 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/or disabilities make progress

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children?

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 The extent to which 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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The quality of provision

1 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 1 How effectively is the welfare of the children in the EYFS promoted? 7 of 9 Inspection Report: Bognor Regis Nursery School and Childrens Centre, 12 November 2008

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Leadership and management

1 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed? 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 1 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 1 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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: Bognor Regis Nursery School and Childrens Centre, 12 November 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

13 November 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Bognor Regis Nursery School and Children's Centre, Bognor Regis, PO21 2TB Thank you for the great day we spent with you. We really enjoyed watching all the exciting things you do. We are so pleased to tell you that your school is fantastic, but you and your mums and dads know that already. These are some of the things that we think are excellent:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You are very good at working hard, helping each other and listening to your teachers, and you do well in all your activities. ■ The grown-ups take really good care of you; they are brilliant teachers and make learning interesting and fun. ■ The people in charge are very clever at running the school and make sure you all have a really good time and do well. ■ Anybody who needs extra help with learning or speaking English is always given it.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Like you, we think the garden is a brilliant place to explore and have fun.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You love learning new things and are very good at sharing nicely, taking turns, and being kind to each other. ■ Your teachers and your mums and dads work together very well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

The headteacher and staff have many good ideas to make the school even better. We agree with their ideas and also think it would be good if they could make more space for the babies and toddlers so they can learn even more. It was good to see that you are all so happy and doing so well and that your mums and dads think it is such a great place. We had a lovely day at your school and really enjoyed seeing you all. Joyce Cox Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Bognor Regis Nursery School and Childrens Centre, 12 November 2008

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