Kings Norton Nursery School

Kings Norton Nursery School Inspection report - amended

p.1

103129 Unique Reference Number Birmingham Local Authority 323761 Inspection number 3 June 2009 Inspection date Ted Wheatley Reporting inspector

p.1

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.1

Nursery Type of school Maintained School category 3–4 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 68 School (total) The governing body Appropriate authority Mark Barfield Chair Maureen McGillicuddy Headteacher 10 July 2006 Date of previous school inspection Westhill Road School address Kings Norton Birmingham B38 8SY 01216 753993 Telephone number 01216 752827 Fax number

p.1

3–4 Age group 3 June 2009 Inspection date 323761 Inspection number

p.1

Amended Report Addendum

Report amended due to factual inaccuracy

p.2

Amended Report Addendum

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.

p.2

Amended Report Addendum

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: Kings Norton Nursery School, 3 June 2009

p.2

Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two additional inspectors who evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues:

p.3

Introduction

■ how well the school has worked to improve children's mathematical skills and the progress made by boys ■ how well the school has helped children to choose learning activities for themselves and to be creative. Evidence was gathered from information on current standards and achievement, examination of children's work and school documents, observation of lessons, and discussions with the headteacher, governors, staff and children. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail but inspectors found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments of these areas, as given in its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

p.3

Description of the school

Nearly all children are from White British backgrounds with a small number from Caribbean or Asian backgrounds. All children speak English. Some of the children attend for the whole day and some for either the morning or afternoon. The proportion of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average. Children come from a wide range of social backgrounds and on entry to the school their skills, particularly in literacy, are in many cases below those expected for their age.

p.3

Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: Kings Norton Nursery School, 3 June 2009

p.3

Grade: 1

This is an excellent nursery school. Children make excellent progress, a significant minority from low starting points. By the time they move on to other schools, almost all exceed the expectations for their ages in all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. Progress is particularly good for boys as many of them start with poorer literacy skills than girls. Over their time here, they make exceptionally good progress and catch up with the girls. The school has successfully focused on improving numeracy because standards were not as high here as in other subjects. It is using extremely effective strategies to reinforce children's numbers skills and to make sure that children understand the number processes they use. For example, adults use 'more than', 'count on', 'one more than' to help children understand counting and simple addition. Parents are fully informed about these approaches and support the school. Efforts

p.4

Grade: 1

to increase children's independent learning skills are also effective and children choose their own activities confidently and are ready to talk about what they learn. Children's creative development is extremely good, and has improved rapidly as a result of role play, art, clay work and physical activities that ensure children use their imagination and tackle problems creatively. Children find what they learn thoroughly enjoyable. They love reading especially. They are currently learning about dinosaurs and many children can recognise and name the different ones accurately. Children's personal, social and emotional development is excellent. Children have an exceptional understanding of other cultures and enjoy the celebrations of festivals, particularly dressing up and eating different foods. Their behaviour and enthusiasm for school are exemplary. The way they get on together during adult led or individually chosen activities is outstanding. The

p.4

Grade: 1

development of their spiritual, moral social, emotional and cultural skills is excellent. For their age, children have an excellent grasp of the importance of healthy diet and exercise, and families support the school's effort to encourage this by making sure lunchboxes contain balanced meals. Children's contribution to the community is excellent. For example, they collect food remains and send them to local allotments for composting, they express alarm at the possibility of local trees being cut down, they are involved in supporting the provision of clean drinking water in an African village, and they have links with local businesses. Children's attendance is extremely good and nearly all parents are exceptionally supportive of the school's high expectations. Children are extremely well prepared for the next stage of their education. The quality of teaching and the range of activities to help children learn are excellent. Children

p.4

Grade: 1

are taught in groups according to their ability and this is usually very effective, making sure that children receive the level of work they need to help them make excellent progress and enjoy their learning. However, on rare occasions in group work led by adults, questioning does not sufficiently challenge the most able children, which briefly slows learning. The support for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is excellent and based on extremely thorough and accurate assessment. Assessment information is used very effectively to track all children's progress, to set targets for children and to match work and support to their specific learning needs. Teachers and other adults collaborate very closely, providing a wide range of challenging work with many opportunities for children to initiate their own learning. Children experience an excellent balance of adult-directed tasks and opportunities to work or play independently

p.4

Grade: 1

with free access to the large, well equipped outside area. The school makes excellent use of external agencies to provide sports coaching, art, clay and language work that, along with visits, visitors and links with local businesses, give children rich and varied experiences. 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Kings Norton Nursery School, 3 June 2009 Children's welfare is promoted exceptionally well. Links with their homes ensure that children settle rapidly into school. Parents and carers are welcomed every morning or afternoon which helps children to start the day or session happily. Staff are available at both ends of the day to discuss concerns about children with parents. Staff establish close links with support agencies so that specific learning, social or emotional needs are dealt with rapidly and excellent links with primary schools ensure children move on to the next stage in their education smoothly.

p.4

Grade: 1

The school grounds are very safe, statutory safeguarding requirements are fully met and thoroughly applied. Parents are rightly pleased with how well the school provides for their children. They are impressed with the very wide range of indoor and outdoor activities, the teaching and care for children and how well the school is led and managed. They are extremely pleased with how happy their children are at school. The headteacher provides excellent direction for the school to continue improving. All staff are effectively involved in identifying the school's strengths and weaknesses and planning work to drive improvements. Self-evaluation is accurate and the issues from the previous inspection have been fully met. Governors are supportive, well informed about the school's effectiveness and provide an exceptional level of challenge. The school's promotion of community cohesion is excellent. The capacity for the school's further improvement is excellent.

p.5

What the school should do to improve further

■ Make sure that questioning for the most able children always challenges them fully. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Kings Norton Nursery School, 3 June 2009 .

p.5

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: Kings Norton Nursery School, 3 June 2009

p.6

Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

p.7

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

p.7

Achievement and standards

1 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? 1 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

p.7

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

p.7

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: Kings Norton Nursery School, 3 June 2009

p.7

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: Kings Norton Nursery School, 3 June 2009

p.8

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

4 June 2009 Dear Children Inspection of Kings Norton Nursery School, Birmingham, B38 8SY Thank you for making us so welcome when we visited your school. You were really friendly to us and told us a lot about your school and why you like it so much. I am now writing to tell you what we think about your school. These are the main things we found out about your school.

p.9

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You are at an excellent school. The headteacher and all of the teachers and other adults work really hard to make sure there are lots of activities that you enjoy and help you learn as well as you can. ■ You make excellent progress and enjoy being at school. You show that you can work by yourselves and with other children really well. ■ You behave extremely well and work hard.

p.9

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You know a lot about other people in the world and about those in your own school who are from different backgrounds to yours. ■ You show that you think carefully about how to make sure that the surroundings we live in are pleasant. For example, you do not want to see trees cut down. ■ You know why it is important to eat healthily and take exercise, and your parents make sure that what you have in your lunchboxes is really healthy. ■ The school is a very safe place and adults take excellent care of you. All of the adults work very closely with your families to make sure you are happy in school. To improve things, we have asked the school to do the following:

p.9

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ make sure that the questions adults ask you always make you think, especially for the most able children. Once again, thank you for making us feel so at home in your school. Yours faithfully Ted Wheatley Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Kings Norton Nursery School, 3 June 2009

p.9