Ashmore Park Nursery School

Ashmore Park Nursery School Inspection report

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104279 Unique Reference Number Wolverhampton Local Authority 324009 Inspection number 8 July 2009 Inspection date Bogusia Matusiak-Varley 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 78 School (total) The governing body Appropriate authority Phillip Bateman Chair Susan Lacey Headteacher 3 July 2006 Date of previous school inspection Griffiths Drive School address Ashmore Park Estate Wednesfield Wolverhampton WV11 2LH 01902 558116 Telephone number 01902 558116 Fax number

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3–4 Age group 8 July 2009 Inspection date 324009 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: Ashmore Park Nursery School, 8 July 2009

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Introduction

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

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Introduction

■ Children's achievement in communication, language and literacy, as well as problem solving, reasoning and numeracy, with particular reference to the progress of boys. ■ The effectiveness of the nursery's assessment procedures.

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Introduction

■ The impact of outdoor learning on children's achievement.

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Introduction

■ The impact of leadership and management in developing the newly established Children's Centre. Evidence was gathered from a wide range of nursery documentation and lesson observations, and also from interviews with the headteacher, staff and governors. Interviews were also held with parents 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, 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 nursery shares a site with the newly established Parks Children's Centre. Early Years Foundation Stage provision is led and managed by the governing body and headteacher of the nursery. The nursery and centre jointly provide Early Years Foundation Stage provision for children from the age of two to four years. The centre offers pre-school play group facilities with three sessions a week for 12 children aged two to three years. Wrap-around care is provided for 30% of the children including lunch club and extended provision. In addition, there are a number of workshops and support groups for parents from the surrounding areas, including a 'Dads and Lads' group. The proportion of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is above that found nationally with the vast majority of these children having speech and language and social and emotional difficulties. Almost all children are from White British

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Description of the school

backgrounds. The nursery works in partnership with a local special nursery supporting children with severe learning difficulties. The nursery has achieved Investors in People status and the Basic Skills Agency Quality Mark.

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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: Ashmore Park Nursery School, 8 July 2009

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Grade: 1

The nursery and children's centre provide an outstanding quality of service to the local community. Children get a superb start to their education. Parents receive excellent support and first-class guidance to obtain the services that they require. Both the nursery and children's centre have developed outstanding links with various agencies such as speech and language therapists, health visitors and social services. This ensures that parents get help quickly, and this immediate intervention impacts very positively on children's learning and well-being. The centre was opened in November 2008, and whilst the headteacher is still in the process of streamlining systems and procedures to ensure parity of provision, outcomes for all groups of children are exemplary and parents are unanimous in their support of both the nursery and the children's centre. Children of all abilities and backgrounds settle very successfully into nursery and centre life.

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Grade: 1

This is because they have very secure relationships with all staff, and especially with their key workers. Staff provide excellent care guidance and support, and are particularly effective in identifying the uniqueness of each child through exceptionally thorough observations and assessments. One parent summed it up by saying, 'The staff know our children as well as we do. We are always made to feel welcome and we are so proud of our nursery and centre.' The success of both the nursery and the centre is attributable to the excellent leadership and management of the headteacher, senior leadership team and governing body, who are passionate about giving children the best start in life. Nursery self-evaluation is thorough and accurate, and termly reviews of the impact of all aspects of provision on children's outcomes are undertaken. This ensures that speedy interventions are put in place to address any aspects of

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Grade: 1

underachievement, and results in children making outstanding progress in all areas of learning. Children enter the nursery with levels of attainment well below those expected for children of their age, and leave exceeding the levels expected of them in all areas of learning. Their excellent outcomes are attributable to excellent teaching, which is characterised by very thorough planning, and informed by rigorous assessment and knowledge of children's individual preferences and learning styles. There is no difference in the achievement of different groups. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make excellent progress because of regular reviews, targeted support and excellent implementation of their individual targets in lessons. The excellent leadership and management of special educational needs provision have ensured an inclusive environment where all children can succeed in relation to their given starting points.

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Grade: 1

The nursery has made very good improvement since its last inspection and has closed the gender gap between boys and girls, especially in writing. Nevertheless, in lessons observed there have been some missed opportunities for children capable of higher attainment to develop their early reading skills. In lessons, not a moment is wasted. Relationships with children and care for their well-being are outstanding. Children's interest levels are taken into account and every opportunity is taken to develop children's language and thinking skills. When using water colours to paint a butterfly, the class teacher asked a small group of children to make the pattern 'symmetrical'. Children quickly understood the concept because of excellent explanations. The nursery has taken a bold step in ensuring that children use a very good range of natural resources and that wall displays are simple, purposeful and not over-cluttered with colour. This has had an outstanding

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Grade: 1

effect of children's concentration, creativity and thinking skills. This 'less is more' philosophy is paying dividends in developing very positive attitudes to learning. 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Ashmore Park Nursery School, 8 July 2009 Children's personal development and well-being, as well as their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, are outstanding and supported by excellent curriculum planning. The curriculum is broad and balanced and covers all areas of learning. It encourages children to develop their interests through exploration. Children have excellent knowledge of healthy lifestyles, and they encourage their parents to eat fruit (kiwi being their favourite!). Excellent outdoor provision extends children's learning. Children behave exceptionally well and have a love and desire to learn. Discussion times enable children to learn extremely well about how to keep themselves safe. Safeguarding procedures in the nursery and centre meet requirements.

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Grade: 1

Children love learning because they enjoy all of their activities and staff ensure that they experience success in their undertakings, for example when they support children outdoors whilst they manoeuvre equipment over 'the bridge'. Attendance is good and some parents say that they regret that the nursery is not open at weekends because their children love coming to the nursery. Children's contribution to the nursery and local community is outstanding. Visits to the allotments, for example, have developed very good links with senior members of the local community. There is still room for improvement in ensuring that children have a greater awareness of the diversity of multicultural Britain. A very successful visit was undertaken to Wolverhampton where children visited the theatre and art gallery, and this provided an excellent stimulus for learning about the local environment. Many opportunities were followed up in the

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Grade: 1

nursery such as making mosaics and exploring bridge structures in art work. Children are exceptionally well prepared for their next stages of education. They are confident, articulate, polite, very good team players and have mastered basic skills in order to access the curriculum. The leadership and management of this highly successful nursery and centre are not complacent. The chair of the governing body commented, 'The headteacher's ability to engage the whole workforce, parents and governors has created a united workforce with an excellent ability to continue to improve.'

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that children capable of higher attainment are more effectively challenged in reading.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Develop more opportunities for children to learn about multicultural Britain. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Ashmore Park Nursery School, 8 July 2009 .

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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: Ashmore Park Nursery School, 8 July 2009

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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 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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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: Ashmore Park Nursery School, 8 July 2009

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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 2 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: Ashmore Park Nursery School, 8 July 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

9 July 2009 Dear Children Inspection of Ashmore Park Nursery School, Wolverhampton WV11 2LH Thank you for helping us find out about your nursery and centre. We thoroughly enjoyed being with you and your parents. You attend an excellent nursery and children's centre and here are a few of the fabulous things we found out:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You learn extremely well and you exceed expectations for your age.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your behaviour and attitudes are outstanding.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You thoroughly enjoy learning and are able to concentrate well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your nursery and centre are extremely well led.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your teachers use excellent systems to record how well you do.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Teaching in the nursery and centre is outstanding.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Partnerships with parents are excellent.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You are exceptionally well looked after by all staff.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You are very well prepared to move on to the big school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We have asked your headteacher to work on the following areas:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ To provide more opportunities to those of you who find learning easy to develop your reading skills. ■ To develop more opportunities for you to learn about children from different faiths and cultures in both England and around the world. Good luck in the future. Yours faithfully Bogusia Matusiak-Varley Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Ashmore Park Nursery School, 8 July 2009

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