Chertsey Nursery School

Chertsey Nursery School Inspection report

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124911 Unique Reference Number Surrey Local Authority 328243 Inspection number 18–19 March 2009 Inspection dates Clive Lewis 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 76 School (total) The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Liz Langley Chair Mrs Gwyn Taylor Headteacher 11 May 2006 Date of previous school inspection Pyrcroft Road School address Chertsey KT16 9ER 01932 562 225 Telephone number 01932 561 720 Fax number

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3–4 Age group 18–19 March 2009 Inspection dates 328243 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 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a popular school with a specialist assessment-based 'cluster class' specifically for children on the autistic spectrum and with additional language and communication difficulties. As a consequence, the proportion of children with a statement of special educational need in the school is higher than average. Most children live close to the school but those attending the 'cluster class' travel to school in taxis, often from a distance. Children come from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds and attend either part-time or full-time from the age of three, moving on to a range of primary schools in the term they become five. The school has achieved Investors in People status and was the first nursery school in the country to be part of the Primary Learning Project. In 2007 the school was designated a 'Graduate Model Children's Centre' and offers families training and support within the community.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 2009

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Grade: 2

Chertsey Nursery provides a good education for its children. The main reason for its success is the high level of motivation and dedication of the staff and governing body. Children of all abilities and backgrounds settle quickly into school life and get a good start to their education. An extremely good partnership is in place between the school and parents, who are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Typical of many comments was the parent who wrote, 'Chertsey Nursery has been exceptional for both my children - the facilities, the staff, the atmosphere, the friendliness - all make it a very special place.' Achievement is good. When children begin school, they start with skills that are below those expected for their age. By the time the children leave to join Reception classes, their skills are broadly in line with those expected for their age in all areas of learning. Children's personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is good. They

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Grade: 2

are happy and keen to be at Nursery and this is reflected in their good levels of attendance. Children enjoy the many rich and exciting activities planned for them both indoors and out which help to meet all their needs well and keep them actively engaged in their learning. They understand about healthy and safe lifestyles as the school encourages them to eat well and take regular exercise in the exciting outdoor areas. Behaviour is good because staff manage the children very thoughtfully and consistently. Children really enjoy their time in school. Their individual needs are routinely met through staff recognition of the uniqueness of each child. In this safe and secure environment, children become independent and confident learners who are very well prepared for the next stage in their education. Teaching is good and ensures children make good progress in their time in the Nursery. Those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make exceptionally good progress because of the

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Grade: 2

outstanding teaching and support provided in the 'cluster class'. They also benefit from the very good links the Nursery has with a wide range of outside agencies, which provide very good support for both children and parents. The school's assessment and tracking system provides staff with detailed, accurate information about children's level of attainment on entry to the school and their progress as they move through the school, but it is not yet being used to its full advantage to identify areas for improvement in the school's overall provision. The quality of equipment, particularly in the outdoor area and the range of activities offered, is good and is utilised very well by the staff. The school makes a good contribution to community cohesion through its 'children's centre' status. It actively embraces and celebrates the community it serves and successfully reaches out to all families. Everyone is treated with unconditional

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Grade: 2

respect. Leadership and management are good and ensure that all staff are working together to improve provision. Recent organisational changes to the senior management team of the school have empowered and enthused staff so that they are developing an increased understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision. However, as not all subject leaders have had an opportunity to observe teaching in their areas of responsibility, they have yet to develop a complete view of the strengths and weaknesses in their subjects. Although it was unnecessarily modest in the evaluation of some areas of its work, the school has a good understanding of how well it is doing. Its capacity for future improvement and the value for money it offers are good. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 2009

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Strengthen the role of subject leaders in monitoring the quality of teaching and evaluating standards in their subjects across the school. ■ Improve the use of data obtained from the school's assessment and tracking system in order to identify strengths and weaknesses in subject areas.

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Grade: 2

Good quality teaching by caring, supportive staff ensures that children make good progress towards the Early Learning Goals. Children from all backgrounds and of all abilities achieve well and thrive. This is because the staff work very closely with parents and outside agencies to successfully nurture and support the children's all- round academic and personal development. Children with significant and complex learning difficulties make excellent progress because of the outstanding teaching and support they receive in the school's 'cluster class'. Teachers provide a good range of opportunities both indoors and out, which excite and interest the children well. Consequently, by the time they leave the school, most children have made good progress in developing skills in communication, literacy and numeracy that will help them in their future education. They develop well as active and independent learners, who are able to

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Grade: 2

work with others and take turns. They develop a good understanding of the wider world through their play activities and through the experiences offered by visits and visitors to the school.

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Grade: 2

Behaviour around the school is good and children follow school rules and know how to stay safe, without being fearful. They understand and adopt healthy habits, for instance independently washing their hands after going to the toilet and tidying up after activities. The school's well-resourced and stimulating outdoor environment ensures that children are encouraged to be constantly active and they make good progress in their physical skills as a result. They are aware of healthy choices in what they eat. Children play well on their own and with others. They participate enthusiastically in learning activities, taking responsibility for choosing their activities, justifying their choices and explaining what they are doing. They use all their senses to actively explore and solve problems. Relationships with each other and with adults are very good. Children have very positive attitudes to their learning, revealed by one

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Grade: 2

child who said, 'I love the school'. They participate enthusiastically in choosing from the wide range of interesting and exciting activities available for them both indoors and outdoors. Children from very different backgrounds make friends, help each other and work and play in harmony. They work and play collaboratively, learn to show respect for each other and make good progress in developing their skills as good learners. However, the school is aware of the need to further develop children's independent learning skills.

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Grade: 2

Children get off to a good start and develop positive attitudes to learning. This is because teachers and staff have a good knowledge of the learning and development requirements of 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 2009 young children and are confident in helping them learn effectively both indoors and out. They plan effectively to ensure that each child is suitably challenged by the learning experiences provided. Staff know their children well and all are involved in observations of children's work and performance and record their progress in individual 'Books of Experiences'. The school's entry and exit assessment and tracking system provides staff with detailed information on the progress of individual children. The analysis of the data has not yet developed sufficiently, however, to allow the school to quickly identify overall strengths and weaknesses in provision

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Grade: 2

and make amendments to the curriculum in response. Children work well with adults and when undertaking tasks independently. All adults are well deployed to support learning. Activities are well matched to the full range of children's needs, and extremely closely to the needs of those children with significant learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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Grade: 2

The staff are very committed to providing high-quality care. This is effective in consistently promoting the children's social, physical and economic well-being. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the welfare requirements and associated guidance for children of this age group. They promote good health and well-being and teach children about being safe. They manage behaviour well and encourage children to develop the habits and behaviour appropriate to good learners. Arrangements for safeguarding pupils are robust and regularly reviewed. The setting, particularly the outdoor environment, is well-equipped, safe and secure and provides a very supportive environment which enables children to thrive. Any children at risk are identified early and the school works very effectively with parents and carers, other agencies and providers to ensure that all children are well cared for. The school has good transition systems both to

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Grade: 2

welcome children to the school and to ease their transfer to Reception classes in local schools or to special schools. The school's rigorous assessment and tracking systems ensure that the progress of each child is monitored closely. Through its 'children's centre' status the school offers a number of family learning courses and clubs such as the monthly 'Dads' club' where fathers spend time working and playing with their children in the centre.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher provides a clear sense of direction which is linked well to school improvement. Senior managers are focused on helping all children to make good progress in their learning and development and on promoting their welfare. The headteacher has successfully maintained and encouraged very good and enthusiastic teamwork. As a result, the provision moves smoothly on a day-to-day basis and there is a strong, common sense of purpose among all adults working in the school to work together to do the best for all the children. Since the last inspection the headteacher has introduced a number of improvements to provision, including an effective entry and exit assessment and tracking system. The school has achieved Investors in People status and was the first nursery school in the country to be part of the Primary Learning Project. Subject leaders are very enthusiastic and keen to improve standards in their areas of learning.

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Grade: 2

However, they do not currently have a full view of provision as they have not yet had the opportunity to observe the quality of teaching in their areas of responsibility. The school is very inclusive, so that all children have their welfare needs met and achieve well, regardless of their background. The school has exceptionally good links with parents, who 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 2009 responded enthusiastically to the request for their views on the school. For example, the 'children's centre' runs courses to help develop parents' numeracy and language skills and families are able to engage in parenting support courses to help them manage and understand the different behaviours of their children. Vetting procedures for all adults who work with children are robust. Resources are well used to improve outcomes for the children. The impact of the school is seen in the good or better progress made by most children in all the areas of

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Grade: 2

learning and in their sense of security and well-being. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 2009 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 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? 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? 3 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?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 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

2 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 2 How effectively is the welfare of the children in the EYFS promoted? 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 2009

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Leadership and management

2 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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

31 March 2009 Dear Children Inspection of Chertsey Nursery School,Chertsey,KT16 9ER Thank you for helping me to find out about your school. I enjoyed watching lessons and talking to some of you. You attend a very happy and friendly school. This is a good school because:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you all do well with your work and try hard

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you really enjoy all the things that you do at school

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ your headteacher and teachers have good ideas about ways to improve your school

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ the teaching is good and staff work very hard to make sessions fun and interesting

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ the school has a very good partnership with your parents

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ the staff care for you really well and are thoughtful in the way they listen to you.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I have asked your headteacher and other teachers to do some things to improve the school. The most important things are to:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ make better use of all the information they gather about each of you and the way you learn

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ observe each other's lessons so that they can help you to achieve more.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Continue to enjoy all the wonderful things you are learning at Chertsey Nursery school. Yours faithfully Clive Lewis Lead Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Chertsey Nursery School, 18–19 March 2009

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