Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Miss S R Jones Headteacher Bognor Regis Nursery School and Children’s Centre 85 Victoria Drive Bognor Regis PO21 2TB

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development

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff, parents and children, during my visit on 12, 13 and 14 November 2009.

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development

As outlined in my initial letter, the visit had a particular focus on how the school’s work with parents and carers affects a range of outcomes for children.

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development

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text.

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development

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with staff, governors, individual and groups of parents; scrutiny of relevant documentation; children’s records of achievement; a visit to a toddler group session; and a Saturday morning Dads’ breakfast.

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development

The overall effectiveness of the school’s engagement with parents and carers is outstanding.

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The impact of parental involvement on outcomes

The impact of parental involvement on outcomes is outstanding.

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The impact of parental involvement on outcomes

 A founding principle of the school and the centre is to engage purposefully with parents/carers, regardless of the timing of their children’s starting points, to make parenting a joyful experience.  You use information gathered from parents/carers to directly influence your planning and keep children’s learning relevant to their interests and needs, and so accelerating their progress.  Parents say they are informed very well about their children’s learning and progress. Regular communications with parents/carers are conducted in a professional, yet friendly and non-judgemental way.  Many parents take up the variety of opportunities offered by the centre to gain basic skills qualifications or undertake other learning. This, in turn, has resulted in the improved confidence of parents to support their children’s learning and act as ambassadors for the nursery in occasionally supporting other new parents.

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The impact of parental involvement on outcomes

 As a result of the excellent partnerships established with parent/carers and the comprehensive range of extended services you offer, children make outstanding progress in all areas of learning.

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The impact of the involvement of parents on the quality of provision

The impact of the involvement of parents on the quality of provision is outstanding.

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The impact of the involvement of parents on the quality of provision

 Parents often contribute their expertise and knowledge as a resource for learning. They are appropriately trained by the school.  Through the regular sharing of records of achievement, parent/carers are respected as partners in their children’s learning.  Extended services, which are matched well to the assessed needs of the local community, promote parents’/carers’ engagement well.  A Dads’ breakfast club runs each Saturday morning which gives male carers the opportunity to network with each other and spend time building relationships with their children through play.

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The impact of the involvement of parents on inclusion

The impact of the involvement of parents on inclusion is outstanding.

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The impact of the involvement of parents on inclusion

 The school works in partnership with a wide range of extended services to provide children and their families, including those with English as an additional language, with very well-targeted support.  Through the school’s close dialogue with parents/carers, potential barriers to learning are swiftly identified and systematically worked upon.  Parents/carers of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from expert guidance and individual support offered through the school.

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parents

The impact of leadership and management on the involvement of parents is outstanding.  Leaders and managers are acutely aware of the learning needs of children. They successfully liaise with parents/carers to establish respectful relationships that lead to genuine partnerships in promoting better outcomes for children.  All staff understand and adhere to school policies that promote very effective communication with parents.  Key workers are regularly made available at the start and end of each day to allow parents/carers the opportunity to talk about their children’s progress and development.  You aim to provide siblings with the same key worker. This strategy is very popular with parents as well as their children.  The school ensures that parents/carers are involved in the strategic development of the school. They participate in training and development events, and the resulting evaluations contribute well towards school

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parents

improvement planning.  You continually aim to enhance the school’s excellent communication networks and provide parents with more opportunities to shape services and policy development.  Rightly, you wish to see parents more broadly represented on the governing body and understand its role better.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 further encouraging parents and carers to take a more active role in shaping services and policies, for example through a parents’ forum  enabling parents and carers to acquire a more relevant understanding of governance, leading to a broader representation of parent governors on the governing body.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop the impact of the work of parents and carers in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

As I explained in my previous letter, a copy of this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on the Ofsted website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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