Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr G Potrykus-Lupton Headteacher Ronald Openshaw Nursery Education Centre Henniker Road Stratford London E15 1JP

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development

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff, parents and governors, during my visit on 9 and 10 March 2010 to look at the impact that links between parents/carers and schools have on supporting and encouraging young people’s achievement, well-being and personal development.

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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: discussions with you and your deputy, key staff, parents, and governors; scrutiny of relevant documentation; and observations of the parents’ group and a review meeting with parents of a child with profound and multiple special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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development

The overall effectiveness of the school’s links with parents/carers and its impact on the outcomes for children are 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

 Parents are clear about their role as co-educators. For example, one parent at English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) classes was clear that she was there to improve her own English so that she could help her child’s learning. Parents have regular involvement in their children's learning and progress through formal and informal discussions with staff. Staff use the termly summary in children’s records of achievement as a basis for discussion and to set new targets with parents.  Attendance at formal consultation meetings is high because the staff provide alternative arrangements to meet parents’ personal circumstances. As a result of this regular face-to-face contact, parents are well informed about their children's progress. Attendance at events, such as the annual carnival, Christmas performance or community events, is also high.  You can point to significant examples of individuals and groups of children,

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The impact of parental involvement on outcomes

including some with the greatest social, emotional and learning needs, making progress as a result of engaging with their parents. Involvement in projects and family learning opportunities raise parents’ own skills to help them support their children at home.  Children’s attendance is improving as staff work hard to engage the small number whose attendance causes concern.

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The impact of parental involvement on the quality of provision

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

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The impact of parental involvement on the quality of provision

 A good range of opportunities for family learning and adult learning is well attended by parents. In particular, parents, mostly mothers, demonstrate a strong commitment to improving their English skills to support their children at home. Attendance at ESOL classes is impressive.  You and your staff encourage parents to get involved in helping in class. You use parents’ expertise well and have a tradition of supporting parents to develop their skills. Several support staff are former parents who began as classroom helpers.  Strong local partnerships with other providers ensure that together the cluster meets the needs of parents and the wider community through its extended services. You also help to direct parents to other local services.  A well-established system of making home visits before children start nursery plays a strong part in developing the partnership with parents. Expectations are firmly established and staff make effective use of the

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The impact of parental involvement on the quality of provision

information about children and their families to meet their needs.

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The impact of the parental involvement on inclusion

The impact of the parental involvement on inclusion is outstanding.

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The impact of the parental involvement on inclusion

 You are passionate about developing strong community relationships; this philosophy is at the heart of the nursery’s work.  The nursery is at the hub of the community. You and your staff do some exceptional work to engage families from the various communities that the nursery serves, including some groups who traditionally are reluctant to engage in education, and to bring them together.  You and your staff can point to significant successes with individuals and groups. You are successful in establishing effective relationships, based on trust and respect, in a short period of time.

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parents

The impact of leadership and management on the involvement of parents is outstanding.

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parents

 You and your deputy provide a strong lead for the nursery’s work with parents. This commitment is reflected in policies and, implicitly, in actions in the current improvement plan. Over a number of years, resources have been targeted systematically towards developing the partnership with parents and extending the range of services to meet their needs. This has included developing the roles of particular staff to work closely with parents, including bilingual staff who work effectively to translate important information during meetings.  You have been successful in tapping into funding to support various community projects that increase parents’ involvement in the life of the school and which raise their self-esteem and confidence to help their children. Information and support are tailored carefully to the needs of specific groups of parents. You also provide sessions for particular groups – such as fathers.

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parents

 Staff provide a warm welcoming environment in which parents feel supported and comfortable. As a result, queries are dealt with quickly and issues rarely develop into a complaint. Parents are consulted regularly about school policies and are involved in decision-making.  You recognise that collecting data is a challenge but you are trying to make links between engagement with parents and outcomes for their children. Sharper success criteria in the nursery’s improvement plan would help to focus your evaluation further on outcomes for children.  Governors do not currently have a high-profile role in engaging parents.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 strengthening improvement planning to include sharper success criteria and developing further the use of data in evaluating the impact of the nursery’s work with parents on the outcomes for their children  raising the profile of governors and developing their role in engaging parents.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

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, include:

As I explained previously, 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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