Pembury House Nursery School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that the new assessment system is embedded, so that all parents can be involved in tracking and updating their child’s progress.
• Improve boys’ attendance, so that it at least matches the high attendance of girls.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The school has had significant changes since the previous inspection, including the appointment of a new headteacher. She has revitalised the school and brought an innovative and strategic approach to children’s education, both in their academic and personal development.
• A newly restructured leadership team supports the headteacher effectively to secure a strong culture of high aspirations for all children. Leaders have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. This increases the school’s capacity to improve further.
• Leaders are proud of the school and how it has improved. They are determined to make the school a hub of excellence in the local community. The school’s development plan clearly sets out the main priorities of the school. Rigorous procedures are in place to check the effectiveness of any actions. This has ensured that staff are held to account and that leaders have an accurate picture of the school’s performance.
• Leaders at all levels monitor the quality of teaching closely by visiting lessons and checking on children’s work and progress. Leaders meet regularly with staff to discuss children’s progress and identify support for any child who is not making at least good progress. Consequently, all children are making at least typical progress in all areas of learning and some are making exceptional progress from their starting points.
• The school has set high targets for children’s outcomes and staff. Staff receive high-quality training and are encouraged to share best practice with each other to achieve these high targets. Staff appreciate the opportunities for their professional development and trainees feel well supported.
• Leaders work collaboratively with early years providers in the local area through the Haringey Nursery Schools Consortium to support and challenge each other. Leaders share their expertise with other early years providers, offering workshops, training courses and work placements for staff and trainees to develop their practice. Working with other schools also ensures that teachers’ assessment of the children’s learning is accurate.
• Well-targeted support is given to support children who are entitled to the early years pupil premium, to break down barriers to learning. From their different starting points, these children make excellent progress. This clearly demonstrates the school’s strong commitment to equality of opportunity.
• Leaders ensure that children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive high-quality and appropriate support. Early years staff receive regular training and work closely with teachers to ensure that these children make the best possible progress. Additional funding is used effectively to provide specialist support to children who have complex needs.
• The curriculum is well planned to interest, challenge and engage children in their learning and personal development. Leaders promote British values successfully and children treat each other with respect and tolerance. Children learn about other cultures through events such as International Day and their celebration of Chinese New Year. The school has an artist and musician in residence, working with the children to create original pieces of work.
• The school has built up excellent relationships with families through its drive to involve parents and carers as closely as possible with their child’s education. Leaders organise regular family trips, for example to museums and parks, so that parents understand the importance of giving children rich learning experiences. ‘Wow Wednesdays’ give parents the chance to learn about a specific part of the curriculum and they are offered suggestions for how they can help their children at home. ‘Terrific Tuesdays’ workshops give parents advice on a wide range of subjects, such as healthy diet, sleep and behaviour. Parents and carers have nothing but praise for the staff and the provision.
• Leaders are conscious that some families feel socially isolated and so the school provides a highly effective support network. For example, the parent forum guides parents to training courses or volunteer work, providing a crèche so that parents can focus on being more involved in the community. The on-site children’s centre brings services to families whose children attend the nursery. Staff also have close links with local primary schools and help parents to ensure that children experience a smooth transition.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has a very good overview of the school’s strengths and shares the headteacher’s ambitions for the school. Governors are committed to securing the best provision for children, particularly when it comes to recruiting teaching staff. They have worked closely with school leaders to ensure that the school has a strong and stable team to maintain high standards.
• The governors support and challenge the headteacher effectively. They have been instrumental in making changes to the school since the previous inspection, working closely with school leaders to ensure that every child gets the best education possible at the school, yet they are not complacent and are striving to improve the school continually.
• Governors understand their statutory duties well with regard to safeguarding and actively test out procedures in the school to ensure that they are robust.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The entrance to the school building is very secure. The site is a hub of activity during the day, but all the required checks are in place for staff and visitors. Classrooms have secure entry systems and key areas of the building are locked down. Parents appreciate the care their children receive and know that they are safe.
• Staff are clear about their duty of care for children’s welfare and understand what they should do if any concerns arise. All staff receive annual safeguarding training and regular updates. They talk knowledgeably about how to spot any signs that children may be at risk, including from radicalisation and female genital mutilation. Leaders take swift and effective action if safeguarding issues arise. They are relentless in ensuring that children and families get the support they need.
• The school works exceptionally well with external agencies to meet the needs of all children, particularly the most vulnerable. The leadership team runs the children’s centre, which shares the school site. This enables the leadership team to offer a wide range of services to the local community and parents.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Staff have an excellent understanding of the early years foundation stage and know how children learn. Teaching takes into account each child’s needs and interests and staff know the children well. This enables them to make accurate and reliable assessments of children’s learning. Targets for improvement are individual for each child and support the strong progress they make.
• Teachers plan interesting and stimulating activities to develop children’s skills. Children happily try everything because activities are fun and challenging. For example, they make potions in the mud kitchen, act out role plays in their very own railway station and learn about measurements through following a recipe. Adults play and work alongside children, encouraging them to be independent but intervening when appropriate. Consequently, children are resilient learners and they persevere in activities.
• Interactions between adults and children are of a high quality. Staff skilfully ask questions to extend children’s understanding and give children time to think about their answers. They develop children’s responses, modelling the correct language and sentence structure. This helps children to secure strong progress.
• Classrooms are bright and engaging, with purposeful activities. The outdoor provision is also a strength. Much thought has been put into enabling children to learn about and explore their natural surroundings. They are curious when exploring the ‘forest school’ area, for instance, and enjoy the activities on offer, such as making their own dough and cooking it on the campfire. Such activities create a sense of wonder and delight.
• Well-planned projects give children the opportunity to deepen their understanding and develop skills over time. A visit to the Tate Modern, for example, inspired children to design and build their own structures using a variety of materials. Staff encourage them to take risks and solve problems: ‘It might collapse, but try and have a go!’
• Staff develop the foundations of children’s literacy and numeracy skills effectively. Mathematics is seamlessly woven into all aspects of the curriculum and every possibility is used to develop mathematical understanding. The teaching of reading is outstanding. ‘Story sacks’ with fun resources enhance children’s enjoyment of reading. Many children are starting to read simple sentences and build words using the letter sounds that they practise daily.
• Staff track children’s progress meticulously. Each child has their own ‘focus week’ each half term, with personalised tasks and the chance to lead an activity. This feeds into each child’s ‘learning story’ where next steps are identified, agreed with parents and followed up in the next focus week.
• The new assessment system allows staff to record learning instantly and capture children’s achievements on the spot. Parents can access the online system at home to see their child’s progress, make comments or upload learning moments they have recorded at home. While staff are confident in using the new system, they acknowledge that not all parents are actively engaged with it and it needs to be embedded to be as effective as possible.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote children’s personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Relationships between staff and children are warm and friendly. Children feel secure with all staff and form especially strong attachments to their key person. Children who are new to the nursery settle quickly due to the excellent care they receive. At the start of each session, children receive a warm welcome and settle quickly to their activities.
• Children feel safe and are confident in their environment to work in pairs, groups or independently. Cosy spaces are dotted around the indoor and outdoor areas for children to sit on their own or with a member of staff if they want some quiet time.
• Children benefit from an inspired and well-resourced learning environment, both indoors and outdoors. They have good opportunities to exercise and enjoy energetic outdoor play. Staff supervise children well and ensure that children play safely. The school’s focus on bringing nature to the children gives children access to real and natural resources in contrast with their immediate environment.
• Children learn to keep themselves safe. They devise rules for playing with equipment safely, such as the sandpit, and know they have to follow them.
• Children are kind to each other and treat each other with respect. They share equipment and wait patiently for their turn.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Children are friendly and welcoming to visitors. They know how to behave appropriately and are well mannered.
• Children listen carefully to adults and respond quickly to instructions. Songs and music are often used to signal different activities. Children know the routines well and happily set to work.
• Staff manage children’s behaviour very well. They recognise and praise individual effort, reassuring children if they start to feel frustrated. Conflicts are rare, but when they do happen, staff support children to resolve any disputes.
• The school works with families to ensure that they fully understand the importance of attendance, which has improved considerably. The family worker has developed good relationships with parents and carers and any absences are followed up to safeguard children’s welfare and well-being. However, boys’ attendance is lower than that of girls. Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Children start in the nursery with starting points that are below those found typically for children of their age. All children make at least good progress and many children make rapid progress.
• A high proportion of children leave the school with knowledge and skills that exceed those typical for their age. This represents outstanding progress. Children are very well prepared for primary school.
• Progress is strong across all areas of learning, but particularly in language and communication. This is because adults invest a lot of time talking to children, asking open-ended questions to make the children think and extend their vocabulary.
• New approaches to literacy sessions have also improved children’s knowledge and understanding. For example, ‘helicopter story’ sessions help children understand the structure and sequence of stories before they invent their own story, dictate it to an adult and act it out. As a result, children are more confident in narrating stories and using their imagination.
• Children are often grouped for learning sessions depending on the level of support they need. This means that the most able children are challenged effectively and benefit from learning at a fast rate.
• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities also make outstanding progress. Adults adapt lessons to suit their needs, and specialist support staff, such as speech therapists, provide additional support. Children entitled to early years pupil premium funding perform as well as other children in the school.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 102071 Haringey 10031741 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Nursery School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 3 to 5 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 126 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Melian Mansfield Suzanne Moss 020 8801 9914 www.pemburyhouse.haringey.sch.uk admin@pemburyhouse.haringey.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 21–22 November 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The headteacher took up post in September 2014. School leaders and the governing body also manage the on-site children’s centre and provision for children aged under three on a separate site nearby, but neither are subject to this inspection.
• Children attend on a flexible part-time basis, mornings, afternoons or full days. The school also offers a breakfast club and after-school club.
• Just over half of the current cohort are eligible for the early years pupil premium. Two thirds of children speak English as an additional language.
• About a third of children have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection was carried out over three days. The inspection was led by an Ofsted Inspector on day one. Her Majesty’s Inspector took over the inspection on day two. The inspection concluded on day three.
• Inspectors observed teaching and learning at various times during the three days. Some of these observations were done jointly with the headteacher.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, school leaders, staff, two members of the governing body (including the chair), and the local authority adviser.
• Inspectors evaluated a range of documentation provided by the school, including the single central record, the school’s self-evaluation, the school development plan and external reports on the school.
• Inspectors scrutinised the documentation relating to children’s attendance, safeguarding and the tracking of children’s progress.
• The views of parents were considered through informal discussions during the inspection and the 10 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View.

Inspection team

Jude Wilson, lead inspector Sam Nowak Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Helen Morrison, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector