Caversham Nursery School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Sharpen the school development plan by including deadlines by when certain desired outcomes should be achieved, so that leaders and governors can check the impact of this work on children’s achievement, including that of those in different groups.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The executive headteacher and deputy headteacher are a highly efficient, knowledgeable and effective partnership. Leading by example, they have created a vibrant team of staff and governors who are committed to ensuring together that ‘every moment matters’ for each child. Staff share leaders’ aims and greatly appreciate this team approach. One member of staff said, ‘Leaders are on our side, and with us every step of the way.’ As a result, the school has improved significantly since the last inspection.
• Leaders have created a culture of continuous professional development for staff. Staff appreciate the training and feedback that have greatly enhanced their practice. Highly effective performance management provides staff with a formal opportunity to celebrate their achievements and determine important next steps in their own learning. Consequently, teaching, learning and assessment are outstanding.
• Leadership is shared widely so that the school is continually developing and improving. In team meetings, the leading teacher provides strong challenge and support to staff so that they meet leaders’ high expectations. Staff, at all levels, are involved in checking the quality of teaching and learning. They provide extremely helpful feedback to each other that motivates them to secure further improvements to their work.
• The school welcomes all children throughout the year. Leaders, governors and staff are committed to ensuring that children receive personalised care, teaching and support that meet their different needs extremely well. Staff celebrate differences and give children the confidence to pursue their interests so that all children are very well motivated and flourish.
• Leaders ensure that children’s development and progress are smooth and rapid across the different areas of learning. The flexible curriculum enables children to learn through their own interests using the inside and outside areas, as well as to build key skills. Story of the week such as ‘The three little pigs’ and phoneme, number and rhyme of the week help to reinforce essential speaking, listening, reading, writing and mathematics skills.
• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make excellent progress. The special educational needs coordinator draws on the advice of a range of other appropriate professionals and resources to provide carefully tailored extra support that closely matches these children’s varied needs.
• The early years pupil premium is very well spent. Disadvantaged children receive highly effective support that furthers their personal development and accelerates their learning. As a result, differences between the progress of disadvantaged children and that of their classmates have diminished.
• Children’s personal development is at the heart of the school’s work so that children start to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding as well an awareness of British values. For example, they readily make choices, share with friends, learn how to care for others, and begin to experience values such as democracy and individual liberty.
• The local authority has provided very effective challenge and support to senior leaders, reinforcing their high expectations of children’s achievement. This has facilitated further improvements to teaching, learning and assessment.
• Parents are extremely positive about the school. They deeply value the high level of support that they receive from the ‘very approachable’ staff. A powerful partnership between home and school prevails.

Governance of the school

• Governors challenge and support leaders very well. They know and understand the school and make good use of this knowledge to ask pertinent questions. For example, governors challenged school leaders to ensure that planned changes to teaching and learning would further strengthen children’s achievement.
• The governing body fulfils its statutory duties with due care and attention. The safeguarding governor meets regularly with leaders to check that arrangements are suitable and effective. Governors also ensure that finances are spent astutely.
• Leaders and governors have set out a rightly ambitious school development plan, based on a highly accurate understanding of the school’s effectiveness. It includes some targets for children’s progress. However, these targets are not sufficiently precise and the expectations for different groups of children are not defined clearly enough. They do not enable leaders and governors to check the progress of the plan or the impact of this work on children’s achievement well enough.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders take their safeguarding responsibilities very seriously. They have created a culture of vigilance and care for children and families. They review and refresh their work to ensure that it meets current requirements. Staff benefit from regular training in relation to a range of issues, including radicalisation and extremism. Consequently, staff demonstrate that they know what to do to keep children safe, and act accordingly.
• Staff at all levels build strong and effective relationships to safeguard children. These close relationships with families help parents to feel comfortable to seek help when they need it. The school also works well with a range of other professionals, including those at the on-site children’s centre to provide effective help to families as required.
• Records are detailed, fit for purpose and show that staff take appropriate action to keep children safe. Recruitment checks on staff are suitable and thorough. In all aspects of the school’s work, children’s well-being rightly takes priority.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teaching at Caversham is characterised by high-quality interactions between adults and children. Staff make the very best use of time and their expertise to accelerate children’s learning so that they achieve very well. Consequently, teaching, learning and assessment are outstanding.
• Accurate and effective assessment underpins all teaching. Staff know each child very well because they routinely check each child’s understanding and act immediately to help children take important next steps in their learning. As a result, children make rapid progress across the areas of learning.
• Language is promoted extremely well throughout the nursery. Staff take every opportunity to talk to children and use challenging words, as well as extended sentences, to improve children’s speaking and listening skills. For example, one member of staff provided a detailed commentary to three children testing cars on ramps. A demanding discussion about whether this was a fair test required the children to use sentences containing language such as ‘first’, ‘second’, ‘if’ and ‘perhaps’. Children make substantial progress in communication and language, particularly those who speak English as an additional language.
• Staff challenge and support children to think through more complex tasks and problems. For example, a group of children were making cherry pie. When weighing the flour, together with the member of staff, the children calculated how much more flour they needed, using their fingers to count in steps of 100. Consequently, the most able children, including the most able disadvantaged children, make rapid progress to exceed the expectations for their age.
• Parents are very effective partners in developing children’s learning. Staff routinely involve parents in assessing children’s understanding and development. At the same time, they provide parents with extremely helpful information about their child’s progress. Importantly, this feedback includes how parents can help their child further at home. Successful, ongoing dialogue between school and home enables children to make sustained progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Staff know each child and family very well and use this to foster children’s growing independence. Children show that they are confident at school and trust the adults around them. For example, they readily engage in imaginative play as cats, fairies, dads and bus drivers, on their own or with friends. When they need to, they ask for, and receive, just the right amount of support from staff.
• Staff enable children to demonstrate considerable responsibility for themselves and their actions. For example, staff expect all children to help when it is ‘tidy up time’. They use praise, songs and games to ensure that everyone plays their part. One child said, ‘I like a neat and tidy room; then I won’t trip over my toys.’
• Children are very caring towards each other because staff show them how to act kindly towards their friends. Around the nursery, children offer their friends snacks and drinks, check that they are not hurt when they fall over and take turns. Parents are confident that their children are happy and safe at school.
• There are many opportunities for children to learn about safety. Staff check that children are safe and intervene when necessary to keep them safe. At the same time, staff show children what they can do to improve their safety. A visit from the police provided a valuable opportunity to learn about people who help us.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Staff set very high expectations for children’s behaviour so that their conduct is exemplary. Staff remind children of what is expected of them and use praise extremely well to reinforce excellent behaviour. One child confidently used, ‘Excuse me!’ to ask others to clear a path for his high jump. Another child followed suit quickly after hearing the adult praise the first child.
• Around the school, children show that they can adapt their behaviour to suit different activities. At breakfast club and lunchtime, children sit nicely, chat quietly and use cutlery to eat their food. When working in groups, children show that they can listen and take turns, showing sustained concentration. As a result, the nursery is calm and purposeful.
• The clear systems in place support children who exhibit challenging behaviour very well. These children can choose activities that they are comfortable with when they arrive and start the day calmly. As the day progresses, staff support them to make the right choices, try new activities and follow the rules. Incidents of poor behaviour are extremely rare.
• Leaders and staff promote high levels of attendance. Families can choose which sessions their children attend, to suit their own circumstances. Staff and children talk about what they will miss if they don’t come in. Children’s rates of attendance show that they are forming good habits, ready for their next school.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• The majority of children join the nursery with skills and abilities that are below those typical for their age. Children make substantial progress so that by the time they leave the nursery to start school, most reach at least the expectations for their age. Children are prepared exceptionally well for the next stage in their education.
• Children achieve very well across the different areas of learning. Leaders and staff ensure that children benefit from appropriate and wide-ranging activities that support all aspects of their development. Staff make astute adjustments to provision to promote rapid progress in all areas of learning.
• Disadvantaged children make as much progress as their classmates. These children benefit from individualised support that meets their differing needs very well.
• The most able children, including the most able disadvantaged, progress very well to exceed the expectations for their age. Staff know what these children can do and provide them with suitably challenging tasks that further extend their learning.
• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make sustained progress. They receive very effective support that addresses their needs and ensures that they achieve as highly as other children.
• Children who speak English as an additional language make rapid progress to reach the language expectations for their age. Provision is highly effective in enabling them to acquire essential language skills quickly.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 109750 Reading 10032947 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 Community 3 to 4 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 71 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Executive Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address James Sharman Lisa Bedlow 0118 9375429 www.cavershamnurseryschool.co.uk admin@cavershamnursery.reading.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 18−19 June 2014

Information about this school

• Caversham Nursery School provides education for children aged three to four. Most children attend on a part-time basis, although a few attend full time. Flexible arrangements enable children to join for half the week, morning, afternoon sessions or any other combination.
• The school is part of a hard federation with New Bridge Nursery School. Both schools share the same executive headteacher and governing body.
• The governing body and leadership team also manage day care for children from birth to three years on the same site. There is also a children’s centre, run by the local authority. This provision was not part of this inspection.
• A breakfast club and a lunch club are available to provide wrap-around care for children at the school. Hot meals are cooked on site and provided for the children.
• A small proportion of children have special educational needs and/or disabilities. None have an education, health and care plan.
• Approximately one third of children are known to be disadvantaged and receive the early years pupil premium funding.
• Children join the nursery from a range of different backgrounds and at different times throughout the school year. Around one quarter of children speak English as an additional language.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed teaching and learning, inside, outside and at different times of the day. Records of individual children’s learning and progress were also looked at. Some observations were carried out jointly with the deputy headteacher.
• Meetings were held with senior leaders, a group of staff, two members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.
• The inspector spoke to eight parents and took into account 24 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). She also considered responses to the staff questionnaire.
• A range of documents was looked at, including the school’s information about pupils’ achievement and records concerning pupils’ attendance, behaviour and safety.

Inspection team

Caroline Dulon, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector