Integrated Inspection by the
Care Commission and
HM Inspectorate of Education of
Hillhead Primary School Nursery Class
The Highland Council
15 February 2006
Hillhead Primary School Nursery Class
Willowbank
Wick
KW1 4PE
The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act, 2001, requires that the Care Commission
inspect all care services covered by the Act every year to monitor the quality of care
provided. In accordance with the Act, the Care Commission and HM Inspectorate of
Education carry out integrated inspections of the quality of care and education. In
doing this, inspection teams take account of National Care Standards, Early
Education and Childcare up to the age of 16, and The Child at the Centre. The
following standards and related quality indicators were used in the recent inspection.
National Care Standard
Child at the Centre Quality Indicator
Standard 2 – A Safe Environment
Resources
Standard 4 – Engaging with Children
Development and learning through play
Standard 5 – Quality of Experience
Curriculum
Children’s development and learning
Support for children and families
Standard 6 – Support and Development
Standard 14 – Well-managed Service
Management, Leadership and Quality
Assurance
Evaluations made using HMIE quality indicators use the following scale, and these
words are used in the report to describe the team’s judgements:
Very good
Good
Fair
Unsatisfactory
:
:
:
:
major strengths
strengths outweigh weaknesses
some important weaknesses
major weaknesses
Reports contain Recommendations which are intended to support improvements in
the quality of service.
Any Requirements refer to actions which must be taken by service providers to ensure
that regulations are met and there is compliance with relevant legislation. In these
cases the regulation(s) to which requirements refer will be noted clearly and
timescales given.
HOW TO CONTACT US
If you would like an additional copy of this report
Copies of this report have been sent to the headteacher, staff and
the education authority. Copies are also available on the Care
Commission website: www.carecommission.com and HMIE website:
www.hmie.gov.uk.
If you wish to comment about integrated pre-school inspections
Should you wish to comment on any aspect of integrated pre-school
inspections, you should write in the first instance to Kenneth Muir,
HMCI, at HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House,
Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a concern about this report, you should write in the first
instance to either:
Complaints Coordinator
Headquarters
Care Commission
Compass House
Riverside Drive
Dundee
DD1 4NY
Hazel Dewart
HM Inspectorate of Education
Denholm House
Almondvale Business Park
Almondvale Way
Livingston
EH54 6GA
If you are not satisfied with the action we have taken at the end of
our complaints procedure, you can raise your complaint with the
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The Scottish Public Services
Ombudsman is fully independent and has powers to investigate
complaints about Government departments and agencies. You can
write to The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, 4-6 Melville
Street, Edinburgh EH3 7NS. You can also telephone 0870 011 5378
or e-mail enquiries@scottishombudsman.org.uk. More information
about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website:
www.scottishombudsman.org.uk.
A copy of the HMIE complaints procedure is available from the HMIE
website at www.hmie.gov.uk or by telephoning 01506 600 258.
Crown Copyright 2006
Care Commission
HM Inspectorate of Education
This report may be reproduced in whole or in part, except for
commercial purposes or in connection with a prospectus or
advertisement, provided that the source and date thereof are stated.
_______________________________
Integrated Inspection by the
Care Commission and
HM Inspectorate of Education of
Hillhead Primary School Nursery Class
The Highland Council
Introduction
Hillhead Primary School Nursery Class was inspected in
November 2005 as part of the integrated inspection programme
by the Care Commission and HM Inspectorate of Education.
HMIE carried out this inspection on behalf of both organisations
and consulted the Care Commission about its findings. The
nursery catered for pre-school children aged three to five years.
It was registered for 15 children attending at any one session. At
the time of the inspection the total roll was 27.
The environment
Standard 2
The nursery class was situated within the primary school and
provided a welcoming, secure, and very stimulating environment.
The entrance area, which was shared with P1 pupils, contained
very useful information for parents about the care and education
of their children. Staff had created bright and colourful displays of
children’s work to promote their successes. They made very
good use of all available space including the secure outdoor play
area. Parents were encouraged to provide waterproof clothing so
that children could enjoy outdoor play in all weathers. Staff
provided vigorous indoor physical play regularly in the gym.
Learning areas were well laid out and gave children space to play
independently or as part of a group. Children were invited to
make choices from interesting, developmentally appropriate
activities and play materials.
Appropriate policies and procedures were in place to ensure the
safety of the children and to control the spread of infection.
Quality of children’s experience
Standard 4 & 5
Staff had very good relationships with children and provided a
supportive, caring learning environment. They displayed a very
good knowledge and understanding of children’s development
and learning and chose activities and resources purposefully and
imaginatively to provide interest and challenge for all children.
They interacted very effectively with children to support and
extend their learning. Children were keen to learn, highly
motivated and responded readily to staff. They concentrated very
well on their chosen activities with staff skilfully extending the
complexity of their play.
Staff worked very well together to observe, assess, evaluate and
plan children’s learning. They planned children’s next steps
flexibly to respond to their interests and learning needs. Folios
and profiles recorded significant progress in learning. Staff kept
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parents very well informed about their children’s progress through
informal discussions, meetings and written reports. They were at
the early stages of developing a curriculum review record to
easily track individual children’s progress over a period of time.
Features of the programmes for children included the following.
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•
The programme for emotional, personal and social
development was very good. Children were happy, confident
and familiar with nursery routines. They related well to each
other and to adults and were developing friendships. They
were learning how to share, take turns and appreciate the
views and needs of others. Staff used praise well to build
children’s confidence. They promoted this further with
appropriate positive comments and stickers. They
encouraged children to make choices and develop their
independence in tidying around the nursery. A reward chart
for tidying had worked successfully. At snack time, children
were developing good social skills and learning to eat healthy
foods.
•
The programme for communication and language was very
good. Staff encouraged children’s interest in books and
stories by reading to groups of children who listened intently.
Children were developing very good skills in talking and
listening. Staff encouraged children to talk purposefully by
having conversations with them throughout the session.
They were developing a love of words as staff wrote
amusing, descriptive words beside their finger paintings.
Children spoke confidently to one another and to adults.
Staff imaginatively encouraged early reading and writing skills
at every opportunity during play. Most children recognised
their own names and many could recognise some letters and
words.
•
The programme for knowledge and understanding of the
world was very good. It included learning about seasons and
the children had enjoyed a visit to a local farm where they
explored a harvest field. Staff provided a range of interesting
activities to encourage the children to continue with their
investigations in the nursery. Children observed the changes
in the seasons and recorded it in their paintings. They were
sorting and identifying a wide range of tree seeds. Staff
provided very good experiences in early mathematics and
children were developing a very good understanding of
sorting, grouping and numbers. The programme included the
celebration of a number of festivals which helped children to
learn about other cultures.
•
The programme for expressive and aesthetic development
was very good. Staff provided children with a variety of art
and craft resources to develop their skills in printing, painting
and gluing. Children were absorbed in investigating a variety
of attractive art and craft materials and staff encouraged them
to freely create and express their own ideas. The school
enjoyed visits from professional artists who enhanced the
programme. A well-known author of children’s books had
dramatised her story with the nursery children and had
dedicated a new book to the school. Some children were
skilled in playing with the musical instruments, listening
carefully and making sounds to match rhymes they were
singing.
•
The programme for physical development and movement
was very good. Staff were very aware of the benefits of
promoting health and this figured prominently in activities.
Along with daily tooth brushing and daily fruit snacks they
placed a strong emphasis on energetic physical activities. An
aerobics instructor had worked with the children and staff as
a positive role model. Staff provided regular challenging
opportunities for energetic, physical play outside. Children
were developing very good control of their fingers and hands
by using pencils, jigsaws and construction toys.
Support for children and families
Standard 6
Staff knew the children very well and provided effective support
for them and their families. They responded well to children’s
individual circumstances. Staff had very good relationships with
parents and carers. All parents and carers who responded to the
pre-inspection questionnaire were very happy with the nursery. A
number of parents commented very favourably on the nursery
staff and the quality of information they received on the progress
and development of their children. The headteacher
communicated very effectively with parents through regular
newsletters, open days and induction meetings. The nursery
class teacher’s own newsletter informed parents and carers on
the particular focus for learning in the nursery and how they could
help their children to learn at home. Parents and children
received an attractive weekly book pack in the final term.
Staff gave good support to children who required additional
help with their learning. They had experience of developing
individualised educational programmes (IEP’s) and had
established very good links with support agencies and other
professionals.
All of the nursery children transferred into the primary school and,
as the nursery was seen as an integral part of the school, transfer
into P1 was smooth. The school planned to develop further links
with the three-year-old children in the playgroups.
Management
Standard 14
The headteacher provided very good leadership. He was
approachable and supportive. He had fostered effective staff
teamwork and developed good relationships with staff, parents
and children. He demonstrated a high level of professional
competence and had clear plans for further development of the
nursery. The roles and responsibilities of the management team
and nursery staff were well defined and communicated clearly to
staff and parents. The principal teacher had responsibility for the
day-to-day management of the nursery. She was strongly
committed to improving the quality of children’s learning and gave
useful feedback through her planning and monitoring visits. The
headteacher and principal teacher were committed to providing a
continually improving service and had a good understanding of
national and local priorities.
The nursery teacher and early years workers operated well as a
team, supporting and complementing one another in their
day-to-day work.
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Staff were familiar with the Codes of Practice of the Scottish
Social Services Council. They were appropriately qualified in
teaching or childcare or working towards a professional
qualification. They were continuing with professional
development courses which met their own needs and the needs
of the nursery. The management team had developed a useful
range of policies and procedures to inform the work of the nursery
and the new nursery team were reviewing them. All staff were
aware of the school’s child protection procedures and of the local
authority guidelines.
The headteacher and staff had developed focused systems to
monitor and evaluate the nursery. Parental evaluations took
place very regularly to seek their views and identify areas for
development. A suggestions box had recently been introduced in
the nursery cloakroom area to gain more parental views.
The school’s standard and quality report included evaluation of
nursery practice and set out appropriate priorities and targets for
the coming year. The new nursery staff had not yet been
involved in using quality indicators in a systematic formal way to
identify development priorities for the nursery.
Key strengths
•
Children’s motivation and their interest and involvement in
learning.
•
The staff who worked well as a team and interacted very
effectively with the children to support and extend their
learning.
•
The broad and stimulating programmes in each of the key
aspects.
•
The strong links between the nursery and the primary school.
•
The very good relationships with parents and carers.
•
The very effective leadership of the headteacher ably
supported by the principal teacher.
Other Issues
Response to
recommendations or to
requirements made at
previous inspection
Staff had addressed all of the recommendations and the
requirement from the previous inspection.
Recommendations for improvement
•
4
The headteacher and principal teacher should work with new
staff to involve them more fully in monitoring and evaluating
the work of the nursery.
Care Commission Officers and HM Inspectors have asked the
pre-school centre and education authority to prepare an action
plan indicating how they will address the main findings of the
report. Where requirements are made, the action plan should
include timescales to deal with these. The plan will be available
to parents and carers. In liaison with the pre-school centre and
education authority, Care Commission Officers and
HM Inspectors will monitor progress to ensure improvements are
in line with the main findings of the report.
Myra Reid
HM Inspectorate of Education
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