Information Bulletin
07 January 2005
Integrated Inspection by the Care Commission and HM Inspectorate of Education of Whiteness Primary School Nursery Class
Whiteness Primary School Nursery Class was inspected in September 2004 as part of the integrated inspection programme by the Care Commission and HM Inspectorate of Education.
The inspection team identified a number of strengths in the work of the Nursery Class. They were impressed first of all by the bright, welcoming environment and the high quality accommodation. They were also impressed by the warm and caring approach on the part of the staff towards the children. They found that the staff had developed good relationships with the children and had created a safe environment in which the children were happy.
The inspection team found that staff had built positive relationships with parents and carers and this was borne out by the responses to the pre-inspection questionnaire. A further strength of the nursery was the well-planned programme of transition between playgroup, nursery and primary one, all of which helped the children to settle in well at each stage.
Finally, the team were impressed by the leadership of the Head Teacher. Although she had only been in place for nine months, she had had a positive impact on the work of the nursery and had fostered good teamwork among the staff.
The inspection team also made a number of recommendations for improvement. These were:
- Staff should restructure the daily programme to ensure that all children are able to choose from the full range of activities independently.
- Staff should give children more opportunities to exercise choice, take responsibility and access a wider range of learning opportunities. They should provide more challenge through play for all children.
- Staff should improve the programme for physical development and movement. They should continue to develop other aspects of the curriculum as detailed in the report.
The nursery in conjunction with the education authority will be producing an action plan indicating how they will address the main findings of the report. This will be available to parents and carers.
The report points up the many strengths of the Whiteness Primary School Nursery Class and its committed and hard-working staff. It also sets an agenda which will allow the nursery to make further strides forward.
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