/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Education and Training Inspectorate
Report of a Short Inspection
Dungannon Nursery School
Co Tyrone
Inspected: April 2005

STATISTICAL INFORMATION ON DUNGANNON NURSERY SCHOOL

1.Details of Children

Number of children: / Class 1 / Class 2 / Class 3
Attending full-time / 26
Attending part-time / 24 / 22
Under 3 years of age* / 22
With statement of SEN**
At CoP stages 3 or 4*** / 3 / 1
At CoP stages 1 or 2*** / 2 / 1 / 3
With English as an additional language

*On 1 July.

**Special Educational Needs.

***The stages refer to those set out in the Code of Practice for the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs.

Percentage qualifying under DE admission criteria 1 or 2. / 10%
Average attendance for the previous year. / 88.5%

2.Duration of Sessions

Full-time / Part-time: am / Part-time: pm
4½ hours / 2½ hours / 2½ hours

3.Details of Staff

Number of: / Full-Time / Part-Time
Teachers / 2
Nursery Assistants / 2 / 4
Qualified Nursery Assistants / 2 / 3
Number of: ****
Students / 3
Trainees

**** Total placements since September of current year

4.Parental Questionnaires

Number issued / 76
Percentage returned / 53.9%
Number of written comments / 15

1.Introduction

1.1Dungannon Nursery School is situated in the town centre and is located close to several other schools in the area. The children come mainly from the town and surrounding areas.

1.2The arrangements for the inspection of pastoral care included the completion of questionnaires by the parents as well as meetings with the governors. The parents and the governors expressed a high level of satisfaction overall with the nursery’s provision. In particular, they commented positively on the quality of the care and the safe environment for the children and expressed confidence in, and appreciation for, the work of the Principal and the staff. There is comment in the report on the few areas where a small number of parents expressed less satisfaction.

2.The Quality of the Educational Provision

2.1The nursery has a very positive, child-centred ethos based on excellent relationships between the staff and the children. There is a happy and caring atmosphere. The staff provide a stimulating learning environment enhanced by the thoughtful presentation of a variety of the children’s art work. The children are very settled and well behaved.

2.2Purposeful links are established with the parents through, for example, the induction meeting and a meeting to discuss each child’s progress, a parenting programme, newsletters and a book-lending service. In addition, through the informal meetings that occur at the beginning and the end of the day, the parents are given the opportunity to meet with the staff. The staff should continue to strengthen the liaison with the parents, to provide more formal opportunities for the parents to meet with them and discuss their children’s progress and development.

2.3The nursery has a suitable written policy on child protection which sets out the procedures and provides relevant guidelines for the staff. The staff have received appropriate training. The nursery should take further steps to make the parents aware of the policies.

2.4The teachers make conscientious preparation for their work and are keeping under review and development the methods used to plan the educational programme. The planning outlines a broad, balanced programme for the children, designed to foster their all-round development. It identifies many facets of learning inherent in the play activities. Observations of the children’s individual responses and interests are carefully noted by the staff and used to guide future work. The planned programme for outdoor play has been identified, appropriately, as an area for improvement within the school development plan.

2.5Thoughtful organisation of the daily routines allows the nursery day to flow smoothly and creates lengthy periods of uninterrupted play in both the indoor and outdoor areas. Good use is made of the dinner routine to promote social and conversational skills. There are good opportunities for the children to participate in group activities involving stories, rhymes and songs.

2.6The staff provide the children with sustained support during play; their interaction and involvement with the children is of a high quality. The staff constantly encourage the children to observe and to think; they engage the children in valuable discussions about their play and their experiences. The staff report that they have benefited from training in language development based on the Hanen Programme in terms of initiating and sustaining good quality interaction with the children.

2.7The nursery’s educational programme is broad and balanced and offers good opportunities for learning in nearly all the areas of the pre-school curriculum. The effective promotion of the children’s personal, social and emotional development, language development, scientific awareness and physical development are key strengths of the programme.

2.8The children display a high level of independence and responsibility; they choose freely from the activities on offer. During the inspection, many good instances of concentrated play were observed. The children work well with one another; they are learning to take account of others’ ideas and to share materials agreeably.

2.9There is good use of the outdoor areas to provide a wide range of activities that promote the children’s physical development. Throughout the nursery, there are good opportunities for the children to develop confidence and skill in their use of large and small equipment.

2.10The staff’s imaginative approach to creative activities encourages the children to explore materials freely and produce art work of a good standard. The recordings of the children’s own descriptions on their paintings are helping some of the children to recognise the link between the spoken and written word. There are suitable opportunities for singing songs and rhymes.

2.11High priority is given to developing the children’s language through skilful talk and discussion, and the introduction by staff of a rich vocabulary and range of ideas. There is strong encouragement for the children to develop an interest in books; they pay close attention during story sessions and frequently browse in the book corner or explore an information book during their play. Some children are experimenting with writing as a natural part of their play.

2.12The staff use rhymes and songs to develop the children’s awareness of number and plan activities that introduce some valuable mathematical ideas. The staff now need to exploit more effectively the informal opportunities which arise naturally from the children’s play, and during everyday routines, in order to promote a wider range of mathematical ideas.

2.13The staff provide an interesting range of natural materials, living things and items of interest for the children to observe and investigate. During the inspection, the theme of growing was used effectively to promote the children’s understanding about planting seeds and the care of plants in the indoor and outdoor areas. Good use is made of seasonal and environmental topics which have extended the children’s knowledge of, and interest in, the world around them. Appropriate use of the computers is helping the children to gain skills and confidence with the equipment.

2.14The staff use a variety of methods to assess the children’s progress and generally take appropriate account of this information in planning and presenting activities. Suitable records are kept on each child. The staff are aware of the need for some further development of the assessment strategies as a natural part of the staff’s interaction with the children.

2.15There are useful links with a number of the neighbouring primary school and transition forms are provided.

2.16The children identified as having special needs are well integrated into the activities provided in each playroom; the staff make very good efforts to identify, address and monitor the particular problems faced by these children. The staff have attended appropriate training courses and the additional classroom assistants are skilful in providing relevant support. The individual plans compiled for the children should now be better linked to the support provided and identify more focused targets and indicators of progress.

2.17The Principal has clear goals for the school and promotes a spirit of review and development. The school development plan outlines appropriate areas for curricular and staff development including, for example, outdoor play and self-evaluation. There is evidence of good progress particularly in developing the effective pre-school programme and the resources in the outdoor area. The staff meet as a team to discuss and evaluate the work of the nursery; they display commitment to the school and to the children’s welfare. Much emphasis is placed on the professional development of all of the staff who regularly attend in-service courses and are extending their qualifications. There is a sound basis for the development of self-evaluation leading to further improvement.

2.18The quality of the accommodation is very good. The staff make effective use of all available space within the nursery. The outdoor area and enclosed veranda have been imaginatively designed and provide very good resources for energetic play and promoting an awareness of the environment. The nursery has a good range of resources that are regularly up-dated to support the implementation of a broad programme of play.

2.19The strengths of the nursery include:

the stimulating and well-presented learning environment;

the excellent relationships between the staff and the children;

the children’s concentrated and productive play;

the good opportunities for learning in most areas of the pre-school curriculum, and particularly in language, physical, early scientific and personal, social and emotional development;

the high quality of the staff’s involvement in the children’s play;

the support provided for the children with special educational needs;

the good opportunities for sustained play in the indoor and outdoor areas;

the effective leadership and management of the Principal and the support provided by the hard-working and dedicated staff.

2.20There are major strengths in nearly all aspects of the educational and pastoral provision in this nursery. The needs of the children are being met effectively.

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 CROWN COPYRIGHT 2005

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Copies of this report may be obtained from the Inspection Services Branch, Department of Education, Rathgael House, 43 Balloo Road, Bangor, Co Down BT19 7PR. A copy is also available on the DE website: