Governor's Report to Parents 2016-17

Ethelred Nursery School & Children’s Centre Governors’ Report to Parents 2016-2017 20 Oakden Street, London SE11 4UG Telephone 020 7582 9711 admin@ethelred-nursery.lambeth.sch.uk www.ethelrednursery.org.uk

Welcome from the Chair of Governors Adam Matthews Each year we say goodbye to another group of children that we have seen develop over their time at Ethelred. It is a special moment as they head off to ‘big school’ and whilst we are always happy for them we are sad to see them leave.

When the children leave they do so having benefitted from an Ethelred teacher-led nursery provision. In their time with us they will have seen eggs hatch into chicks, sung in the Christmas show, made caterpillar and ladybird homes, visited Roots and Shoots and Brixton market to see the fish. They will have visited China Town, cooked food, danced to drums, joined in Wheelie Day, made a scarecrow and many more things with Martha, sung and played instruments with Veronique. They will have seen characters in stories come to life, made castles and dens, dressed up and participated in woodwork. They will have celebrated festivals, played in groups and learnt about nature during the different seasons of the year. They will have been supported to learn how to make friends and to try new things.

We know each child will have built a close relationship with their key worker and the staff and this is the foundation for a happy time at Ethelred. A time that prepares them well for their next step in education.

Each child is part of the Ethelred family and our mission is to ensure that every child and every family matters and we want every child to be given the best start in life.

Ethelred is lucky to have wonderful staff throughout the school and the Children’s Centre. Their commitment is to the highest standards and the Governing Board constantly review the progress of children, the environment they are in and the way the curriculum is applied to their daily activities. At the Children’s Centre we review how we best support young families and can be there when needed.

With the changes in educational funding it is a difficult time for schools. It is a particularly challenging time for teacher led local authority nursery schools as funding is increasingly reduced. Lambeth Council have held on to their nurseries longer than many local authorities and I am convinced this has been a key contributor to the success of many Lambeth primary schools.

I have also always felt that if more people understood the benefit for a teacher-led provision there would be queues of parents/carers down the road trying to get their children into such places.

We track the progress of each child and quite simply what they achieve with us in relatively short periods of time is incredible. This is at every ability level. The Governors are very proud of the achievements of the staff which we know cannot happen without the brilliance of each child and the support they receive at home. We are though carefully considering the changes to early years education which will be a period of change. Our intention as Governors is to ensure that we can manage that change in the best way we can for the next set of children we prepare for primary school. Our mission is as relevant today as it has always been.

Adam C.T. Matthews Chair of Governors

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Who are the Ethelred Governors?

Name

Role

Term of Office

Adam Matthews

Chair of Governors

Appointed as Parent Governor 01.04.2014 and appointed as Chair 18.11.2015

Glenda King

Headteacher

Cathy Byrne

Deputy Headteacher Co-Opted Governor

Reappointed 20.11.2013 and reappointed 18.11.2015

Anna Day

Staff Governor

Appointed 08.03.2012 and reappointed 18.11.2015

Shirley Dowuonah-Hammond Parent Governor

Appointed 30.11.2016

Leila Bakkali

Parent Governor

Appointed 30.11.2016

Hannah Lazell

Local Authority Governor

Appointed 18.11.2015

Kelly Lin

Local Authority Governor

Appointed 18.11.2015

Tien Tien Tan

Co-Opted Governor

Appointed 30.11.2016

Charmaine Strelitz

Clerk to the Governors

Appointed 18.11.2015

Adam Matthews - Chair of Governors

Shirley Dowuonah-Hammond Parent Governor

Tien Tien Tan— Co-Opted Governor

Glenda King - Headteacher

Cathy Byrne - Co-Opted Governor

Leila Bakkali - Parent Governor

Anna Day - Staff Governor

Kelly Lin - LA Governor

Hannah Lazell - LA Governor -3-

Headteacher’s Report Glenda King I can hardly believe we have nearly reached the end of another school year. We are now fully settled into our temporary premises in Oakden Street and will be here for another year. Our new building has gone up and the provisional date for completion is June 2018. During the next year we will be working with Lambeth and the developers to complete the fit out so that we are ready for our children and families in the autumn term, 2018. We are really excited about this and will keep you informed of progress during the year. Preparations are in hand and will be stepped up as the move draws closer.

It has been a very busy year which started with a new intake of younger children in September.

We welcomed a number of older two year old children who are now settled, happy and thriving.

It is very satisfying when this happens because it reinforces the fact that we make a difference to the lives of the children in our care. Children are very happy at Ethelred. We know this because parents tell us so and we also observe this for ourselves.

In the autumn term, we celebrated a number of festivals and it was very encouraging to see so many of you supporting us by attending and taking part. A highlight in the spring term was the children witnessing the hatching of chicks from eggs, in the nursery classroom. The children’s enthusiasm was evident and they were able to talk about and record their observations. We feel it is very important for children to witness such first hand and natural experiences. Another powerful learning vehicle was the Forest School sessions delivered by a practitioner in the spring term. Evidence showed that many children made notable progress in many areas of learning, especially in communication and personal and social development. Our gardening project has also been a success. The children have grown flowers and harvested and eaten salad and vegetable crops.

Our Children’s Centre continues to deliver a variety of services for families in our local area and we invite you to use the services and spread the word.

Schools in general have been facing funding challenges and Ethelred has been no exception.

Funding reforms and changes in government policy have resulted in reduced budgets for both the Nursery School and Children’s Centre. It is very important for us to fill all of our places so that we can get maximum funding. Please spread the word about Ethelred and recommend us to your friends and families.

We hosted a number of student projects throughout the year which were of particular benefit to the children and to the students themselves. Children from Archbishop Sumner C of E Primary School have been visiting on a weekly basis to read with the nursery children; older Spanish students from St. Gabriels College have also been visiting regularly to engage with our children and to share stories, games and talk in Spanish. This was particularly beneficial for our Spanish speaking nursery children. Eight Nursing students from King’s College Hospital did work experience placements with us during the summer term and their presence was much appreciated. They were engaged in many nursery activities and really contributed to the daily delivery. This gave them very valuable experience of working with children and learning about their development and needs.

We will be saying goodbye to our leavers at the end of term and although we are happy that they are ready to move on to the next stage in their schooling, we will miss their vibrant and unique personalities. We wish them every success for the future. It has been our privilege to be part of their lives.

Our mission is to offer excellent Early Years Education and care and to deliver high quality services that meet the needs of our community. Thank you for the part that you play in making this possible. The staff and I wish you all a happy, safe summer break and look forward to seeing all those who are returning in September 2017.

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Children’s Centre Bolu Heather We moved to White Hart Street in March 2016, so we are now into our second year at these premises. We have overcome many of the difficulties accompanying transferring a service.

Lambeth Children’s Centre Programme The refashioning of Children Centre services continues: Better Start Workers (formerly outreach workers) have now completed training to equip them for Family Support work; the merger of centres means that some services are locality based rather than being in each centre. Although further reduction to the Children centre budget is expected, Lambeth has retained 21 centres and is committed to maintaining services through Children’s Centres. The focus of Lambeth Children’s Centres is: supporting parents with other languages to learn English; to identify victims of Domestic Violence and reduce the negative impacts on the mental health of their children; to support Families to Eat Well; for individual centres to identify specific groups of children who need additional support to be School Ready.

New work We have successfully joint-delivered, Five to Thrive (www.fivetothrive.org.uk) with Home-Start Lambeth. This is a programme which supports parents with babies under six months to engage in five daily activities to support healthy brain development. We are pleased that we have the opportunity to deliver a second group in September.

We hosted the work of The Big Give Sleep Charity (www.thechildrenssleepcharity.org.uk/) who were funded to delivery surgeries nationwide to help parents tackle sleep problems. Parents attended from the Nursery and from the Children’s Centre as well as other parts of Lambeth and the South East. We plan to continue this partnership next year Current work Our three regular stay and Play sessions each week demonstrate our popularity with families, as they are normally over subscribed. Families sometimes wait outside for earlier attenders to leave so they can enter for the last 30 minutes.

Encouraging language development is essential to stay and play in the early years, so each session will enjoy a 15 minute song time. It’s very encouraging to see those children who attend for two sessions each week gradually trying to join in and copy the song routines.

Staff Training Maintaining a well-informed work force is essential and staff training is necessary to support this.

The reduced budget means that we take advantage of free training offered through partnership work. Staff have received the following training: Supporting Parents to manage Children’s Sleep; Five to Thrive; Talking about Mental Health; Breast Feeding Support.

The future We are looking forward to supporting families for another 12 month at White Hart Street, while at the same time eagerly anticipating the preparations for moving into the new build for September 2018.

This will be an exciting venture.

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Safeguarding Adam Matthews Safeguarding is an issue that is always at the forefront of Governor and staff minds. Each year we ensure our policies are up to date and have been reviewed against changes in national regulations.

We check that new practices are being implemented and that staff have the right levels of training and support to implement our policies. Additionally, we are supported in this by the Local Authority School Improvement Advisor that provides a report to the Governors each term on her visits to Ethelred.

Ultimately, we strive to ensure that Ethelred is as safe and happy a place as possible for children to flourish. We do so by making sure that we have clear procedures that are available to parents online and in the office. We also make sure that our communications are always clear and that the Head Teacher or other relevant staff are available and accessible. If ever you have a question or a query regarding safeguarding please do not hesitate to approach a member of the staff team. We are here to support the children and their development.

Adam Matthews Chair of Governors

Parent Governor Shirley Dowuonah-Hammond The children’s centre situated on White Hart Street is a welcoming, comfortable and safe environment where parents and children can bond in the ‘stay and play’ sessions. The children also get to develop their social skills by interacting with other children, with trained staff available on hand.

As a parent you observe your child’s development every day and the children’s centre facilitates this with use of the spatial layout, apparatus, and a variety of toys and activities available. From 0 months – 1 year (until the baby is walking) the colourful soft play area allows the children to discover instrumental toys, materials of different textures and colours. There is a dedicated session for this age group, and parents are able to converse with each other and share experiences. Whether your baby is laying back, rolling, sitting up or crawling this area would be suitable.

The other areas of the children’s centre cater to 1 year and over offering the children ways to be inquisitive, creative and explore. From pretend play to painting, drawing or sticking and even planting. These creative sessions are run by the staff and are sometimes related to a particular storybook. The outdoor area gives the children the opportunity to run around, climb on the climbing apparatus and ride on bikes and trikes.

As well as the ‘Stay and Play’ sessions Ethelred children’s centre has run a number of courses throughout the year. These are beneficial for parents and the outcomes benefit the whole family unit. The crèche facilities are tailored to the specific child’s needs, and staff work closely with parents to settle the child in the crèche. Staff have also organised family trips to the local cinema.

The Ethelred children’s centre provides a unique service in my view and experience of using the centre, and the most valuable contributing factor to that is the skilled members of staff that work there. The team are always willing to help with, advise or will guide you to the required professional advice if needed. The staff familiarise themselves with the children in sessions which then benefits the children when using the crèche facilities.

The Ethelred children’s centre is an asset to the Nursery school and fundamental to the local community.

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Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Cathy Byrne Ethelred continues to support a high number of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in both the Nursery and Children’s Centre. We work closely with local health professionals to identify and support families of children with SEND at the earliest opportunity as we know from experience which is borne out by research that early intervention works. The earlier we connect with families, the more progress their children will make. Although the job of supporting children with SEND is labour intensive it can also be the most rewarding work. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive setting which meets the needs of the whole community irrespective of the challenges.

Over the course of the year, staff in the nursery and Children’s Centre have worked together to ensure that children with SEND who access services in either part of our provision are supported by consistent adults in the nursery, Stay and Play sessions and creches. I work closely with our SEND Outreach worker, Anna Day, to provide integrated support for children and their families. Together we aim to ensure that families who are referred to external services attend appointments and access their entitlements to additional support. We also spend time with parents discussing options for the types of support available to best meet their child’s ongoing needs.

In the nursery there are currently 12 children on the SEND register. These children receive additional support, either one to one or in small groups, from experienced practitioners who have been trained in a variety of approaches to supporting young children’s language and learning needs. This year we have supported an exceptionally high number of children with autism. Many of them will be moving on to mainstream or special primary schools in September and we are currently in the process of making visits to their new schools to ensure that they are well prepared for this new chapter in their education. It has been a real privilege to see them all blossom during their time at Ethelred and we wish them every success in their new schools.

The nursery is currently involved in a research project run by Kings College University Hospital. Although we are unable to divulge details of the project due to confidentiality protocols, we are very proud to be able to play our part in furthering understanding of autism.

Our three year family Music Therapy project came to an end this Spring. Over the duration of the project we were able to support over 25 families to develop their confidence and communication skills through music. The project was part funded by the Walcot Foundation, a local charity which provides funds for projects designed to raise participation and attainment in education for low income families. I am happy to say that a subsequent bid which we tendered to the Walcot Foundation in the new year has been accepted and starting this Autumn we will be providing another three years of Music Therapy to many more families.

Cathy Byrne

Deputy Head/ SEND Coordinator

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School Finance 2016-2017 Kelly Lin We as governors work with the headteacher to ensure that the school spends the funds we receive from Lambeth wisely. We have been able to submit a balanced budget this year, with the vast majority of our expenditure being on staffing; teaching, support staff and staff at our Children’s Centre. This is despite the extra difficulties that have come about as a result of our move to this temporary site.

Funding for nurseries and Children’s Centres is changing and budgets are getting ever tighter. We will be working with the headteacher and Lambeth to ensure we can continue to deliver excellent services to our local community within budget.

TOTAL INCOME

795,628.00

EXPENDITURE Teaching

209,982

Support Staff

166,535

Admin

63,508

Other Staff

33,346

Premises

17,827

Learning Resources

15,803

Children’s Centre Staff

181,316

Children’s Centre non-staff

23,950

Other Supplies Services

63,075

TOTAL

775,342.00

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School Finance 2016-2017 Kelly Lin School Fund A big thank you to all who have contributed to the school fund.

It is a voluntary contribution of £1 per week and is used to pay for exciting activities, trips and treats for all our nursery children.

Below is a list of how school fund has been spent since September 2016 Expenditure: Classroom Fruit and Cooking Ingredients Ice Pops for Wheelie Day Storytelling and Music Sessions for Black History Celebration

£161 £ 5 £400

Children’s Christmas Presents Chinatown Outings Forest School Refreshments Pancake Day Easter Celebrations Summer Leavers Outing Clowns for Summer Celebration

£332 £ 17 £ 9 £ 9 £ 50 £398 £300

Total Income: Commission from photographers School Fund Donations Received Total

£1681 £111 £582 £693

As you can see we spent a huge amount more than we received, as we were able to use a carry forward from previous years. We really value your support in enabling us to continue to provide these extra activities.

Nursery School and Children’s Centre Development Each year the School and Centre focuses on a set of priorities which help us to further improve our services so that children and families can benefit more fully from what we offer.

The current plans include: 

Narrowing the attainment gap between groups



Raising the standards and progress in literacy, especially for the more able



Developing effective plans to support our two year old children

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Maintaining the highest standards of safeguarding across both settings

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Maintaining high quality services in the Children’s Centre



Managing our budget resources effectively



Improving communication and operational links with the Children’s centre



To continue to increase our roll and raise our profile in the local community

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School Terms & Holiday Dates 2017-2018 Term One Inset Day

Monday 4thSeptember 2017

Inset Day

Tuesday 5th September 2017

Preparation Day

Wednesday 6th September 2017

Preparation Day

Thursday 7th September 2017

Children return to school

Friday 8th September 2017

Term Ends

Friday 20th October 2017 Holiday Monday 23rd October 2017 - Friday 27th October 2017

Term Two Children return to school

Monday 30th October 2017

Term Ends

Wednesday 20th December 2017 Holiday Thursday 21st December 2017 – Wednesday 3rd January 2018

Term Three Inset Day

Thursday 4th January 2018

Inset Day

Friday 5th January 2018

Children return to School

Monday 8th January 2018

Term Ends

Friday 9th February 2018 Holiday Monday 12th February 2018 - Friday 16th February 2018

Term Four Children return to school

Monday 19th February 2018

Term Ends

Thursday 29th March 2018 Holiday Friday 30th March 2018 – Friday 13th April 2018

Term Five Inset Day

Monday 16th April 2018

Children return to School

Tuesday 17th April 2018

Term Ends

Bank Holiday (May Day) School Closed Monday 7th May 2018 Friday 25th May 2018 Holiday Monday 28th May 2018 – Friday 1st June 2018

Term Six Children return to school

Monday 4th June 2018

Term Ends

Tuesday 24th July 2018

Inset Day 1 Monday 4th September 2017 Inset Day 2 Tuesday 5th September 2017 Inset Day 3 Thursday 4th January 2018 Inset day 4 Friday 5th January 2018 Inset Day 5 Monday 16th April 2018 These dates are currently correct but may be subject to change, in which case we will give you ample prior notice.

Staff List for 2016-2017 Glenda King

Headteacher

Catherine Byrne

Deputy Headteacher - EYFS Co-ordinator/SENCO

Sue Peyton

Class Teacher

Sophie Tullis

Class Teacher - Science Co-ordinator (on Sabbatical) Resigned April 2017

Elaine Seaton

Early Years Educator

Romina Gor

Early Years Educator

Emma Senior

Early Years Educator - (Maternity Leave) Resigned April 2017

Nanda Tiwari

Early Years Educator

Vicky McLelland

Teaching Assistant

Tara Mills

Teaching Assistant

Clementina Iyawe

Teaching Assistant

Natasha Pienkowska

Teaching Assistant

Nadia Vona

Teaching Assistant

Shaneen Lewis

Meal Supervisor

Carol Bennett

Meal Supervisor

Sarah Ros

SAO - Acting

Joanne Stevenson

Admin Assistant-Agency

Bolu Heather

Children’s Centre Manager

Charmaine Cummings

Senior Better Start worker

Halima Begum

Early Years Educator - Children’s Centre

Anna Day

Better Start worker

Sylvia McCalla

Early Years Educator Level 3—Agency

Zehra Bender

Admin Assistant—Children’s Centre

Shirley Williams

Admin Assistant—Children’s Centre

Tony Danford

Project Manager

Luigi Greco

Premises Officer

Martha Macdonald

Community Artist

Veronique Brugeron

Singing Tutor

Adenike Adetola

Kitchen Assistant (Caterlink Catering)

Pamela Lindsay

Cleaning Services (Engie)

Patricia Wilson

Cleaning Services (Engie)

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