Setting

PROTECT-INSPECTION

Miss C Jones Headteacher John Shelton Community Primary School Briscoe Road Holbrooks Coventry CV6 4JP

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Primary School

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I inspected your school on Wednesday 20 October 2010 and for the information which you provided during the inspection. Please pass on my thanks to the two governors and the school improvement partner for finding time to talk to me at such short notice.

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Primary School

Since the last inspection three staff have left the school and three have joined. This high staff turnover was also raised as a concern at the last inspection and the instability of staffing remains an issue for the school. As part of this monitoring visit the procedures for safeguarding pupils were checked and judged to meet requirements.

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Primary School

As a result of the inspection on 16-17 March 2010, the school was asked to address the most important areas for improvement which are set out in the annex to this letter.

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Primary School

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time the school is making satisfactory progress in addressing the issues for improvement and in raising the pupils’ achievement.

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Primary School

At the time of the last inspection, attainment at Key Stage 1 and at Key Stage 2 was below the national average and this remained the case in the 2010 Key Stage 1 national tests, although the gap with the national average is closing each year. The Key Stage 2 test results improved this year and were in line with the national average in English, mathematics and science. This demonstrates that pupils are making better progress than before and that the rate of progress is increasing. The school has focused on improving the quality and maturity of pupils’ writing. There is Serco Inspections Boundary House 2 Wythall Green Way Middle Lane BIRMINGHAM West Midlands B47 6LW T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk SERCO Direct T 0121 683 2888 SERCO Direct T 0121 683 2888

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

clear evidence in pupils’ books of noticeable improvement. There is greater consistency and much higher staff expectations for the presentation of pupils’ work. As a result, pupils are taking more pride in their work. The school exceeded its challenging progress targets set by the local authority. Seventy seven per cent of pupils made the expected two levels progress in English and mathematics from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 against a target of 61%. Ninety seven percent of pupils made 2 levels progress in mathematics and 94% the same measure in English against respective targets of 81%.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

There has been a relentless focus by the headteacher to act on the issues raised by the last inspection; increasing pupils’ progress, improving the quality of teaching and learning across the school and ensuring that there is more consistency. The headteacher has high expectations of teaching quality, monitors learning regularly and takes purposeful action to eradicate inadequate teaching. However, there is still work to do to further improve the consistency of teaching and learning throughout the school. Lesson observations conducted with the headteacher on this monitoring visit confirm that the overall quality of teaching has improved and there are now fewer inadequate lessons. While the majority of teaching is now satisfactory or good, some inadequate teaching still remains. No lessons were judged to be outstanding. The issues that remain are, as at the last inspection, the lack of sufficiently exciting

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

activities planned for lessons and insufficient clarity of the learning intentions. Teachers often plan a series of teacher-led activities for the pupils rather than exciting learning opportunities with the needs of individual pupils in mind, where every child can be appropriately challenged and questioned about their learning gains. There is now an agreed policy for the marking of pupils’ work. Marking in books has improved significantly. Work is marked regularly and monitored systematically by senior staff and governors. Most pupils know their targets and what they need to do to improve but are not aware of their current level of attainment.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

The positive leadership of English, mathematics and science ensures that pupils’ books in each class are regularly checked to ensure that the curriculum is being covered and that the marking policy is consistently implemented. The coordination of support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities has also improved. Pupils now receive more appropriate work for their needs that is neither too hard nor too easy. There is growing evidence that pupils’ progress is tracked with more rigour by all staff and that appropriate intervention support is provided if pupils are not making enough progress.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

The local authority has supported the school well to improve the quality of teaching and learning. The local authority’s statement of action fulfils the requirements. There are clear targets and milestones to help the headteacher, governors, parents and the school improvement partner measure the progress the school is making in addressing the key issues identified at the last inspection. There is a clear structure of subject, individual staff and whole-school training support to improve outcomes.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

The school improvement partner has been a regular visitor in school and has provided good support for the headteacher.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

I hope that you have found the inspection helpful in promoting improvement in your school. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took

 Ensure that all teaching is consistently satisfactory or better, especially in Key Stage 2, by: – checking that teachers use assessment information carefully to match activities accurately to the different abilities within each class – ensuring that activities, especially in literacy and numeracy, are exciting and capture pupils' interests so that they do not lose concentration and become inattentive – improving the way in which teachers question pupils, so that all are involved in discussions – checking that in all subjects, teachers have high expectations regarding the presentation of pupils' work.  Raise the progress and attainment of all pupils, especially in English, mathematics and science by: – developing the way writing skills are taught across the curriculum so that letter formation, the joining of letters, punctuation and spelling are given a high profile in all subjects – developing subject leadership and the coordination of provision for special

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took

educational needs so that pupils' achievement in all areas of the curriculum is evaluated – ensuring that the curriculum is planned to take account of all abilities so all pupils make satisfactory or better progress and, as a result, are better prepared for their next school.  Improve the way teachers mark pupils' work by: – providing all pupils with clear guidance about what they need to do to improve their work – linking the marking of work with pupils' targets in literacy and numeracy, so that they are well informed on how near they are to reaching them.

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