Simmondley Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection dates 6–7 February 2012 Inspection number 378543 Simmondley Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 112706 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 378543 Inspection dates 6–7 February 2012 Lead inspector Mike Thompson

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 324 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Richard Jenkins Headteacher Deborah Greaves Date of previous school inspection 30 June 2009 School address Pennine Road Simmondley Glossop SK13 6NN Telephone number 01457 852721 Fax number 01457 850974 Email address enquiries@simmondley.derbyshire.sch.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Christine Heppleston Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors sampled nine hours of teaching in 18 lessons taught by 11 teachers. In addition, they observed the support provided for pupils by teaching assistants. They looked at the work in pupils’ books, heard a sample of pupils read in Years 1 and 2, and held discussions with pupils about many aspects of school life. Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, members of the teaching staff and representatives of the governing body. Inspectors took account of the responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at documents including the school’s improvement planning and data showing the progress made by pupils. Their scrutiny of safeguarding procedures included a detailed evaluation of pupils’ behaviour. Inspectors analysed questionnaires completed by 135 parents and carers, 99 pupils and 12 members of staff.

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Information about the school

This large primary school serves the village of Simmondley on the outskirts of Glossop. Almost all of the pupils are White British. There are very few from minority ethnic backgrounds and most of these speak English at home. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is well below the national average. There are very few pupils known to be eligible for free school meals. The school meets the current government floor standards, which determines the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

During the past year, there has been uncertainty caused by staff absence and changes in senior leadership. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is a satisfactory school. Standards are broadly in line with the national average and pupils achieve satisfactorily. The few pupils with disabilities and those with special educational needs make good progress.  Teaching is satisfactory. Teachers relate well to their pupils and are good at developing their confidence as learners. Teaching leads to satisfactory, rather than good, learning when teachers do not focus clearly enough on the skills to be developed and do not vary the levels of challenge to reflect pupils’ different levels of attainment. The quality of teachers’ marking of pupils’ work is inconsistent. It becomes ineffective when teachers do not check that pupils have acted on their comments.  Parents and carers agree with inspectors that there are good systems for keeping pupils safe. Behaviour is satisfactory but the management of pupils’ behaviour is inconsistent; consequently, there are occasional instances of low-

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Key findings

level disruption.  All adults in the Early Years Foundation Stage (Reception) classes ensure that children have an enjoyable introduction to their full-time education. The children’s records of achievement contain descriptions of activities experienced rather than clear evaluations of their learning and detail of the next steps that need to be taken. Their current format provides too little information for parents and carers about their children’s progress.  The new headteacher has a clear vision for the school’s development and has begun to make changes. The restructuring of leadership is underway, and there have been recent changes in subject leadership responsibilities. Staff with leadership roles lack the full range of skills required for highly effective monitoring and evaluation. The governing body provides satisfactory challenge in overseeing the work of the school, but is too reliant on the headteacher for

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Key findings

Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Build on existing good practice to improve the quality of teaching and learning so that, by January 2013, it is consistently good or better, through ensuring that teachers:  make clear reference to the skills to be developed in lessons  use success criteria to set specific, measurable learning targets carefully matched to the abilities of all pupils  clearly identify improvements needed when marking pupils’ work, and check that pupils respond to the comments made.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 By September 2012, develop good quality records of individual children’s achievements in the Early Years Foundation Stage classes, ensuring that they:  provide clear evaluations of children’s progress  detail the next steps in learning to be tackled.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 With immediate effect, put into place a clear plan of action to improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that leaders at all levels develop the full range of skills necessary to shape and improve the quality of pupils’ learning.

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Achievement of pupils

Most of the parents and carers who returned the inspection questionnaire consider that their children make good progress overall. Inspection evidence shows that progress is most often satisfactory, rather than good. This is because teaching is too often satisfactory. Attainment on entry is slightly above what is expected of four- year-olds. Children make satisfactory progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and by the time they move into Key Stage 1, most achieve the goals expected at this age. Progress continues to be satisfactory in Key Stages 1 and 2. At the end of Key Stage 2, the proportions of pupils at or above the nationally expected level are typically above average, but not significantly so. This represents satisfactory progress overall.

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Achievement of pupils

Accelerated progress invariably occurs where teachers make good use of their on- going assessments of pupils’ learning when planning their lessons. In these instances, tasks are varied according to pupils’ prior attainment in order to provide achievable challenges at different levels. For example, a Year 6 mathematics lesson generated high levels of interest and enjoyment while contributing strongly to the good development of pupils’ skills in working with three places of decimals. Tasks were pitched at three levels of difficulty, with the higher- and average-attaining pupils working in pairs and competing against each other. The challenge for lower- attaining pupils was to put into correct order the results of Olympic gymnastics Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

events. This captured their interest and generated high levels of concentration. In contrast, teaching in many lessons provides pupils with mundane activities, generally pitched at average levels of attainment. For instance, tasks in which all pupils are provided with the same photocopied worksheets to complete result, at best, in satisfactory learning. In these instances, the limited levels of challenge for the higher-attaining pupils have to be supplemented, while the lower-attaining pupils need a lot of help in order to keep up with their classmates. Despite this, pupils with special educational needs make good progress because their individual needs are carefully evaluated and the support provided is closely tailored to these needs.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ skills in reading are developed satisfactorily. Attainment in reading is typically above average at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2. Last year, standards at the end of Key Stage 1 fell, and were broadly in line with the national average. This occurred not only in reading but also in writing and mathematics as a result of unsettled staffing. This situation has now been resolved. In Year 2, the most-able readers make good use of their knowledge of phonics (the sounds that letters make) to help decipher unfamiliar words, and read with fluency and good expression. Less-able readers, although capable of breaking down unfamiliar words into separate sounds, lack skills in blending the different sounds within words and have insecure understanding of the text.

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Quality of teaching

The positive views of most parents and carers and almost all of the pupils who returned the inspection questionnaires are not fully borne out by inspection evidence, which shows that teaching is more often satisfactory than good.

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Quality of teaching

There is some good teaching, and inspectors observed good features of teaching in all lessons. Teachers usually explain tasks clearly, but their expectations of what pupils can achieve are not always high enough. In order to help raise teachers’ expectations, data from a new progress tracking system introduced by the headteacher has recently been used. This provides teachers with a clear picture of the extent to which pupils are on track to achieve the targets they need to reach. In some instances, when all pupils have the same task, teachers miss opportunities to ensure good levels of individual challenge. This occurs because they do not vary the criteria for completing tasks according to pupils’ different levels of attainment. The impact of teachers’ marking on improving pupils’ work is limited. There is evidence of good practice, for example the use of self-assessment grids for pupils to follow, but

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Quality of teaching

The best teaching has a positive impact on important aspects of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This occurs, for example, by prompting pupils to use their imagination and creativity in learning, and by developing their skills in cooperating well with others. For instance, a lesson with a focus on communication, language and literacy, in one of the Reception classes provided a range of activities that produced great enjoyment in learning and resulted in sustained concentration. A small group of boys were entertained by the ‘silly Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Quality of teaching

sentences’ that they produced using interlocking jigsaw pieces. Outcomes such as: ‘The witch went on skates to a party and ate ice cream’ motivated them to read their sentences out loud. In doing so, they demonstrated good levels of skill in segmenting (breaking up) unfamiliar words into their separate sounds.

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Quality of teaching

The planned curriculum has a satisfactory impact on pupils’ achievement. The teaching of phonics is well established in the Reception classes, but has only recently been introduced for older pupils. Reading skills are taught satisfactorily, but pupils do not read regularly enough to adults in school.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

While most parents and carers who completed the inspection questionnaire think that the standard of pupils’ behaviour is generally good, fewer think that behaviour in lessons is good. The inspection survey of pupils’ views shows a similar response, and about a quarter of pupils who completed questionnaires felt that behaviour is only sometimes good in lessons. Inspection evidence shows that there is a close correlation between the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ behaviour. Teachers are inconsistent in their expectations of pupils’ behaviour and in their application of agreed rewards and sanctions. However, instances of unacceptable behaviour are quickly and sensitively dealt with. There have been no exclusions. Most pupils say that they feel very safe in school because adults look after them well. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe, and safe practices, such as the careful use of equipment, were observed in all lessons.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

There is a clear moral code within the school, and pupils know right from wrong. One of the initiatives introduced by the new headteacher is the promotion of important qualities through weekly themes developed in assemblies. At the time of the inspection, the theme for the week was ‘determination’. This provided the focus for pupils’ personal development and their reflection on the extent to which they demonstrate this quality. Pupils’ social development is good. They work and play together amicably, respect the feelings and ideas of others and have a well- developed sense of fair play. Attendance rates are consistently above the national average and demonstrate parents’ and carers’ confidence in the school and pupils’ enjoyment of their education.

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Leadership and management

This is a school in which all pupils are warmly welcomed and equally valued, and in which discrimination has no place. The curriculum helps to promote these values. It meets requirements, provides regular opportunities for pupils to develop skills across the expected range of subjects, and satisfactorily promotes spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The impact of initiatives introduced by the new headteacher to improve pupils’ achievement is yet to be seen in terms of measurable gains in pupils’ learning. However, the school demonstrates a satisfactory capacity to improve further as a result of the headteacher’s quick and accurate assessment of strengths and weaknesses, and the clear plan of action and staff professional development to move the school forward. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

The school enjoys the confidence of almost all parents and carers. However, a common theme among the comments appended to inspection questionnaires was that they would welcome more regular and better quality dialogue with the school about their children’s progress. The current use of records of achievement in the Early Years Foundation Stage, rather than more informative ‘learning journeys’ found in most schools, limits the involvement of parents and carers in their children’s learning.

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Leadership and management

The governing body is well organised and its effectiveness is satisfactory. Its members take a keen interest in the work of the school and are well informed. Greater skills in analysing data are required before the governing body can consider itself truly independent in holding the school to account for its actions. Procedures for ensuring the safeguarding of pupils are robust, and the governing body is vigilant in ensuring that policies to ensure the safeguarding of pupils are carefully enforced.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

Inspection of Simmondley Primary School , Glossop , SK13 6NN

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

I would like to thank all of you for being so welcoming and helpful to the inspectors when we visited your school. Your school gives you a satisfactory education. This means that there are a lot of things that the school is doing right and some things that need to be improved. I know that all the adults who help to run your school want it to be a good school. For this to happen, you need to make better progress in your work.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

These are the best things about your school.  It is a happy place, and you enjoy coming to school.  You get on well with your teachers and one another.  You told us that you feel safe in school.  Your attendance is good. Well done.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

Your headteacher agrees that some important things need improving to help you to make better progress, so in future this is what will happen.  Your teachers will be giving you work that always makes you think hard. They will mark your work more clearly so that you know exactly what you have to do to improve and will be checking that you have made the improvements that they expect.  The records for those of you in the Reception classes will have more information added to them. This will give your parents and carers a better idea of how to help you learn at home.  You have a new headteacher and she has plans to change the way in which the school is run. To help this happen, the teachers and the governors, who help run your school, will need to do some more training.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

I would like you all to play your part in helping the school to become even better. The best way for you to do this is to always try your hardest and let your teachers know if the work they give you is too easy or too difficult, and to make sure that you always do your corrections.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

I wish you every success in the future. Yours sincerely

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

Mike Thompson Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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