Nazeing Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 15–16 March 2012 Inspection number 378971 Nazeing Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 114972 Local authority Essex Inspection number 378971 Inspection dates 15–16 March 2012 Lead inspector Edward Wheatley

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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 274 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Melanie Seymour Headteacher Cheryl MacLeod Date of previous school inspection 10 June 2009 School address Hyde Mead Nazeing Waltham Abbey EN9 2HS Telephone number 01992 893344 Fax number 01992 893945 Email address admin@nazeing.essex.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 forma t, 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

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors observed 22 lessons or parts of lessons taught by 10 teachers. Meetings were held with staff, members of the governing body, parents and carers and pupils. Inspectors carried out joint observations of lessons with the headteacher. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at achievement information, development planning and self-evaluation records. They took into account 87 questionnaires returned by parents and carers.

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Information about the school

Nazeing Primary is a larger than average-sized school. The great majority of pupils are of White British heritage and a very small number are at the early stages of learning English. A very small minority of pupils come from traveller family backgrounds. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is above average. The school meets the current government floor standards.

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Key findings

 This is a satisfactory school. The school looks after its pupils well and makes sure they are safe. Children in Reception make satisfactory progress. The school is not good because teaching does not always meet the learning needs of pupils. Pupils’ spelling and punctuation are sometimes inaccurate and their writing does not always show the same level of complex sentence structures as their speech.

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Key findings

 Pupils’ achievement is satisfactory. By Years 2 and 6 attainment is broadly average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ progress is satisfactory, and some pupils make good progress.

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Key findings

 Teaching is improving and some is good. Work is usually challenging but the pace of lessons is sometimes slow and pupils do not settle to working independently quickly enough. In Reception, planning for learning does not always take enough account of assessment information about the children.

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Key findings

 Most pupils behave well, but sometimes attitudes to learning are too casual because work is not challenging enough, or because pupils do not become engaged in their own learning. Pupils say they feel safe and the majority feel that bullying is dealt with well. A few pupils still worry about it, and the school works hard with them to overcome these feelings. Children in Reception do not always follow instructions from adults quickly enough.

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Key findings

 Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They take successful action to deal with weaknesses, especially in literacy and teaching. Leaders manage school performance satisfactorily. Teachers have set targets linked to the school’s priorities for improvement, and leaders provide satisfactory professional development to support them.

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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.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise levels of attainment by improving teaching so that:  work is always matched to pupils’ learning needs  pupils quickly become involved in learning activities that sustain their concentration and interest  pupils are expected to produce written work that includes the same quality of complex sentences that they use in their speech  teachers set high expectations of accurate spelling and punctuation.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by ensuring all leaders:  monitor and evaluate teaching frequently  identify and share existing good practice.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve progress made by children in the Early Years Foundation Stage by making sure that:  assessment of children’s progress is closely linked to planning the next steps in their learning  children listen to instructions carefully and carry them out promptly.

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Achievement of pupils

Since the school was last inspected, attainment dipped because of changes to staffing and fluctuations in cohorts. The drive for improvement has now gained momentum and attainment has started to rise again. Currently, it is broadly average. Recent gaps in attainment between different groups of pupils have narrowed, and some pupils are working at above-average levels. The difference in the attainment of boys and girls is small, and has reduced. By the end of Year 2, and when pupils leave the school in Year 6, reading is broadly average and pupils use their knowledge of the sounds that letters make (phonics) appropriately to read new words. They use phonic approaches to help them spell accurately increasingly well. Despite this, some pupils spell carelessly. Writing is broadly average by the end of both key stages. Pupils write in a wide range of styles, and express their ideas and knowledge competently, although their punctuation is occasionally inaccurate. Pupils’

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Achievement of pupils

mathematical skills are broadly average. As a result of the school’s efforts, pupils use of number and basic mathematical processes is improving.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils make satisfactory progress from when they join the school with skills and understanding that are generally in line with expectations. For the most part they enjoy learning, and especially when work is challenging and they work independently or in small groups, so that on these occasions their progress is good. For example, in an English lesson about persuasive letter writing, pupils of all abilities were fully engaged in discussing the reasons for not building a holiday resort in Madagascar. They created complex sentences, using a wide vocabulary and grammatical structures. However, this does not happen consistently in all classes. Sometimes pupils’ writing does not exhibit the same use of adjectives, adverbs and connectives that they use in their speech or class work to construct complex sentences. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs experience the same activities as other pupils, but adjusted to suit their particular needs and they make satisfactory

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Achievement of pupils

progress. The small number of pupils at the early stages of learning English make satisfactory progress, helped by working closely with other pupils. Past gaps in progress between different groups of pupils are steadily narrowing. Pupils from traveller families make satisfactory progress.

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Achievement of pupils

Learning is satisfactory in the Reception classes, and pupils leave with skills that are broadly average. Children play and work well together. When they write, they form letters correctly, using pens or pencils properly. They have a satisfactory vocabulary and are happy to talk about what they are learning.

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Achievement of pupils

The majority of parents and carers are pleased with how well their children learn. A small number feel that their children do not learn enough. In the course of their observations inspectors found that learning and progress made by most pupils were broadly satisfactory, but that occasionally some pupils learned and made progress more slowly than others. This was because teaching does not always challenge pupils enough.

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Quality of teaching

The majority of parents and carers feel that their children are taught well and that their learning needs are well met. Inspectors found that teaching is generally satisfactory and sometimes good. In the best lessons work is challenging, the pace of learning is fast, and pupils are fully engaged because teachers question them and expect them to explain their knowledge and understanding. For example, as part of a day on religious stories, pupils retold stories they had heard. The teacher used their ideas successfully in discussion and suggested improvements they could make. This motivated pupils to work well on their own stories and all pupils produced extended pieces of writing. In addition, the topic material encouraged a mature discussion about the environment and contributed to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Quality of teaching

Not all lessons are so challenging. Sometimes work is not demanding enough because expectations of what pupils can achieve are not fully explained. On other occasions, lessons are slow to get to the point where pupils can engage in their own learning and work independently or in small groups. Usually, marking tells pupils how well they make progress, how they can improve their work and what the next steps in learning are. Pupils usually follow teachers’ guidance on how to improve their work.

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Quality of teaching

Literacy, numeracy and technology activities are planned well into most subjects, supporting pupils’ development of basic skills. The curriculum includes a good personal, social and health education programme that contributes to pupils’ moral and social development well.

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Quality of teaching

In the Reception class, teaching is satisfactory. The curriculum is wide and there are many opportunities for pupils to engage in indoor and outdoor activities. Activities are well organised but the comprehensive assessment information adults have is not used uniformly well to make sure activities always meet children’s specific learning needs.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils enjoy school. They behave well and have positive attitudes to learning. The attention of a small number of pupils wanders when they do not find learning interesting or when work is not sufficiently challenging. Occasionally, children in the Reception classes do not follow adults’ instructions quickly enough. The great majority of pupils say that they feel safe. They recognise that there is some bullying, mostly name-calling or occasionally physical bullying, and most say that the school deals with all forms of bullying well. However, a small number of pupils continue to worry about this, and the school runs support groups to help them overcome their concerns. Pupils who have had this support say it works well. A very small number of parents and carers commented that bullying was not dealt with well. However, inspectors’ scrutiny of school records indicates that bullying incidents are dealt with

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

appropriately, and that when they are reported they are followed up swiftly. Pupils are confident that if they go to an adult in school their concerns will be taken seriously. The school takes good care of its pupils and has effective procedures to care for and support pupils and their families whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. Links with traveller families are good, and help promote the above average level of attendance of pupils at the school.

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Leadership and management

Leaders have accurately identified the main areas of weakness and have taken the right steps to initiate improvements in teaching and pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills. Pupils’ mathematical skills have improved, but their literacy skills have not improved to the same extent. This is because the school prioritised teaching basic numeracy skills and this has been successful. Senior leaders monitor and evaluate teaching and have introduced improvements that are leading to rising levels of attainment. However, subject leaders are not sufficiently involved in monitoring teaching in their own subjects in order for them to have a detailed knowledge of what needs to be done to help drive improvements. Nevertheless, the school has provided some professional development for staff and teaching is improving. Staff are fully supportive of the improvements being made.

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Leadership and management

The governing body is well informed. It has carried out its own investigation into the reasons for pupils’ relatively poor writing skills. As a result, it is working closely with the school to help promote improvements in writing, and the success of its efforts is starting to be seen. The school’s strategies to deal with all forms of discrimination are successful and are the result of good relationships between the school, pupils and their families. The school promotes equality of opportunity satisfactorily and successfully integrates pupils arriving at the school during the school year, especially pupils from traveller families, so that they settle quickly at the school and start to learn. In view of progress to date in raising attainment and improving teaching, the school has the capacity to improve further.

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Leadership and management

The great majority of parents and carers are supportive. One wrote, ‘The school has had a positive influence on my child who has grown into a confident, happy young person.’ The school has provided sessions on numeracy, literacy and internet safety, and has open days when parents and carers can see how their children are taught. The school has rigorous procedures to ensure all safeguarding requirements are met. Pupils know what to do if they see anything that concerns them. The curriculum provides a satisfactory range of activities to promote and engage pupils in learning. For example, a mathematics day, religious-stories visitor, the ‘animal man’, and ‘Book Week’, all made positive contributions to encouraging pupils’ learning. These, together with opportunities to speak and perform in assemblies and celebrate each other’s successes, contribute well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural

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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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Inspection of Nazeing Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 2HS

Thank you for welcoming us so warmly when we inspected your school and sharing your views with us. We agree with much of what you told us. We think your school is satisfactory. You make satisfactory progress, and this is improving.

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Inspection of Nazeing Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 2HS

The following things are particular strengths of your school.

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Inspection of Nazeing Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 2HS

 Some teaching is good. You enjoy learning when lessons are interesting and you can work independently. There are many visitors, trips and activities that help make learning fun and interesting.  The staff and governing body know what they need to do to make sure the school improves, and they are working hard to make that happen.  Most of you behave well. You know how to stay safe and many of you say that when bullying happens it is sorted out quickly. A few of you worry about bullying but the school works well with you to help you get over that feeling.  Your attendance is above average.  The school takes good care of you.

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Inspection of Nazeing Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 2HS

In order for your school to continue to improve, we have asked your teachers to make sure that:

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Inspection of Nazeing Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 2HS

 work is always difficult enough for you, and for children in Reception  you become involved in your own learning quickly so you do not lose interest  your writing includes those complex sentences you use in your speech  you spell accurately and punctuate your writing correctly  the school checks teaching regularly  children in Reception listen to and follow instructions they are given quickly.

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Inspection of Nazeing Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 2HS

You can help by making sure you always spell and punctuate your writing properly, try to write as well as you speak, and tell teachers if you find work too easy.

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Inspection of Nazeing Primary School, Waltham Abbey, EN9 2HS

Edward Wheatley 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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