Oakwood Infant and Nursery School

Oakwood Infant and Nursery School Waldene Drive, Alvaston, Derby, DE24 0GZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils make good progress and achieve well in all subjects.  Since the last inspection, pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics has risen to be above the national average.  Particularly good progress is made in the Reception classes, where teaching is often outstanding.  Good leadership has ensured that teaching is good and improving.  Good, regular checks by teachers ensure that they have a clear understanding of how well pupils are doing.  Good support is provided for pupils who need additional help.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning, and behaviour is good.  Successful management action has led to an improvement in attendance, which is now average.  Pupils are happy at school. They feel safe and are well cared for. Support for pupils whose circumstances make them particularly vulnerable is very strong.  Governors are very supportive but also

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

challenge the school to keep on improving.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Children’s progress in the Nursery is sometimes slowed because the quality of teaching and planning does not match that in the Reception classes.  The marking of pupils’ work does not always provide clear guidance on their next steps in learning.  In a few lessons pupils spend too long listening to lengthy introductions, and the good skills of teaching assistants are not fully utilised.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 20 lessons, four of which were seen jointly with the headteacher. They also observed two school assemblies and made a number of other short visits to classrooms.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors held discussions with the headteacher and other staff, pupils, a local authority representative, the Chair of the Governing Body, and some parents and carers at the start of the school day.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors heard groups of pupils of different ages reading aloud.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors took account of 14 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).

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Information about this inspection

 They observed the work of the breakfast club and looked at the school’s policies, assessment information, teachers’ plans, school improvement planning and records on behaviour and safety, together with samples of pupils’ work.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors analysed 19 questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

Kenneth Thomas, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Sharona Semlali Additional Inspector Carolyn Wood Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Oakwood Infant and Nursery School is larger than the average infant school.

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Information about this school

 An above-average proportion of pupils, about one-third, are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals.

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Information about this school

 Most pupils are of White British heritage. About 16% are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Very few pupils speak English as an additional language.

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Information about this school

 The proportions of pupils supported through school action, and at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs, are about average.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that teaching and learning in the Nursery are consistently good or better by:  improving the planning and provision of learning opportunities to match the quality and range of those in the Reception classes  providing a more stimulating indoor and outdoor learning environment  providing a better balance of adult-led and child-initiated learning activities.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and learning across the school by ensuring that:  pupils are not required to spend too much time listening to lengthy introductions  the marking of pupils’ work provides clear guidance on the next steps in learning, and pupils respond to the advice given.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ achievement has improved since the last inspection. From starting points that are mostly below those expected for their age, particularly in their communication, language and literacy and social and emotional development, pupils make good progress. As a result attainment has risen to above average in recent years.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, progress is not consistently good in the Nursery classes, where opportunities to develop children’s speaking, listening and writing skills, both indoors and outdoors, are not always promoted strongly enough.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Rapid progress is made in the Reception classes, where the teachers and other adults promote children’s learning and skills particularly well in the stimulating indoor and outdoor learning areas. As a result, most pupils reach the standards expected of them by the time they enter Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ good progress continues in Years 1 and 2 because of good teaching and pupils’ increasingly positive attitudes and desire to do well. Attainment in writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 has risen because of successful initiatives to raise standards.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in reading because the daily teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) helps to ensure that they acquire essential basic reading skills. Nevertheless, attainment in reading is below that in writing and mathematics, and teachers have introduced a range of well-considered teaching strategies to raise standards further.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress because teachers and teaching assistants know the pupils exceptionally well and ensure that support is carefully matched to their needs.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils for whom the school receives additional funding through the pupil premium make good progress. This funding is used well to enhance provision through, for example, additional support staff and small group activities.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The close tracking and regular reviews of pupils’ progress ensure that gaps in learning are identified and addressed quickly. This reflects the school’s good promotion of equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Decisive action to tackle ineffective teaching by the headteacher and governing body has ensured that teaching and learning have improved since the last inspection. As a result good teaching ensures that pupils of all abilities and backgrounds make good progress and achieve well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ good classroom management skills, together with their high expectations of pupils’ behaviour, ensure that there is a calm and purposeful learning climate in virtually all lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In lessons and around school, staff promote good relationships and treat pupils with respect and courtesy. This, together with the respect shown for different cultures, underpins pupils’ good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils develop positive attitudes to learning because teachers have a detailed knowledge of their pupils and generally ensure that learning tasks are well planned to match their needs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Skilled and conscientious teaching assistants ensure that the tasks given to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are carefully sequenced so that they make good progress towards their individual targets. However, the effectiveness of teaching assistants is occasionally reduced because teachers’ introductions and explanations are sometimes lengthy and force pupils to sit passively for too long.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers use resources well. In an outstanding session in Reception, the teachers made excellent use of both the indoor and outdoor areas to improve a range of skills. For example, use of the climbing frame, bicycles and scooters promoted children’s physical development. Every opportunity was taken to develop children’s language and numeracy skills through questioning and counting. In another area, children’s imagination and social understanding were developed through the use of role-play involving a receptionist and doctor who ‘cured coughs with his stethoscope’.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Assessment is accurate and used well by most teachers to plan challenging learning tasks and to track individual pupils’ progress. Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly and provide comments that are positive and encouraging. However, comments frequently fail to show pupils how they can improve the quality of their work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school places a strong emphasis on the development of good behaviour from entry to the Early Years Foundation Stage onwards. As a result the vast majority of children quickly learn and accept the expectations of behaviour in lessons and around the school. Their good behaviour makes an important contribution to the positive learning environment.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Parents, carers, staff and pupils confirm that behaviour is typically good. This is reflected in a calm and purposeful atmosphere in lessons. In this harmonious school, pupils are friendly and care for each other well. Pupils from all backgrounds get on well with each other.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils work cooperatively in small groups and respond well to the requests of adults. For example, pupils in Year 2 worked well in groups as they developed their understanding of the use of connectives in writing, and responded positively to the teacher’s support and encouragement.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Support for the very few pupils who have complex emotional and behavioural needs is exceptionally strong. This ensures that they are maintained in full-time education and have full access to all the school provides.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Incidents of bullying are rare. Pupils understand about different kinds of bullying, including physical bullying and persistent name calling, and are emphatic when they say that they cannot think of any incidents of this type or of any racist comments. Behaviour records show that the very few incidents arising are followed through rigorously.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe and are confident that adults will look after them well if they have any concerns.  The school has successfully improved pupils’ attendance, which has risen to be average, and most pupils arrive on time.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides strong leadership and a very clear direction for the school, based on the rigorous analysis of pupils’ progress and accurate evaluation of the school’s work. This information provides all leaders, including the governing body, with a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. Together with the improvements seen since the last inspection, it also indicates the school’s good capacity for continued improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 Effective procedures to manage teachers’ performance, linked to ongoing training, have improved teaching from satisfactory to good. Regular checks are carried out to improve teaching further, and teachers are held to account for the progress of pupils in their classes. Teachers and other staff say that they are well supported through training to achieve their targets.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority’s support for the school has contributed well to the improvements in teaching and learning and the use of assessment information.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teaching programmes are enriched by a variety of after-school clubs and visits out of school. Pupils’ spiritual and cultural development is nurtured well through, for example, music and the arts. Social and moral development is promoted through regular opportunities for pupils to talk to each other about their learning, and through the acceptance of clearly defined boundaries of what is right or wrong.

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The leadership and management are good

 Relationships with parents and carers are very positive and staff strive to involve them fully in their children’s learning. This reflects the determination of staff to ensure all pupils have an equal opportunity to succeed, and their refusal to accept discrimination of any kind.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  is effective, because the governing body fulfils its duties well and, with appropriate guidance, is rigorous in setting and reviewing the headteacher’s management objectives  is well informed by detailed reports from the headteacher and staff, and has firm plans to strengthen the governors’ role in school self-evaluation  ensures that all statutory requirements, including those relating to safeguarding, are met and manages funding conscientiously to ensure that all income is spent for the purposes intended.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 112767 Local authority Derby Inspection number 401303

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 348 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Bernard Thorpe Headteacher Julie Carter Date of previous school inspection 12 May 2010 Telephone number 01332 574192 Fax number 01332 751303 Email address head@oakwoodi.derby.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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 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

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School details

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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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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