Pear Tree Infant School

Pear Tree Infant School Pear Tree Street, Derby, DE23 8PN

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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.  Achievement is good and improving. As a result, an increasing number of pupils are now reaching average standards.  All pupils, including those in Reception, make good progress from their starting points, which are usually low, because teaching is now predominantly good and engages pupils exceptionally well.  Leadership and management, including that of the governing body, are good. The headteacher’s high expectations are at the heart of the school’s continuing improvement.  Pupils are keen to learn. All groups of pupils get on well with each other and show respect for the different cultural traditions present in the school.  Teachers and other adults create a secure and positive climate for learning where pupils feel safe and which promotes pupils’ good behaviour in lessons and around the school.  The range of subjects and other activities caters well for pupils who do not speak English

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 A higher proportion of outstanding teaching is needed to speed up pupils’ achievement in basic skills. Occasionally, the checking of pupils’ learning in lessons is not sharp enough to make sure that extra guidance is given.  Senior leaders do not always focus closely enough on pupils’ progress in their monitoring of teaching and pupils’ written work.  Attendance remains low.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 16 lessons, two of which were jointly observed with the headteacher. Inspectors also made short visits to other sessions.  Meetings were held with a group of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative of the local authority, as well as senior and middle leaders.  Inspectors took into account the views of 12 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire together with outcomes of the school’s own survey of parents’ views.  Inspectors looked at a wide range of documents, including the school’s own data on pupils’ current and recent progress, planning and monitoring documentation, and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding arrangements.

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Inspection team

Krishan Sharma, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Geoffrey Dorrity Additional Inspector Frances Millett Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school.  Pupils come from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. The largest group is of Pakistani background. Roma pupils form the next sizeable group. Close to three-quarters of pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils who are supported at school action is higher than average, while the proportion of those supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is higher than average.  A much higher than average proportion of pupils join and leave the school partway through their infant school education. This is particularly in relation to pupils of Roma heritage.  The school is federated with a Nursery school within the local authority. The headteacher runs both schools and both schools share the same governing body.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the proportion of outstanding teaching so that pupils in all lessons make rapid and sustained progress and their achievement in basic skills rises further by:  checking closely pupils’ learning during lessons and intervening to match individual needs more accurately  maximising opportunities for pupils to practise and improve their speaking skills in all lessons  focusing the monitoring of teaching more sharply on pupils’ achievement in lessons and in their written work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase attendance rates so that these are close to the national average by:  working more closely with parents and families to improve their children’s erratic attendance  advertising more effectively parents’ and carers’ responsibility in ensuring regular attendance of their children as agreed in the home-school contract.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children join Reception at starting points that are typically well below the levels expected for their age, particularly in communication and language skills. A majority of those starting in Reception has little or no English. Children make good progress; an increasing number are getting close to or achieving early learning goals by the time they join Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Good progress continues as pupils move through Key Stage 1. As a result, an increasing number now reach average standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the time they leave the school. Attainment is now broadly average in mathematics and in writing. In reading, it has improved at a faster rate than nationally, but it is still fractionally below the national average. Occasionally, pupils’ progress is slower, because teachers do not adapt their lessons quickly enough to tackle pupils’ lack of full understanding.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Reading is improving, because pupils’ knowledge of phonics (letters and the sound they make) is getting stronger. They use it to read unfamiliar words. It particularly helps those pupils who are at the early stages of learning English and those who lack confidence in building up words.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils write letters that are usually clearly formed. Most are aware of how full stops and capital letters are used. Their confidence in constructing sentences is growing; they use their phonic knowledge to spell words.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement in pupils’ oral communication is not as strong as it needs to be. Often it lacks fluency and their choice of vocabulary is limited. In some lessons, the focus on developing pupils’ range of vocabulary associated with different subjects is not as urgent as it should be. This means pupils have insufficient opportunities to work on their speaking skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In mathematics, pupils handle number work with relative ease. They are beginning to use their calculation skills in solving simple number problems.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and those for whom the school receives pupil premium funding, make good progress. The extra help these groups receive is effective in improving their basic skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language, which include pupils of Asian and East European backgrounds, achieve well because their needs are carefully identified and planned for. Roma pupils, and others who join the school partway through Key Stage 1, make good progress from their starting points during the year.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is mostly good and it has some outstanding features. It has improved since the last inspection and this has been central to the school’s success in raising pupils’ achievement. In addition to promoting pupils’ basic skills in literacy and numeracy, teachers secure their personal skills, such as learning to work with others of different backgrounds.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Typically, teachers display a strong subject knowledge, which they use well to plan lessons that are engaging. They routinely check pupils’ progress during lessons but do not always adjust their teaching to match pupils’ individual needs. This means that, occasionally, pupils’ progress is not as strong as it should be.  Teachers and teaching assistants are highly skilled in the teaching of English. The bilingual staff enable pupils to acquire knowledge and understanding through their native tongue.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils make good progress in reading because the teaching of phonics is systematic and effective. A wide range of reading activities is provided which meet the varied needs of pupils, including those who are at the early stage of learning of English.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of writing is effective in ensuring that pupils learn to construct simple sentences correctly and are able to use basic punctuation. Teachers rightly provide regular opportunities to help pupils to consolidate their gains in writing in other subjects.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils’ communication skills lack fluency. In lessons, adults do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to practise their speaking skills or make the best use of unplanned opportunities that present themselves.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and those who are supported through pupil premium, is effective and contributes to their good progress. Those who speak English as an additional language and others from the range of minority ethnic groups are also taught well. Teachers carefully plan and systematically build on what pupils already know and can do.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour in lessons, and in and around the school is good. The school’s clear expectations give pupils a clear sense of what is acceptable and what is not. Their learning is rarely disrupted, and staff manage any rare incidents well. Parents, staff and governors rightly believe that behaviour at school is good.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Good behaviour makes a positive contribution to pupils’ academic achievement as well as their personal development. Relationships between different groups are good and demonstrate the school’s success in teaching pupils to respect cultural differences.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that there is no bullying and that adults are very good at sorting out disagreements and quibbles. They have a sound understanding of different types of bullying, especially that which relates to cyber-bullying or is prejudice-based. Pupils feel safe at school and are confident that there will always be someone around to listen to their concerns.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils who join the school at times different to the normal school year are welcomed and well supported by their peers. They settle and make friends quickly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance has steadily improved since the last inspection, but it still remains low. The high mobility of some Roma families and pupils who go abroad for extended trips exacerbate the challenge the school continues to face. Its patient and persistent efforts with parents are beginning to reduce persistent absenteeism and erratic attendance. Senior leaders and governors recognise that they have more work to do, particularly in highlighting parents’ own responsibilities in improving their children’s attendance.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has been relentless in securing improvements in pupils’ outcomes and the quality of teaching. Key leaders and governors make regular checks on the school’s work and set clear and correct priorities.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school demonstrates a good capacity to improve further. Pupils’ achievement is now good as a result of the consistently good or better teaching. A trend of rising attainment is emerging.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ progress is regularly checked and senior leaders keep track of the progress made by different groups and ensure equality of opportunity for all. These checks show that the extra help has successfully narrowed the gap between the achievement of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium and other groups. The pupil premium has been used to pay for additional staff to provide them with concentrated work in small groups to meet their individual needs.

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The leadership and management are good

 The performance management of teaching is now effectively linked to its impact on pupils’ achievement. The current monitoring of teaching is mostly good, but it is not always as sharp as it might be in homing in on the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning and progress in all lessons and their written work. Staff training is rightly linked to the main priorities for development. The recent improvements in the teaching of reading and the effective intervention for those who do not speak English as their first language show that training programmes are strengthening teachers’ skills.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school works well with parents; it is particularly successful in establishing good links with parents of Roma pupils. Parents who do not speak English feel confident in approaching the school because bilingual staff are on hand to help.

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The leadership and management are good

 The range of subjects and activities taught rightly focuses on pupils’ acquisition of literacy skills. Determined efforts are made to cater for pupils’ personal development. The enrichment provided in and out of classrooms, through educational visits, assemblies and physical activities promote pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development.

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The leadership and management are good

 Safeguarding arrangements meet current regulatory requirements. Staff are trained to ensure pupils’ safety.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority provides effective support to senior leaders by critically reviewing with them various aspects of the school’s performance. The relevant officer makes visits to classrooms to comment and advise on classroom practice.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has a good knowledge of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, including the overall quality of its teaching. It reviews progress data and knows how well the school performs in comparison with other schools. Governors have begun to sharpen teachers’ performance management by clearly linking teachers’ progression through the salary structure and the impact of their teaching on pupils’ outcomes. The governing body has a good grasp of the budget and knows how the pupil premium fund is being used to provide extra support for those groups who are eligible for it. They have had a range of training; some of the governors bring an array of skills to help them in their work with the school.

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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 112728 Local authority Derby Inspection number 400368

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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 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 268 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ranjodh Sund Headteacher Mrs Karen Clark Date of previous school inspection 12 January 2010 Telephone number 01332 767244 Fax number 01332 776551 Email address admin@peartreei.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

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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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