Cavendish Close Infant School

Cavendish Close Infant School Wood Road, Chaddesden, Derby, DE21 4LY

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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.  Teaching is very effective in the Nursery and Reception classes and this ensures that children develop an early enthusiasm for learning.  Pupils from all backgrounds are warmly welcomed and those who need the most help are well supported.  Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to their work. They know how to keep themselves and their friends safe.  Pupils make good overall progress from their different starting points. When they leave the school their standards are broadly in line with national averages.  Senior staff and subject leaders are well focused on improving teaching and learning.  Teamwork in the school is strong and staff work well together to ensure that pupils are supported well personally and in their learning.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not enough pupils reach the higher levels in their work because sometimes tasks are too easy for them.  There are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and the level of challenge for pupils in Years 1 and 2.  Sometimes the introductions to lessons are too long which limits the time pupils have to develop and practise their skills.  The checks made on the work of the school are not always thorough enough to identify areas for further improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 18 lessons or parts of lessons. Several of these were joint lesson observations with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. Inspectors also listened to individual pupils reading.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, subject leaders, the Early Years Foundation Stage leader and the special educational needs coordinator. Discussions took place with groups of pupils, as well as with representatives of the governing body and the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the views of 19 parents and carers from the online questionnaire (Parent View) and the responses to the staff questionnaire. They also noted information from the school’s most recent parent and carer survey.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s own data on pupils’ progress, planning and monitoring information and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Sue Hall, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Michael Onyon Additional Inspector Ann Glynne Jones Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than the average-sized infant school.  Children join the Reception classes from the school’s Nursery and from other settings.  The number of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium matches the national average. This provides additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs identified at school action is slightly above average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is just below average.  About 10% of pupils are from minority ethnic groups, with about half of these speaking English as an additional language.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the rate of pupils’ progress by ensuring that all pupils, and particularly the more-able ones, are provided with work that is always demanding.  Raise the quality of teaching to consistently good or better, especially in Years 1 and 2, by:  making full use of assessment information to ensure that work is well matched to the abilities of different groups  making sure that the introductions to lessons are not too long and that pupils can move onto activities speedily  making sure that senior staff monitor lessons thoroughly and identify exactly what needs to be improved in teaching.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the Nursery with skills that are often below the expectations for their age and sometimes very low. With excellent teaching, children settle quickly and develop an enthusiasm for learning. For example, one group set up a hospital for sick toys and played the roles of doctors and nurses. They discussed what was wrong with their patients and what treatments to apply, continually repeating and learning new words.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 A high proportion of children also start school in the Reception classes with skills that are below the expectations for their age. They make good overall progress and occasionally this is outstanding. However, from their low starting points not all pupils reach the expected levels when they move into Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The progress pupils make in Years 1 and 2 is mixed but generally good. By the time they leave school at the age of seven, standards are close to the national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. Boys and girls achieve equally well. Most average achieving pupils and those receiving additional support make good overall progress. Many more-able pupils also make reasonable progress but they do not always achieve as well as they could, because not enough is demanded of them in some lessons.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Those supported by the pupil premium funding often do slightly better than some other groups of pupils because funding is used well to support their learning. Pupils who speak English as an additional language make similar progress to their classmates.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are well supported. They receive specific additional help in lessons and in small group or individual activities. The work of a well- trained team of support staff, including the learning mentor, is effective in enabling many pupils to overcome a range of difficulties and make good progress towards their individual targets.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The proportion of pupils reaching the expected levels for their age is increasing. Recently, pupils have done slightly better in their writing than in reading or mathematics. This is often because they are given an exciting range of topics to write about. There is little use of commercial worksheets and pupils record what they want to write in their own words. This helps them use a growing range of interesting words.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Older pupils have been taught how to develop their understanding of letters and the sounds they make and this shows in the good progress made in reading. All pupils read regularly to their teacher and support staff, which helps them to work out unfamiliar words and understand what they mean.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils like using numbers and older ones are keen to learn how to multiply and divide the numbers they use. Staff are working successfully to help pupils widen their mathematical vocabulary so that they can better explain what they are doing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is particularly effective in the Early Years Foundation Stage, when it is never less than good and is often outstanding. This is because staff are very enthusiastic in their approach and ensure that learning is fun but challenging. This was shown in the Nursery when children were learning rhymes and the staff joined in with the actions as enthusiastically as the children. This resulted in lots of laughter and much improved understanding of the words they were using.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the Reception classes, a strong emphasis is placed on using pens and pencil and undertaking writing tasks. Children enjoy putting illustrations from a familiar story in order and learning how to form letters correctly by copying over their name and parts of a story. Because adults give them lots of praise and discuss with them what they are doing, their levels of understanding improve.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In Years 1 and 2 teaching is more mixed. Where teaching is successful, staff make clear their expectations of the pupils. Teachers and support staff, including the learning mentor, manage pupils well, so that lessons are conducted in a calm and productive manner. Adults give careful feedback to pupils and the marking of their work is thorough. Pupils know their targets well and understand what they need to improve. Most staff explain things well to pupils and make clear the aims of lessons. Occasionally, staff talk for too long, which limits what pupils have time to do.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff generally have high expectations of what the pupils can achieve. Most use a range of information to set tasks that contain the right amount of challenge. Where teaching is less effective, the level of challenge is not always right. Occasionally, as seen in a drawing lesson, staff do not take enough account of what the pupils can already do. In a few lessons, the same or very similar tasks are undertaken by all pupils, which means that work is too hard for some and too easy for others.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff training activities, including support from the deputy headteacher, have ensured a strong focus on improving teaching. Teaching assistants are well trained and work in close partnership with teachers to support small groups and individuals, including those with additional needs.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 Pupils like coming to school and say they feel safe. The large majority are well behaved, polite and helpful to each other and the adults around them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 Most pupils get on very well together. They say they particularly enjoy playtimes and explain how to stay safe when moving around. This is well illustrated by whole-school physical activities after assembly, where all children and adults join in a dance with great enthusiasm, coupled with an awareness of others’ space.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 Pupils have a good understanding of the different types of bullying they learnt about during anti- bullying week. They were able to link their discussion of bullying to the biblical story of Joseph and the actions of his brothers. Pupils are confident there are lots of adults around to talk to if they have concerns. Pupils know that bullying is something that is repeated and not just one falling out. They recognise that name calling is not allowed, but they have a more limited awareness of concerns about the use of the internet. Parents’ and carers’ views indicate that they feel confident their children are kept safe.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good. Most try hard with their work and produce this neatly and accurately. In lessons, many offer their ideas in discussions. Where teaching is less effective, some pupils sit quietly but are uninvolved. Pupils with additional needs are well supported including through the skilled work of the learning mentor for those with behavioural difficulties.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 Attendance and punctuality is good and very well monitored using the school’s electronic entry system. Any concerns are carefully tracked and followed up.

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The leadership and management is good

 School leaders manage the school effectively. Staff work closely together to provide an interesting range of activities for the pupils. Parents and carers are pleased with the quality of education and care provided.

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The leadership and management is good

 There is a strong focus on improving teaching, particularly through the work of the deputy headteacher in her supporting role, working alongside staff where pupils’ progress dips. Teachers’ performance is monitored closely and senior leaders use information from lesson observations and data about pupils’ progress to decide whether teachers should be paid more. This is linked to a programme of staff training and has led to improvements in some areas.

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The leadership and management is good

 Subject leaders make an increasingly effective contribution to improving teaching through a focus on reading, writing and mathematics. They scrutinise data, planning and samples of pupils’ work and have plans to develop further their roles in carrying out lesson observations. The work of the special educational needs coordinator and the Early Years Foundation Stage leader is particularly effective and ensures that strong progress is made in these areas.

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The leadership and management is good

 The local authority provides support for the school when needed. Overall, school self-evaluation procedures are good. Occasionally, though, evaluations of the school’s effectiveness are generous and do not take sufficient account of data and the full range of information available.

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The leadership and management is good

 Pupil premium funding is used well to make sure that individual pupils get the support they need. Extra teaching and support staff are employed to accelerate learning and additional materials to support speech, language development and reading skills have been purchased. There is additional help for pupils who struggle to maintain good behaviour at lunchtime through the work of the learning mentor. The school assesses the impact of specific expenditure through data which show that pupils receiving additional help often make slightly better progress than their classmates.

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The leadership and management is good

 The school provides pupils with a clear moral and social code where they value everyone. Spiritual development is well addressed, for example through incidental activities such as the sense of care shown by Nursery staff and children when they found a suitable bed for a very poorly spider.

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The leadership and management is good

 Staff actively ensure that all pupils have equal access to learning and are provided with the same opportunities to achieve well. Procedures to safeguard pupils meet current government requirements. Overall the school has good capacity to continue to improve.

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The leadership and management is good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has improved their effectiveness by ensuring that they have a more detailed understanding of the school’s effectiveness. Governors are taking greater account of the range of data and monitoring information available. They are informed about the quality of teaching and the salary progression of staff. This ensures that they are able to ask challenging questions of senior leaders and hold them to account for the standards achieved and the use of pupil premium funding. The governing body meets regularly and has established a clear focus on development planning. Governors are now keen to extend their programme of focused visits to ensure that they have an even better understanding of areas for further improvement.

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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 112749 Local authority Derby Inspection number 401301

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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 332 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Asim Bhatti Headteacher Jane Brandon Date of previous school inspection 1 February 2010 Telephone number 01332 662239 Fax number 01332 544748 Email address admin@cavclosei.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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