Setting

Mrs Helen Knott Draycott Community Primary School Hopwell Road Draycott Derby DE72 3NH

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Education act 2005 to Draycott Community Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 05 February 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Education act 2005 to Draycott Community Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in October 2012. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, three representatives of the Governing Body and a representative of the local authority. The school action plans, records of monitoring, performance management information and other school documents were evaluated.

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Context

Since the last inspection a newly qualified teacher has been appointed on a part- time, temporary basis.

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Main findings

The headteacher and other senior leaders are providing an effective steer to school improvement work. Improvement plans now identify more precisely the targets for improving the quality of teaching and the rate of pupil progress. The plans identify the correct actions to be taken. They don’t always identify regular, clear and measurable points along the way to check on their success. Serco Inspections Colmore Plaza 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T :0121 679 9164 Direct email : tim.ogbourn@serco.com There are systems in place to check on the quality of teaching and to make sure that all teachers are putting in place the actions that have been agreed. Suitable training and support is in place to help teachers and teaching assistants to improve the quality of teaching and learning. For example, to make sure that teachers challenge

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Main findings

all pupils to do as well as they can and that pupils get written and verbal feedback that helps them to improve their work. Plans are in place to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to see what it is that the most successful teachers do to help pupils to learn as well as they can.

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Main findings

The headteacher, supported by other senior leaders makes her high expectations clear and holds others in school to account for the quality of their work. The governing body has responded positively to the training they have received from the local authority. They have improved their understanding of the work of the school and ask more precise questions about the success of improvement actions. The headteacher acknowledges that occasionally the information that is presented to the governing body is not clear enough. Governors do not have a programme to check first-hand on the success of the most important improvement actions.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

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Main findings

 identify points in time to check on the success of improvement actions  ensure that information given to the governing body is very clear about the impact of improvement actions taken  introduce a programme for governors to check on the work of the school first- hand

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Main findings

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

Senior leaders and the whole staff team say they have valued highly the wide range of support offered by the local authority. Joint lesson observations have been carried out and support given to staff to improve verbal and written feedback and the scrutiny of pupils work to make sure that pupils are being challenged to do their best. The leaders for literacy and numeracy have received support from a local authority consultant to help improve the way that they plan and deliver improvement actions in their subjects. The local authority has also arranged partnerships with other schools which are impacting positively on the quality of teaching. Because of local authority training, members of the governing body are beginning to make better use of the information they receive in order to hold school leaders to account for their work.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Derbyshire.

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