Jacksdale Primary and Nursery School

Jacksdale Primary and Nursery School Main Road, Jacksdale, Nottingham, NG16 5JU

p.1

Overall effectiveness

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

p.1

This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 There is not enough good teaching to help individuals and groups of pupils to progress in their learning.  Pupils in all key stages do not make enough progress and attainment is below expected levels in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1.  Leaders do not know all of the school’s areas of development and therefore do not have an accurate picture of how well the school is improving.  Leaders do not use data effectively to gain an accurate picture of the progress and attainment of all groups of pupils.  School improvement planning at all levels is not sharply focused on achievable, measurable and time-restricted targets.  Teaching of reading is not systematically planned across the school to enable pupils to get a good start in their school career.  Attainment and progress of some groups of pupils is not good.  Progress across year groups and in different subjects is not consistent.  Teaching does not provide sufficient challenge

p.1

This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

for some groups of pupils.  Leaders throughout the school do not use pupils’ assessment information consistently and well enough to regularly identify underperformance.  Pupils are not always using their skills to develop their own learning in lessons or taking responsibility for their own behaviour outside of lessons.  Governors are not always provided with accurate information about pupils’ achievement. They have not challenged school leaders sharply enough to bring about more rapid improvement in the quality of teaching.  Behaviour expectations and attitudes to learning vary throughout the school.

p.1

The school has the following strengths

 Relationships between staff and pupils are positive.  Teaching in some classes is good and pupils are challenged through skilful questioning.  Work around the school provides a bright and inviting environment.  Parents are positive about the school and say that teachers are approachable.  Pupils feel safe and enjoy coming to school.  Attendance is improving as a result of the supportive work the school is doing with families.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 15 lessons taught by nine teachers. Four of these were observed jointly with the headteacher.  In addition, inspectors observed the teaching of phonics (letter patterns and the sounds they represent), listened to pupils read and talked with them about their reading.  Meetings were held with the Chair of the Governing Body, parents and carers, staff, including senior and other subject leaders and groups of pupils. A telephone call was made to a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at school documentation including teachers’ planning, the school’s self-evaluation and development plans, assessment information, monitoring files, governing body minutes, safeguarding documentation and samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors considered the seven responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  Inspectors considered the 11 responses to the staff questionnaire.

p.2

Inspection team

Ruth Brock, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Lynne Blakelock Additional Inspector Michael Onyon Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 Jacksdale Primary and Nursery school is an averaged-size community school.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average.  Almost all of the pupils are of White British heritage and only a few pupils from other ethnic backgrounds speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported at school action is above the national average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below the national average.  The headteacher joined the school in January 2012.  Pupils are admitted into the Nursery class and in addition into the Year 3 class from a neighbouring infant school.  Pupils are taught in mixed-age groups in Years 3, 4 and 5 and in ability groups for mathematics.  Each morning the school runs a breakfast club for pupils.

p.3

Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding for specific groups of pupils, including those known to be eligible for free school meals) is below the national average.  No pupils attend alternative off-site provision.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching across the school to consistently good or better so that all pupils make good progress by: - ensuring teachers use assessments well to inform and adapt their planning for individuals and groups of pupils - sharing the good practice of some teachers - setting accurate pupil targets in reading, writing and maths which are referred to regularly in lessons and feedback.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve reading standards across the school by: - adopting a consistent whole-school approach to teaching - teaching phonics regularly to lower-ability pupils at all key stages to widen the strategies they have to help them in their reading - ensuring pupils have access to a wide range of books which are pitched at their level - making more effective use of reading journals to encourage pupils to read at home.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve behaviour by: - setting high expectations for behaviour and attitudes to learning which reflect the school’s policy - ensuring that pupils behave consistently well when playing outside and when moving around the school.  Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by: - accurately targeting school priorities that are tightly focused on measurable, time-restricted outcomes - sharpening the quality of whole school improvement planning and in English and mathematics - effectively using data within the school to drive progress and attainment for all groups of pupils - ensuring governors have accurate information so that they can challenge and support the school’s leaders - developing the governing body’s understanding of pupil achievement. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

p.3

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ progress, although showing some improvement since the last inspection, is not yet good because teaching is not yet good and therefore still requires improvement.

p.5

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Attainment of Year 6 pupils in 2012 was average. However, attainment at the higher levels remains stubbornly below national average in all subjects because work is not challenging enough.

p.5

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils enter the school well below average. There is not enough good teaching to ensure that standards in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1 rapidly rise to the expected levels.

p.5

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are making less progress than those nationally. This is also true of the most-able pupils.

p.5

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupil Premium funding is helping pupils who are eligible for Free School Meals to make better progress this year by the provision of one-to-one support.

p.5

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress in writing has improved because the school rightly prioritised this area. From information seen during the inspection pupils’ progress and attainment in writing for 2013 is just above average.

p.5

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ performance in the Year 1 phonics check was below national expectations. Pupils are encouraged to read every day but too often activities across the school, as seen during the inspection, are not given with a sharp enough focus and are not challenging. Therefore, progress across the year groups in reading is inconsistent and remains only adequate overall

p.5

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Planned activities across other subjects to extend pupils’ mathematical and problem-solving skills are beginning to bear fruit. As a result, pupils’ progress in mathematics in Key Stage 2 is better than previously. However, Key Stage 1 progress in mathematics is slower and attainment is below national averages because teaching is not yet consistently good.

p.5

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils enjoy reading and continue to read regularly into Year 6. However, the school has not adopted a consistent approach to the teaching of reading. A new approach has been introduced to the teaching of the sounds that letters make but this has still to make any impact. Pupils’ reading books are sometimes not set at the right level and pupils do not consistently use a range of strategies to help them read accurately.

p.5

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is not good enough. In some classes it is good but in too many it requires improvement to ensure good progress by all pupils.

p.5

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement where pupils’ work is not always pitched at the right level because teachers do not have accurate information of groups of pupils from which to plan their lessons.  In good lessons teachers encourage pupils to think for themselves, to assess their learning and high expectations are set for pupils’ progress. Skilful questioning challenges pupils who respond enthusiastically. In one mathematics lesson pupils were asked to find out what 25% of 45 was and healthy competition ensued to rapidly obtain the answer.

p.5

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Marking and feedback has improved since the last inspection. In the best examples seen during the inspection, pupils responded well to teachers’ comments and pupils marked each other’s work. In one case a pupil had written “try to use more connectives but it’s amazing anyway”. However, the school’s own marking policy is inconsistently applied across the school with very few next steps for improvement identified.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers set pupils targets for writing and mathematics but do not always make sure pupils know how to reach them. There are no targets in place for reading.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage staff provide a safe, supportive environment with planned opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom. There is a good focus on speaking and listening but the focus is less evident in weaker areas such as creative arts, design and mathematics.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Relationships between adults and pupils are positive. Sometimes there is too much whole class teaching and not enough opportunities for pupils to be independent learners.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching Assistants are directed appropriately to support pupils’ learning.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Behaviour is good in interesting, well-paced lessons. However, inspectors saw some instances of unsettled behaviour where the pace of learning was too slow or activities were not well matched to pupils’ needs.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils behave appropriately where there is adult supervision and pupils are moving between lessons or coming into the building. On occasions however, when adults are not present, pupils do not take enough responsibility for their own behaviour and do not always show each other respect.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils are happy to come to school, feel safe and know who to speak to if they are worried.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils are keen to work together and enthusiastically give or receive feedback on how to improve their work.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils say they are aware of and understand all forms of bullying, including name-calling, fighting and prejudiced behaviours. On the few occasions when a bullying incident occurs, pupils say it is dealt with quickly by adults.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage play and learn in a safe area and learn how to behave with other children and adults.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils enjoy the well-managed breakfast club provided for them. Relationships are well- promoted, activities are engaging and behaviour is appropriate.  Parents speak positively about how the school manages pupil behaviour. They say that pupils behave well and feel safe in school.

p.6

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Attendance in the school is at national averages and improving.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because teaching is not good, information is not used by leaders to identify gaps in achievement and actions taken have not been completely effective in improving the rate of pupil progress across the school.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Priorities are identified in the school improvement plan and some staff training is planned to support these priorities. However, the plan is not sufficiently targeted or ambitious enough as it does not specify measurable, time-restricted actions.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior and some subject leaders observe teaching and give feedback for areas of improvement. However, they have not always had the opportunity to view good teaching inside and outside of the school.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Monitoring and evaluating by subject leaders is inconsistent and leads to inconsistent practices For example, the school has a clear marking policy but inspectors did not see this used consistently across all subjects and year groups.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The Headteacher joined the school in January 2012 and introduced new procedures for setting targets for staff. Staff now pay closer attention to individual pupils’ progress in regular meetings. However, the targets could be sharper in order to ensure that accurate information is presented when taking decisions about teachers’ pay.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The curriculum meets statutory requirements but does not challenge all pupils especially the more-able ones. This is not helped by mixed-age classes in Key Stage 2 which makes planning for age-related expectations difficult.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The range of knowledge and skills that pupils learn supports their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Assemblies provide time for pupils to reflect on their own beliefs and attitudes and pupils say they enjoy the singing they have together once a week. There is a wide range of opportunities for pupils to take part in out-of-school activities which pupils readily take up.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Arrangements to safeguard pupils meet statutory requirements and are effective.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided some support for school leaders and recognises that foundations are in place for future improvement.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors have not challenged the school’s senior leaders with enough rigour and urgency and as a result teaching and pupil progress are not improving quickly enough. They do not have a clear understanding of how well the school is doing. This is because they do not have a full understanding of the information the school presents about pupils’ attainment and progress. As a result, they are not in a strong position to ask school leaders about underperformance and consequently, this area of governance requires improvement. They are kept informed by the headteacher of how the pupil premium funding is spent but no information has been shared about how well these pupils are achieving. There is not yet enough information given to governors about how salary is linked to teachers’ performance how the headteacher tackles underperformance or what is done to reward good teachers.

p.7

The leadership and management requires improvement

However, governors are involved in the life of the school and meet with teachers who are responsible for areas of the curriculum.

p.8

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

p.9

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.

p.9

School details

Unique reference number 122580 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 406101

p.10

School details

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

p.10

School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 256 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Betty Dixon Headteacher Peter Stonier Date of previous school inspection 30 March 2011 Telephone number 01773 783930 Fax number 01773 783931 Email address admin@jacksdale.notts.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 .

p.10

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.

p.11

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

p.11

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

p.11

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’.

p.11

School details

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

p.11