Warren Hills Community Primary School

Warren Hills Community Primary School Stamford Drive, Coalville, LE67 4TA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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 are rightly proud of their achievements.  Achievement in mathematics and reading is particularly good and prepares pupils well for the future.  Children settle quickly into the Nursery and Reception classes and make good progress in all areas of learning.  The good and, sometimes, outstanding teaching ensures that pupils do well in all classes.  Pupils find the work interesting and say how well teachers help them to improve their work.  Pupils behave well and feel free from any form of harassment. They appreciate the high quality of care and support, which makes them feel safe.  Since the last inspection, the school has been successful in improving the provision for information and communication technology and pupils’ cultural awareness because the leaders are good at identifying weaknesses and rectifying them.  Rigorous systems used by leaders to check on

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

the performance of teachers ensure better teaching and achievement.  The governing body supports the school well and has the skills to challenge decisions made by the leaders.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Progress in writing is not as quick as in reading and mathematics.  The school does not check well enough on the impact of the pupil premium funding to make sure all these pupils make the best possible progress.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 20 lessons, of which two were joint observations with the headteacher. The inspectors also made a number of brief visits to lessons.  Meetings were held with pupils, senior and middle leaders, members of the governing body, and a representative of the local authority.  There were insufficient responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) to gain the views of parents and carers, but the inspectors took account of the school’s own surveys.  The 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 files, behaviour records, attendance figures and documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Terry Elston, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Gwendoline Onyon Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average primary school.  A high proportion of the pupils are eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals. There were no pupils with a parent in the armed services in the school.  Almost all pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action, school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The school does not currently meet the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expected for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The proportion of pupils entering or leaving the school at other than the usual times is much higher than is found nationally.  The governing body manages a Nursery and children’s centre on the school’s site.

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Information about this school

 The school provides a ‘nurture group’ to give small groups of pupils extra support.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure achievement in writing is as good as in reading and mathematics by teachers:  giving pupils sufficient time to write in lessons  providing the most-able pupils with opportunities to write independently on tasks that make the best of their skills  ensuring that pupils do their best writing in all subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Help pupils entitled to the pupil premium make the best possible progress by:  checking on their progress in lessons and over the year and provide extra support to those falling behind  working with parents to ensure all these pupils attend regularly  evaluating the impact of the pupil premium funding to see how provision could be improved.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress from starting points on entry to the school that are low compared with those typical of their age group. However, attainment on entry to the Reception is rising as a result of the good provision in the Nursery and children’s centre. Pupils of all ages, as well as their parents, are right to think they do well at school and all say how much their teachers help them learn.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils entitled to the pupil premium achieve well, given their starting points, but their current attainment by the end of Year 6 is over two terms below that of others in English and mathematics. While the gap is closing because the school is giving these pupils well-directed, extra help, individually and in small groups, these pupils are not yet making the very rapid progress necessary to raise their standards further to ensure all reach the levels of others in the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children achieve well in both Nursery and Reception classes and make particularly good progress in their reading and writing skills. Children enjoy using books and one group was seen to make outstanding progress when stimulated by the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They sold ‘chocolate’ in the shop, made gold cards to buy it and built the factory from sticks and sheets of material. The good teaching of phonics (building letter sounds into words) from an early stage helps children to work out words and encourages them to pick up a book just for pleasure.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment by the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics is below average, but improving steadily. Pupils enjoy reading and are developing their phonic skills well with regular practice. Their writing is interesting and they make good progress when stimulated by tasks such as writing ‘thank you’ letters from ‘Granny’ to those who found her lost parcels. Few, however, are given the time to write at length and attain the higher levels in their work. In mathematics, pupils count accurately and enjoy solving problems about time, for example, and checking their work using calculators.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 By the end of Key Stage 2, attainment in both English and mathematics is below average, overall, but affected by the large number of pupils who enter or leave the school at other than the usual times. Although all make good progress when they join the school, late arrivers are, sometimes, well behind others in the school and struggle to attain as well as other pupils, despite the effective help they receive.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils do well in reading but, while most read fluently, few have the skills to skim and scan texts quickly to gain information. They read widely and enjoy researching topics on computers. In writing, pupils write best when the task captures their imagination. For example, one class made very good progress when responding with outrage to a ransom letter to recover property ‘stolen’ from their classroom. Pupils’ writing in subjects other than English, however, is sometimes brief and careless.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In mathematics, progress is good. Pupils know their multiplication tables well and most calculate quickly in their heads. They enjoy mathematical investigations and the oldest pupils achieved very well when using data to work out average values.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In both English and mathematics at Key Stage 2, unusually, most pupils have attended through this key stage and current attainment by this relatively stable group shows a marked improvement on the 2012 national test results.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress in both English and mathematics. These pupils benefit from good support in lessons, yet have opportunities to work on their own to develop their independence. Pupils who sometimes lack confidence thrive on good provision in the ‘nurture group’ where they enjoy working alongside just a few others.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In typical lessons, teachers make the learning expected clear and this helps pupils focus on the task. At the end, pupils have good opportunities to check on their learning and see if there is anything they can improve upon.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers are very good at capturing pupils’ imagination with exciting topics to write about, such as the lives of famous popular singers. Sometimes, however, teachers leave them too little time to write more than a few lines. This particularly holds back the more-able pupils because they lack the opportunity to work independently. There is also limited opportunity for pupils to write in different subjects.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers check on pupils’ progress systematically, but do not always focus enough on the particular group eligible for pupil premium funding, either during lessons or through the year. In some lessons, for example, pupils supported by the pupil premium are allowed to sit back and let others answer questions and teachers do too little to include them. During the year, teachers do not always identify these pupils as a group that needs extra help, even though their attainment and attendance are sometimes below those of others in the class. When these pupils’ progress is accurately assessed as not good enough, they receive very helpful support for learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The school makes thorough assessments of the attainment of pupils who enter the school at other than the usual times so that work can be matched well to their levels of ability. However, the weak attendance rates of some of these pupils prevent them from making better progress and attain higher standards.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers make effective use of technology to add interest to their lessons. For example, they use the interactive whiteboards well to show how to organise their numbers in mathematics, and ask children in the Early Years Foundation Stage to take digital photographs of their work to put in their ‘learning journeys’.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of reading is consistently good, with regular phonics sessions and well-managed guided reading lessons when pupils read quietly on their own or with adults. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children learn the sounds of letters quickly and enjoy searching for them in the outside area.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In mathematics, teachers are very good at teaching basic number skills, and the daily mental mathematics sessions do much to speed up pupils’ calculations. Teachers provide good opportunities for pupils to solve number problems and support understanding of how to use mathematics in everyday life.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and they respond well by listening carefully and always putting their hands up to answer a question. This begins in the Nursery and Reception classes where children learn the rules for good behaviour quickly.  The teaching of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good, particularly in English and mathematics. The teachers plan tasks that are challenging yet achievable and ensure that pupils have every opportunity to ask and answer questions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well because the rules are made clear and adults apply them consistently. Teachers make good use of rewards and sanctions, and disruptions in lessons are rare. Pupils concentrate well and persevere well with challenging work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy school, arrive punctually and attendance rates are improving to be broadly average. The school places great emphasis on regular attendance and most parents respond well to the regular reminders about the importance of their children coming to school every day. However, the systems to check on the attendance of different groups of pupils, such as those eligible for pupil premium funding and some pupils who join the school at other than the usual times, are not established well enough to eliminate all unnecessary absences, which adversely affect the progress and attainment of some pupils.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel very safe at school, and say how well staff respond to rare instances of bullying and racism. Records show that such acts are decreasing year by year. Pupils know much about different types of bullying and speak knowledgeably about the need to take care when using the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils show courtesy towards adults and one another. They listen carefully in discussions, and accept opinions different to their own. For example, they share ideas sensibly with a partner in class and are not afraid to change their minds about an issue.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils take responsibility well. Older ones help younger pupils and the school council is rightly proud of the way its members have helped improve play facilities.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher leads well and is highly respected by pupils, parents and staff. He sets ambitious targets for the school to achieve, both in pupils’ achievement and their personal development. He is supported well by senior and middle leaders who share his commitment to high standards. This effective teamwork is an important reason why the school has the capacity to improve further.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leaders use data on pupils’ progress well to see where improvements need to be made. However, the school is not always regular and rigorous enough in checking the attainment and attendance of all individuals, for example, those eligible for the pupil premium, to ensure they make even more rapid progress to raise their attainment.

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The leadership and management are good

 The good systems to evaluate the quality of teaching provide teachers with clear guidance on how to improve. Annual reviews of teachers’ performance arising from these observations are rigorous, provide challenging targets for their development and help make informed decisions about their pay and promotion.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leaders make good use of local schools to share expertise and organise cost-effective training that enables teachers to improve their performance. Good links with the local police help teach pupils how to stay safe and understand how the police support the community.

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The leadership and management are good

 Safeguarding systems are robust and meet all requirements. These are reviewed regularly by the leaders and the governing body.

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The leadership and management are good

 Parents appreciate the high quality of the care and support offered to their children that help all feel secure. They appreciate the way the school informs them about the work done in class and their children’s progress. The well-managed children’s centre provides very good support to parents in matters of child care and the development of their own parenting skills.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils find the activities provided for them interesting and appreciate the many clubs at lunchtime and after school that enhance their skills in music and sport. They enjoy the broad topics and the good opportunities to research using books and the internet. A wide range of visits, including residential trips, enhance the curriculum and help to develop pupils’ academic, personal and social skills.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils enjoy many opportunities to reflect on issues such as the wonders of nature, the problems of poverty across the world and how it must feel to be disabled. For example, one class learned much about the challenges faced by blind people by being led blindfolded around the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has made good use of the helpful expertise of the local authority in the past to improve the provision. This support is less evident now with fewer local authority advisers available.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has a good awareness of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, including its performance compared with that of other schools, gained through regular visits and meetings with the senior leaders. Governors have the knowledge to challenge the leaders and they take a full part in school improvement. They are closely involved in the evaluation of teachers’ performance and the related decisions about their pay. Governors have benefited from useful training based clearly on the school’s priorities. They have a good awareness of the school’s budget and know how the funding for disadvantaged pupils is spent, for example, on individual tuition, provision of a ‘nurture group’ and an attendance officer. However, the school provides too little information about the impact of this funding to enable it to evaluate its effectiveness in raising standards and improving attendance.

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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 119981 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 412667

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 183 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Cathryn Wilkinson Headteacher David Lloyd Date of previous school inspection 17 September 2009 Telephone number 01530 834030 Fax number 01530 830177 Email address office@warrenhills.leics.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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