Montrose School

Montrose School Wigston Lane, Aylestone, Leicester, LE2 8TN

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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

 The quality of teaching is inconsistent. Not enough teaching is good or better, and some pupils do not make as much progress as they should, especially in writing and mathematics.  Not all teachers are confident in planning a sequence of lessons which enable pupils to make good progress and to apply what they have learnt in other situations.  Questioning is not used well to deepen pupils’ understanding, and marking does not consistently guide pupils into improving their work.  Information about pupils’ attainment is not always accurate and, therefore, leaders are not able to easily track progress over time.  The checks that are carried out on teaching do not focus enough on the impact that teaching has on pupils’ achievement.  The school improvement plan does not specify exactly what is to be done, by when, or how much improvement is expected.  The governing body has an over-generous view of the school’s effectiveness and has not

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

held the headteacher and staff to account for the school’s performance.

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The school has the following strengths

 A safe and caring environment ensures pupils feel safe and have good relationships with staff and each other.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good.  The curriculum is enriched well through a range of visits, visitors, and lunchtime and after-school clubs.  By Year 6, pupils have good information and communication technology skills.  Behaviour is good, and above-average attendance reflects pupils’ good enjoyment of school.  Children get a good start to their education in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 25 lessons or parts of lessons. Three lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors also observed some group-reading activities and listened to pupils read.  Meetings were held with two members of the governing body, a representative of the local authority, staff and pupils. A wide range of school documents were analysed including the school’s own data concerning pupils’ current achievement, planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding arrangements and the minutes of governing body meetings.  The inspectors took into account 42 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire, responses to the school’s survey of parents, and also considered the five questionnaires returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Lois Furness, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Linda Rowley Additional Inspector David Westall Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is much larger than average.  The large majority of pupils are White British and the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well below average.  A broadly average proportion of pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium. In this school, the funding is provided for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.  No pupils are educated through alternative provision away from the school site.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is below average, but the proportion supported at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  There have been numerous staff changes since the previous inspection. A new headteacher was

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Information about this school

appointed in January 2011, a new deputy headteacher in August 2011 and four newly qualified teachers were appointed in September 2012.  Over the past 18 months, an extensive building project has been taking place and seven classes are in temporary accommodation until the new building opens in September 2013.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure all teaching is good or better and improve pupils’ progress in writing and mathematics by:  ensuring accurate assessment information is used carefully by teachers to inform their planning  developing teachers’ subject knowledge in planning for progress in learning in writing and mathematics  ensuring teachers routinely ask probing questions to check and deepen pupils’ understanding, and adjust their teaching accordingly  providing opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills in a range of different contexts  agreeing precise targets with staff for improving their teaching skills and providing any necessary training to help them achieve these performance targets  ensuring marking and feedback consistently help pupils to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, including that of the governing body, by:  developing an accurate tracking and target-setting system which enables leaders to quickly identify any underachievement  carrying out regular checks on the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning, their progress in lessons and their written work  holding regular meetings in which pupils’ progress is discussed and staff are held accountable for the progress of pupils in their class  ensuring the school improvement plan contains precise performance measures against which success can be evaluated  making sure governors hold leaders to account for the school’s performance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 By the end of Year 6, attainment is broadly average and throughout Years 1 to 6 the majority of pupils make expected or better progress. However, a minority of pupils in almost all year groups do not make enough progress, especially in writing and mathematics. Achievement, therefore, requires improvement. The systems for checking on how well pupils are learning do not always give a clear enough picture of where pupils are and how targets for their achievement should be adjusted.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children enter school with skills that are broadly typical for their age. They make good progress in Nursery and Reception. Good use is made of information about what children know and understand to plan new learning.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The attainment of pupils in the national screening check for reading at the end of Year 1 in 2012 was below the national average. However, leaders have taken action to provide stronger support in the teaching of letters and sounds (phonics), and this is having a positive effect on pupils’ learning.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 By Year 6, reading standards are at least in line with those expected for their age, and in 2012 an above average proportion of pupils attained the level above that expected. Pupils are enthusiastic about their reading and told inspectors they read regularly in school and at home. In information and communication technology pupils have skills that are above those expected for their age.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In writing and mathematics, although attainment is broadly average, work in pupils’ books show that pupils are not given work that consistently builds well enough on what they know already. At times, too many worksheets limit pupils’ independent recording skills in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The pupils supported by the extra money from the pupil premium did not make as good progress in English or mathematics as other pupils last year. The attainment of those supported by the extra money in 2012, was approximately 16 months behind in English and 18 months in mathematics. However, the gap is closing as a result of targeted intervention work and small group sessions.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make similar, varied progress to that of other pupils in the school. Pastoral care for any pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable is good. This means that they build up confidence and have positive attitudes to learning. However, this is not always reflected in the progress they make in writing and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although there is some good teaching in most year groups, there is too much teaching that requires improvement. This is because teachers do not use assessment information well enough to ensure activities are appropriate for all.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although good questioning skills were observed in Year 3 and Year 6, too many teachers do not ask sufficiently probing questions to move pupils’ learning on in lessons.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Most teachers make sure pupils know the learning expected of them and how they can achieve success. Pupils appreciate this, saying the ‘success criteria’ help them to check they are including the right things in their work, such as correct punctuation and interesting words.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In good lessons, a brisk pace is kept and high expectations are evident. Planning is good and the teachers’ good subject knowledge ensures pupils achieve well. This was seen in a Year 6 information and communication technology lesson, when the teacher’s good subject knowledge and well-planned activities ensured pupils were successful in making their own film. However, not all teachers have good subject knowledge in writing and mathematics as the work in pupils’ books shows the sequence of lessons does not build on prior learning and there are too few opportunities for pupils to use and apply new mathematical skills.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are some examples of helpful marking and feedback to pupils, especially in English. This good practice, however, is not consistent, and pupils do not always have time to respond to the comments made. Marking in mathematics does not encourage pupils to extend their learning in new contexts.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching in the Nursery and Reception classes is good. The well-organised environment encourages children’s independence effectively. Staff provide a good range of appealing and well-resourced learning activities based around meaningful themes.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Staff manage pupils’ behaviour well because they build good working relationships with them. They encourage pupils’ personal development effectively by providing good role models, through their interactions with pupils, and by providing good opportunities for pupils to work in pairs, small groups and independently.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs work well with other pupils. They are supported by additional adults who are well briefed and sensitively address pupils’ specific needs. This means that most are able to make as much progress as other pupils in the class.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are keen to learn, and above-average attendance reflects their enjoyment of school. Pupils respond enthusiastically to questions and willingly contribute ideas in lessons. Around the playground and in school corridors, they act sensibly and are extremely polite to visitors. Pupils form good relationships and go the extra mile to help one another.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In Nursery and Reception, children settle well into the routines of school life and begin to share resources with others. They behave well and listen carefully to adults. They enjoy making decisions, independent of adults, for example, deciding on the materials to use to build a house for the three little pigs.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 During the inspection, pupils’ behaviour around school was good and pupils said that behaviour was always like this. Behaviour is good rather than outstanding because at times, for example, during an assembly, a few pupils lose concentration and silly behaviour occurs.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are very clear about what bullying is and can talk about different types of bullying such as physical, emotional and cyber-bullying. They say that, although people sometimes ‘fall out’, there is no bullying in the school and any incidents that do occur are dealt with speedily by teachers.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations. They are aware of basic road safety and how to stay safe when using the internet. Pupils say they feel safe in school and all parents who responded on the online questionnaire agreed their children are kept safe.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s self-evaluation is overly generous. When checking the quality of teaching, leaders do not always have a critical enough eye, and so they do not identify clearly all the aspects of a lesson that could be improved. This leads to teaching sometimes being evaluated as good rather than requiring improvement. Leaders do not evaluate clearly enough the impact that teaching has on pupils’ achievement and on the quality of work in their books and, therefore, leadership and management require improvement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have accurately identified the areas for development and drawn up an improvement plan that aims to improve pupils’ achievement. However, the plan is not fully effective because it is not precise enough about what will improve, by how much, and by when.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The systems for managing teachers’ performance do not have sufficient influence on improving the quality of teaching, as targets are not specific enough to meet the development needs of individual teachers.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders use data to evaluate aspects of the school’s work, but the analysis is not done in sufficient depth. Information about pupils’ progress is not analysed carefully enough and, as yet, staff are not held accountable for the progress of pupils in their class. The existing tracking and target-setting system does not easily allow leaders to check how well pupils are learning term by term.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school provides a broad range of learning experiences. These include a range of extra- curricular clubs, visits and visitors to provide variety and add enjoyment. Pupils’ personal development, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is promoted well. There is a strong emphasis on the arts, including drama, music and pottery. The sponsoring of a child in Malawi has encouraged pupils to set up their own events to raise money to pay for her education.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 School leaders are particularly successful in creating a stimulating, caring and harmonious learning environment. Staff are proud to be part of the school, and pupils and parents are positive about it too.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 In the past, the local authority has provided light-touch support for this previously outstanding school, which has included a termly visit and a report for governors. However, at the request of school leaders the local authority had agreed to carry out a two-day review of the school’s provision, which was cancelled as it coincided with the Ofsted inspection.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors regularly visit the school, work with pupils and receive reports from the headteacher and the local authority. Although they ask relevant questions they have an over- generous view of the school’s effectiveness as they do not consider well enough the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning. They have not checked regularly how the headteacher is managing teachers’ performance and ensuring that pay awards are linked to this performance. They know that the pupil premium money has provided additional teaching resources for small-group sessions and for enrichment activities. However, they are not as knowledgeable about its impact on the achievement of eligible pupils. The governing body ensures that safeguarding requirements are fully met and financial management is secure. Governors regularly attend local authority training such as for safer recruitment and new governor

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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 120029 Local authority Leicester Inspection number 411956

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 460 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jenny Squance Headteacher Andrew Owens Date of previous school inspection 28 April 2009 Telephone number 0116 2832328 Fax number 0116 2839069 Email address office@montrose.leicester.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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