Heanor Langley Infant School & Nursery

Heanor Langley Infant School and Nursery Laceyfields Road, Langley, Heanor, DE75 7HJ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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

 Most pupils in Key Stage 1 are not making as rapid progress in writing and mathematics as in reading.  Teachers do not always have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve and so the work is sometimes too easy.  The way some teachers ask questions and the pace of some lessons means that sometimes pupils are not fully involved in the lesson, so they do not do as well as they could.  Staffing has changed since the last inspection, and instability has limited the school’s improvement.  The progress that different groups of pupils make is not carefully checked.  Marking in books does not always give pupils a clear idea of how they can improve and, when it does, they are often not given time to respond.  Not enough members of staff have had the opportunity to develop the skills needed to check how well different subjects are taught and how well pupils are doing in those subjects.  Governors do not rigorously check how well

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

the school is doing or challenge the senior teachers enough to hold them accountable for improving the school.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage where teaching is good and activities develop children’s skills well.  Pupils who are disabled or have complex special educational needs are well cared for by sensitive and nurturing staff and they make good progress.  Pupils behave well and enjoy learning in a safe environment. They are polite and courteous to adults and each other. The pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is particularly good.  The school works with other schools, both in this country and abroad, to give pupils a good understanding of other cultures.  Leaders have shown they can improve the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 12 lessons or parts of lessons, three of which were seen together with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with the headteachers, staff, two groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and other governors, and a representative of the local authority. Informal discussions were held with parents and carers.  The inspectors took account of 20 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), school questionnaires, individual communications from parents and 17 completed staff questionnaires .  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at: information from the school’s checks on its performance; its analysis and tracking of pupils’ progress; school improvement plans; leaders’ records of classroom observations; safeguarding arrangements; and records of governing body meetings.  They also looked at pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and checked information on pupils’

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Inspection team

Susan Hughes, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Roary Pownall Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school and caters for pupils from age three to seven years old.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium, which is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, those in local authority care or those with a parent in the armed services, is below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is below average, while those supported at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs is average.  The school has suffered considerable staff absences and changes in staffing over recent years.  The headship of the school is shared between two key staff. While the senior leader takes the role of headteacher for four days a week, the deputy headteacher steps into the role for one day each week.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that more pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics by ensuring that:  work is always well matched to pupils’ abilities and teachers have high expectations of what they can do  the pace of lessons and teachers’ questioning make sure all pupils are fully involved in learning  marking in books gives pupils clear guidance as to what they need to do to improve and that they are routinely given the opportunity to respond.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:  senior and subject leaders develop the skills they need to check pupils’ progress and give teachers guidance as to how they can improve  pupils’ progress is always checked accurately and the information is used to make sure no groups of pupils are falling behind  governors ask challenging questions and hold senior leaders accountable for improving the school; visits to the school are tightly focused on school improvement priorities and are always reported to other governors.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

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

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because the progress of pupils in Key Stage 1 is not good. While work in books shows that some girls make good progress in writing, the progress of most pupils is not so rapid in this area and progress is also slower in mathematics. The main reason progress is not more rapid is that teaching does not always give good attention to pupils’ individual needs and abilities.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Most pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium make similar progress to other groups of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. They are currently making particularly good progress with reading in Year 1. The funding is used effectively to enable them to be taught and supported in small groups when needed and to have individual help at times.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 While disabled pupils and those who have complex special educational needs are well supported and make good progress, pupils with less-complex special educational needs mostly make progress similar to other groups of pupils. However, in their case it is better in reading and mathematics than in writing.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children in the Nursery and Reception classes are making good progress. They started school with skills and understanding weaker than is typical for their age. Well-planned activities and good teaching means that the nursery children now have skills closer to those typical for their age. Children currently in the Reception class did not make as much progress as they should last year. Their progress has accelerated this year and their development is now also much closer to that typical for their age.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The results of the national screening check on how well pupils know the sounds that letters make (phonics) in Year 1 last year were below average, especially for boys. Reading standards have improved this year in Year 2 and are now broadly average. Pupils use their understanding of phonics to read unfamiliar words. For example, during the inspection one pupil was able to sound out ‘Nottingham’ when reading a story about Robin Hood.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because teachers do not always have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. This means that in some lessons the work is too easy, especially for more able pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In some lessons the pace is too slow. This is because teachers take too long to explain what they are doing. Where teaching is good teachers demonstrate what pupils are going to do and they swiftly move on to more active learning, for example working independently.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Some lesson introductions are productive because they involve pupils from the outset. For example, in one lesson, the teacher pretended to be a character in a book and the pupils asked her questions. They then had a good understanding of what was expected of them in their independent work.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ questioning does not always involve as many pupils as it could. They ask questions of the whole class and respond only to pupils who raise their hands. This means that some pupils rely on others to answer the questions and do not contribute. Others may not have a secure understanding of what is being taught, but because they are sitting quietly listening to others, the teacher does not always identify this.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Marking in books does not consistently give pupils clear guidance as to how to improve. While most teachers add an improvement point in English books, this is not always used in other subjects. Sometimes the comments are too general to be helpful or repeat previous guidance. In some classes pupils are given the opportunity to respond but this is not the case in all subjects and across the school.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the past not all assessments have been accurate. This means that some pupils’ starting points are unclear. However, the accuracy of teachers’ assessment is improving and the work seen in books during the inspection matched the school progress and assessment data.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Activities are well planned to develop a range of skills. Teachers have high expectations of what children will learn from each activity, and routinely share these expectations with them. There is a good balance between children being able to choose what they do and adult-led activities to develop specific learning. For example in the nursery class, children worked with their teacher to write a diary about planting beans while others chose activities either indoors and outside.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Additional adults often support disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs in the classroom. Adults are caring and nurturing of pupils with complex needs and, while being attentive to their specific needs, they also ensure that pupils’ independence is promoted and that they are included in all class activities. Pupils with less complex needs are occasionally given work that is not accurately matched to their ability, which means they do not make as much progress as they could.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well. They are polite to adults and each other. This is because good manners and appropriate responses are modelled for them by all adults in the school, from nursery through to Year 2. They are enthusiastic about their learning and are keen to please their teachers and other adults working with them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have a good understanding about what bullying is. They could talk to the inspectors about people hurting you physically or hurting your feelings and understood that bullying was more than just ‘falling out’. They say it rarely happens in school but are confident that teachers always sort out any problems.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school develops pupils’ independence and gives them strategies to deal with problems. They say the ‘I message’ system of dealing with any unkind comments really works. It gives them a helpful way of sorting out minor misdemeanours for themselves before they need adult intervention.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say they feel safe in school. They talked to inspectors about visits by the police and fire service and were able to give the inspectors tips about checking the temperature of a door handle before opening it in case of fire.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils play harmoniously together. There is a good range of activities for them at playtimes and they readily include newcomers in their games. They share equipment, take turns and try hard to keep the football games in the designated area. Members of the school council take their role of ensuring everyone on the playground is happy very seriously.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because the checking of pupils’ progress is not rigorous enough to ensure all pupils make good progress. While the progress of individual pupils is tracked, this information does not feed into a clear view of whole school achievement or the achievement of specific groups of pupils. This means that it is harder for leaders to respond quickly to patterns of slower progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Staffing changes have also undermined the impact of leaders and managers. These mean that the efforts of leaders to maintain teaching quality at a consistently good level have not had a sustained effect, and also mean that some subject leaders lack experience.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Nevertheless the school has the capacity to improve. This is demonstrated by the eradication of weak teaching, and the key improvements in the Nursery, in pupils’ progress in reading, and those made to the accuracy of assessments.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Until very recently the headteacher and deputy headteacher have been responsible for checking progress in all subjects. New subject leaders have not yet had the opportunity to develop their skills. This means that they are not yet using school data and observations of lessons to improve teaching and learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Teachers’ performance is judged against how much progress their pupils make and how well they fulfil their different roles in the school. Targets for teachers are used to measure whether promotion up the pay scale is justified by the results achieved.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Though weaknesses in the analysis of the progress of groups limit its effectiveness in promoting equality of opportunity, the school does have some strengths in this area. It places high value on ensuring all pupils are included in activities, regardless of ability or background. This is reflected in the way pupils play and work together. Pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable or who have specific disabilities are unquestioningly accepted into the full life of the school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is a strength of the school. Good links with a school in Uganda and recent links with Indian and Japanese schools give pupils a good understanding of life in other cultures. The well-planned grounds and use of the ‘Forest School’ help develop a wonder of, and respect for, the world around them.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Support from the local authority has been limited because the school has been not been identified as needing much. However, the local authority has presented data to the governing body, worked with the Early Years Foundation Stage staff and given some support to the senior leaders in the school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governors are very supportive of the school but do not have a clear picture of how it needs to improve because they do not ask enough challenging questions. They visit the school regularly but these visits are not always focused on school improvement priorities and are not always promptly reported to the rest of the governing body. They have a very clear understanding of how the pupil premium is targeted to meet pupils’ individual needs. There is a balance between individual socialising support and small group teaching. Governors are aware that there is no weak teaching in the school but have only a sketchy understanding of the new appraisal policy which links teachers’ performance and promotion up the pay scale to the progress pupils make.

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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 112557 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 412602

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 164 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Joan Valentine Headteacher Jackie Smith and Rebecca Vowles Date of previous school inspection 6 July 2010 Telephone number 01773 712823 Fax number 01773 712823 Email address info@heanorlangley.derbyshire.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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