Setting

Mr Oliver Wright Headteacher Monyash CofE Primary School Church Street Monyash Bakewell Derbyshire DE45 1JH

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Requires improvement monitoring inspection visit under section 8 of the

Education act 2005 to Monyash CofE Primary School.

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Requires improvement monitoring inspection visit under section 8 of the

Following my visit to your school on 7 May 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Requires improvement monitoring inspection visit under section 8 of the

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in February 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with the headteacher, the assistant headteacher, members of the governing body and a school improvement advisor from the local authority. A tour of the school was undertaken with the headteacher. The school improvement plan was evaluated. The findings of school and governor monitoring activities and the performance management of staff were discussed.

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Context

There have been no significant contextual changes within the school since the section 5 inspection. The headteacher is now the substantive teacher in the Year 3/4 class until the end of the academic year. Serco Inspections 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Main findings

The school has produced an action plan which is specific, makes clear the arrangements for monitoring and the timescales to work to. Members of the governing body understand they play a crucial role in checking the work of the school, but their work is not focussed well enough on all aspects of school improvement or the entirety of their statutory responsibilities. The governing body do challenge senior leaders about the school’s performance, but need further training in how to do this better, including how to interpret data.

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Main findings

Pupils’ work is now marked thoroughly and regularly. There are early signs of improvement in marking and consistency of practice across all classes. However, pupils’ next steps are less clearly identified in mathematics than in writing. A check of lesson planning shows that activities are becoming better adapted for the full range of abilities in each class, including those pupils who require greater levels of challenge. The school has addressed weaker teaching by introducing non-negotiable check lists for planning and teaching, which are having an impact on the quality of teaching overall. However, staff with leadership and management roles are currently not properly held to account through the performance management system. There has been too little strategic curriculum planning to ensure good pupil progress in all of the subject areas across the school.

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Main findings

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

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Main findings

 commission an external review of governance in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved  involve staff and the governing body in school improvement planning and develop rigorous systems for monitoring and evaluating the work of the school  establish a robust system of performance management which ensures that all teaching at the school is consistently good or better; and that all staff are held to account for school improvement and effectively leading their specific areas of responsibility  continue to monitor the implementation and impact of the marking policy, particularly in raising achievement and pupils’ progress towards their targets in mathematics  review the planning of subjects other than literacy and numeracy to ensure pupils are sufficiently challenged and progress well in every year group  schedule further visits to the school by HMI, initially to provide training for

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Main findings

governors and then to monitor the progress of the school.

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Main findings

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

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External support

The school has received good levels of support from the local authority on improving the learning environment for the Reception children and pupils in Key Stage 1. It has overseen the development of an appropriate school improvement plan. It has moderated work in pupils’ books to ensure staff are marking pupils’ work accurately to the National Curriculum levels. Joint observations of teaching have been undertaken with the headteacher. This is helping to develop consistency of teaching practice across every year group. The local authority is also working with the Governing Body and school leaders to help plan for developing a sustainable leadership and organisational model for the school.

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External support

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

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