Sundorne Infant School and Nursery

Sundorne Infant School Corndon Crescent, Sundorne Road, Shrewsbury, SY1 4LE

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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.  The quality of teaching is good, with examples of outstanding practice.  The good behaviour of pupils makes this school a happy place where they are able to learn. They develop a wide range of social skills and make good progress in a safe and inspiring environment.  The rapid growth of numbers of pupils, including those with some learning difficulty, has created challenges that the school has tackled with skill. As a result, all groups of pupils make good progress.  Senior leaders expect the very best from all. Staff are encouraged to develop their talents in order to improve the quality of pupils’ learning.  Leaders, including governors, check accurately the quality of teaching and learning. These show that the overall progress of pupils is good.  The school has good relationships with parents and carers, and plays a major role in community life.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ work is not always planned to meet the abilities of the individual, especially the more able.  Outstanding teaching is more common in the Early Years Foundation Stage than in Years 1 and 2.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed a total of 24 lessons, covering every teacher and class from Nursery to Year 2.  Pupils talked with inspectors about their learning, and many were heard to read.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, a local authority representative and a sports coach from Coach England. Meetings were also held with various groups of teaching staff. The questionnaire responses from 40 staff were considered.  The views of 34 parents and carers, from the online questionnaire Parent View, were also taken into account, together with views expressed directly to inspectors during the inspection.  Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ books, observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s own information regarding pupils’ progress, planning and monitoring documentation, evidence relating to child protection and safeguarding, and records relating to attendance.

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Inspection team

Keith Shannon, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Mary Maybank Additional Inspector Michael Onyon Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is large for infant and nursery schools, with over 150 more pupils than at the last inspection.  The overwhelming majority of the pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is around average, while there are very small numbers of pupils in the care of the local authority. These groups of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium, which is additional government funding.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is broadly average; the proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or having a statement of special educational needs is also average.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make sure that more-able pupils are able to improve their skills to reach the higher levels of attainment by: - developing their understanding of reading from accessing more challenging texts and extending the breadth of their reading - enabling them to write more complex sentences using a wider range of vocabulary in longer pieces of extended writing - improving their ability to solve challenging word problems in mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the amount of outstanding teaching in Years 1 and 2 by:  having even higher expectations of what more-able pupils can achieve  making sure that teachers, in their marking of work, give older and more-able pupils greater guidance in how to improve  sharing more widely the best teaching in the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils start in the Nursery with skills and understanding that are below those typically expected for their age. They make outstanding progress through the Nursery, with good progress in the Reception classes. By the time they reach Year 1, they are generally at the expected level for their age, and sometimes higher.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children continue to make good progress in Key Stage 1 and, by the end of Year 2, they reach standards that are generally above national averages. This is especially so in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Following a dip in English standards in 2012 to national averages, the current Year 2 pupils are on track to reach above national averages in 2013. This represents good progress from their starting points. The progress of younger children is even stronger.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The promotion of equality of opportunity is good. Effective checks are carried out, showing that all groups of pupils make good progress. The school is successfully closing the gap in attainment between those who are eligible for the pupil premium and those who are not. This year all groups of pupils who are eligible are progressing well, although there is still a difference between their performance in reading, writing and mathematics and that of others of about one term.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled children and those who have special educational needs are very well supported and make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils learn to read well. They are taught phonics (the sounds that letters make) successfully, and use these skills to work out words they do not recognise. Most pupils read well by the end of Year 2, although more-able readers are not always challenged as much as they could be. Pupils are encouraged to read regularly at home, and there are good examples of parents and teachers supporting one another to reinforce skills learnt.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement overall is not yet outstanding because the numbers reaching the higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics, especially in Year 2, could be further increased. At times, more-able pupils are not given sufficiently challenging problems to solve in mathematics or enough opportunities to develop their use of more complex sentences through extended writing

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Staff use information well and check pupils’ individual progress half-termly. Extra support is given for those who are performing below their expected target. This can cover learning, social or emotional needs. It is often carried out through the team of skilled teaching assistants, who play a significant part in helping pupils do their best.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is good, with many examples that are outstanding. This is especially so in the Nursery and Reception classes. Strong relations between colleagues, and a shared understanding of how best to meet individual needs, have resulted in Nursery teaching that is consistently outstanding. Children take a great deal of personal responsibility for their learning, which results in outstanding progress being made.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The learning environment, both in classrooms, corridors and outside, is stimulating and celebrates pupils’ learning. Great attention has been paid to ensuring that pupils learn through many different methods, including the creation of a Forest School, structured play area, lots of large equipment and gardens.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ work and behaviour, though there are occasions, especially in Years 1 and 2, when more could be expected of the most able. Learning flows well throughout the day in calm and purposeful lessons. In a Reception class, pupils wanted to continue into their break time to ensure that they had completed the activity. One wrote a lengthy descriptive passage, which she was able to read back and discuss. Pupils are encouraged to ask questions in a way that will enable them to think and follow up on answers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Great efforts have been made to raise the effectiveness of marking pupils’ work. Even for very young pupils, teachers are showing how work can be improved further. However, with some older and more-able pupils, this does not go far enough.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The effective use of pupil premium funding has enabled those eligible to benefit from individual and small-group work, especially in reading.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils around the school is good. They are polite, respectful, supportive of one another in play, and add to a calm atmosphere.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are well managed and understand what is acceptable behaviour. They enjoy the rewards they can earn, and told inspectors how much they enjoy the school. Pupils were also very clear about how safe they feel, who they would turn to if they were worried or scared, and why it is important to look after one another. Parents and carers also said that their children are safe in school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school encourages pupils to develop their own skills in maintaining the environment. For example, the Forest School and the gardens give opportunities to learn about nature and how to work collaboratively, or on their own, to understand the world around them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils use the internet and are taught, in ways appropriate to their age, how to use it safely.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils said that there was no bullying or ‘making fun of people because they’re different’. They were clear about what they should do if any bullying or discrimination did take place.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance has improved due to a clearly understood set of expectations by the school, and is now in line with national averages.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In lessons, pupils are generally keen to learn and, in the case of the younger pupils especially, take great pride in having great responsibility for their learning. Some pupils, however, do not do this enough and can rely upon the teacher too much.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has successfully communicated his passion and drive for excellence to all staff, governors and parents. This is shown by the overwhelming support that was evident in staff questionnaire returns and the online questionnaire Parent View.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is supported by a very experienced deputy headteacher and a developing senior leadership team. Together, they work to raise standards and give all pupils the education they need.

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The leadership and management are good

 With the rapid rise in numbers of pupils and the admittance of pupils with increasingly complex learning needs, staff have been quick to increase their own skills in how best to help. Senior leaders, through regular checking of teaching and progress, are able to highlight where attention is needed to ensure raised attainment.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority knows the school well and uses it as an exemplar of good practice, with many benefiting from training visits to the school. The local authority has a light touch approach to supporting the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 There is a good curriculum with many opportunities for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. There are assemblies celebrating pupils’ successes, other cultures and faiths, as well as many stimulating examples of activities before and after school where pupils develop friendships with one another across age groups.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has extremely positive links with parents, and works effectively with external agencies.

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The leadership and management are good

 School leaders, including governors, closely track how training and support help to improve the quality of teaching. This is done through lesson observations, discussions with teachers and pupils, and scrutiny of work. Opportunities are not always taken to share examples of outstanding teaching with all staff. The performance management of teachers is linked closely to the progress of pupils in their care. Teachers work well to create learning that brings about good progress for pupils, although the challenge for the school is to make sure that greater attention is given to the work set for the more-able pupils in particular.  Safeguarding arrangements meet statutory arrangements.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has a balance of experienced and new people as its membership. Governors undergo initial training to ensure that they can challenge leaders successfully, and they ensure that their skills are regularly updated. They match available expertise to specific tasks and committees. Governors visit school regularly and are able to assess the impact of their decisions. They have an appropriate understanding of the school’s performance management and appraisal systems, and how these have been used in the past. Decisions about teachers’ pay are closely linked to performance and responsibilities. Governors track finances well, including the use of the pupil premium money. They support the school in deciding how this money is to be used, and question its impact. Their understanding of data gives them an appropriate awareness of pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching.

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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 123395 Local authority Shropshire Inspection number 413405

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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 Nursery and Infant School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 401 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Emily Wada Headteacher Alan Derry Date of previous school inspection 15 November 2005 Telephone number 01743 362519 Fax number 01743 358737 Email address head.sundorne-inf@shropshirelg.net 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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