Setting

Mr Peter Stonier Headteacher Jacksdale Primary and Nursery School Main Road Jacksdale Nottinghamshire NG16 5JU

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and Nursery School

Following my visit to your school on 20 May 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report 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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and Nursery School

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 you, leaders responsible for the Early Years Foundation Stage and mathematics, the Chair of the Governing Body and another governor, and an associate education improvement adviser commissioned by the local authority. The school post Ofsted action plan was evaluated. A tour of the school was undertaken with the headteacher. The findings of school monitoring activities and the performance management of staff were discussed.

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Context

There have been no significant contextual changes since the section 5 inspection. A new deputy headteacher has been appointed for the autumn term to fill the current vacancy. 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 Direct T 0121 679 9165 Direct email :victoria.mortimore2@serco.com

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Main findings

The school has been heavily focussed on raising consistency in teaching, to ensure pupils’ good progress in every lesson. Staff are taking better account of assessment data to adapt their lessons to the full range of pupils’ needs in each class. However, subject and senior leaders have identified that greater challenge is still needed for higher achieving pupils. Pupils’ work is monitored, including the marking of their work in literacy and numeracy books, but senior leaders do not check lesson planning carefully enough and there has been too little checking of pupils’ work in other subjects. Children’s progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage is not accelerating quickly enough and the quality of outdoor provision for children in both nursery and reception classes is poor. The school has an accurate view that this provision requires development. There have been many initiatives to improve the range of outdoor activities for pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 at break times, resulting

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Main findings

in older pupils being more purposefully engaged outside of lessons and an improvement in behaviour.

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Main findings

Governors have committed themselves to improving the school and undertaken further training in using pupil progress data and to help them better understand their responsibilities. Consequently, they are more aware of the role they play in school improvement and have put together their own action plan for the governing body. They accept they require further training to organise effective systems for monitoring the school and holding senior leaders to account. They have planned for an external review of governance which is imminent and was a requirement of the last inspection. Governors are not monitoring the school’s management of the performance of staff carefully enough. They are aware of the need to evaluate the impact of additional funding on support for particular groups of pupils (the ‘pupil premium), but have not yet begun to check this. The school has had some success with promoting pupils’ reading at home, but this is still not commonplace for all

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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. The school should take further action to:

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Main findings

 develop the effectiveness of the governing body by completing the external review of governance and undertaking further training  review the provision across the Early Years Foundation Stage  sharpen procedures for managing the performance of all staff, which are linked to their personal development and to pupils’ learning and progress  use pupil premium funding more effectively to directly raise pupils’ achievement and to improve the partnership with parents to support their children’s learning at home.  schedule further visits to the school by HMI, initially to meet with and provide training for the full governing body, and then to evaluate the Early Years Foundation Stage. Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The school is drawing effectively on a range of external support. Staff are making good use of other local schools to help them recognise good practice. The local authority is supporting members of the governing body in understanding their role, particularly in monitoring particular groups of pupils’ progress and achievement. The school needs to continue to access additional external support to improve governance and to improve the consistency of teaching.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Nottinghamshire.

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