Imperial Avenue Infant School

P R O T E C T – I N S P E C T I O N School report

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Imperial Avenue Infant School Imperial Avenue, Leicester, LE3 1AH

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 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

 Not enough pupils are making and exceeding the progress expected of them by the end of Year 2.  While there have been improvements in pupils’ standards, these have yet to be consistently sustained over time.  The standard of reading in Key Stage 1, particularly for the more able pupils, is significantly below the national average.  Teachers do not always have high enough expectations for all their pupils.  In some lessons, pupils do not get actively involved soon enough and there is not enough variety of tasks and activities to meet their different needs.  Teachers do not always check their pupils’ progress in class and then adapt their lessons accordingly.  Support staff are not used effectively in all lessons.  Pupils are not given enough models of what good writing looks like and help with their writing.  The school does not have a rigorous enough system of marking to show pupils clearly what they need to do to improve.

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

 Not enough use is made of school information to identify patterns of poor attendance and tackle them.  The actions of school leaders have led to some improvements in teaching but not enough for pupils to make good progress.  The governing body does not demonstrate enough knowledge of pupils’ performance. This means that, over time, senior leaders have not always had the level of challenge needed to help bring about improvements.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school is good. They know how to stay safe.  The teaching of letters and sounds is good, and pupils in Year 1 pupils performed particularly well in the national screening check.  The Early Years Foundation Stage gives pupils a good start to their time at school.  Pupils with disabilities or complex special educational needs receive good, individual care and attention and make similar progress to other pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 17 lessons, of which four were joint observations with the headteacher or the deputy headteacher. In addition, the inspection team looked at pupils’ work in their books and listened to them read.  There were meetings with groups of pupils, senior leaders and representatives of the governing body and the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 10 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and talked to parents at the start of the school day. Inspectors also considered the 26 responses to a staff questionnaire.  The inspection team examined the school’s own data on pupils’ current progress; planning and monitoring documentation; records relating to behaviour and attendance; and documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Richard Boswell, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Hermione Horn Additional Inspector Susan Tabberer Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Imperial Avenue Infant School is larger than the average-sized infant school. Since the last inspection, the number of pupils at the school has increased.  Just over half of the pupils are of White British heritage and just under half of the pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds.  Just over a quarter of pupils speak, or are learning to speak, English as an additional language.  The percentage of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is above average. This provides additional funding for pupils in local authority care, those known to be eligible for free school meals and pupils with a parent in the armed services.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported by school action is average. The proportion supported by school action plus or a statement of special educational needs is also average.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, particularly in Key Stage 1, so that it is consistently good or better by ensuring that all teachers:  always have high expectations of what all pupils can do, particularly the more able, and swiftly move from the start of the lesson into pupils getting actively involved in their learning  provide a variety of activities and tasks and continually assess their pupils’ progress in class, changing and adapting their lessons in response to their needs  make the best use of non-teaching staff in all stages of the lesson to support, monitor and engage with pupils  support pupils’ creative writing by providing banks of words and model examples of simple sentences to get them started.  Improve the effectiveness of the school’s leadership by:  swiftly responding to the training needs of staff  developing and consistently applying a system of marking that helps pupils to identify the next

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

steps they need to take to move their learning on  identifying reading levels quickly and accurately and providing appropriately challenging books that will stimulate pupils’ enjoyment of reading.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve rates of pupil attendance by making more use of school information to identify any emerging patterns of poor attendance and tackling them immediately.

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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

 Although standards for the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics have improved since the last inspection, they are still only broadly average in writing and mathematics, and are below average in reading. Significantly fewer of the more-able pupils than is found nationally are achieving the highest standards in reading.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 From 2010 to 2012, the rate of pupils’ progress over Years 1 and 2 improved to being broadly in line with national expectations. The school’s own records show a similar picture this year. Not enough pupils are making more than expected progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are given very effective support from individual teaching assistants and they make broadly similar progress to other pupils. ‘Blossom’, the school’s nurture group, is a successful resource and helps vulnerable pupils to continue to make progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s drive to promote equality and to tackle discrimination is evident in the fact that, in 2012, the attainment of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals was similar to that of their classmates in English and mathematics. They made good progress and they did better than similar pupils nationally.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children joined the school in 2013 with starting points that were below age-related expectations. In 2012, these were well below. Children make rapid progress in both Nursery and Reception Years and the Early Years Foundation Stage equips them well for their future education.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school has a systematic approach to the learning of letters and sounds and the school’s results in the Year 1 phonics test were considerably above the national average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who speak English as an additional language make particularly good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and attain standards in line with similar pupils nationally.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ expectations of their pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 are not consistently high enough in all lessons. There is also too little variety of activities to match pupils’ needs. As a result, the most able pupils are too often set work that is not sufficiently challenging. This was seen, for example, in a Year 1 numeracy lesson on measuring and estimating straight lengths, in which all pupils were set the same task.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In some classes, teachers’ lesson introductions go on for too long. As a result, pupils lose concentration and do not make as rapid progress as they could. This is particularly true for those pupils in Key Stage 1 who find it harder to concentrate on a task or more difficult to grasp an idea.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 While much of the teaching is well planned and structured, some teachers in Key Stage 1 are not assessing their pupils’ learning in the course of the lesson or changing their plans in response to pupils’ progress. This means that opportunities are missed either to move on more quickly to the next stage or to take time to go back over a point and ensure that it is understood.  There is a lack of consistency in the way teachers mark pupils’ work and so pupils do not always have a clear idea about how to improve their work and are not always given the time to make corrections.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Inspectors saw examples of excellent support being given by non-teaching staff to individual pupils with disabilities or with complex special needs. In some lessons in Years 1 and 2, however, non-teaching staff are not deployed effectively by teachers and opportunities are not taken for them to monitor and support groups of pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Evidence in Years 1 and 2 from pupils’ writing in their books and from lesson observations shows that pupils do not always have enough resources to support their learning. For example, in a Year 2 class writing about how Mr Fox feels, the absence of a bank of words, left many pupils unable to start the task.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers use questioning well in lessons in order to probe pupils’ understanding and to encourage deeper thought. Speaking is given a high priority in the classroom and good use is made of talk partners, group discussions and role-play. As a result, pupils are confident speakers and demonstrate good range in their vocabulary and accuracy in their grammar.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning in lessons are good and, from Nursery to Year 2, they show a rapidly growing ability to work well in pairs and groups, helping each other and learning to negotiate. Pupils are also used to concentrating on their own work for a length of time.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour around school is good. They are kind and considerate with each other, and courteous and respectful to adults. In the playground, they are quick to befriend anyone at the ‘Friendship Stop’ and play energetically and safely in pairs and in groups.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Rewards and certificates are used well, and pupils are enthusiastic about receiving, for example, house points for good behaviour and attendance.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils understand important messages about staying safe, for example, during the inspection, pupils from the Nursery went out to receive simple road safety instruction. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 told inspectors about the importance of protecting themselves on the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are confident and well informed when talking about bullying and know what to do if it should occur. The school regularly sends information to parents regarding bullying and other aspects of pupils’ behaviour and safety.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school keeps detailed records of pupils’ behaviour and staff work hard to maintain a zero rate of exclusions. Pupils who occasionally demonstrate challenging behaviour are managed well by staff and there is little disruption to learning. Other pupils show tolerance and consideration.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In spite of the school’s efforts, pupils’ attendance has remained stubbornly below the national average since the last inspection.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although senior leaders monitor and accurately evaluate the quality of teaching, aspects of teaching that require improvement are not addressed swiftly enough through appropriate training and support.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have not ensured that policies are implemented consistently, particularly those in relation to marking.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although the school works hard to engage with parents, there is still work to be done to reach all families and to ensure that pupils’ attendance remains a high priority. The school does not currently make full use of the information it collects regarding attendance and there is not enough analysis of patterns of absences in order to help reduce them.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders do not check that pupils’ reading levels are always quickly and accurately identified by teachers. The school does not provide enough appropriately challenging books that stimulate pupils’ enjoyment of reading.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 School leaders feel they have received a reasonable level of guidance from the local authority with termly visits, advice from the behaviour support team and staff training as requested. Other partnerships include a cluster of other infant schools and links to aid the transition to junior schools.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The curriculum is designed to cater for the particular needs of the pupils. Science is well represented and the school recently had a practical science week. This included an assembly from a visiting science specialist; parents involved in experiments with slime and bubbles; and use of the school’s multi-sensory room.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils access information and communication technology in many subjects, either in the school’s computer suite or through the mobile laptop trolleys. Art, dance and music all feature strongly. Boys and girls, for example, engage in street and jazz dance in after-school clubs, learning dances and creating their own.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Physical education is well resourced, from balancing games in Nursery to hockey, tennis and football in Key Stage 1 and an ex-pupil of the school runs a skipping club.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The spiritual and moral dimension is embraced in the Early Years Foundation Stage through regular visits from a puppeteer, dramatising stories and fables. Older pupils have their horizons broadened through visits to a farm, for example, and to the local Museum of Childhood. A key theme in the work on religions and faiths is ‘Diversity and Harmony’. This theme is well illustrated in the daily life of the school and the interaction between pupils and between staff and pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governance requires improvement. Over time, the governing body has not held the school to account well enough and governors do not demonstrate enough knowledge of pupils’ performance. Further training is required for the governing body to have full confidence in examining data. While governors show pride in the school and a desire to support senior leaders, they have not offered the level of challenge needed to help bring about improvements. They demonstrate careful management of the school finances and ensure that procedures are in place to links rewards for teachers to the progress their pupils make. They ensure that statutory requirements regarding safeguarding are all met. Governors have oversight of the spending and impact of funding from the pupil premium. This has been spent on coaching for weaker readers, access to school visits and providing a leader for the school’s

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The leadership and management requires improvement

nurture group. Governors demonstrated evidence to show the successful impact of these measures.

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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 120014 Local authority Leicester Inspection number 405902

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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 Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 262 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Arthur Manger Headteacher Jenny Pickering Date of previous school inspection 1 February 2011 Telephone number 0116 282 4503 Fax number 0116 282 7457 Email address office@imperialavenue.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

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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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