John Hunt Primary School

John Hunt Primary and Nursery School London Road, New Balderton, Newark, NG24 3BN

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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.  Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage, and develop a wide range of skills and understanding.  Most pupils make good progress from Year 1 to Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics.  Teaching is mainly good and some is outstanding.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress.  Behaviour within classrooms and around school is consistently good. Pupils’ good behaviour makes a strong contribution to learning.  The school’s experienced and visionary headteacher, senior leaders, governors and staff at all levels are fully committed to the school’s continuous improvement in the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.  All subjects are enriched with effective opportunities to develop pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness.  Governors are highly skilled and well-informed which enables them to challenge the school to

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

improve in all areas. They manage finance well, and hold the school to account for its actions.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils do not have enough opportunities to practise their problem solving skills.  The proportion of outstanding teaching is not high enough. Work provided is sometimes not demanding enough particularly for the most able.  Despite a rise in attendance, it is still slightly below average.  Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work is not sufficiently informative and does not consistently describe the next steps in learning.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 16 lessons and some part lessons; ten of these were observed jointly with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher respectively.  Inspectors talked with pupils, looked at samples of their work, and listened to pupils read. They also visited the school’s breakfast club.  Meetings were held with teachers, a group of governors and with the school’s senior leaders.  In planning the inspection, inspectors took account of 57 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), together with views of parents and carers expressed in writing or during informal discussions with inspectors. Account was also taken of 37 questionnaires completed by the school staff.  The inspectors observed the work of the school and looked at many documents, including pupil progress data, and records of the school’s monitoring and self evaluation, together with the school’s development plan.  Documentation regarding the management of teachers’ performance and minutes of governing

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Information about this inspection

body meetings were also taken into account.

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Inspection team

David Edwards, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Sajid Gulzar Additional Inspector Ann Glynne Jones Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 John Hunt is larger than the average-sized primary school.  A significant majority of pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is significantly lower than the national average and very few speak English as an additional language.  A slightly above average percentage of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium. Pupil premium provides additional funding for children in the care of the local authority, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those from service families.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported at school action is higher than average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about this school

 There is a breakfast club on site which is managed by the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching and thus further increase pupils’ progress in mathematics and English by ensuring that:  all teachers have consistently high expectations of what pupils can achieve  the pace of teaching and learning is always brisk  pupils have more opportunities to develop their problem solving skills in mathematics  work is not too easy, especially for the most able pupils  teachers’ marking always informs pupils of how well they are doing and sets the next steps to move learning on  pupils consistently have the skills and opportunities to evaluate the quality of their own work and that of their classmates using appropriate learning prompts  making sure that pupils are given the time to make high quality responses to teachers’ marking.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attendance to above the national average by:  Extending the existing good practice which exists in the school, to improve the attendance of the few pupils who do not attend as regularly as they should.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils achieve well owing to mainly good and sometimes outstanding teaching. The school sets challenging targets for itself. It uses progress meetings about pupils to identify pupils who are not making the progress expected of them. This aids teachers’ planning so that they can provide additional help and support to accelerate pupils’ progress where needed.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the Nursery with levels of skills, knowledge and understanding which are below those expected, with often weak communication, language and literacy skills and in their personal, social and emotional development, in particular. They make good and sometimes outstanding progress and this continues into the Reception class. They enter Year 1 with attainment that is broadly in line with national averages.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The end-of-year teacher assessments show that attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is broadly in line with national averages at Year 2. The school’s accurate checks on pupils’ achievement at Key Stage 2 show that they have made good progress. The provisional Year 6 test results for 2013 show that standards in reading, writing and mathematics are above those expected for their age. Currently, not enough more-able pupils reach or exceed the levels expected of them.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Standards in reading are good at both key stages, because the school teaches reading and phonics (sounds that letters make) in dedicated daily sessions and pupils quickly become fluent readers. Pupils in the Year 1 phonics check have achieved well above national expectations in 2013.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The majority of pupils make good progress. Almost all pupils are eager, confident readers. They are keen to talk about the books they are reading, their preferred style of book and favourite authors. Pupils read well for their age. They read with good expression and obvious enjoyment.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils eligible for pupil premium make good progress, often as a direct result of skilful support by well-trained teaching assistants. The gap between these pupils and others in the school is closing and they are now around two terms behind their classmates. They are about one and a half terms behind other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Inspection evidence and school records show that disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. This is as a result of close checks on their progress, good teaching and additional support.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the last three years, leaders and managers have made considerable improvements to the quality of teaching in English and mathematics. For example, a strong emphasis on improving the quality of writing has resulted in accelerated progress in this area. Although pupils are generally doing well in mathematics, progress is inhibited because they do not have enough opportunities to develop their problem solving skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is generally lively and engages all the pupils. Lessons are well planned and make clear to pupils what they are expected to learn. In most classes pupils work with their teacher to decide what they must do to complete the task well. However, in a small minority of lessons, some work is not always sufficiently challenging, especially for more-able pupils. Their progress slows as a result.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage, teachers use both the inside and outside areas well to develop all areas of learning. They have a strong focus on developing language skills and provide many opportunities to encourage children to develop their vocabulary. For example, children were totally engaged in discussions as they produced a visual story about the dragon and the princess. This produced some high quality work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most lessons are motivating and challenging and well-matched to pupils’ ability, giving each pupil good opportunities to think hard and to make good gains in learning. For example, in an outstanding French language lesson in Key Stage 2, the teacher carefully and quickly built on previous learning. She used visual prompts and role play to improve pupils’ French speaking skills and pronunciation. The activity was fun and totally engaging, so that pupils made rapid progress. Such activities enhance pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This excellent practice is not consistent in some classes.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils are encouraged to write for different purposes and to use their writing skills in other areas of learning. Inspectors saw some good, highly imaginative, examples of story and letter writing by older pupils. This good practice has led to a rise in standards in the subject across the school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Mathematics is mostly well taught. The school has placed a great emphasis on improving pupils’ calculation skills which has led to a rise in standards in the subject across the school. However, the progress of some pupils is inhibited by a lack of opportunity to regularly develop their problem solving skills in the subject.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils that have difficulty reading, including those with special educational needs, or those eligible to receive the pupil premium funding, receive effective help from a team of specially trained teaching assistants. Almost all these pupils make good, and sometimes outstanding, progress in their reading.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils eligible for the pupil premium receive extra help and resources from teachers and support staff which enable them to make good progress. While the quality of teaching provided for these pupils has improved markedly over the last two years, it is not yet consistently outstanding, as would be required to fully close the gap in the standards between these pupils and their peers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark and assess work regularly. While there are examples of good marking which inform pupils accurately about how well they are doing and set the next steps in learning, this practice is not consistent across the school. Pupils are not consistently being given opportunities to evaluate the quality of their own work and that of their classmates. They are not regularly asked to respond to teachers’ marking.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The overwhelming majority of pupils have exceptionally positive attitudes to learning; they take part in learning activities with real enthusiasm because they are keen to do well. Their behaviour in lessons and around the school is consistently good.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils from different backgrounds show considerable respect for each other’s feelings, views and property; they readily work together in different situations. They are very courteous, helpful and polite to visitors. Relationships between pupils and with the staff are strong and lead to a harmonious learning community.  Pupils have a very strong awareness of various kinds of unsafe situations and understand about the dangers of the internet and cyber bullying through the school’s assemblies and its rich, vibrant curriculum.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say they feel really safe in school, and in travelling to and from school. They understand what bullying means and say that it is very rare but if it happens the teachers deal it with swiftly. Behaviour records show that any incidents of poor behaviour, including a few instances of bullying and racial discrimination, are dealt with promptly and effectively. Parents and carers endorse the view that the school cares well for their children. The care for those whose circumstances makes them vulnerable is particularly good.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good, and supported by a wide range of high quality extra-curricular and enrichment activities.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school has introduced measures to raise attendance so that it is now edging closer to the national average. However, a small number of pupils do not attend as regularly as they should. This prevents behaviour and safety from being outstanding.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’ breakfast club is enjoyed by pupils. It supports their personal development and gives them a good start to their school day.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher provide strong and effective leadership which in many ways is outstanding. They have a relentless drive for continuous improvement in all aspects of the life and work of the school. However, leadership and management are not outstanding overall because some inconsistencies in the quality of teaching still remain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s procedures for gaining an accurate view of its performance are thorough, and have enabled leaders to identify the correct areas for improvement. Senior leaders also have an accurate view of the quality of teaching in the school. Subject leaders are effective in their roles. They know the standards in their subject and areas for improvement. This has led to a rise in standards in reading and writing across the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teaching is monitored effectively and teachers and teaching assistants are given good support. Processes to manage the performance of teachers are robust and clearly linked to pupils’ progress. For example, leaders make very good use of the Teaching Standards. Teachers say they feel well supported, and talk with enthusiasm about recent improvements.

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The leadership and management are good

 Individual assessment practices of classroom teachers and the whole-school tracking processes are robust. They quickly identify any emerging under-performance in groups so that swift and effective action can be taken to support such pupils so that they can make the progress expected of them.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s own evaluation of how well it is doing is accurate and makes clear where its strengths and weaknesses lie. The planning for further improvements is correctly focused on improving the achievement of all pupils, and the measures taken have the full support of governors.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local education authority has confidence in the school. As such it provides light-touch support.  The governance of the school:  Governors are highly skilled, well trained and able to challenge the leaders of the school in all areas of performance. They manage safeguarding procedures robustly.  Governors manage finances thoroughly and skilfully and are linking performance to teachers’ increases in salary. Performance management procedures are appropriate. Governors manage the spending of the pupil premium funding and measure the impact of the support provided by that funding on pupils’ progress.  Governors manage the deployment of resources well. They are able to compare the performance of the school to local schools and those in similar contexts. They are ambitious for the school and have high expectations of pupils’ progress and achievement.

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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 122614 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 412194

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 436 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Nick London Headteacher June Braddow Date of previous school inspection 15 June 2010 Telephone number 01636 682007 Fax number 01636 682007 Email address office@johnhunt.notts.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

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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