Niton Primary School

School report Niton Primary School School Lane, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 2BP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Inadequate 4

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.  The headteacher, managers and governing body have not done enough to tackle the serious shortcomings in the school’s effectiveness. There are too few opportunities for senior staff to be involved in checks on the quality of teaching or pupils’ progress.  The school’s judgements about how well the school is performing are too positive.  Development plans are not sufficiently detailed or checked frequently enough to see if the school’s actions are working.  Pupils in Key Stage 2 do not make enough progress from the very high standards they achieve at the end of Year 2. Teachers do not set work that is hard enough for many of these pupils.  Pupils’ progress is not checked often enough, and so pupils or groups who are falling behind are not identified sufficiently quickly. Any extra support pupils get is not regular and is not being checked to see if it is making

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

a difference. As a result, many pupils fail to reach the targets set for them.  Pupils fail to make enough progress in mathematics because planned programmes of work are too basic, and teachers are not confident enough to adapt them.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to learn to work on their own or be creative with their learning. They do not practise their literacy and numeracy skills enough in other subjects. In mathematics, they do not learn to apply their skills in real-life situations.  Teachers’ marking often fails to tell pupils what they need to do next and there are too few opportunities for pupils to respond and improve their work.  Teaching is not improving enough and teachers are not being held to account for the progress of the pupils they teach.  Until very recently, the governing body has not had enough training or been given sufficiently detailed information to understand how well

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

the school is performing. It has not demanded explanations from the school’s leaders for the poor progress of pupils.

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The school has the following strengths

 The very recently appointed consultant headteacher has brought in some rapid changes that are having an immediate effect on governors’ understanding of their role and in developing systems for improving teaching.  Children achieve well in the Reception class and in Years 1 and 2 because the teaching is good and the environment is exciting and inviting.  Children feel safe and behave well. Attendance has improved since the previous inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed all teachers by looking at 11 lessons, four of which were observed with the senior teacher. They also visited an assembly and listened to some pupils read.  Inspectors looked at work in pupils’ books during lessons and looked in detail at a selection of books from pupils in all classes.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, the consultant headteacher and senior teacher, the special educational needs coordinator and pupils from the school council. A telephone conversation was held with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors studied a range of evidence including the school’s own data on pupils’ progress and standards; policies and records relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance; and monitoring records for the quality of teaching and its relation to the salaries paid to teachers.  Inspectors took into account the views of the 26 parents who responded to the online

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Information about this inspection

questionnaire, Parent View, and the 12 responses to the staff questionnaire. They also spoke formally to a parent, and took account of two parental letters. Some parents and children were spoken to informally at the start of the first day.

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Inspection team

Penny Spencer, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Roger Fenwick Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. The school may not appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school and is reducing in size next year to six classes.  The headteacher is currently on extended sick leave. Her position is being filled temporarily by a consultant headteacher three days per week. The school is managed by the senior teacher for the remaining two days.  There have been several changes of staff since the previous inspection.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium (funds given to schools by the government for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, who are looked after by the local authority or who have a parent serving in the armed forces) is small and well below the national average. There are no pupils from service families.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a

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Information about this school

statement of special educational needs is average.  The school runs a breakfast club and after-school provision.  The school meets the government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to raise pupils’ achievement, by ensuring that teachers:  have consistently high expectations of what pupils can achieve, especially in Years 3 and 4, and provide them with work that will challenge them to make rapid progress  use assessment information accurately to check if pupils are on track to meet their targets and to set work that allows them to catch up if they have fallen behind  mark pupils’ work in a way that always lets them know what they need to do next and provide regular and frequent opportunities for pupils to respond to improve their work  improve their knowledge and understanding of how to teach mathematics effectively  create opportunities for pupils to use their literacy and numeracy skills in a wider range of subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the leadership of teaching, by:  developing systems to regularly and rigorously check its quality  ensuring teachers are held to account for pupils’ progress  ensuring teachers are provided with the training they need to teach consistently effectively.  Develop the skills of leaders and managers at all levels, by ensuring they:  are given any necessary training to take a full share of leadership responsibilities  evaluate school performance more accurately  produce a sharper improvement plan, with time limited, measurable steps to success that are clearly linked to intended outcomes for pupils and regularly checked  collect and analyse data about pupils’ progress sufficiently frequently and effectively, and take action where needed to make sure individuals and groups are not falling behind.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the planning of the subjects and topics taught, especially in mathematics, so it includes precise details about the areas of study that need to be taught, and gives pupils more opportunities to develop independent and creative methods of learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the governing body holds leaders robustly to account for the school’s performance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Commission an external review of governance in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 Achievement is inadequate. Although standards in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6 are broadly average, not enough pupils make at least the expected rate of progress to build on the very high standards they reach at the end of Year 2.  Pupils in Years 3 and 4 make inadequate progress towards their targets. This is not acted upon quickly enough for them to catch up and make expected progress by the end of Year 6, particularly in mathematics and reading.  Work seen in lessons, books and the school’s own assessment information indicate that progress is variable and inconsistent across year groups and across subjects. Although there is some evidence that progress is improving in Years 5 and 6, it is not rapid enough to make up for the poor progress pupils make in Years 3 and 4, particularly in mathematics.  The school is failing to provide equality of opportunity because pupils who are supported by the

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

pupil premium and in particular those pupils eligible for free school meals are making less progress than their classmates, particularly in Years 3 to 6, in English and mathematics. Results show that Year 6 pupils for whom the school received the pupil premium in in 2012 were over one year behind their classmates in English and six months behind in mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make less progress than similar pupils nationally because their needs are not identified quickly enough and extra support is not given consistently. Neither teachers nor leaders check whether the support is helping these pupils to catch up.  Progress in mathematics is slow in Key Stage 2 because the mathematics programmes of work are not sufficiently challenging for pupils and do not cover all the aspects of mathematical understanding needed to succeed. Teachers do not have sufficient understanding to adapt

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

programmes to accelerate pupils’ progress. As a result, too few opportunities are available for pupils to develop mathematical understanding and independent ways of thinking. This is because the worksheets, used almost exclusively for recording work, limit pupils to tasks that require little initiative or creativity. Pupils seldom use their skills to investigate problems in real- life situations.  Progress in Years 1 and 2 continues to be good for most pupils. Most pupils reach very high standards at the end of Year 2 in all subjects and have done so over a period of time. They acquire a very good understanding of the links between sounds and letters.  Children start school with skills and experiences that are securely in line with levels that would typically be expected for their age. They make good progress, especially in the development of reading and writing skills and move into Year 1 as confident learners.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Teachers do not always use assessment information well enough, especially in Years 3 to 6, to set work that will ensure pupils make at least expected progress from their starting points. Pupils’ work shows tasks are not well matched to their needs in Key Stage 2 and often do not challenge them enough.  Teachers do not have an accurate picture of the progress pupils are making. Targets that teachers set are not carefully checked against pupils’ attainment or communicated well enough at the end of the year to allow teachers to make adjustments to their planning. The work pupils in Years 3 to 6 are set does not give pupils enough opportunities to catch up when their progress slows. As a result, pupils are falling behind year on year.  The quality of teachers’ marking is not consistently good enough. In the best marking, comments are useful and identify clearly what pupils need to do to improve their work. However,

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

this is not always the case and many comments are too general such as ‘well done’, or ‘you have worked hard’. Opportunities for pupils to respond to the feedback and correct or improve their work are limited.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, together with those supported by the pupil premium, are not taught well enough. Activities are not altered sufficiently to allow pupils to make good progress and extra support given by teaching assistants is not regularly checked to see if it is making a difference.  Teaching in Reception is typically good. Children make good progress because activities are exciting and give children plenty of opportunities to work with each other across a wide variety of subjects. This was observed during a successful physical education session where pupils were linking their knowledge of super heroes’ strengths to ways in which to warm up and use apparatus for balancing.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are polite, well mannered and keen to do well. They play together sensibly and make good use of the extensive outside play areas.  Pupils show good attitudes to learning and work extremely hard for their teachers, completing tasks and showing a great deal of pride in their work. Even when work is too easy or too hard they do not lose concentration or disrupt lessons.  Pupils who spoke to inspectors expressed the view that behaviour is good. They had a good understanding of different types of bullying, including any that might arise when using social media. They were confident that if there were any problems they would be dealt with swiftly by adults in the school. Good use is made by the school of ‘worry boxes’ where pupils can inform staff of any concerns they may have.  Pupils feel safe in school. They have a good understanding of how to keep safe on the roads and when cycling or near water because there are regular lessons, often given by outside specialists,

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

that teach them appropriate skills.  Pupils are very proud to be ‘Eco-Warriors’ in the drive to make the school more efficient and enjoy acting as buddies for younger pupils.  Behaviour is managed consistently well and there are clear systems to support good behaviour. Several pupils observed in Year 2 were thrilled to be told to move their markers to gold because they had worked extremely well together to solve some difficult subtraction sums. Pupils who may have more challenging behaviour are supported well by this system and by the effective help from teaching assistants.  Most parents who spoke to inspectors, or who responded to Parent View, feel their child is safe and that behaviour in the school is good; inspectors agree with this view. A very small minority feel the school does not respond quickly enough to any concerns they may have. Inspectors were unable to confirm their views, although records seen by inspectors were comprehensive

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

and fully involved all parties.  Pupils who attend the breakfast club or after-school care are looked after well. They enjoy a variety of activities in a safe and secure environment.  Attendance has improved as a result of a concerted effort by the school, including by a specific governor, to curb the number of holidays taken by pupils during term time. As a result attendance is now above average, which is an improvement since the previous inspection.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Leaders have an unrealistic view of the school’s work and their generous judgements are not based securely on firm evidence. Leadership tasks and responsibilities are not shared among leaders at different levels. Opportunities for senior staff to develop their leadership skills to support improvements have been limited. As a result, during the sick leave of the headteacher there was no one in a position to take over.  Development plans are too general and do not have clear targets for improvement that are easy to check. Time scales are often too long and accountability is unclear. Tasks are often uncompleted or left to drift, so improvements do not materialise.  Systems for monitoring the quality of teaching and assessing how much teachers should be paid in relation to their performance and school priorities are inadequate. The monitoring of teaching is neither regular nor rigorous enough and teachers’ responsibilities do not always reflect the

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The leadership and management are inadequate

grade at which they are paid.  Teachers are not supported to improve because opportunities for training are infrequent and are not closely matched to their needs or those of the school. Partnerships with other schools are not well developed. As a result, teachers are not given enough opportunities to observe best practice and share ideas with outstanding practitioners.  The school gathers information on pupils’ achievement, but it is not collected often enough to give a clear picture of progress over the year. Assessment information is not analysed in enough detail to show the progress of different groups of pupils to ensure their progress matches that of all pupils.  Teachers are not held to account sufficiently for the progress of pupils towards their targets. Meetings for teachers to discuss this progress are infrequent and records do not indicate clearly what steps need to be taken to make sure pupils catch up. Targets are often not reached

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The leadership and management are inadequate

because teachers’ expectations are too low in Key Stage 2 and leaders do not challenge them enough.  The programme of studies for pupils does not meet their needs. Mathematics is poorly organised and does not provide enough challenge or include all the areas that need to be covered. There are too few opportunities for pupils to use their skills in English and mathematics in other subjects, which are often covered in a superficial way. Pupils who spoke to inspectors felt there were not enough opportunities to be creative or use technology.  Extra activities and visits, opportunities for pupils to sing and make music together, and regular chances for pupils to reflect on their learning and work together promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively.  The local authority has had little input into this school because it has been perceived to be effective.  The very recently appointed consultant headteacher has put training for governors into

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The leadership and management are inadequate

immediate effect. Systems and structures to assess the performance of teachers and develop a more open system of leadership are being developed but are too new to have had any impact.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is operating with several vacancies. Many governors are relatively new and there has been insufficient training for them fully to understand their role. Governors are not holding leaders to account sufficiently well for the school’s performance. They do not have a clear understanding of the school’s weaknesses, especially with regard to the progress of pupils, the quality of teaching and how the school compares with other schools. Governors have not held leaders to account. Governors have a limited knowledge of how the pupil premium is spent and whether it is making a difference to the achievement of those pupils for whom it is allocated. They know that procedures need to be in place to link teachers’ salaries

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The leadership and management are inadequate

and progression up the pay scale closely to outcomes for pupils. However, their understanding of what this means and how they check this is limited. They are hampered because accurate information is not available for them to make informed decisions. Governors have ensured statutory safeguarding procedures are in place and have been instrumental in improving attendance.

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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 118165 Local authority Isle of Wight Inspection number 405753

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 163 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Martin Ward Consultant Headteacher Martin Lee Headteacher Ingrid Ramsdale-Capper Date of previous school inspection 5−6 July 2011 Telephone number 01983 730209 Fax number N/a Email address admin.nitonprimary@tiscali.co.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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