Windy Nook Primary School

Windy Nook Primary School Albion Street, Felling, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, NE10 9BD

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 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.  This is an improving school, pupils’ achievement is rising in all three key stages and provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage is now good.  The outdoor area in the Early Years Foundation Stage now provides good opportunities for learning.  The proportion of pupils who are making better progress in mathematics than would normally be expected is substantially above average.  Achievement in literacy is improving across the school, especially in reading.  Teaching is good across the school because lessons are well planned and designed to capture the interest of pupils.  The majority of lessons cater well for pupils of different abilities, so that all make at least expected progress and some do better.  Behaviour is good in lessons, and it is exceptional when pupils move around the school between classrooms. Pupils feel safe.  The headteacher has secured improvements in teaching and pupils’ achievement through

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

effective delegation across the staff, because the efficient management of the school rests not just with one person, but with an effective team of people, including the members of the governing body.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There are not enough lessons where the teaching is outstanding.  Pupils’ work is regularly marked, but sometimes the pupils are not encouraged to respond to teachers’ guidance on how it might be improved.  Teachers at times have too low expectations of how much writing pupils should complete each week.  The achievement of some pupils would benefit from early identification of where they are at risk of falling behind their targets.  The attendance of some groups of pupils is not well tracked, which has an impact on how well pupils perform.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 21 lessons or parts of lessons taught by 12 different teachers.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and talked to them about how much reading they do as well as looking at their work in class.  Discussions took place with members of the governing body, staff, groups of pupils and a meeting was held with a representative of the local authority.  Documents were examined, including those relating to safeguarding, the school’s improvement plan, and records of its checks on teaching and learning, as well as the school’s own assessment data.  The views of 36 parents who responded to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) were also taken into account, as well the school’s own questionnaires, which surveyed 130 parents. Two letters were received from parents and four responses were posted on the school’s web site.  Questionnaires about their views of the school were also completed by 26 staff.

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Inspection team

Frank Cain, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Barbara Hudson Additional Inspector Moira Fitzpatrick Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Windy Nook is a larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for looked after children, children whose parents are in the armed forces and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, is well below average.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is above average, but the proportion at school action plus, or with a statement of special educational needs, is below average.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and thereby pupils’ achievement so that more is outstanding by:  ensuring consistency in marking in Key Stage 2 and encouraging pupils to spend time improving the quality of their work  being more specific about the amount of written work children are expected to do when working on their own.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  refining school systems to enable the school to identify and monitor earlier, pupils who may need extra help, as well as those whose progress could be accelerated  improving the attendance of those pupils whose attendance is below the school average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 When children enter the Nursery class their skills are below those that would normally be expected for their age, although there is considerable variation between them. By the time they leave, both boys’ and girls’ attainment is at least average and sometimes above average in mathematics in particular, which represents good progress from their starting points.  In the Reception class, children are encouraged to use their language skills very well. Three children were acting out being witches and, with help from a member of staff, making a place for their cauldron while discussing which stick would make the best broomstick.  Children now make above average progress from their starting points, in both literacy and numeracy, by the time they leave the Reception Year.  In Key Stage 1 attainment is rising, particularly in mathematics. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels is also increasing. In Key Stage 2, the more- and most-able pupils do

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The achievement of pupils is good

very well, particularly in mathematics.  In the 2013 Year 6 national tests, pupils’ attainment in mathematics was about six months ahead of pupils nationally.  Pupils supported by the pupil premium achieve well. The attainment of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is rising in English and mathematics at the same rate as other pupils, but the gap between the two is not at present narrowing significantly.  Pupils in all year groups have equality of opportunity to do well.  Pupils’ knowledge of the sounds that letters make (phonics) is good and, as a result, they become confident readers. In 2013, Year 1 pupils scored very highly in the reading screening check. The majority of pupils become keen readers and older ones in particular read frequently for pleasure outside school. One pupil enjoyed reading because, ‘you can use your imagination’, while another pointed out that it helped with spelling difficult words.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ participation in physical education lessons is excellent and a great variety of sporting activities are planned to encourage a healthy lifestyle and to promote pupils’ well-being.  The school’s tracking system is thorough and has helped leaders to introduce specific help for those pupils who need assistance. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs do well in school, matching the progress of other pupils in most year groups, but record keeping could be improved to better manage their progress. Some higher-attaining pupils are not identified early enough to ensure that they achieve as well as they might.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good because the teachers have focused on developing pupils’ interest within a topic, which encourages pupils to work hard and productively.  In the majority of lessons, the work is well adapted to the pupils’ different abilities and effective use is made of literacy targets in topic work. In a religious education lesson, the teacher adeptly pointed out ‘tricky words’ where the spelling was awkward and which could have led to problems in reading.  The teaching of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good because of the support they receive from teachers and teaching assistants.  The provision for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage, including in the outdoor area, is good. Although the children have a very wide range of ability the staff know them very well and ensure that their progress is good.  Pupils enjoy finding out about things. In a lesson in a mixed Year 5 and 6 class, pupils were

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The quality of teaching is good

finding out about how people lived in ancient Greece and acquiring knowledge extremely well. Pupils were able to explain differences between how the Greeks and people in England lived at the same time.  The pupils’ social skills are developed by teaching that encourages them to cooperate well in small groups or when working with a partner.  Teaching, in mathematics in particular, has improved since the previous inspection. In a Year 5 lesson, where the teaching and learning were outstanding, teachers’ high expectations and purposeful tasks, which built on earlier work, led to pupils’ exceptional progress.  The majority of parents and all pupils think that teaching is good, because pupils are well challenged and have interesting things to do in lessons.  Pupils’ work in books confirms that teaching over time is good.  Pupils’ work is regularly marked and pupils are expected to respond to comments and advice,

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The quality of teaching is good

but it is not as evident in all classes consistently.  In a small number of lessons, teachers are not specific on how much is expected when younger pupils are writing on their own, so that some are content with work that does not always match their ability.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In the vast majority of lessons, pupils’ attitude towards work is good. They quickly get down to work when directed by their teachers.  When they move around the school pupils behave exceptionally well. They are polite to visitors and to their fellow pupils.  The behaviour of pupils is very well managed by staff and, as a result, they invariably settle into lessons promptly.  There are very effective strategies for rewarding good behaviour and even pupils acting as corridor monitors use positive phrases like ‘well done’ to signify this.  Pupils also take positions as playground buddies to help others and it is common practice for some older pupils to assist younger ones with their reading.  Some pupils said that there were incidents on the playground, often about football, which caused people to ‘fall out’, but usually things were quickly sorted out by staff.  Behaviour logs show very few serious incidents occur in school and there has only been one

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

exclusion in the past three years.  A small number of parents expressed some concern over behaviour and bullying, but pupils and staff are confident that behaviour is good in school and they feel safe there. Inspection evidence supports this view  Pupils are aware of safety, including how to keep themselves safe when using the internet.  In a small minority of lessons, a few pupils do not concentrate as well as they should, but this never interferes with the quality of learning for the majority.  Overall attendance has improved over a number of years and is now around the national average. However, the attendance of some pupils gives cause for concern because it is not rigorously tracked, so that the attendance of these pupils shows too little improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 The senior leaders have worked diligently to make improvements to the achievement of pupils and to teaching. Along with subject leaders, they are holding all class teachers to account regarding pupils’ progress.  The management of teachers’ performance is rigorous and improvements have been secured by good professional development. The local authority has been very supportive in driving forward achievement in mathematics in particular.  Leaders of key subjects now play a major role in making sure that pupils are progressing well by, for example, carrying out the regular analysis of pupils’ work.  The systems for the early identification of those pupils who need extra support or harder work to enable them to progress consistently well and for checking on any such actions, lack some refinement.  The school’s arrangements for safeguarding meet statutory requirements.  The curriculum provides a wide variety of activities and teachers use subjects such as history to

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The leadership and management are good

enhance pupils’ literacy skills. It also fosters pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Time is set aside for spiritual issues in lessons and pupils are aware of other cultures in Europe and Africa as well as in their local area.  Extra sports activities are planned in detail, which takes advantage of the extra funding that has been made available.  The school has established good relationships with the majority of parents, but a few indicated that they need more information on their children’s progress. Parents of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage were insistent that their children were very happy at school and could not wait to get back to school after the weekend.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is highly committed and gives the school good support, as well as holding leaders to account for pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching in mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

Governors are acutely aware that teachers’ performance should be linked with salaries so that good teaching is rewarded and hold the headteacher to account for this. Governors understand the data available to them and find the new ‘data dashboard’ useful. They recognise that more training in comparative data analysis would help them to hold the school to account even more rigorously. Governors are aware of the difference that extra funding makes to secure improvement for those pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium, but have not yet challenged the school over the gap between the achievement of these pupils and others.

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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 108374 Local authority Gateshead Inspection number 425778

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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 334 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Stokes Headteacher Alwyn Hollins Bathan Date of previous school inspection 21 November 2011 Telephone number 0191 469 4954 Fax number 0191 469 4954 Email address windynookprimaryschool@gateshead.gov.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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