Setting

Wendy Rose Headteacher St John's CofE Primary School Dannah Street Ripley DE5 3BD

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Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 8 November 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in September 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Primary School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. The school should take further action to:

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Primary School

 make sure that the revised targets to be set for pupils’ progress will ensure that pupils will make more than expected progress  make sure that the review of governance enables governors to fully hold leaders to account for pupils’ achievement.

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Evidence

During the visit, I held meetings with you, the deputy headteacher and three governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body. A telephone conversation was held with a representative of the local authority. We visited all classes to look at the learning that was taking place. Senior leaders’ record of checking the quality of teaching and the school improvement plan were evaluated. Serco Inspections Colmore Plaza 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T : 01216 799156 Direct email : becky.dawson@serco.com

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Context

There have been no significant changes since the school’s last inspection.

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Main findings

It is clear that improving the quality of teaching is of the utmost importance to senior leaders. You are seeking to make the quality consistently good across all classes. To this end, you are visiting lessons, checking the quality of lesson planning and looking at pupils’ work very regularly and systematically. There is a sharp focus in your lesson observations on how well pupils are learning. Your feedback to teachers observed is balanced in identifying strengths and weakness. You are making sure that the most able pupils are increasingly being set work at the right level, but there is not a consistent approach to this across all classes.

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Main findings

In the classes we visited, there was evidence of pupils being involved in a broad range of activities which they said they were enjoying. Pupils I spoke to were clear about their targets in writing and in mathematics, confirming that these targets are changed when achieved. In the pupils’ books we sampled, there was good quality marking where basic errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation were corrected. However, we noted an insufficient follow up by teachers to check whether their advice for improvement was being carried out by pupils.

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Main findings

Your meetings with teachers to review how well different groups of pupils are making progress are frequent enough. Senior leaders are linking this information with their lesson observations. You agreed that the targets currently set for pupils’ progress in the school improvement plan are not sufficiently high enough. These will be revised and evaluated as part of the routine checking of how teaching is leading to pupils making good progress from their starting points.

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Main findings

Governors who met the inspector are supportive and committed to making sure that there is improvement in pupils’ achievement. A review of governance is planned for this term. Governors realise that past weaknesses in not holding leaders to account will be addressed in the governing body’s own improvement plan and its implementation. A recent meeting by subject leaders to explain pupils’ progress to governors is reported by them to be very helpful. Governors’ monitoring role in the school improvement plan is clearly identified.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

The local authority has brokered support with a local successful school. This is due to be followed up this term by the headteacher with a view to sharing best practice in teaching and in the reviewing of pupils’ progress.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Education for Derbyshire and the Derby City Diocese.

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