King Edwin Primary and Nursery School

King Edwin Primary and Nursery School Fourth Avenue, Edwinstowe, Mansfield, NG21 9NS

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 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.  The acting headteacher provides strong leadership to ensure that teaching is good and that pupils’ achieve well. All aspects of the school’s work are improving rapidly.  Achievement is good and standards are rising in all subjects. Pupils make above-average rates of progress in writing between Key Stages 1 and 2. Boys make better progress than girls.  Pupils eligible for additional government funding generally achieve slightly better than other pupils.  Children get off to a positive start in the Foundation Unit. They are provided with a firm grounding for their early learning in reading, writing and mathematics.  There is accurate assessment of pupils’ progress. Staff use information to plan thoroughly for the range of pupils’ needs in every lesson.  The teaching is almost always good and is sometimes outstanding. Teachers plan activities which capture pupils’ interest.  Pupils’ behaviour is consistently good. They

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

feel safe and have formed strong relationships with staff and other pupils. They greatly enjoy school so they want to attend and do well.  There is effective leadership and management, including governance. All leaders and staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Some more-able pupils fell just short of attaining the higher levels expected of them.  Inconsistencies remain in marking pupils’ work in some classes.  Subject and key stage leaders and governors are not using all of the information gained from direct observations of teaching and pupils’ work.  Leaders and staff should do more to ensure that parents are fully involved in supporting their children’s learning at home.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 21 lessons or parts of lessons, of which nine were joint observations with the acting headteacher. They observed daily sessions of phonics (the sounds that letters make); again, around half were undertaken with the acting headteacher. They listened to a sample of Year 2 and Year 6 pupils reading aloud and observed several groups of pupils who were receiving additional learning support.  The inspection team held meetings with the acting headteacher and other senior leaders, the Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Governing Body, and an education improvement adviser.  The inspectors took account of the 54 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning and carrying out the inspection. They also spoke with a number of parents during the course of the inspection. Inspectors met with groups of pupils from both key stages and spoke to pupils during lessons and at break times about their experiences in school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed the school’s work and made use of a range of documentation. In particular, they scrutinised documentation related to pupils’ achievement and progress, school improvement planning, the quality of monitoring of teaching, learning and actions taken by the school, records related to pupils’ attendance, behaviour and safety, and a wide sample of pupils’ written work over time.

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Inspection team

Jane Melbourne, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Keith Williams Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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Information about this school

 This is a larger-than-average sized primary school with a Foundation Unit for children of nursery and reception age. Typically, children enter the unit at three years-of-age and leave the unit at the end of their Reception year.  The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage, with only a very small number whose first language is not English.  There is a below-average proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional government funding).  The proportion of pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs and are supported at school action is below average. However, the proportion of these who have a statement of special educational needs, or who are supported at school action plus, is similar to the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum

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Information about this school

requirements for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Since the last section 5 inspection, the headteacher has retired from the school. There is currently an acting headteacher in place.  The school has been supported by a Local Leader in Education from another school, but their involvement has now been reduced in line with the acting headteacher taking up full time hours from this term.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and learning to ensure that any differences in performance between girls and boys are eradicated and that all pupils capable of achieving the higher levels in end-of-year tests do so by:  monitoring the support given to pupils who require additional help both inside and out of classrooms and checking that these are having sufficient impact  ensuring that pupils in every year group benefit from teachers’ marking to help them understand what they need to do to improve their work, and ensure that the advice given to pupils is followed up  involving parents more in their children’s learning so that it supports the learning that takes place in school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management by:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 ensuring that subject and key stage leaders fully use all of the information gained from direct observations in classrooms and the checking of pupils’ work to improve pupils’ progress further  making sure that the governing body gathers first-hand evidence with the school’s leaders through monitoring, evaluates this carefully, and takes a key role in checking that the school’s actions are having an impact on sustained school improvement.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The majority of children start in the Foundation Unit with skills and abilities that are well below those expected for their age, particularly in their personal skills and in speech and language development. There is a strong focus and teaching is successful at improving the children’s social and physical skills and their development of speech and listening skills. Children make good or even better progress, so that outcomes for children at the end of their Reception Year are in line with national expectations overall. For those who remain below expectations in literacy at the end of their Reception Year, the school puts effective support in place to accelerate their progress in Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Over the past two years, pupils in Year 1 did not do as well as predicted in tests which assess their knowledge of the sound that letters make (phonics). However, improved quality in the teaching of phonics and more regular activities to promote children’s understanding of spelling patterns and letter sounds have ensured that the last cohort achieved what is expected in the tests by the end of Year 2. The current Year 1 cohort is also on track to achieve this, confirming significant and sustained improvements to the teaching. Pupils apply their phonic knowledge well in their reading and writing, so that pupils are just above the average levels for their age in reading and writing at the end of Year 2.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The proportion of pupils in both Key Stages 1 and 2 making and exceeding the progress expected of them compares favourably with national figures and is rising. This is a result of consistently good teaching and improved use of assessment data to check whether any pupils are falling behind.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 At the end of Year 2, pupils achieve in line with the national average in mathematics. Year 6 pupils in the last academic year exceeded the levels expected in end-of-year tests in English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 More pupils than previously at the end of both key stages achieved the higher levels in national tests at the end of the last academic year. Over half the pupils in Year 6 attained the higher levels in mathematics, which is much higher than seen nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils across the school are becoming enthusiastic and accurate readers. Year 6 pupils, in particular, are reading regularly for pleasure as well as to access information for learning. The reading of play scripts in groups, as part of planned guided reading sessions, helps with pupils’ confidence in reading aloud and to others.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Significant improvements to the teaching and to the way teachers assess pupils’ work and progress are raising achievement. For example, teachers recognise that some gaps remain between the achievement of boys and girls and are addressing these by changing teaching techniques and adapting the activities to appeal to both genders. As a result, the gaps between boys and girls have reduced overall but remain in some areas and in some year groups. For example, Year 1 girls did not perform as well as boys in their phonics screening checks; and not as many girls compared with boys attained the higher level 5 in their reading and writing at the end of the Key Stage 2 tests. School leaders are rightly checking why a very few pupils who were predicted to do so did not achieve the higher level 3 in Key Stage 1.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Additional support time funded by the pupil premium helps pupils who lack confidence in reading, writing or calculation. Small gaps remain at the end of Key Stage 1 between the attainment of these pupils and their classmates, although those pupils eligible for pupil premium funding are making better progress than other pupils in reading. By the end of Key Stage 2, the gaps have closed. These pupils outperform their classmates by the equivalent of two months in writing, four months in reading and a year in mathematics at the end of Year 6.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Assessment for disabled pupils and those who have special educational need is accurate. Promptly targeted one-to-one support enables them to make very good gains in their learning overall. School action pupils in Years 1 and 2 did not do as well as those identified as requiring help at school action plus in their phonics test or their end of key stage tests, but most are achieving better than other similar pupils nationally in reading and writing. The school action pupils in Key Stage 2 made good progress in relation to their particular starting points. There were no pupils with a statement of special educational need who sat external tests in 2013, but currently, and across the school pupils who have a statement of special educational needs are making good gains in their learning in relation to their starting points.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The very small number of pupils in Key Stage 1 in the early stages of learning English performed as well as other pupils in all subjects and exceeded the performance of other similar pupils nationally.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching across the school is consistently good, with some examples of outstanding teaching. The work is well matched to the range of pupils’ needs, so that all groups are challenged to make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils are set challenging targets which are reviewed regularly. Pupils understand their targets and work towards them in all lessons, not just in literacy and numeracy.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching in phonics and guided reading sessions has improved because of additional training for staff and close monitoring by school leaders.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The scrutiny of pupils’ books shows that pupils of different abilities are making good progress in writing and mathematics. While there are examples of very high quality and consistent marking in most year groups, this is not the case in some year groups, where, for example, teachers’ marking is stronger in one class than another. The most effective marking follows the school’s marking policy closely and makes explicitly clear to pupils what they need to do to improve their work. This is then consistently followed up by the pupils to help them improve their understanding. In those classes where teachers’ marking is less effective, pupils are not always given clear direction or enough opportunities to improve their work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Further training has ensured that staff have good subject knowledge and that they all have the same high expectations for the quality of pupils’ work. Presentation of work is much improved and is generally good. There are a wide range of opportunities for writing at length in topic work and across different subjects. It is evident that pupils are trying very hard with their handwriting, which is improving well over time. Pupils have fewer opportunities to apply their mathematical skills across a range of subjects, and particularly for the most able pupils to help them all reach higher levels. The school has already identified this as a point for development in their action plan.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff are highly skilled in questioning pupils and in developing their thinking and independent learning. The classrooms are well presented to stimulate pupils’ interest and to celebrate their achievements; for example, in writing.  Teachers and leaders now use accurate assessments of pupils’ progress to determine the level of support needed for each pupil. This is helping teachers and support staff to plan the most appropriate extra small group sessions for those pupils who require additional help with their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Assessment systems in the Foundation Unit are good. This ensures that the tracking of the youngest children is supported by a wide range of evidence which is shared regularly with parents and carers. It also ensures that staff provide accurate targets for children and supports them appropriately with things they find too difficult. The rooms in the Foundation Unit and the outdoor areas are used well to promote children’s curiosity and learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 The behaviour and safety of pupils in lessons and around school is consistently good. They have enthusiastic attitudes to learning which have a positive impact on their achievement and progress. Behaviour in some lessons was found to be outstanding, where pupils remained focused and were still working hard until the very end of the afternoon.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 Pupils are polite and considerate. They are kind and respectful to adults and to each other. They co-operate well and genuinely try to support one another. This makes a significant contribution to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 The school works successfully to ensure that there is no discrimination within school. It seeks to address this in a positive and supportive way. For example, the staff are exemplary role models and discussions during lessons help pupils to form positive and trusting relationships with each other and with adults. The staff are vigilant and always follow up any rare incidents of unkindness or disagreements amongst pupils. This contributes to pupils’ social and cultural development. Their spiritual development is enhanced by a wide range of opportunities for reflection – on their work, during play and when studying a range of stimulating and interesting topics. For example, one pupil explained that he had enjoyed learning about the significance of Remembrance Day and the importance of remembering those who serve their country in the armed forces.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 Pupils know how to do the right thing and are supported to make the right moral choices. All pupils understand the school rules and the reasons behind them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 The school works hard to maintain pupils’ attendance at a level that is at least in line with the national average, and the vast majority of pupils attend well. In this academic year, attendance has risen from last year’s figure, which was around the national average, and is currently above the national figure.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 Pupils say they feel safe in school and appreciate the care that staff take of them. They have a good awareness of personal safety and different types of bullying. They say that incidents of bullying are extremely rare, and scrutiny of school records confirms this. Pupils are confident that staff deal with the small number of concerns quickly, so that relationships can be easily restored. A small minority of parents who responded to the parent questionnaire (Parent View) were less certain whether the school dealt effectively with bullying. The inspection team’s view is that rare incidents of bullying are dealt with very effectively by the school, and was confirmed by the pupils.

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The leadership and management is good

 The leadership and management of the school, including senior and subject leaders and governors, have demonstrated that they are capable of raising achievement and driving up standards. They all share a vision and commitment to improve the school in the shortest possible time. New initiatives, sharper scrutiny of teaching in lessons, and of pupils’ work and progress, have had a significant impact on all areas of previous weakness. There is now scope to increase the involvement of subject coordinators, key stage leaders and governors in the scrutiny of teaching and learning.

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The leadership and management is good

 School self-evaluation is accurate and school improvement planning is precise. Staff and governors understand their part in this.

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The leadership and management is good

 Time has been invested in all staff, including support staff, who are well trained and effectively managed. Leaders of subjects or key stages know what they are required to do and have the knowledge and skills to check pupils’ progress in their areas of responsibility thoroughly. However, they are not all fully involved in direct observations in the classrooms and the regular checking of pupils’ work, or in using all of the information gained from the evaluation of their findings.

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The leadership and management is good

 The acting headteacher has been determined to introduce more robust procedures for managing the performance of staff. Supported by the deputy headteacher and key stage leaders, she regularly observes lessons to identify strengths and development points, which are rigorously followed up. The legacy of some pockets of past underperformance has been dealt with effectively by providing support and training for individual members of staff, as well as the entire team. This has led to an overall improvement in the quality and consistency of teaching. The setting of realistic but ambitious performance targets is contributing to rapid school improvement and the good progress of all pupils. The school is currently working on incorporating support staff fully into the new system for managing their performance.

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The leadership and management is good

 Teachers’ planning and programmes of study are now well matched to the needs of pupils across the school, including children in the Foundation Unit. The progress of pupils in the early stages of learning English and any that are at risk of falling behind, including those who are eligible for pupil premium funding, is checked upon closely through the progress and performance data. The school has identified that the next step is for leaders to make sure that the extra small group sessions are making a difference so that they can tailor future support to greatest advantage.

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The leadership and management is good

 Expectations for achievement are high and target setting for each year group across the school and for individual pupils is appropriate and challenging. This is also true for more-able pupils, who are set work which challenges them to think for themselves. Nevertheless, the progress of the most able pupils is not always being checked regularly enough to ensure that they all reach higher levels in national tests. The needs of any gifted and talented pupils are well provided for, although leaders also understand the necessity to step up checks on these highly capable pupils to ensure that they all achieve high standards.

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The leadership and management is good

 Teachers ensure that all subjects are planned well so that the school delivers a stimulating curriculum which appeals to the interests of all pupils. There is a wide range of extra-curricular activities which enhance pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The leadership and management is good

 There is clear rationale for the spending of any additional funding coming into school, such as the pupil premium funding and new primary school sports funding. The school has used its additional sports funding to improve the quality of physical education teaching and to develop sport across all year groups. There are also after-school clubs to promote sport and healthier lifestyles, which are already beginning to contribute to an increase in pupils’ physical well-being.

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The leadership and management is good

 The change of headteacher ran smoothly and the current leadership team quickly demonstrated that they were no longer reliant on external support. The support provided by the local authority and Local Leader in Education have been of high quality and appropriate to the school’s needs. Due to the level of impact already, and the school’s rapid progress, this has now reduced accordingly as the school now has sufficient capacity for sustained improvement.

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The leadership and management is good

 Parents who responded to the online questionnaire and who spoke to inspectors during the inspection all hold the school in high esteem and value the quality of education the school is now providing for their children. A few raised concerns about the setting of appropriate homework to support children’s learning in school. The inspection team agreed that these comments were well founded. The school had already identified this and desires to build on its very strong relationship with parents and carers; working more closely with them to ensure that they have sufficient understanding about their children’s learning and what they can do to help.

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The governance of the school:

 Governance has improved well. The governing body is ably led by a new Chair, who is highly motivated and has focused on the school’s priorities for further improvement. The governing body has developed much improved procedures for supporting the school and checking its progress. It knows what is happening in school, how the school is managing the performance of staff, and what the quality of provision and teaching is like. Although governors are increasingly asking challenging questions of the acting headteacher and other senior leaders, they are not always directly involved, or gathering first-hand evidence with the school’s leaders when checking on the progress and performance of pupils and staff. Through further training, governors now understand school data and they have identified their own priorities for action. The governing body has a tight rein on the school’s budget and keeps a watchful eye on the

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The governance of the school:

additional funding coming into school. Governors know how it is used and they assess its impact. Governors have approved the use of the funding for additional staff in support of pupils who require extra help in lessons. They are asking questions about the impact of the provision for pupils who receive extra one-to-one support and small group sessions, to ensure the pupils are gaining enough from these. Governors are appropriately trained and equipped for their role and they are helped to access relevant training and support. The governing body has clear direction in both supporting the school and holding leaders to account, and has agreed the school’s policy on performance-related pay and how this will be allocated.

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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 122639 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 423980

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 352 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sarah Betts

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Acting Headteacher

Emma Haywood Date of previous school inspection 9 October 2012 Telephone number 01623 822111 Fax number 01623 825707 Email address office@kingedwin.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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Acting Headteacher

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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Acting Headteacher

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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Acting Headteacher

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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Acting Headteacher

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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Acting Headteacher

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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