Setting

Mr Mark Eadon Headteacher Holly Hill Primary and Nursery School Off Portland Road Selston Nottingham NG16 6AW

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Nursery School

Following my visit to your school on 27 November 2013 I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the outcome and findings of the inspection. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the school’s previous monitoring inspection.

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Nursery School

The inspection was the second monitoring inspection since the school was judged to have serious weaknesses following the section 5 inspection which took place in May 2013. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

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Nursery School

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Nursery School

The school is making reasonable progress towards the removal of the serious weaknesses designation.

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Nursery School

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be published on the Ofsted website. I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Nottinghamshire.

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Additional Inspector

Serco Inspections 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T : 0121 679 9166 Direct email : helen.johnson@serco.com

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place in May 2013

 Improve teaching, particularly in Years 3 and 4, and increase the proportion of good and outstanding teaching by making sure that teachers: - spend less time on lengthy explanations so that pupils have more time to practise skills and more-able pupils move on to demanding work earlier in lessons - consistently provide activities that interest and inspire pupils - consistently demand that pupils work with care, and complete the tasks they are set - have the opportunity to learn from the outstanding practice that exists in the school.

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place in May 2013

 Raise standards in English and mathematics by: - improving the use of reading diaries - using marking more effectively in mathematics to let pupils know how to improve their work - providing more planned opportunities for pupils to develop their problem- solving skills - monitoring the progress of pupils who are known to be eligible for pupil premium funding, and taking immediate action if this shows support is not fully effective.

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place in May 2013

 Improve the impact of leaders and managers, including the governing body, by: - making sure that leaders focus with greater precision on the impact of teaching on learning, particularly of those pupils supported by pupil premium funding - making sure that the school’s website is fully operational and complies with current requirements - providing better information for parents about their children’s progress.

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Evidence

The inspection focused on progress made with the areas for improvement identified at the previous section 5 inspection.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher, the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative from the local authority. The inspector visited seven parts of lessons, all of which were joint lesson observations with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. She also carried out ‘learning walks’ in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 so that every class in the school was visited. The inspector reviewed school documentation, including pupil performance data and the school’s development plans, and she also looked carefully at the school’s central record of checks on staff.

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Context

Since the last inspection, four members of the teaching staff, including the deputy headteacher and two teachers, have taken maternity leave. As a result, there is an interim deputy headteacher and three temporary teachers. Two additional permanent teachers have been appointed and took up post in September 2013.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The school has responded quickly to the issues raised at the Ofsted inspection in May 2013. The headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher prior to her maternity leave and, since then, by the interim deputy headteacher, has ensured that the actions identified in the school development plan are being carried out and milestones are met. In addition, the school has analysed progress data to identify other areas of concern, such as the large proportion of pupils who did not achieve the expected level in the Year 1 screening check in 2013 and the slow progress made by pupils in Key Stage 1.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

School data indicate that pupils are now making much better progress in Key Stage 2. Outcomes at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2013 show an improving trend, with a greater proportion of pupils making or exceeding expected progress. The data for pupils currently in the school indicate that pupils in all year groups in Key Stage 2 are now making at least expected progress, and in some year groups accelerated progress. In most lessons observed in Key Stage 2, all groups of pupils made at least good progress, and in some lessons they made outstanding progress. However, progress is slower in Key Stage 1 and more needs to be done to ensure that teaching engages and challenges pupils so they make good progress in all lessons. Overall, the quality of teaching has improved. Some strong appointments have been made and now more teaching is consistently good and some is outstanding, particularly in Key Stage 2. The school has worked hard to ensure that teachers

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

have the opportunity to learn from the outstanding practice that exists in the school, and this is helping to improve the quality of teaching. More effective use of pupil tracking data to identify concerns in teaching and closer monitoring of the impact of the resulting support are also helping to secure improvements to the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The Chair of the Governing Body is providing strong leadership to ensure that governors fulfil their roles and responsibilities in holding the school to account and providing appropriate challenge and support. Governors know the strengths of the school and have a very clear understanding of what needs to improve. They are making much greater use of data on pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching to triangulate information and identify areas for further improvement. They have tightened up arrangements for managing staff performance and so are in a much better position to monitor and evaluate the progress made.

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Strengths in the school’s approaches to securing improvement:

 Teachers give pupils more time to practise their skills in lessons.  The school carefully monitors the progress of pupils who are known to be eligible for pupil premium funding, and adjusts support to ensure that the funding is being used effectively to accelerate their progress.  Leaders have received training in carrying out lesson observations that are focused on learning: as a result, during the review, leaders had a very accurate view of the impact of teaching on learning.  The school’s website is fully operational and complies with current requirements.  Communication with parents has been improved and they now receive much better information about their children’s progress.

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Weaknesses in the school’s approaches to securing improvement:

 Although the school has written an action plan to improve the teaching of letters and sounds (phonics), it has not reacted quickly enough to secure the rapid improvements that are required if pupils are to achieve the expected level in the Year 1 screening check.  The organisation of teaching in Key Stage 1 is not yet enabling Year 2 pupils to reach the standards of which they are capable.

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External support

The local authority is providing good support to the school. The Education Improvement Adviser visits regularly and has carried out joint lesson observations with the headteacher and other senior leaders. The local authority has also arranged support from a junior and an infant school which is having a positive impact. The link with the junior school is firmly established and has included coaching for the new interim deputy headteacher on the roles and responsibilities of a deputy, as well as opportunities for Key Stage 2 teachers to observe good and outstanding practice in other schools. The link with the infant school is not as firmly established but plans are in place and good progress is being made with developing support for Key Stage 1 teachers.

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