Mickleover Primary School

Mickleover Primary School Vicarage Road, Mickleover, Derby, DE3 0EY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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.  Achievement is good and pupils are well prepared for secondary school. Standards, particularly in reading and in mathematics, are above national averages, with all groups of pupils making good progress.  Pupils eligible for extra government funding are quickly catching up with their peers.  Teaching is good overall and some is outstanding.  Teachers develop excellent relationships with pupils. Pupils feel safe, behave well, work well in teams and have positive attitudes to learning.  Teaching assistants and the learning mentor make valuable contributions to pupils’ learning.  Attendance is above average.  The school provides well for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The additional funding for primary sport has been used effectively to improve teachers’ knowledge of how to plan for dance and gymnastics and work in teams.  The headteacher’s good leadership has helped

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

the school to improve since the last inspection. Together with governors and other leaders, she has ensured that teaching has continued to improve and that pupils are motivated, proud and successful.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Standards in writing have not been as high as those in mathematics and reading, although they are now improving rapidly.  Pupils are not regularly encouraged to build on what they have been taught about in guided reading to improve their writing.  Pupils, especially the more able, do not write to enough length, other than in English lessons.  Children in Reception do not progress as well in writing as they do in reading. There are too few opportunities for children to develop correct letter formation in play situations.  Not all teachers, including those in Reception, build sufficient time into lessons to give pupils guidance on how to improve their work or use their marking to give pointers to pupils on the next steps they need to take to move their learning on.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 23 lessons taught by 14 teachers.  Documentation was analysed including that related to teachers’ planning, safeguarding, behaviour logs, attendance figures, the school’s systems for improving teaching and learning, and how the money allocated for pupil premium and sports funding is spent.  The inspectors took account of 54 responses to the online Parent View survey and five emails from parents. Responses to an inspection questionnaire from 17 members of staff were analysed.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, staff, and a representative from the local authority, the Chair of the Governing Body, pupils and parents.

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Inspection team

Bogusia Matusiak-Varley, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Linda Rowley Additional Inspector David Westall Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Mickleover Primary School is an above average sized primary school.  Most pupils are from White British backgrounds and the percentage of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds, whilst rising, remains below the national average.  No pupils are at the early stages of acquiring English as an additional language.  A below-average proportion of pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding for those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and looked after children).  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below the national average.  The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below the national average.  The school employs a learning mentor who works with pupils whose circumstances make them vulnerable and others who need adult support.

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Information about this school

 The school meets government’s floor targets, which are the minimum expectations set for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate the rates of pupils’ progress in writing by ensuring that:  all pupils, especially the more able, are given more opportunities to write at length in other subjects as well as in English  in guided reading sessions, more opportunities are provided for pupils to look at ways in which authors structure text to use as models for their writing  children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are encouraged to practise their handwriting skills in a wide range of play activities.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching by ensuring that all teachers, particularly those working within the same year- group, clearly identify the next steps in learning for their pupils during lessons and in their marking.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ achievement is good. Progress has improved in mathematics since the last inspection and, in the 2013 teacher assessments, pupils in Year 2 attained standards above the national average. Pupils’ achievement by the end of Year 6 is consistently good, especially in reading and mathematics. Standards in writing over time have been variable but are now improving rapidly due to more-focused support, greater accountability of staff and the introduction of more opportunities for writing.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children join the school with skills, knowledge and abilities that are generally in line with those usually seen in this age group. They make good progress overall and develop in all areas of learning. However, progress is stronger in reading and mathematics than it is in writing because teaching is not as consistently strong in writing across different classes in the same year-group.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The drive to accelerate progress through regular pupil progress reviews, work scrutinies and pupil conferencing has had a significant impact on the achievement of all groups. Pupils make good progress between Year 2 and Year 6, with the proportion making more than expected progress exceeding national averages in reading and mathematics, and matching them in writing. Pupils in Year 6 did very well in the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test in 2013.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children in the Reception class and other pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 make good gains in reading. Results in the Year 1 national check on phonics (letters and the sounds they make) are above the national average and, by the time they leave school in Year 6, pupils are competent readers. Across the school, pupils who find reading difficult are still able to learn in other subjects because they can sound out unfamiliar words. However, the ability of younger children and pupils to form their letters correctly is not yet consistently secure in all cases.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school has narrowed the gap between pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding and the others. These eligible pupils are now just one term behind in their reading, two and a half terms behind in their writing, one and a half terms behind in their English grammar, punctuation and spelling. They are in line with the other pupils in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The progress of disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs and pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds is good because of the well-targeted support given to them as a result of regular analysis of their progress. Pupils with behavioural difficulties do well because of carefully customised activities and teaching programmes devised by teachers and the learning mentor, and because teachers take care to ensure that their teaching approaches cater for the particular needs of individual pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is good, with some outstanding lessons observed during the inspection. Teachers know what they need to do to improve their teaching. They are hard working, as evidenced by the high quality of resources that they produce to help their pupils understand concepts in lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

 A strength of teaching is the way in which teachers respond to the individual needs of pupils; for example, pupils who are gifted in mathematics have extra support given to them to broaden their mathematical experiences.  Teachers quickly identify any barriers to learning and immediate support is given so that all pupils can make good progress in their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants make a valid contribution to learning. In an outstanding mathematics lesson in Year 1, the teaching assistant used a wide range of prompts to help pupils develop their skills of mathematical language. She mirrored the teacher’s excellent explanations at a level that built on pupils’ prior learning. This ensured that all pupils concentrated well throughout the lesson and were keen to succeed.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers plan tasks to build on what pupils have learnt but, in a small percentage of lessons that require improvement, teachers are not providing extension activities in writing to challenge the most able pupils. Too few opportunities are provided for pupils to write about the topics they have covered in their guided reading sessions.

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The quality of teaching is good

 All teachers mark work regularly but not all of them give pupils specific pointers for improvement based on the skills that pupils need to attain in order to get a higher level in their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is variable. In the best lessons seen, teachers modelled writing for their pupils and used a range of resources to enable them to make marks. However, in the weaker lessons, the teaching of writing was left to chance and this restricted progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers are improving their subject knowledge in teaching and planning for physical education lessons due to well-targeted sports funding. This has had an impact on pupils’ team-building skills.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Most pupils enjoy school, as evidenced by their good attendance. Pupils speak with enthusiasm about their school and are respectful to staff.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Behaviour in lessons is good and examples of exemplary behaviour were seen in hymn practice and lunchtimes in the canteen. The large majority of parents and carers agree that their children are safe and happy in school and are positive about behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are invariably positive. Pupils work hard and are keen to learn. Their ability to work collaboratively in groups is a strong feature of the school and is helping them to develop good team-building skills.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school is calm and orderly and the school ensures that its pupils are safe at all times. Pupils take very seriously their responsibilities of being mini-leaders, prefects, members of the school council and mentors to other pupils.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The Lunch Club, attended by children who struggle with their behaviour, is helping these pupils to overcome their difficulties and improve their behaviour. The work of the learning mentor is having a beneficial impact on the behaviour of different groups of pupils and helping them to develop better social and learning skills.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are adamant that there is no bullying and name-calling in school. Pupils have a good understanding of the different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying. If any instances do occur, the system for reporting them is known to pupils and staff are very vigilant and respond quickly and appropriately.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils from all backgrounds are able to participate fully in all lessons. The school is highly inclusive and discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The schools systems for promoting good behaviour make a good contribution to pupils’ moral and social development.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leadership from the headteacher and accurate self-evaluation from all staff have brought about good improvement since the last inspection. Standards in mathematics have risen and systems for assessment are thorough. Pupils’ progress is regularly checked and any underperformance is acted upon immediately.

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The leadership and management are good

 Subject leaders fulfil their duties well. They are aware of the strengths and areas for development in their subjects. Their evaluations of teaching and learning are accurate.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has good links with the local authority. Staff avail themselves regularly of the expertise of the School Improvement Partner.

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The leadership and management are good

 Partnerships with other schools and agencies are good and the sharing of best practice is having an impact on improving the quality of provision, especially in securing greater accuracy in the assessment of pupils’ work.

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The leadership and management are good

 Schools systems for safeguarding and ensuring that pupils have equal access to the curriculum meet requirements.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupil premium funding is used effectively and exclusively for the benefit of those pupils for whom it is intended. The impact of the learning mentor and one-to-one tuition is helping to narrow the gap in writing. The school has a detailed action plan for spending sports funding. Staff are increasing their knowledge of specialist subjects such as football and all groups of pupils participate in the wide range of activities that are on offer.

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The leadership and management are good

 A wide range of extra-curricular activities, trips and visits ensure that the curriculum is well tailored to meet the needs of pupils. All learning is linked to real-life experiences. Pupils in Year 6 visited Shugborough Hall to learn about life in Victorian times. These provide good opportunities for pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors provide good support to the school. Many governors come into the school on a regular basis to monitor aspects of the schools work. They have undertaken an audit of their own skills and attend regular training to ensure that they have the skills and experience to fulfil their duties as ‘critical friends’. They have been very active in helping manage the budget for new building work for single-age classes. They regularly ensure that the school uses its budget and extra funding such as pupil premium and sports funding well. Through the work of the two main committees, they undertake their statutory responsibilities well. This includes setting the headteacher’s performance management objectives and evaluating the impact of staff who receive extra money for undertaking responsibilities. Governors are fully involved in all aspects of school self-evaluation and know the schools strengths and areas for

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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 112790 Local authority Derby Inspection number 425075

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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 387 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Tony Allen Headteacher Lynne Gerver Date of previous school inspection 13 November 2008 Telephone number 01332 514052 Fax number 01332 523860 Email address admin@mickleover.derby.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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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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