Setting

Mrs Kerry Hill Headteacher Eyres Monsell Primary School Simmins Crescent Leicester LE2 9AH

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Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 14 March 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the findings. 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 January 2014. 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

 sharpen up your school improvement plan by including in it the people who are responsible for checking that actions are carried out and identifying those who are evaluating impact  include in the raising attainment plan a reference to the proportion of pupils who are targeted to be making better than expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics in each year group.

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Evidence

During the visit, I held meetings with you, three other leaders and the Chair of the Governing Body. I also met with a representative of the local authority. We visited all classes to look at the learning that was taking place. I looked at a range of 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 : 0121 679 9158 Direct email : rachel.dayan@serco.com documentation, including the school’s information about pupils’ progress, a sample of pupils’ work and the school’s improvement plan.

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Main findings

You are showing a relentless determination to improve teaching and pupils’ achievement. In this, you are supported by other leaders and governors who understand the vision you have set out to make this a good school. You have raised teachers’ expectations about how much more the pupils should be achieving. Signs of improvement are evident in pupils’ writing because teachers have a greater clarity about what good quality looks like and this is shared with pupils themselves. Every class displays pupils’ writing, which is seen as a teaching and learning aid; this is helping to motivate pupils to improve their work further. External support is being used well to improve teachers’ skills in assessing work so that it is more accurate. This is helping teachers to make reliable judgements about how well pupils are making progress. You are working alongside other leaders to make sure that the quality of their evaluations is robust when pupils’ work is checked.

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Main findings

Your school self-evaluation, based on reliable progress data, indicates a legacy of underachievement which needs to be tackled more resolutely. You are following up weaknesses in teaching by providing support from within the school and using effective practice from another school. You have shared plans with the governors about increasing capacity within the leadership team, in order to speed up and sustain school improvement. You have increased teaching interventions to help the most-able pupils to achieve higher levels in national tests this year.

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Main findings

Governors continue to make regular visits to see the school at work. The Chair of the Governing Body meets frequently with you, and committee meetings have detailed discussions about pupils’ standards and how the teaching is contributing to pupils’ progress. Governors have discussed the last inspection findings, which they agree to be an accurate reflection, and have contributed to school improvement planning. The plan takes good account of the areas for improvement and has milestones for checking the impact of actions. However, it does not indicate who will be making the checks and the range of people, including governors, who will evaluate the impact of actions. There is a separate raising attainment plan which is detailed but it does not show what proportions of pupils are being targeted to make better than expected progress.

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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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External support

The local authority has facilitated links with two other schools which have a track record of improvement. These links are helping to improve teaching. The local authority has also funded consultants to help teachers to make more reliable assessments of pupils’ attainment and progress and this is helping teachers to rise to the challenges set out by the headteacher.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Leicester City.

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