Coppice Primary School

Coppice Primary School Roper Avenue, Marlpool, Heanor, DE75 7BZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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.  Pupils’ achievement has improved significantly since the previous inspection. All groups of pupils now make good progress and achieve well.  Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage, because teaching is good and the learning environment is stimulating.  Teaching throughout the older year groups is also good. Extra adults make a good contribution to pupils’ learning in lessons.  Pupils’ positive attitudes to school make a strong contribution to their learning.  Pupils’ behaviour is well managed. They have a good understanding of how to keep safe, including when using a computer on the internet.  Pupils are cared for well, particularly those whose circumstances make them vulnerable. This helps to prepare them for learning.  The actions taken by leaders and governors to improve teaching through regular checks on its quality have led to marked improvements in teaching and in pupils’ achievement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 At times, teachers do not move pupils quickly enough onto the next task when they are ready to learn more.  Pupils do not have enough chances to use their knowledge of how to link letters and sounds in different activities.  Although leaders have improved teaching, they have not yet gone a stage further by giving staff opportunities to share the most effective strategies for boosting pupils’ learning.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 20 lessons. Five of these were seen jointly with the headteacher, and one with the assistant headteacher. In addition, inspectors listened to pupils read.  Inspectors took account of the 12 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire.  Meetings were held with a group of pupils, the Chair and members of the Governing Body, the local authority and school leaders.  Inspectors looked at many documents, including: the school’s own information on pupils’ current and recent progress; planning of work in different subjects; leaders’ monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning; and records relating to behaviour, attendance and the safeguarding of pupils.

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Inspection team

Steve Nelson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Vondra Mays Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well below average. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is also well below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is well above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational is average.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding to assist pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority) is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum national expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school provides a breakfast club each morning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and raise achievement further, particularly in Key Stage 1, by:  moving pupils more swiftly onto the next task once they understand what to do  giving younger pupils more opportunity to apply their knowledge of letters and sounds they make in different activities and subjects  sharing the most effective practice that already exists in the school to further develop the skills of other teachers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the Nursery with skills and understanding well below the levels expected for their age, especially in language and communication. They make good progress through Nursery and Reception because of the good teaching and the effective support they receive in a happy, nurturing atmosphere. As a result they enter Year 1 as confident learners.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ achievement in Key Stage 1 has improved since the last inspection and is now good. Pupils go on to make good progress across Key Stage 2 to get above-average results in reading, writing and mathematics tests in Year 6 tests. A higher proportion of more-able pupils are exceeding the expected standards for their age this year in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Year 1 pupils achieved results below the national average in the latest annual screening check in phonics (linking letters and sounds) last year. By the time pupils repeat the test in Year 2, they generally catch up with the national standards. Across the school, pupils’ reading has improved and they make good progress. They read regularly and most pupils are confident and fluent readers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school’s focus on raising standards in writing is proving effective. Grammar, punctuation and spelling are usually accurate. Pupils are becoming increasingly confident in using more interesting words to form sentences and write fluently in different styles. Pupils are skilled in mathematics. They have good knowledge of number facts and enjoy solving practical mathematical problems.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Extra help given in class to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is carefully checked for how effective it is. Changes are made to the work and learning materials given to these pupils where necessary to make sure they make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The ‘nurture group’, for pupils with emotional and social worries, is helping them with their concerns and to be better prepared for learning in lessons. Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and those who speak English as an additional language make good progress. This is because their learning needs are identified and responded to well, so that they settle quickly.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding make good progress. They benefit from extra support for their learning. The attainment of last year’s eligible pupils in Year 6 was on average slightly behind that of their classmates in writing and about a term behind in reading, but slightly ahead in mathematics. Current data show that the gaps are continuing to close this year and eligible Year 6 pupils are doing as well as other pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Inspectors’ observations of the learning in classrooms, school records and pupils’ work in their books show that the quality of teaching is typically good. There is some particularly effective practice but this is not fully shared in order to help other staff improve their own teaching further.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage benefit from lots of opportunities for speaking and listening, and practical activities. As a result they make good progress in all areas of their learning. They are able to work and play inside and outside in equally stimulating surroundings.  Teachers capture pupils’ interest and inspire them to work hard. This was evident in a Year 1 literacy lesson where blindfolded pupils smelled a variety of spices and sauces. As a group they made excellent progress in using words to describe the smells and write a poster.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Other adults make a good contribution to pupils’ learning in lessons, particularly for those who find learning difficult. They work well to help less-able pupils keep up, using teaching resources and asking questions effectively to develop pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark pupils’ work thoroughly, providing guidance about what they have done well and what they need to do better. Pupils get regular opportunities to check the quality of their own work and that of their classmates.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Well-planned use of practical resources, especially in mathematics, ensures pupils grasp concepts quickly and are able to solve real-life problems. The teaching of reading and phonics supports pupils’ writing well by improving their spelling and broadening their vocabulary. However, younger pupils have limited chances to apply their developing phonic knowledge in other subjects, settings and activities.

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The quality of teaching is good

 At times, pupils’ progress can slow down when they are ready to move on to the next activity but do not do so quickly enough. This happens when pupils have completed their tasks and have to wait too long for the teacher to provide the next ones. This wastes valuable learning time.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They have good attitudes to learning in lessons and show an eagerness to learn. The school is a happy, harmonious community. Pupils are polite and courteous and get on well with each other.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Behaviour is well managed throughout the school. Pupils have a good understanding of the ‘Behaviour Ladder’ that is based on the school’s rewards and sanctions system. The school has successfully reduced the number of exclusions. Where pupils have had difficulty with behaving appropriately, it has supported them effectively. As a result their behaviour has improved.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have a good understanding of the different forms bullying can take, including those relating to race and gender. They say that it is rare but if they ever have any concerns, there is always an adult on hand to help them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe in different situations, such as fire safety and using the internet safely. Pupils act safely around the school and parents agree that the school is a safe place.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are proud of their school and ‘School Cabinet Ministers’ carry out their duties responsibly and eagerly. The Health and Safety Minister undertakes regular health and safety walks around the school. The Education Ministers feed back pupils’ views on the new curriculum and influence future planning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school monitors attendance and punctuality closely. It is taking effective action to work with parents of children with low attendance to make them aware of the benefits of regular attendance. As a result, attendance has improved and is now average.

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The leadership and management are good

 The strong ambition of the senior leadership team, driven by the effective headteacher, has brought about rapid improvement in many areas of the school. Staff are all committed to raising pupils’ achievement and morale is high. The successes so far demonstrate a good capacity for further improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 Good use of information from the headteacher’s checks on teaching and learning makes staff training well focused and effective in improving teaching. Teachers achieve the challenging targets set for them to show their skills have improved, and these are closely linked to pupils’ achievement. Teachers’ pay levels are determined by how successful they are in helping pupils to progress well.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school uses good procedures for checking the progress and attainment of all individuals to help them perform as well as they can, and have an equal opportunity to succeed. The detailed school improvement plan outlines the correct areas to improve, and what needs to be done to achieve this.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders at all levels are supported well in developing their roles and in how they use data to make sure pupils make good progress in each year group. Meetings with teachers to discuss the progress of individual pupils have enabled leaders to become more actively involved in school improvement. This has led to improvements in teaching in Key Stage 1, which have resulted in higher standards in Years 1 and 2.

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The leadership and management are good

 The subjects taught are well planned. Pupils use their literacy and numeracy skills when studying interesting and exciting topics such as Plant a Little Seed, Sport Relief and Man versus Machine. The wide range of visits and educational visits to nearby places of interest and the breakfast club help to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

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The leadership and management are good

 The primary school sport funding is used well to ensure that all pupils become more physically active. Dedicated sports coaches teach effective sports sessions that ensure the active participation of all pupils. Competitive sport is promoted with other schools and additional training for staff is improving the quality of physical education lessons. Increasing numbers of pupils participate in after-school sports clubs such as netball and football; this encourages pupils to develop healthy lifestyles.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority gives measured support as necessary. It has worked well with the school to improve the quality of teaching and learning, and contributed effectively to its improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is good because the governors are well trained and fulfil their duties effectively. They carefully monitor the school’s finances, including the extra pupil premium funding, and understand how it is helping pupils to achieve better. Governors’ regular visits to the school give them a very good understanding of how well teachers are doing through first-hand observations and discussions with staff. They know the strengths and areas for development in the school. Governors have a good understanding of the pupils’ progress compared to that of other pupils nationally. They are supportive while challenging the school to improve pupils’ achievement further. Governors set clear and challenging targets in managing the performance of the headteacher. They make sure that teachers hit the targets they are set to improve their practice in the classroom before approving any increase in their pay. Governors

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The leadership and management are good

make sure that national safeguarding requirements are met.

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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 112563 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 441874

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 259 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Lesley Hatton Headteacher Alison Seaton Date of previous school inspection 4 December 2012 Telephone number 01773 712840 Fax number 01773 712840 Email address aseaton3@coppice.deryshire.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 and 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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