Netherseal St Peter's CofE (C) Primary School

Netherseal St Peter's CofE (C) Primary School Main Street, Netherseal, Swadlincote, DE12 8BZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher and governors ensure that all teachers perform well and that pupils make good progress.  Teaching is good in each class. Teachers and teaching assistants use their good subject knowledge to develop pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding in all subjects.  Pupils make good progress in every year group, leaving the school with above-average standards in reading, writing and mathematics.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. They display excellent attitudes in their learning and are unfailingly polite and courteous.  Pupils are safe and secure at all times of the school day. They understand how to stay safe, both at and outside school.  The school’s values of tolerance and respect underpin its work and strongly support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Teachers have carefully developed their new curriculum and are currently exploring their

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

preferred ways of assessing pupils’ progress.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Marking in Year 2 books does not always show pupils what they should do to improve.  Teaching does not always ensure that the most- able pupils are given hard enough work in their writing and mathematics lessons.

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Information about this inspection

 Lessons were observed in every year group. Three of the six lessons were jointly observed with the headteacher.  Pupils talked about their reading and the inspector heard a group of children read.  Meetings were held with pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body, staff and a local authority representative.  The 24 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire were taken into account. The inspector also spoke with parents and carers.  The views expressed in questionnaires, returned by eight members of the school staff, were considered.  The inspector observed the work of the school, looking at a range of documentation. This included an examination of work in pupils’ books.  The school’s child protection and safeguarding procedures were scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Jeremy Bird, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Netherseal St Peter’s is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The Early Years Foundation Stage is made up of one full-time Reception class.  Pupils are taught in three classes, each of which includes pupils from more than one year group.  Almost all pupils are White British.  At 16%, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those eligible for the pupil premium, is below the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority.  At 11%, the proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve rates of pupils’ progress in Year 2 by ensuring that marking clearly shows pupils what they need to do next to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and achievement by ensuring that teachers give the most-able pupils more challenging work in writing and mathematics lessons.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher knows how well staff and pupils are performing because she regularly visits lessons, carefully monitors pupils’ progress and works with teachers to make further improvements. As a result, all teachers continue to improve their practise, as they effectively follow the advice they are given. Governors are kept well informed of such performance through detailed reports provided by the headteacher at meetings.

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The leadership and management are good

 There are effective processes for managing the performance of teachers. These have ensured that teaching is good in all year groups. Time is made available for teachers to visit each other’s classrooms to consider and make changes to improve their own teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 All teachers are developing effective leadership skills. They have worked together to create and fully implement a new curriculum for their school, ensuring that their areas of responsibility continue to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school leader, who is accountable for the provision and progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, effectively supports colleagues in their teaching practice. Another leader has been instrumental in the development of a local network, which has found effective ways to assess pupils’ progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school is currently developing its preferred approach to assessment following the removal of National Curriculum levels. The headteacher has reflected on a variety of published schemes and is working with all teachers to ensure the school has its own system in place by the end of the spring term 2015.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school uses its pupil premium funding in a variety of ways, including the provision of a lunchtime homework club, training for teaching assistants to lead a play session which is designed to improve pupils’ concentration, and to support parents in paying for school activities. The headteacher evaluates the impact of such work, which results in disadvantaged pupils making similar rates of progress to those of their classmates.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has made very effective use of primary school physical education and sport funding. Specialist staff have been employed to deliver a wide variety of sports for all the pupils. These include yoga, fencing and table tennis. After-school clubs have been very popular; for example, the football skills club had 40 pupils attending.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and all staff ensure that pupils are tolerant and respectful. The excellent working relationships with all pupils lead to pupils feeling safe and secure in the school. Discrimination does not occur because pupils know how to get on with each other.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority knows the school well. The half-termly visits check out how the headteacher evaluates the quality of teaching and the rates of progress pupils are making. The local authority representative observes lessons and looks at pupils’ work to enable agreement with, or challenge of, the headteacher’s view.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body works in close partnership with the headteacher. Governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s performance, including information about how well pupils are progressing. They use this to ask more challenging questions of the headteacher and these are recorded in the minutes of meetings.  Governors are informed about the performance of teachers and the headteacher. They make decisions about teachers’ pay based on pupils’ progress. They support the development of all staff by ensuring that any training needs are planned for, and then they check on the quality of the training.  Governors ensure that all statutory responsibilities are met, including those relating to safeguarding. They check that all staff are familiar with safeguarding processes, and that all relevant are policies kept up to date. All staff receive timely training.  The governing body is kept well informed about the implementation of the new curriculum and how

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The leadership and management are good

teachers are developing their preferred ways of assessing pupils’ performance.  The governing body is aware of the impact of pupil premium funding, with each pupil eligible for the funding making similar progress to that of their peers. It is also knows how sports funding has been used to provide pupils with a wider range of sporting experiences.  Governors understand how the school promotes tolerance of, and respect for, people of all faiths and those of no faith. They continue to work with the teachers to ensure that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain by presenting them with a wide range of cultural experiences. An example is the school’s link with an inner city school, where pupils explore cultural aspects, which they do not experience on a daily basis; for example, understanding how and why different festivals are celebrated.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are exemplary. They fully understand the school values and show this in lessons, supporting classmates when they find the learning difficult. They do not give their classmates answers but sensitively ask questions, which help the pupil find the answer for themselves. They care for each other.

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Behaviour

 Pupils show excellent conduct around the school. They play well together, having a strong sense of right and wrong. They look out for one another but challenge when they feel a friend might have made a hurtful comment. Such attitudes and behaviour contribute greatly to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Behaviour

 Attendance has been above average in recent years, reflecting the enjoyment that pupils feel coming to school. All staff expect and reward good attendance. Parents and pupils understand the importance of this.

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Behaviour

 Everyone’s opinions are given equal consideration. Mutual trust between pupils and staff is evident in every classroom. For example, in the Early Years Foundation Stage, children are encouraged to talk about their views, which are then explored with the other children. This helps children develop a deeper understanding of the topics taught.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are keen to contribute to school life and take on responsible roles. For example, older pupils organise and run the break time tuck shop, supporting younger pupils in their healthy snack choices and ensuring the correct change is given back to the pupils.

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Behaviour

 Parents and staff agree that the school’s approach to ensure pupils behave well is very effective.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils talk freely about feeling safe in and around school and can give examples, including how the doors are secured and how visitors are checked before entering the building.

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Safety

 Pupils are very aware of how to keep themselves safe both in and outside school. When using the internet, for example, pupils know what to do if they become concerned. Other situations they know about include safe use of scooters and cycles when travelling to and from school.

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Safety

 The school is rigorous in ensuring that all staff have completed relevant safeguarding training. The headteacher and governors make checks that school policies are implemented consistently.

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Safety

 Pupils have a very clear understanding of bullying and the different forms it can take, including cyber- bullying. They say that bullying does not occur in their school and, if there is any poor behaviour, the pupils themselves often resolve any issues before members of staff need to become involved.

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Safety

 Pupils understand the limitations of their outdoor play space. They do not complain about this but ensure that their play does not hurt others; for example, slowing down in running games to avoid bumping into each other.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good in every class and in every year group. Where the teaching is most effective, pupils benefit from teachers’ and teaching assistants’ well-developed subject knowledge. An example is in the Early Years Foundation Stage, where children develop good early reading skills with staff quickly identifying how to support and challenge children in their letters and sounds work. They then teach what the children need to know next, such as specific sound blends.

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The quality of teaching is good

 All teachers are effective in asking questions to ensure they know how well pupils have understood what they have been taught. They listen carefully to pupils’ responses and ensure that any misunderstandings are clarified. A pupil in Year 3, for example, gave a slightly confused view on a fraction problem and the teacher asked further questions to ensure that the pupil had a secure understanding.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is effective. In lessons these pupils are well supported by staff because the teaching ensures that the work is at an appropriate level of challenge. Further, pupils look out for each other and will step in to support their peers if they feel it would help them to make better progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Parents and carers talk about how they value their partnership with the school. They are kept well informed about their child’s progress through formal termly meetings. There are also daily opportunities to talk to staff. Pupils talk about their enjoyment of the homework tasks they are set.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Reading is taught well throughout the school. The school ensures that pupils select appropriately challenging books. As a result of good teaching over time, standards in reading are above average by the end of Key Stage 2. Children in Reception and Year 1 make good use of their knowledge of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) in their writing. This enables pupils and adults to read their ideas and then discuss how to make improvements.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils are keen to write and present their work well in all subjects. Pupils who find writing more difficult make rapid progress because they receive specific guidance from both teachers and teaching assistants. The most-able pupils are not always set hard enough work; for example, being expected to use higher- level grammar skills. This results in less rapid progress seen in their books.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Mathematics is taught well to all ability groups. Pupils benefit from a range of activities which balance the amount of calculation work with problem-solving activities. Consequently, pupils learn how to use their skills to solve problems. Teaching is not yet outstanding as the most-able pupils are not always set challenging enough tasks in mathematics; for example, being challenged with finding a variety of solutions to a given problem. When this does occur, these pupils thrive on the harder work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Where pupils’ work receives effective feedback, rates of progress are better. Written comments identifying points for improvement are responded to by the pupils and their subsequent pieces of work show progress. In Year 2, marking is less effective as it focuses on affirming what pupils have done rather than stating what needs to be done next. This results in slower progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children joining the school in Reception have skills that are typical for their age. They make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage, leaving Reception with skills above national averages. Progress slows in Year 2 then accelerates through to the end of Key Stage 2. By the time pupils leave Year 6, their attainment is above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The progress of disadvantaged pupils is typically good, making similar rates of progress to their peers. In 2014, there were too few such pupils in Year 6 to comment on their attainment without risk of identifying individual pupils.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make consistently good progress. This is due to effective leadership and management of the provision for this group of pupils. Care is taken to ensure that staff understand the reasons why any pupils are not making the progress they should, with actions then taken to address these; for example, supporting pupils who need to develop better concentration.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in reading in all year groups. When reading aloud, pupils show that they are secure in their understanding and use of phonics. In Year 1, almost all pupils reach the required standard in the phonics screening check; the proportion being above the national average. In Key Stage 2, pupils talk about how much they enjoy reading. They understand how their reading records, commented in by parents and staff, help them to improve their reading skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Progress in writing is good across the school. All pupils benefit from teaching that expects pupils to consistently use their grammar, punctuation and spelling skills. The most-able writers do not always demonstrate their ability in their writing, as they are not always set more challenging work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Rates of progress in mathematics are similar to writing. All pupils enjoy the challenges when presented with harder work, being keen to select and use skills and techniques to solve problems. The most-able pupils do not make accelerated progress as they are not challenged enough in their mathematics lessons.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most-able pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. They attain well, leaving the school with high levels. Where the work is challenging, accelerated progress is seen. This is not always the case for this group in writing and mathematics.

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The early years provision is good

 The Early Years Foundation Stage is well led and managed. In order to ensure that children’s assessments are accurate, the early years leader has set up a network through which local schools share their teaching practice. This has helped the school to refine its own work.

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The early years provision is good

 Staff quickly assess children when they arrive in Reception. The progress of each child is closely monitored, with plans and targets adapted to reflect each child’s learning. As a result, children of all abilities make good progress through the Reception Year.

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The early years provision is good

 Parents contribute by providing staff with information about their child’s interests and progress outside of school. Teaching benefits from this as staff use this information to ensure that children are motivated in their learning. Parents see how this communication helps their children’s learning.

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The early years provision is good

 Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported very well in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Children express opinions and choices freely, and are encouraged to do so. Staff are skilled in developing the children’s interests. Children behave well and know how to stay safe in school.

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The early years provision is good

 Children attain a good level of development. This means they are well prepared for the Year 1 curriculum. A good example can be seen in their secure knowledge of phonics, with pupils using this knowledge to achieve well in the Year 1 phonic screening check.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 112844 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 448665

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 63 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Liz Bailey Headteacher Sue Hart Date of previous school inspection 20 October 2009 Telephone number 01283 760283 Fax number 01283 760283 Email address headteacher@netherseal.derbyshire.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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