Newstead Primary and Nursery School

Newstead Primary and Nursery School Hucknall Road, Newstead Village, Nottingham, NG15 0BB

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Overall effectiveness

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

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This is a good school

 The headteacher provides good leadership and knows what makes teaching effective. Senior staff set a good example for other staff and work well with colleagues to improve teaching and raise achievement.  The staff team share a determination to enable the pupils to develop as confident learners and well-rounded individuals.  Pupils make good overall progress and achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics.  Children in the early years make good progress and build up their self-confidence because they are taught well in a stimulating environment.  Across the school, teachers set work that interests pupils and make good use of questions to check what they know and understand.  The large majority of pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning.  Pupils have a good grasp of how to keep safe. They develop an understanding of their rights and responsibilities and a good awareness of British

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This is a good school

values.  The governors play an effective role and support leaders in helping to improve teaching and achievement. As a result standards are rising.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The work set for different groups of, including the more-able pupils, does not always challenge them to make rapid progress.  Attendance is below the national average, largely because of families taking holidays in term time.  Pupils do not develop a wide vocabulary or speak grammatically correct English. They do not always explain their thinking clearly, including in mathematics, or show good spelling and punctuation skills.  A few parents do not believe the school listens to or values their concerns as well as it should.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed learning in parts of seven lessons and a range of other school activities. All lesson observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher. The inspector also looked in detail at the work in pupils’ books and heard several pupils read.  Planned and informal discussions were held with pupils throughout the inspection.  The inspector held discussions with the headteacher, staff members and governors. She also had a discussion with a representative of the local authority on the telephone.  There were 20 responses to the online questionnaire for parents (Parent View). The inspector spoke to several parents at the start of both days in school. She also took account of the seven responses to the staff questionnaire.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documents, including the school’s own information about pupils’ progress. She also took account of records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Sue Hall, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school.  Children attend the Nursery group on a part-time basis and the Reception class full time.  The large majority of pupils are White British and speak English as their first language.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported by additional funding (the pupil premium) is above the national average. This includes pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above the national average.  Since the previous inspection, a new headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed and there have been other staff changes.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and speed up the rate of pupils’ progress by ensuring that:  activities consistently challenge pupils of different abilities, especially the more-able pupils  younger children are always clear about what they have to do  pupils speak grammatically correct English, at length and in depth  pupils spell and punctuate their writing accurately, and develop the confidence to use mathematical words to explain their thinking when solving problems.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Work with parents to improve attendance and to give them confidence that the school acknowledges any concerns they have and, where appropriate, takes action.

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The leadership and management are good

 The new leaders have maintained the good quality of education and care provided since the previous inspection, by sustaining a culture and environment where good teaching and behaviour are expected. Staff value all pupils for their individual character and talents.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides good leadership. She has an accurate grasp of what works well in teaching and what needs to improve. Her feedback to staff correctly identifies the strengths and weaknesses observed. Discussions and school records show this information is then linked to teachers’ performance targets.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is well supported by the deputy headteacher and senior staff in setting high standards for teaching, underpinned by a strong focus on continually reviewing the strategies used to boost pupils’ achievement. Senior staff review the quality of work in pupils’ books regularly, and this gives them a secure understanding of pupils’ progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The early years leader and special educational needs coordinator also have a good grasp of their roles. They work closely with colleagues to ensure that all staff use data about pupils’ progress to identify those who need additional help. Because staff are a close-knit team, they readily share their most effective skills. This, coupled with well-chosen training activities, ensures that teaching and learning continue to move forward.

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The leadership and management are good

 The early years leader has worked successfully with colleagues to develop a good focus on the teaching of letters and the sounds they make (phonics). There has also been considerable work to develop a well- resourced outdoor learning area. This stimulates the children’s interest in learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s leaders ensure that staff make regular and accurate checks on the progress different groups of pupils make. Such information is well managed by the headteacher, and all information is fully shared with and used by staff to inform future planning.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has worked successfully to review the subjects pupils learn, and ensure that these are interesting and relevant for them. Activities focus well on developing pupils’ basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Staff have worked well together to review planning and to ensure that they prepare pupils effectively for the next stage of their education. They help pupils to understand not only their rights but also their responsibilities as part of the school community. This helps them develop a secure understanding of British values and life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well, including in assemblies where pupils particularly enjoy singing. The care provided for pupils at risk of not doing as well as others, and their families, is a long-standing strength of the school. The willingness of staff to ‘go the extra mile’ in helping resolve conflicts is a key feature of the school’s commitment to the community. Staff take a strong stance on behaviour and bullying, making clear what is and what is not acceptable in school. The school works well with a wide range of external agencies to support pupils’ learning and behaviour.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school takes good care to ensure that the safeguarding of pupils meets current requirements and is effective. Leaders check that staff training is up to date and that procedures to keep pupils safe are known to, and followed by, everyone.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school uses the pupil premium effectively to support the academic and personal development of disadvantaged pupils. Experienced classroom assistants provide additional support activities for individuals and small groups of pupils. The school has reviewed and purchased new reading materials, and has provided additional training for support staff. It has also invested in resources for mathematics and the teaching of phonics. Some of these initiatives are at an early stage, but staff carefully monitor their impact. This illustrates the school’s commitment to ensuring equality of opportunity for all and countering discrimination of any kind.

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The leadership and management are good

 The primary school physical education and sport funding is used effectively to support a range of different activities. The school works in a local schools sports partnership to allow pupils to compete in numerous inter-school competitions and participate in sports festivals. The employment of a sports coach has helped improve pupils’ skills and staff confidence in a range of activities, including gymnastics.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority rightly recognises that the school gives pupils a good education, and provides only limited support. This includes the monitoring of data and occasional visits by advisers to check the work of the headteacher. Such activities help to ensure that the school has the capacity to continue to improve.

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The leadership and management are good

 All of the parents spoken to during the inspection were pleased with the quality of education and care provided for their children. Several spoke with warmth about how they and their children love the school. Annual school surveys of parents’ views indicate their full satisfaction.

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The leadership and management are good

 A few parents who responded to the online questionnaire raised concerns about behaviour. Some are not confident that leadership is effective or that staff take account of their concerns. From the wide range of information available, the inspector concluded that the behaviour of the very large majority of pupils is good and leaders make very clear that bullying is never tolerated in school. Records show the staff work with dedication to help ensure that out-of-school issues are not replicated in school. Leaders acknowledge that they have not always been successful in involving parents in the life and work of the school, to help them support their children’s learning and social development.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is good. Since the last inspection there have been significant changes to the governing body, including new leaders. All governors have undertaken a range of training to help them understand and fulfil their roles effectively. They now have a good grasp of what performance data tell them about the progress the pupils make. They have links with specific subjects, and make occasional visits to the classroom to extend their knowledge of different subjects and the organisation of teaching and learning. This range of activities helps them to work increasingly effectively in holding leaders to account for the standards achieved.  Governors are informed about the quality of teaching and use a range of information when making decisions about teachers’ pay awards. They ensure that there is a clear link between salary progression for teachers and their effectiveness in raising pupils’ achievement.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. The very large majority of pupils behave well in and around school. This is reflected in records of behaviour, the pupils’ work and observations by staff and visitors during lessons and breaktimes. Most pupils get on well together and say the best thing about school is ‘my mates and the teachers’. Most want to please the adults around them. Behaviour in assemblies is good; during the inspection most enjoyed singing quite complex musical rounds and listened well to a story, with minimal supervision.

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Behaviour

 All of the parents spoken to were pleased with the strong working relationships between their children and the staff. Some commented on how much their children look forward to coming to school, including counting down to the end of the recent half-term holiday. They are confident that the staff value their children and prepare them well for their future.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have positive attitudes to learning, as shown in the work in their books. For example, the work of those in Year 6 is often very neatly presented and they produce a good amount. Where pupils are asked to respond to the marking of their work, they do this politely. However, across the school while several offer their ideas in class discussions, some do not, and lack confidence in speaking to a group and explaining their ideas.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They clearly explain that bullying is a deliberate and repeated action. They know what cyber-bullying is, and recognise both the benefits and dangers of social media. Despite the small number of parental concerns, pupils say they feel safe in school.

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Safety

 Pupils know the difference between right and wrong. They recognise that occasionally they do not make the right choices in how to behave when they feel annoyed. Discussions with older pupils show that sometimes they are less aware of how to respect others than they are of how to keep themselves safe and happy. For example, in discussions some occasionally laugh at others when this is not appropriate.

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Safety

 The school works very hard to model and expect good standards of behaviour and to counter the influences of different values experienced by some pupils. In the large majority of cases this is a successful approach and evident in numerous activities in and out of the classroom.

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Safety

 Attendance figures have improved considerably in the last year but remain below national averages. Some parents still take their children on holiday in term time. The school stresses the importance of regular attendance on pupils’ achievement and is working with other local schools to develop a consistent approach, but has not yet succeeded in getting the message through to all parents.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good across the school, including in literacy and numeracy. It promotes pupils’ learning and personal development well. This is shown in the work in pupils’ books and records of their progress, and confirmed in the school’s records of teaching over time and the learning observed in classrooms during the inspection. Staff have good expectations of pupils’ work and behaviour.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have strong working relationships with pupils, and offer them lots of support and praise. This raises pupils’ self-esteem and encourages them to try hard. Staff create a happy classroom atmosphere where pupils know that their efforts are valued. This is shown in the high-quality work widely displayed around the school, including very effective paintings of tulips on silk. All this makes the pupils feel justifiably proud of their work and spurs them on to do their best.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff are often enthusiastic in teaching the pupils and make activities interesting. This was well illustrated when pupils in Years 5 and 6 made good progress in developing their writing following the careful study of a film extract from The Pianist. This initially moved some pupils to tears, but they then used the feelings evoked successfully to make their writing more emotive.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Good teaching ensures that pupils improve their skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers use questions well to check pupils’ understanding. For example, in a Years 5 and 6 mathematics lesson, staff regularly asked ‘Why do we do this?’ to check pupils’ understanding of where the decimal point was in their calculations. Similarly in Years 1 and 2, staff continually checked ‘How do you work out half?’ with individuals and groups.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants provide good quality support for all pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. For example, during an introduction to word problems, teaching assistants quickly identified which pupils were struggling to understand what to do next from their responses on whiteboards. Timely and effective support was then provided for individuals and groups of pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching and support staff provide good verbal feedback to pupils so they know what they have done well. The marking of pupils’ work is effective, with areas for improvement identified and acted upon.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Activities are often adapted in line with the pupils’ differing abilities. However, their work shows that tasks are sometimes the same or very similar for all pupils, and lack challenge for the more-able pupils. Those working at the highest levels are well supported in additional activities.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Occasionally, staff working with children in the early years provide good support for those working directly with the adults but do not ensure that other children always understand what they are to do. This then limits the progress made. For example, in one session children working separately using picture matching cards did not understand what to do with them.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Many children enter the school with limited skills and understanding, poor speaking skills and little self- confidence. They settle well and make good progress in many areas of their learning and development.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In the Year 1 national check in 2014, pupils’ understanding of letters and the sounds they make (phonics) was a little below the average but showed a significant improvement from previous years.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 With quite small numbers in some year groups, pupils’ attainment in each key stage can vary from year to year. The general picture has been that standards in Key Stage 1 have been below the national average for some time. However, given their starting points this represents good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In Key Stage 2 the good rate of progress is maintained and increased, so that standards rise and are close to national averages overall. Data show that in 2014 Key Stage 2 pupils made good overall progress, and especially in reading and writing. This is reflected in current data and the samples of pupils’ work. These show that most pupils make the progress expected nationally for their age. The proportion exceeding expected progress is increasing, including in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Despite good teaching, pupils’ speaking skills are often limited. Many pupils throughout the school struggle to express themselves well. They often speak using slang words and offer little detail to discussions. Occasionally, some older pupils simply shrug when asked a question. Their limited skills and confidence when speaking to others hold back their progress in all subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils generally read well. The school spends a lot of additional funding in supporting reading. This is through the purchase of new materials, additional staff training and ensuring that pupils read regularly to an adult. Reading records show several rarely read at home. The increasingly effective teaching of phonics is making a clear impact on the standards achieved, especially by younger pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Most pupils write reasonably well and for a range of purposes, as seen in their recent work, especially in Years 5 and 6. Much of their writing is neat and well presented. However, many do not have secure strategies for spelling words correctly or using punctuation accurately.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils generally make good progress in mathematics. Most can carry out calculations reasonably well for their age. However, their limited use of accurate mathematical vocabulary hinders their progress when solving problems.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, there were too few disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 to comment on their attainment in reading, writing and mathematics without risk of identifying individuals. Currently, this group of pupils receives good support from experienced and well-trained support staff. School data indicates any attainment gaps compared to other pupils are closing and they are progressing at least as well as other pupils in the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The more-able pupils make generally good progress but could at times be challenged further. The small number of pupils who are most able and working at the highest levels make good progress overall. Currently a greater proportion of pupils than previously are on track to achieve the higher levels in their work, including in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress because of the good quality of support they receive from staff. This is effective both within lessons and in additional individual or small group activities.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils develop healthy lifestyles through a range of physical education activities and after-school sports clubs.

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The early years provision is good

 Children’s skills on entry are usually below what is typical for their age in all areas of their learning and development. Many have very limited speech and struggle to communicate with others in more than a few words. They also lack self-confidence in what they know, understand and can do. The school provides a good range of well-planned activities that take account of their stage of development. Children settle happily and make good overall progress that prepares them well for Year 1.

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The early years provision is good

 Children develop good attitudes to their learning and happily share equipment when playing in the role- play Veterinary Centre. Many want to please the adults around them and try hard to improve their early writing about parts of a story they have heard. They have a good understanding of how to keep safe when using equipment and at playtime.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is effective. Staff have good subject knowledge of how to teach children about phonics. In the Nursery, staff carefully helped children to make the individual sounds by showing them where to place their tongue and lips when saying ‘p’, ‘h’ or ‘c’. Staff helped children to overcome misconceptions well when thinking of words beginning with ‘j’. Occasionally, staff do not fully challenge all groups of children. For example, children in Reception not working directly with an adult were unsure what they were expected to do because explanations were not clear enough.

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The early years provision is good

 Leadership and management of the early years are good. Staff work effectively to provide an interesting range of activities, illustrated well in their ‘learning journey’ records. These show that good use of the stimulating outdoor area successfully promotes learning in all areas of their development. Parents are pleased with the regular contact they have with staff and the feedback on the progress their children are making.

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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 122658 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 453188

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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 103 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Raynor Headteacher Helen Woodward Date of previous school inspection 29 March 2011 Telephone number 01623 753681 Fax number 01623 759399 Email address office@newstead.notts.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

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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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