Torpoint Nursery and Infant School

School report Torpoint Nursery and Infant School Albion Road, Torpoint, PL11 2LU

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher provides excellent leadership. Her vision for school improvement has ensured that the quality of teaching is now outstanding.  The headteacher is well supported by highly effective senior and middle leaders.  Governors successfully hold the school to account. They challenge and support the headteacher effectively. Governors know the school well and ensure that self-evaluation is rigorous.  Pupils make rapid progress in all year groups. By the time they leave the school, standards in reading, writing and mathematics are much higher than the national average.  The range of subjects taught is very exciting and, because of this, pupils are keen to come to school as they thoroughly enjoy their learning.  Teachers mark pupils’ work in great detail. This ensures that teachers know exactly what each pupil needs to learn next to make rapid progress.  Teachers show pupils clearly how to improve their

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

work. This helps pupils make very good progress.  Teachers are enthusiastic about learning. They encourage pupils to try hard. Pupils are very keen to do their best in school.  Adults receive high quality training and support from the headteacher. This is why teaching is outstanding and why pupils make such rapid progress.  Additional adults support pupils effectively in the classroom, ensuring that all groups of pupils make rapid progress.  The school works very successfully with pupils from Forces families to ensure that they and their families are well supported.  Provision in the early years is excellent. Children make a very good start to their time in school because of the high quality support they receive from all adults.  The pupil premium funding is used very successfully to accelerate pupil progress and ensure that standards at the end of Year 2 are high for all groups of pupils.  Pupils are extremely well behaved because of the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

excellent guidance they receive from the adults in school.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils understand very well how to keep themselves safe and to look after each other.  The school’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural provision is excellent. Pupils fully understand the importance of tolerance and respect. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The school works hard to build links with other local schools.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors visited 22 lessons, including those where adults worked with small groups of pupils. Six lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher.  The inspectors heard pupils read, examined work in their books, attended an assembly and observed activities in the playground.  The inspectors held discussions with pupils, the headteacher, senior and middle leaders and members of the governing body.  The inspectors held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority and a meeting with the headteacher of the local junior school.  Inspectors examined a range of documents, including a summary of the school’s own checks on how well it is doing, the school’s plans for improvement and the report the headteacher regularly provides for governors. They also looked at documents showing how the quality of teaching is evaluated, the school’s information on pupils’ progress, and records relating to pupils’ safety, behaviour and attendance.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors analysed the 33 returns to the online Parent View questionnaire, read a letter from a parent and spoke informally to parents to seek their views.  The inspectors considered the views of 37 staff who returned questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Chris Chamberlain, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who receive the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils in the care of the local authority and those known to be eligible for free school meals) is similar to the national average.  A quarter of pupils are from Forces families.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is lower than average.  Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.  Reception children attend full time. In the Nursery class, children either attend full or part time.  There is a pre-school setting called Tiddlywinks on the same site as the school. This has a separate registration with Ofsted and so was not part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the links already established with the local junior school to ensure pupil transition into Year 3 is even more effective by:  sharing more pupils’ work with the junior school  increasing the frequency of visits by teachers to the school to share the best teaching strategies.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher provides inspirational leadership. She determinedly ensures that pupils leave the school with the social skills and academic knowledge they need to progress successfully in the future. Teachers agree that the headteacher empowers them to do their very best and ensure that pupils make excellent progress in their classes.  Senior and middle leaders are highly effective. They understand their responsibilities fully, have action plans highlighting accurately the key areas for school improvement, regularly check the quality of teaching and give their colleagues suggestions for improvement. They also review pupil progress and frequently check that new initiatives are fully adopted.  A very large majority of parents agree that leadership and management of the school are good.  The school uses the pupil premium funding effectively to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make rapid progress. Class sizes are kept to approximately 20 pupils so that teachers and additional adults can

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The leadership and management are outstanding

successfully meet the needs of all pupils. The funding is also used to provide additional adults with extra hours to enable them to work with small groups of pupils or individuals.  The school has developed an excellent curriculum. It is exciting, stimulating and rich. Parents say that their children love coming to school because everything that they do is so interesting. Key to the success of the school’s curriculum is the sense of awe and wonder produced by the use of exciting starts to projects. These include letters from hospital patients discovered in the Nursery class, moon craters and spacecraft wreckage, undersea environments, and owls from a local owl sanctuary in Key Stage 1.  The range of subjects in the classrooms is further enhanced by an excellent range of opportunities for pupils to visit local places of interest, such as Dartmoor National Park. Pupils become involved in their community through the school’s links with HMS Raleigh and they take responsibility for improving the

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The leadership and management are outstanding

environment.  As part of the school’s drive to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain, the school recently won the House of Commons Speaker’s School Council Award. This was awarded following pupils’ successful work campaign for better protection for sea birds. This also demonstrates the school’s excellent provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural education.  The range of clubs provided by the school for pupils to extend their learning still further is excellent.  The school works very hard and is successful in its drive to ensure that all groups of pupils have equality of opportunity and that there is no discrimination. For example, parents who spoke to inspectors are very impressed with the support that the school gives to the pupils and families of those in the Forces. The school readily makes allowances on days when parents leave to go away from home or arrive back from working away from home for long periods of time. The school organises opportunities for Forces families

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The leadership and management are outstanding

to meet and talk, and gives Forces families new to the area guidance and support. The school also promotes the role of the Forces in pupils’ lives through regular Forces assemblies and a weekly club held for pupils from Forces families to spend time together.  The school uses the primary school physical education (PE) and sport premium successfully. Teachers have received training to enable them to become even more effective in their teaching of sport and PE. Pupils have received additional opportunities to work with sports professionals and so their participation in sport and PE has increased; the skills that the pupils demonstrate have also improved as a result of the funding.  The school monitors pupil attendance very effectively. As a result, pupils’ attendance has improved since the last inspection and is now in line with the national average.  The school’s arrangements for safeguarding meet current statutory requirements and are highly effective.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

The school has worked closely with the police to pilot ‘Operation Encompass’ which encourages rapid communication between the police and schools when there have been instances of domestic abuse in the school’s community. The school regularly shares this system with schools both nationally and internationally.  The school has already developed effective links with the local junior school. Leaders recognise that, to enhance this link further, teachers could share a wider range of pupils’ work and organise opportunities to share the most effective teaching strategies between the two schools.  This outstanding school receives a low level of support from the local authority.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is highly effective. Governors know the school well. They provide the headteacher with an effective level of challenge and also give support when needed. Governors regularly spend time

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The leadership and management are outstanding

in school so they are able to observe learning and evaluate the impact of new initiatives. Governors use data effectively to compare the performance of their school with that of others. They understand how pay decisions are made and how teachers are supported if aspects of their teaching need improvement. Governors agree developmental objectives for the headteacher which are accurate and relevant, in order to improve the school still further.  The governing body has a good understanding of how the pupil premium is used to accelerate the progress of disadvantaged pupils. Governors monitor the school budget effectively.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils are polite, very well mannered and demonstrate respect for adults and tolerance of each other.  Parents who spoke to inspectors, or who completed the online questionnaire, all agreed that pupils are well behaved. Adults working in school unanimously agree that pupil behaviour is very good.  In assembly, in corridors, in the classrooms, outside in the wildlife area and while at play, pupils are consistently well behaved. Pupils cooperate well with each other and understand the rules, including those for the playground developed by the school council.  Pupils are excited by the subjects they are taught and have a passion for learning. They are fully immersed and stimulated by their work in school and therefore concentrate very well.  Pupils all agree that behaviour is excellent. They say that there is no bullying and this was reflected in the attitudes pupils display towards each other, as witnessed by inspectors.

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Behaviour

 The school’s records show that there have been no exclusions for several years. Other records show a very low number of instances of lapses in behaviour. The school has very effective systems in place for promoting excellent behaviour.  Older pupils are encouraged to look after younger pupils through the school’s buddy system. This successfully develops a sense of responsibility among pupils.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  The school site is kept secure and is well maintained.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school. All parents who spoke to inspectors, or who completed the online questionnaire, agree that their child feels safe in school.  The school ensures that pupils understand about the different kinds of bullying and that any concerns should be shared with an adult.  Pupils learn about the importance of e-safety and know how to keep themselves safe in the wildlife area, outside in the playground and in the classroom. They are also taught how to stay safe when visiting the beach.  The school also promotes safety by inviting professionals into school to talk to the pupils. Recently this has included the police and life guards.  The staff receive regular training in child protection. The school’s systems for safeguarding pupils are excellent.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have a very good knowledge of the needs of each pupil because class sizes are small and so they can readily plan learning activities which enable each individual pupil to make rapid progress.  The school’s excellent policy for marking and pupil feedback ensures that pupils know how to improve their work and have suitable opportunities to apply the suggestions made by teachers. Detailed marking ensures that teachers can plan the next step in learning based on the needs of the pupils in the class.  Teachers are enthusiastic and have high expectations of the pupils in their class. This enthusiasm transfers to the pupils, who say that they enjoy learning because lessons are so interesting. Homework activities are closely linked to the pupils’ learning in school.  Pupils learn equally well inside and outside. The wildlife area, as well as other areas outside classrooms, is used successfully to promote and stimulate learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers check the rate at which pupils are learning during lessons and confidently change their plans if pupils require additional support or a more challenging activity.  There is clear evidence from pupils’ work and school records that teaching is consistently outstanding, enabling pupils to make very rapid progress.  Additional adults are used effectively to support small groups and individual pupils to ensure that all pupils make very good progress.  An overwhelming majority of parents who completed the online questionnaire, and all of those who spoke to inspectors, agreed that their child is well taught.  Teachers have very good subject knowledge and use questioning successfully to extend pupils’ learning.  Teachers ensure that pupils know how to be successful in their work. Pupils check their work to ensure that they have met all the expectations and hence are making rapid progress in their learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Pupils make very good progress because they are fully involved in deciding which aspects of their learning they need to improve. Pupils work alongside their teacher to agree the areas in reading, writing and mathematics in which they need to improve. These objectives are displayed on the class wishes tree and referred to by pupils and teachers regularly.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children enter Nursery from a variety of starting points. About half of the children start with the skills and knowledge typical for their age, while the other half starts with skills and knowledge below those typical for their age. Children make very rapid progress during the early years.  Rapid progress continues across Key Stage 1 and, by the time they leave the school, pupils reach standards which are significantly higher than the national average. The achievement of pupils has been consistently strong for several years.  Progress made by pupils from Forces families is very rapid. Standards reached by this group of pupils are above the national average for all pupils.  The gaps in the standards reached by disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in Year 2 are closing. Disadvantaged pupils are one half term or less behind other pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. Disadvantaged pupils make very rapid progress. The standards reached by disadvantaged pupils in

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

reading, writing and mathematics are higher than that of other pupils nationally.  The most-able pupils make very rapid progress and an above-average proportion of these pupils reach the higher levels by the time they leave the school.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs also make very good progress because of the excellent support that they receive from their class teacher or the additional adults in school.  The teaching of phonics (the sounds letters make) is very good. Adults effectively meet the learning needs of pupils across the school to develop their phonic skills and knowledge in a variety of groupings. The proportion of pupils who reach the expected standard in the Year 1 phonic check is consistently well above the national average.  Pupils read very well. They are confident and readily use their phonics knowledge to decode words. They read regularly at home and are enthusiastic about different authors and types of books.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 All parents who spoke to inspectors, and an overwhelming majority of parents who completed the online questionnaire, agreed that pupils make good progress at the school.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 From their varying starting points, children make rapid progress in both the Nursery and Reception classes. By the time the leave the early years, the proportion of children attaining a good level of development is much higher than the national average. Therefore, children’s achievement is excellent and children are well prepared for the next stage in their education.  Parents who spoke to inspectors were very pleased with the provision in the early years.  The early years provision is very well led and managed. Children’s progress is carefully tracked and any underperformance is supported through additional support in a small group or on an individual basis. Adults working in the early years are effective and knowledgeable because of the training and support they receive from their highly skilled leader.  The quality of teaching is good. Children are given a wide range of activities to explore and investigate to

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The early years provision is outstanding

extend their learning. These activities include saucepans to make music with, natural materials to design pictures with, a role-play hospital, sound bags to explore and containing toys which children could name and apply their phonic knowledge to, and a role-play building area with opportunities for children to write on clipboards.  Homework is linked closely to the learning in school. During the inspection, children were asked to find out the name of the hospital in Plymouth and bring the name into school.  Phonics is well taught. Children make rapid progress in the early years because of the high quality teaching that they receive and the wide range of opportunities they have to apply their phonic knowledge during other learning activities.  Adults skilfully question children to extend their learning and provide challenge by encouraging them to think deeply about their task. For example, in the role-play hospital, an adult asked the children what they

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The early years provision is outstanding

would need to make broken bones better. In Reception, children had to design a boat and construct a boat that would float. Children were asked, ‘What will help it float?’ and ‘Why will that not float?’  Behaviour is very good in the early years. Children are happy and get on well with each other because the activities they are allowed to select from are stimulating and fun. Adults promote positive attitudes towards learning by being very enthusiastic. Adults readily show children how to behave if they need reminding. For example, in Nursery, an adult reminded the children that if they want to sit in a circle and there is no space available then they should say, ‘Could I please sit there?’  Secure gates and fences ensure that all children are kept safe. Where children use higher equipment there is an appropriate soft surface in case they fall. Role play also encourages safety. For example, younger

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The early years provision is outstanding

children were encouraged to wear safety helmets when in the construction site role-play area outside the Nursery class.

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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 111968 Local authority Cornwall Inspection number 449575

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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 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 287 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Barry Deacon Headteacher Elisabeth Carney-Haworth Date of previous school inspection 14–15 January 2010 Telephone number 01752 812245 Email address secretary@torpoint-inf.cornwall.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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