Dunkirk Primary and Nursery School

Dunkirk Primary and Nursery School Marlborough Street, Dunkirk, Nottingham, NG7 2LE

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Determined leadership by the headteacher, senior leaders and governors has enabled the school to sustain good and improving outcomes for its pupils through a time of rapid expansion and continual change.  Pupils settle quickly when they arrive at the school, and make good or better progress from their starting points.  Staff in the early years provide pupils with a safe, secure environment and many opportunities to build their language skills.  The quality of teaching in the school is good, and some teaching enables pupils to make outstanding progress.  Pupils are polite, behave well, and are extremely caring towards each other.  The school provides a safe and secure environment for pupils. They say that they really enjoy being at the school, that it keeps them safe and helps them to learn well.  Governance is outstanding. Governors strongly support the work of senior leaders and challenge them exceptionally well to ensure that pupils get

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

the best possible education.  Parents express high levels of confidence in the school, its leadership and its staff. Staff form a united team which works very well to ensure pupils achieve their potential.  Tireless work by leaders and other staff enables vulnerable pupils and their families to be supported sensitively and highly effectively.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Though teaching is good, it is not consistently outstanding and therefore does not yet result in outstanding progress for all pupils.  Teachers do not always provide enough opportunities for pupils to practise their number skills, solve mathematical problems or write at length.  Teachers’ expectations for what pupils should achieve are not always high enough in every year group.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in each class in the school. In total, they visited 21 lessons, two of which were observed jointly with the deputy headteacher or the English subject leader. The team also observed an assembly. Inspectors also checked pupils’ behaviour at break times, lunchtimes and as they moved about the school during the day.  Inspectors held meetings with senior and middle leaders in the school, including the special educational needs coordinator, the leaders of the early years, and subject leaders for mathematics and English. Inspectors also met members of the school’s governing body. A telephone conversation was held with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors discussed pupils’ work with them in lessons, heard pupils read, and met more formally with them in groups to discuss particular aspects of their experiences at the school.  Inspectors looked at a range of school documentation, including: the school’s improvement plan; the

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Information about this inspection

school’s data for tracking pupils’ attainment and progress; the headteacher’s reports to the governing body; minutes of meetings of governing body; the school’s self-evaluation document; work in pupils’ books; individual case studies showing the impact of the school’s support for pupils who are vulnerable, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs; anonymised records of the performance management of staff; and school documentation relating to safeguarding.  Inspectors analysed the responses from 38 parents on Parent View (the Ofsted online questionnaire) and spoke informally to a number of parents and carers on the playground as they brought their children to school.

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Inspection team

Roary Pownall, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is much larger than the average-sized primary school. It has expanded rapidly in the past two and a half years, including three additional classes, in response to the local authority’s need to educate children without a school place in the city. It now operates on two separate campuses, a mile apart.  The large majority of pupils are from minority ethnic background and the diversity of the numbers on roll continues to increase. Currently 46 different languages are spoken by pupils in the school. More than six in ten pupils speak English as an additional language, and most arrive at the school with little or no English.  Inward and outward mobility is high, with four in ten pupils joining or leaving the school at times other than at the start of their key stage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils who are supported through the pupil premium is above average. The pupil

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Information about this school

premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority.  Children in the Nursery attend on a part-time basis, and in the Reception year they attend full time.  The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum requirements 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?

 Ensure that teaching is outstanding in every class so that pupils’ progress in English and mathematics is rapid and sustained by:  consistently giving pupils sufficient opportunities to practise their number skills, problem-solving and extended writing  ensuring that high expectations, including of pupils’ presentation of work, are adopted consistently in every year group  checking that pupils always understand the challenges they have been set and, particularly the early years, that the challenge is at the right level for them.

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The leadership and management are good

 The highly respected headteacher believes that every pupil should reach his or her potential. She undertakes her role with integrity and, together with other senior leaders and governors, sustains a culture that emphasises educational progress as well as the need to value and care for everyone. As a result, staff are very proud to work at Dunkirk. The headteacher has ensured that pupils have sustained good or better progress through a period of rapid expansion and change. She manages the challenges of a continuous adjustment in pupil arrivals and leavers extremely well.

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The leadership and management are good

 The other members of the senior leadership team are equally committed to the school and its pupils. They model the attitudes and behaviours which they wish to see throughout the school. Because of this, all other staff are respectful, hardworking and polite, and a single learning community is evident across the two campuses.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders carry out regular checks on the quality of teachers’ work. Targets are set to ensure that all pupils, and particularly those who receive the pupil premium or speak English as an additional language, make good or better progress. Leaders know that they must ensure that teaching is outstanding throughout the school so that pupils can achieve more highly than they do. A good programme of support is helping those teachers who are new to the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The previous inspection report indicated the need for middle leaders to develop their skills in monitoring and evaluating their subject. Middle leaders are now clear about their roles and make an increasingly effective contribution to the leadership of the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and other staff have designed an outstanding curriculum to meet the needs of Dunkirk’s pupils. Basic skills of communication are emphasised continually because so many pupils arrive from abroad with little or no English. This helps pupils, many of whom have no experience of the expectations of formal education, to begin to catch up.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school uses its diverse community to great effect. Pupils are taught to understand and value greatly the variety of cultures in the school. As a result, they are well prepared for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very effective. Staff teach pupils to be thoughtful, considerate young people who want to play an active part in improving their community. For example, one recent school topic, ‘Acts of Kindness’, prompted pupils to decide to bake cakes and, with staff accompanying them, to walk around the community, handing them out freely to shoppers.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders use the many parents and visitors to the school, as well as projects in local universities, to raise the aspirations of pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders are particularly effective in helping pupils and their families whose circumstances make them vulnerable. Inspectors saw clear evidence of the school’s compassion and sensitivity in taking determined action to help parents in a family crisis.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders know the school well but some of their judgements about the school’s effectiveness are not fully accurate. However, leaders and the governing body monitor the progress of pupils carefully, along with pupils’ attendance and behaviour. The information they gather helps them to identify the correct priorities. Action plans then drive improvement effectively.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have ensured that staff are skilled in assessing pupils’ attainment accurately.

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The leadership and management are good

 Parents express strong support for the school’s leadership, and say they can approach staff if they have any concerns. Parents spoken with by inspectors were very positive and felt that they were valued and included in the life of the school. A very large majority of those who responded to Ofsted’s online Parent View questionnaire also said that they receive valuable information about their child’s progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders use pupil premium funding effectively, with targeted support for disadvantaged pupils. They also monitor it well to ensure that each intervention helps pupils to progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s leadership have also spent the physical education (PE) and sport premium wisely. Consequently, pupils benefit from a wide range of provision in PE and sport, both during and after the school day. Pupils’ skills and participation have increased as a result. Questionnaires from pupils indicate that they enjoy these opportunities greatly.

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The leadership and management are good

 The equalities group, comprising of parents, staff and governors, helps ensure that equal opportunities exist for all pupils in all aspects of provision. The school tackles any form of discrimination robustly.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has provided a helpful contribution to the school but its confidence in the school’s leadership means that this has not needed to be extensive.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is a strength of the school. Led by a confident and very effective Chair of Governors, the governing body is active. Governors are visible on both campuses, and carry out their duties with care and precision. They are knowledgeable about Dunkirk’s many challenges and strengths and understand that, because of its highly unusual circumstances, they cannot rely only on nationally published data to gain an accurate understanding of pupils’ achievement. They also analyse school data closely to provide them with a current and fuller picture. While they are very supportive of the school’s leadership, they are not afraid to challenge the school where pupils are not attaining highly enough or making sufficient progress. They also hold leaders to account for the quality of teaching and insist that Dunkirk’s pupils deserve the very best. The local authority has recently granted the governing body the ‘Most Effective

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The leadership and management are good

Governance in Nottingham’ award.  Governors are very self-aware and arrange their own professional development to ensure that they continue to be as effective as possible. Governors also monitor the performance management of staff closely. They are clear that they only award salary increases where targets have been met or there is a convincing case for doing so.  The governing body regularly check safeguarding arrangements to make sure that they meet statutory requirements and are effective. Governors see safeguarding as a priority and all have received regular and comprehensive training.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are polite, courteous and extremely welcoming to visitors, holding doors open cheerfully and behaving in a helpful manner at all times.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are also thoughtful and caring. In class, pupils help each other. They help those who are new to the school or whose English is very limited to translate teachers’ instructions and information. Inspectors also saw a striking example of this caring attitude in an assembly, where staff showed pupils photographs of the recent earthquake in Nepal. This resulted in pupils deciding for themselves that this was a tragedy and that they must plan quickly to raise money to help the victims.

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Behaviour

 On both campuses, pupils move around sensibly. Pupils from all ethnic backgrounds play and work happily together and cooperate very well at break times and lunch times.

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Behaviour

 In lessons, the attitudes that pupils display towards their learning is good. This helps them to make good progress. They are respectful to teachers and other adults, listen to instructions and complete their work well. In some lessons, their attitudes are exemplary because teachers challenge them highly and pupils are highly excited at how areas of work are presented to them.

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Behaviour

 A minority of pupils occasionally lose focus when a lesson does not sustain their interest. Although they do not disrupt others, they do not pay full attention. This results in these pupils making less progress than they should. However, when it happens, adults notice this and deal with it effectively.

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Behaviour

 Most pupils take a clear pride in completing their work. However, a small minority do not always do their work with the neatness that they could.

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Behaviour

 Attendance declined in the last academic year and remains below the national average. This was due to the high number of families returning to their countries of origin for reasons of religious observance. However, this trend has now stabilised and the punctuality has increased significantly. Leaders are working to ensure that families understand that pupils need to attend regularly and promptly. They put good support in place for those who are persistently absent.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. The school’s ethos of care and respect for all means that pupils are protective of each other, regardless of their religion, culture, age or gender.

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Safety

 Bullying is very rare, and any incident is dealt with quickly and highly effectively. Pupils told inspectors that ‘there isn’t any bullying’ and that they feel very safe in school. They were also clear that if they felt at all unhappy they could approach any adult for instant help. Very occasionally, discriminatory language is used but staff deal with this instantly and remind those pupils that this language is completely unacceptable.

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Safety

 The school checks visitors to the school extremely well. This includes a high level of supervision for any visitors at assemblies or those who coming to help with lessons.

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Safety

 Staff teach pupils about a range of risks highly effectively. These risks include safety when using the internet, as well as the danger from strangers or from crossing roads. As a result, pupils feel that they are alert to a wide range of personal risks they may encounter and know how to reduce them.

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Safety

 School staff complete risk assessments for a range of activities, and these are reviewed regularly and action taken where needed. For example, there are plans currently in place to improve the safety of the school pond further.

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Safety

 A very large majority of parents who responded to Parent View say that their child feels safe at Dunkirk. This is clearly confirmed by surveys that the school has done with its pupils, who say they feel very secure.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is at least good across the school, because teachers know their pupils very well. They plan interesting work that engages pupils and, as a result, pupils make good or better progress. Teachers use pupils’ ideas to create ‘Big Questions’ around topic areas. These excite pupils and give them a real sense that they have helped to shape the things that they are being taught.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers are fully aware that a great number of pupils enter the school with multiple levels of need, including many who arrive speaking little or no English. Teachers are quick to assess each pupil within a short time of their arrival. They then plan and implement a comprehensive package of support to meet their particular needs. Teachers then monitor closely and adapt their teaching as each child makes progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Some pupils have no experience of formal schooling upon arriving at Dunkirk and, as a result, find difficulties in adjusting to learning and behaving appropriately. Nevertheless, teachers and support staff are very caring and pupils soon learn the school’s routines and expectations. Teachers actively encourage other pupils, who have been at the school for longer but who come from the same country of origin, to help a new boy or girl to adjust, make friends and settle well.  Teachers also give the necessary attention to disadvantaged pupils. As a result, these pupils are supported well and make good progress overall, whatever their ability. The most-able pupils are also given more challenging work, and attain well over time as a result, but the school is keen to do more to ensure that they are challenged fully in every lesson.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The assessment of pupils’ attainment is both frequent and accurate. Teachers and teaching assistants question pupils well, and adapt the work according to what pupils know and understand. Teachers also look at work in pupils’ books and make helpful suggestions as to what pupils need to do next in order to improve their work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Expectations are high in most classes. In some lessons, pupils make outstanding progress because teachers find ways to engage pupils highly, whatever subject is being taught. For example, one lesson seen by inspectors showed pupils spellbound by the skilful use of a puppet to teach subordinate clauses. Some of the phonics teaching seen in the early years also resulted in outstanding progress for the children, who could tell the difference between graphemes and phonemes and blend them to make simple words.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Although teaching is good, and some of it is outstanding, teachers in a small minority of lessons do not check that pupils are all listening or understanding what they need to do. This means that learning slows and progress is not fast enough.

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The quality of teaching is good

 While teachers in most year groups also have very high expectations of the written work which pupils can do, this is not the case throughout the school. A few exercise books seen by inspectors were not completed neatly or accurately. As a result, the progress these pupils are making is not as fast as it should be.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Not all pupils receive sufficient opportunities to practise basic number skills, problem-solving and extended writing. This means that they are not learning to improve these things as quickly as they need to.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 A large majority of children enter the early years at Dunkirk with skills in communication, reading, writing and number significantly less well developed than is typical for other children of the same age. However, they make at least good progress in the early years, and by the time they leave there a majority are broadly working within or close to age-related expectations.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Progress quickens in Key Stage 1. This year, for example, pupils are on track to attain broadly similar results in the phonics screening check compared with other pupils nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ attainment at the end of Key stage 1 remains lower than that of other pupils nationally. However, the progress that current pupils make over time is at least good. Progress in Key Stage 1 is outstanding. In other year groups, it is good and accelerating.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Nationally published data for the school in 2014 suggested that achievement at the end of Key Stage 2 was not good. Scores in writing, mathematics and in grammar, spelling and punctuation were below the national average. However, this was because a considerable number of pupils joined the small cohort of Year 6 pupils, many from abroad and speaking little or no English. Other pupils in the cohort achieved well, except in writing. Writing scores, however, have seen the biggest increase throughout the school this year.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Following a concerted effort to improve skills throughout the school, all current Year 6 pupils and most from other year groups are on track to make expected progress this year.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school’s most-able pupils make similar progress to other pupils. Their achievement is in line with national averages.  The progress of those pupils speaking English as an additional language is close to that of other pupils in the school because they are given good support. Pupils tend to make more rapid progress in their first two years at the school, with many pupils finding that their language barriers slow the understanding of more complex ideas. Nevertheless, they continue to improve their skills. Some pupils who speak English as an additional language are making faster progress than their peers. In some instances, such as mathematics in Year 4, the progress of disadvantaged pupils is outstanding.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make similar progress to other pupils because the school ensures that they are well supported.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, disadvantaged pupils left the school approximately one and a half terms behind other pupils in the school in mathematics, but one term ahead in reading and writing. They were nearly four terms behind other pupils nationally in mathematics, about two terms behind in reading and over three terms behind in writing. Current school data and work in pupils’ books shows that, throughout the school, disadvantaged pupils are making good progress. The remaining gaps between their attainment and that of their peers and pupils nationally are closing over time.

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The early years provision is good

 Staff assess children’s skills accurately on entry to the early years. Parents are involved in this process and feel that adults there quickly understand the abilities and needs of their children. They say that staff are friendly, approachable and keen to ensure children settle quickly and learn well from the start.

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The early years provision is good

 As a result of good teaching over time, pupils make at least good progress. This includes disadvantaged children, the most able, and disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Far fewer attain a good level of development compared with the national figure because so many children begin at the school with skills in communication, language and mathematics that are significantly less well developed than other areas of learning. This means that a significant number of pupils are not fully ready to begin the National Curriculum in Year 1. However, staff work well with teachers in Year 1 to ensure that information about the achievement and needs of the children is passed on. This means that their progress can continue to accelerate.

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The early years provision is good

 Good provision in the early years meets the needs of the very wide range of abilities of the children who attend. Children encounter a rich, attractive and stimulating environment that encourages them to socialise with new friends and to feel safe. Staff give many different opportunities to stimulate children’s language for thinking and communicating. As a result, children learn to cooperate, follow instructions and respond well to questions. They also learn to accept each other’s differences quickly.

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The early years provision is good

 Children respond well to the variety of teacher-led and child-chosen activities and are eager to show what they can do. Leaders ensure that staff give plenty of opportunities for children to develop their writing, because writing skills are a particular concern throughout the school, As a result, pupils’ progress in writing shows strong gains. However, not all leaders in the early years have a confident grasp of examining data about children’s performance.

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The early years provision is good

 Staff do not always make the best use of time in lessons. Inspectors saw children becoming restless while staff took too long to prepare for a nature walk, for example.

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The early years provision is good

 Some phonics teaching results in children making outstanding progress, with quick-fire activities that are well matched to the needs of children. However, on other occasions teachers do not always check that all children are given the right level of challenge for their ability. When this happens, progress is not always quick enough.

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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 122416 Local authority Nottingham Inspection number 461544

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 416 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dr Andrew Bennett Headteacher Jane Alford Date of previous school inspection 17 May 2012 Telephone number 0115 9153273 Fax number 0115 9153274 Email address admin@dunkirk.nottingham.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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