Nancledra School

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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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils enjoy school. They are keen to learn and make good progress as they move through the school.  Pupils reach above average levels of attainment at the end of Year 6 in reading and writing. The headteacher’s enthusiasm for mathematics ensures achievement in that subject is particularly good. Pupils’ achievement is good.  Teaching is typically good across the school and ensures that all pupils achieve well from their different starting points.  Teachers possess secure subject knowledge which they use to set work that accurately supports or challenges pupils to learn.  Staff provide a stimulating range of activities and experiences which contribute effectively to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  All pupils are valued, known as individuals and helped to become confident learners because adults treat them with respect and offer high-quality care. As a result, pupils feel safe at all times and behave

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

well.  Provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage and that for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are strengths within the school.  Leaders and governors have successfully addressed areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. The headteacher has high expectations for pupils’ achievement and tracks their progress effectively.  Governors have a good understanding of the strengths of the school and the challenges it faces. They meet regularly with teachers and as a result, governors know the school well.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 Work to check on the quality of teaching and the impact of school improvement plans is not evaluated rigorously by the headteacher or shared in sufficient detail with governors.  A system for governors to provide challenge and hold the headteacher to account for the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement is not fully embedded within the school.  Teachers’ written comments to pupils in their books do not always make clear to pupils what they need to do to improve their work further and pupils are not given time regularly to reflect and respond.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching in all classes. He visited eight lessons, two of which were jointly observed with the headteacher.  The inspector heard pupils read in all classes and also held a meeting with representatives of the school’s Pupil Parliament. The inspector gained pupils’ views by meeting them informally and discussing their work when he visited classrooms.  The inspector held discussions with the headteacher, met with five governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body and also met with staff, including middle leaders, administrative staff and teaching assistants.  Telephone conversations were held with a representative from the local authority and a school improvement partner.  The inspector looked at a range of documents, including the school’s data on pupils’ current progress, planning, monitoring, the school’s safeguarding policy and procedures, and the school’s self-evaluation

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Information about this inspection

and improvement plans.  The views of 31 parents and carers expressed through the online questionnaire, Parent View, were analysed.  The views of 17 staff who responded to the staff questionnaire were also considered.

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Inspection team

David Edwards, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-size primary school.  The large majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is above the national average.  A few pupils are eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding which supports pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority). This is below the national average.  Children in the early years and pupils in Year 1 are taught full time in the same classroom, sometimes together, sometimes separately.  Pupils are able to access a school breakfast club. An independently managed pre-school is located on the school site. It did not form part of this inspection.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that: - leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning are evaluated rigorously and outcomes lead to swifter school improvement - the impact of school improvement plans is shared in detail with governors - strategies to check on the work of the school are fully embedded to allow governors to hold the leadership of the school more effectively to account.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure teachers’ written comments in pupils’ books lead to improved work.

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The leadership and management are good

 The experienced headteacher effectively leads a calm and purposeful school. He is ably supported by a well-trained and highly committed staff.  The school promotes an inclusive ethos that aims for high standards in academic achievement and strives to ensure pupils become independent and curious learners who enjoy all aspects of learning.  Through working closely together, staff have successfully addressed weaknesses in teaching identified at the time of the previous inspection. As a result, pupils in Key Stage 1 are making more secure progress in developing their reading, writing and mathematical skills. By the time pupils reach the end of Key Stage 2, they have gained a much clearer understanding of life in multicultural Britain and are well prepared for their next stage of learning.  All staff take responsibility for pupils’ good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Through well-

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The leadership and management are good

established links with a school in Mumbai, India, pupils have a good understanding of other cultures. Frequent trips to local places of interest and regular visitors from local churches and faith communities further enhance pupils’ good understanding of the diversity of British culture.  Pupils thoroughly enjoy their work and speak very positively about their learning. For example, older pupils have recently returned from a very successful residential trip to London  The range of subjects taught in the school is a strength of provision. All pupils are taught to swim confidently to a high standard. Lessons and whole-school assemblies provide regular opportunities for pupils to find out about people of faith and to reflect on their own developing beliefs.  The school makes particularly good use of the additional primary sports premium funding to provide a broad range of sporting clubs and activities. Staff work alongside professional coaches to develop their

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The leadership and management are good

own skills to ensure pupils benefit from high-quality physical education lessons.  The headteacher checks on the quality of teaching regularly throughout the school. However, the information is not evaluated and acted upon swiftly enough. It is not shared in sufficient detail with governors to enable them to hold the school rigorously to account.  Middle leaders have begun to develop their skills in checking on the quality of teaching and learning in the subjects they are responsible for. The leader of English has worked closely with a link governor in the past year to check on the quality of pupils’ writing and their presentation of work. Strategies to strengthen the teaching of spelling and grammar have been successfully introduced and this has brought about improvements in the quality of pupils’ writing seen throughout the school in the past year.  The leader for science has successfully introduced the new science programme of work. However, plans to

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The leadership and management are good

develop pupils’ scientific skills and understanding as they progress through the school are not embedded.  Older pupils are developing a secure understanding of democracy and the British parliamentary system through the successful pupils’ parliament that is established in the school.  Pupil premium funding is used carefully to support pupils’ good personal development. It is also used effectively to access after-school opportunities that build pupils’ confidence and self-esteem.  Parents who spoke with the inspector or completed the online questionnaire, Parent View, say they greatly value the school and all who work in it. They especially appreciate the many and varied learning experiences their children receive. Parents of older pupils also appreciate how well the school prepares their children to move on to their secondary education. The inspector found parents’ views aligned with his inspection findings.

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The leadership and management are good

 Arrangements for safeguarding meet statutory requirements and pupils are kept safe at all times. Staff and governors have undertaken safer recruitment training. The school ensures all staff, volunteers and governors are appropriately vetted prior to their appointment to make sure they are suitable to work with pupils.  The school receives helpful light-touch support from the local authority.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors are knowledgeable about the school. They have a realistic understanding of the financial challenges facing the school as well as its strengths and where improvement is needed. The governing body meets its statutory responsibilities, including those for safeguarding, and makes sure that school funds, including the pupil premium, are spent carefully. Governors are regular visitors to the school. In the past year, governors have begun to work more closely with teachers to better understand how well pupils of all abilities are achieving. The work of the governing body to provide challenge and hold the headteacher rigorously to account for the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement is not embedded within the school. Governors understand how performance can affect salary progression and what can be done to reward good teaching. New governors are offered training to improve their effectiveness.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Older pupils take a mature and positive attitude to learning.  Pupils are polite and welcoming to visitors. They show good conduct and manners at all times. Pupils of all ages mix well at lunch and break times which helps to create and sustain an inclusive and caring learning environment.  Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities within school. For example, older pupils willingly take on the chance to be trusted ‘Playground Mentors’. Their bright yellow jackets mark them out in the playground. ‘We are the first line of support’, explained one enthusiastic mentor, ‘and we have been trained in helping to resolve disagreements between pupils.’  The school maintains regular checks on pupils’ punctuality and parents have to make written requests for any planned absence during term time. Attendance has improved in the past year and is now broadly in line with the national average.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  Training in all aspects of safeguarding is carried out regularly for staff and governors. The school maintains very effective systems in place to identify vulnerable pupils and to support them and their families.  All pupils are helped to develop a very good sense of right and wrong. Older pupils know about the dangers associated with the internet and social media and are confident in talking about different types of bullying, including cyber bullying.  Pupils say they feel safe at all times. They trust and respect their teachers and other adults who work in the school.  All parents who completed the online questionnaire, Parent View, or spoke to the inspector agreed the school looks after their children well and keeps them safe.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations for what pupils can achieve and use creative ways to engage pupils in their work. Teachers provide regular opportunities for pupils to practise their handwriting and spelling skills.  All groups of pupils make good progress because teaching is typically good across the school. Staff set high standards for themselves as well as the pupils.  Teachers ensure lessons are interesting for pupils and are carefully tailored to meet their individual learning needs. Teachers use technology effectively to enhance their teaching and maintain pupils’ interests.  Mathematics is taught very effectively throughout the school. For example, in a Year 6 mathematics lesson pupils were set a challenging problem to solve. To achieve this pupils confidently used decimals, square root, brackets and the four rules of number, and some even took their work with them into the playground to complete at break time.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Where teaching is at its best, teachers’ subject knowledge is strong and lessons are carefully planned to support pupils who need additional help. The most able are regularly challenged to achieve their potential. For example, older pupils in a Key Stage 2 English lesson were able to make good progress in developing their persuasive writing skills because the teacher provided them with many good examples of how to write persuasively and then carefully questioned them to check their understanding. The majority of pupils in school show good levels of spelling and punctuation in their written work.  Teaching assistants are effectively deployed. They are well trained and work closely alongside teachers in the support of individual pupils or groups.  The marking of pupils’ work and written feedback provided by teachers are carried out regularly in all classes. However, teachers’ written comments do not always guide pupils in what they should do next to

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The quality of teaching is good

improve their work further and not all pupils are given regular time in lessons to make the necessary improvements.

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The achievement of pupils

 The school has improved writing standards across the school since the previous inspection. More pupils in Key Stage 1 are now meeting expected levels of attainment in writing and are above average in reading and mathematics. Most pupils in Years 3 to 5 continue to make good progress and pupils in Year 6 have exceeded expected levels of attainment, reflecting good achievement overall.  Children start school with skills and abilities that are typical for their age. They settle quickly to routines and make rapid progress in all areas of learning.  All pupils have regular opportunities to practise their reading skills in school. Pupils in class 1 get off to a very good start in learning to read. The achievement of pupils at the end of Year 1 in the national screening check for reading for the past year resulted in much higher than average results for the school. The inspector observed pupils using their phonics knowledge well when reading unfamiliar words.

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The achievement of pupils

 The most-able pupils are well provided for in lessons and challenged through focused teaching. Pupils say they enjoy the extra challenge these sessions provide. Mathematics is ably led by the headteacher. A whole-school strategy to give all pupils daily opportunities to practise their mathematical skills has been very successful. As a result, a growing number of pupils throughout the school are making accelerated progress, with pupils in Year 6 working confidently at the highest level.  The learning needs of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is supported well. Their individual learning needs are identified quickly when they enter the school. The school ensures targeted support is given to pupils to ensure they make good progress relative to their starting points.  The few disadvantaged pupils in the school are equally well provided for. The school uses its resources well to overcome any barriers to their learning. The school’s monitoring information and pupils’ books

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The achievement of pupils

show that pupils make good progress along with their peers. There were too few disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 to make any comparison between their achievement and that of other pupils, both nationally and within the school, without the risk of identifying individuals.  All pupils benefit from regular high-quality music lessons and reach good standards of singing through a successful school choir.

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The early years provision

 The early years provision is strong. A spacious learning environment inside and out ensures children make good progress in all areas of development. Children have plenty of space to learn, play and develop their independence.  Routines are quickly established as adults model positive relationships and set high expectations for all children. As a result, children quickly settle to learning and make good progress. The youngest children also benefit from working alongside Year 1 pupils.  Adults work effectively together and capitalise on children’s good dispositions to learning. They provide a wide range of stimulating learning activities that capture childrens’ interests. For example, children enjoyed selecting and using a range of coloured pencils and chalks to practise their letter formations on paper and then later in the playground.  Children are supported well in the early stages of learning to read. Adults teach phonics confidently and

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The early years provision

build children’s confidence to read new words.  Leadership of the early years is confidently managed and effective. The good progress of pupils is captured through the leader’s imaginative use of modern technology to track pupils’ learning and development in detail. This strategy allows adults to securely upload and store photographs and written observations of children’s learning electronically. Parents are able to access these records of achievement and add to them as well, which provides the school and parents with a detailed understanding of their children’s progress.  The support for disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs is equally well provided and effective. They are nurtured and well cared for and so they make good progress relative to their starting points.  Adults ensure all children are provided with just the right amount of challenge to make the good progress

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The early years provision

they are capable of.  Safeguarding is effective, with risk assessments in place to ensure children are safe at all times.

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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 111805 Local authority Cornwall Inspection number 449571

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 86 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Brian Sharp Headteacher Rick Gill Date of previous school inspection 2–3 March 2010 Telephone number 01736 740409 Fax number 01736 740409 Email address head@nancledra.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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