King Edward Primary School & Nursery

King Edward Primary School St Andrew Street, Littleworth, Mansfield, NG18 2RG

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Good 2

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Not enough pupils make good progress over their time at the school.  Work is not always a good match to pupils’ different abilities. This slows pupils’ progress.  When marking pupils’ work, teachers do not routinely tell pupils how to improve their learning or ensure that pupils follow the advice that they are given.  Behaviour requires improvement because some pupils become restless and inattentive when teaching does not engage and interest them.  The planning and resourcing of the outdoor area in the early years are not always effective in helping children’s learning and development.  Attendance is not rising quickly enough because the school does not have sufficiently high expectations of pupils’ attendance.  The new subject leaders do not have responsibility for checking how well pupils achieve or for identifying ways in which provision in their subjects might be improved.

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The school has the following strengths

 The school is led and managed well by the headteacher and deputy headteacher. They have minimised the disruption to learning caused by the many changes of teaching staff and they are now driving improvements in teaching and achievement.  The early years provides an effective start to children’s learning and development, so that children make good progress over their time in Nursery and Reception.  Teaching assistants are effective in supporting those pupils who find learning difficult.  The governing body has a comprehensive understanding of the school’s work and challenges staff robustly.  Pupils behave well around the school and treat each other with respect. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is promoted well.  Pupils feel safe and secure.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed a wide range of teaching and learning, including eight lessons observed jointly with either the headteacher or with a member of the senior leadership team.  The inspectors spoke with many pupils while they were playing and learning. They watched an assembly and listened to pupils read. They watched several pupils being supported with their learning in small groups. One inspector held a meeting with a group of pupils in order to find out their opinions about the school.  The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, senior and subject leaders, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. They spoke with several parents at the beginning of the school day.  The inspectors looked at documents about the school’s work, including information about pupils’ achievement, information about the management of teachers’ performance, minutes of meetings of the

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Information about this inspection

governing body, the school’s improvement plan, and policies and practices to help keep the pupils safe. They checked samples of pupils’ work with the headteacher.  The inspectors considered the 57 parental responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and letters from parents. They also checked the 17 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Lynne Blakelock, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Inspection team

Melanie-Jane Dooley Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school. The number of pupils on roll has risen since the last inspection.  The school accepts children part-time into the Nursery when they are three years old. Children attend full time when they are in Reception.  Most pupils are White British. Others come from a range of different ethnic backgrounds. A below-average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils known to be disadvantaged and who are supported through the pupil premium is average. The pupil premium funding is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and for children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for

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Information about this school

pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics, by the end of Year 6.  The school is part of The Brunts Family Learning Partnership, The Minster Teaching School Alliance and the Mansfield Area Partnership.  Under half of the teaching staff in post at the time of the last inspection remain at the school. In September 2014, six teachers joined the school. The early years leader and the literacy leader took up their posts at that time.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching throughout the school and accelerate the rate of pupils’ progress by ensuring that:  work is matched to pupils’ different abilities and enables them to achieve their full potential  teaching promotes pupils’ good attitudes to learning by consistently interesting and engaging them  marking shows pupils what they need to do to improve and to move their learning on, and teachers ensure that pupils follow their advice  the outdoor area in the early years is well resourced and provides exciting opportunities for children’s development across all areas of learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ attendance rates by having higher expectations of their attendance, through higher attendance targets and ensuring that pupils and their parents understand the link between attendance and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership at subject level by developing the skills, roles and responsibilities of the new subject leaders in checking pupils’ achievement and work, and in driving improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 Since the last inspection, the school’s performance declined because the many changes of staff disrupted pupils’ learning. The headteacher and deputy headteacher have been effective in managing the changes and in keeping disruption to a minimum.

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The leadership and management are good

 Through their careful and detailed analysis, senior leaders have accurately identified the priorities for improvement and painstakingly supported staff in raising standards and improving the quality of teaching. They have acted promptly to adapt teaching methods, such as in the teaching of mathematics, with the result that pupils’ progress has improved this year. Pupils’ skills in writing by the end of Year 2 have also risen.

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The leadership and management are good

 Detailed data, including data relating to the achievement of disadvantaged pupils, are analysed quickly to ensure that strategies are implemented promptly to support pupils who fall behind. This is making a difference to the rate of pupils’ progress, not least because the headteacher uses the skills of her senior leaders very well to do this. A very well-planned programme of coaching and support is quickly improving teaching skills and helping pupils to learn more rapidly.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of teaching is effective because of the deputy headteacher’s very accurate knowledge of what each teachers needs to do to improve. Along with other senior leaders, she works with individual staff to improve their teaching skills. Her feedback to staff following lesson observations is sharply accurate and helpful to staff, who appreciate the support that they are given and the regular training provided.

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The leadership and management are good

 Targets which senior leaders set for teachers are also helping to improve teaching because they focus on the areas of teaching that most need to improve, such as mental mathematics. Most targets are measurable and challenging.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school uses its partnerships with other schools to strengthen its work and this is also quickening improvements in teaching through, for example, joint moderation of pupils’ work and sharing good teaching practices. New ways of assessing pupils’ learning are being developed within the family of schools. The headteacher and senior leaders are respected within the authority and work with other schools to support them. The special educational needs coordinator, for example, works with staff in other schools to strengthen their impact on the quality of pupils’ learning. Collaboration with the local secondary school helps to prepare pupils well for their transition to Year 7.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority reviews the school’s work regularly and has an accurate understanding of its needs as well as its strengths. It supports the school in its drive to raise achievement and has provided very appropriate advice to raise standards. It is effective in overseeing the school’s priorities in driving improvements. The local authority values the support the school gives to other schools through the skills of some of its leaders.

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The leadership and management are good

 Established leaders, such as the special educational needs coordinator and phonics leader, oversee their areas effectively and support class teachers well in developing their skills. They know where improvements need to be made and are driving them forward securely. The several new subject leaders have made a good start in developing the curriculum and evaluating the strengths and areas for improvement in their subjects but they are not yet doing enough to check on how well pupils are learning and to drive improvements in their individual subjects.

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The leadership and management are good

 The senior teaching assistant manages teaching assistants well and ensures that support for pupils is matched to their individual learning needs. Phonics teaching is led and managed well, resulting in consistent practices across the school which give pupils a good understanding of the sounds made by letters and which are improving the quality of pupils’ reading and writing skills. The early years leader has identified very appropriate plans to improve provision for children.

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The leadership and management are good

 Data are used well to check the progress of all disadvantaged pupils. All staff are expected to use the data to check the progress of their pupils. Although there are still gaps between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and that of other groups, leaders have ensured that funding is being used effectively to narrow these gaps.

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The leadership and management are good

 Boys’ achievement is also improving and the gap between their attainment and that of the girls is starting to narrow. This is because teachers are more mindful of how boys prefer to learn.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has developed the curriculum so that it is taught mainly through topics that pupils find interesting and engaging. Following a fall last year in numeracy standards because of variability in the quality of teaching, leaders have been effective in ensuring stronger teaching this year, and pupils have benefited from the opportunity to practise numeracy skills in other subjects. Pupils have a varied curriculum in which British values and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are incorporated. It enables pupils to develop a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in life as young citizens in a democratic society. Pupils, including the large majority of disadvantaged pupils, are very keen to participate in the wide range of after-school clubs, such as Zumba, techno club, sewing and choir.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has used the additional primary sports funding to create more opportunities for pupils to participate in sports and to enable the staff to develop skills to teach a wider range of activities. As a result, many pupils have represented the school in a wide range of sports, including multi-skills and basketball. The funding has also given pupils a greater awareness of unhealthy lifestyles.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school values all pupils, celebrates their differences and does not allow discrimination. The staff promote good relationships between pupils and have created a harmonious school. However, not all pupils have equal chances of success because of the variability in the quality of teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s safeguarding procedures meet statutory requirements and help to keep pupils safe.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governors support and challenge the school effectively. They have checked very carefully the rate of improvement following the decline in standards after the last inspection. They ask many probing questions of the school, pertaining to this, based on the headteacher’s reports and their independent knowledge. They visit the school regularly, with a specific agenda, based on what the school most needs to improve.  Some governors link with subjects and areas, such as mathematics and safeguarding. From this, they are able to evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s work. Their good understanding of the issues facing the school, such as variable quality of teaching, also enables governors to make very appropriate suggestions as to how the school can best move forward in the future.  The governors carry out their roles conscientiously, understanding their importance. They are supported

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The leadership and management are good

by regular training, often at the partner schools, which enables them to advise the school on what it needs to do, such as bringing British values even more into the curriculum.  Governors have a good range of skills, ensuring that they can comprehensively check all aspects of the school’s work, including its finances, which are sound. The governors consider carefully how to use the available money to best benefit the pupils. One training session for governors has strengthened their knowledge and understanding of pupil premium funding and its impact. They followed up this training by checking carefully on the progress of disadvantaged pupils.  The governors see the value of performance targets in improving teaching. They only award pay rises to the staff who meet their targets and check that teachers who miss their targets are supported well.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. This is because pupils’ attitudes to learning, including their level of attention and interest, vary depending on the quality of teaching. Although many pupils always behave well and settle very quickly to learning, some become restless and stop concentrating. This is particularly the case when pupils are not clear about what they are expected to do or when their work is too easy or hard.  From the time that they join Nursery, children work together well in lessons and support each other because this is what the school expects.

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Behaviour

 Around the school, pupils’ conduct is good. This includes in the dining hall, where pupils serve the meals to other pupils at their table and enjoy eating and talking together.

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Behaviour

 Pupils move round the school and site sensibly. They are polite to each other and to visitors.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have numerous opportunities to help each other, such as through being playground mediators. They like having responsibilities and the chance to improve their school and, in doing so, practise the British values that the school promotes. The school council, for example, is helping to improve the behaviour policy. School councillors are talking to local authority officers to get the road next to the school made into a one-way route to ensure everyone’s safety. Both of these examples show the democratic nature of the school and the expectation that pupils support and take responsibility for each other.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ attendance rose to average in 2014 but is lower this year because of some unavoidable absences but also because the school’s expectations of attendance are not high enough. The targets set for attendance are too low, and not enough is done to ensure that pupils and their parents understand how missing school has an adverse affect on pupils’ progress.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Parents feel the school provides a safe environment. Pupils agree because the site is secure and the staff help them if they are worried about anything.

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Safety

 There is a little bullying, but pupils say that the teachers sort it out very quickly and make it clear that bullying will not be tolerated.

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Safety

 Pupils understand what cyber-bullying is and how important it is to use computers sensibly. They know about several prejudices that can lead to bullying and how wrong this is because it hurts people.

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Safety

 The school works well to reduce exclusions, which have fallen steadily. Pupils with specific behavioural or emotional issues are helped to make good progress in developing self-control.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching varies, including in reading, writing and mathematics so pupils do not learn consistently well over time.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Work is not always challenging enough, including for the most-able pupils, so they do not all reach the levels of which they are capable.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 When they mark pupils’ work, teachers do not always tell pupils exactly what they need to do to make further progress, nor do they ensure that pupils act on their advice. However, there is some excellent marking that spurs pupils on to learn more rapidly.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Where teaching is most effective, pupils make good progress and take great pride in their learning. The new methods of teaching mental mathematics, for example, are resulting in pupils’ better skills in adding and division.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils are attentive when they are interested in what they are learning. Pupils in Year 3 made good progress in describing the reaction of several characters to the arrival of a sheep in their neighbourhood because the story was so interesting to them and they could imagine, for example, what their parents would think. In their writing, they practised and strengthened several grammatical skills.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching gives pupils lots of chances to read, including checking each other’s work and during discrete reading times, so that they build up their reading and comprehension skills securely.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Staff and pupils get on well together and this encourages discussions between them which builds pupils’ confidence and enhances their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching assistants support individual pupils and small groups of pupils effectively from the Nursery onwards. For example, pupils in Year 1 who needed additional help to master multiples of ten learned well because of the carefully planned support provided by the teaching assistant.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching in topics is giving pupils regular opportunities to practise both their literacy and numeracy skills in subjects other than English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement varies from subject to subject and from one year group to the next. For example, standards in mathematics at the end of Year 6 were well below average in 2014, whereas standards in reading and writing were broadly average. At the end of Year 2, standards were below average in writing, but broadly average in reading and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The pace of progress in Key Stage 2 is accelerating Leaders have put a great deal of carefully considered support into Year 6 to ensure that the gaps in learning, due to variability in teaching over time, have been addressed, and Year 6 pupils have the skills expected for their age.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s data points to standards being on track to rise a little this year in the proportion of pupils reaching expected levels in writing and mathematics and to rise more significantly in the proportion achieving higher National Curriculum levels in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards have fallen this year in Year 2 in reading and mathematics due to instability of staffing. They have improved in writing because of the emphasis placed on the teaching of writing and the efforts to make writing more interesting to pupils. This has helped to increase the rate of boys’ progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils make expected progress through the school. This includes in mathematics, in which pupils made less progress than they should last year. The new method of teaching mathematics, through for example, number operations, is quickening pupils’ progress in securing their knowledge and skills in using numbers. Nevertheless, mathematics continues to be a whole-school priority for improvement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress of disadvantaged students requires improvement. In Year 6 in 2014, the standards they reached were in line with those of their classmates in mathematics, and a term ahead in writing, but they were around a term behind their peers in reading. When compared to other pupils nationally, disadvantaged pupils were around half a term ahead in writing, a term and a half behind in reading, and two and a half terms behind in mathematics. Effective use of the pupil premium means that the attainment gap for these pupils is narrowing.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The range of support provided for disadvantaged pupils, which includes one-to-one support for literacy and numeracy, and subsidised activities and visits, helps them both academically and in their personal and social development.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in phonics (the sounds that letters make) in Year 1 were average in 2014. An above-average proportion reached the required standard in Year 2 retakes. This year, results are similar and show good development of phonics skills from the early years, due to good teaching of phonics and regular opportunities for pupils to read. Some pupils in Year 1 read fluently and with understanding and expression. The weakest readers are moving from guessing at words to starting to sound out single letters.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s data show the most-able pupils are making better progress than in previous years but the main inconsistency in teaching evident during the inspection was in the challenge provided to these pupils. Work in books supported findings that they are not challenged sufficiently well and regularly to ensure that they learn in depth and practise transferring their skills to unfamiliar problems or situations.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The rate of progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is accelerating because of the good organisation of the leader and the well-trained teaching assistants. The pupils make good progress in developing their literacy and numeracy skills because staff show them clearly what is expected, help them to learn step by step, and then check what they have learnt.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The small number of pupils learning English as an additional language make expected progress by the end of Year 6 and quicker progress lower down the school as staff become increasingly skilful in teaching them.

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The early years provision is good

 Children join the Nursery with levels of skills and knowledge that are broadly typical for their age, with some below in areas such as reading and writing. They settle in quickly, helped by visiting the Nursery with their parents before they start school. The good relationships between home and school, and opportunities for parents to support their children’s learning, are established here.

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The early years provision is good

 Both the Nursery class and the Reception classes are happy places to learn and play because the children know how they are expected to behave and to treat others, and they respond well to these expectations. They move round safely and with consideration for others.

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The early years provision is good

 The children get a good start to learning because teaching and the range of activities are generally good. The children have lots of stimulating activities.

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The early years provision is good

 The leadership of early years is good and ensures that there is a strong emphasis on children developing their writing skills and in stimulating the boys to write, in order to encourage them to enjoy writing from the start of their education. Children make good progress in developing their writing skills in the Reception Year. They form their letters well and start to construct simple sentences.

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The early years provision is good

 The outdoor provision requires improvement because the use of the space, the quality of resources and the breadth of activities do not allow the same quality and variety of learning as indoors. These factors have been identified by the early years leader, who is taking prompt action to tackle them.

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The early years provision is good

 Children learn well by the end of Reception. All children make at least the progress they should and many make good progress because activities promote good overall progress in the different areas of learning. Teaching and activities are particularly effective in the Nursery class and set the children up well for Reception.

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The early years provision is good

 By the end of the Reception Year, children are overall achieving a good level of development. They have acquired a range of skills and knowledge that mean they are ready for Year 1 learning.

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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 133274 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 456015

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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 478 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sandra Minich Headteacher Sue Bridges Date of previous school inspection 21 June 2012 Telephone number 01623 472215 Fax number 01623 472216 Email address Office7@kingedward.notts.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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