Middlemarch School

Middlemarch School College Street, Nuneaton, CV10 7BQ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Good teaching of reading and writing helps pupils make good progress from their different starting points.  The teaching of mathematics has improved and is outstanding in Year 6 so pupils achieve exceptionally well and become excellent learners in this subject.  Adults know pupils well. They tailor work to match the varying needs of most pupils so they achieve well.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those supported through the designated speech and language provision, are taught well and make at least good progress.  Teachers use questions effectively to make pupils think, deepen their understanding, and make good progress in their learning.  School leaders and staff have worked together in a strong partnership to create an environment where pupils are eager to learn and do well.  Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They are polite and courteous to each other

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

and to adults.  Pupils are kept exceptionally safe at all times. The school is an environment in which pupils feel very safe and enjoy learning. Attendance has improved so it is now average.  Senior leaders check teaching regularly. They identify areas that need improving and provide prompt support. As a result, the good quality of teaching has been maintained since the school’s previous inspection.  Governors know the school well. They play an important role in planning for improvement. They ask searching questions of the headteacher and other leaders, holding them accountable for school improvement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Standards in reading and writing are currently not as high as in mathematics. The proportion of pupils on track to reach the higher levels of attainment in reading has fallen this year to well below average.  The marking of pupils’ work is not as effective in some subjects as it is in English and mathematics.  Teachers do not insist that pupils take enough care in the presentation of their work.  Teachers do not give the most able pupils books that stretch their reading ability.  Adults do not always make sure that pupils who speak English as an additional language know enough English words to be able to cope with some of the work given to them.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 15 lessons. One of the observations was carried out jointly with the deputy headteacher. In addition, inspectors observed one-to-one and small-group support for groups of pupils, particularly for pupils supported through the speech and language designated provision.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and looked at the work in pupils’ books.  Inspectors looked at a wide range of documents, including the school’s own judgements on its strengths and weaknesses, and the data it collects on pupils’ progress. Documents detailing the school’s arrangements for safeguarding were reviewed and discussed.  Meetings were held with governors, senior leaders, subject leaders, teaching assistants and pupils. A meeting was held with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors analysed 20 responses to the questionnaire for staff.  Inspectors took account of 12 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. They also looked at the

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Information about this inspection

results of the school’s recent questionnaires, giving parents’ views of the school.

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Inspection team

David Speakman, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is similar in size to the average-sized primary school.  The large majority of pupils, about three quarters, are White British. Others come from a range of different minority ethnic backgrounds. The largest other group consists of pupils of Indian heritage.  An average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported through the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority) is above average.  The proportion of pupils who are disabled or have special educational needs is above average.  Five teachers have joined the school since it was last inspected in March 2012.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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Information about this school

 The school runs a breakfast club before school each morning specifically for disadvantaged pupils. This is managed by the governors and was observed during the inspection. Other before- and after-school care is run independently of the governors and is subject to a separate inspection.  The school has specially resourced provision for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. This provision has the capacity for 10 pupils with speech and language difficulties. Six pupils from the school are currently being supported.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching by ensuring:  that the advice given in marking and feedback to help pupils improve their work is as good in other subjects as it is in English and mathematics  teachers insist that pupils take more care in the presentation of their work  teachers give the most able pupils books that improve their reading skills  that all adults help pupils who speak English as an additional language, particularly in Year 3 but also those new to the school in other year groups, improve their English vocabulary to help their learning in all subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment in reading and writing so that it matches that in mathematics by:  improving pupils’ handwriting, spelling and the accuracy of their use of grammar in their writing in English and in other subjects  making sure that younger pupils have enough knowledge of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) to be able to read new and more difficult words by themselves.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, deputy headteacher and governors are ambitious for the school. They set aspirational targets for the work of all staff and keep a close check on how well staff and pupils are doing. They have created an effective staff team which focuses on providing well for all pupils’ academic progress and their personal development.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teachers make an initial assessment of attainment shortly after pupils join in Year 3. The school draws pupils in from a large number of infant and primary schools. This initial assessment provides a secure and uniform baseline from which teachers can plan pupils’ work and which shows accurately strengths and weaknesses in attainment on entry. In response to an apparent dip in the tests and assessments at the end of Year 6 in 2014, leaders and the local authority conducted a thorough evaluation of the results. They measured progress from the school’s own assessments of attainment on entry, clearly identifying an accurate picture of pupils’ good and sometimes excellent achievement.

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The leadership and management are good

 Regular checks on the quality of teaching, followed up by feedback and supportive action when needed, have been effective in maintaining the good quality of teaching since the school was last inspected. Senior and subject leaders observe lessons, check the work in pupils’ books and take account of ongoing assessments of pupils’ progress to build a detailed profile of the work of each teacher. They use the information well to provide support to help teachers improve their skills. Teachers new to the school are helped to settle in quickly and their work is carefully checked so that the good quality of teaching is maintained.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of subjects and other key areas of the school’s work is good. Guidance for staff and well- chosen training programmes, designed to meet their particular development needs, have resulted in reading, writing and mathematics being taught well throughout the school. The school has focused on improving learning in mathematics, a weakness identified at the last inspection, so that standards in that subject are now high. Standards of reading and writing have received less stringent attention from leaders and have not risen as sharply. In particular, leaders have not ensured that the most able pupils are stretched in reading.

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The leadership and management are good

 Under the effective direction of the special educational needs coordinator and staff who manage the designated speech and language provision, the school provides a good range of effective programmes to support the learning of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. They are mostly taught alongside other pupils and have full equality of opportunity to learn.

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The leadership and management are good

 Good use of the pupil premium has helped close gaps in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils. Qualifying pupils receive small-group or one-to-one support to help them catch up. A learning mentor and a ‘nurture’ group help prepare the most vulnerable pupils for learning, for example, by improving their behaviour and attendance. Good use of funding enables qualifying pupils to be fully included in all school events and visits. This encourages their positive attitudes.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders spend the primary physical education and sport premium effectively. The subject leader and class teachers have received training to improve the teaching of physical education. A strong focus is placed on widening the range of activities available to encourage all pupils, including those reluctant to join in, to enjoy sport. Leaders have noted improved teaching of physical education, an increase in the number of pupils attending sports clubs and improved physical skills among pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school gives high priority to safeguarding and child protection. Thorough checks are made on all adults coming into contact with pupils. Training for all adults on child protection and first aid is up to date. Staff are vigilant and know what to do if children share sensitive information. The school makes sure that pupils have the information they need to keep themselves safe.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teachers promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well through lessons, school assemblies and the daily life of the school. The school celebrates pupils’ achievements so that they appreciate their own and others’ achievements. Pupils develop an understanding of what behaviour is acceptable and what is not through drawing up their own sets of class rules. Pupils respect diversity, as seen in the way pupils from different backgrounds and of different abilities work and play well together.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school promotes British values well throughout the curriculum and through a range of visits that give pupils opportunities to experience different aspects of British life. Pupils are taught to understand how democracy works through elections for the school council and other positions of responsibility. They understand the need for laws and rules and how these protect an individual’s liberty by contributing their own ideas to class rules. Pupils learn respect for each other and for the world’s major faiths in assemblies and religious education lessons. The school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 Parents think highly of the school. Those who responded to Parent View and to the school’s own questionnaire believe staff to be approachable and responsive to their concerns. They feel communication between the school and parents is good.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has provided a low level of support to the school because they judge it to be effective. A representative makes regular visits to monitor the school’s effectiveness, but has not judged intervention to be necessary.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is good. Governors challenge leaders and hold them to account for the school’s performance. They have regular meetings with senior staff and subject leaders to discuss the school’s effectiveness.  Governors have a good understanding of strengths and weaknesses in the performance of staff and pupils through visits to the school, detailed reports from the headteacher and links with subject leaders. They understand assessment data and are aware of how pupils’ achievement compares with that in other schools.  Governors set challenging targets to ensure the effectiveness of the headteacher and staff. They know how good the teaching is and make sure that teachers’ pay increases are linked to competence and impact on pupils’ achievement. The governors tackle underperformance of teachers effectively and monitor the impact of any actions taken to improve teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors make sure that all statutory requirements are met, including those relating to safeguarding.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are positive and they want to do well. Their behaviour during lessons is good and sometimes excellent. Pupils say that behaviour is good, but not perfect. Pupils with speech and language difficulties behave well when in class and when receiving small-group or one-to-one support. All pupils work well together and, as a result, good learning takes place.

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Behaviour

 Pupils respond well to the school’s promotion of good behaviour and conduct themselves well at all times. The school has successfully improved the behaviour of some pupils who find difficulty in managing their own behaviour. Break and lunchtimes are calm and orderly. Pupils show good relationships with each other in the way they work and play together.

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Behaviour

 Attendance has improved and is broadly average. Pupils arrive at school on time for a prompt start to the school day.

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Behaviour

 Pupils do not show enough care and attention to the way in which they present their work. Scruffy presentation and untidy handwriting often spoil otherwise good work, particularly in writing. A few pieces of work remain unfinished. Pupils respond to comments in teachers’ marking and often correct mistakes, although this does not improve the tidiness of their work.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.

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Safety

 Pupils view school as a safe place and say they could always find help if they ever feel worried about anything. They also value the fact that other pupils help keep them safe in school. Pupils as ‘peer mediators’ play an important role in helping sort out problems and resolve minor differences.

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Safety

 Pupils develop a thorough understanding of how to keep safe when using the internet through the school’s e-safety presentations. They are aware of the many ways young people can be bullied and know what to do to avoid difficulties in or out of school. They say there is no bullying in school but they know what to do should it ever happen. Parents feel their children are safe in school.

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Safety

 Staff are knowledgeable about child protection and apply relevant procedures diligently. They are vigilant and intervene if they suspect that any child may be at risk. They work in close partnership with the learning mentor and outside agencies to ensure the safety of children in and out of school.

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Safety

 Disadvantaged pupils are cared for very well, including in the school’s own breakfast club. This has a positive impact on pupils’ health and nutrition, ability to socialise, attendance and punctuality to school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers are particularly good at asking questions and encouraging discussions to extend pupils’ learning. They ask searching questions and set challenging tasks that make pupils think carefully and come up with the answers to questions for themselves. The most effective questions are matched closely to pupils’ different abilities.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Adults manage pupils’ behaviour well. Procedures are consistent from class to class so pupils have a good understanding of rewards and the consequences of making wrong choices. Teachers and teaching assistants are effective in helping pupils see the value of good behaviour. The school can demonstrate the impact of its effective behaviour management through its good track record of helping pupils with significant behavioural difficulties manage their behaviour.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of mathematics is good in most year groups. It is outstanding in Year 6 and enables pupils to make outstanding progress over time. Teachers constantly assess the levels at which pupils learn and adapt the tasks to ensure pupils at all attainment levels are given hard enough work to make rapid progress. Numerous opportunities for pupils to apply what they have learnt in mathematics in a range of activities help them consolidate new learning and make excellent progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils are given regular opportunities to write in a range of different subjects, particularly related to their topic work. Pupils find writing tasks interesting. They redraft and correct their work until they are happy with their final version.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers build effectively on most pupils’ previous learning in regular guided-reading sessions. Pupils learn to understand and interpret what they read so they become competent readers. Teachers allow some of the most able readers to choose their own books, rather than guiding them to more demanding ones which would help them reach higher standards in their reading.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Sometimes, pupils new to the school who speak English as an additional language are given tasks that are based on English that is difficult for them to understand because they do not always know enough English words. Teachers and other adults do not routinely check pupils know enough English words to be able to cope with some of the work given to them. Once they acquire enough vocabulary, they make the same good progress as their classmates.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants have a significant impact in helping pupils to make good progress. They are skilled in the support they give and work effectively with pupils. They help disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those receiving speech and language support, to make the same good progress as other pupils. Teaching assistants are skilled in adapting their language when speaking to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. They use simple language and pictures to help pupils understand the meaning of texts and discussions, and adapt tasks to match individuals’ needs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils’ work is marked regularly. Teachers point out what pupils have done well and identify key points for improvement. However, teachers do not always insist pupils present their work tidily or write neatly. The marking of pupils’ work in subjects other than English and mathematics is not of the same good quality as in these two subjects. Teachers, therefore, miss valuable opportunities to ensure writing is consistently improved.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 While national data on pupils’ progress showed some shortcomings in 2014, school data and evidence from books and lessons shows pupils are now making good progress in reading and writing and excellent progress in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment in reading and writing is typically in line with that expected for pupils’ ages, but higher in mathematics. Pupils currently in Year 6 are on track to reach standards in reading and writing similar to last year’s national average and above in mathematics at the end of this year.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most able pupils are making good progress in writing and excellent progress in mathematics. As a result, the proportion set to reach the higher levels has increased sharply. This year half of the pupils in Year 6 are on track to reach the higher levels in mathematics and about a third in writing. The progress of the most able pupils in reading is not as good as in writing or mathematics. Fewer pupils are expected to reach the higher levels than in writing and mathematics this year.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 make good progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. The school’s assessment information, which is consistent with inspection evidence and local authority checks, show about three quarters of pupils in each year group are making more than expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those supported through the designated speech and language provision, make good and sometimes outstanding progress. A good proportion of these pupils reach the nationally expected levels for their age in reading, writing and mathematics, showing strong progress from their starting points. They achieve well as a result of the good individual support they receive.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In the Year 6 national tests and assessments in 2014, Disadvantaged pupils made slower progress than other pupils in school and nationally by the end of Year 6 in 2014. The attainment gap between disadvantaged and other pupils in the school and nationally, was almost four terms in mathematics, almost two in reading and two in writing. This year, disadvantaged pupils have achieved well and made similar progress to other pupils. Attainment gaps in reading and writing have closed. There remains a gap of about two terms in mathematics between disadvantaged pupils and others in school, because there is a much greater proportion of other pupils reaching the higher levels.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils who speak English as an additional language, including pupils of Indian heritage, achieve well once they acquire enough English vocabulary to cope with the learning tasks they are given. Some younger pupils, and some who join the school in other year groups, have limited understanding of the English language. This means they sometimes struggle with understanding what they read and hear. Initially, their progress is limited but once they have a better understanding of English, they make the same good progress as their classmates in English and mathematics.

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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 125761 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 461810

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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 Junior School category Community Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 201 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Carol Gibson Headteacher Georgina Mawdsley Date of previous school inspection 12 March 2012 Telephone number 024 7632 8009 Fax number 024 7632 8009 Email address admin5202@welearn365.com 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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