Setting

Miss Rebecca Chadwick Acting Headteacher Leverton Church of England Academy Main Street North Leverton Retford Nottinghamshire DN22 0AD

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England Academy

Following my visit to your academy on 2 December 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the academy since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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England Academy

The visit was the second monitoring inspection since the academy was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in February 2014. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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England Academy

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection in order to become a good academy.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with you and other senior leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and another governor. A telephone conversation was held with the Diocesan Director of Education for Nottingham and Southwell. You joined me on a tour of the academy where I spoke informally to pupils and looked at their books. I scrutinised academy documentation, including assessment information, and the academy improvement plan. I also spoke with parents at the beginning and end of the day to gather their views. The single central record was checked. Ofsted

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Evidence

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Context

Since the last inspection, the substantive headteacher has left the academy. A new senior teacher has been appointed to lead on teaching and learning. He has been acting as assistant headteacher alongside the acting headteacher until new substantive senior posts are established. A new Early Years Foundation Stage leader has been appointed. A temporary teacher has now been appointed to a permanent post. The school business manager has also left the academy. A teacher has left the academy. Four new teaching assistants have been appointed. The Vice-Chair of the Governing Body has retired and another governor has resigned. Five new governors have been appointed.

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Main findings

You and other senior leaders continue to demonstrate a determination to improve outcomes for pupils. The actions you have taken are beginning to accelerate the progress pupils make in reading, writing and mathematics. The improvement plan actions are clearly linked to progress targets for pupils. The cost of actions is identified so that the governing body is able to evaluate their effectiveness and if they are value for money. It is clear that the governing body visits regularly to check the progress of improvements and to hold you to account for your work. However, some targets for improving pupils’ outcomes are not sufficiently challenging to ensure that all pupils reach their full potential.

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Main findings

You have developed stronger systems for checking the performance of teachers. You look at a wide range of evidence in order to identify more precisely the strengths and areas for development in teaching. Teachers’ performance is linked closely to the teachers’ standards and to improved outcomes for pupils. As a result, training to improve the quality of teaching is better focused on individual teacher’s areas for development. The impact of this can be seen in improvements in the quality of teaching and better outcomes for pupils across the academy.

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Main findings

It was clear from my visit that all staff share your determination to bring about improvements at a swift pace. You have developed stronger systems for checking the progress of pupils. Subject leaders regularly check the quality of the academy’s provision through the observation of teaching, scrutinising pupils’ work and providing guidance and training to close the learning gaps of pupils. Subject leaders provide you with valuable and effective support. As a result, outcomes in the Early Years Foundation Stage have improved this year. There have been further improvements in outcomes in Year 1 phonics (the sounds that letter make) tests and the grammar, punctuation and spelling tests at Key Stage 2.

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Main findings

You and the governors have increased the communication and information shared with parents. Parents say the academy is a much more settled place and that their children are very happy with their teachers. The majority of parents spoken with appreciate and value the information they receive through a variety of channels, including Twitter, texts and letters. Parents spoken with said they welcome the opportunity to come into the academy to find out more about how their children learn. The outcomes from the academy’s own questionnaires reflect this much more positive view.

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External support

The academy receives a variety of support from different sources. The acting headteacher receives effective support from the headteacher of Harworth Church of England Academy to check the quality of teaching and learning. The academy works in partnership with the Trent Valley Teaching Alliance to access the newly qualified teachers’ programme and for whole-academy training. The Trent Valley Teaching Alliance also provides further funding for developments in mathematics linked to Tuxford Primary Academy. The Diocesan Deputy Director also provides support to check the quality of provision at the academy. This range of support has contributed positively to ensuring that the quality of teaching and learning continues to improve.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Nottinghamshire and the Director for Education for the Dioceses of Nottingham and Southwell. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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