Stockingford Primary School

Stockingford Primary School Cross Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire CV10 8JH

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a school that requires improvement

 Teaching, learning and assessment are too variable in all year groups. They are not consistently good.  In recent years, too few pupils have reached the levels of attainment of which they are capable, particularly in writing and mathematics. This reflects their inconsistent progress across the school.  School leaders, including governors, are not rigorous enough in checking that pupils are making sufficient progress.  Although teachers’ marking shows improvement, coming into line with the school’s policy, too often mistakes of grammar and punctuation go unchecked. This leads to repeated errors and writing of lower quality than should be expected.  The use of reasoning skills in mathematics is underdeveloped. This is because pupils do not have enough opportunities to develop these skills.  Children’s progress in the early years is not consistently good in all areas of learning.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher and her leadership team are determined to improve pupils’ achievement. The actions they have taken are leading to improvements in the school.  Staff have implemented a curriculum which motivates pupils, as seen in their positive attitudes to learning. The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.  The progress of pupils with disability and those who have special educational needs is good.  The behaviour of pupils is good, particularly when walking around school and playing outside. The school provides effective support for their welfare as leaders go beyond their statutory duties to ensure pupils are safe.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching, learning and assessment, and further accelerate the progress of all pupils, by:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

providing pupils with more opportunities to develop their reasoning skills in mathematics and then checking that their work is accurate ensuring that pupils apply the rules of grammar and punctuation that they have been taught.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management at all levels by improving the monitoring of teaching, with specific focus on pupils’ ability to reason in mathematics and their consistent use of accurate grammar and punctuation skills in writing.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve provision in the early years by:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

ensuring that staff in the early years provide appropriately challenging work in all learning activities finding strategies to help children learn effectively when they are working on their own.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because leaders at all levels are not yet rigorous enough in monitoring and evaluating teaching and taking action accordingly. As a result, the teaching of writing and mathematics is not consistently good in all year groups.  Year group and subject leaders are not rigorous in checking that pupils in all year groups, and in all subjects, are making fast enough progress. Leadership of the early years, although improving, is less strong than other areas of middle leadership.  The headteacher, ably supported by her senior leaders, has an accurate understanding of what the school does well and the areas that still need to improve. They have recently implemented a coherent process which is enabling them to better monitor the performance of teachers. This is contributing towards some improvement in teaching.  Leaders responsible for the provision for pupils with disability and those with special educational needs

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

are effective because they check rigorously that teaching enables pupils to make good progress. This includes checks made on pupils who attend the specialist provisions in the school.  Senior leaders have introduced a new system for assessing pupils’ performance. Information gathered is analysed in detail. For example, the progress of different groups of pupils, such as those who are disadvantaged, is monitored closely to check if it is rapid enough. While this has been effective in improving rates of progress, more needs to be done to ensure that pupils reach the standards of which they are capable.  Thorough systems are in place for managing teachers’ performance, including those who are newly qualified. This year’s targets for staff align with the school’s priorities for improvement. Leaders ensure that training opportunities are made available, which staff value. This has resulted in teachers improving

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

their practice, particularly since the start of this academic year. However, the impact of these performance management systems is not yet fully evident in ensuring consistently good teaching and learning.  School leaders have devised and introduced a new curriculum. Pupils’ learning is enriched, not only through visits to interesting places and visitors to the school, but also through the creatively designed learning environment. For example, pupils learning about ‘exploration’ explore ‘ice shelters’ in their own corridor. Pupils are motivated to want to learn and this has resulted in improved behaviour since the introduction of the new curriculum.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is well promoted. Leaders ensure that pupils in all year groups discuss topics which encourage them to develop their own opinions. This, along with religious education and assemblies, supports pupils’ learning about respect for people of different faiths and those

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

of no faith. Values of tolerance, democracy and freedom of speech are well taught and, as a result, pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The local authority has been effective in supporting the school since the last inspection. It has provided specific support to help leaders work towards their school improvement priorities. It recognises the positive changes made by the school in recent years.  The school uses its pupil premium funding effectively. More time has been given to specific leadership roles. The leader accountable for the progress of disadvantaged pupils ensures that assessment information is analysed carefully and used to support teachers in their day-to-day work. For example, teachers now spend more time in lessons checking that disadvantaged pupils are secure in their understanding. Senior leaders also enable individual pupils to attend clubs, such as homework club, by

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

funding extra hours for staff to work with targeted pupils at the end of the school day. This helps to ensure that this group of pupils make good progress.  The school has made effective use of its primary school physical education and sport funding. It has met its aims of increasing pupils’ participation in sport and in developing healthier lifestyles. Pupils are now playing sport more often and are developing more competitive skills. For example, pupils from Stockingford represent their county in different sports. This shows that the funding has helped improve physical education.  The governance of the school Governance has improved since the time of the last inspection. The Chair of the Governing Body has ensured that other members play a strategic role in the life of the school. They are now better informed about the school’s performance as they visit regularly. They check on specific aspects, for

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

example how well teaching supports pupils with disability and those with special educational needs. Governors have a broad range of relevant skills and use these to challenge school leaders and hold them to account for the school’s performance. They are kept well informed about the work of school leaders through visits to the school, reading reports and observing presentations from them at meetings. Governors have been allocated specific areas of responsibility, including safeguarding and finance. They attend relevant training to learn more about these roles. They meet regularly with school leaders and staff to check that agreed actions have been followed through. Governors are aware that they are not yet rigorous enough in checking that pupils are making good enough progress across all year groups, particularly in writing and mathematics.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Governors and school leaders are very knowledgeable

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

and ensure that statutory requirements are fully met in order to keep pupils safe. They work very effectively with other agencies to ensure that pupils are kept safe from harm. They make effective use of a range of information including, for example, attendance data, so that they are fully informed. All staff have received effective training, including on the dangers associated with radicalisation and extremism. They understand precisely the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about a pupil’s welfare or safety.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement because the teaching of writing and mathematics is not consistently good.  Not all teachers have high enough expectations of pupils’ use of grammar and punctuation in their writing. Taught skills are not revisited or consolidated through targeted marking. Thus, for example, although Year 4 pupils wrote with accurate use of newly taught parenthesis skills, their writing was weakened by poor punctuation of sentences, which was not picked up. As a result, pupils of all abilities do not make consistently good progress in their writing.  There are too few opportunities for pupils in all year groups, including in the early years, to develop their reasoning skills in mathematics. This prevents them from deepening their understanding of mathematics and, as a consequence, they are less able to solve problems in different contexts. When pupils are presented with these opportunities, teachers do not always check that their work is accurate.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Teaching has a number of strengths. Teachers question pupils well, encouraging them to develop their own ideas and checking if their strategies for solving problems are effective. Teaching assistants are used effectively to support learning, especially for those pupils who have specific needs.  Reading is taught well. Teachers and teaching assistants use their strong subject knowledge to support the development of early reading skills. Teachers in the early years and in Key Stage 1 use information about how well children can already read to provide the right level of challenge when teaching phonics (letters and the sounds that they make). Good practice is maintained through Key Stage 2, where pupils enjoy reading in a range of subjects.  Teachers are consistent in implementing the school’s marking policy to provide pupils with feedback and this helps pupils to gain a secure understanding of the topics being taught. However, there are

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

inconsistencies in teachers’ use of corrections to ensure that pupils apply the rules of punctuation and grammar that they have learned.  Parents are generally positive that appropriate homework is set, but a small minority disagree. The school is aware of these views and, as a result, has set up a homework club. Pupils who do not complete homework regularly are encouraged to attend this club. This has led to more pupils submitting work and displaying positive attitudes towards the work they have been set to do outside of school.  In most lessons pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning. Staff tackle effectively any rare occasions of low-level disruption, such as when pupils talk while the teacher is talking.  Relationships between adults and pupils are supportive and caring. Adults know individual pupils well and take time to ensure their social and emotional needs are addressed effectively. Pupils attending the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

specialist inclusion and speech and language facilities enjoy positive relationships with adults and, as a result, are motivated in their learning.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. This is because there are clear strategies in place to support all pupils, especially those who are most vulnerable. All staff know what to do to ensure pupils receive effective support. Governors check that procedures designed to keep pupils safe and secure are very effective. Pupils are very aware of how to keep themselves safe. For example, they talk with clear understanding about the dangers of using the internet.  Leaders recognise the importance of children’s welfare by ensuring all policies, including those relating to child protection, are reviewed as necessary and kept up to date. All staff understand the importance of these policies and make sure they know the procedures to follow when required. All staff working with pupils are checked to ensure they are suitable to carry out their roles.  Pupils are courteous, friendly and supportive of their classmates. They collaborate well, showing

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Personal development and welfare

consideration and respect for people’s different views. They demonstrate a good knowledge of different cultures and faiths. This helps to ensure that the school promotes equality effectively.  Different groups of pupils are supported effectively in their learning. For example, strong partnerships with external agencies, such as those with expertise in complex speech and language matters, enable pupils with disability and those who have special educational needs to make good progress.  Pupils are articulate when they talk about their understanding of British values, such as democracy and the rule of law. They know where examples can be seen around school, for example in assemblies.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They mostly behave well in lessons and play well with each other in the playground. Most parents express positive views about the behaviour in the school and value the good relationships that exist between their children and staff.  Pupils in all year groups show that they are eager to learn. They enjoy the topics they are taught and present their work well in their books. Pupils display positive attitudes to their learning. This is best seen when they are challenged to think hard and consider each other’s opinions. Such challenge motivates pupils and this contributes greatly to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Current attendance rates remain stubbornly below the national average. School leaders and staff responsible for improving attendance are rigorous in their day-to-day work. For example, staff work with the parents of children who are regularly absent to find ways to improve attendance. They also challenge

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Behaviour

the reasons given for non-attendance. This has helped to improve the attendance rates for these pupils, which are rising.  Bullying is rare and, when it does occur, staff deal with it quickly and effectively. Pupils have a good understanding of bullying and how it can take different forms, such as cyber bullying. Staff are vigilant both in classrooms and around school, which helps ensure that discrimination does not occur.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Over the last three years pupils made slow progress so that, by the end of Year 6, attainment was very low, especially in writing, grammar and mathematics. As a result, these pupils were not well prepared for their secondary education. The school’s increasingly reliable assessment information and inspection evidence suggest that pupils are currently making better progress through Key Stages 1 and 2, leading to rising attainment.  The progress of disadvantaged pupils by the end of Year 6 has shown improvement over recent years in reading and writing, but has slowed in mathematics. This group of pupils is now making stronger progress. In 2015, their attainment was approximately one year behind that of other pupils nationally in reading and writing. In mathematics and grammar it was four terms behind. When compared with the attainment of their classmates, they were two terms behind in reading and writing, and one year behind

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

in mathematics and grammar.  Although progress in writing is improving across the school, pupils do not use their grammar and punctuation skills consistently well by practising and consolidating what they have learned.  Pupils are also making better progress in mathematics than in the past, but reasoning is weaker than other aspects because they have insufficient opportunity to develop their skills.  This year, pupils in every year group are making good progress in reading. Over the past three years, Year 1 pupils have improved their results in the phonics screening check. Last year they attained above the national average. Current Year 1 pupils are on track to attain similar results. Pupils enjoy their reading and are well motivated in every year group.  The achievement of the most-able pupils has the same strengths and weaknesses as that of other pupils. Their reading is good but they do not demonstrate consistently high-level skills in the use of grammar

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

and punctuation in their writing or reasoning in mathematics.  Pupils with disability and those who have special educational needs make consistently good progress in all subjects. This is due to effective leadership, management and teaching of this group of pupils. This includes those who attend the speech and language base. These pupils receive good provision for their specific needs. Pupils’ progress is closely monitored, with plans adapted and changes made to the work where this is needed.

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Early years provision requires improvement

 Most children start in Reception with development that is below that typical for their age. They do not make consistently good progress across all areas of learning. As a result, over the last two years a lower proportion of children than nationally reached a good level of development. This means that they are not as well prepared for the Year 1 curriculum as they could be.  Children’s progress varies in different areas of learning, with progress in mathematics and personal, social and emotional development not as good as in other areas.  As a result of more effective leadership, teaching is improving. Teachers place a strong emphasis on developing speaking and listening skills as this is a weaker aspect of learning for many children entering the early years. Staff usually probe children’s understanding with skill. However, they sometimes miss opportunities to encourage children to talk about their learning, such as how they might solve a

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Early years provision requires improvement

mathematical problem.  Children make better progress when activities are led by staff. The teaching of phonics, for example, is effective as teachers and teaching assistants question children and respond to any misunderstandings well. This enables children, especially those who are disadvantaged, to develop a better understanding in this area of learning. However, children’s progress when working without adult support is not as good as they do not always follow their own ideas through, particularly in number activities.  Staff support children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well in the early years. They use their topics, such as the Chinese New Year, to encourage children to reflect on their opinions. School values are displayed in the early years environment and children observe them in their day-to-day conduct.  Children behave well and know how to stay safe. They understand adults’ expectations for their conduct

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Early years provision requires improvement

and make sure that they live up to them.  School staff ensure that they gain useful information from children’s parents and from all pre-school settings that the children attended. This helps staff select and deliver appropriate activities to the children as soon as they arrive in the Reception classes. Teachers regularly share with parents information on how well their children are doing. Relationships with parents are harmonious, leading to effective parental engagement in the early years. Parents value the opportunities they have to share knowledge of their child’s learning and play in the home.

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School details

Unique reference number 125543 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 10002463

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School details

This inspection 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 691 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Philip Goode Headteacher Gwyneth Evans Telephone number 024 7638 2277 Website www.stockingfordprimary.co.uk Email address admin2121@welearn365.com Date of previous inspection 14 November 2013

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Information about this school

 Stockingford is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  Children in the early years are taught in four full-time classes.  The very large majority of pupils are White British.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is above the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils with disability and those who have special educational needs is similar to the national average.  The school does not meet the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.  The school has a speech and language base which supports pupils from Stockingford. It also hosts a specialist inclusion support group, with pupils coming from local authority schools as well as from Stockingford.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 25 lessons, six of which were observed with senior leaders.  Inspectors talked to pupils about their reading and listened to them read.  Meetings were held with pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and other governors, staff and a local authority adviser.  The 48 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire were taken into account. Inspectors also spoke with parents and carers.  The views expressed in questionnaires returned by 77 members of the school staff were considered.  Inspectors observed the work of the school and looked at a range of documentation written to support school improvement.  Inspectors examined work in pupils’ books.  The school’s child protection and safeguarding procedures were scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Jeremy Bird, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Tracy Stone Ofsted Inspector David Walker Ofsted Inspector Barry Yeardsley Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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