Nansloe Academy

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

p.1

Mr Charles Field Headteacher Nansloe Academy Bulwark Road Helston Cornwall TR13 8JF

p.1

Short inspection of Nansloe Academy

Following my visit to the school on 28 June 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since your predecessor school was judged to be good in October 2011.

p.1

Short inspection of Nansloe Academy

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

p.1

Short inspection of Nansloe Academy

You and your staff, effectively supported by the governing body, have created a rich learning environment and a culture of high expectations at Nansloe Academy. In your school, pupils develop into highly self-aware learners who can use the suite of approaches you call ‘Nansloe learning powers’ to help them make good progress. Pupils talk readily and articulately about how they become resilient, resourceful and reflective learners. This culture of self-awareness among the pupils is underpinned by the school’s active engagement with the latest educational research, ably facilitated by the deputy headteacher in her role as leader of learning.

p.1

Short inspection of Nansloe Academy

Every parent who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online parental questionnaire, said that they would recommend the school to others. Their responses were full of descriptions of the school as ‘amazing’, ‘fantastic’ and ‘wonderful’; as one parent put it, ‘the school is like one big happy community’. Staff morale is also very high. The vast majority report that they are proud to work in the school, and this attitude was evident in my interactions with staff at all levels.

p.1

Short inspection of Nansloe Academy

In recent years, the school has undergone some significant changes. The number of pupils has risen substantially and there has also been a sharp rise in the number of service children, some of whom arrive in the school mid-way through their primary education. The school has adapted well to these challenges and you and the governors have secured funding for new buildings, such as the nursery, which have enhanced the capacity of the school and the quality of education provided by the school.

p.1

Short inspection of Nansloe Academy

Notwithstanding all these positive features, there are still some key areas that the school needs to work on. For example, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils who make better than expected progress in their reading and writing is below the national average. In addition, the school’s analysis of the information it collects on pupils’ academic performance could be even sharper in order to identify any barriers to pupils making even quicker progress.

p.2

Short inspection of Nansloe Academy

You, staff and governors have established a clear culture of safeguarding in the school. You act as the designated safeguarding lead and you are ably supported in this role by your assistant headteacher. Parents are clear that their children are well looked after and are safe at the school. Moreover, pupils say that they feel safe and they know whom to turn to if they have any concerns.

p.2

Short inspection of Nansloe Academy

The leadership team ensures that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of a high quality. The single central record of checks on the backgrounds of staff and their suitability to work with children is well maintained and meets the relevant requirements. Similarly, the work you have done with individual child protection cases is well evidenced and recorded.

p.2

Inspection findings

The proportion of children in the early years who achieve a good level of development is continuing to rise, as it has done for a number of years. The school’s assessments of children’s skills on entry to the early years show that many are working at levels below that expected for children of their age. Nonetheless, the proportion that achieve a good level of development at the end of Reception Year is now almost at the national average, showing that progress overall is good.

p.2

Inspection findings

Reading is central to the life of the school; everywhere one turns there are displays emphasising that regular reading is the passport to success in later life. A key role in this culture of reading is played by the ‘story garden’, a large space at the physical centre of the school which highly effectively inspires children to engage with their reading. Year 5 pupils, for example, talked excitedly about the books they were reading and the play scripts they had acted out in the story garden. Pupils are also successfully encouraged to read regularly at home by a system of rewards that motivates them to persist with reading, whatever their level of ability.

p.2

Inspection findings

The proportion of pupils who passed the Year 1 phonics screening check this year has risen. Moreover, some of those who did not successfully pass the phonics screening test have nevertheless made significant progress from very low starting points. This is all built on the bedrock of the phonics work done in the early years and which is successfully continued in Year 1. The school’s approach to phonics is ably led by the teacher of Reception Year who is a specialist in this area. Attainment in key stage 1 is improving compared with that of recent years, when it had been below the national average. This improvement is shown by the school’s own assessment records and current pupils’ work in literacy and mathematics. Pupils are making good progress in aspects such as letter formation, breadth of vocabulary and problem solving, for example.

p.2

Inspection findings

Similarly, pupils also make good progress in key stage 2. The proportion of pupils who make expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics is higher than the national average. Disadvantaged pupils make particularly good progress in reading and mathematics; in 2015, all such pupils in Year 6 made expected progress in these subjects. However, a lower proportion of pupils than found nationally exceeded the expected rates of progress in reading and writing. In particular, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils who make more than expected progress in reading is well below the national average for other pupils.

p.3

Inspection findings

The good progress made by pupils in key stage 2 is evident in their books. Examination of Year 6 pupils’ work in literacy and mathematics shows that pupils take great pride in their work. School leaders put a great deal of emphasis on high- quality presentation in children’s books and their success here is evident. This has a clear educational rationale: by laying out their work well in mathematics, for example, pupils are able to undertake more complex problems successfully and they make quicker progress as a result.

p.3

Inspection findings

The most able pupils are now making good progress during their time in the school. The school caters effectively for their needs by providing work at an appropriately challenging level. Their work in English is characterised by complex sentence structures, wide vocabulary and imaginative responses to creative writing tasks. In mathematics, work for the most able is focused on problem solving which allows these pupils to demonstrate mastery of the concepts concerned.

p.3

Inspection findings

The provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well led and the special educational needs coordinator has a good understanding of what should be done to support each individual.

p.3

Inspection findings

The school collects a lot of information on pupils and their academic performance across all years. The use of this information, however, could be sharper in order to identify trends in academic performance, especially with regard to key groups such as disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

p.3

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.3

Next steps for the school

 teaching, learning and assessment improve further so that more pupils, especially the disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, attain at the very highest levels  they analyse the information that they collect on pupils’ academic performance even more sharply so that they can help pupils make even quicker progress.

p.3

Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Cornwall. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.4

Information about the inspection

I undertook observations in lessons and examined pupils’ work. All observations and work scrutinies were undertaken jointly either with you or with another senior leader. I held discussions with you and other members of staff and also spoke to six members of the local governing body. I talked to groups of pupils formally and informally and listened to some pupils read. I also examined some of the school’s documents, including those relating to safeguarding and child protection. In making my judgements, I took into account 35 responses to the parental survey (plus one response submitted by hand) and 22 responses to the staff survey. There were no responses to the pupil survey.

p.4