Ironville and Codnor Park Primary School

Ironville and Codnor Park Primary School Victoria Street, Ironville, Derbyshire NG16 5NB

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Since the last inspection, school leaders, governors and the local authority have not secured the improvements needed to overcome weaknesses in teaching and to raise standards.  Leaders’ evaluation of the school’s work is too generous. Improvement plans lack clarity and leaders do not check with sufficient rigour the impact actions have had on raising standards in all classes.  Subject leaders have not been sufficiently focused on how well pupils are doing and what is needed to help the pupils to progress more quickly.  Safeguarding is not effective because some staff do not follow the school’s policies and procedures closely.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are not high enough. They do not give pupils sufficiently precise guidance to help them to understand how to improve their work.  The quality of the teaching of basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics is not good enough and this means that pupils do not

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

consistently make the progress that they should. Many pupils do not read confidently.  Leaders and teachers do not use assessment information effectively. Teachers do not consistently increase pupils’ learning quickly enough, or provide sharp enough support.  Leadership of the early years is not effective. When planning activities, teachers do not take into account what children can do already and what the children need to learn next.  Children in the early years do not develop language and communication skills quickly enough. Teaching of phonics is not effective.  Governors have not made sure that leaders have spent effectively the funding to help improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.  At the end of key stage 2, outcomes for pupils are below the national average.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported and most make good progress.  Most pupils behave well, with positive attitudes to school and learning. They have confidence in the staff to sort out any worries they have.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, including governance, so that the quality of teaching is good and standards in the school rise more rapidly by making sure that: – all school leaders and governors have the skills, knowledge and training to carry out their roles effectively – governors check on leaders’ use of the pupil premium funding, so that they can be sure that it is proving highly effective in improving the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils – self-evaluation is accurate and action plans are specific about what needs to be achieved and how progress will be measured and monitored – subject leaders check regularly on how well pupils are doing and take actions to improve rates of progress – leaders ensure that teaching improves pupils’ basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics systematically – leaders ensure that teachers have high expectations of what pupils can do and

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

provide work that interests and challenges the pupils in a range of subjects – leaders ensure that teachers give pupils precise guidance, in line with the school’s marking and assessment policy, so that the pupils know how to improve their work – assessment information is used effectively to plan work that will increase pupils’ learning quickly and support any pupils at risk of falling behind – reading is a high priority throughout the school and that pupils develop the skills that they need for their next stage of education – standards improve, so that most pupils achieve the expectations for their age by the end of key stage 2.  Improve the quality of early years provision, so that children make more rapid progress and are well prepared for Year 1 by making sure that: – leadership of the early years is effective and the areas where children learn have good-quality resources to support their learning

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– all adults have high expectations of what children can achieve – teachers’ planning is informed by what children can do already – the daily teaching of phonics is of the highest quality – the children are given frequent and regular opportunities to develop their communication and language skills.  Ensure that safeguarding training for all staff, particularly midday supervisors, is effective, so that: – all staff are vigilant in recognising potential risks – all staff take timely and appropriate action to safeguard pupils, in line with the school’s policies and procedures.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken, in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken, in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leadership and management are inadequate because leaders are not demonstrating the capacity needed to improve the school. Since the last inspection, leaders and governors have failed to secure the improvements necessary to improve the quality of teaching and to raise standards rapidly.  The school’s self-evaluation is too generous.  The school improvement plan, though detailed, does not focus sharply enough on those actions that will bring about improvements in teaching and learning. Leaders have not checked closely enough on whether agreed actions are happening or if standards are improving as a result.  Subject leaders do not focus enough on how well pupils are doing. They do not use assessment information effectively to check on what is working well and what is not. Consequently, many pupils do not make the rapid progress needed to achieve the standards of which they are capable.  Leadership of teaching is weak because leaders do not check on the impact of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

teaching rigorously enough. Consequently, the quality of teaching has not improved sufficiently since the last inspection.  The headteachers have arranged training to support the professional development of teachers and other staff. Systems for appraisal are in place and regular reviews of performance take place. However, the impact on teaching quality has been limited; objectives do not have clearly measurable outcomes and are not focused sharply on helping pupils improve.  The curriculum, which is not fully embedded, does not provide pupils with sufficient opportunities to develop their communication and numeracy skills in different subjects. The curriculum is organised in themes, so that pupils can see the way that their learning links up in different subjects; however, English and mathematics are not woven through these themes effectively. This limits the opportunity for pupils to use their basic skills for different purposes and in different subjects.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders’ use of the pupil premium has not been effective in ensuring that pupils who are eligible for this funding reach the standards of which they are capable. The support that these pupils receive through this funding has not focused closely enough on catering for pupils’ individual needs. Because of this, too few of this group of pupils make enough progress to catch up with their peers or to achieve what they should. Leaders and governors are aware of this and they have arranged for there to be a review of how leaders use the pupil premium.  Leaders’ use of the physical education (PE) and sport premium has been effective in providing specialist teaching for PE lessons and wider opportunities for pupils to take part in different sporting activities. Teachers have benefited by working alongside the specialist teacher.  The school provides well-considered opportunities for pupils to learn about the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

democratic process through the election of members to the school council.  Pupils are keen to be involved in activities that will widen their horizons, for example visits to the seaside, the theatre and the multicultural centre in Derby. The school promotes links with the local church and pupils enjoy carol singing to local groups at Christmas. These activities help pupils to secure their understanding of cultural diversity.  The local authority has not ensured that standards in the school have improved quickly enough. Any improvements that have been made have not been sustained, partly due to a high number of staff changes.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive effective support. Most of these pupils make good progress from their individual starting points. The special educational needs coordinator provides excellent leadership of this area and is skilled at identifying and implementing successful strategies that help pupils’ learning.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The school may not appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Governance of the school

 The governing body has not provided the strategic support and challenge to improve the school. Governors have not made sure that the pupil premium funding has been spent effectively.  Although they are knowledgeable about many aspects of the school, governors do not have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.  Governors are aware that improvement has not been rapid enough since the last inspection, but have not challenged school leaders sufficiently about pupils’ standards and the quality of teaching in the school.  Governors are very supportive of the school; they understand its importance in the local community. They share the headteachers’ pastoral commitment to the pupils and their families.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  Midday supervisors are not sufficiently vigilant in recognising potential risks to pupils. They do not adhere to the school’s policies and procedures for safeguarding pupils.  The headteachers ensure that staff and governors have access to relevant safeguarding training and provide regular updates; recently, this has included training on child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and extremism. Staff have received training on the different types of abuse and what to look for, as well as the procedures involved in raising a concern about the safety of children. However, training has not been as effective for midday supervisors as for other staff.  Leaders ensure that pupils receive a range of opportunities to learn how to stay safe. There are regular lessons and awareness days that ensure that the pupils know about how to stay safe online and how to protect themselves from bullying. Those pupils

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Safeguarding

with whom inspectors met said that they feel safe at the school.  All required documentation is in place, including that related to safer recruitment. Leaders review this documentation regularly to ensure that it is up to date.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The teaching of the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics is not systematic and this is hampering pupils’ progress. Pupils receive limited opportunities to practise these skills in other subjects or in extended pieces of work.  Pupils do not read confidently. This acts as a barrier to their learning when, for example, they are looking for information in pieces of text, or researching on the internet.  Teachers do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can do. The guidance that the pupils receive is not precise enough to help them to understand how to improve their work and it is not in line with the school’s policy. While pupils respond regularly to teachers’ comments in their books, those comments do not always challenge pupils to make specific improvements.  Teachers assess what pupils can do regularly; however, they do not use the information well enough to increase learning quickly. Leaders hold meetings to check

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

on pupils’ progress, but when pupils need extra help, the small steps in learning which are needed are not clearly identified and targets for improvement are vague. The most able pupils are not identified in these meetings as needing support, even though they would benefit from additional help when tackling more challenging work to enable them to reach the higher standards of which they are capable.  Support for disadvantaged pupils is variable. Some support is effective and pupils make progress as they should, but a considerable minority do not. Teachers do not focus enough on the individual needs of pupils to move their learning on quickly.  The work of teaching assistants has a variable impact on pupils’ learning. The support for some pupils often focuses too much on completing a task, rather than what pupils are learning. Support is most effective when pupils’ understanding is identified carefully. For example, at the end of one lesson, the teacher and teaching assistant

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

discussed how well the pupils had understood their learning and this information was noted for the next lesson.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive effective support because it is planned carefully.  Pupils’ books are neatly presented and follow the school’s expectations for setting out work. The school takes a consistent approach to teaching handwriting and pupils learn to write in a cursive style.  Where learning is most effective, teachers use resources and different approaches to support pupils in their learning. During the inspection, inspectors saw pupils in key stage 1 using mathematical apparatus confidently to help them with calculations. In another example, the use of a film clip added interest to an English lesson for older pupils and helped them to write their own dialogue.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Pupils do not present themselves as confident learners. While pupils are able to use information about things that they should do to be successful to check on their own work, too often they are unclear about how well they are doing.  Pupils say that they feel safe at school and are confident that teachers will sort out any concerns that they may have. Pupils have an awareness of the different types of bullying and say that there is very little bullying at school. They also told inspectors that when they report any incidents to teachers, the teachers respond effectively. The school records indicate that this is the case.  Pupils understand what the school does to keep them physically safe. The school council has been involved in a safety audit of the school site. Pupils also have a good understanding of internet safety and online bullying as a result of regular awareness

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Personal development and welfare

days run by the school.  Adults do not make the most of lunchtimes and playtimes to encourage the development of the pupils’ social skills. During lunchtime, the dinner hall is noisy and there is little social conversation between pupils. On the playground, some pupils play ball games, but the limited equipment available does not encourage other types of play.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Pupils say that behaviour is good ‘most of the time’. Pupils generally behave well in lessons, try to please their teachers and have positive attitudes to their learning. They are inattentive occasionally at other times, for example in assembly.  Attendance is below average. The school has systems in place to follow up absences and does not authorise holidays during term time. However, attendance figures for this term show that a large proportion of pupils have been absent at least once already.  Leaders promote attendance through weekly awards and a mention in the school newsletter for the class with the highest attendance.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 National test outcomes from previous years show that improvements have been slow since the last inspection. As a result, standards in reading, writing and mathematics remain below average by the end of key stage 2.  Assessment information held by the school shows that, from their individual starting points, pupils are making steady, rather than rapid, progress. This means that not enough pupils are catching up with others and achieving the standards expected for their age.  Few of the most able pupils reach the higher standards in reading and mathematics or work at greater depth in writing. They read accurately but not fluently or with confidence. Often, the most able pupils do not get the challenge that they need and this hampers their progress in other subjects, particularly in writing. For example, provisional information for this year shows that none of the most able pupils were assessed to be working at greater depth in writing at the end of key stage 2.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 The achievement of disadvantaged pupils has been variable. The support given to these pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, has not led to the rapid progress needed for them to catch up with their peers from low starting points, or to achieve the higher standards.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have received focused support that has been well planned by the special educational needs coordinator. As a result, they make good progress from their individual starting points.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 The early years provision is inadequate because leadership is not effective and many children are not well prepared for Year 1. Children, including those who are disadvantaged, are not assessed quickly enough when they start school. Consequently, they do not get off to the good start that they need in order to reach the standard expected of them by the end of the year. As a result, some children start key stage 1 without some of the skills and knowledge they need and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to catch up.  Many children start school with levels of skills and knowledge below those typical for their age, particularly in communication and language. The school does not provide enough carefully planned opportunities for children to develop and to practise their speaking and listening skills.  Phonics is not taught effectively; the daily sessions do not encourage children to use their phonics knowledge to develop early reading and writing skills.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 The teachers’ expectations of what children can achieve are too low. Teachers do not routinely take into account what children can do already when planning what the children need to learn next.  Children are generally well behaved and show interest in the activities, both inside and outdoors. They learn to use different types of equipment safely. The children can choose from a number of different activities; however, teachers do not make clear what children will learn from the activities. Where adults are involved, the activities are more purposeful, but children are often doing activities without guidance and their learning is limited.  Leaders encourage parents to contribute to their children’s learning through homework challenges and ‘wow moments’. Leaders and teachers provide opportunities for parents to find out how to help their children at home. Parents can attend regular ‘lunch and stay’ sessions and other events, such as the recent parent workshop on

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Early years provision Inadequate

handwriting and phonics.  Relationships between children and with adults are positive and children enjoy being at school. Adults ensure that children are safe and cared for. Safeguarding and welfare arrangements meet statutory requirements.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher partners Lesley Bowmar and Jane Parker

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School details

Website www.ironvillecodnorpark.derbyshire.sch.uk

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School details

Email address info@ironvillecodnorpark.derbyshire.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 16–17 September 2014

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Information about this school

 The school meets the requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Almost all pupils are White British.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium is well above average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.  The number of pupils who join or leave the school other than the normal times in the school year is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in all classes, visiting each class more than once. Some observations took place with the headteachers.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteachers, subject leaders, governors and a representative of the local authority. They also talked to parents informally at the start of the school day and took into account the five responses on Parent View (the online questionnaire for parents).  Inspectors talked to groups of pupils and scrutinised samples of pupils’ books. They also took account of assessment information held by the school.  The responses to the online staff survey were considered. There were no responses to the pupils’ online survey.

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Inspection team

Jane Salt, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Dorothy Bathgate Her Majesty’s 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

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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 .

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Inspection team

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

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

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

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