Newbold Church of England Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Andrew Mawdsley Executive Headteacher Newbold Church of England Primary School School Lane Newbold Coleorton Coalville Leicestershire LE67 8PF

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 1 November 2017, 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 the school was judged to be good in April 2013.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Leaders have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Since taking up your post, just a few weeks ago, you have quickly and accurately identified what needs to improve. You have recognised that pupils are not making the progress they could, especially in writing. You have taken steps to speed up learning, many of which are already proving to be effective.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

You have a clear understanding of what makes teaching successful. You have been quick to see where teaching can be improved and have provided staff with clear improvement targets. You are supporting teachers well to make improvements where they are needed.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

You have put improvement plans in place that focus on the most important areas. The actions within the plans are well selected. The plans, however, do not contain measurable targets to check progress. They do not make it clear how leaders will measure the success of the actions taken. This means that the governing body cannot hold leaders rigorously to account for the improvements that are being made.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Pupils’ behaviour and conduct are exemplary. Pupils are articulate and well- mannered. They correctly describe their school as a welcoming and inclusive place. They quickly get on with their work and support each other in their learning. Pupils told me that they ‘welcome new people and do our best to look after them’. During lunchtime, a group of children on the playground voluntarily reduced the size of their playing area to allow another group to share the space. They exchanged ‘Thanks’ and ‘You’re welcome’ comments without prompting.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Pupils value the wide range of sporting opportunities available to them. They enjoy being able to set up their own clubs. They appreciate the rewards that they get in school, including stickers from the school’s cook supervisor. Pupils speak highly of you as the recently appointed executive headteacher. They are positive about the changes that have been made so far.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Adults support children well. Their well-timed interventions make sure that pupils do well in their work. They support them academically, socially and emotionally. Relationships are highly positive.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Disadvantaged pupils make good progress. This is due to the small-step targets and support that are in place for them.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Parents value the work of the school and describe it as ‘a caring community’. They like the way that all the pupils know each other and are happy to belong to the school. Some parents say that there has been too much change at the school. They have confidence, however, in your appointment as executive headteacher.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Governors are passionate, committed and highly aspirational for the school. The governing body has acted decisively to make sure that strong leadership is in place. They have worked to ensure that the school is in a stable financial position.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Safeguarding arrangements are up to date and well understood by staff. Safeguarding records are now detailed and of high quality, and are fit for purpose. This follows the recent changes you have made to the way they are kept.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Pupils told me that they feel safe in school and know what to do if they have a problem. They know how to stay safe in school, on the roads, online and from bullying. They spoke highly of the anti-bullying conference that they attended.

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Short inspection of Newbold Church of England Primary School

Governors have a good understanding of the governing body’s safeguarding duties. They make sure that the school carries these out thoroughly.

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Inspection findings

 The quality of teaching has been maintained since the last inspection. Skilled planning in the early years and key stage 1 means that teachers set work that is well matched to pupils’ stage of development. There is a good balance of children initiating their own learning and being led by adults.  Children engage well with their learning. They make good use of classroom displays to help them when they get stuck. They like the feedback that they get in their books and say that it helps them to improve their work.  You have an accurate view of the quality of teaching. You make sure that teachers are clear about what they need to do to improve their practice further. You are providing effective support to a newly qualified teacher. You recognise, however, that there are still some inconsistencies in teaching and have begun to tackle these.  Pupils are not making fast enough progress in writing. You are aware of this and

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Inspection findings

the recent steps you have taken to improve this are working well. You have changed the school’s handwriting policy, raised expectations of how pupils present their work and increased the amount of feedback that they get. Pupils like writing and enjoy making links between different parts of their learning. Some younger pupils, for example, were writing about space. This was stimulated by their play and other space-related work. Older pupils, however, are not expected to write enough, so they do not develop the stamina they need to produce longer pieces of writing.  At the time of my visit, some information that should have been on the school’s website was not present. The governing body knows its responsibilities for publishing the required information and knows what needs to be made available. It has made recent changes to the way the school’s website is managed. Governors have plans in place to make their own checks more regularly.

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Inspection findings

 Disadvantaged pupils are making good progress. They have personalised targets and the support they receive is reviewed regularly. The quality of their personalised targets, however, is inconsistent. The support given to disadvantaged pupils has not yet been summarised in a pupil premium plan. You are aware that the school needs to publish this plan quickly.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 they publish all the required information on the school’s website, including about the pupil premium, and regularly review the website’s content to keep it up to date  they include measurable targets and clear evaluation methods in all school plans so that the governing body can use these to hold leaders to account  they check that the changes introduced to the teaching of writing are effective in increasing the proportion of pupils who make rapid progress, taking any remedial action needed.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, discussed the school’s self-evaluation and shared my key lines of enquiry with you. We also met to talk about safeguarding and the school’s plans for spending pupil premium funding. I had discussions with pupils and with parents at the start of the school day. I considered the responses of parents to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and the views of staff and pupils. We visited all classes together, spending a short time in each. We looked at a sample of pupils’ work together. I met with representatives of the local authority. I viewed a range of documents, including the school’s improvement plan, recruitment checks on staff, papers relating to the governing body and behaviour logs.

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