Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

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

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Mrs Clemens Headteacher Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School Banks Road Toton Beeston Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG9 6HE

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

Following my visit to the school on 26 June 2018, 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 school was judged to be good in November 2013.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvements in specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection will be a full section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

You have successfully addressed areas previously identified for improvement and made clear your determination to achieve excellence at Toton Banks Road School. You set high expectations of what pupils can achieve and make your commitment to the development of ‘the whole child’ very clear. The school’s values are evident in all aspects of its work and in its very caring and safe environment.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

Parents and staff speak highly of your openness and approachability and value the warmth which the school exudes. They appreciate your excellent communication with them and the quality of nurture and support which lie at the heart of your work. Parents and staff overwhelmingly support your leadership.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

The transitions into the early years and for Year 2 pupils moving on to junior school are excellent. Many parents commented on the sensitivity with which you and your team manage these important stages. Parents value the time and care which goes into this and that it ensures that pupils settle easily into new settings and are ready to learn. Pupils are excited by opportunities which you have created to extend their learning outside the classroom through forest schools and local visits. The weekly newsletter containing the popular ‘kids quotes’ section exemplifies how much the pupils enjoy learning.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

Teachers strive to ensure that learning is very well matched to pupils’ needs, and they are ably supported by highly skilled teaching assistants. This powerful partnership enables pupils to learn exceptionally well in all classes, including the early years.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

Attendance is high for all groups and this shows how much your pupils enjoy and value coming to school.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

You have created highly effective leaders in your school, who are valued and empowered by your trust in them. You lead by example and set an exceptionally high standard in all that you do. Your monitoring and tracking is both rigorous and thorough. This underpins a relentless focus on improving progress and raising attainment for the pupils in your care. You have successfully raised standards to above the national average at the end of the early years, in the Year 1 phonics screening check and at the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. A larger proportion of Year 2 pupils than the national average achieved greater depth in reading and mathematics in 2017. Current information indicates that standards are continuing to rise. Your leadership provides clear direction for the school’s future improvement.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

Governors have an impressive range of skills and share an excellent understanding of the school. Their knowledge of the local community and commitment to the collaboration with a neighbouring infant school is commendable. The collaboration action plan is committed to improving pupils’ outcomes. This plan has enabled staff to share expertise in teaching and to moderate pupils’ work across the schools with more accuracy.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

Governors challenge assessment information and compare this with the quality of pupils’ work. They routinely ask pupils for their own views of learning and make frequent visits to the school. Their expertise and understanding of a range of school information underpins the high quality of governors’ work with school leaders.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

Leaders and governors place a high priority on all aspects of safeguarding. They ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are meticulously kept. Rigorous checks are made on staff suitability to work with children and the safeguarding governor is forensic in his attention to detail when monitoring safeguarding practices. The headteacher, as designated safeguarding lead, ensures that all staff training is kept up to date and staff know exactly what to do if a concern is raised. Information sheets provide an additional layer of security, so that staff can access external help if they need to. You are thorough in recording concerns and your own online log means that you can act quickly to support pupils who need extra help.

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Short inspection of Toton Banks Road Infant and Nursery School

You know every pupil in your school and work closely with parents and carers. Your well-established partnerships with external agencies enable you to tailor support effectively for the most vulnerable, if needed. Pupils and parents agree that the school keeps children safe. Your excellent communications keep parents fully informed of safeguarding updates when they arise. Every opportunity is taken to keep the pupils safe.

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Inspection findings

 I looked closely at the actions leaders are taking to raise standards and improve progress for specific groups of pupils. I focused first on those starting Year 1, who had not reached a good level of development at the end of their time in early years. Second, I looked at pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities who receive additional support to help them to catch up with other pupils.  Case studies document what lies behind the achievement of the pupils in these groups. Leaders know each pupil well and monitor their progress carefully. This evidence clearly shows the varied support in place for these pupils. The case studies also give a context and the reasons why the standards reached by some fell below those they were expected to attain. It is clear that pupils have made good progress and benefited from the sharply tailored support and intervention provided by their teachers.

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Inspection findings

 Finally, I looked at the impact of the school’s strategy for increasing the proportion of pupils who achieve greater depth in their knowledge and understanding in writing. This has been a small proportion of pupils in the past. Leaders had already identified writing as a priority. They established a programme of activities around the school to create a buzz and sense of excitement about writing. Children in the early years use the yellow tubs filled with different writing materials positioned in the classroom and outdoors. This encourages early writing around each activity area. Through Year 1 the focus is on improving handwriting composition and pupils pay close attention to spelling and writing in sentences. Half-termly topics are deliberately chosen to catch boys’ interest, such as the ‘animals’ topic with a real animal workshop. Leaders have expanded the use of new technologies to make research for writing more fun and

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Inspection findings

incorporate stimulating applications. The promotion and displays of writing around the school celebrate pupils’ writing achievements and leaders have been successful in making this a high priority in every corner of the school.  High-quality staff training and the inclusion of additional literacy teaching have helped to improve pupils’ progress in writing. Current school assessment information indicates that there are improvements for both boys and girls and the proportions achieving greater depth have risen.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  a higher proportion of pupils reach greater depth in writing by the end of Year 2.

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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 Nottinghamshire This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, together with your assistant headteacher, we observed teaching in several classes. We looked at pupils’ work in lessons and scrutinised their books across a number of subjects during the afternoon when Year 2 pupils were visiting their junior school. I held conversations with pupils about their work and experiences in school. I also met school council representatives. I met with four members of the governing body, including the chair, and with four middle leaders. All spoke about their work and the impact it is having on raising standards in key areas of the school. I listened to Year 1 pupils reading their own ‘biographies’ to introduce themselves to their new class teachers. I reviewed the school’s single central record, pre-employment checks and safeguarding procedures. I spoke with parents outside school in the morning and took note of their views through the 57 responses to the online survey, Parent View. I also considered the responses from

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Information about the inspection

your own parent survey and scrutinised the school’s website. All of my discussions were focused around the lines of enquiry that were formed and agreed in order to test whether the school remains good.

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