Pine Ridge Infant and Nursery School

Age group 2 – 7 Inspection date(s) 11 – 12 January 2012 Inspection number 381037 Pine Ridge Infant and Nursery School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 125064 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 381037 Inspection dates 11–12 January 2012 Lead inspector Denise Morris

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare provision, managed by the governing body, was inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 2–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 145 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Margaret Bates Headteacher Janet Du Cros Date of previous school inspection 9–10 December 2008 School address Esher Road Camberley GU15 4AW Telephone number 01276 23207 Fax number 01276 401603 Email address Head @pine-ridge.surrey.sch.uk

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Registered childcare provision Little Acorns Nursery Number of children on roll in the registered childcare provision Date of last inspection of registered childcare provision 10 June 2012 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 Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, 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. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not

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

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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.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspector observed six lessons, five of them jointly with the deputy headteacher, taught by six teachers over a period of four hours. She held meetings with the headteacher, senior staff, members of the governing body and pupils. The inspector took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. The inspector observed the school’s work, looked at pupils’ English and mathematics books and listened to some children reading. She and scrutinised the school’s development plan, documents regarding the safeguarding of pupils, the minutes of governing body meetings and planning documents. She considered questionnaires returned by 28 parents or carers.

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Information about the school

Pine Ridge Infant and Nursery is smaller than average for a school of its type. The majority of the school population are White British. The remainder come from a range of other ethnic backgrounds, with Bangladeshi being the next largest group. The proportion of pupils with disabilities and/or special educational needs, mainly emotional or speech, language and communication difficulties, is above average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well above average. There is Early Years Foundation Stage provision for children in the Nursery and Reception classes. The school is federated with nearby Lorraine School and Nursery. All of these facilities share the same headteacher and governing body. A private nursery, managed by the governing body and known as ‘Little Acorns’ is located on the school's site, and was included in this inspection. It is registered for children

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Information about the school

aged from two to eight, but currently caters for two- and three-year-olds. A children’s centre is also located on the site, but is subject to separate inspection arrangements. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is a good school. Pupils’ attainment is improving and their progress is good. Consequently, they achieve well as they did at the previous inspection. The school has consolidated its strengths and made improvements due to the deputy headteacher’s successful focus on improving teaching and learning, the strong collaboration with the federation and a clear focus on the teaching of phonics (the system of letters and the sounds they make) across the school.  Attainment is broadly in line with the national average, though better in writing and mathematics than in reading. All groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, achieve well in all aspects of learning.  Teaching is good and there are some elements of outstanding practice. Teaching typically extends pupils’ learning well so that they make good progress.  There is high quality support for all pupils, including those with disabilities

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Key findings

and/or special educational needs and those whose circumstances make them vulnerable. The school works well with a wide range of support agencies, including the children’s centre, to improve pupils’ personal and academic achievements.  Pupils feel safe and secure. Almost all behave well, and those who find this difficult benefit from good programmes and support to help them access lessons with their peers. Good relationships and a strong emphasis on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development prepare pupils well for the next stage of their education.  A few children do not attend school regularly enough.  The school has created a warm and welcoming ethos in which all pupils thrive and are highly valued. Strong links across the federation result in wider opportunities for pupils and staff, enhancing provision and helping attainment to rise. The school has a good capacity to improve. The senior leaders and the governing

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Key findings

body know its strengths and weaknesses well. They are fully aware of what needs doing to improve provision and outcomes further. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ achievement in reading by July 2012 by  ensuring that pupils have opportunities to read every day  helping them to gain confidence in using their good phonic (sounds and letters) knowledge to read new words  checking pupils’ reading logs regularly to make sure that they are reading often enough.  Work closely with pupils, parents and carers and support agencies to improve, by July 2012, the attendance of the few pupils who do not come to school regularly enough.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 is broadly average as illustrated by assessments and their current work. Pupils make better progress in writing. Attainment in reading, although average by the end of Year 2, is not as high as it is in writing. A strong focus on the teaching of phonics is helping to improve attainment in reading and writing. Very effective use of whiteboards enables pupils to practise their skills by writing down letters and words as they hear them and checking that they are correct. However, not all pupils apply their phonic skills well enough to help them read new words. Pupils’ writing is developing particularly well because they are encouraged to use their phonic skills to write different accounts in many other subjects. Pupils’ attainment on entry is below average, and for some it is well below. Overall progress across the school for the majority of pupils, including those in

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Achievement of pupils

circumstances that make them more vulnerable, is at least good, and achievement is good for all groups of pupils, including those with disabilities and/or special educational needs. Pupils from Bangladeshi backgrounds achieve particularly well, attaining above the national average. Parents and carers agree that their children make good progress at the school.

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Achievement of pupils

Children make a good start in the Nursery class, quickly settling and making friends. This is continued in Reception, where some excellent teaching helps children to make rapid progress both in their personal and academic skills. They have lots of opportunities to learn from first-hand experiences, exploring resources for themselves and engaging in imaginative play with their peers, making friends and improving their social and moral development. Across Years 1 and 2, pupils continue to make mostly good progress. In mathematics, for example, pupils in Year 2 were able to order three-digit numbers quickly and efficiently at their own pace, explaining their answers accurately to the whole class. In Year 2, pupils use their writing skills very well in history and geography. Some extended writing about the Great Fire of London as part of a history topic, for example, showed good sentence structure, accurate spelling and punctuation and effective use of descriptive words to portray

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Achievement of pupils

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

London at that time. Pupils make exceptional progress in physical education activities due to some expert teaching in this area and to the skills they learn through high attendance at after-school sports activities.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers have high expectations of pupils and this is reflected in the way that they offer individual support and clearly focused targets to help pupils make better than expected progress. They successfully engage pupils in learning through positive relationships, challenging tasks and a supportive approach. Pupils know that there is always someone to help them. Almost all of the parents and carers who responded to the questionnaires agree that their children are well taught. The vast majority of lessons have good pace and very effective use of resources such as interactive whiteboards. These are used extremely well to engage pupils in learning and improve their skills. In the Nursery, for example, children were able to follow the story of ‘The Three Bears’ by moving the pictures on the interactive board themselves. They showed good skills and real enjoyment in the task.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching assistants are skilful in teaching phonics helping pupils of all ages to deepen their understanding. Pupils’ book bags are clearly important to them. They proudly show their own individual phonics pack and reading book which they take home every day. Reading records, however, show that some children do not read their books often enough, either in school or at home. Teachers across the federation plan together to meet the needs of all their pupils. As a result, pupils at both schools benefit from a wider range of expertise and ideas. Teachers moderate work together so that they have a very clear view of pupils’ individual progress. Planned links between subjects enable pupils to develop and use their skills to the best effect. Just occasionally, pupils’ learning dips when they sit for too long on the carpet or when resources are inappropriate and do not keep pupils interested for very long.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers regularly assess how well each pupil achieves and clear targets for improvement are evident at the front of each work book. Pupils in Year 2 know how well they are doing and what they need to do next to improve their work. They know their English targets well. Some helpful marking encourages improvement as well as praising pupils for their efforts.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils behave well and are supportive of each other. They share their learning and play well together at playtimes. Almost all pupils, including those in the Nursery and Reception classes, respond well to the schools’ strategies to promote their good behaviour and safety. There are many examples of pupils who have had difficulties with their emotional and social skills making at least good progress and joining in well with their peers, taking turns, waiting patiently and praising others. The wide range of activities in the playgrounds, high staff ratios to engage pupils in games and Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

rewards that pupils really welcome are all having a positive impact on the calm atmosphere, positive relationships and good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils really value their ‘golden time’ on Friday afternoons. They say that they try hard all week because they really enjoy being able to choose their own activity or toy in that time. Pupils, parents and carers say that behaviour is generally good and improving, but acknowledge that learning can very occasionally be disrupted by the behaviour of a small minority of pupils. Pupils know that staff are always on hand to help them. Pupils say that they enjoy school and most attend regularly. A small minority, however, do not come to school as regularly as they could and attendance overall, though rising, remains average.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils say they feel safe and secure. Almost all of the parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaires believe that their child is kept safe. Pupils say that there is no bullying at school and that any unkind behaviour is quickly dealt with by staff. The curriculum provides many opportunities for pupils to learn about safety in their work and play. For example, they learn how to use scissors safely and how to walk rather than run in the corridors. Discussions with groups of pupils during the inspection highlighted that almost all enjoy coming to school and feel that there is always someone that they can talk to. Many were keen to tell the inspector about the work they do to raise money for different charities, such as ‘Seeds for Africa’ and to talk about the jobs they have around the school to help others. For example, ‘friendship buddies’ wearing yellow hats were very evident in the playground,

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

ensuring that each pupil had a friend to play with.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher and senior leaders have successfully created a warm and welcoming environment in which pupils feel valued. Almost all parents and carers have positive views about leadership and management. The school has a good capacity for continued improvement because leaders, including the governing body, have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and a strong track record over the last three years of successful development. The deputy headteacher’s focus on supporting teaching and learning is having a positive impact and, as a result, teaching has improved and is now mainly good, with some that is outstanding. Collaborative working within the federation has resulted in joint planning and moderation of pupils’ work in each year group. This has increased the accuracy of assessment of pupils’ work, developed dialogue between teachers and provided peer mentoring and support.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher is clearly focused on improving achievement and has designed approaches tailored to meet the needs of individual staff so that they can do the very best for their pupils. Outcomes of work to improve behaviour are very successful and there is clear evidence that it is helping pupils to make at least the progress expected of them. Leaders have established a good system of teaching phonics to all groups of pupils, although some pupils do not have the confidence to apply their phonic skills to read new and unknown words. The curriculum is well organised, imaginative and Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

provides good opportunities for personal development through after-school clubs, which are popular and well attended. Leaders promote equality well and tackle any discrimination rigorously through curriculum activities that are well designed to fully meet the needs of all groups and promote learning by pupils with disabilities and/or special educational needs and those from minority backgrounds. The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. Leaders engage well with parents and carers. Although attendance requires further improvement by a small minority of pupils, it has improved well in this academic year. Safeguarding procedures are robust and fully meet statutory requirements.

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childcare provision

 The ‘Little Acorns Nursery provides well for all the children in its care. Provision is good and fully meets requirements for children of this age.  Children enjoy their time in the Nursery and make good progress in their personal skills and in learning. They behave well.  Children have access to a wide range of toys and activities. During the inspection, children aged two and three years were happily engaged in sweeping up leaves using real brushes, riding bikes and scooters and pushing dolls’ prams around the outdoor area. Parts of this area are very muddy and this limits opportunities for independent play.  Children achieve well and make good progress at ‘Little Acorns’ because of a good range of play and exploration activities and thoughtful attention to their welfare and care.  Children respond well to adults. They try to listen carefully to stories and join in with answering questions although their communication, language and literacy

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childcare provision

skills are below the levels expected for their age.  Personal development is promoted well. They have many opportunities to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills through play and stories. For example, when putting on their coats and boots, they were encouraged to do as much for themselves as possible. Several children were keen to show that they could find their own coats and tried to put them on without help.  Good leadership is evident in the way that the classroom is equipped with a broad range of activities and toys. The leader prepares the rooms well each day and sets clear guidelines for staff. Effective monitoring ensures that children are well looked after. Staff keep them safe and secure and welfare arrangements are good. Children’s achievements are effectively tracked through their learning diaries. Photographs are annotated effectively and examples of progress are evident from past annotations and photographs.

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childcare provision

 Little Acorns has a good capacity to improve because leaders know its strengths and weaknesses well. Monitoring by school leaders is thorough and regular. Close links within the federation help to promote improvement. Provision has improved since the last inspection because resources have increased and staff are better qualified. Daily links with parents ensures that feedback is instant and a good partnership quickly develops.

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childcare provision

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage of the registered childcare provision, inspected under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006

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childcare provision

Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage Taking into account: Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage The quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage for the registered provision

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Pine Ridge Infant and Nursery School, Camberley GU14 4 AW

Thank you for welcoming me when I visited your school this week. Your school gives you a good education. This letter is to tell you some of the other things I found out during my visit.

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Inspection of Pine Ridge Infant and Nursery School, Camberley GU14 4 AW

 You do well in your lessons and you try really hard. Well done.  You behave well in and around the school and you get on very well with your friends. You are helpful and kind.  You are all coming to school more often than you used to. Well done. I hope you will continue to come every day.  Your teachers give you lots of exciting tasks and check your work every day.  I know that lots of you join in with after-school clubs.  Your leaders keep you safe and secure.

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Inspection of Pine Ridge Infant and Nursery School, Camberley GU14 4 AW

I am asking your school to do a few things to help you achieve even better.

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Inspection of Pine Ridge Infant and Nursery School, Camberley GU14 4 AW

 Use your letters and sounds more in your reading.  Spend more time on your reading and fill in your reading logs.  Work with your parents and adults at home to help you come to school as often as you can.

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Inspection of Pine Ridge Infant and Nursery School, Camberley GU14 4 AW

Denise Morris Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . 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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