Setting

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

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Mrs R Peacock North Wingfield Primary and Nursery School 80 Chesterfield Road North Wingfield Chesterfield Derbyshire S42 5LE

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Primary and Nursery School

Following my visit to the school on 3 October 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the monitoring inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Primary and Nursery School

The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and has taken place because the school has received two successive judgements of requires improvement at its previous section 5 inspections.

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Primary and Nursery School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection in order for the school to become good.

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Primary and Nursery School

The school should take further action to ensure that:

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Primary and Nursery School

 teachers use assessment information carefully, so pupils are sufficiently challenged in lessons  subject leaders have a secure understanding of the impact of their actions on raising standards across the school  teachers develop pupils’ skills in all subjects in the wider curriculum.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with you, the assistant headteacher responsible for key stage 2, subject leaders for English and mathematics, and representatives of the governing body, to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. I also spoke with the local authority advisor. I observed learning in a number of lessons, some of which were observed jointly with you and the assistant headteacher responsible for key stage 2. I talked with pupils about their school and looked at examples of their work, to gain a view of the impact of teaching over time. I looked at a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and plans for improvement, the most recent information on the achievement and progress of pupils, and the school’s single central register of staff. I considered the range and quality of information provided on the school’s website.

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Context

Since the last inspection, the deputy headteacher has left the school. You have restructured the senior leadership team to include two assistant headteachers. There has been a period of stability in staffing at the school, with very few new appointments made since the last inspection. The leader for English is new to the post, having been appointed in September 2018.

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Main findings

You and the leadership team are aware of the necessity to make rapid improvements to eradicate the gaps in pupils’ learning brought about by inconsistent teaching in the past. You have put in place procedures to support teachers to develop their skills. Together with senior and subject leaders, you hold weekly meetings to review and monitor pupils’ progress. You evaluate how well staff are developing their skills by observing teaching in lessons, monitoring pupils’ books and scrutinising assessment information. You use this information to target support for teachers and teaching assistants to ensure that they have higher expectations of what pupils should achieve.

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Main findings

You meet regularly with teachers to scrutinise pupils’ performance information. You have high expectations of what pupils should achieve and are holding teachers to account for the progress that pupils make. Teachers have a greater awareness of the need for all pupils to be challenged at the stage appropriate for them. Teachers use a structured approach to developing pupils’ mathematical and English skills to ensure that learning is appropriate to the age group. Leaders have encouraged teachers to develop their questioning skills to ensure that pupils of all abilities are challenged at the appropriate level. Teachers use consistently the ‘learning ladder’ approach across the school, to progressively develop pupils’ skills within a lesson. Pupils have a clear understanding of what they need to do to achieve more. Occasionally, teachers do not have high enough expectations of what pupils should achieve. Conversely, sometimes teachers do not provide pupils who require

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Main findings

additional help with the support or resources they need to make progress.

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Main findings

Through the introduction of the new English and topic-based approaches, pupils have increased enthusiasm for their learning. Teachers are creative and use stimulating resources and problems to hook pupils into their learning. The school’s environment is vibrant and showcases many examples of pupils’ learning across the curriculum, including pupils’ learning about Titanic and making ‘grotty sandwiches’. Regular professional development during staff meetings encourages teachers and support staff to share ideas to develop their practice.

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Main findings

The subject leader for English is aware of what needs to be done to develop pupils’ reading skills. Teachers have started to develop pupils’ background knowledge of a subject to enable them to understand what the text is about. For example, in Year 2, the teacher recapped on pupils’ knowledge of key vocabulary, such as ‘scurvy’, before continuing to explore their chosen text about pirates.

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Main findings

Teachers encourage pupils to identify and research words they do not understand in texts to help them understand the context more fully. Staff have received training in developing pupils’ speaking and listening skills, so pupils discuss texts together and consider meaning and inference. While the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading is likely to be below the national average in key stages 1 and 2 in 2018, improvement is evident in both these key stages compared with 2017.

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Main findings

The recent introduction of the new approach to teaching writing has enthused teachers. Pupils write more extensively, including in different styles and within subjects across the curriculum. For example, pupils in Years 5 and 6 used their topic of the Second World War as a stimulus for writing. Teachers include the teaching of spelling and grammar in English lessons to ensure that pupils focus on these aspects when they are writing. Links with reading are providing pupils with the background knowledge to develop their writing skills. Teachers have a greater understanding of how to develop pupils’ writing skills and how these link with their reading skills.

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Main findings

You have introduced a new approach to developing pupils’ spelling skills. Teachers are using this approach across the school. Pupils make corrections to their spelling in their own work. You have revised the school’s marking policy to ensure that this approach to developing pupils’ spelling is used by all teachers. Teachers are not yet consistently using this approach across the school.

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Main findings

The leaders of English and mathematics have a vision for the development of their subjects. They are determined that, through improvements to the quality of teaching, pupils will make better progress. However, these subject leaders do not understand fully how their actions affect the progress that pupils are making. A scrutiny of pupils’ workbooks shows that pupils learn regularly in a range of subjects. However, teachers provide pupils with more opportunities to develop their skills in history and science than in some other subjects. For example, while pupils learn the location of different countries, less frequently do they develop their geographical skills. Leaders understand that pupils have limited exposure to different cultures and religions. They have ensured that pupils learn about faiths and cultures and they have planned visits to local places of worship. Through discussion and the use of ‘philosophy for children’, staff are challenging pupils’ views and developing their

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Main findings

understanding. Together, the staff have worked successfully to tackle the negative view of a small minority of the community towards different faiths. While there is still more you wish to do, staff must be praised for their tenacity and success in this area.

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Main findings

Since the last inspection, you have tried with some success to involve parents and carers more with their children’s education and the life of the school. Parents receive half-termly communications about how well their children are doing. You have ensured that there is someone available for parents to speak with at the beginning and end of the school day.

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Main findings

The learning mentor works with families who require support, or to help them become involved with their children’s learning. You have held several events for parents to learn more about their children’s education, including mathematics days, religious education days, Christmas craft sessions and coffee mornings. The governing body has undertaken to be a more visible presence and governors have been available during parents’ evenings and on the playground before school.

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Main findings

The school’s plan for improvement includes the areas for development from the last inspection. Leaders have mapped out actions for the next three years. The actions completed already match the work that leaders have been doing to drive improvement. However, while it is clear that the monitoring of the impact of actions is ongoing, the plan for improvement is less detailed for the current academic year.

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External support

The leadership team is working with the local authority to drive improvements at the school. You have readily taken up the support given to you. You are closely monitoring how this support is helping teachers to develop their practice and to raise standards. You and the local authority adviser work well together to determine which aspects of the school’s work you need to focus on. Local authority monitoring and evaluation are helping you to make improvements.

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External support

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

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