John Clifford Primary School

Inspection of a good school: John Clifford Primary School Nether Street, Beeston, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG9 2AT

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Outcome

John Clifford Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils respect one another and relationships between staff and pupils are good. Staff have consistently high expectations of pupils and want them to be the very best that they can be. The ‘JC promises’ help pupils to understand what good behaviour looks like. Parents speak highly of the school, with comments such as: ‘This school is a community as well as a place of learning.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a wide range of clubs and activities. They are enthusiastic about the responsibilities they are given in school, for example, being part of the eco committee and faith council. They explain their views in a mature and considerate way. They are sensitive to the needs of others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are ambitious for pupils to have a range of interesting experiences both in and out of school. Outdoor learning enriches the curriculum. It helps pupils learn to work together and support one another. Pupils enjoy learning sophisticated vocabulary and discussing interesting issues. Pupils told me they love to read and be read to from a wide range of books.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that bullying rarely happens. They feel safe because adults listen to them. They know that adults are quick to sort out any problems they might have.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders and staff continue to provide a good quality of education. Leaders have made the teaching of reading a high priority. All staff understand the importance of teaching pupils to read. They are clear about what they expect pupils to know and be able to do each term. The work the school has done in improving pupils’ vocabulary is good. Pupils are successfully supported to learn new vocabulary linked to their topics and class texts. Pupils are given opportunities to experience demanding texts. For example, pupils study ‘The Tempest’ in Year 6. Pupils say that they enjoy reading. They understand how the targets their teachers give them help them to become better readers. Books are well 11–12 February 2020

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matched to their reading ability. Pupils talk about their favourite books and authors enthusiastically.

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The curriculum is less well planned in mathematics. Sometimes teachers do not ensure that pupils’ learning builds on what they already know. They do not always move learning on quickly enough. Tasks are not always demanding enough for the pupils. This means that some pupils do not always achieve as well as they should.

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Physical education (PE) is well planned and delivered. Leaders have thought carefully about activities that will interest the pupils. They are ambitious that all pupils will find a sport that they love and find success in. Pupils say that they enjoy their PE lessons. They are proud of their recent success in a range of sporting competitions. They understand the importance of working as a team, as well as challenging themselves as individuals to learn new skills in PE.

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Pupils’ personal development is given a high priority. The school offers many different opportunities for pupils to become well-rounded individuals. Pupils can explain that they should respect people who have beliefs or family backgrounds that are different to their own. Pupils are encouraged to talk about ‘big questions’ and are supported to discuss difficult issues.

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Pupils behave well. They are motivated to do their best by the new ‘level up’ system that allows them to earn badges for good behaviour. They say that almost all pupils behave well. Leaders have ensured that there are good systems in place for pupils who find managing their own behaviour more difficult. Lessons flow well and are not interrupted by poor behaviour. Most pupils attend well.

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Senior leaders have a clear plan for how the school needs to improve. They complete a range of monitoring activities to check that these plans are being put in place. However, some of these checks do not provide school leaders, including governors, with enough information to know what is working well and what still needs to be done.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff know what to do if they have concerns about a child’s well-being. They have received appropriate training. They know the signs to look for that might mean that a child is at risk. Leaders act promptly and follow up any concerns carefully. Leaders work with families and external agencies to provide support for pupils. The systems for checking that staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet. 11–12 February 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum is well planned and sequenced in many subject areas. However, it is not equally ambitious in all subjects, particularly in mathematics. Leaders should ensure that all curriculum plans are ambitious for all pupils. They should ensure that teachers consistently plan activities that are demanding for all pupils.  Leaders undertake monitoring activities to check the quality of education in different subject areas. However, leaders have not checked that all curriculum plans are equally ambitious. Some plans require further work to ensure that they facilitate high expectations of all pupils in all subjects. Leaders, including those responsible for governance, should ensure that all monitoring activities are rigorous and identify clear recommendations to lead to school improvement, across all aspects of the school’s work.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good or we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good/outstanding. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged Clifford Primary School to be good.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 11–12 February 2020

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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. 11–12 February 2020

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School details

Local authority Nottinghamshire County Council

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22–23 March 2016

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection the deputy headteacher has been appointed as the headteacher.  A new deputy headteacher has been appointed. At the time of the inspection, he was absent from school.  Two new assistant headteachers have been appointed.

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Information about this inspection

 I met with the headteacher and the three assistant headteachers.  I met with three members of the governing body, including the chair, and a representative of the local authority.  I did deep dives in the following subjects: reading, mathematics and PE. This involved speaking with curriculum leaders, teachers and pupils, and examining planning documents and pupils’ books. I carried out lesson visits, some jointly with the headteacher.  I looked at a range of documents. These included those relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance. I looked at plans for improvement as well as leaders’ 11–12 February 2020

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evaluation of the school’s performance. I considered the information on the school’s website.  I took note of the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View and considered the results of the Ofsted staff and pupil questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Caroline Poole, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 11–12 February 2020

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regulates and inspects to 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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