Croft Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Croft Primary School Station Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire NG17 5FJ

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. Inspectors are recommending the next inspection to be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy school. They like playing with their friends. There are good relationships between the pupils and adults. The adults know the pupils well. Pupils take pride in their work. They present their work neatly and try very hard to form their letters correctly and join their handwriting.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Music is a strength of the school. Pupils participate very well in music lessons and are enthusiastic about the subject. One pupil said, ‘Music makes me very happy and puts me in my own world.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils behave well in the classroom and out on the playground. Leaders have plans in place for those pupils who find it more difficult to manage their own behaviour. Pupils know and follow the school values: honesty, teamwork, resilience, determination and respect. They explained to be resilient means never giving up. Pupils said that bullying can sometimes occur but that teachers are good at stopping it quickly. Pupils said that they feel safe at school and can go to someone if they have a concern.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum is not well planned. Consequently, there are gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Leaders are aware of the issue and have begun to improve the curriculum.

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

The curriculum is not consistently well planned and taught. This means that pupils achieve well in some subjects, but not in others. In mathematics, the curriculum is well planned. Most teachers explain mathematical concepts well. Pupils focus and behave well in class. In a Year 2 class, the teacher demonstrated clearly how to find a fraction of a whole number. Pupils used this explanation to help them work independently to solve problems. This strategy was also used successfully by those pupils with special 10 and 11 May 2023

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educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In the early years foundation stage, most children were engaged in throwing two dice to see whether they found a double. However, a few children lost interest and did not fully participate in the learning.

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Throughout the school, teaching assistants explained mathematical concepts clearly to pupils with SEND. Teaching assistants used apparatus appropriately to help explain the value of numbers to pupils. This enabled pupils to understand their calculations and achieve well.

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Most pupils are learning to read well. The school takes pupils to Sutton Library to promote a love of reading. The school has a phonics programme which is well established. Pupils’ individual reading books match the sounds that they know. Staff listen to younger pupils read frequently. However, there are occasions in phonic lessons where not all pupils engage well, particularly in the early years. Some pupils were not saying the sounds that the teachers demonstrated. Furthermore, some pupils made mistakes, and these were not identified by staff. This slowed pupils’ progress in reading. Leaders have not checked the quality of phonic lessons recently. Consequently, pupils are not always learning their phonics as well as they should.

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The new headteacher led a review of the curriculum with staff in the autumn term. Together they found that many subjects were not consistently well planned. Pupils have not learned and remembered enough knowledge in some subjects. Pupils found it difficult to explain what they have learned in design technology. Leaders recognised that pupils did not have enough opportunities to develop their drawing skills.

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Leaders have started to write new plans which contain specific knowledge that they want pupils to learn and remember. However, leaders recognise that these plans are not being consistently taught across the school. In addition, checks that teachers complete at the end of topics are not always focusing on the key knowledge that they want pupils to remember. Furthermore, leaders are not checking whether pupils are remembering key knowledge closely enough. Consequently, there are still gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

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Pupils’ writing is improving. Leaders have provided more opportunities for pupils to edit their work. Increasingly, pupils are writing grammatically correct sentences and spelling age-appropriate words correctly.

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Most pupils enjoy sports. They have opportunities to play in competitions, such as basketball and football, against local schools. Pupils can play in the Rock Steady Band or sing in the choir and have opportunities to perform in front of parents and carers. Pupils take part in community events and attended a picnic to celebrate the coronation with local schools. They enjoy the residential visit to Hathersage and outdoor activities in the Peak District.

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The governing body is aware of the weaknesses in the curriculum. It has very recently developed an action plan to monitor the effectiveness of leaders’ actions. 10 and 11 May 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders work well with a range of external services to support pupils and families. Leaders attend multi-agency meetings and act when concerns arise. Detailed record- keeping enables leaders to log the actions taken to safeguard pupils. Staff are well trained and know how to report a safeguarding concern. Leaders make the relevant checks on the suitability of staff to work in school. The governing body monitors safeguarding procedures.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are aware of the potential dangers of being online. They know not to give out their personal details.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the curriculum is not planned well enough. Learning is not sequenced to build pupils’ knowledge incrementally. As a result, pupils are not knowing more and remembering more. Leaders need to ensure that the curriculum is well planned to help pupils build their knowledge and skills.  Leaders are not checking closely enough whether pupils are knowing more and remembering more. The assessments that children complete are not always designed to check whether pupils are remembering key knowledge. Pupils have gaps in their knowledge. Leaders need to ensure that assessments are checking whether pupils are knowing more and remembering more.  A few pupils are not always learning their phonics as well as they should. Some pupils are not fully engaged in lessons and misconceptions are not always addressed. Therefore, some pupils struggle to read new words. Leaders and staff should ensure that all pupils are engaged in their phonics lessons and correct misconceptions.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In the early years, not all children are engaged in learning the curriculum. This is not identified quickly enough by some staff. Therefore, children are not consistently learning new knowledge well enough. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is well planned and taught so that children are motivated and sustain their concentration.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded 10 and 11 May 2023

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inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in October 2013.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 10 and 11 May 2023

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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 15 February 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does make use of alternative provision.  The governing body manages the breakfast club.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, senior leaders in the school and the special educational needs coordinator.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited sample lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair. He also held a telephone discussion with a member of the local authority. 10 and 11 May 2023

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 The inspector also reviewed samples of pupils’ work in English, geography, art and design technology. He visited sample lessons in music and physical education.  The inspector reviewed the school records for safeguarding. He checked the staff training records for safeguarding.  The inspector met with several groups of children and listened to pupils read. He also observed pupils on the playground and spoke with pupils while they were in the dining hall.

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Inspection team

Martin Finch, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 May 2023

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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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