Pinfold Street Primary School

SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 26 February – 2 March 2001

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SCHOOL

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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SCHOOL

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Middle deemed primary school

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Pinfold Street Extension Darlaston Wednesbury West Midlands

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mr M A Davies

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 8 July 1996 Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

22182 Fiona Robinson Registered inspector Art and design English as an additional language What sort of school is it?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Music, The Foundation Stage How high are standards

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

How well is the school led and managed? What should the school do to improve further? 9009 Valerie Bradley Lay inspector How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development 18346 Rod Bristow Team inspector Mathematics How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils? Physical education 21816 Beryl Thomas Team inspector English Equal opportunities History 11528 Mike Wainwright Team inspector Design and technology Information and communication technology 15300 Paul Archer Team inspector Science How well are pupils’ taught? Geography 4285 Maggie Langdale Team inspector Special educational needs 11419 Patricia Underwood Team inspector Religious education Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 5 The inspection contractor was:

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Mr I H Jones Kingston Centre Fairway Stafford ST16 3TW

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 6

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REPORT CONTENTS

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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REPORT CONTENTS

The school’s results and achievements Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

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REPORT CONTENTS

HOW GOOD ARE THE CURRICULAR AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED TO PUPILS? 18-21

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REPORT CONTENTS

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS? 21-22

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REPORT CONTENTS

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS 22-23

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REPORT CONTENTS

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED? 23-26

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REPORT CONTENTS

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER? 27

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REPORT CONTENTS

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS 28-32

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REPORT CONTENTS

PART D: THE STANDARDS AND QUALITY OF TEACHING IN AREAS OF THE CURRICULUM, SUBJECTS AND COURSES 33-53 Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 7

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school is situated in the Darlaston area of Walsall and has 387 pupils on roll. There are 211 boys and 176 girls aged between four and eleven years. Children’s attainment on entry into Reception is below average. Over 21 per cent of pupils are entitled to a free school meal, which is above the national average. The number of pupils with special educational needs (22%) is high. Four pupils have statements of special educational need. The number of pupils speaking English as an additional language (10.9%) is high. The school aims for each pupil to seek the highest possible standards within an environment that enables pupils to grow educationally, spiritually, morally, socially and aesthetically.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

The school is effective in providing a good quality of education for all its pupils. The headteacher provides strong and purposeful leadership that is taking the school forward. There is a good team spirit amongst staff and good relationships underpin the very good improvements being made. Pupils have good attitudes to learning. After a very good start in Reception the school has managed to maintain standards at Key Stage 1 and improve standards at Key Stage 2. This year, by the ages of eleven and seven, standards are low because of the significantly high proportion of pupils with special educational needs. The aims of the school are reflected well in its work. The quality of teaching is good. Pupils are well prepared for future citizenship because of the good overall attention given to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. There are effective strategies in place to promote educational inclusion and equality of opportunity for all pupils. New technology is

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

used well to support learning. The school promotes good links with parents and the majority play a beneficial role in supporting their children’s education. The school gives good value for money.

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What the school does well

 Teaching is good overall and very good in the Foundation Stage.  Children under five are given a very good start to their education and they make good progress.  Pupils’ attitudes are good and they thrive.  New technology is used well to support pupils’ learning.  A positive working partnership has been created with parents, who are given regular information on their children’s progress.  The school is well led and managed, and the headteacher, staff and governors have been successful in creating a caring and supportive environment.

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What could be improved

 Standards are not high enough in English, mathematics and science.  Raising expectations of teaching and learning at the end of Key Stage 1, especially for the higher attaining pupils.  Improving opportunities for pupils to be actively involved in their own learning.  Identifying more closely what pupils know, can understand and do, and use this to support pupils next steps in learning in most areas of the curriculum. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 8

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

Her Majesty’s Inspectors took the school out of special measures at the time of the last inspection in May 1998. A number of weaknesses were raised in their inspection report. The school has made very good progress in tackling the identified weaknesses so that all are now mainly good or better. The school development plan has been refined and is being used successfully by the headteacher, governors and staff for guiding the school forward. Standards have improved and the management of behaviour is more effective. Teaching quality has improved considerably. The headteacher and staff have systematically monitored the quality of teaching, provided effective feedback to individuals and supported improvement through a very good programme of training. Good provision is made for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. There is good use made of the information and communication technology (ICT) suite and pupils’ ICT skills are improving

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

in consequence. Strengths identified in the previous reports have been successfully built upon and the school is well placed to sustain its good rate of improvement and has set realistic targets to support this.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by eleven year olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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schools

1998 1999 2000 2000 Key English E E C B well above average above average A B mathematics E E E E average below average C D science E E E D well below average E

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schools

Standards, although improving, are not high enough by the end of Key Stage 2, although the headteacher, key staff and governors have a shared commitment to raise standards. They have made a good start to boost the level of attainment in Key Stage 2. In 2000, standards were broadly average in English by the age of eleven, well below the national average in science and were well below in mathematics, as the above table indicates. However, the standards were above the national average for similar schools in English, below in science and well below in mathematics. Trends over time do show an improvement in these subjects. Children start in Reception with below average levels of achievement. By the age of five, most children achieve their early learning goals in mathematics, physical and personal, social and emotional areas of learning. A significant minority achieve these goals in communication, language and literacy, creative and knowledge and understanding of the

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schools

world areas of learning. They make good progress as under fives and sound progress in Key Stage 1. By the age of seven, the 2000 Key Stage 1 National Curriculum tests showed that pupils achieved standards in reading and mathematics that were below the national average, but were close to the national average in comparison with similar schools. Attainment was below the national average in writing and teacher assessments in science indicated that standards were well below the national average. Pupils progress steadily throughout Key Stage 2 and there has been an improvement in standards since the last inspection, though the Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 9 headteacher and governors know that these are not high enough and that there is much to be done. The headteacher and staff are determined to push up standards and this is why, they have challenging targets for improvement and these are on course to be met. Inspection

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schools

findings indicate improvement up to Year 5. Currently there are a significantly high proportion of pupils with special educational needs in Year 6,which means that standards are still well below average in English, mathematics and science by the end of Key Stage 2. There is a shared commitment to raise standards throughout the school, and especially at Key Stage 2. By the end of both key stages pupils’ attainment in foundation subjects are mainly in line with national expectations. By the end of Key Stage 2, they are well above national expectations in physical education and above national expectations in art.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Good. Pupils work with keen interest and good levels of attention. They enjoy their learning.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Most of the behaviour is good in class and at lunchtimes. Occasionally lapses in behaviour of a few pupils can have a detrimental effect on their learning. Behaviour is satisfactory overall.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Relationships are sound and positively support pupils’ progress and achievements. In some lessons the opportunities for pupils to take the initiative and find out things for themselves are limited.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance The attendance of most pupils is satisfactory, however it is unsatisfactory for some pupils, where attendance is erratic or holidays are taken in term time.

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years aged 7-11 years

Lessons seen overall Very Good Satisfactory Good Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses. The quality of teaching is good overall, with 99% of lessons satisfactory or better. It is very good in the Foundation Stage, satisfactory in Key Stage 1, and good in Key Stage 2. A high proportion of the teaching is good or better and this represents a very good improvement in the quality of teaching since the last inspection. Teaching that is very good or excellent is seen in 30% of lessons and it is good or better in 60% of lessons. Only 1% of teaching was unsatisfactory and this occurred at the lower end of Key Stage 2. Where there was a weakness in teaching it was due to the unsatisfactory behaviour of a minority of pupils. Teaching is good or better in 57% of lessons in the Foundation Stage, in 30% of lesson in

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years aged 7-11 years

Key Stage 1, and in 76% of lessons in Key Stage 2. In most lessons where the teaching is good the pace is brisk, pupils have a clear idea of what is required of them, and the teaching methods used are appropriate. With such a good proportion of the teaching being good or Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 10 better it is surprising that the projected attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 for 2001 is not higher. However, despite good teaching, the high proportion of pupils with special educational needs in Year 6 has a detrimental effect upon the standards in this year group. The quality of teaching in English and mathematics is satisfactory overall and numeracy and literacy skills are being taught effectively. The ethos for learning throughout most of the school is good, and it enables all pupils to make good progress and they enjoy working. Examples of excellent teaching were seen in the Foundation Stage and in Year 5. Examples

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years aged 7-11 years

of very good and excellent teaching occur in English, mathematics, science, physical education, swimming and history. Most of the physical education teaching is very good. Pupils with special educational needs are making sound progress in relation to their prior achievement and towards their individual targets. The needs of more able pupils are not always adequately catered for especially in Year 2, where tasks are not sufficiently challenging.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum The curriculum is broad, balanced and enriched by a very good programme of extra-curricular activities.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Sound. Teachers and classroom assistants support these pupils well and they make satisfactory progress.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Pupils with English as an additional language are well provided for and make good progress.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development The school makes satisfactory provision for pupils’ spiritual development and good provision for their social and cultural development. It works hard to ensure that pupils grow up as good young people. The provision for their moral development is very good.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Pupils’ achievements are recorded efficiently in English and mathematics especially, and gains in skills, knowledge and understanding are used to set targets for improvement. Procedures for child protection and for ensuring pupils’ welfare are good.

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Aspect Comment

Parents are supportive of the school and the progress their children make. The school works hard to involve parents and has a strong partnership with parents and the local community. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 11

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Good. There is a strong team spirit and the headteacher and key staff are providing a clear educational direction for the school.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governors are supportive of the school and are actively involved in school life. They are fully aware of what is happening in school and what still needs to be done.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance There are good systems in place, including the consultation of parents to monitor the performance of the school’s work.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Resources are used well to improve pupils’ achievement and the school fully applies the principles of best value. Funding has been used effectively to enhance pupils’ learning. The recent installation of the ICT suite is making a valuable contribution to the development of pupils’ ICT skills.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

 The school expects their child to work hard and achieve his or her best.  The teaching is good and children are making good progress.  Their children like school.  They feel well informed about their children’s progress.  Behaviour of some pupils.  The range of activities outside lessons is narrow.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection team agrees with the positive views of parents. Pupils enjoy coming to school and behave well. Inspectors found that the quality of teaching has improved greatly since the previous inspection. Parents are kept well informed of pupils’ progress. The school is well led and managed and pupils are expected to do their best.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection team found the behaviour of the majority of pupils to be good or better, however there are a small number of pupils who occasionally behave less well. The inspection team found there to be a rich and wide range of extra-curricular activities to be available to pupils and disagree with the parents’ negative view on this. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 12

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The school’s results and achievements

1 Children enter Reception with below average levels of attainment as indicated in the baseline assessments. Some of them have had no experiences outside their own home and family. Good progress is made in all the areas of learning. By the time the children leave Reception a significant minority achieve the early learning goals in communication, language and literacy, creative development and knowledge and understanding of the world. Most children achieve their goals in mathematics, physical and personal, social and emotional areas of learning. Children with special educational needs and English as an additional language are supported very well, which greatly enhances their learning. Overall standards are still below that expected when children start in Key Stage 1, especially in communication, language and literacy.

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The school’s results and achievements

2 The 2000 end of Key Stage 1 National Curriculum tests showed that pupils achieved standards in reading and mathematics that were below the national average, but were close to the national average in comparison with similar schools. In writing, pupils were close to the national average in comparison with all schools, and above the national average in comparison with similar schools. A high number of pupils achieved the higher level (Level 3) in mathematics. English was below the national average in writing and well below in reading. Teacher assessments in science indicate that standards were well below the national average. Standards are improving over time at Key Stage 1 due to more effective methods of tracking pupils’ progress in order to set challenging targets, and the positive impact of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies is raising standards.

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The school’s results and achievements

3 Standards of attainment in the National Curriculum tests in 2000, for pupils at the end of Year 6, were broadly average in English and well below in mathematics and science. In comparison with similar schools they were above the national average in English, below in science and well below in mathematics. Last year the school targets for attainment were achieved and some pupils gained Level 5. Trends over time do show an improvement in English, mathematics and science.

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The school’s results and achievements

4 During the inspection it was judged that standards were well below the national average in English and mathematics and below in science by the end of Key Stage 1. Many pupils only make satisfactory progress and few are predicted to achieve the higher Level 3. Overall, teaching is satisfactory at the end of the key stage but there is a lack of challenge for the higher achieving pupils. The current Year 2 is a low achieving year group with a significant proportion of special educational needs pupils.

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The school’s results and achievements

5 Evidence from the inspection suggests that this year standards by the end of Key Stage 2 are well below average in English, mathematics and science. This reverses the upward trend for one year and does not reflect the good progress made in teaching and learning. It is mainly due to the fact that there is a large percentage of pupils with special educational needs in Year 6. This also does not reflect that a significant group Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 13 is expected to attain the higher Level 5 in mathematics.

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The school’s results and achievements

6 Standards and progress throughout Key Stage 2 continue to improve due to the positive impact of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. This is particularly so in Year 5, where good teaching and learning indicates that pupils’ achievements are in line with what is required nationally. Pupils with special educational needs make at least satisfactory progress, as do most pupils for whom English is an additional language. A significant factor to the overall improvement in standards and progress has been due to the dedicated team of teaching and non-teaching staff responding consistently to improve attitudes to learning and standards of behaviour.

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The school’s results and achievements

7 The school has implemented the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies successfully throughout the school. The focus on teaching basic skills and the emphasis on guided reading and shared text work is contributing effectively to improvement in spelling but is not having the same positive impact on reading. The use of non-fiction books for independent research work is underdeveloped. Standards in listening and speaking skills are still unsatisfactory in English. Based on the inspection findings overall, standards of literacy and numeracy at the end of both key stages are well below those expected of pupils of these ages. Numeracy and literacy skills are being developed effectively across the curriculum.

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The school’s results and achievements

8 Standards in information and communication technology (ICT) are broadly in line with national expectations for pupils aged seven and below national expectations for eleven year olds. There has been very effective action taken to improve standards since the previous inspection. The emphasis on making full use of the very good resources is providing for consistent satisfactory progress throughout the school. This includes pupils with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language. However there has been insufficient time for the new ICT suite to have a full impact on the standards of those pupils currently at the end of Key Stage 2.

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The school’s results and achievements

9 At the last inspection, standards in religious education were in line with the expectations of the locally agreed syllabus by the end of Key Stages 1 and 2. These standards have been maintained, although the standard of written work does not fully reflect the pupils’ knowledge and understanding at Key Stage 1. Pupils in Key Stage 2 show a deepening understanding of other world religions.

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The school’s results and achievements

10 By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils achieve satisfactory standards in art and design, design and technology, history, geography, music and physical education. They attain standards expected for pupils of a similar age. The satisfactory standards identified in the previous report have been maintained, and have improved in ICT.

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The school’s results and achievements

11 By the end of Key Stage 2, there has been an improvement in design and technology, history, geography, and music from below national expectations to being in line with these. There has been good progress in art and design, where standards are now above national expectations by the end of Key Stage 2 and very good progress in physical education, where standards are well above national expectations by the end of the key stage. Standards have improved because the quality of teaching has improved considerably and this has had a direct impact on pupils’ attainment. In addition, pupils have a much-improved attitude to learning. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 14 12 Most of the pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress in their lessons and over time. Achievement throughout the school is satisfactory with regard to the targets contained in pupils’ individual education plans. Comprehensive records

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The school’s results and achievements

of achievement and progress are kept, being effectively used to inform teaching and planning.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

13 In the Foundation Stage, children enter Reception with below average personal and social skills. Behaviour and attitudes are very good and children respond very well to instructions. They are confident and form good relationships with one another. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good throughout the school. Most pupils like coming to school, show interest in their work, and persevere with the tasks set.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14 Behaviour in most lessons is very good. There is a small minority of pupils who are uninterested in learning and troublesome in lessons where activities are not interesting or sufficiently challenging. When inappropriate behaviour is not successfully managed, it has an adverse effect on the learning of other pupils. Evidence from lesson observations indicates that some teachers are particularly successful in ensuring good behaviour. For example, in lessons such as physical education in Key Stage 2, the interest of all pupils is maintained because tasks are matched to pupils’ capability, are well organised and appropriately challenging.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

15 The attitudes and behaviour of the majority of pupils throughout the school show that they think about their actions and the impact these have on others. They wait patiently for other pupils to make their contributions in lessons, and listen to each other well. They work well together in pairs. Opportunities for pupils to develop independent learning and research skills are limited.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

16 Pupils show interest in their work and most concentrate well over long periods of time. When concentration is seen to decrease, it is often towards the end of the sixty- minute lessons, or when the work set is not sufficiently interesting or challenging, or is not well matched to their abilities.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

17 During the last school year, there were no permanent exclusions. There were ten fixed period exclusions involving seven boys and three girls. These were one-day exclusions, which occurred as a result of a clearly structured Assertive Discipline behaviour policy. During this school year, there have been five fixed period exclusions, involving some of these same pupils. When fixed period exclusions do occur, parents have been appropriately included in the strategies devised to address inappropriate behaviour. These include home/school agreements to monitor pupils’ behaviour over periods of time, in order to ensure consistency between home and school regarding unacceptable behaviour.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

18 There is no racial tension evident in the school; pupils from different ethnic backgrounds mix harmoniously and through their own choice. Although the school and pupils acknowledge that on occasions bullying does occur, the good levels of supervision on the playground areas ensure that when behaviour does become too Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 15 boisterous, there is appropriate intervention. Incidents of inappropriate behaviour on the playground are recorded and appropriate action taken by the headteacher and senior members of staff.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

19 Pupils on the school’s register of special educational needs are fully integrated within the mainstream school. Overall, the attitudes of pupils with special educational needs are satisfactory. The individual education plans of pupils with behavioural problems include strategies to address inappropriate behaviour, and appropriate targets for addressing those problems. These are helpful in ensuring consistency of behaviour management. Pupils benefit from small groups specifically targeted to provide additional support in literacy and numeracy, but sometimes miss other parts of the curriculum.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

20 Pupils respond well to opportunities to take part in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. Many pupils are involved in these activities, particularly in games and sports, including sailing, and musical activities.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

21 Older pupils are given a good opportunity to contribute to the life of the school through the regular meetings between the house captains and vice captains with the headteacher. At these meetings, pupils are consulted and are able to make suggestions, for example, with regard to equipment and organised activities to be made available in the playground. Their suggestions are listened to, considered, and where appropriate, acted upon.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

22 Throughout the school, pupils are given appropriate opportunities to take responsibility, to which they respond well. Older pupils act as monitors on the stairways, and have volunteered to oversee the safety of younger pupils in recreation areas.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

23 Attendance is well below the national average, and the incidence of unauthorised absence is above that nationally. The attendance record of most pupils is good, but there are a number of identified pupils whose attendance record is unsatisfactory. There is regular monitoring of pupils’ attendance, in conjunction with the education social worker. Some pupils regularly arrive at school late, despite regular and consistent reminders of the need for a punctual arrival.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

24 The concern expressed by parents regarding the inappropriate behaviour of some pupils, especially in the playground areas, was found to be justified. The school works hard to provide a good level of supervision, and to ensure that the boisterous behaviour of older pupils is monitored and addressed.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

25 The planning is comprehensive and based upon two teachers with two classes in each year group, and upon the deployment of three teachers within the Foundation Stage. The co-ordinator for pupils with special educational needs shares responsibility for a class with a part-time colleague. The deputy headteacher, who is not class based, is deployed for half of his timetable in support of the Year 6 literacy and numeracy groups, and also for some English teaching in Years 2 and 4. In some years in Key Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 16 Stage 2 the teachers have organised their timetable to allow for a greater level of subject specialist teaching.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

26 During the inspection teaching was observed in 75 lessons. Of these eight were in the Foundation Stage, 23 were in Key Stage 1, and 44 were in Key Stage 2.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

27 The quality of teaching is very good in the Foundation Stage, satisfactory in Key Stage 1, and good in Key Stage 2. The quality of teaching is good overall, and has improved very well since the last inspection. During the inspection, teaching was satisfactory or better in 99 per cent of lessons, good or better in 60 per cent of lessons and very good or excellent in 30 per cent. In one Key Stage 2 English lesson, where inappropriate behaviour was poorly managed, the teaching was unsatisfactory.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

28 There is some very good teaching at all key stages, and examples of excellent teaching in the Foundation Stage and at Key Stage 2. A higher proportion of the teaching is satisfactory in Key Stage 1, and most of the teaching in Year 2 is satisfactory. The very good teaching of science and physical education in Key Stage 1, and the very good teaching of English, mathematics, science, history and physical education in Key Stage 2 is in lessons that are highly motivating for pupils. These lessons are conducted at a brisk pace, clear learning objectives are shared with the pupils, the management of activities and of pupil behaviour is very good, and there are appropriate opportunities for pupils to demonstrate the progress that they are making. In Year 5, the quality of teaching is consistently good or better, and more than three- quarters of the teaching is very good or excellent.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

29 With such a large proportion of good or better teaching it is surprising that the school’s projected levels of attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2001 are not higher. This is because despite well planned teaching the unsatisfactory behaviour of a small minority of pupils in Year 6 has had a detrimental effect upon the rate at which pupils learn, and the ethos for learning within the year group. Throughout the rest of the school the pupils’ good attitudes to learning contribute to the high level of effective teaching.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

30 In the Foundation Stage, the teachers have a very secure understanding of the curriculum and of how young children learn. The enthusiasm of the teachers generates a highly positive atmosphere for learning. Teachers have high expectations, and provide a rich and stimulating environment in which every opportunity is taken to develop the children’s understanding of language. Through observation and questioning the teachers constantly assess what the children know, understand and can do, and this information is used effectively to plan what they should learn next.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

31 The quality of teaching in Key Stage 1 is satisfactory in English and mathematics and good in science. In Key Stage 2, teaching is satisfactory in English and science and very good in mathematics. The teaching of mathematics is of a consistently high standard throughout Key Stage 2. Where science teaching is good in Year 1, pupils are given, and use successfully, a wide vocabulary to describe seedlings and plants, and they talk well about their experience of observing plant growth.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

32 The use made of speaking and listening across all subject areas to support pupils in developing their independent learning skills is underdeveloped. Examples were seen Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 17 of pupils working well collaboratively in pairs and small groups, but they were only rarely asked to present the results to their peers.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

33 The development of pupils’ numeracy skills is given good support through the application of numeracy skills in science, design and technology, history and geography. Teachers use many opportunities to show pupils the importance of good number skills to understanding things that they will encounter everyday in the community, and care is taken to use number skills in a way that is complementary to how they will be experienced within the mathematics curriculum.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

34 Two full lessons and a number of shorter visits were made to observe pupils using the ICT suite. The use of computers in other locations to support groups and whole class teaching was also evaluated. Successful use is well established across the curriculum to enable pupils to carry out research and to support the development of their literacy, numeracy and scientific understanding. The use of ICT is being developed rapidly, and the wide range of appropriate applications is enhancing teaching and learning. Pupils are developing a good understanding of how ICT supports all aspects of our daily life, and are making good use of this as a tool for learning.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

35 Four lessons of religious education were observed in Years 1, 2 and 3. The quality of teaching is good in Years 1 and 3 and satisfactory in Year 2. The Year 1 pupils are successfully introduced to Baptism through considering the participants at a Christening, and those in Year 2 reflect on the events, (including eating pancakes) that are associated with Shrove Tuesday. In Year 3, pupils focus on things we value, and link this to an appreciation that Bibles can be obtained in many forms. Lessons in both Years 1 and 2, lack continuity due to the simultaneous time-tabling of swimming, and pupils regularly miss parts of their religious education as a result.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

36 A total of 19 lessons were seen in which the teaching of other subjects of the National Curriculum were observed. Overall judgements are that the teaching of physical education is very good; and in art and design, history, and geography it is good; and of music and design technology it is satisfactory.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

37 The quality of teachers’ planning is good. Comprehensive medium term plans are effectively broken down into weekly plans and individual lesson plans. The teachers have a clear idea as to what is to be achieved in each lesson and there is some adjustment during each week, especially in mathematics, to take account of the learning requirements of pupils. The pace of lessons is usually good, and teachers have high expectations that pupils will make good progress, except that in Years 2 and 6 the level of challenge is not as high as in other years. In most classes in Key Stage 2, teachers skilfully manage the pupils so that they enjoy and maintain an enthusiasm for what is being learnt.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

38 The teachers and the learning assistants use resources very well to support demonstrations and explanations, and materials selected for pupils to use are well designed to support the specific objectives of the lesson, and the abilities of pupils. Very good resources were used to follow up a history visit to Wroxeter, and in another class to make preparations for a geography visit to Lichfield. For practical investigations in Key Stage 2, support from learning assistants deployed from other classes significantly enhances the quality of support for pupils. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 18 39 The use of assessments of pupils’ attainment over the medium term is effective in English and mathematics in creating appropriate teaching groups. The day to day assessments of what pupils know, understand, and can do is less secure in English, science and across much of the curriculum, and this weakness reduces the teachers’,

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

ability to build progressively on pupils’ prior learning.

p.18

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

40 There is an established programme for using homework that effectively supports the English and mathematics curriculum, however the use of homework is not well developed for other areas.

p.18

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

41 The teaching that is provided for pupils with specific needs is good, and the teaching for those pupils with special educational needs that are catered for primarily through well planned lessons is sound. Pupils with English as an additional language are making good progress. Teaching provision, and the organisation of work in lessons for pupils who are gifted and talented is partly catered for by the good use of links with the local secondary school, however, the needs of these more able pupils, especially in Years 2 and 6, are not being met adequately.

p.18

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

42 The expectation that pupils will produce work that is well presented and of a good quality is well established, and the scrutiny of pupils’ work across all areas of the curriculum demonstrates the value that the school community places upon working hard. Pupils take a pride in their work, and are keen to talk about what they have been doing, and in many lessons the introduction includes a check on what pupils recall from previous lessons. Marking in the best situations includes giving pupils details of what they need to do to improve their work, but this practice is not embedded across all areas. The extent to which pupils have enough opportunity to work independently, making decisions about the organisation of their work, is limited to a minority of classes.

p.18

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

43 In Year 2, pupils strive to maintain their interest and concentration, the pace is slower, and there are few opportunities to apply their intellectual and creative effort. In Year 1, the learning is satisfactory. The outcome is that learning and progress in Key Stage 1 is satisfactory. In Key Stage 2, because of the good application of most pupils to their work, and the high but appropriate demands that are made of them, the pupils learn well and make good progress.

p.18

TO PUPILS?

44 Provision in the Foundation Stage is very good, with children taking part in a wide range of activities. The curriculum is well structured to ensure full coverage of each area of learning. The quality and effectiveness of planning is very good and children are prepared very well for entry into Key Stage 1. The curriculum is firmly based on early learning goals and the six areas of learning for the under fives. The quality and range of curriculum opportunities provided for pupils in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 has been extended since the last inspection and curriculum guidelines have been updated to respond to the requirements of Curriculum 2000. Although there has been a decision to concentrate on acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills, time has been allocated to other subjects in a balanced way. Consequently, the curriculum, Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 19 including religious education, meets statutory requirements. ICT has improved

p.18

TO PUPILS?

significantly to develop communication and data handling skills. The investment in technology, particularly the new ICT suite, has provided opportunities to teach skills which are then used to support learning across the curriculum. All computers are used well to support learning across the curriculum. Physical education has been given a good share of the remaining available time and has resulted in standards in Key Stage 2, which are above what is expected for pupils of these ages. Swimming is a strength of the school. Other non-core subjects such as history and geography, have been allocated less time but are taught efficiently in termly blocks to ensure that opportunities for pupils to gain skills, knowledge and understanding are not too fragmented. The implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies is contributing to the raising of standards, particularly in mathematics. All pupils are

p.19

TO PUPILS?

introduced to a wide range of well-planned activities.

p.19

TO PUPILS?

45 Equality of access and opportunity is satisfactory. Teaching and non-teaching staff provide positive role models and the wide range of activities provided avoids racial or gender stereotyping. Both boys and girls are encouraged to be involved in activities, including those pupils with special educational needs and for whom English is not the first language.

p.19

TO PUPILS?

46 Additional staffing is used well to organise pupils of similar ability levels into sets for literacy and numeracy at the end of each key stage. This enables teachers to plan more closely for pupils’ needs. There is some specialist teaching for science, swimming, numeracy and literacy in Key Stage 2. Subject co-ordinators have contributed significantly to improvements in the quality of learning opportunities by observing the teaching and learning of others and then sharing good practice. Governors are welcomed into the school and all are involved in curriculum areas, with some carrying out specific responsibilities for aspects such as special educational needs. They then report back to the curriculum committee and the full governing body to ensure that others are well informed. Governors are well placed to check that curriculum opportunities are well matched to the aptitude and abilities of all pupils.

p.19

TO PUPILS?

47 The provision for personal and social education is at an early stage of development. In addition to sex education being introduced through health projects contained in the science curriculum, a greater awareness of a healthier lifestyle, including the misuse of drugs, is introduced during the summer term for the oldest pupils. Pupils are learning to play an active role as citizens; relationships are very good; and there is a healthy respect and consideration for the values of others, which is apparent during circle time where children learn to listen to and respect the views of others. House captains are given the responsibility to be involved in decision making, with other pupils given responsibilities during various times of the day including lunch time. Where responsibility and independence is offered to pupils, they respond positively, with acquired skills contributing significantly to the quality of the learning. A broad

p.19

TO PUPILS?

range of purposeful visits enriches the curriculum, which includes residential experience for pupils in Year 5 and outdoor pursuits being then extended for pupils in Year 6 by a visit to a local activity centre. The school has close contact with local churches and pupils use the locality well especially for history and geography.

p.19

TO PUPILS?

48 Visitors enrich the curriculum, and members of the local community contribute their knowledge and expertise, for example, when the local minister taking assemblies. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 20 There are very good links with a local nursery, and joint planning provides a good start on which to build. Links with the local community school are good, with bridging projects and the sharing of facilities to enrich experiences for science and mathematics. Pupils are well prepared for the transition to secondary education. Funding has been provided for the ‘Golden Goal’ project, as well as providing incentives for all pupils to celebrate their achievements during ‘celebration’ assemblies. The adjacent pre and after school club, although run independently, provides a valuable facility for the school.

p.19

TO PUPILS?

49 There is a very good range of extra-curricular club activities available for the oldest pupils, including football for both girls and boys regardless of ability, gender or ethnicity. Pupils are involved successfully in a wide range of inter-school experiences including swimming, football and sailing. Additional music tuition is available for some pupils.

p.20

TO PUPILS?

50 The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, which was unsatisfactory at the last inspection, has improved significantly in the intervening period. Provision for spiritual development is now sound, social and cultural development is good and for moral development is very good.

p.20

TO PUPILS?

51 Provision for the spiritual development of all pupils, including the under fives, is sound. Teachers take advantage of appropriate opportunities to develop spiritual occasions across the curriculum. This is evident in history, where pupils have been studying Greek myths in literacy and are acquiring a clear idea of Greek gods. Assemblies are increasingly used to enable pupils to consider the effect of faith on the lives and actions of different people. Collective worship meets statutory requirements and is mainly Christian in nature. A stronger multi-faith dimension has been developed and the school provides some knowledge of the different faiths and religious beliefs of others through the religious education curriculum. The school celebrates festivals from other cultures. The wider curriculum enables pupils to take advantage of opportunities for self-expression in art and music.

p.20

TO PUPILS?

52 The provision for pupils’ moral development is very good. The school has a very positive ethos of encouraging pupils to think about and care for others. The principles of right and wrong, care of the environment and property are clearly taught. Rules are displayed in classrooms and are known and understood by pupils. Teachers use circle time to promote consideration for others and the taking of turns. The youngest children learn how to pass a smile to one another and to express their thoughts clearly as they hold Humpty. Pupils look after the school well and the environment is bright, purposeful and well cared for. Display work highlights self-esteem and positive behaviour. The school encourages a calm, secure atmosphere.

p.20

TO PUPILS?

53 The provision for pupils’ social development is good. Pupils have some involvement in running the school. They undertake jobs such as taking registers, acting as stair monitors and looking after the garden areas. In circle time they learn to care for others. They are encouraged to relate effectively to others, take responsibility for themselves and others, participate fully in school and develop an understanding of citizenship. On the residential visit they experience living together as a community. Pupils raise money for charity and provide for the less fortunate. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 21 54 The provision for pupils’ cultural development is good. The school provides valuable opportunities for pupils to appreciate the cultural traditions of their own country. There is a strong multi-faith dimension to the religious education curriculum. Pupils study art, listen to music and experience dance in the physical education curriculum.

p.20

TO PUPILS?

They experience a wide range of visits such as the recent visit to Wroxeter by Year 6.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

55 Teachers know individual pupils very well, and are fully aware of their physical, emotional and intellectual needs. Senior members of staff, teachers and support staff provide caring and thoughtful support to pupils; they are accessible and responsive to pupils’ needs. They respond to them in a positive and very supportive way. Good relationships between all members of staff, including the headteacher, senior members of staff, teachers and support staff, effectively encourage a positive atmosphere in the school, which provides a good learning environment. Through these positive relationships, pupils’ social development is effectively but informally monitored, and good work is shown to the headteacher.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

56 The school successfully creates a climate for good behaviour by having high expectations. Pupils value the merit system, and are enthusiastic when receiving commendations in the Golden Book, and being nominated as pupil of the week in each class. They respond well to the praise and encouragement freely offered.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

57 The system of assertive discipline is clearly understood by pupils. The rules are clearly shown in each classroom, and pupils are fully aware of the consequences should they misbehave. When inappropriate behaviour continues to occur, there are good procedures in place to involve and include parents in measures taken to monitor and address the unacceptable behaviour. The system of giving some pupils ‘Golden Time’ with a nominated member of staff of their own choice, very effectively provides those pupils with additional personal support.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

58 Attendance records are kept in accordance with statutory requirements. Attendance is well below the national average, and unauthorised absence is above that nationally.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

59 There are a number of identified pupils whose attendance record is unsatisfactory. Some parents do not appreciate the importance of regular attendance at school. The school has recently introduced a system of telephoning parents when pupils are absent to confirm the reason for their absence. There is frequent liaison with the education welfare officer, who has regular contact with some families when pupils are often absent. The school continues to remind parents about the detrimental effect on their children’s progress when holidays are taken in term time.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

60 The individual support provided for pupils with statements of special educational needs and for the vast majority of other pupils on the school’s register of special educational needs enables them to successfully access the curriculum at an appropriate level. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 22 61 The school’s procedures to monitor the progress of individual pupils in English and mathematics are good. Test results are carefully recorded over time to give an ongoing record of how the pupil is progressing. Targets in literacy and numeracy are regularly set for groups of pupils of differing ability within each class. These targets are shared with parents and regularly reviewed. Measurement of progress in other areas of the curriculum is hampered by the lack of assessment information available.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

62 There are good child protection procedures in place, which meet statutory requirements. The headteacher is designated as having responsibility for child protection. Liaison with the education welfare officer and with other appropriate support services, including the service for visually impaired pupils, is good.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

63 The health, wellbeing and safety of pupils are given an appropriately high priority. Fire drills are carried out regularly, and there are regular checks of electrical and other equipment.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

64 Parents’ views of the school are mainly positive and the inspection team agrees with these positive views. Pupils enjoy coming to school and behave well. Inspectors found that the quality of teaching has improved greatly since the previous inspection. Parents are kept well informed of pupils’ progress. The school is well led and managed and pupils are expected to do their best. The inspection team found there to be a rich and wide range of extra-curricular activities to be available to pupils and disagree with the parents’ negative view on this. Concerns raised by parents regarding the behaviour of some pupils in school were found to be justified. The school has good procedures in place to involve parents when problems with behaviour occur, and to communicate and work with them to monitor and address the unacceptable behaviour.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

65 The school successfully encourages a good working partnership with parents. Parents are supportive of the school, and appreciate the care and support given to their children. Parents feel that they can approach the school with concerns and problems. Parents are able to have informal discussions with teachers at the end of the school day. Parents appreciate the importance the school places on pupils trying their best. Attendance at termly parents’ meetings is good, and parents have a good opportunity at the open evening to look at their child’s work with their child, see some of the school’s activities and celebrate pupils’ achievements. A small minority of parents do not appreciate the importance of regular attendance at school, and some do not ensure that their child arrives at school punctually.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

66 The school has a very good relationship with the nursery that most pupils attend, and there are good arrangements to ensure a smooth introduction into the school’s reception class. ‘The Scallywags’ pre and after school club provides a good standard of care for pupils, and their playgroup also uses school premises.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

67 Parents are able to be involved in their child’s education by hearing them read, and by supporting learning activities, for example spellings to be learned. When the literacy and numeracy strategies were introduced, these were explained at parents’ evenings, Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 23 and parents were invited to observe lessons. The school successfully encourages some individual parents to be involved in joint projects such as the ‘Golden Goal’ shared learning scheme in Year 5 and the Plain Sailing boat-building scheme in Year 6. The Share learning scheme has been started with parents of the Foundation Stage children, and Year 2 and Year 3 pupils to develop home/school learning.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

68 The quality of information available to parents regarding their child’s education and progress is good. Parents receive information termly concerning the work to be covered during the term, homework that will be set, and the literacy and numeracy targets for their child’s ability group. Parents then receive reviews of these targets, and their child’s progress towards them.

p.23

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

69 Pupils’ annual reports give parents a good range of information concerning what their child knows and can do. They give good details of the work covered during the year, and some information on how their child has progressed.

p.23

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

70 There are effective systems in place, for example, home/school partnerships, to ensure that the parents of children with special educational needs are able to be involved in decisions relating to their children’s education.

p.23

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

71 The school prospectus gives parents a good range of useful information, but it does not fully meet requirements as it does not give school or national assessment results to enable parents to compare the attainment of their own child with those nationally. It does not give details of the school’s policy for dealing with pupils with special educational needs. The Governors’ Annual Report to Parents does not give details of the implementation of the school’s policy for pupils with special educational needs, or any details of changes to that policy during the year. It also does not give figures for authorised and unauthorised absence.

p.23

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

72 A number of parents provide very valuable regular support within the school. Parents are active in running successful toy and book lending libraries. A number of parents regularly help in classrooms. The help provided by these parents is valued and appreciated by the school. The Friends of Pinfold successfully organise social and fundraising activities, and provide valuable support and resources for the school. Parents support these activities well.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

73 The school benefits from the strong, effective leadership of the headteacher, which has been sustained through a difficult period of change and improvement. Through his own personal determination and commitment he is a highly respected example to his colleagues. He has worked closely and very effectively with the deputy headteacher and staff team and has made great improvements in the quality of education and pupils’ attainment since the last inspection. The school is well supported by governors, who have undergone extensive training, and are active in monitoring the school and its achievements. Parents are highly appreciative of the education, which the school currently offers and most agree that the school is well led and managed. All connected with the school contribute to creating the positive atmosphere, which helps significantly to develop pupils’ confidence and raise their Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 24

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

74 At the last inspection several deficiencies were noted in management, which have been very successfully addressed. The recommendations made in the last report have all been fully implemented. It is a reflection of the efficient quality of current management that the school has taken appropriate action to progress from a low point in 1996 to the point where it has achieved widespread local recognition for its improvements. The school meets its declared aims and offers a good quality of education.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

75 At the last inspection the role of the subject co-ordinators was insufficiently developed. Currently, all teachers make a very effective contribution to managing appropriate areas of the curriculum. Responsibilities are well distributed amongst the staff, and all teachers monitor teaching, planning and learning very well. There is a very good system for evaluating and improving the effectiveness of teaching.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

76 At the last inspection the monitoring of pupils’ attainment was unsatisfactory. Currently the headteacher and staff assess pupils’ progress regularly in English and mathematics and maintain detailed records. Setting individual targets, which are shared with pupils and discussed with parents augments these assessments. By analysing pupils’ progress towards these targets and their attainment in standardised tests, a check is kept on the effectiveness of teaching and learning. The information is used well to identify areas for development, which are discussed and included in the school development plan. The headteacher monitors the school’s performance carefully. This focus enables teaching to be specifically targeted so that subjects are well taught and learning is effective. Targets are set at both the school and management levels. These targets are challenging but achievable, helping the school

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

77 The governors keep themselves well informed about the school and fully meet their responsibilities. At the last inspection the governors had not established ways of judging the school’s success. There has been a change of governors and currently they are fully aware of their responsibilities and how to measure the school’s performance. They meet regularly as a whole body and in separate working parties. Meetings of the governors are properly minuted and include reports from the working parties. Governors have been active in extending their understanding of the curriculum. They have instituted a programme of visiting the school and observing lessons.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

78 The school is adequately staffed so that the pupils are given every chance to do well. Teachers and support staff are well deployed in the classrooms. The subject co- ordinators have an important role in helping pupils to learn effectively and improve their attainment.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

79 Staff are well matched to the demands of the curriculum. They are suitably trained and regularly take part in continuing professional developments. All staff make an effective contribution to the school development plan.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

80 Financial planning has improved significantly since the last inspection. The Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 25 governors’ finance committee has a good understanding of financial procedures. It ensures that the specific grants are spent effectively for designated areas such as the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, and supporting pupils with special educational needs and those pupils for whom English is an additional language, all of whom now make at least satisfactory progress. Governors are involved at all stages of the budget planning, and monitor expenditure, which is now tightly linked to the school development plan, which contains priorities for raising standards.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

81 The commitment to invest in additional resources to promote the development of ICT skills has contributed to the raising of computer skills. The effectiveness of the increase in additional teaching and non-teaching staff supports the quality of learning, and there is now a need to manage the effectiveness of this valuable support.

p.25

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

82 New technology is used well to record and analyse pupils’ progress and the school is in the forefront in the use of resources to promote good financial and administrative control on a day to day basis. Good systems for financial and administrative control are well managed by the secretarial staff, who have clearly defined roles. Good support is available from the school’s allocated finance officers. This improvement has been recognised during the most recent audit carried out by the local education authority and whose recommendations have been addressed. There is an awareness of the need to audit school funds and petty cash, with recent changes in responsibilities within the governing body planned to address this matter. Subject co-ordinators have a good understanding of the resource needs of their subjects and bid for funding to support their subjects.

p.25

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

83 In general the headteacher and governors apply the principles of best value to the management of the school. Performance data is used to compare the school’s performance with that of schools nationally and to identify areas for improvement. Accommodation is used effectively and there is a rolling programme for improvement. Parents are well informed of pupil progress and a recent questionnaire has enabled them to comment on school improvement and areas for development.

p.25

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

84 Good quality leadership by the headteacher, governors and a dedicated teaching and non-teaching staff, and the very good improvement experienced over the last four years has led to Pinfold Primary School becoming an effective school. The significant improvement in the quality of teaching, which is closely linked to the improvements in pupils’ positive attitudes to learning, and the enriched curricular opportunities provided at an average unit cost per unit, contribute to the school now giving good value for money. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 26

p.25

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

86 Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School provides pupils with an effective level of education and there are strengths in what it does. However, in order to raise standards further the governing body, headteacher and staff should :

p.26

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

i. Raise the standards in English, mathematics and science by :  Setting realistic targets for all pupils in science.  Making sure that teachers throughout the school build progressively on what pupils know, understand and can do.  Providing opportunities for teachers to observe and work alongside the most successful teachers in the school.  Arranging appropriate training and support in subjects where teachers lack confidence and expertise.  Developing pupils’ speaking and listening skills across the curriculum. (see paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 28, 31, 32, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 113, 115, 117, 118, 127, 135, 139 )

p.26

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

ii. Raise expectations of teaching and learning by the end of Key Stage 1, especially for the higher attaining pupils by:  Increasing the amount and effectiveness of monitoring of planning, teaching and learning of pupils.  Providing opportunities for teachers to observe the best practice in the school. (see paragraphs 39, 46, 106, 110)

p.26

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

iii. Improving opportunities for pupils to be actively involved in their own learning by :  Involvement of pupils in evaluating their own learning.  Developing their independent research skills. (see paragraphs 16, 32, 40, 42, 43, 103)

p.26

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

iiii. Identifying more closely what pupils know, can understand and do, and use this to support pupils’ next steps in learning in most areas of the curriculum by:  Developing appropriate short-term assessment procedures in most subject areas.  Using short-term assessment to inform the next steps of learning throughout the curriculum. (see paragraphs 39, 61, 109, 110, 118, 137, 138, 151, 155, 163, 168, 173, 180)

p.26

Minor issues :

Improve pupils attendance. There are a small number of omissions from the Annual School Report and School Prospectus Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 27

p.26

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of lessons observed 74 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 30

p.27

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor 4 26 30 39 1 0 0

p.27

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

p.27

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6 Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 0 387 Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals 0 107

p.27

Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6 Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 4 Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 0 80

p.27

Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils Number of pupils with English as an additional language 41

p.27

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 22 Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 18 Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 28

p.27

Attendance

Authorised absence % Unauthorised absence % School data 5.5 School data 1.5 National comparative data 5.2 National comparative data 0.5

p.28

Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year.

p.28

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2000 36 16 52

p.28

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

Numbers of pupils at Girls 13 12 12 NC level 2 and above Total 40 38 37

p.28

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

Percentage of pupils School 79 (66) 92 (74) 85 (74) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 85 (83) 90 (86)

p.28

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at Girls 12 12 13 NC level 2 and above Total 40 37 39

p.28

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 77 (79) 71 (82) 75 (80) at NC level 2 or above National 70 (82) 72 (85) 80 (85)

p.28

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 29

p.28

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2000 29 27 56

p.29

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at Girls 25 15 24 NC level 4 and above Total 44 34 33

p.29

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 79 (60) 61 (58) 77 (70) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (70) 71 (69) 84 (78)

p.29

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Unfortunately during the time of the inspection the Teacher Assessment Key Stage 2 Results were unavailable.

p.29

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

p.29

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

No of pupils Fixed period Permanent Black – Caribbean heritage 0 Black – Caribbean heritage 1 0 Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0 Black – other 0 Black – other 0 0 Indian 31 Indian 1 0 Pakistani 5 Pakistani 0 0 Bangladeshi 3 Bangladeshi 0 0 Chinese 0 Chinese 0 0 White 346 White 5 3 Any other minority ethnic group 2 Other minority ethnic groups

p.29

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

This table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. This table gives the number of exclusions of pupils of compulsory school age, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 30

p.29

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 20 Financial year 1999-2000 Number of pupils per qualified teacher 20.9 Average class size 25 £ Total income 681412 Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total expenditure 643592 Total number of education support staff 10 Expenditure per pupil 1585 Total aggregate hours worked per week 156 Balance brought forward from previous year Balance carried forward to next year Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 31

p.30

Percentage of responses in each category

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child likes school. 48.0 44.0 7.0 1.0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 55.0 36.0 5.0 0 4.0

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 30.0 50.0 14.0 5.0 1.0

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 39.0 54.0 6.0 1.0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The teaching is good. 46.0 46.0 2.0 2.0 4.0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 46.0 45.0 9.0 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 53.0 40.0 4.0 2.0 1.0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 61.0 34.0 1.0 1.0 2.0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 29.0 56.0 9.0 1.0 4.0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 30.0 51.0 6.0 5.0 8.0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 37.0 51.0 5.0 5.0 2.0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 19.0 39.0 19.0 4.0 20.0 Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 32

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

87 Reception is a strength of the school. Children are admitted to Reception in the first half term of the year in which they become five years old. At the time of the inspection there were 42 full time children. Very good progress has been made since the previous inspection report, especially in planning and assessment for Foundation Stage pupils.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

88 Provision in the Foundation Stage is very good, with children taking part in a wide range of activities. It is a bright and stimulating unit and has areas where all the children can be creative, work with others, play within groups or look at books. The curriculum is well structured to ensure full coverage of each area of learning.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

89 The overall quality of teaching in the Foundation Stage is very good. There is very good planned learning for the children to spend time with teachers and support staff. All staff work very well together to create a safe and stimulating environment. Effective learning takes place and children are assessed regularly. Outcomes from assessment are used very well to identify individual needs and to inform planning. Learning resources are good in the six areas of learning. They are well organised and easily accessible to adults and children. By the time the children leave Reception, a significant minority of the children achieve the early learning goals in communication, language and literacy, creative development, and knowledge and understanding of the world. Most children achieve the goals in mathematics, physical and personal, social and emotional areas of learning. Children with special educational needs, and

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

children with English as an additional language are supported very well, which greatly enhances their learning. All children including those with SEN and EAL make good progress throughout the Foundation Stage. Very positive links with parents are in place and there is regular daily contact, which helps to promote the very good relationships that exist between parents, staff and children.

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Personal, social and emotional development

90 Children’s personal, social and emotional development in Reception is given high priority to very good effect. The children enter Reception with below average social skills and quickly gain in confidence through the structured routines and the play programme. They make good progress and most are on target to meet the early learning goals by the age of five. Behaviour and attitudes are very good and children respond very well to instructions. They take turns to speak in discussions and use equipment sensibly. They are confident and form good relationships with adults and one another. They take opportunities to use their initiative and work independently. For example, they mix and paint colour independently during creative work and test shapes to make ‘rolling’ and ‘sliding’ sets before recording them on a graph. They develop very good work habits such as tidying away or lining up quietly. Co-

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Personal, social and emotional development

operative play is good as a result of the high quality of staff support. Children begin to concentrate for longer periods of time, maintaining good progress throughout. Particularly good is the social training during milk and food time. Children Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 33 concentrate and preserver in their learning, and they seek help when required. All the staff have very high expectations of children’s behaviour and they respond well. They quickly learn what is right and what is wrong, and why they should behave in a certain way. Most pupils can dress and undress independently.

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Communication, language and literacy

91 The quality of teaching and learning in this area is very good and this helps children to continue to make good progress in language and literacy. Children enter the Reception with below average language and literacy skills and a significant minority of them are on target to achieve the early learning goals by the age of five. Their skills are developed well through literacy work. The main activities of the work are planned very well by the teachers and support staff and this has a good impact on learning. They have very high expectations of children’s attainments and behaviour and maintain a brisk pace, which holds their interest well. Staff make very good use of questions to encourage a response, for example ‘what sort of cakes can we see on the table?’ Children are keen to respond and listen well to each other. They enjoy listening to stories such as The Three Bears and are using letter sounds to identify

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Communication, language and literacy

simple words. They understand how books are organised and enjoy looking at them. They are beginning to understand that print conveys meaning, and books are taken home regularly to share with parents. Most children recognise and write their own names. Good use is made of name cards and children are given valuable opportunities to practise writing. A significant minority of children form their letters correctly and write underneath their teacher’s writing. All children enjoy dressing up and acting out roles in the café area.

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Mathematical development

92 Some children enter Reception unable to count, but they make good progress and by the age of five most are on target to achieve the early learning goals. Most count up to ten and recognise shapes such as triangles, squares, circles, cones, hexagons and cylinders. Some Reception children write and sequence numbers to ten accurately. By the age of five they can match, sort and organise sets of objects in a variety of ways. They can predict which shapes roll and which shapes slide and record this on a chart. Higher attaining children understand simple addition with numbers. Most children use mathematical language well, for example bigger and smaller and more or less . The quality of teaching is very good. Teachers have very secure subject knowledge and understanding and set appropriate and challenging targets for the children.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

93 Provision and teaching for the children to develop knowledge and understanding of the world around them are very good. This helps children’s learning and they make good progress. A significant minority are on target to meet the early learning goals by the age of five. Children in Reception have been making observations about the local environment and talk about what they saw in the local park and what the weather was like. The teachers build well on the children’s natural curiosity of the world. They are supported very well as they design and make objects or make and taste cakes. Good Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 34 use is made of ICT to support children’s learning.

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Physical development

94 Children of all abilities make good progress and by the time they reach their fifth birthday most reach the early learning goals for the age group. Teaching is very good and activities are thoughtfully planned to systematically develop children’s skills. They practise physical skills such as climbing and balancing. They show an increasing awareness of space, move confidently and are well co-ordinated. They make effective and safe use of large and small equipment, and have a good awareness of health and safety issues. Their writing and glueing skills are developed well and they handle glue, pencils, scissors and paintbrushes successfully.

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Creative development

95 Children make good progress overall and a significant minority attain the early learning goals by the age of five. Teaching is very good because activities are well planned and appropriate to the children’s stage of learning. They learn about colour, pattern and texture. They enjoy expressing their own ideas in painting and have completed very good self-portraits. They know how to hold a paintbrush correctly and most control paint to ensure that it does not drip. Their imagination is developed well in the areas of story telling and imaginative play. They respond well to music, and sing songs to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. They learn how to handle simple percussion instruments correctly in music lessons. They create a good range of models. Children in reception have many opportunities to express their own ideas and communicate their feelings through role-play, for example when enacting

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ENGLISH

96 The previous inspection found that standards of attainment in reading, writing and spelling were in line with national expectation but speaking and listening and handwriting were below for pupils at the age of seven. Standards were well below the average at the time the pupils were eleven, in particular, the basic skills of reading and writing at Key Stage 2 were unsatisfactory. Improving standards in English was a key issue for action. Good progress was made and this was reflected in the scores obtained in the following year’s tests. Since then there has been steady progress.

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ENGLISH

97 At the end of Key Stage 2, standards in the 2000 national tests were close to the national average, and in comparison with similar schools, standards were above those expected for pupils of this age. At the age of seven, standards in the 2000 national tests were below the national average in reading and close to the national average in writing. The school’s performance in comparison with similar schools in reading was close to the average and in writing was above average. Over the previous four years from 1996 to 2000 there has been an increase in standards. These results show that in some areas the school has made considerable progress. At the time of the inspection, attainment by the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 was well below the national average.

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ENGLISH

98 Based on the inspection findings, overall, standards of literacy at the end of both key Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 35 stages are well below that expected of pupils of this age. The school’s present Year 6 prediction is below the target set, due to the number of children with special educational needs, and a significant number of pupils entering the school since Year 3 with very low levels of attainment. There has been considerable analysis of data by the school to track the progress of these pupils across the school. This clearly shows how low standards have been in this cohort and in the present Year 2 classes.

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ENGLISH

99 When children start school their attainment on entry has been deemed below average in relation to their language development. Pupils make good progress in writing and in reading, being helped considerably with the Letterland reading programme, which helps pupils to develop their recognition of the letters of the alphabet. In Year 2, writing and reading are below average, in Year 3 writing is below average and pupils are struggling with punctuation, in Years 4 and 5 there are some good examples of writing, in Year 4, reading is good, in Year 5, pupils’ reading is just satisfactory. Writing and reading in Year 6 is well below average for a significant number of pupils. In order to raise the standards of attainment, the school decided to continue with the previous support and also give substantial new support to these pupils. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and for those whom English is

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ENGLISH

not their home language, are supported well, and this is helping their learning to be more productive. The school is beginning an intensive revision programme using past papers and Department of Education and Employment guidelines in the streamed lessons, the remaining literacy lessons and booster classes to teach exam techniques and focus on certain questions in reading and writing different types of non-fiction writing. The school is hoping that this intensive strategy will help to raise standards in the 2001 national tests. There is evidence that good progress is being made in Year 6.

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ENGLISH

100 The school has implemented the National Literacy Strategy successfully throughout the school. The focus on teaching basic skills and the emphasis on guided reading and shared texts work is contributing effectively to improvement in spelling but is not having the same impact on reading. Teachers plan to the Literacy Hour as set out in the national literacy guidelines, but for some pupils this is inappropriate as they lack concentration, and some are too immature to work on their own for any length of time. This is having a negative impact on standards. The quality of planning has improved significantly throughout the school since the previous inspection. There is now an extra planned extended writing lesson for pupils once a week, to continue to improve the standards in writing.

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ENGLISH

101 Writing in some year groups is below average, but in Years 4 and 5 writing is much improved. In some years writing lacks spark and imagination. Younger pupils experiment with early writing skills, develop greater control over letter shape and size, and are beginning to spell everyday words. Where white boards are used they are used effectively to aid learning. In Year 2, pupils are beginning to understand alphabetical order through dictionary work, and make compound words. In Year 4, pupils are using adjectives, they are beginning to use their imagination and experiment with words, for example, ‘A shell is like a spaceship hovering in the sky’, ‘A fir cone like a crocodile’s head’. Using play scripts, pupils have written good interpretations of familiar stories. They use expressive and descriptive language in science-fiction writing. Writing in Year 5 is good. Pupils understand literal and figurative language

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ENGLISH

Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 36 and investigate metaphorical expressions, similes and figures of speech from everyday life. They write: ‘The moon is a ghost sitting in a dark corner of a haunted house’, ‘The moon is like a football in the clear night sky’, ‘The sun was as hot as pepper on a hot curry’, ‘The wind was like a big bag of feathers swirling through the air’. These pupils have also written good reviews of favourite myths, fables and legends, and written good new versions of old stories, for example, Hyacinthus, The Stone Cutter and Valiant Victor in the style of Marcia Williams. During the week of the inspection the work on discussion texts in Year 6 helped pupils to make good progress through considering issues related to bedtime, Pokemon cards, school uniform and smoking. The special educational needs pupils in Year 6 have produced a book of writing based on Wellington Square, a published reading scheme. There is good support for these

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ENGLISH

102 Reading is below the national average by the time the pupils are seven years of age and still below by the age of eleven. This is mainly due to the high numbers of pupils of lower ability or with special educational needs in these classes. Pupils with difficulties in reading are well supported individually and achieve well. Pupils in Year 1 have knowledge of the alphabet and can recognise familiar words in simple texts, however, pupils in Year 2 are still having a great deal of difficulty with the alphabet and often guess at words, mixing them up, for example, the/this, they/then, go/get, give/gave. Pupils in Year 4 are more self-motivated, enjoy reading and are reading some demanding texts. Pupils in Years 3 and 5 read the words but do not respond well to texts. Pupils in Year 6 are not self motivated, and there is little evidence of the older pupils showing their understanding of significant ideas, themes,

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ENGLISH

events and characters or using inference or deduction. During the inspection week there was little evidence of pupils reading aloud with confidence, clarity and good expression.

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ENGLISH

103 Pupils do take books home and parents are encouraged to listen to their children reading but pupils’ response to reading at home is varied. The knowledge of fiction and non-fiction texts has been extended using the National Literacy Strategy but the pupils’ understanding of these is limited. Few pupils can recall a favourite author or illustrator and although J.K. Rowling and Roald Dahl are popular, pupils are generally unable to say why, or talk about their work in depth. The use of non-fiction books for independent research is under-developed. Discussion with pupils show a lack of understanding about the Children’s Britannica and how to access information.

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ENGLISH

104 The school now has a very good library co-ordinator in charge of the two libraries, and very good book resources. Library skills are now being taught to all classes, book fairs are held, a book club is run and the pupils meet visiting authors. All of which should have a significant impact on learning and raise standards in reading further.

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ENGLISH

105 Standards in listening and speaking skills are still unsatisfactory. There was little evidence during the inspection of pupils debating and discussing, and in discussion with pupils they were reluctant to put forward their own points of view. Opportunities for speaking and listening at the end of lessons are often spoiled because lessons are too long and pupils are unable to sustain concentration for long periods of time. As a result, the teacher tends to take over and give the feedback to the class rather than allow the pupils to do so. Teachers who guide learning sensitively, encourage the use Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 37 of Standard English.

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ENGLISH

106 Handwriting varies across the school. In Year 6, handwriting is average. A number of pupils have failed to acquire a neat, legible and fluent handwriting style and some write with poorly formed and unevenly sized letters. The work in some books shows that teachers accept unsatisfactory handwriting at times. There are still inconsistencies in the way in which handwriting is taught. Standards in spelling are sound across the school. In each class there is a good emphasis on the context in which words might be used.

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ENGLISH

107 There is very little evidence of English being developed successfully through links with other subjects, other than in history where pupils in all year groups do some relevant writing. and in ICT, where English is developed successfully. Year 1 pupils use different programs, for example, Amazing Dictionary , and Pooh Bear’s Birthday Party to develop their mouse skills, as well as an opportunity for reading, speaking and listening. Year 3 pupils use Talking First Words to select opposites of adjectives and Year 4 use a program, Patterns in Poetry , to help them to understand and identify different patterns of rhyme and verse. Pupils investigate limericks and enjoy listening to Bruce the Poacher and There was an Old Man with a Beard. The program helps them learn and use the rhyming patterns AABBA.

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ENGLISH

108 The quality of teaching and learning in the 19 lessons observed was satisfactory overall. In Year 5 it was consistently very good. In Years 2 and 3 it was satisfactory, in Year 4 teaching was mainly very good. On one occasion it was unsatisfactory where a minority of pupils lost interest in their activity and behaviour was unsatisfactory and impeded learning. In Years 1 and 6 teaching was mainly good. The National Literacy Strategy has improved teacher's subject knowledge and in nearly every case the first part of the lesson is good. During the group activities, pupils are provided with activities in an appropriate sequence. However, in some classes pupils are too immature to work on their own for a sustained length of time, and their attention wanders and in other classes some pupils finish quickly and waste time because there is no extension work for them. Some teachers ensure learning is

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ENGLISH

made explicit and shared, however, at times the whole class is not settled and focussed.

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ENGLISH

109 Little use is made of day to day assessments to inform future planning, resulting in tasks being set which cover the planning but do not meet the needs of all pupils. This is not having a positive impact on learning. There is little evidence of teachers throughout the school helping pupils to develop their individual research skills.

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ENGLISH

110 The co-ordinator and deputy headteacher are very hard working and committed. Through the analysis of performance data, the school has identified writing as an area where improvement is needed. The school has spent time analysing the answers to questions in statutory tests and identifying pupils rate of progress. As a result, practice is inconsistent and lacks the rigour that a whole school approach would provide. The co-ordinator has begun to monitor the effectiveness of teaching, planning and learning throughout the school in partnership with the deputy headteacher and governor responsible for literacy. There is a shared commitment to the improvement of the subject. Marking of pupils’ work varies. The best examples identify why the work is good or not, and indicates how it can be improved. Too Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 38 often, however, marking is limited to ticks with corrections shown, but there is little

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ENGLISH

evidence of pupils correcting and learning from their mistakes. Resources acquired to promote the introduction of the literacy hour are of good quality and have been carefully chosen.

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MATHEMATICS

111 Since the last inspection in 1996, standards have gradually improved broadly in line with national trends. However, the results of the national tests at the end of 2000 show that standards at the end of Key Stage 1 were below what is expected nationally when compared with all schools, but in line with standards shared by schools of a similar type. Inspection evidence indicates that standards are well below national averages by the age of seven. Many pupils, including higher achievers, make only satisfactory progress, with few predicted to reach the expected Level 3.

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MATHEMATICS

112 Again in 2000, standards by the age of eleven were well below when compared with all schools, and those of a similar type. After talking to pupils at the age of eleven, observing their lessons, and scrutinising their previous work, inspection evidence indicates that standards remain low in 2001 and reverse the upward trend for one year. This does not reflect the good progress made in teaching and learning but is mainly due to a large percentage of pupils with special educational needs in Year 6. This also does not reflect that a significant group is expected to attain the higher Level 5. Attainment and progress in other Key Stage 2 classes continue to improve. This is particularly so in Year 5, where good teaching and learning indicates attainment that is in line with what is expected. Pupils with special educational needs make at least satisfactory progress, as do most pupils for whom English is an additional language.

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MATHEMATICS

Many of these pupils make good progress. By the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 the standards of numeracy are below average.

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MATHEMATICS

113 A significant factor in the overall improvement in standards and progress has resulted from a dedicated team of teaching and non-teaching staff responding consistently to improve attitudes to learning and standards of behaviour. The previous full inspection found attitudes to learning and behaviour at the best sound in Key Stage 1, and in Key Stage 2 mostly unsatisfactory, with behaviour ‘ unruly and disruptive’ . As a result of a combined effort by all teaching and non-teaching staff, attitudes and behaviour have been transformed in mathematics and are at least good. Although some pupils still display challenging behaviour, they are responded to consistently well using the assertive discipline policy. In Years 5 and 6, pupils respond enthusiastically to the challenges provided by their teachers; relationships are very good; pupils enjoy the company of each other and often collaborate very well to solve problems. When their

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MATHEMATICS

contributions are valued, their confidence grows and they are keen and eager to contribute in lessons. Pupils with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language make good progress in Key Stage 2. This was evident in the Year 5 Springboard activity in which lower achieving pupils were targeted to receive additional support in mathematics. In this activity the response of pupils was exceptional. Their enthusiasm was evident, as was the excitement, which resulted from their successes.

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MATHEMATICS

114 The quality of teaching in mathematics has improved significantly since the last Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 39 inspection, with no unsatisfactory teaching observed, resulting in an improvement in the quality of learning and the standards being achieved. One in four lessons was good in Key Stage 1, with all teaching in Key Stage 2 being good or better. Three out of every four lessons were very good.

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MATHEMATICS

115 Where teaching was only satisfactory, the pace of lessons was steady and pupils were over-directed to ensure that all had made gains in knowledge and understanding. This dampened the enthusiasm of the highest attainers and restricted their natural instincts to investigate and explore number, shape and measures. Where teaching was good or better there was good pace and time was used effectively; pupils were actively involved and reminded regularly of their learning objectives. Where teachers’ subject knowledge was very good and they create some urgency to the quality of learning, their enthusiasm was reflected in the eagerness of pupils. Teachers of older pupils in Key Stage 2 provided very good role models for their pupils. They questioned them very well, constantly checked their knowledge and challenged their understanding.

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MATHEMATICS

116 Since the effective implementation of the National Numeracy Strategy in 1999, and the grouping of some pupils according to ability, there has been a sharper focus and pace to all lessons. Teachers have concentrated more closely on the teaching of mathematical skills and creating practical opportunities for pupils to use their skills, knowledge and understanding by using a variety of teaching methods. This strategy has produced good standards in Year 5, with pupils choosing the most appropriate ways to solve their problems.

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MATHEMATICS

117 The introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy has given more balance and breadth to the teaching of mathematics, and all pupils are provided with the full range of mathematical experiences. There is evidence that some pupils, especially the lower attainers, are finding the rigours of the National Numeracy Strategy over demanding. It might be appropriate to review the methods used to teach these pupils to ensure that they are actively involved in investigations rather than being expected to listen for extended periods. Evidence from the inspection indicates that pupils make more progress when they are actively involved in their own learning.

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MATHEMATICS

118 Testing of what pupils understand and can do is both frequent and regular and there are detailed records of gains in skills and knowledge. Information is used well to determine how staffing is to be deployed to meet the need of ability groups. Group targets, which are shared with parents, are set and amended on a termly basis. This very good tracking of pupils’ achievement is not, however, always used by teachers to move them on at a faster pace. The best progress is made when activities are consistently challenging and pupils spend the least possible time practising skills already gained. Staff are used appropriately to support targeted groups of pupils, particularly to provide good learning experiences for lower attaining pupils.

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MATHEMATICS

119 By the end of Key Stage 1, most pupils are developing a satisfactory knowledge of number, space, shape and measures. Many measure accurately in centimetres; recognise o’clock, quarter and half past , name two-dimensional shapes and three- dimensional objects and understand simple fractions such as quarters and halves . Pupils are familiar with bar charts and pictograms and record information such as eye colours, and likes and dislikes. They then interpret the information and can explain, for example, which eye colour is the most/least common. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 40 120 By the end of Year 6, pupils are confident when discussing their activities. They have satisfactory mental and oral skills and many have a good grasp of multiplication. They round numbers to 100 and 1000, understand negative and positive numbers when exploring temperatures, and use co-ordinates to determine position. Higher

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MATHEMATICS

achievers calculate scales, measure and calculate angles accurately and have a satisfactory understanding of perimeter and area. Progress is steady for younger pupils and increases in Years 5 and 6.

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MATHEMATICS

121 Skills are built upon progressively, for example, an understanding of halves and quarters in Year 1 is extended to an understanding of the comparison of fractions in Years 3 and 4 and then extended for higher attaining pupils in Year 6 to use ratio and percentages to work out VAT on purchases.

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MATHEMATICS

122 The ICT suite is used well to develop communication and recording skills. Data is stored and retrieved by pupils of all ages, and computers in the classroom are used appropriately for pupils to practise number skills to enhance learning. Numeracy is used satisfactorily across the curriculum with time lines used in history; co-ordinates, scales and compass bearings in geography; and recording investigations in science with line graphs used in Year 6 to interpret forces. The development of speaking and listening skills is good towards the end of Key Stage 2, where pupils are encouraged to discuss their activities. Pupils in other classes are capable of explaining and discussing their work but opportunities are limited for them to do so.

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MATHEMATICS

123 The subject co-ordinator has made a positive impact on the development of mathematics. She has assisted in the effective introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy, arranged courses for her colleagues and planned for many to attend three and five day courses arranged by the local education authority to improve subject knowledge and make learning opportunities more exciting. Resources have been improved and the strategy of monitoring teaching and learning and then sharing good practice has raised expectations, especially in Key Stage 2. She checks planning; analyses performance in national and other tests, and then uses this information to target weaknesses. Added consistency in planning, the use of more varied teaching strategies, and a shared vision for improvement has contributed to the raising of standards. Support for teachers new to the school is good. The co-ordinator is aware of the need to continue to raise standards; and the need for reflection on the

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MATHEMATICS

organisation of mathematics groups to challenge higher attaining pupils in both key stages.

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SCIENCE

124 Results of the National Curriculum teacher assessments for 2000 show that pupils’ attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 was well below the national average and well below that of similar schools. No pupils exceeded the expected Level 2 in 2000. The end of Key Stage 2 test results for 2000 show that standards were well below the national average and below the average of similar schools. The trend in Key Stage 2 results since the previous inspection is of steady improvement from year to year. There is no significant difference in the performance of boys and girls.

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SCIENCE

125 By the end of Key Stage 1 pupils’ attainment is below average and by the end of Key Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 41 Stage 2 pupils’ attainment is well below average. Attainment is lower by the end of both key stages because of the significantly high number of pupils with special educational needs in these year groups, in this academic year. Work from throughout this academic year, and that seen in lessons, indicates that attainment at the end of both key stages in 2001 will be lower than in 2000 but will then be significantly better in subsequent years. Science in Years 1, 3, 4, and 5 is in line with national expectations.

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SCIENCE

126 The main improvement in science since the previous inspection has been in the improvement in the quality of teaching, in particular with teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the subject and the quality of planning which is beginning to raise standards. The quality of the work owes much to the rigorous implementation of nationally recommended schemes of work from the beginning of this academic year, and to the priority given to ensuring that all pupils experience a good range of investigative science. The curriculum is further enhanced by the use of educational visits, including to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

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SCIENCE

127 Pupils can describe well the investigations they have carried out, although their ability to talk about the scientific ideas that were being developed is limited. Pupils’ use of language in Key Stage 2 to describe what they are observing as they carry out investigations is below the level that would be expected.

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SCIENCE

128 In Key Stage 1, some pupils in Year 1 demonstrate a good ability to talk about the characteristics of seeds, seedlings and plants, using a good range of technical language appropriately. In one lesson observed they talk in great detail about different seeds as they are preparing to plant them. Year 2 pupils have developed a sound understanding of different materials through investigations that included bending, twisting, squashing, and then sorting by the properties observed.

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SCIENCE

129 In Key Stage 2, there is a good range of evidence that in Years 3, 4, and 5 the attainment of pupils is meeting the expectations of the units of work that they are studying. Year 3 end of unit assessments relating to teeth and eating , magnets and springs , and characteristics of materials , all showed a large majority of pupils achieving the expected standards. In a Year 3 lesson pupils demonstrated a good understanding when they discussed their observations of light and shadow in pairs, prior to answering the teacher’s precise questions. Thorough reporting by pupils of their investigations into thermal insulation in Year 4 shows they are developing good scientific skills and an understanding of the importance of a fair test. In these year groups there is little evidence of higher ability pupils working at a higher level than that which is anticipated for all pupils.

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SCIENCE

130 In Year 5, where a wide range of investigations have been undertaken, examples of very good writing are seen where pupils decide how best to record their results, and opportunities for pupils to work to the limits of their abilities are more evident. In this year group, the lesson seen had many strengths, and pupils showed a more sophisticated understanding of how to conduct the investigation that they were undertaking into plant growth, and what results might be predicted.

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SCIENCE

131 In Year 6, the proportion of pupils whose work indicates that they are working at an appropriate level is significantly less than in other year groups. Written explanations Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 42 are often limited in length and restricted by a highly prescribed structure. In the lesson observed the behaviour of a small minority of pupils has a detrimental effect on those who wish to demonstrate their prior learning and participate fully in the lesson. The knowledge and understanding of all pupils is strongly influenced by the pace of the lesson, which is largely determined by the behaviour of this small minority.

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SCIENCE

132 The quality of teaching overall is satisfactory. In Key Stage 1 it is good, and in Key Stage 2 it is satisfactory. A significant amount of teaching in both key stages is very good. Teaching is particularly effective in Years 1, 3, and 5, where a high proportion of the teaching is very good.

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SCIENCE

133 The teachers have a clear understanding of what they want the pupils to learn in each lesson, and this outcome is usually shared with them. Good use is made of whole class teaching in lesson introductions; demonstrations and explanations are well supported by appropriate resources and are presented proficiently. The use of ICT and the attention teachers give to opportunities for developing numeracy skills are also significant strengths. Teachers follow closely the requirements of the National Curriculum and work is pitched at an appropriate level for the majority of pupils. Homework is not being used in any systematic way to improve the scientific attainment of pupils.

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SCIENCE

134 Pupils make particularly good progress in those lessons where the teacher’s questioning of pupils is skillful – establishing what pupils know already and building upon this through carefully focussed questions, including those that promote further responses that give insights into the learning that is taking place. Very effective teaching was seen where close observation was combined with guided discussion. Learning was limited in those lessons where it is unclear how the activity contributes to scientific understanding.

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SCIENCE

135 The subject knowledge demonstrated through the teaching is generally sound, and teachers research the topics being taught well, however some examples were seen where insecure subject knowledge had a slight impact upon the effectiveness of how pupils were taught. The use of subject specialist teaching with some year groups is an efficient use of resources and ensures that pupils receive a scientific education of a consistent standard.

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SCIENCE

136 The examples seen of the use of ICT as a tool for learning in the science curriculum are good. Information and communication technology is used for supporting the collection and analysis of data in Key Stage 1, and for the monitoring of environmental conditions in Key Stage 2.

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SCIENCE

137 The use of effective day-to-day assessment to monitor progress and improve standards is evident in a minority of classes. In these classes the gains in knowledge and understanding of pupils are used well to modify the curriculum, and enhance the learning opportunities. Pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress in relation to their prior attainment.

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SCIENCE

138 The leadership and management of the co-ordinator is good. The new scheme of work has been implemented within a short time-scale, and has been supported with new resources and by training. Monitoring of the impact of teaching is systematic, Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 43 and provides information on the best practice that can be shared. The subject leader has identified the further development of assessment procedures, recording of pupils’ progress, and the use of ongoing assessment as a priority, and inspection evidence endorses this judgement.

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SCIENCE

139 In Key Stage 1, the practice of withdrawing pupils from science lessons in order to develop their handwriting and literacy skills is inappropriate, as access to the full curriculum is an important entitlement for all pupils.

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ART AND DESIGN

140 The attainment of seven year olds is in line with that expected for their age. This is especially the case for painting. The attainment of eleven year olds is good and above that expected for their age, especially for drawing. Since the previous inspection, standards have been maintained at Key Stage 1, but have improved at Key Stage 2 from being below expectations for their age. This improvement is due to good teaching and effective monitoring by the co-ordinator. Teachers’ increased knowledge and use of appropriate skills, and techniques are having a positive impact on pupils’ learning. Teacher’s expectations of pupils’ ability in art and design have improved significantly. Planning is good and ensures continuity and progression in pupils’ understanding and skills across the key stages.

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ART AND DESIGN

141 The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory in Key Stage 1 and good in Key Stage 2. Lessons are well planned with clearly identified learning objectives. Teachers have good subject knowledge and they intervene appropriately to help pupil’s improve their work. Good use is made of sketchbooks in Year 2 and throughout Key Stage 2. They illustrate how pupils make good progress in their skills and understanding.

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ART AND DESIGN

142 In Key Stage 1, the pupils use paint and drawing materials to make attractive pictures of places that Barnaby Bear has visited. Good links are made with work in history and geography. Key Stage 1 pupils are good at mixing their colours to achieve a special tone or shade. They use these skills effectively in their paintings of themselves, improving their standard and quality. Year 1 pupils learn how to join materials together, and teachers extend their skills of weaving and plaiting.

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ART AND DESIGN

143 In Key Stage 2, the good standard of work on display reflects the wider range of experiences offered to the pupils. Year 5 pupils offer their interpretation of Irises by Van Gogh in an effective wall hanging. By Year 6 pupils have become skilful at experimenting with pastels and blending colours to produce the desired effect in their work. Likewise, testing pressure in printing activities shows how new skills are being learned. In their work with clay they have the chance to use previous knowledge and skills in their clay work. The quality of teaching and learning is good throughout the key stage and the good modelling skills of the teachers enables pupils to draw figures in the correct proportions. Pupils with special educational needs and those for whom English is not the home language make satisfactory progress at Key Stage 1 and good progress at Key Stage 2.

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ART AND DESIGN

144 There has been a great improvement in pupils’ behaviour and attitudes at Key Stage 2 since the time of the last inspection. Their attitudes and behaviour are good Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 44 throughout the school. Pupils listen carefully to the teachers’ explanations and enjoy practising their painting and sketching skills. Art and design makes a good contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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ART AND DESIGN

145 The co-ordinator leads the subject well and monitors teachers’ planning and teaching effectively. There is a good use of assessment to inform planning. The resources are good and provide a wide range of opportunities for the children to explore media. The use of ICT to support learning is satisfactory across the key stages.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

146 Standards in design and technology are broadly in line with those expected of pupils at the ages of both seven and eleven. Satisfactory progress in learning takes place throughout the school. This includes pupils with special educational needs and also those with English as an additional language. This shows good improvement since the previous inspection when standards in Key Stage 2 were found to be unsatisfactory. The good improvement is due to clear, educational direction provided by the subject co-ordinator and an improvement in planning.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

147 Although only one lesson was seen during the inspection, it is clear from the range of work seen that teachers have secure subject knowledge and high expectations of the pupils. Pupils are taught the complete designing and making process through planning, careful construction and evaluation of what they have achieved and how to improve.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

148 Satisfactory progress is made throughout Key Stage 1. Pupils in Year 1 produce some very neat examples of joining materials by plaiting and weaving. In a Year 2 lesson, some pupils draw around templates and cut out the component parts for Joseph’s coat. They concentrate very hard and take extreme care with the tasks. The teacher is very thorough to ensure that pupils know how to work carefully, but this results in a rather slow pace to the lesson and insufficient opportunity for all pupils to practise their skills. The pupils are remarkably patient and well-behaved whilst watching and listening for a long time.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

149 Pupils in Key Stage 2 develop a range of skills, which prepares them to construct items relating to other subjects of the curriculum. Year 3 pupils produce and display some high-quality papier-mâché masks reflecting sad or happy moods. In their literacy lessons they produce booklets, which record the whole process. Their masks are evaluated on sheets prepared according to their level of writing skills. The pupils’ work is very well supported by a display of masks related to other cultures and to fairy tales. The whole display illustrates the high standards set by the teachers, which pupils are expected and strive to follow.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

150 The teachers guide pupils’ thinking by presenting commercial items for them to observe and investigate. A display of purses and bags in Year 4, with pointers to look at the different materials and fastenings, helps pupils to think of ideas for their money containers. Similarly, Year 6 pupils investigate gloves for different purposes before producing their own. On occasions pupils use computers, as in some Year 5 designs for an adventure playground. Learning in science is reinforced when pupils examine Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 45 materials and the workings of torches. Opportunities are made for pupils to work together on tasks. Year 3 pupils show great pride in their well-produced large-scale monsters with moveable parts, recorded on video.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

151 The curriculum provides for a range of experiences although examples seen show some limitation in the range of materials used. The quality of the products made is generally good, although sewing skills are not. There is no formal assessment in place, with skills development not monitored so that even better progress may be made. The pupils clearly enjoy the subject and take great pride in their work.

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GEOGRAPHY

152 Only one geography lesson was observed during the course of the inspection. Judgements therefore are largely based upon an analysis of previous work, displays, and discussions with staff and pupils. These indicate that standards are in line with national expectations at the end of each key stage, and that within each key stage some year groups produce work of a standard that is good in relation to pupils’ ages.

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GEOGRAPHY

153 In Key Stage 1, pupils have a good geographical knowledge of their immediate environment and local area. This has been built up through street-work involving the use of visits, local maps, photographs of features, and aerial photographs. The pupils have produced their own field sketches and route plans. The outcome of a recent lesson in Year 1 showed how pupils demonstrated good knowledge of the occupations of people within the area. Further appropriate work is intended to enable pupils to understand in depth some characteristics of employment and land use. Very attractive and stimulating displays give pupils a pride in their work and encourage them to follow the worldwide adventures of their Barnaby Bear. Knowledge is built up of distant localities and countries, and the cultural diversity of peoples both locally and internationally is celebrated. Key Stage 1 pupils have been introduced to a wide

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GEOGRAPHY

variety of maps of different scales and to the uses that can be made of these.

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GEOGRAPHY

154 In a Year 4 lesson, pupils were building upon the sound research skills they had developed in previous lessons through the use of a visitor guidebook. By the use of role-play and questionnaire design they were preparing for a visit to Lichfield. With the support of the teacher, pupils refine and develop their ideas, achieving outcomes of a good standard. The standards of work in Key Stage 2 are inconsistent and reflect, in part, the depth of study and level of challenge provided by the curriculum. A study of Chembokolli in Year 3, of the River Usk in Year 4, and an investigation of an environmental issue in Year 5 have all been undertaken in sufficient depth and have provided pupils with stimulating learning experiences. This has resulted in work of a good standard. However work in a display on scale is not pitched at an equivalent level and will not have led to the development of map skills appropriate to pupils of

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GEOGRAPHY

this age. By Year 6 pupils have a secure understanding that change has affected the lives and activities of people living in their local area. A strength of this subject is through the visits and the Year 5 field trip that are planned each year for the pupils to have first hand experience of the environment and contrasting places, for instance between Willenhall and Bryntysilio, Wales.

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GEOGRAPHY

155 The quality of teaching, evident through planning, discussion with staff, and by examining work is good in some classes in each key stage. Effective use is made of Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 46 the limited time available to teach geography. Teachers evaluate pupils’ progress effectively by gaining an overview of achievement, rather than through the use of any systematic assessment records.

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GEOGRAPHY

156 The geography co-ordinator is recently appointed to this role. She has established a good overview of the subject and produced a suitable analysis to ensure that there is breadth and balance in what is taught; resources have been updated, and medium term planning drawn up. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority scheme has been adopted and is being moulded to the needs of the school.

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HISTORY

157 It was not possible to see any history lessons during the course of this inspection in Years 1 and 2. Judgement for this key stage has been based on the scrutiny of the pupils’ work since September, and discussion with teachers and pupils.

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HISTORY

158 Standards are better now than they were at the last inspection. By the end of both key stages the pupils reach levels expected for their age. In some aspects of the Key Stage 2 curriculum, achievement is good. This is good improvement on the below average standards they achieved at Key Stage 2 at the time of the previous inspection. This better picture is largely due to improved planning which ensures a greater depth of understanding the knowledge of the periods studied, more confident teaching and greatly improved resources. Teaching seen was at least good, and at times excellent, showing the very good improvement from the unsatisfactory teaching seen in Key Stage 2 at the time of the last inspection.

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HISTORY

159 By the age of seven, the pupils have an understanding of some events and people of the past through their studies of the Gunpowder Plot, the Great Plague, Florence Nightingale, Marie Curie, and Alexander Graham Bell.

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HISTORY

160 Pupils in Year 3 show great enthusiasm in their first lesson about Ancient Egypt. Their interest has been sparked through the very good displays of pictures, books and artefacts in their classrooms, and the lunchtime supervisor who has been telling them about her visit to Egypt. This thirst for learning continues as they hear about the archaeologist Howard Carter and follow the well-read story of The Tomb of Tutankhamun. The very good work completed on Greek myths and legends in literacy sets the scene well for the opening lesson in Year 5 on the Ancient Greeks. A very good strategy using good historical language, a quick pace, relevant dates and events helps these pupils to recall previous learning and complete a time line from 2001AD- 2000BC. Well-planned activities consolidate this difficult concept of time, and is intended to help pupils to understand events and happenings in future lessons.

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HISTORY

161 Year 6 pupils have increased their understanding of different aspects of life in Roman times through a well-planned visit to Wroxeter. Pupils are challenged to think why the fort was built there and why people excavate sites today. Booklets prepared for the pupils to record their findings and use this information purposefully are filled in carefully after good questioning techniques recall the visit. An artist’s impression poster of ‘How a Roman villa fades from view,’ further helps their understanding of how things change over time. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 47 162 There is very good evidence in the pupils’ books of a ‘Town Trail’ created as part of the local history study unit. This helps pupils to begin to understand what life was like over the past 150 years in their area. They learn about a sewer gas lamp, the bull stake, an artisan cottage, and work shops. Pupils learn dates, for example, the town

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HISTORY

railway station 1837, Swan public house 1851, The Town Hall 1888 (built to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1893), the tram depot 1893, fire station 1896, police station 1899, and the Picturedrome 1911.

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HISTORY

163 The co-ordinator has a very clear understanding of her role and is in the process of reviewing the policy. She has undertaken monitoring and has identified areas for development. Although there has been good improvement in history there are still few opportunities to extend the pupils’ understanding through individual and collaborative research. Procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress and the use of day-to-day assessment, as yet, are still not in place.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

164 Standards in information and communication technology (ICT) are close to the national expectation by the end of each key stage. This is due to the very effective action taken to improve standards since the previous inspection. The emphasis on making full use of the now very good resources is providing for consistent, satisfactory progress throughout the school. This includes pupils with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language. However, there has been insufficient time for this to have influenced fully the standards of pupils currently at the end of Key Stage 2.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

165 In Key Stage 1, standards are broadly in line with those expected of pupils by the age of seven. This is the result of regular teaching of skills to small groups. Classroom assistants, who are very confident and competent in their role, carry this out. Pupils are being prepared with the basic skills necessary to support work in other areas of the curriculum. They use different tools to create pictures by spraying, or flood-filling geometric shapes. Pupils support their learning in literacy by recognising that text can be edited and punctuation amended. Pupils in Year 1 use programmable toys to develop basic understanding of control. By the age of seven, pupils can successfully access word processing programs to type work. They correctly save and print this work. Year 2 pupils learn to use the spacebar, the backspace and the return key to move to another line. They can word-process simple text, but their keyboard skills are

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

166 By the end of Key Stage 2 pupils are attaining below the national expectation but, throughout Key Stage 2, pupils are developing a secure range of skills. In Year 3 they combine text and graphics to produce Christmas cards. Year 4 pupils collect and present information on bar graphs and classify animals by using decision trees. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 enter data and formulae to create spreadsheets, later producing and comparing different types of graphs.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

167 The overall quality of teaching at both key stages is satisfactory. Full and effective use is made of the fine new ICT suite. It is used not only for groupwork but also for whole-class lessons in literacy and numeracy. In these lessons teachers are well supported by the classroom assistants. A Year 3 class worked in pairs to find Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 48 adjectives opposite in meaning. They were able to view alternatives, with correct spellings, and make choices. The pupils collaborated well. When sharing computers, most of them do so fairly, taking turns with the controls. Teachers have secure knowledge and prepare well so that they move the pupils forward in their learning. When pupils have problems the teachers resolve them quickly. On occasions the behaviour of a small number of pupils is unsatisfactory and teachers have to be firm, generally managing them effectively. Most pupils enjoy their opportunities and take

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

full advantage of their time on the computers. When Year 1 pupils explore different programs in order to develop their skills of control they are very excited about their discoveries when exploring the programs.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

168 There has been very good improvement since the previous inspection. The recently appointed subject co-ordinator has a firm grasp of his role. There is a well-planned curriculum involving progression in skills development. Very good planning provides for lessons to be based on real activities. Year 5 use a database to research information about the monarchs of England. Lessons in other subjects are based on or include the use of computers. In a Year 2 science lesson relating to health and growth, data is collected and presented on a graph. The teacher asks questions to see if the pupils can interpret this information. There is currently no formal assessment in the subject but the co-ordinator is aware that this is an urgent priority.

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MUSIC

169 Since the last inspection, standards have been maintained at the end of Key Stage 1 where attainment is in line with national expectations. Standards have improved since the last inspection at Key Stage 2 from below standards expected of eleven year olds to being in line with these. This is due to an improvement in teachers’ expertise and increased expectations of pupils’ performance. The quality of singing has improved throughout the school and there is a sharing of expertise in teaching singing in assemblies. The co-ordinator has a clear idea of what has to be done so that this subject can continue to improve.

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MUSIC

170 Key Stage 1 teachers have a secure subject knowledge and pupils are taught the skills they need to sing tunefully, compose and play a range of percussion instruments. By Year 2 pupils play a wide range of percussion instruments and through skilful teaching develop a satisfactory understanding of rhythm and tempo. Staff support the pupils well with their learning, especially pupils with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language. All pupils make satisfactory progress at both key stages. Teachers’ subject knowledge and understanding has improved at Key Stage 2 and they make suitable use of commercially produced tapes to support pupils’ learning. Pupils are taught to create music, improvise percussion parts and to evaluate their performances. By Year 6 pupils can identify brass, string and woodwind instruments, and in listening appraisal lessons they demonstrate a

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MUSIC

171 The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory at both key stages. Lessons are planned well and teachers refine and improve pupils’ skills before performance. Pupils have a good sense of rhythm and pitch and use these skills effectively in performances. The quality of planning is good throughout the school and is used well to support pupils’ learning. Teachers use correct musical terms in lessons and the Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 49 pupils quickly adopt these in their discussions. The use of ICT to support pupils learning is underdeveloped in Key Stage 2.

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MUSIC

172 Pupils enjoy singing and appreciate each other’s efforts. They gain positive enjoyment from their musical activities and are keen to be involved in lessons.

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MUSIC

173 The co-ordinator provides clear direction for the subject and there is effective monitoring of teaching and planning. The subject is making a valuable contribution to the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Skills are introduced appropriately, but as yet there are no formal systems in place to record the progress of the pupils.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

174 In the lessons observed standards were as expected for pupils at the age of seven and well above for pupils by the age of eleven. Pupils with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language are given the same opportunities as others and are fully involved in all activities. Swimming is given a high priority and is a strength of the school.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

175 Year 2 pupils responded enthusiastically to their gymnastic activities and as confidence built during the lessons the quality of their movement improved. In Year 5, pupils responded well when learning skills for short tennis. The sending and receiving of small balls improved notably during the lesson. They accepted the need for rules and appreciated that there was a need to collaborate effectively in order to keep the movement flowing. In Year 6, standards were well above those expected nationally for pupils of this age. Pupils, including those with special educational needs, made very good progress, especially in the quality and control of their limb extension.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

176 The standard of swimming is very good and above those standards expected nationally for pupils of these ages, with pupils being taught recognisable strokes at an early age. The standard of behaviour is exemplary in the learner pool. Safety is given the highest priority and pupils realise that they must listen at all times and respond positively. They are constantly challenged to improve in manageable ability groups, supported effectively by a qualified swimming teacher and further classroom support. By the age of eleven most pupils have reached the minimum requirements expected nationally, and a significant proportion have exceeded the water safety requirements.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

177 Teaching was satisfactory at Key Stage 1, but with pupils having long periods of inactivity whilst gymnastic apparatus was put out. When required, pupils carried mats safely and efficiently and were well behaved when practising their skills. In Key Stage 2, where teachers’ subject knowledge was very good, pupils’ confidence reflected that of their teachers. The overall quality of teaching at Key Stage 2 was very good with excellent teaching in swimming. Pupils undertook extended activity and the pace was vigorous. Pupils were challenged to work collaboratively to build up a sequence of movement detailed on a shape card and improvement was evident for all pupils. The very good level of relationships and care for the attitudes and values of others enabled pupils in Year 6 to comment on the quality of their own movement and evaluate the achievements of other others, resulting in refinement of

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 50 skills and techniques. This very good strategy to involve pupils in aspects of their own learning contributed significantly to the quality of learning in Key Stage 2.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

178 Although the weather at this time of the year curtailed many sporting activities, pupils were still involved in the Golden Goal football initiative opportunities and sailing at a local activity centre. Under normal circumstances many of the older pupils experience a good range of extra-curricular activities, including football for boys and girls.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

179 Inter-school activities provide opportunities for pupils to compete with considerable success in swimming, football and sailing. The decision to maintain outdoor activities through residential experience for Year 5 pupils and extended experiences at a local activity centre for pupils in Year 6, adds to the quality of opportunities available to extend physical and social skills.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

180 The leadership of the subject is good, with the co-ordinator updating curriculum guidelines to promote a good balance between the required gymnastic, dance, swimming and team building elements. He has monitored teaching and learning and shared good practice. Very good support is given to colleagues to improve the quality of learning experiences. Skills are introduced appropriately, although as yet there are no systems in place to record these gains in skills, understanding and knowledge, nor systems for using the information to raise standards. Resources are adequate for both indoor and outdoor use in both key stages. Gymnastic mats are ideal for younger pupils but are less suitable for the more rigorous demands and needs of older pupils.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

181 The standard of attainment at the age of eleven is in line with the expectations of the locally agreed syllabus. The pupils are able to recognise the differences between the places of worship used by faiths other than Christianity. They become more aware of religious symbols, including the five pillars of Islam and the 5Ks of Sikhism. They discuss pilgrimage in some depth, with evidence of pupils writing about their own special places, which could be their bedroom or a holiday destination. Pupils are given opportunity to write about their own beliefs and ideas of friendship, honesty and truth. For example, one pupil wrote: “I believe in truth because you don’t have friends if you tell lies.” A class of Year 4 pupils believed that one should help people, be kind to old people and believe in God/Jesus. By the end of Year 6, pupils have gained information about many of the world religions and are beginning to appreciate

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

182 Scrutiny of work shows that the pupils are often encouraged to write in their own words, express their own opinions and views. Some of the writing is sensitive and interesting. For example, Year 3 pupils were asked their views about Jesus: “Jesus is a bit bossy … he was kind, loves children and helps the poor”. They also thought that Jesus’ enemies might dislike him because of his popularity.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

183 By the age of seven, pupils are achieving just in line with the expectations of the locally agreed syllabus. The standard of written work does not truly reflect the pupils’ knowledge and understanding. There is little recorded evidence in their books, and where there is information it is nearly always copied, thus the pupils have no Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 51 opportunity to express their own thoughts and opinions. However, talking to pupils and observing lessons highlighted the fact that much of the work is taught through discussion and circle time where pupils sit in a ring and discuss a range of topics. They listen to and learn to respect the views of others. As a result, pupils are gaining appropriate understanding particularly of Christianity. They know about Jesus, his birth, and death at Easter, and can recall some of his parables. The Year 2 pupils have visited a Buddhist Temple and learnt some interesting facts about this religion. The

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

youngest classes in the key stage have visited the local church and know where the font is and its purpose. This was discussed briefly in a lesson observed during the inspection. They are made aware of that fact that there are different faiths represented within the school and show respect for them.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

184 Through talking to the pupils and through lesson observations, progress was found to be satisfactory in Key Stage 1. They begin to develop an understanding and appreciation of Christianity, other religions and the role of others within the community.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

185 In Key Stage 2, work scrutiny shows a deepening understanding of other world religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Sikhism, as the pupils explore aspects of these faiths and compare them.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

186 In Key Stage 1, pupils are interested in the subject and enjoy the practical experience of making pancakes. They are keen to join in a discussion about Christening and to share their thoughts with the class. They listen carefully and concentrate during the written task. However, they become a little restless when the pace of the lesson slows and too much time is given for the writing. As a consequence some lose interest in their work. During the one lesson seen in Key Stage 2, pupils worked with enjoyment and were keen to explain and share their ideas with others. They could explain the importance of Shrove Tuesday and relate it to Lent and the Christian calendar.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

187 The quality of teaching in Key Stage 1 is satisfactory overall with one good lesson observed. Teachers’ planning is appropriate and clear with assessment opportunities highlighted. Teachers’ knowledge is satisfactory for the level they are teaching. Effective use is made of questioning to extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Good use is made of resources: for making pancakes and artefacts relating to a Christening. By showing the Year 1 pupils the candle given to the baby at its Christening and showing a doll wearing the class teacher’s Christening robe, they begin to see how important Baptism is to a Christian. However, the pace of lessons varies: where the pace is a little slow pupils lose interest and become restless and learning is less effective. Much of the pupils’ work is copied and too few opportunities are given for them to express their own ideas and opinions. In the new scheme of work, the emphasis in Key Stage 1 is on discussion and practical activities

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

188 During the inspection only one lesson was observed in Key Stage 2 and this was a good lesson where pupils were given opportunities to see different Bibles, related to the theme of a previous assembly and to see how important the Bible was to Mary Jones. Because only one lesson was observed an overall judgement about the quality of teaching in this key stage cannot be made. Pinfold Street Junior Mixed and Infant School - 52 189 The subject is well managed by a knowledgeable and enthusiastic co-ordinator. Her role includes monitoring both the plans and the lessons. A recently devised scheme of work combining Qualification and Curriculum Authority documentation and the locally agreed syllabus has been introduced and is in the process of being evaluated for its success and to highlight any problems and weaknesses. The religious education syllabus is enhanced by visits to the local church and the Buddhist Temple.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

190 Since the last inspection planning for RE and the development of appropriate skills has improved, with the new scheme of work relating closely to both the locally agreed syllabus and the Qualification and Curriculum Authority documents. This was identified as a weakness in the last inspection report.

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