Leen Mills Primary School

5, Huntsmans Close, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield HD4 7BR

Tel 01484 667385 e.mail isisevasd@aol.com

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5, Huntsmans Close, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield HD4 7BR

Date of Issue 2.10.00 Name of School Leen Mills Primary School Hucknall Date of Inspection 13-17 March 2000

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5, Huntsmans Close, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield HD4 7BR

Addendum: This refers to the sentence in paragraph 3 line 2 which should read,

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5, Huntsmans Close, Beaumont Park, Huddersfield HD4 7BR

“In reading, standards were below national expectations but they are rising significantly and most pupils now read with fluency and accuracy for their age.”

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LEEN MILLS PRIMARY 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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LEEN MILLS PRIMARY 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. Leen Mills Primary - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Leen Mills Lane Hucknall Nottingham

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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: Mrs. K Walker

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: July 1996 Leen Mills Primary - 4

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responsibilities

Mr F Carruthers Registered inspector Science, Information technology Music. How high are standards? How well are the pupils taught? Staffing, accommodation & learning resources. What should the school do to improve further? Mrs S Wood Lay inspector Pupils’ attitudes, behaviour & personal development How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? Mr R Gill Team inspector Mathematics, Provision for children under five, Art How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils?

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responsibilities

Mrs S Cook Team inspector English, Design and technology, Physical education. How well is the school led and managed?

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responsibilities

Mrs P Peaker Team inspector Religious education, Geography, History, Special educational needs, Equal opportunities. Procedures to assess the pupils’ academic progress Leen Mills Primary - 5 The inspection contractor was:

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responsibilities

Independent School Inspection Services 5 Huntsman Close Beaumont Park Huddersfield HD4 7BR

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responsibilities

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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responsibilities

The Registrar Inspection Quality Division

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responsibilities

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Leen Mills Primary - 6

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 7-11

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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HOW HIGH ARE STANDARDS? 12-14

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school has 208 pupils on roll and part-time places for up to 13 children per session in the early childhood unit, in which the four-year-olds spend a maximum of two terms before transferring to the reception class. At the time of the inspection, almost all the children in the reception class had turned five years old. The school is situated in the centre of a private housing estate on the edge of Hucknall and the socio-economic circumstances of the pupils’ families are broadly average. There is a high proportion of manual workers among the occupations of parents. Attainment of the children on entry to the reception class is average overall. There are no pupils with statements of special educational needs in school and there are 16 per cent of pupils on the register of pupils with special educational needs. Very few pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds and none speak English as an additional

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

language. Since the last inspection, there have been few changes to the school’s characteristics. The early childhood unit and reception class now share one area of the school and there have been some staffing changes, including the appointment of a new deputy head teacher last September. At the time of the inspection, a temporary teacher was teaching the reception class. A permanent teacher is to take up post from the summer term.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

The overall effectiveness of the school is satisfactory. Pupils have very good attitudes to learning and achieve standards in line with national expectations by the end of Key Stage 2. Standards are rising, the quality of the provision, including teaching, is good and the school is well managed. Since the last inspection, the school has made satisfactory improvements overall. The school therefore provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school does well

• A strength of the school is the very good quality of provision in the early childhood unit. • The school provides well for pupils with special educational needs. • Leadership and management shown by the head teacher, key staff and the governing body are good. • The school is successful in encouraging high standards of behaviour, very good attitudes to learning, very good relationships in school and good levels of attendance. • The school provides well for the pupils’ personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. • This is a caring school, in which the pupils’ safety and welfare are well looked after. • Links with parents are good and there are examples of parents making a good contribution to the work in school.

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What could be improved

• Standards in mathematics in Key Stage 1 are unsatisfactory. • Standards are not as high as they should be in Key Stage 2 in aspects of English, in particular handwriting and spelling, of mathematics and of science. • Standards in the reception class and provision for that year group should be improved. • Standards in design and technology at the end of Key Stage 2 are unsatisfactory. • The time available for teaching in Key Stage 2 is below that recommended nationally. • The staff make insufficient use of procedures to assess the pupils’ progress in the reception class and in Key Stage 1, particularly in mathematics. • There are insufficient resources for art and design and technology. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. Leen Mills Primary - 8

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

Overall, the school has made satisfactory progress since the last inspection. The school has resolved well a number of the key issues that were identified. Teachers’ planning has improved and is now good. Provision for pupils with special educational needs has improved. Standards and provision in information technology have improved and the school has made significant improvements in the areas of health and safety. The governors now monitor the curriculum well and have made the necessary changes to the annual report to parents so that it meets requirements. The school has made satisfactory progress in improving procedures to assess the pupils’ progress and in developing the role of subject co-ordinators, but more could be done. For example, the staff are making insufficient use of assessment information in Key Stage 1 and co-ordinators are not doing enough monitoring of standards and provision in their subjects. There have been improvements to the accommodation,

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

particularly in partitioning classrooms, re-decorating and refurbishing areas and improving the library, as well as to the levels of resourcing for key aspects, such as special educational needs, and important subjects such as mathematics, science and information technology.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by 11-year-olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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Key

English N/A A E E well above average above average A B mathematics N/A C E E* average below average C D science N/A C E E well below average very low E E *

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Key

Standards in the 1999 tests at the end of Key Stage 2 were well below average. Standards in the current Year 6 show a significant rise and the majority of pupils are achieving in line with national expectations in all three subjects. As in the previous Year 6, there is an above average proportion of pupils with special educational needs in the current Year 6. However, through improved teaching and better tracking of pupils’ progress, the school is set to reach its appropriate target of 72 per cent of pupils to achieve the expected Level 4 or better in English and mathematics this summer. There is scope for standards to rise further and the school has put in place procedures to achieve them. It is not possible to comment on past trends in standards as the school has been involved in end-of-key stage tests for only the last two years. The children’s attainment in the reception class is unsatisfactory in

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Key

writing, in knowledge and understanding of the world and in creative development. Attainment in English and science at the end of Key Stage 1 is in line with national expectations. Attainment in mathematics is below national expectations. Standards of handwriting and spelling are below average and need to improve across the whole school. Pupils’ attainment in design and technology at the end of Key Stage 2 is unsatisfactory. In other subjects, attainment is in line with what is expected of or typically seen in pupils at the end of both key stages. Leen Mills Primary - 9

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school The pupils have very good attitudes to their work.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Pupils behave very well throughout the school day. Pupils are polite to adults and they move around the building sensibly.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships The pupils’ personal development is good and they respond well to responsible roles in school. Relationships among the pupils and with staff are very good.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Levels of attendance and punctuality are good.

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Aspect Comment

These aspects are strong features of the school.

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

Lessons seen overall Satisfactory Good 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.

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

The quality of teaching is good. Ten per cent of the teaching is very good and 56 per cent is good. The remainder is satisfactory. There is no unsatisfactory teaching. In Key Stage 1, teaching is good or better in 80 per cent of lessons. In Key Stage 2, teaching is good or better in 75 per cent of lessons. Good teaching was evident in all classrooms in both key stages. In the under-fives, teaching is satisfactory overall. In the early childhood unit it is very good, but in the reception class there have been a number of staffing changes and the good foundation in children’s learning has not been developed. The teaching in the reception class is currently satisfactory and a permanent teacher takes this post in the summer term. The teaching of literacy is good in both key stages, however the teaching of handwriting is insufficiently rigorous. The teaching of numeracy is satisfactory in Key Stage 1 and

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

good in Key Stage 2. The quality of learning generally matches the good quality of teaching, but in some lessons there is insufficient challenge for higher attainers. Leen Mills Primary - 10

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum The curriculum meets statutory requirements and is sufficiently broad and balanced. However, the time available for teaching in Key Stage 2 is below the recommended minimum. There are effective strategies for teaching literacy and numeracy, and the curriculum is enhanced by good provision for personal, social and health education. There is a satisfactory range of activities after school, mainly consisting of various sporting activities.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Provision is good. Pupils have achievable targets in their individual education plans and they are well supported by class teachers and the learning support assistant.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Provision is good in all aspects and this promotes well the pupils’ personal development.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils There are very good procedures to ensure the pupils’ welfare, health and safety. The monitoring of attendance is good and the monitoring of behaviour is very good. While procedures to assess the pupils’ academic progress are satisfactory, they are not sufficiently used to track the pupils’ progress in Key Stage 1, especially in mathematics.

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Aspect Comment

Links with parents are good and well established. The parents receive regular information about the school and about their children’s progress and a number of parents regularly help in classrooms to good effect. The curriculum has few weaknesses and teachers’ planning is good. However, the planning in the reception class does not sufficiently build upon what the children learn in the early childhood unit. In addition, there is insufficient time to cover all aspects of subjects such as art and design and technology. The outcomes of how well the school cares for the pupils are evident in the very good standards of behaviour and the pupils’ attitude to learning. However, while assessment procedures to track the pupils’ progress are good in Key Stage 2, more needs to be done in Key Stage 1 in order to raise standards in mathematics.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the head teacher and other key staff The leadership and management of the school by the head teacher and key staff are good.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governors fulfil their responsibilities well and are well involved in the life of the school.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Governors’ understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses is very good and key staff monitor performance of the school, for example, through the Nottinghamshire Tracking Project.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Overall, the head teacher and governors make effective use of staffing, learning resources and special funding. Leen Mills Primary - 11 Staffing levels are satisfactory and there is good support for pupils with special educational needs and for pupils in Years 3 and 4 receiving additional help with literacy. Accommodation is good and includes a music room as well as an attractive library and central hall. There is a good range of learning resources for most subjects, as well as for the children under five and the library. There are insufficient resources for art and design and technology. The school satisfactorily applies principles of ‘best value’ by comparing its standards to those of other schools and satisfies itself that competition is fair when it buys contracted-out services.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• Children enjoy school, behave well and are making good progress. • The teaching is good. • The school has good links with parents and parents are made to feel welcome. • The school is well led and managed. • The school helps the children to become mature and responsible. • The consistency of homework being set. • The range of activities outside lessons.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Inspectors support the positive views expressed by the parents and agree that homework should be more consistently set in order that it makes a better contribution to the pupils’ progress. Inspectors note that there is a satisfactory range of extra-curricular activities, but that these are mostly sport, as well as two recorder clubs. There are other clubs, such as the French Club, for which parents are charged. There is scope for extending the range of activities. Leen Mills Primary - 12

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1. After their fourth birthday, the children attend for two terms the school’s early childhood unit, where they make good progress thanks to the very good provision and quality of teaching. On entry to the reception class, the majority of children have average skills in language and literacy, mathematics and personal and social development and in the reception class, the children make satisfactory progress in speaking and listening, reading, mathematics, personal and social development and physical development. However, they make insufficient progress in writing, in their knowledge and understanding of the world and in their creative development. By the time they enter Year 1, their attainment is not as high as it should be. This is because changes in staffing in the reception class have been unsettling and the quality of teaching until recently has been unsatisfactory. Many children can recognise simple words in books and know letter sounds.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

However, writing skills are under-developed. Children can count well and add on and take away single numbers but attainment in their knowledge and understanding of the world is below average. The children perform well in physical education lessons and are well co-ordinated in their movements. The good progress the children have made in their creative development in the part-time early childhood unit is not maintained in the reception class.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2. Pupils in the school began to take the national end-of-key stage tests in 1998. As a result, for the purpose of this report, it is not possible to comment on trends in performance in English, mathematics and science over time. In addition, attainment reported in the previous inspection in 1996 was not based on performance data from tests, and comparisons with current performance are therefore more difficult to make.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3. Standards in English at the end of the key stage are in line with national expectations and this was reflected in the 1999 end-of-key stage tests in writing. In reading, standards were well below national expectations but they are rising significantly and most pupils now read with fluency and accuracy for their age. Most pupils write well-structured stories which contain appropriate vocabulary and sufficient detail. However, standards of handwriting and spelling are below expectations and many pupils do not form their letters correctly and they spell simple words incorrectly when they are writing independently.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4. Standards in mathematics are below expectations in the current Year 2 and were well below the national average and the average achieved by similar schools in the 1999 end-of-key stage tests. There are too many pupils working at levels below expectations. While most pupils can add and subtract numbers over twenty and have a good knowledge of direction, symmetry and angles, higher-attaining pupils are not sufficiently challenged. This is because the teachers make insufficient use of assessing the pupils to establish what the pupils can already do and to push their learning on further.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5. In science, attainment is in line with national expectations, though the proportion of pupils achieving the higher Level 3 is below average. Standards have risen since the 1999 end-of-key stage teacher assessments, which were well below average. This is because the teachers are making better use of the scheme of work and end-of-topic assessments to judge progress and set challenging investigative work. The pupils have a good understanding of forces as a result of the practical work they undertake, for example.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6. Across other subjects, attainment is similar to what is expected of pupils at the end of the key stage. In information technology, art, design and technology, geography, history and physical Leen Mills Primary - 13 education, progress is satisfactory. In religious education, attainment matches the requirements of the locally agreed syllabus. It was not possible to judge attainment in music as no lessons were observed.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

7. Standards are in line with national expectations in English at the end of the key stage. The pupils’ skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening are average. Standards are now rising, whereas standards in the 1999 tests were well below the national average and well below those of similar schools. This is because there was an above average proportion of pupils with special educational needs in that year group and their performance affected overall standards in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. The school is now tracking progress better and targeting pupils for extra support and the teaching in the current Year 6 is good. In Key Stage 2, reading skills develop satisfactorily, including reading for pleasure and for research, and the majority of pupils write well on topics such as biographies of famous people and their autobiographies. However, too many pupils make careless mistakes in spelling, and handwriting does not develop

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

sufficiently. Standards of literacy are average overall. Throughout both key stages, the pupils’ speaking and listening skills develop well and by Year 6, the pupils show in their discussions maturity in their use of language and vocabulary. The achievement of most pupils is satisfactory by the end of the key stage but there is scope for standards to be higher, especially in handwriting and spelling.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

8. Standards in mathematics are average by the end of the key stage. Whereas standards were well below the national average in the 1999 tests and very low compared with those of similar schools, standards in Key Stage 2 classes are rising as a result of better tracking of pupils’ achievements and the setting of appropriate targets, as well as improved teaching in the National Numeracy Strategy, introduced last term. By Year 6, pupils’ achievements are satisfactory in most cases. Most pupils can apply their knowledge of the four rules of number to decimals, fractions, co-ordinates, area and graphic representation. Standards of numeracy are average overall but skills of problem-solving are less well developed.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

9. The school has set appropriate targets for 72 per cent of pupils to achieve Level 4 or above in English and mathematics this summer and it is on target to achieve this as a result of the good quality of teaching in Year 6 and very effective ‘booster’ classes targeting those pupils who might just miss the expected level. By 2002, the school intends that 78 per cent of pupils in English and 76 per cent in mathematics achieve the expected level or above.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

10. Standards in science are in line with national expectations, although standards in the 1999 tests were well below the national average and those of similar schools. In the current Year 6, pupils’ attainment is rising as a result of the good quality of teaching and good use of assessment to track the pupils’ skills and understanding. The pupils use technical terms well and tackle investigations with thoughtfulness. However, the proportion of pupils achieving higher levels of attainment is below average and there is scope for improvement.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

11. In test results and from inspection evidence, there is no significant difference between the performance of boys and girls by the end of the key stage when compared to the national average.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

12. Attainment in information technology has improved since the last inspection and is in line with what is expected of pupils of this age. This is the result of improved provision and teaching and the pupils are developing a satisfactory range of skills that cover word-processing, data handling, control and information retrieval, from CD-ROMs and the Internet. Attainment in religious education meets the requirements of the locally agreed syllabus. The pupils make good comparisons between the world faiths that they study and write sensitively about topics such as harvest. Attainment in art, geography, history, music and physical education is in line with what is expected of pupils at this age and the pupils’ achievements are satisfactory in relation to their prior attainment. In design and technology, progress is unsatisfactory across the key stage and Leen Mills Primary - 14 attainment is below expectations. This is because skills are not built upon progressively, less time

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

is spent teaching the subject than in the past and work is not always sufficiently challenging.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

13. Pupils with special educational needs achieve standards appropriate to their abilities in both key stages and they make good progress in their learning. They receive good support from the special needs support assistant

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14. Throughout the school, pupils respond well and their attitudes to school are very good: they are very keen to come to school and settle quickly to given tasks.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

15. The children in the early childhood unit are happy and confident and settle quickly to their work. Their attitudes to learning are very good and the children are considerate towards each other. They join in well with whole-class activities. They show high levels of self-discipline and independence when moving around their classroom. However, the level of independence shown by children in the reception class is not as high. They are not so good at listening to a story, for example, and they do not show the same degree of confidence in carrying out instructions and working on their own.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

16. Older pupils listen carefully in whole-class sessions and respond well to questions, giving answers that are sensible and relevant to discussions. Pupils clearly know what is expected of them and they are often eager to please the class teacher. This was particularly evident in a creative writing lesson where pupils developed ideas for a game. They were clearly enjoying the task and eager to show their finished letters to the class teacher and visiting adult. They work sensibly and generally quietly, usually sustaining concentration whether they are working as individuals, in pairs or in groups. During a physical education lesson, where group and teamwork are essential, pupils played well together and they displayed good team spirit during a game of hockey.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

17. Pupils behave very well throughout the school day. The school is an orderly community and pupils move around the building sensibly. They are polite to visitors and often open doors or offer help. Occasionally a small minority of pupils fidget or shout out answers in class, but teachers address these incidents quickly and sensitively, without distracting from the focus of the lesson. Pupils respect property and handle resources well. They clearly understand what is expected of them and are involved in making the classroom rules, which are on display to act as a reminder of the school’s expectations. There have been no exclusions in the school. Parents are appreciative of how calm and quiet the school is, particularly given the open-plan nature of the building.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

18. Relationships throughout the school are very good. Pupils know the daily routines of the school and quickly respond to teachers’ requests. They show concern for each other, such as escorting an injured pupil to receive first aid after an accident. The pupils’ personal development is good. Older pupils are given responsibilities, such as reading with younger pupils or getting the hall ready for assembly. They respond well to these opportunities when they are given. Limited opportunities are given to pupils, however, to enable them to show initiative. Resources are generally prepared for the pupils and they have few opportunities to choose from a range of media in subjects such as art.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

19. The school's attendance figures are good. The vast majority of pupils arrive at school on time to enable the school day to start promptly. The school finds that more families are taking holidays during term time but staff regularly emphasise that this can be detrimental to pupils' learning. Leen Mills Primary - 15

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

20. The quality of teaching is good. Ten per cent of the teaching is very good and 56 per cent is good. The remainder is satisfactory. There is no unsatisfactory teaching. In Key Stage 1, teaching is good or better in 80 per cent of lessons. In Key Stage 2, teaching is good or better in 75 per cent of lessons. Good teaching was evident in all classrooms in both key stages and as a result the quality of learning in the great majority of lessons is good. In most lessons, pupils are well involved in activities and are challenged to think and produce well presented pieces of work.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

21. The teaching in the under-fives age range is satisfactory overall. The teaching is very good in the early childhood unit where the nursery nurse engages the children’s imagination very well and organises the provision very capably so that the children make good progress in all aspects of development. However, there have been changes in staff in the reception class and teaching has not built on children’s achievements. Current teaching by the temporary teacher, who had only been in post for a few days at the time of inspection, is satisfactory in raising standards in some areas, such as reading, but there is much to be done to raise standards in other areas such as writing, mathematics and the children’s knowledge and understanding of the world.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

22. The teaching of literacy is good in both key stages. The teachers have good understanding of the Literacy Strategy and high expectations of behaviour. In the best lessons, the teacher makes the pupils aware of what is expected of them. As a result, the quality of learning in lessons is good and the pupils concentrate well in whole-class sessions and in individual or group work. This is helping to raise standards in all classes. The teaching of handwriting is inconsistent however and standards are not high enough. There is insufficient emphasis on pupils practising spelling skills.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

23. The teaching of numeracy is satisfactory in Key Stage 1 and good in Key Stage 2. Where the teaching is good, the teachers encourage the pupils to talk about how they reached answers and they include much quick-fire work. In some lessons, however, the teachers do not challenge the higher-attaining pupils sufficiently. In Key Stage 1, there is a lack of a clear idea of what levels pupils are achieving and what needs to be done if they are to achieve their potential by the end of the key stage. The final session in lessons is not always used well to summarise what has been learnt and what can be done to improve next time. Skills of problem-solving are not taught as well as they should be.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

24. The teaching of pupils with special educational needs is good. Teachers are fully aware of the individual needs of pupils with learning difficulties. They provide well-matched learning activities and a good level of either individual or in-class support. Teachers’ planning details the way in which they will meet the needs of these pupils with differing levels of attainment. Lesson observations show that the school’s approach works well in practice. As a result of the strengths in the teaching of pupils with special educational needs, they make good progress relative to their prior attainment. Support staff make effective contributions to the learning of these pupils. In most lessons, higher attainers are provided with extension activities but often they are not sufficiently challenged.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

25. The teaching is good in science, which is an improvement since the last inspection. Pupils carry out a good deal of investigative work and the teachers use good questioning skills to encourage the pupils to think about processes and outcomes. In a small minority of lessons, the level of challenge could be better, especially for the higher-attaining pupils. Teaching of skills in information technology is at least satisfactory, but only one lesson of direct teaching was observed. Teachers are developing their expertise with software of good quality and providing good opportunities for pupils to research information, word-process, paint and handle data. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 are becoming familiar with using the Internet, recently made available in school. The teaching of religious education is satisfactory or better. The teachers create an atmosphere in lessons in which the pupils are encouraged to learn and question and they make good use of

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

artefacts to generate discussion. The teaching is satisfactory in art and there are good examples of teachers stimulating the pupils to achieve good standards. However, planning for the development of skills over a longer period is weak and this stems from the fact that the scheme of Leen Mills Primary - 16 work has not been fully implemented. Teaching is satisfactory in design and technology though standards are not as high as they could be at the end of Key Stage 2. This is because the pupils’ skills and knowledge are not built upon systematically. Teaching in geography and history is good and this promotes good attitudes to the subjects and gives the pupils the confidence to approach tasks of research confidently by the end of Key Stage 2. The teaching of music is satisfactory and the teaching of physical education is good. Teachers have good expertise in physical education, giving good advice and coaching tips, thus helping pupils to make good

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

26. The contribution homework makes to standards in subjects is satisfactory overall but there is scope for developing the consistency with which it is set and the quality of the activities so that they are more challenging.

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PUPILS?

27. The curriculum provided by the school satisfactorily meets statutory requirements to teach the National Curriculum, and religious education meets the requirements of the locally agreed syllabus. The school also successfully complements this work with a broad range of other activities. The time available for teaching in Key Stage 2 is below that recommended nationally. In addition, time spent on activities like hymn practice and collective worship sometimes stretches too far and this then encroaches on the lessons that follow. 28. The school has made good progress since the last inspection. A key issue for action was to develop a whole-school planning system for the curriculum and this aspect has been tackled well. Teachers, at that time, lacked advice about what they should be teaching and when to teach it. There are now comprehensive plans in Key Stages 1 and 2 to teach the National Curriculum. The

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PUPILS?

work has been successfully broadened to include the National Strategies for Literacy and Numeracy. The deputy head teacher conducts regular monitoring of teachers’ plans to make sure that the pupils receive the correct work. There are agreed policies in place for all subjects and teachers have either written their own schemes of work or usefully adapted the nationally recommended ones. This is an improvement since the last inspection when there were very few policies and schemes of work. 29. The only area of the school where planning is not so comprehensive is in the reception and early childhood unit. The teacher in the reception class and the nursery nurse in the early childhood unit both plan appropriate work for their children. In fact, the planning produced by the nursery nurse in the early childhood unit is very thorough. However, there is, as yet, no overall plan of work to ensure that children build up knowledge, skills and understanding systematically over

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PUPILS?

their time in these two classes. 30. The school has responded well to the national challenge of raising standards in English and mathematics. This was particularly important since the school’s results in the national test were low in 1999. This has resulted in time being given to extra teaching in literacy and numeracy at the expense of art and design and technology, for example. Standards are lower than those found in other schools in design and technology owing, in part, to the limited time provided. 31. The planning for teaching literacy and numeracy is good. The co-ordinators have trained the staff well in the new teaching methods, have written helpful action plans and have visited classrooms to see teachers at work. All this has had a successful impact on pupils’ learning. For example, standards in English and mathematics in Year 6 are now about average compared to last year when they were well below average. ‘Booster’ classes extend the general curriculum for

p.17

PUPILS?

Year 6 pupils very well for those pupils who are considered to be working at just below national expectations in reading, writing and arithmetic.

p.17

PUPILS?

32. The curriculum is satisfactorily made available to all pupils, but at times the work set for higher attainers is not demanding enough. This applies particularly to opportunities for writing in the ‘literacy hour’, to challenges in mathematics in numeracy lessons and sometimes to science lessons. The school's provision for pupils with special educational needs is now good. This is Leen Mills Primary - 17 an improvement since the last inspection, when it was identified as a key issue for action. Pupils are now regularly assessed and given extra help, if required, by a special needs support assistant. Individual education plans are appropriately provided for pupils at different stages of the school’s register of pupils with special educational needs. They identify appropriate short-term achievable targets to enable the assistant and teachers working with these pupils to meet their particular learning needs. Teachers have the most recent targets from pupils’ plans and provision for the

p.17

PUPILS?

pupils is made in teachers’ planning, which may, for example, take the form of direct support from the special needs support assistant, help from higher-attaining pupils and work set to match the pupils’ current attainment level. A strength of the provision is that a variety of methods is used. The pupils are sometimes given individual tuition, sometimes taught in groups outside the classroom and also supported in class during literacy and numeracy lessons and subjects such as science. Additional support is available from outside agencies when necessary.

p.18

PUPILS?

33. The school provides a satisfactory range of extra-curricular sporting activities for its pupils. They can enjoy soccer and netball, but also kwik-cricket and basketball. There are few activities beyond these. Pupils can learn the recorder or join a more advanced class. There are several French classes but parents are required to pay for these. Whilst provision in this area is satisfactory, some parents are concerned about the lack of opportunity for all pupils.

p.18

PUPILS?

34. Personal, health and social education is well provided for. The school has good policies for sex education and drugs misuse. These and the general programme for health education form a useful addition to the National Curriculum. Some of this work is incorporated into general lessons, such as knowledge about the human body in science, but some is given extra time. For example, the drug abuse resistance programme in Year 6 involves the pupils in studying a wide variety of useful topics such as increasing self-esteem in order to resist the temptation to indulge in drugs.

p.18

PUPILS?

35. The school uses the local community effectively to broaden pupils’ learning experiences. Sports coaches visit to teach pupils rugby and cricket, for example, and the school takes part in many activities organised by the local sports association. The school maintains close links with the local churches and various members of the clergy regularly visit the school to teach classes and to lead collective worship. Pupils still talk about the time that they and pupils from other local primary schools held a joint service at Linby Church. They had to walk through the snow to get there, which added extra excitement. The school makes very good use of a local theatre group. Pupils recently enjoyed a one-person dramatic rendering of poems that they might otherwise have never read. This was a very worthwhile cultural experience. Relationships with other local schools are good. There are good links with local secondary schools which benefit the pupils in

p.18

PUPILS?

Year 6 when they transfer to their new school. There are also good links with a local small primary school. 36. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good in each of these aspects. This is an improvement since the last inspection. Daily acts of worship, religious education lessons and the school’s close connection with local clergy play important parts in spiritual development. In one act of collective worship, for example, pupils were shown a scan picture of the speaker’s baby and asked to wonder about when their personal journey started and what has happened along the way. They also had the chance to reflect on God’s part in their life. This encouragement to think about life in all its forms is carried on successfully in classes. For example, there are many opportunities in the early childhood unit and in other classes for children to plant seeds and talk about life and growth. The work on self-esteem in Year 6 related to their

p.18

PUPILS?

drugs awareness topic is another way in which spiritual development is heightened. 37. Pupils’ moral development is catered for in a consistent and effective manner. This results in very good behaviour throughout the school. Pupils are involved in deciding the rules that will apply in their classroom and are reminded of these on the few occasions when it is necessary. In one class, for example, pupils have been asked to sign underneath the rules to add emphasis to the fact that good behaviour is expected at all times. Moral teaching also takes place in assembly through themes that are well chosen to help pupils to understand the difference between right and wrong. Teachers provide many opportunities for pupils to carry out fund raising for important Leen Mills Primary - 18 causes. Pupils support charities such as the Multiple Sclerosis Society or they raise money to send to the Turkey earthquakes’ victims or flood victims in Africa.

p.18

PUPILS?

38. The school has maintained its good level of provision for social development since the last inspection. At a basic level, pupils work very well in groups in their own class and often work effectively with pupils from other classes. For example, older pupils are paired with younger ones for reading practice. Both participants enjoy this work. Adults set a very good example for the pupils in how to behave and relate to others. They have created a very friendly school in which visitors are very welcome. Pupils respond to this ethos and treat visitors with respect and helpfulness. Teachers provide many contexts in which pupils can exhibit their social skills. Day and residential trips are organised in which pupils mix well with each other and the general public. For example, one class visited Southwell Minster during the inspection and forty pupils were due to spend three nights away in Norfolk just after the inspection. There are plans for

p.19

PUPILS?

pupils to correspond with pupils in America via e-mail in order to make friends further afield. 39. The school’s good provision for cultural development is closely linked to its curriculum in art, religious education, history and music, for example. Pupils have many opportunities to study faiths other than Christianity through stories and celebrations, such as the Chinese New Year. They study our historical heritage well in history, looking at how various invaders of and visitors to our island have left their mark. Music plays a strong role in assemblies and the pupils have made their own compact disc of favourite songs and hymns in order to raise money for earthquake victims, thereby successfully linking together provision for social, moral and cultural development. Some very good examples of batik work in Year 6 show how the culture of the Far East is incorporated into the art curriculum. Pupils have also studied European artists such as

p.19

PUPILS?

Hundertwasser and Mondrian to make their own art, sometimes using the computer to generate images in the style of these artists.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

40. The school has very good procedures to ensure pupils' welfare, health and safety, and uses appropriate agencies to support the needs of individual pupils. The teacher responsible for child protection ensures that all staff are aware of relevant procedures. All pupils are well known to staff, and pupils feel confident to approach any adult if they have worries or concerns. Pupils are also encouraged to support their peers if they are hurt or upset. There are clear procedures that are followed to report and record accidents. The school provides a safe and caring environment in which pupils and staff can work. There have been improvements to the security of the school building and to the playground surface and the school has implemented suitable procedures to ensure the well-being of all those in the school since the last inspection. Parents are concerned about the absence of a perimeter fence, an aspect that the school and its governors are working

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

with the local education authority to address.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

41. The school has good procedures to monitor attendance and parents are very clear about the procedures they have to follow if their children are absent from school. Pupils’ personal needs are met through staff knowing each individual child and they quickly recognise any change in behaviour or attitude. Pupils with special educational needs are well provided for and their personal needs are included in their individual educational plans. The school has high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and these are supported by consistently applied reward systems. The school does not tolerate anti-social behaviour, such as bullying, and there is no evidence of it in the school. There are suitable procedures to follow if there is any inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour. The parents are also aware of the school’s expectations through the home-school agreement.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

42. The school’s use of assessments of pupils’ learning is improving and is satisfactory overall, although there are inconsistencies in practice in Key Stage 1. A key issue of the last inspection report directed the school to increase the effectiveness of assessment. Whilst there has been an improvement in this, there is still a lack of clarity in Key Stage 1 about how assessment should be used to inform planning or how it can help to track pupils’ progress. This is particularly marked in mathematics and is having an adverse effect on teaching and standards achieved. Staff in Key Stage 1 do not have sufficient information about pupils’ attainment in mathematics to see if Leen Mills Primary - 19 pupils are on course to reach national targets. In English at Key Stage 1, the school’s assessment procedures and monitoring of pupils’ academic performance are used to better effect. Progress is tracked through various testing procedures for individual pupils and information derived is used

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

to inform planning. Each pupil’s English book has an assessment sheet and the targets are shared with the parents.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

43. In Key Stage 2, the procedures are having a positive impact on standards. There are effective arrangements based on standardised tests and end-of-topic tests in English, mathematics and science to assess and record pupils’ attainment. The results of testing are being used increasingly to target those pupils who need additional literacy support in Years 3 and 4 and those in Year 6 who will benefit from the ‘booster’ classes in English and mathematics. In science, end-of-topic assessments identify those pupils who are likely to reach national expectations. Optional standard assessment testing starts next term and a record charting progression in skills and concepts is to be introduced in September. At present, there is nothing in place at either key stage for the assessment of information technology.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

44. There is currently no marking policy. However, there are examples of good practice and some teachers mark in such a way that pupils are aware of improvements they could make to upgrade their work.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

45. Information from tests is used satisfactorily in English and mathematics at Key Stage 2 and in English at Key Stage 1 to guide curriculum planning. In mathematics at Key Stage 1, there is no evidence that teachers’ planning of the curriculum is affected by assessment information.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

46. For those pupils who have special educational needs, there is good support both in and out of the classroom. This proves effective in maintaining their self-esteem and their confidence in their own abilities to cope well with the school day. There are effective systems for the regular assessment of these pupils. Individual education plans are written for all pupils who need them. The targets set are clear and realistic. Reviews of the plans are completed regularly and satisfactorily documented. They involve parents and, where appropriate, outside agencies. Procedures conform to the Code of Practice. Pupils have equal access to all aspects of the curriculum.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

47. Parents have very positive attitudes towards the school and are satisfied with what it provides and achieves. They appreciate the close partnership they have with the school and are generally very pleased with their children's progress. They always feel welcome and find all the staff very approachable. Some parents are concerned about the amount of homework that is set and consider it is inconsistent across classes. The school has put a homework programme in the front of the home-school diaries and is aware that this area has to be monitored more closely. Homework could make a better contribution to raising standards. Some parents would like to see more extra-curricular activities. At present there is a satisfactory range, which consists mainly of sporting activities. There is scope for widening the range. Some parents are concerned about the absence of a perimeter fence to the school. This is something the school is addressing in

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

conjunction with the local education authority.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

48. Parents receive regular information of good quality through newsletters and information sheets. No written information is sent home, however, regarding areas of the curriculum that the pupils are studying to enable parents to support their children's learning by sharing first-hand experiences or artefacts. The school holds information evenings for parents, which have recently focused on literacy, numeracy and standard assessment tests. The parents appreciate these evenings, which inform them of changes in the education system. The annual written reports given at the end of the school year inform parents of the areas their children have studied over the year. They seldom give areas for development to enable parents to support the children where they are experiencing difficulties, though some teachers do identify these areas in the home- school diaries. Parents of pupils with special educational needs are fully involved in reviewing

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

Leen Mills Primary - 20 their children’s progress. The prospectus and annual governor's report to parents are well presented documents and these have been brought into line with government requirements since the previous inspection.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

49. A number of parents regularly help in classrooms. The school values this help. They are carefully briefed and well integrated into the classrooms. Parents are invited to school productions, which they appreciate and enjoy. A very active and supportive Friends’ Association has a wide range of social and fund raising events, which are well supported. The additional resources that are provided are very much appreciated by the school.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

50. The leadership and management of the school are good. The head teacher, well supported by the new deputy head teacher, has a clear vision of how the school is to move forward and provides good leadership by recognising the strengths of the staff and managing them to create a dedicated and hard-working team. Staff are enthusiastic and are committed to raising standards in the school. All staff are successful in promoting the school’s aims and achieving a positive ethos, reflecting the very good relationships within the school.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

51. Governors play a very important and valued part. They are very committed to helping the head teacher and staff to raise standards, they understand their responsibilities and meet these well. They take part in training to make sure that they keep abreast of national educational developments and have a very good understanding of these. They are closely involved in the life of the school. They have a good overview of all aspects of the school’s management, including the financial and staff issues, target setting and national initiatives such as the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. Governors talk regularly with staff about their work and sometimes observe lessons. Governors are closely involved in all aspects of school development and improvement, and a small committee meets regularly to discuss the curriculum.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

52. Governors understand the particular circumstances of the school and its pupils, and take these into account when setting targets for raising standards in national tests. They are well aware of their responsibilities towards pupils with special educational needs. The management and administrative systems for these pupils are good and the co-ordination of special educational needs is effective. School procedures fully reflect the requirements of the Code of Practice; the register of special educational needs is accurate and the records of identified pupils are well kept. Funding for special educational needs has been improved. There is now a full-time, permanent special needs support assistant giving pupils support of good quality both in and out of the classroom. This is an improvement since the last inspection and benefits pupils’ learning. The named governor for special educational needs is informed of developments and changes at her

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

regular meetings with the special needs co-ordinator. These enable her to monitor provision and keep the governing body up to date on this aspect of provision.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

53. The school provides equal opportunities for pupils to learn and make progress in all subjects. However, there are times when a small minority of pupils are withdrawn from classes for additional literacy support or for baking when other subjects are being taught, for example, in science and during assembly, and this denies those pupils access to the full curriculum. However the school is careful to ensure that pupils do not miss the same lessons each week.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

54. The school’s systems for monitoring teaching and the curriculum are beginning to be effective but many of these are recent and have not had time to impact significantly upon standards. Key co-ordinators and the head teacher have been involved in monitoring provision; for example, they have monitored the teaching of lessons in English and mathematics. The results of formal and informal tests are used to identify and target groups of pupils for extra support and to identify weaknesses in the teaching.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

55. Since the last report, the amount of checking and finding out about how well the school is doing has increased considerably and this has become much more systematic. National tests are Leen Mills Primary - 21 analysed to find out how groups of pupils are doing and what the weaknesses in their attainment are. For example, previous analysis of English results has led the school to focus on spelling and handwriting and has alerted the school to any underachievement by boys. Pupils’ progress is efficiently tracked in English and mathematics in Key Stage 2. The issue from the last inspection relating to the monitoring of the curriculum by subject co-ordinators has been partially addressed. Co-ordinators have oversight of teachers’ planning but in subjects other than English and mathematics have few opportunities to observe lessons or look at samples of pupils’ work.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

56. Plans for future developments accurately reflect the direction in which the school needs to progress. Each priority within the school development plan has a clear structure and appropriately allocated responsibilities. However, the targets against which improvements are to be measured are sometimes too broad and do not have the sharp edge needed to make detailed evaluations.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

57. The financial management of the school is good and is closely allied to the school’s priorities for development. All specific grants to the school have been efficiently and correctly used. For example, the standards fund has been allocated to the buying of advice and in-service training and the money for the ‘booster’ classes is very effectively catering for pupils who need extra support to reach the expected Level 4 in the end-of-Key Stage 2 tests.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

58. The school is run smoothly and efficiently on a day-to-day basis. The school uses the computer effectively for administration and control of its budget. Administrative systems work well and the head teacher efficiently delegates most of these to the school secretary. Appropriate financial controls are in place and the budget is carefully managed and controlled. The school accounts accurately for its expenditure. Spending is monitored regularly by the school and through the governing body’s finance committee. The school has implemented the recommendations in the 1998 audit. The governing body is consulted on major spending decisions and the school satisfactorily applies ‘best value’ principles by comparing its standards to those of other schools and satisfies itself that competition is fair when it buys contracted-out services.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

59. The head teacher and staff view the development of learning resources, staffing and accommodation strategically and, on the whole, use them to the maximum of their potential. The school has appropriately qualified and experienced teachers to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum and for the teaching of children under five. Staff work well together to make good use of shared expertise and experience. Skilled support staff are providing usually good assistance to teachers and make a significant contribution to the curriculum and to the personal development of the pupils. Sometimes in the first part of the ‘literacy hour’ support staff are not as effectively used as at other times. There is one temporary teacher in the reception class until the end of term, at which time a full-time teacher on a permanent contract takes up post. A nursery nurse teaches the children in the early childhood unit very well. All staff, except the temporary teacher,

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

have responsibility for the co-ordination of subjects and the Key Stage 1 co-ordinator also manages provision for the children under five.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

60. There is a satisfactory system of appraisal in place. At the last inspection the appraisal process was not under way. It promotes the professional development of staff while also linking strongly with whole-school needs. For example, a recent focus of attention for all staff has been the development of their expertise in teaching the Literacy Strategy. The findings of these appraisals have helped to identify how well the strategy is being implemented and how to overcome specific difficulties. Head teacher appraisal has been established. New staff are supported on appointment through initial visits and familiarity with school and its routines and they are assigned to one of two senior staff, the deputy head teacher or the Key Stage 1 co-ordinator, for further support. The teachers have delegated responsibilities and are part of a team, which is developing a strong sense of purpose and identity, moving the school forward and raising standards.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

61. There is ample accommodation for teaching all subjects of the curriculum. The school has the benefit of a music room and shared areas between classrooms for art and other activities. There is a very well resourced and spacious area for the children under five with an attached secure, outdoor playing area. Since the last inspection, there have been good developments to enhance the interior Leen Mills Primary - 22 accommodation, for example partitions between classrooms to reduce distractions from sounds in adjacent classes and a programme of re-decoration, carpeting, curtains and shelving, which do much to make the school attractive. Stimulating displays of pupils' work and information about aspects of literacy and numeracy are a particular feature and suggest that everyone involved in school takes pride in its appearance. The premises are cleaned to a high standard by the caretaking and cleaning

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

staff. Since the last inspection, the school has paid for the re-surfacing of one playground and various aspects of landscaping, which contribute well to the overall impression the school makes.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

62. There is a good range of learning resources for mathematics, history and information technology and this is an improvement since the last inspection. Each classroom has at least one computer with a variety of peripheral equipment, and this improved provision, which includes access to the Internet for pupils in Years 5 and 6, is making a significant impact on the progress that the pupils are making. Resources for English, mathematics, geography, physical education and religious education are good in quantity and quality. There is a good range of resources for the children under five and for those with special educational needs. Those for science and music are satisfactory. There are insufficient resources to teach all aspects of art and design and technology. Library provision has continued to develop since the last inspection and pupils have good opportunities to read from a wide range of fiction and non-fiction of good quality in the library and in classrooms.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

63. Attainment of the children on entry is average. Pupils make satisfactory progress throughout the school, except in the reception class, and achieve standards in line with national expectations. The provision, in particular the teaching, is good and the pupils have good attitudes to school and behave very well. The cost of educating a pupil at the school is about average. The school gives satisfactory value for money. Leen Mills Primary - 23

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) raise standards in mathematics in Key Stage 1* by

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

a) taking better account of pupils’ levels of attainment* and setting individual targets for them to improve;

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

b) identifying gaps in pupils’ knowledge through assessment and focusing teaching more on pupils’ needs; *

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

c) catering better for higher-attaining pupils; (Paragraphs 4, 23, 42, 45, 92, 95, 97, 101)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(2) raise standards further in English, mathematics and science by the end of Key Stage 2 by

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

a) improving the teaching of handwriting and spelling,* by reviewing policy and practice and implementing positive strategies to raise standards; (Paragraphs 7, 79, 85, 86)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

b) setting appropriate work for higher-attaining pupils, especially in writing, mathematics and science; (Paragraphs 10, 24, 89, 97, 99, 102, 103, 107)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

c) making better use of homework to extend the learning in class; (Paragraphs 26, 47, 89)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(3) give priority to developing provision and standards in the reception class and make better use of assessment procedures in order to promote the children’s progress; (Paragraphs 1, 15, 21, 29, 65, 66, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 77)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(4) review the time allocated to teaching in Key Stage 2, with a view to meeting or exceeding the minimum recommended in government guidelines, in order to assist in

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

a) raising standards in design and technology; (Paragraphs 12, 25, 115, 118)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

b) improving coverage of work in art; (Paragraphs 25, 27, 30, 111, 113, 114)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(5) improve levels of resourcing in art and design and technology as soon as finances allow. (Paragraphs 62, 114, 118)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

* These issues feature in the current school development plan. Leen Mills Primary - 24

p.24

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of lessons observed 48 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 39

p.25

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor 0 10 56 33 0 0 0 The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

p.25

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) N/A 199 Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals N/A 28 FTE means full-time equivalent.

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6 Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs N/A 0 Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register N/A 33

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils Number of pupils with English as an additional language 0

p.25

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 14 Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 9 Leen Mills Primary - 25

p.25

Authorised absence Unauthorised absence

% % School data 95.9 School data 0.3 National comparative data 94.1 National comparative data 0.5 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year.

p.26

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 1999 14 22 36

p.26

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

Boys 10 11 13 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 20 19 14

p.26

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

Percentage of pupils School 83 (74) 83 (84) 75 (80) at NC level 2 or above National 82 (80) 83 (81) 87 (84)

p.26

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Boys 11 13 12 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 19 19 15

p.26

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 83 (74) 89 (84) 75 (80) at NC level 2 or above National 82 (81) 86 (85) 87 (86) Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Leen Mills Primary - 26

p.26

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 1999 15 12 27

p.27

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Boys 7 6 9 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 9 6 8

p.27

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 59 (73) 44 (53) 63 (79) at NC level 4 or above National 70 (65) 69 (59) 78 (69)

p.27

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Boys 8 9 10 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 9 9 9

p.27

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Percentage of pupils School 63 (64) 67 (68) 70 (73) at NC level 4 or above National 68 (65) 69 (65) 75 (72) Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Leen Mills Primary - 27

p.27

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 0 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0 Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0 Black – other 3 Black – other 0 0 Indian 3 Indian 0 0 Pakistani 0 Pakistani 0 0 Bangladeshi 0 Bangladeshi 0 0 Chinese 0 Chinese 0 0 White 175 White 0 0 Any other minority ethnic group 0 Other minority ethnic groups 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. Leen Mills Primary - 28

p.28

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 9 Financial year 1999

p.29

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Number of pupils per qualified teacher Average class size 26 £ Total income 358286 Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total expenditure 358837 Total number of education support staff 3 Expenditure per pupil 1670

p.29

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Total aggregate hours worked per week 85 Balance brought forward from previous year Balance carried forward to next year 10419

p.29

nursery

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) Number of pupils per qualified teacher

p.29

nursery

Total number of education support staff Total aggregate hours worked per week

p.29

nursery

Number of pupils per FTE adult 0 FTE means full-time equivalent. Leen Mills Primary - 29

p.29

Percentage of responses in each category

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

p.30

Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 57 40 0 2 2

p.30

Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 40 52 3 0 5

p.30

Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 43 45 11 0 2

p.30

Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 58 34 3 3 2

p.30

Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 78 15 5 0 0

p.30

Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 66 25 3 0 5

p.30

Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 46 45 5 2 2

p.30

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 52 35 5 0 6

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 51 45 2 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 26 46 5 9 11 Leen Mills Primary - 30

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

65. Children are admitted into the reception class at the beginning of each term, this being the term during which they achieve their fifth birthday and they then attend full-time. Prior to this they have the opportunity to spend up to two terms on a part-time basis, after their fourth birthday, in the school’s early childhood unit. The need for teaching in the reception class to be closely linked to teaching in the early childhood unit, in order to build on the very good work that takes place in the unit, is important, but this has not happened recently and standards in the reception class are not as high, in some areas of learning, as they should be.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

66. A nursery nurse teaches the children in the early childhood unit. The reception class is currently being taught by a temporary teacher, who is doing very well in a period of uncertainty before a permanent teacher takes up the post at the end of April. Three different teachers have taught this reception class this year. As a result, standards have been adversely affected and the children are not making sufficient progress in some areas.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

67. When children enter the reception class, they have average skills in language and literacy, mathematics and personal and social development, when compared to children generally. Children’s achievements, in the reception class, are satisfactory in speaking and listening, reading, mathematics, physical development and personal and social development. However, their achievements are unsatisfactory in writing, knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development. By the end of the year children’s attainment in these aspects of development is not as high as it should be.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

68. No comparisons can be made between this inspection and the last because the last report did not report on provision for the under-fives.

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Personal and social development

69. The children in the early childhood unit are happy and confident and settle quickly to their work. The nursery nurse creates a very warm and friendly ethos and the children respond well. Children are making very good progress and are on course to exceed the expected outcomes by the age of five. Attitudes to learning are very good. The children are considerate towards each other. They join in well with whole-class activities. For example, when listening together to ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’, they made sure that everyone could see the text and the pictures and never let their obvious delight at the story prevent others from listening. They show high levels of self-discipline and independence when moving around their classroom. The level of independence shown by children in the reception class is not as high. They are not so good at listening to a story, for example, and they do not show the same degree of confidence in carrying

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Personal and social development

out instructions and working on their own.

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Personal and social development

70. The teaching of personal and social development is very good for the younger children and satisfactory in the reception class. The lack of regular opportunities provided for role-play, construction and other types of independent activities in the reception class over the last few terms has limited the children’s progress in this area of learning.

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Language and literacy

71. Standards in language and literacy, as a whole, are satisfactory. They are higher in speaking, listening and reading than they are in writing, which is below expectations by the age of five. Children get off to a good start in the early childhood unit and the teaching is good. They have plenty of chances for speaking and listening and looking at books. By the time they are five in the reception class, many children can recognise simple words in books and can sound out new words, using individual letter sounds. They have been taught their alphabet and many know the Leen Mills Primary - 31 letters by their name and the sound they make. Written work is not so advanced and does not have such a high profile. Consequently, whereas the teaching of reading is satisfactory in the reception class, the teaching of writing is unsatisfactory. For example, there are no examples of children’s writing on display in the classroom that could be used by the teacher to make a point

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Language and literacy

or spur other children on. The demands made on children to use their skills in writing are often too slight. For example, there is no evidence that children in the reception class have used their skills in writing in any purposeful way in developing their knowledge and understanding of the world. Many can write their names and very recently, with the current teacher, they have begun to use non-fiction books to find out about and write the names of animals in a project linked to their reading of ‘Dear Zoo’. However, this work cannot make up for the fact this class has not been taught writing in a consistent and coherent way since the children left the early childhood unit.

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Mathematics

72. In the mathematical area of learning, children under five are on course to reach expected levels by the age of five. Younger children are further on compared to the older ones in the reception class. Children in the early childhood unit can already count to ten and then count back down to zero. They are learning to write numbers correctly. By the age of five children can count well and add on and take away single numbers. The teacher uses number rhymes and songs to further reinforce their understanding. The reception children had great fun in trying to correct their teacher in the song of ‘Ten green bottles’ when deliberate mistakes were introduced into the proceedings. Teaching is good in the early childhood unit and satisfactory in the reception class. The teaching introduces children well to mental arithmetic as a class activity, but teaching makes insufficient use of both practical and play activities. For example, there is ample space to create

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Mathematics

a shop in which to practise and reinforce the children’s understanding of money, but this sort of work has not been developed systematically this year.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

73. Attainment is currently below that which could be expected of children under five in their work on scientific, historical and geographical enquiry. The children also get too few opportunities to design and make things and consequently standards are lower in this aspect of the area of learning. Computers are used appropriately to assist their learning in both the early childhood unit and the reception class and standards are satisfactory. The children in the early childhood unit have a rich experience of the natural world and the quality of teaching is very good. For example, the children spend time looking at frog spawn and talking about the changes that they observe, and they look closely at flowers and draw them in great detail whilst talking about the various parts of the flower. There are plenty of opportunities to study the world around them. Chinese New Year has been celebrated and children have dressed up, made a dragon and thought

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

about the different food eaten in the Chinese community. However, there is no evidence that this sort of work is continued into the reception class. Teaching has been unsatisfactory and the children have no recorded work available and plans for teaching show that this area of learning has been under-developed. The current temporary teacher is trying to make up for this in the work on animals, but it is too late to raise standards significantly by the time the children reach the age of five.

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Physical development

74. Children make quick progress in this area of learning in the early childhood unit and are already on course to exceed national expectations by the age of five. Children move with confidence and perform in a well co-ordinated way whether they are treading on a string or using equipment in the hall. They have access to equipment of very high quality to use in the hall and this has a very positive effect on achievements. There is an outside courtyard, which is used for physical activities when the weather is warm, but children do not have access to this area and equipment at other times of the year. This does not have an adverse effect on standards, but it does limit opportunities in an otherwise very well resourced unit. In the classroom, children can handle Leen Mills Primary - 32 pencils, scissors, brushes and other tools with a growing confidence. This sort of work does not continue into the reception class where there are too few opportunities for children to handle

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Physical development

tools and try things out for themselves. There are few opportunities to build constructions out of small and large apparatus. The time devoted to these physical activities is minimal. Children in the reception class perform well in the hall. For example, they used a parachute to good effect. They were able to organise themselves around the chute and move under and around it in a well co-ordinated fashion. The current teaching of physical development is satisfactory overall, but children’s achievements in the reception class have been affected by the lack of opportunity to practise basic skills in recent times.

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Creative development

75. Children have very good opportunities to express themselves creatively and are making generally very good progress in the early childhood unit. Children are on course to reach expected levels by the age of five. They sing at every opportunity, draw and paint, showing great detail in their work, and they play imaginatively in a variety of situations. Teaching is very good in the early childhood unit but the children’s achievements are not built upon in the reception class. There is very little evidence that children have been able to make decisions for themselves in painting and drawing. Role-play opportunities have been very limited and children have lost a lot of the independence that they were expected to show in the early childhood unit. Standards are below the expected level by the time children are five. Teaching has been unsatisfactory but of late the temporary teacher has tried to rectify this situation in giving children opportunities to draw

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Creative development

imaginatively on the theme of aliens. This has not been enough to raise standards sufficiently.

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Overall provision

76. The quality of teaching overall is satisfactory. Teaching is very good in the early childhood unit where the nursery nurse successfully engages the children’s imagination and makes learning activities fun, as well as taking into account precisely what children have to know and learn. Teaching in the reception class has been unsatisfactory in not building on the achievements in the early childhood unit, but the current teaching is satisfactorily raising standards in some areas. Planning for lessons is carried out well in both classes, but the plans are different in format and do not allow for knowledge, skills and understanding to be built up in a step-by-step fashion. Previous planning in the reception class was too different from that of the early childhood unit to have much impact on achievements. An appropriate assessment on entry to the unit and another on entry to the reception class are made. Good use is made of the desirable learning outcomes for

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Overall provision

children of this age at the planning stage for lessons, but very little use is made of them to assess children after the activities. Consequently, there are no records in the reception class of what children can and cannot do by the age of five. This lack of assessment has a detrimental effect on the progress that can be made in Year 1 because the teachers have to find out from scratch what level the children are at.

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Overall provision

77. The accommodation for the children under five is spacious and well equipped, but it is not used to the best advantage. Children in the early childhood unit have very good access to three quarters of the total space, while teaching in the reception class has restricted the children to the remaining quarter, thereby minimising the children’s opportunities to use independently the more creative sections of the room. Current teaching in the reception class is making more use of the total space, but standards have suffered as a result of the previous restrictions placed upon reception children.

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Overall provision

78. Good links are established between the home and the school. Parents are welcome to come into school at the beginning and end of each day and a positive and friendly atmosphere has been established. Leen Mills Primary - 33

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ENGLISH

79. The standards attained by both seven and eleven-year-olds are in line with national expectations in most aspects of the subject. Pupils enter and leave the school with average skills in reading and writing, which represents a satisfactory rate of progress. Standards in handwriting and spelling are below average throughout the school and pupils make unsatisfactory progress in these aspects. The school is aware of this and recent initiatives have resulted in some improvements.

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ENGLISH

80. In the 1999 national tests at the end of Key Stage 2, the percentage of pupils attaining the nationally expected levels and above was well below the national average and well below that of schools with similar intakes. In 1998, results were very much better than in 1999. A significant factor in the school’s low results last year was the high proportion of pupils with special educational needs. Indeed, the same percentage (30 per cent) of pupils in the present Year 6 have special educational needs. Through the school’s tracking of pupils’ progress and targeting pupils for extra support, often through the work in special ‘booster’ classes, and through the good quality of teaching in Year 6, pupils’ performance has been much improved.

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ENGLISH

81. In the 1999 tests at the end of Key Stage 1 in both reading and writing, all pupils attained the national average at Level 2 but not enough pupils attained a ‘strong’ Level 2 in reading. The proportion of pupils achieving Level 3 in writing was above average. These results when taken together and compared to similar schools were average in writing and below average in reading. Significant improvement has been made in both reading and writing in the last year (no data is available prior to 1998).

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ENGLISH

82. Teacher assessments of what pupils will achieve are reasonably accurate. Girls do better than boys, which is the national trend. The school is aware of this and has bought books and planned literacy texts to reflect boys’ interests better. Teachers are aware of the need to involve boys and to ask them questions in lessons and this is usually done well. However, occasionally teachers are not aware that some boys have not participated in answering and they do not direct specific questions to them to check on the pupils’ understanding.

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ENGLISH

83. By the end of both key stages, pupils’ attainment in speaking is in line with national expectations and above in listening. Pupils are encouraged by teachers to speak at length, and staff are skilled at questioning them to prompt further thinking and understanding. Most pupils at the end of Key Stage 1 are articulate and confident when speaking to adults, to each other and to the whole class. They listen carefully to explanations, discussion and stories, and demonstrate good levels of understanding in the answers they give to questions. Several pupils gave detailed and lengthy explanations about the story ‘Why Frog and Snake cannot be friends’. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils show an appropriate maturity in their use of language and vocabulary when discussing work, and in their expression of opinions and exploration of ideas. Pupils listened well to their teachers and concentrated when discussing what language H.G.Wells used to create suspense in

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ENGLISH

84. Pupils’ attainment in reading is average at the end of both key stages. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils have a good knowledge of familiar and frequently used words. Most read with fluency and accuracy, and some with increasing expression when they read the shared texts aloud. They mostly use a good range of strategies to read unfamiliar words. Pupils understand what they read and are keen to talk about their chosen books. Higher attainers read books at an appropriate level and lower attainers read simpler texts with some assurance, and can attempt new words by sounding them out. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils read fluently, accurately and with appropriate expression. Higher-attaining pupils read classic literature and encyclopaedias with ease. Lower-attaining pupils and those with special educational needs read easier books often with appropriate fluency and accuracy. Pupils talk readily about their reading preferences and the

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authors they like to choose. Nearly all pupils from Year 2 upwards know how to use the contents and index pages when researching for information and many know what a glossary is used for. Pupils in Key Stage 2 quickly find books in the library using a simplified ‘Dewey’ system. Pupils Leen Mills Primary - 34 in Year 6 are not yet familiar with advanced techniques such as skimming and scanning for information when searching for information.

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ENGLISH

85. Pupils’ attainment in writing is in line with national expectations at the end of both key stages. By the end of Key Stage 1, most pupils write at length reasonably well-structured accounts and stories that contain appropriate vocabulary and sufficient detail. Higher-attaining pupils include a good level of detail and interesting vocabulary. Pupils know how to punctuate their work with full stops and capital letters and do so well in exercises. However, when writing independently, they do not always remember to do so. They use question marks and are beginning to use speech marks correctly. Higher-attaining pupils write conversations punctuated well with speech marks. Standards in handwriting and spelling are below average and too many pupils do not form their letters correctly or write in a uniform and appropriate size. Although pupils are practising and becoming better at spelling the most common hundred words, too many are unable to spell when

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ENGLISH

writing independently commonly used words such as ‘saw’ and ‘went’. Pupils do not always practise their spelling corrections.

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ENGLISH

86. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils write coherently at length work that is well-structured and shows appropriate imagination and use of interesting vocabulary. The majority of pupils have a satisfactory understanding of stylistic features in different kinds of writing, for example how science-fiction writing needs to create suspense and atmosphere. Year 6 pupils write interesting autobiographies, which demonstrate an acute awareness of the reader. Pupils acquire the technical skills of punctuation and grammar well but they do not always apply what they learn to their own independent writing. Standards in handwriting and spelling are not high enough, and although pupils can write legibly and neatly when presenting work for an audience, they do not always choose to do so in their books and their writing is often not of an acceptable size and uniformity. Too many pupils make careless mistakes with their spellings or do not know common

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ENGLISH

spelling patterns. However, work in the special ‘booster’ class is addressing this weakness well for the lower-attaining pupils.

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ENGLISH

87. There have been satisfactory changes since the last inspection. Standards are similar and the National Literacy Strategy has been well implemented in the school, especially the oral parts of the lessons. Resources have been considerably enhanced, and assessment and recording systems have been improved significantly to monitor and track pupils’ progress. A portfolio of samples of pupils’ work is being developed and some evaluation and moderation of pupils’ written work in Key Stage 1 have begun.

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ENGLISH

88. The quality of teaching is good in both key stages. It is good in nearly all lessons. One lesson was judged very good and one satisfactory. No teaching was unsatisfactory. Teachers have a good knowledge of the ‘literacy hour’ and prepare their work conscientiously and are clear about what they want pupils to learn. Teachers have high expectations of behaviour and in the best lessons the teacher makes it clear to pupils what is expected within a specific time. This is good and helps pupils to focus on the task. Pupils learn well and make good progress in lessons because they are interested and understand clearly what they have to do. They concentrate well both in class discussion and in carrying out individual tasks. In a Year 5 lesson the pupils were particularly helped to understand the differences in rhythm and patterns of poems through the teacher’s good questioning and use of resources, including an overhead projector, so that they

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ENGLISH

could read as a class. The pupils were fully involved in the reading, discussion and writing.

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ENGLISH

89. In the most effective lessons the teacher explains the purpose of the lesson to the pupils, leads a stimulating and probing discussion and sets individual tasks which stimulate pupils’ intellectual abilities and creativity. In these lessons the quality of learning is good. Lower-attaining pupils learn, for instance, how to change words such as ‘hop’ to ‘hopped’ when changing to the past tense. Teachers usually provide challenging tasks that require pupils to think carefully and deeply but they do not always have high enough expectations of the amount of writing pupils can achieve in a given time, nor do they sufficiently encourage ‘best quality’ work and the teaching of handwriting is insufficiently rigorous. Teachers keep up a brisk pace that helps sustain pupils’ interest and concentration and recap effectively on what pupils already know. Whilst the pupils Leen Mills Primary - 35 tried very hard to understand and persevere with the task to write a poem using metaphors in the

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ENGLISH

satisfactory lesson, this was too difficult for them and they made less progress than they should have done. In some classes the worksheets do not give pupils sufficient opportunity to write independently at any length. This does not allow pupils to practise what they have learnt about spelling and grammar in their own writing. Marking is sometimes good, informative comments are written to guide pupils and goals are set for pupils to achieve. However, not all work in all classes is marked in this way and there is no marking policy. Homework makes a satisfactory contribution, particularly to reading, but it could be used more effectively to further raise standards of literacy.

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ENGLISH

90. Teachers generally make effective use of the opportunities that arise in other subjects to extend pupils’ skills in reading and writing. In history, for example, they provide pupils with good opportunities to write accounts and imaginative stories and to research information from books and CD-ROMs. In design and technology pupils write evaluations and in science they write up their experiments. These opportunities provide pupils with experience of using this specific language. Information technology is used effectively in conjunction with literacy and pupils often use the computer to word-process their work.

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ENGLISH

91. The leadership and management of the subject are good and there is a strong commitment to high standards. The introduction of the National Literacy Strategy has been well managed and its implementation satisfactorily monitored. The school is beginning to monitor pupils’ progress effectively and to make more informed judgements of how to move the pupils forward. This is evident in the constructive use of the additional literacy support scheme and for the ‘booster’ classes for the pupils in Year 6 in which the teaching and learning are consistently good and sometimes very good.

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MATHEMATICS

92. Standards in mathematics for pupils in Year 6 are currently about average, while in Key Stage 1 pupils at the age of seven are attaining standards that are below the national average. In the national tests of 1998 and 1999 the performance of seven-year-olds was well below the national average. The performance of eleven-year-olds was average in 1998, but fell to well below the national average in 1999 and was very low compared with similar schools. The fact the attainment in National Curriculum tests has remained low for two years in Key Stage 1 in the context of pupils entering the school with average attainment in mathematics, shows that the school could be doing better in this area.

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MATHEMATICS

93. By the end of Year 6 standards are average. The improvement effected since last year’s tests is due to improved teaching and the introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy, which has had a beneficial impact on the variety of work that pupils undertake, standards and pupils’ achievements. Most pupils have succeeded in the four rules of number and can apply their knowledge of arithmetic to decimals, fractions, co-ordinates, area and graphical representation. Pupils’ achievements are well matched to their level of previous knowledge, in most cases. Higher attainers, for example, can now do long multiplication and division and have understood about all lines of symmetry in their work on shapes. They have also reached the higher levels of understanding in relation to their work on angles and geometry. Problem-solving is an aspect of mathematics in which standards are not as high as they should be. For example, in an otherwise

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MATHEMATICS

very well taught lesson in Year 6, pupils were expected to decide some strategies to find a multiplication pattern in a series of numbers. Most pupils, including the higher attainers, conducted their work on a trial and error basis without looking in advance for a reason behind what they were doing. This response shows a lack of previous experience in this work throughout the school.

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MATHEMATICS

94. Pupils’ achievements are satisfactory in Key Stage 2. The fact that there is a close relationship between testing, record keeping and lesson preparation throughout this key stage means that pupils are succeeding in a systematic fashion. They generally show very good attitudes in Leen Mills Primary - 36 lessons. They produce work at a good pace and take a real interest in the oral and mental part of the lesson, answering questions with enthusiasm.

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MATHEMATICS

95. Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 is below average. Pupils in Year 2 can add and subtract numbers over twenty and have begun to use their knowledge of addition, subtraction and multiplication to understand the processes of division. They can work out simple money problems and, beyond arithmetic, have a good knowledge of direction, angles and symmetry. The impact of the Numeracy Strategy can be seen in the fact that many pupils started the year at Level 1 and are now within the expected Level 2, but there are not enough pupils at or above the average expected level to guarantee that standards will be much higher than they were last year. There are still too many pupils at the lower levels. The achievements of the higher attainers are sometimes good. For example, they can use their knowledge of arithmetic to answer questions on division, but they are not consistently working within the higher levels. Pupils in the current

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MATHEMATICS

Year 1 are making good progress after leaving the reception class with no helpful records of their achievements in mathematics. As a result of lessons of the Numeracy Strategy, they are now very quick at mental arithmetic and can solve problems well using their knowledge of arithmetic. However, the higher attainers are not always challenged sufficiently well because the teacher has no accurate knowledge of what they can do already when starting new work. This means that some pupils could be doing more difficult work but are given tasks that they can already do with ease. For example, in money problems the class was giving change for 50 pence, when some pupils could already do problems involving pounds and pence in their heads.

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MATHEMATICS

96. It is not possible to draw firm conclusions about whether or not mathematics has or has not improved since the last inspection because national tests were not taken at that time. The key difference between this inspection and the last one is that the school has introduced the National Numeracy Strategy. This has been undertaken in a very systematic and thorough way and, although having been in place only since September 1999, is already achieving a good impact on standards, particularly in Key Stage 2.

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MATHEMATICS

97. The quality of teaching is good in Key Stage 2 and satisfactory in Key Stage 1. Teachers in both key stages have implemented the National Numeracy Strategy effectively and pupils are responding keenly to the lively lessons in which they are expected to juggle with numbers and talk about the way that they came up with their answer. In the Year 1 class, for example, pupils responded very well to the quick-fire work involving the number stick, cardboard buns, singing rhymes and money work, using real coins stuck to the sticky board at the front of the class. This sort of successful teaching is also found in Key Stage 2. In Year 5, for example, pupils were very involved in thinking about number and some higher attainers suggested answers which sent the whole class and the teacher back to first principles. The teacher handled this very well and a better understanding of arithmetic was achieved by the end of the session.

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MATHEMATICS

98. The teaching of pupils in Key Stage 2, in preparation for their National Curriculum tests, who are just below the expected level, is very good. Their class teacher is teaching these pupils in a ‘booster’ class for twelve weeks. The quality of this catch-up programme is very good and greatly enhanced by the supportive manner of the teaching that makes pupils want to improve in their skills.

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MATHEMATICS

99. Although there is no unsatisfactory teaching, there are weaknesses in some lessons. Group work is not always as successful as the introductory oral sessions. In some classes, teachers do not challenge the higher attainers sufficiently and in others there are too many activities going on at once to allow the teacher to draw out the teaching points and help every pupil to succeed. The tracking of pupils’ achievements and the setting of targets for further success are carried out in a more coherent way in Key Stage 2. This weakness in Key Stage 1 contributes to the lower standards, which have not yet been significantly influenced by the satisfactory teaching of the Numeracy Strategy. What is lacking is a clear idea of the levels reached by pupils at the end of the reception class and what individual pupils need to do if they are to achieve the best they can by the end of Key Stage 1. There is also no programme in place to help pupils in Year 2 to

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MATHEMATICS

achieve ambitious personal targets in the National Curriculum tests. The setting of appropriate Leen Mills Primary - 37 work for higher attainers and the final part of a lesson, when pupils gather round the teacher and discuss what they have learnt, are often relative weaknesses. There is not enough emphasis on the pupils themselves talking about how well they have done in relation to the original purpose of the lesson and occasionally this part of the lesson is missed entirely because the rest of the work over-runs. Under these circumstances, the pupils’ progress is hampered both by the limited demands made by the teacher and the lack of time to evaluate what has been achieved and what could be done to improve next time.

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MATHEMATICS

100. Arithmetic is satisfactorily practised in science, but there are not enough opportunities elsewhere, for example in design and technology. Where there are too few chances to reinforce or develop pupils’ skills in number throughout the curriculum it is because teachers have not planned to practise these elements of the National Numeracy Strategy in advance.

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MATHEMATICS

101. The subject is well managed by the co-ordinator. The National Numeracy Strategy has not only been very well introduced to teachers, but parents and governors have been well informed and as a result, support the work that is taking place. Teachers’ plans are analysed by the co-ordinator to make sure that pupils are receiving a comprehensive curriculum in keeping with the National Curriculum and the National Numeracy Strategy. The teaching is monitored well, but as yet no areas for improvement have been identified to help to improve lessons. A good variety of resources has been purchased by the co-ordinator and these are having a very good impact in lessons. The co-ordinator and the senior manager have analysed well the reasons why standards were low in 1999 in Key Stage 2 and have made sure that standards will be much improved in 2000. Low standards in Key Stage 1 have not been subjected to such close scrutiny.

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SCIENCE

102. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 is in line with national expectations. This is evident in the current Year 6 and is similar to findings at the last inspection, though there were no national tests results to consider at that time. Standards in last summer’s national assessment tests were well below the national average, when 63 per cent of pupils achieved the expected Level 4 or above. In comparison with those of similar schools, standards were well below average. The results were due to an above average proportion of pupils with special educational needs (30 per cent) in the year group concerned and overall standards were adversely affected as a result. In the 1998 tests, standards were in line with national averages. The current Year 6 class is benefiting from good teaching and approximately 80 per cent of pupils are achieving the nationally expected level currently. However, the proportion attaining the higher Level 5 is below the national

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SCIENCE

average. There is scope for standards to be higher.

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SCIENCE

103. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 is in line with national expectations. This is evident in the current Year 2. Teacher assessments indicate that 90 per cent of pupils are achieving the expected level or better but that only 10 per cent are achieving the higher Level 3, which is below the national average. In the 1998 teacher assessments, 80 per cent of pupils achieved the nationally expected Level 2 or above. In 1999, 75 per cent of pupils achieved the expected level, which was well below the national average of 87 per cent.

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SCIENCE

104. During Key Stage 1, the pupils make satisfactory progress. In Year 1, most pupils develop from copying the teacher’s account of investigations at the beginning of the year to writing their own sentences on what is happening. For example, higher-attaining and average pupils think of examples of using forces of pushing and pulling in the home. In an assessment of how much the pupils have learnt, these pupils show clear understanding of aspects such as our senses and ways of moving. Lower attainers and those with special educational needs are unable to use their own sentences and their understanding is rather muddled. For example, they can draw pictures to represent only some of the body’s senses. In Year 2, pupils develop the capacity to carry out an investigation, make a prediction, make a test fair and come to a conclusion. The pupils came to sensible conclusions when testing the rate at which ice melts in various parts of the classroom.

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SCIENCE

They predicted which car will travel faster down a slope and observed the size of the vehicles and the size of their wheels. When watching a pupil on his skateboard, higher attainers made Leen Mills Primary - 38 interesting comments on what forces are being used. One described how he changes direction on the board in this way: ‘You have to lift and drag to make the skateboard turn’. Higher and average-attaining pupils write a good list of instructions on how to ride a bicycle after they have watched one of the pupils ride. The pupils show real interest in their work and the standard of presentation in their workbooks is consistently good.

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SCIENCE

105. During Key Stage 2, progress is satisfactory. In Years 3 and 4, the pupils find out more about plants, materials and physical processes. In Year 3, all pupils gain an understanding of magnetism, so that all but the lowest attainers can tell why magnets attract and repel one another. They find out about friction and one average attainer writes, ‘Friction is when t(w)o sevess (surfaces) rub to gever (together)’. The pupils know important facts about healthy diets and about the function of different types of human teeth. In a Year 4 lesson on electricity, the pupils could describe which materials were good conductors and which were insulators. They predict and can explain which circuits will not light a bulb and they develop a good understanding of switches as they build one using card, foil and wiring. In Year 5, the pupils found out that light travels faster than sound when they watched a pupil bang a drum from across the other side of the playing

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SCIENCE

field. One lower attainer wrote, ‘the sound is slower than the light’. The pupils’ understanding of the solar system is appropriate for their age. However, some pupils display confusion about whether it is the sun or the moon that orbits the earth. In Year 6, progress is good and the pupils use technical terms with increasing accuracy, such as variable and evaporation. They develop a good awareness of reversible and non-reversible change. The pupils examine the effect on dissolving when variables are changed and they explain their findings well. Throughout the key stage, standards of presentation are good and the pupils have a keen interest in practical activities. Particularly evident in the lesson in Year 6 was the maturity with which the pupils tackled their investigations.

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SCIENCE

106. Since the last inspection, the school has introduced a scheme of work based on national guidelines. This was in response to a key issue and it has improved the structure of the work and helped the pupils to learn in a progressive manner. The school has introduced more effective assessment procedures including end-of-topic assessments. These help to track pupils’ progress and are particularly effective in Key Stage 2. Levels of resourcing have improved and are now satisfactory. These developments have made a positive impact on provision in science.

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SCIENCE

107. The quality of teaching is good, which is an improvement since the last inspection. Seventy-five per cent of lessons were good, there is good teaching in both key stages and there was no unsatisfactory teaching. Strong features in both key stages are the effectiveness of planning, how well the teachers manage the pupils and how they organise lessons. There is a good deal of investigative work in all year groups and the teachers are confident enough to ask open-ended questions. They encourage the use of technical terms well. The teachers support lower attainers and pupils with special educational needs by producing helpful worksheets that focus on developing the scientific concepts involved in the lesson, rather than focusing on the skills of reading or writing. In one lesson, the special needs support assistant helped a pupil to take a full part in the lesson by asking relevant questions, confirming his understanding. A good feature in a

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SCIENCE

number of classes is how constructively the teachers mark the pupils’ work, with helpful comments. As a result of these good features, the quality of learning is good in the majority of lessons. The pupils learn much by the hands-on opportunities there are and the pupils are expected to cover a good amount of work in lessons, which they do. For example, the pupils in Year 2 not only had the opportunity to observe the pupils travelling on bicycle and skateboard but they all produced work, some written, some using computer and some in the form of illustrations, of a good standard in the lesson. In some lessons the level of challenge in the work, particularly for higher attainers, could be better. This was evident in a Year 3 lesson where pupils designed a poster on food from plants.

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SCIENCE

108. Management of the subject is satisfactory overall and there are plans to improve assessment procedures further. Pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 will take optional standard assessment tasks next term for the first time and a new recording system is to be introduced next September. Leen Mills Primary - 39 Monitoring of teaching and of the performance of pupils in tests is under-developed and there is no portfolio of moderated work by pupils. There are plans to introduce both initiatives.

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ART

109. Attainment at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 is in line with what is typical of pupils aged seven and 11. These levels of achievement have been satisfactorily maintained since the school’s last inspection. Pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 are successful in producing pieces of work that result from research, sketches and various preliminary attempts. For example, in Year 6 pupils have been studying the Tudors in history and have produced some portraits of a high standard using pastels, fabric and other materials for the jewellery. The finished results are bold and colourful and show an imaginative response in the use of fabric and pastels. These pupils have also produced some very colourful batik depicting elements of their rainforest theme in geography. Standards throughout Key Stage 2 are satisfactory but work in Year 6 is more wide- ranging because these pupils have benefited from the additional influence of another teacher, who

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ART

takes the class while groups of pupils receive extra support for literacy and numeracy in ‘booster’ classes. Pupils in Year 5 have produced some imaginative illustrations of the poem, ‘Down behind the dustbin’ and Year 3 pupils have used polystyrene tiles well to produce printed images.

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ART

110. In Key Stage 1 pupils achieve satisfactory standards, mainly in drawing and painting, by using a range of tools and materials. In Year 2 pupils have produced some effective clay tiles related to their work in science on changing materials. They have successfully painted bridges in connection with their work on the Victorian engineer, Brunel. In Year 1 there are many examples of painting and drawing where pupils are learning useful techniques, such as adding white to colours. This has helped them to create their own versions of Van Gogh’s sunflowers, for example. This kind of investigative approach has led to some successful artwork using the computers. Pupils in Year 2 have studied a painting entitled ‘The Little Path’ by Hundertwasser and produced their response to this using some art software on the computer. The results are very striking and imaginative.

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ART

111. While standards have been maintained since the last inspection, there has been a reduction in the breadth of the curriculum in art, for example in textiles and printing, and levels of resourcing are not as plentiful as they were.

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ART

112. The teaching is satisfactory throughout the school. There are often occasions when teachers provide very exciting opportunities for the pupils and learning is greatly enhanced, causing the pupils to make good progress. On one such occasion some older pupils were taken to a local art centre to work with a professional artist. They produced watercolours that showed a high level of skill. Another example of good teaching in Key Stage 2 occurred when pupils carried out the familiar exercise of sketching their trainers, but then looked closely at one area of their sketch and produced an abstract picture from the patterns and shapes that they saw.

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ART

113. The weakest aspect of teaching is the planning for the development of skills over a longer period. Pupils do not progress as far as they could in any one area of art. For example, printing is begun in Key Stage 1 when pupils use objects found around the classroom, but there is no systematic development in printing over the years to enable pupils in Year 6 to choose, for instance, between polystyrene, lino and silk-screen printing. This lack of systematic development stems from the fact that the scheme of work has not been fully implemented and there are no methods of assessing how well pupils have done and what they might improve on next time. This lack of assessment is also evident in lessons where pupils are not sufficiently involved in assessing how well they have done and whether the choices they made were successful.

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ART

114. The subject is satisfactorily managed, but the scheme of work has been left to drift while the school spends more time on raising standards in literacy, numeracy and information technology. The school has appropriate plans to adopt and implement the new national scheme of work to be published shortly. The co-ordinator plans to make this new curriculum the vehicle with which skills are developed throughout the school. However, resources are also not as plentiful as they Leen Mills Primary - 40 were last time. The subject is now not sufficiently resourced to extend the curriculum once the new scheme of work has been adopted.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

115. One lesson was seen and this was in Key Stage 2. Judgements are based on talking to teachers and pupils, and looking at a limited sample of pupils’ work. Standards in Key Stage 1 are typical of pupils at the age of seven and progress is satisfactory. By the time pupils are 11 they have made insufficient progress and standards are below what would normally be seen. Standards are not as good as they were at the time of the previous inspection and provision, including the use of time and resources, is not as good. Less time is now devoted to the teaching of the subject and some classes have not yet completed a piece of work since September, although pupils have had an opportunity to bake as part of a small group. The long-term planning indicates that all aspects of the programme of study will be covered in the four-year cycle but it is not evident from teachers’ planning how pupils’ skills, knowledge and concepts are to be built upon

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

systematically. Pupils have not had opportunities to use a wide variety of tools and materials. Teachers’ planning of the major design and technology work for the year is not always sufficiently challenging for pupils and the time allocated per lesson to the work is overlong.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

116. At the end of Key Stage 1, pupils make a variety of puppets with moving limbs operated by paper fasteners, using a wide variety of materials and fastenings. Pupils plan their work well and can explain how to make their puppet. They evaluate its effectiveness and write about what problems they had and what they would do instead another time. Pupils make effective candleholders and decorate them appropriately. In Year 1 pupils plan successfully cards for Easter with simple card levers to make parts move. By Year 6 pupils have a satisfactory understanding of the design process and plan their work effectively. They know how to evaluate, for example, their quiz games using electrical circuits to light up correct answers, and have some ideas on how to improve their designs. Year 5 pupils write careful evaluations of their baking.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

117. The teaching in the one lesson seen was satisfactory. In this lesson the teacher was well organised and prepared and had a clear idea of what was to be achieved by pupils. However, the lesson time was too long and lacked challenge for the higher attainers. Because of the restricted time devoted to the subject, teaching is not having a sufficient impact to raise standards to a satisfactory level in Key Stage 2.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

118. Overall, management of the subject is unsatisfactory. The school has recently adopted the nationally recommended scheme of work and is in the process of implementing it. This is a sound development but the subject co-ordinator, who has recently taken over this responsibility and who is ‘minding’ it temporarily, does not yet have a clear idea of what is happening in Key Stage 2 and has had no chance to monitor the quality of provision. The school does not have sufficient tools and materials for work in this subject.

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GEOGRAPHY

119. Very few geography lessons were timetabled during the inspection; therefore judgements are largely based on those which could be seen, a scrutiny of pupils’ work and discussions with the co-ordinator and pupils. Attainment is in line with what might be typical for pupils in this age range and progress is satisfactory in both key stages. Pupils with special educational needs make good progress and achieve standards appropriate to their abilities.

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GEOGRAPHY

120. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils are able to use information about the seasons and the weather and identify where this is significantly different from that which they experience. Year 2 pupils know the points of the compass and the importance of orientating their maps correctly. They demonstrate well their acquisition of geographical vocabulary linked to maps and can explain how a key is used. Leen Mills Primary - 41 121. In Key Stage 2, pupils are building on their earlier knowledge of weather and are learning about the range of instruments used to collect weather data. Using weather symbols, they have compiled daily weather charts over a period of weeks. They know about conditions in Antarctica and compare them to a hot desert climate. Study of the water cycle contributes to their understanding and enhances their vocabulary. They learn about the rain shadow, evaporation and prevailing winds. Pupils in Year 4 can compare the similarities and differences between

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GEOGRAPHY

Pampegrande (a Peruvian village) and Hucknall. Helped by good teaching they gain a knowledge and understanding of life in different locations in contrast to their own country. Using secondary sources of evidence to inform their work, they develop sound skills of enquiry. Pupils in Year 5 know about air pollution, forestation, land use, transport and re-cycling. Their responses show that they are beginning to understand environmental issues and ways in which the environment can be managed. In Year 6, mapping skills are developed further and pupils are able to work out distances and compass points between cities in the United Kingdom and beyond. By the end of the key stage, pupils are able to make comparisons between the physical and human features of different locations and can offer explanations for some of these. They appreciate how people can both improve and damage the environment. They recognise how the features of places can affect

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GEOGRAPHY

the lives of people there. They make sound progress through the topics selected. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good in both key stages. They ask pertinent questions, their concentration is good, they listen to the opinions of others and some show confidence in sharing theirs.

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GEOGRAPHY

122. Since the last inspection, there have been few changes to provision and standards have been maintained.

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GEOGRAPHY

123. In the lessons observed teaching was good. Teachers promote a sense of responsibility, independence and confidence by allocating a variety of tasks. Appropriate individual help is given and tasks are well matched to the needs of the pupils. Teachers involve pupils in useful self-assessment in both key stages, helping pupils to review what they have learned. Their confidence as learners is promoted by teachers’ skilful questioning. Good use is made of additional adults in the classroom.

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GEOGRAPHY

124. The recently appointed co-ordinator has a clear development plan for the subject which includes the establishment of a portfolio of pupils’ work, moderated to aid assessment. There is a policy and school framework underpinned by the nationally produced scheme of work. The latter will be fully implemented by September 2000. Good use is made of visits and pupils in Year 2 had clearly benefited from their visit to Brackenhirst. There is good resourcing for the subject and a resource audit has just been completed.

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HISTORY

125. Only a little direct teaching of history in each key stage could be observed during the inspection because of the constraints of the timetable. Judgements are based on those lessons seen, talking to pupils, scrutiny of work in books and on display and discussion with teachers and the co- ordinator. It is clear from these that, as at the last inspection, attainment is in line with what is usually seen in pupils aged seven and 11 and progress is satisfactory at both key stages. Pupils with special educational needs in both key stages make good progress and achieve standards appropriate to their abilities.

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HISTORY

126. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils have made sound progress in their learning. They gain knowledge of important figures in history such as Pasteur, Fleming, Brunel and Stephenson. They learn to appreciate how work associated with these names has changed our lives. They are beginning to understand why people in the past acted as they did and they are developing a sense of chronology by ordering events on a time-line. Useful cross-curricular links are made when appropriate. In a Year 1 lesson, pupils recollected the journey linked to geography made by the little bear who accompanied children on holiday, before learning about Scott’s journey ninety years ago to the South Pole. They made sound comparisons of exploration today and in the past, using evidence from a recent newspaper relating to a Nottinghamshire couple’s journey to the South Pole. Leen Mills Primary - 42 127. Progress continues to be satisfactory in Key Stage 2. Concentration on time-lines throughout the

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HISTORY

classes ensures that pupils are developing a good sense of chronology. Higher and average- attaining pupils understand that the past is divided into historical periods. Throughout the key stage, pupils are able to compare life today with the period they are studying, identifying differences and similarities. In a Year 6 lesson in which they investigated aspects of Tudor life, the pupils selected and combined information from a range of sources such as books, artefacts, CD-ROMs, the Internet and a video recording. This use of information technology enhances pupils’ research skills and increases their motivation. With timely help from the teacher, such research develops their skills and broadens their understanding of the past. Higher-attaining pupils can select and organise information well to produce good work. In well-structured paragraphs, these pupils show a good knowledge of events in the reign of Henry VIII. Pupils in

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HISTORY

Year 4, looking at life from 1930 onwards, produce good written work demonstrating some empathy with the period. They write home as evacuees and describe sheltering in an Anderson shelter during an air raid. Pupils use their independent research skills to look at fashion in the seventies and music in the sixties. Year 5 pupils make considered judgements about the living conditions of the rich and the poor in Victorian times. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good in both key stages. Pupils are eager to respond and show what they know. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils approach tasks confidently, selecting and combining information from a variety of sources with a degree of competency. They show initiative and responsibility in their use of resources. In group work, they respect each other’s views.

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HISTORY

128. Since the last inspection, standards have been maintained and levels of resourcing improved. Resources have been purchased since the last inspection and include video-recordings and CD- ROMs.

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HISTORY

129. The quality of teaching in both key stages is good. Teachers have a secure knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject. There are very good relationships amongst pupils and between pupils and teachers based on mutual respect. Good opportunities are provided in Key Stage 2 for pupils to co-operate in their work and they respond well to this. Lessons are organised effectively and skilful questioning establishes what pupils know and understand and challenges their thinking. A particular strength is that pupils are encouraged to empathise with others, as in their writing relating to the Second World War. Teachers give clear explanations and use good quality resources imaginatively. A visit to Wollaton Hall, a Tudor mansion, greatly enhanced the learning of pupils in Year 6. Photographs on display and their own writing about the visit indicate that the pupils have had the opportunity to dress as Tudors, eat a Tudor meal, write with quill

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HISTORY

pens, learn Tudor dances and make courtly bows and curtsies. Written work through the key stage enhances the development of specific vocabulary. Letter-writing and independent research contribute effectively to writing across the curriculum. Teaching is promoting well the development of pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding and the quality of learning is good.

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HISTORY

130. There is a policy and school framework underpinned by the nationally produced scheme of work. The latter will be implemented fully in September 2000. The co-ordinator has recently been appointed. She has clear plans for the subject including the establishment of a portfolio of pupils’ work moderated to aid in assessment. Tudor costumes hired for the Year 6 topic greatly enhanced the pupils’ study, allowing them to make direct comparisons of materials and styles between clothes for the rich and those for the poor. Imaginative use of such resources and visits is having a positive impact on pupils’ understanding of history.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

131. Pupils’ attainment at the end of both key stages is in line with what is expected of pupils at the age of seven and 11 and this is an improvement since the last inspection.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

132. During Key Stage 1, the pupils make satisfactory progress and develop good skills with the mouse and use computers to reinforce their learning in a number of subjects. They use programs well to develop skills of spelling and number. For example, in Year 1, the pupils insert the correct Leen Mills Primary - 43 domino in calculations and they play an adventure game which involves addition. They use keyboard skills effectively to write lists of words containing similar consonant and vowel blends. In Year 2, they write up short accounts of famous people such Brunel, Stephenson and Henry Ford. Pupils wrote an account of their recent out-of-school visit using their word-processing skills. They can use the shift and delete keys well and move the cursor on the line. The pupils produce interesting pictures in the style of artists such as Hundertwasser and Mondrian, using an art program, and they are able to give instructions to a programmable toy. They successfully

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

move the toy a given number of steps forward and back and can turn it. All pupils use listening centres well. They have good attitudes to the subject.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

133. During Key Stage 2, the pupils continue to make satisfactory progress. They have many opportunities to develop skills of word-processing. They know how to change the type and size of font, they add colour to captions and know how to import pictures and text into their work. In Year 3, the pupils include attractive borders for their Millennium Prayer. In Year 4, the pupils can copy and paste images to build up ‘pop art’ pictures. There are opportunities to use data- handling programs and in Year 3, for example, the pupils create a database successfully in a scientific topic on saving energy in the home. In Year 5, pupils create graphs on favourite pets. The pupils find out information for topic work in history, for example, on the Vikings and the Tudors, and in geography, for example, on the rainforests, using good quality CD-ROMs. The pupils use skills of control and modelling to find their way through simulations and adventures.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

By Year 5, the pupils have begun to explore the Internet. They know how to log on and use a search engine to find information from web sites relevant to their studies. For example, pupils in Year 6 sought information about Tudor dress on the Internet and others were using CD-ROMs to research entertainment in Tudor times. The pupils have learnt how to save and print their work by the end of the key stage.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

134. The school has made good progress since the last inspection, raising standards in the subject as required by the key issue for action. Provision has improved and all classes have access to computers of good quality. A nationally recommended scheme of work has been introduced so that skills are taught progressively and teachers have improved their expertise in the subject through training. The school has made good use of special funding to improve provision, which now includes the networking of some computers in upper Key Stage 2 and access to the Internet.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

135. Only one lesson of direct teaching was observed during the inspection and the teaching in that lesson in Year 1, involving teaching pupils about classification to improve skills of data- handling, was good. Teaching overall is at least satisfactory, as was evident in the quality of support the teachers gave to small groups of pupils working on computers. The teachers make good use of skills of word-processing and desktop publishing to enhance the pupils’ work. Good examples of these skills were on display around school. For example, the pupils in Year 6 produced work of a very high standard on biography and autobiography in English. The subject also makes a good contribution to subjects such as history and geography but there is scope for developing its use in mathematics and science.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

136. Leadership by the subject co-ordinator is good and the school has detailed plans to develop the subject further, including the establishment of a computer suite. However, monitoring of the provision in classrooms and of pupils’ performance is unsatisfactory and there are no procedures to assess what the pupils know and can do in the subject.

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MUSIC

137. Pupils’ attainment by the end of Key Stage 2 is in line with that typical of 11-year-olds and some pupils’ attainment is above this level. It was not possible to form a judgement about attainment in Key Stage 1 because no lessons were observed.

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MUSIC

138. Pupils in Key Stage 2 sing tunefully and are skilful singing in two, three and four parts. Pupils in Year 4 can compose rhythmic patterns and build them into a sequence, using percussion instruments. They are able to use traditional notation to write down their compositions and all Leen Mills Primary - 44 pupils can follow a conductor to perform their pieces to a satisfactory standard. By Year 6, the pupils are able to compose using pitched instruments and generate a melody as well as rhythm and beat. They can evaluate each other’s performance and suggest improvements. Pupils learning to play individual instruments make a good contribution to these performances. The pupils become aware of a variety of musical styles and listen to music from other cultures, for example when pupils in Year 3 followed the musical ‘Story of Kenya’. Most pupils behave well and put effort into their group-playing. In group-singing, the pupils listen well and respond readily to

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MUSIC

139. There have been few changes since the last inspection. Standards and provision have been maintained since the last inspection. The planning for the subject has been developed so that skills are taught in a progressive manner.

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MUSIC

140. Only two lessons were observed during the week of inspection. Both were in Key Stage 2. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall and has good features. The teachers manage the pupils well and make effective use of taped resources to support the work. Singing is taught well. Pupils have the opportunity to learn individual instruments and their skills are used in lessons and assemblies but little use is made of new technology to take the learning further.

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MUSIC

141. The subject co-ordinator is planning to introduce the nationally recommended scheme of work, which is to be published shortly. Good use is made of the music room to teach lessons and resources, which are satisfactory in quantity and quality, are used well in lessons.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

142. Standards in physical education by the end of Key Stage 2 are in line with what is typical of pupils aged 11. They are above average in hockey. Standards in swimming are good and the majority of pupils successfully reach the expected levels of performance by the time they are 11 and many exceed them. Standards are slightly better than at the time of the previous inspection. In Key Stage 1 the programme includes gymnastics, dance, parachute activities and other games, as well as swimming and orienteering. To these are added, in Key Stage 2, athletics and outdoor adventurous activities. During the inspection, lessons were observed only in dance, athletics and games.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

143. Pupils in Year 1 show a good sense of space, using the whole area of the hall well. They know that exercise raises their heart rates and the need to warm up their bodies. They ‘slither like snakes’ and ‘waddle like penguins’ with an entertaining level of gesture in their dance and respond well to the music.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

144. At the beginning of Key Stage 2, pupils strive to perform to the limit of their capability in their line-dancing, particularly the lower-attaining pupils who find it difficult to perform the ‘grapevine’ step fast enough to keep up with the music. Pupils in Year 4 and Year 5 practise holding the hockey stick correctly and using it effectively in their dribbling, dodging and hitting skills. They work hard to improve the quality of their work and concentrate intently. Year 6 pupils demonstrate a good ability to throw the ball from a sitting position to develop skills for playing basketball and learn how to throw a rubber javelin an acceptable distance with practice. They show a good level of co-operation when working in small groups, for example, in the long jump, recording and attempting to beat previous performances in preparation for being picked to represent the school in a local competition. One group of pupils worked particularly diligently

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

jumping over a small obstacle repeatedly and showed great perseverance, enthusiasm and effort.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

145. There has been much change since the last inspection. The co-ordinator has produced a good scheme of work and a very clear overall plan of the programme of study. A notice board is now available for parents and pupils to see what events in physical education are taking place both in school and locally. The resources are now good and are well stored and accessible, which is an improvement. The co-ordination of the subject is good and the level of in-school and after-school coaching in different sports such as football, cricket and rugby has improved. Leen Mills Primary - 45 146. The teaching is usually good. In one lesson it was very good and in another it was satisfactory. Lessons are well planned to include a ‘warm up’ activity, which enables pupils to undertake vigorous activity and to note the effect this has on their bodies. Teachers are consistently well organised, give clear instructions and give plenty of opportunities for pupils to practise and

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

improve their skills. They use pupils well to demonstrate skills and often join in themselves, as in a Year 1 dance lesson. This helped the pupils model their actions and improve their movements. Teachers are often very knowledgeable about the subject and give good advice, explanations and coaching tips, particularly in the hockey lesson in Year 5 and athletics lesson in Year 6. This good level of teaching helps pupils to really improve and make good progress. Teachers usually keep a good pace to the lessons even though the time devoted to lessons is often overlong. In one lesson the teacher spent too long practising a line-dance sequence.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

147. There are satisfactory opportunities for pupils to increase their skills in extra-curricular clubs and activities. These vary according to the season but include football, cricket, rugby and basketball. The school often engages specialist coaching in these sports in school time as well. Some activities such as karate are taught and paid for by the parents. Often these activities are subsidised by the school. The school takes part in friendly matches and tournaments with other local schools.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

148. Standards in religious education in both key stages are in line with the requirements of the locally agreed syllabus. The subject makes a good contribution to the personal, social, cultural and spiritual development of the pupils. Pupils, including those with special educational needs, make satisfactory progress in both key stages.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

149. In Year 1 pupils have visited Linby Church and their displayed work shows that they have considered the significance of Christian symbols. Pupils in Year 2 demonstrate their knowledge of Buddhism. They recall Buddha’s eight-fold path and make a link with their assembly on caring and happiness. They understand that people in society belong to different religious groups. Pupils in Year 2 finished a lesson with a few moments of quiet reflection, making a good contribution to their spiritual development.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

150. Throughout Key Stage 2, pupils’ work shows satisfactory encounters with other faiths. They understand the differences and similarities between such festivals as Christmas, Diwali and Hanukkah. Pupils in Year 4 link their making of personal rules to the significance of the Torah in the Jewish faith. Work in Year 5 continues to enhance pupils’ experience of the diversity of faiths in their study of Hinduism and they make appropriate comparisons between this and Christianity. Year 6 pupils have considered the significance of prayer and they write sensitively their own for special occasions. Sensitive work was seen in Harvest, Christmas and Millennium prayers. Attitudes to learning are good in both key stages. Where there is written work, particularly in Key Stage 2, pupils take pride in its presentation. They can work sensibly and independently. They make confident and clear responses to their teachers’ questions. They recollect well and make

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

good connections with previous learning. Discussions with Year 5 pupils confirmed that they enjoy learning about different religions.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

151. Since the last inspection, standards have been maintained and provision, including resources, has been improved.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

152. Teaching in the lessons seen was satisfactory or good. Teachers have satisfactory knowledge. Sound planning based on the agreed syllabus identifies in the scheme of work the areas of focus for each term. Teachers promote pupils’ learning by questions which challenge and encourage pupils to think for themselves. Teachers use a variety of strategies effectively to present religious education and much of the work is learnt appropriately through discussion and the examination of artefacts linked to the specific religion. This results in good opportunities for speaking and Leen Mills Primary - 46 listening and effectively supports pupils, including those with special educational needs. Teachers create an atmosphere which encourages pupils to learn and question.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

153. The leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory. The school has improved on the provision identified at the last inspection. There is now a range of artefacts to support each of the five faiths studied. Loaned resources from the Library Service usefully supplement these. These resources are effective in promoting pupils’ interest and understanding of the subject and in developing their cultural awareness.

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