Mossford Green Primary School

MOSSFORD GREEN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 30 April - 3 May 2001

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MOSSFORD GREEN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Full inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 Mossford Green Primary School - 2

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Fairlop Road Barkingside Ilford Essex Postcode: IG6 2EW

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The Governing Body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 10 March 1997 Mossford Green Primary School - 3

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responsibilities

23583 Peter Kerr Registered inspector Mathematics Design and technology How high are Standards? The school’s results and pupils’ achievements. How well are pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? 9519 Sue Pritchard Lay inspector How high are standards? Pupils’ attitudes, behaviour and personal development How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 23413 Robert Allen Team inspector Special Educational Needs English History Religious education 15028 Janet Dye Team inspector The Foundation Stage Art and design Music Equal opportunities How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils?

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responsibilities

8696 Abul Maula Team inspector Science Information technology Geography Physical education English as an additional language Mossford Green Primary School - 4 The inspection contractor was:

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responsibilities

Cambridge Education Associates Ltd Demeter House Station Road Cambridge CB1 2RS

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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 Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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responsibilities

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Mossford Green Primary School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6 - 9

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? 10 - 14

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

This is a bigger than average community primary school with 274 children on roll aged three to 11, with slightly more girls than boys. The nursery caters for 26 children each morning and afternoon, and most of these transfer to the school during the term in which they reach five years of age. About one in five of the children are from ethnic minority backgrounds. Forty-seven children speak a language other than English at home and 17 of these are in the early stages of learning English. This is more than in many schools. There are 61 the children on the register of special educational needs, mostly for learning or behavioural difficulties. Four children have a statement of special educational needs. These are average figures. The children’s social and economic circumstances are broadly average and 16 per cent are eligible for free school meals. There have been very many staff changes in recent years. The school

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

aims to give the children an understanding of different cultures and ways of life as well as encourage lively and enquiring minds.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a good school that enables the children to learn well through good teaching overall, although the quality of teaching in some classes is not as good as it should be. The children achieve average standards in English and science by the time they leave, but standards remain below average in mathematics and lower in reading than in writing. The children achieve well generally. They are well behaved and have very good attitudes to learning. The school is well led and managed, and gives good value for money.

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What the school does well

• The children are keen to learn and constantly try to improve. • The school fosters very good relationships and good moral and social development. • The children are taught well overall, with some very good and excellent teaching. • Good provision is made for children with special educational needs. • The school is well led and managed by the headteacher and key staff, with good support from the governors. • The school buildings and grounds provide a pleasant and welcoming environment that encourages learning.

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What could be improved

• Standards in reading and mathematics are not as high as they should be. • The quality of teaching in some lessons is too low. • Lessons do not consistently cater for the full range of attainment in each class. • The subject co-ordinators are not sufficiently involved in evaluating and improving teaching and learning in their subjects. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The last inspection was on 10th March 1997. Since then, substantial improvements have been made to the way the school is led and managed. The physical appearance of the school and levels of resources have been greatly improved and this has helped to raise the morale of the staff and the attitudes of the children. Expectations have been increased, leading to higher standards of teaching and learning, though the quality of teaching is still not good enough in some classes. The school has worked hard to address the key issues that were raised. The curriculum is much better organised and lessons are generally planned more effectively, but there is still insufficient challenge for higher attaining children in some lessons. Subject co-ordinators have a more secure understanding of their role, but are still not sufficiently involved in the direct monitoring of their subjects. Mossford Green Primary School - 7

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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 D C C C well above average above average A B Mathematics C C E E average below average C D Science E E C C well below average E

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Key

Test results have improved over the past three years in English and science but not in mathematics. The poor results in mathematics in 2000 are partly due to the fact that different co-ordinators have managed the subject for short periods of time. Considering the large number of staff changes in recent years, the school has done well to maintain average standards overall compared to similar schools. 1 The school’s results in the national tests for seven year olds were average in mathematics, but below average in writing and well below average in reading. However, the inspection found that standards are improving and are now in line with expectations in all subjects. Standards in speaking and listening and in writing are higher than in reading by the age of eleven. The school realises the need to improve standards in reading and mathematics. The school met its targets in English in 2000, but not in mathematics. The

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Key

targets for 2001 are lower in both subjects to take into account the children with below average attainment that have joined the school during the year. However, they are still ambitious at 65 per cent Level 4 or above. Standards in all other subjects are in line with expectations throughout the school. The majority of children achieve well, including those with special educational needs and those who are learning English as an additional language. However, some children in the early stages of learning English do not yet achieve so well. Some children with high attainment are not achieving as well as they should because they are not challenged enough.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school The children are very keen to learn. They work hard and do their best.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Behaviour is good, both in lessons and around the school. The children are very well-mannered. Bullying is not a problem. The very rare exclusions are temporary.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships The children form friendly and supportive relationships with each other, and with the staff and visitors. They accept responsibility gladly and work independently when given the chance.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Attendance is satisfactory but punctuality could be improved.

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Aspect Comment

The children’s very positive attitudes to school enable lessons to proceed smoothly. The children get the most out of effective teaching because they are very willing to accept challenges and think for themselves. Some children lose out because they do not arrive at school on time.

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Aspect Comment

1 A similar school is one that has a similar percentage of children eligible for free school meals, in this case, between eight and 20 per cent. Mossford Green Primary School - 8

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

Lessons seen overall Good Good Satisfactory 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 overall, enabling the children to achieve well over their time at the school. Of the lessons seen, 91 per cent were satisfactory or better, 54 per cent good or better and 17 per cent very good or better. Teaching reached an excellent standard in five per cent of lessons, and was unsatisfactory in nine per cent. Teaching in the Foundation Stage 2 is of good quality and prepares the children well for the National Curriculum. In the infant classes, most lessons were good or better, and about one in three lessons were very good or excellent. In the juniors, the quality varied from excellent to unsatisfactory, but only about four lessons in ten were good or better. The most effective teaching in the juniors is in the Year 5 / Year 6 classes, where some very good and excellent lessons were observed. Some of the teaching in the lower juniors lacks a clear purpose and is poorly organised,

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

leading to slow progress. In nearly all of the lessons seen, the teachers enjoyed very good relationships with the children, who worked hard and showed enthusiasm. Lessons are planned carefully to ensure coverage of the National Curriculum in each subject, but do not always cater for all attainment levels. Children with special educational needs make good progress because they are given work to suit their abilities and are well supported in lessons. Children for whom English is a second language are also taught well and generally make good progress. However, some in the early stages of learning English do not have enough of the very good specialist support to take full advantage of all lessons. The basic skills of literacy (reading and writing) are taught well in English lessons but are not developed sufficiently in other subjects. The teaching of numeracy (mathematics) is satisfactory. The quality of teaching in

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

information and communication technology has improved greatly since the appointment of a new co- ordinator, enabling the children to begin catching up on computer skills. Physical education (PE) and science are taught well. Teaching in other subjects is satisfactory.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory. All the National Curriculum subjects and religious education are taught, with sufficient balance between subjects.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good. The co-ordinator ensures that the children have good quality learning targets and good support with their work.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Good. These children are fully integrated into lessons. The specialist teacher provides good support for those most in need, but is not full time, so some children make slow progress in some lessons without this help.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Good overall. Good for moral and social. Satisfactory for spiritual and cultural. The school rules are explained well and accepted. Very good social relationships are fostered and children are encouraged to take responsibility.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Good procedures are in place for child protection and for ensuring the children’s welfare; their personal development is well supported. Parents have positive views of the school and give their children good support. Links with parents, including the quality of information they receive, are satisfactory.

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Aspect Comment

2 The Foundation Stage covers nursery and reception classes and replaces the “Areas of Learning for the Under Fives”. Mossford Green Primary School - 9

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and manage- ment by the headteacher and other key staff Good. The headteacher provides good educational direction. She receives very good support from the senior management team and from most individual members of staff with managerial responsibilities.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Good. The governing body ensures that all legal requirements are met. They are very supportive of the headteacher and know the school well.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Good. The school reflects on its performance and is fully aware of areas in which improvements are needed.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Good. The governing body ensures that spending is closely linked to the school’s educational priorities.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s accommodation is spacious and attractive and promotes learning. The headteacher has given a good lead in improving the quality of the learning environment and this has helped to raise morale. Staffing levels are good. There are adequate resources for most subjects and good resources for English and mathematics. The governors play a key role in supporting the headteacher and in ensuring that the best value is achieved from the school’s budget.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• The children like school and behave well. • The school is approachable. • Teaching is good. The children are expected to work hard and they make good progress. • The school helps the children to become mature and responsible. • The range of activities offered outside lessons.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The parents’ views are very positive. The inspection team agrees with them and found that a satisfactory range of activities is provided outside lessons. Some parents expressed concern about the mixed age classes, but the school can do little about this within its budget. Mossford Green Primary School - 10

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1. Children begin Year 1 having achieved most of the early learning goals during their time in the nursery and reception classes. However, their attainment in the formal aspects of English (literacy) and mathematics (numeracy) is below average. This illustrates the changing nature of the school’s intake over the years. At the time of the last inspection, attainment on entry to the school was above average.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2. In the nursery and reception classes, the children make good progress in all the different areas of learning and achieve well compared to their starting points. The environment encourages them to talk, listen, make choices and co-operate with each other so that they become social and independent learners. Their personal skills, such as changing for physical education lessons, are well developed and they relate well to their friends and the adults they work with. They have good creative ideas in music and art and produce work that reflects their individuality. Their knowledge and understanding of the world about them is in line with expectations, including their skills on the computer. However, a shortage of resources in some areas, for example for role-play and construction, impedes their progress in this area. They have expected physical skills, both with small equipment and tools such as scissors in the classroom and with larger equipment

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

outdoors. Their speaking and listening abilities are in line with expectations, but their reading and writing skills are below the expected outcomes for this stage. In mathematics, the children have a sound understanding of shapes, patterns and other mathematical ideas for their age, but do not achieve all the early learning goals related to numbers, for example simple addition. Children with special educational needs and those who are learning English as an additional language receive good support and achieve as well as the other children in the class. There are no noticeable differences in achievement between boys and girls.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3. The numbers of children taking the national tests for seven and eleven year olds varies greatly from year to year. The number of children with special educational needs also changes. For these reasons, the trends in the test results cannot be taken on their own as a measure of the school’s performance. However, the results are useful indicators of relative strengths and weaknesses in particular subject areas. In 2000, the main feature of the test results was a significant drop in the percentage of children achieving the required standard in mathematics, compared to English and science. The inspection found that standards are lower in mathematics, but not by the margin indicated by these test results. The targets for 11 year olds to achieve in 2001 have been reduced to take account of the number of children with low attainment who joined this year group recently. There is also an above average number of children with special

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

educational needs in this year group. Although the results will be below average this year, indications are that after that, the trend will be upwards.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4. The school’s results in the tests for seven year olds in 2000 were below average in writing and well below average in reading, with a falling trend from 1998 to 2000. However, there have been substantial changes to the organisation and teaching of the subject recently, and these are having a very positive impact on the children’s rate of learning. The inspection found that the declining trend in standards for seven year olds has been reversed. Although the children’s attainment in reading and writing is still below average, it is not well below, indicating an improved prospect in this year’s tests. However, reading is still a weaker area than writing. Standards in speaking and listening at this stage are good because of enthusiastic and thoughtful teaching that gives the children confidence and encourages them to develop and use their skills.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5. By the age of 11, the children’s test results in English are very similar to the national average, but this disguises some differences between reading and writing skills. Reading is also weaker than writing at this stage. The average attaining children do not read aloud very confidently or with much expression, and do not read very widely. The school recognises this and agrees that it needs to encourage the children to read more widely for pleasure and information in order to Mossford Green Primary School - 11 develop their skills more fully throughout the school.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6. In mathematics, the children make satisfactory progress overall. In Key Stage 1, they make good progress and do well in the national tests for seven year olds. In 2000, the school’s results in the tests for eleven year olds were well below average. This followed a period of improving results. The inspection found that this year there is a spread of attainment, but there are a lot of children with special educational needs and low attainment. This means that the test results are likely to be below average again, if not well below. As in 2000, the results are likely to be further depressed by the under-performance of some higher attaining children. Some of these are capable of achieving Level 5, but are not progressing towards this target because of relatively undemanding teaching.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

7. The school-based assessments for seven year olds in science were very low in 2000. However, the inspection found that standards this year are in line with expectations – an improvement on the last inspection. The school’s results in the 2000 tests for 11 year olds in science were average. The inspection found that standards this year in science are also in line with expectations at this stage. Children with special educational needs and those who are learning English as an additional language do not achieve as well as the other children in terms of the written recording of what they have learned, but other aspects of their work are on a par with the rest.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

8. There are no significant differences between the test results for boys and girls. Girls perform better than boys in some years, and the reverse occurs in others. The inspection found no difference in achievement between the two genders. This reflects the balanced teaching that ensures equality of opportunity to all children and equal attention from the teacher where possible in accordance with the school’s equal opportunities and inclusion policies.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

9. Compared to similar schools, the school’s results were well below average in the tests for seven year olds in reading and writing and average in mathematics. In the tests for 11 year olds, the results were in line with similar schools in English and science, but well below them in mathematics. However, if the school’s results for 11 year olds are compared with those schools that achieved similar results for seven year olds in 1996, the picture is much better. The English results were well above those of such schools, the science results above and the mathematics results below average rather than well below. This indicates that the school had added more value in English and science to the pupils' results but less in mathematics.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

10. Standards in art and design are in line with expectations at the ages of seven and 11, but lower than at the last inspection, when they were above expectations at both stages. The children develop appropriate techniques but do not have enough opportunities to express themselves creatively. In design and technology, standards are also in line with expectations, which is an improvement since the last inspection for eleven year olds. However, there is little evidence of the children improving their designs. In geography, standards are in line with expectations throughout, while at the last inspection they were judged above average by the age of 11. Map reading skills are good in both key stages. There was insufficient evidence to judge standards in history, but it was noted that much of the written work was copied, limiting the contribution the subject makes to the development of the children’s writing and research skills.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

11. Standards have improved considerably since the last inspection in information and communication technology. The children’s computer skills are now in line with expectations, with examples of good work in animation. There are still a few gaps in the curriculum, but good progress is being made in catching up in all areas. Standards in music are not as high as they were at the last inspection, but are in line with expectations. In PE, satisfactory standards have been maintained throughout the school, with the children developing team game skills in line with expectations for their age and learning to swim before they leave the school. In religious education, there has been an improvement in standards at Key Stage 1, which now exceed the expectations of the “locally Agreed Syllabus” 3 . By the age of eleven, children continue to meet the expectations of

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3 The government requires local authority schools to teach religious education according to an Agreed Mossford Green Primary School - 12 the syllabus.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

12. Overall, the children achieve well relative to their abilities. Higher attaining children sometimes make less progress than the other children in the class, however. This is because lessons are not yet planned on the basis of what the children already know and understand. The improvements that have been made to the planning of the curriculum ensure that all the children cover all the subjects, but not necessarily learning skills at the appropriate rate. In English, for example, the children do not have opportunities to speak in formal situations, their reading skills are not extended and other subjects are not used to enable them to improve their writing. In mathematics and science, there are too few examples of higher attaining children being set more challenging investigations or experiments than others in the class. In art and music lessons, there was little evidence of talented or gifted children being able to express and extend

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

themselves because all the children were being set the same tasks.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

13. Children with special educational needs make good progress in both key stages. While their attainment levels may be lower than those of other pupils, their achievement relative to their ability is usually good. This is as a result of teachers' well-informed knowledge of their needs and the additional support they receive. The individual educational plans that many of these children follow are of good quality and ensure that the children stay on a steady course of improvement.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

14. There is good quality support for those children for whom English is not their first language. However, it is not always there, and in some subject areas, for example the recording of science experiments, this affects their progress and achievements. Nevertheless, overall, these children achieve well along with their peers. There was no evidence of any under-achievement by any of the minority ethnic groups in the school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

15. The children’s attitudes and their relationships in school are very good and have been maintained as a strength of the school since its last inspection. Children behave well and make good progress in their personal development. The attendance of children is satisfactory but their punctuality could be improved.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

16. Children are keen to come to school and speak about it with evident pride. Many show the self- discipline and self-confidence necessary to reach the higher levels of attainment. They work hard and try hard to please. Lessons proceed at a good pace because very little teaching time is wasted on disciplinary matters. Children set about their work with a great deal of interest and enthusiasm whatever the level of challenge it presents and this is very beneficial to the rate of teaching and learning. Instances of children losing concentration and employing time wasting tactics are unusual. They arise on the few occasions where a lack of clear purpose to the lesson and control from the teacher leads to children failing to understand what is expected of them. In these circumstances they learn little.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

17. Children with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language, respond particularly well when the work is explained to them in an enthusiastic and lively manner, well matched to their ability yet suitably challenging. All children respond more readily and positively when they are clear about the purpose of their learning. This was evident in a lower set mathematics lesson, where the questions they had to tackle were based on numerical problems and calculations they would commonly encounter. Because they were able to solve problems by relating them to their own experiences, their confidence was boosted and they began to enjoy the work more.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

18. The school very successfully promotes a climate of co-operation and friendliness amongst children including the few who at times have found it hard to sustain positive relationships. The children form friendly and supportive relationships with each other, and there is a very good

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

Syllabus”. Voluntary Aided schools have the option if teaching a syllabus determined by the religious body that oversees them. Mossford Green Primary School - 13 rapport between children, staff and visitors. The children enjoy and share humour, knowing when to laugh and when to listen. This was evident in an assembly led by a visitor to the school. The children giggled at his impersonation of Elvis but stopped in time to reflect on the moral message it put across.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

19. Whilst working in their set groups, the children try hard to help each other by thoughtful exchange of ideas and methods. They respond particularly well to those teachers who believe in their capabilities and their potential. There are frequent instances in lessons where positive relationships between teachers and children promote willing and confident attitudes amongst the children. For example, in a reception class lesson, the children worked on their own at first, in designing a road layout. With unobtrusive encouragement from their teacher, they then worked together finding ways of making the bridges more suited to the cars travelling under them.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

20. Children are particularly good at recognising when others are feeling happy or sad. The older children will seek help for a younger child who is upset or unwell, for example. Parents have noted this and comment on how well the school encourages the infant and junior school children to relate to one another. Because of the way staff respect, encourage and value everyone’s efforts, children develop a good awareness of the link between supportive and friendly relationships, positive attitudes and good progress.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

21. The children behave well. All parents spoken to during the week of the inspection, and those attending the pre-inspection meeting, were happy with the standard of the children’s behaviour in school. In lessons, it is rare for children to misbehave during gaps in the teacher’s supervision of group work. It is not often that sanctions have to be used but when they are, they are effective. The school’s procedures for behaviour management have proved successful in preventing children who behave in an unacceptable way from impinging upon the learning of others. In the year prior to the inspection, one child received two fixed term exclusions, but no children were permanently excluded from the school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

22. Responses from children would indicate that they have a clear understanding of what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable behaviour within a school community. Most play happily together in the playgrounds, despite a tendency for boys to monopolise much of the junior playground for their football games. Although a few parents had doubts as to whether incidents in the playground were sorted out to their children’s satisfaction, the children spoken to during the week of the inspection were firmly of the opinion that most of their arguments are short-lived and soon forgotten. There were no incidents of harassment and bullying observed during the course of the inspection. A high percentage of parents replying to the questionnaire and interviewed during the course of the inspection were firmly of the opinion that their children were happy at school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

23. Children show a good level of personal responsibility. They are polite and courteous towards visitors in school and talk passionately about their personal contributions to displays of work, school events and celebrations. They are full of pride at their efforts being recognised as worthwhile by their teachers. Children respond readily and positively to all opportunities they have to assist the smooth running of the school. They adopt a very responsible attitude in carrying out their delegated duties, with minimal reliance on adults. The more carefully planned lessons enable children to contribute their own thoughts, ideas and methods of working. Children show a good level of independent thinking when they are required to respond promptly, as for example in their quick-fire sessions of mental mathematics.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

24. Attendance is satisfactory. Although the rates of attendance are a little below those achieved in primary schools nationally, this has been due in the most part to an outbreak of illness and childhood infections. However, the punctuality of a minority could be improved. There are too many instances of children arriving late for school, which disrupts the start of their day. Given the good teaching and pace at which children learn, these children are missing out. Registers are marked promptly and in accordance with statutory requirements.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

Mossford Green Primary School - 14 25. The quality of teaching is good overall. There are more very good and excellent lessons than at last inspection, but teaching in some classes is still not good enough.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

26. Of the 57 lessons seen, 91 per cent were satisfactory or better and 54 per cent were good or better. The quality of teaching was judged very good or better in 17 per cent of lessons and excellent in just over five per cent. This is a considerable improvement on the last inspection, when there was only a small amount of very good teaching and no excellent teaching. The excellent lessons were in English and mathematics, but there was also some very good teaching in information and communication technology, geography and music, and in the Foundation Stage (the nursery and reception classes).

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

27. The quality of teaching and learning in the Foundation Stage is good, with some very good features and some areas for improvement. The teachers settle the children very effectively into school routines and enable them to make choices about their learning from the word go. They work very closely with the classroom assistants, who are very effective in their work with the children. A strength of the teaching in this stage is the way all the adults in the classrooms interact with the children to promote their social and communication skills. In the most effective lessons, the teachers are very alert to the emerging needs of the children as they talk, work and play. They adjust the activities to keep the children fully involved and learning. On occasions, the children in the reception class are kept together listening to the teacher for too long, limiting the time they have to learn through purposeful activity. In some areas, such as role-play, there is not

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

enough variety of materials and equipment to promote optimum learning.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

28. Teaching in the infant classes is much stronger than it was at the time of the last inspection, when it was sound with some good teaching. In this inspection, it was good with some very good and excellent teaching. The quality of teaching was judged good or better in 72 per cent of lessons at this stage and very good or better in 24 per cent. This contrasts with the juniors, where only 41 per cent of lessons were judged good or better and 14 per cent were unsatisfactory. However, the quality of teaching was very good or excellent in ten per cent of lessons in this stage.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

29. The excellent teaching in both key stages was characterised by very good relationships with the children, a brisk pace to the delivery, humour and incisiveness in the questioning. All these teaching skills were brought to bear on very carefully thought out activities that matched the children’s interests and built on their previous learning. Children of different abilities in the class were catered for and at the end of the lessons the teacher was able to draw the lesson to a clear conclusion to show the children exactly what had been learned and what was to come next. In the lessons that were unsatisfactory, none of these attributes were present. The lessons lacked a clear purpose and the teachers’ questioning and explanations were often confusing rather than enlightening.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

30. The most significant factor that prevented many lessons from being as effective as they could have been was the match of the planned activities to the needs of the children. Too often, all the children were given the same or similar tasks when some of them were capable of more. One reason for this is the fact that the planning of the curriculum from government guidelines is fairly new and the teachers have not yet adapted them to suit the needs of the particular children they are teaching. Another reason is the lack of any formal assessment procedures in subjects other than English, mathematics and science. This means that the teachers are not sure what level to pitch lessons at for each age and ability group. However, even in the subjects where assessment data is available, it is not always used sensibly to determine the level of challenge necessary for different groups of children.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

31. The basic skills of literacy and numeracy are taught effectively in English and mathematics lessons, except that the higher attaining children are not always fully catered for. The children also practise these skills in other subjects. For example, they write for different purposes in history and religious education, measure their pulse rates in PE lessons and draw graphs to illustrate the results of their science experiments and surveys in geography. However, the most Mossford Green Primary School - 15 is not made of these opportunities. For example, much of the writing in history is copied rather than original and grammatical errors are not corrected.

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32. Marking is an area that the school acknowledges could be improved, and the newly appointed assessment co-ordinator has some good ideas on this. Currently, there are too few examples of marking being used as a means of correcting the most important errors children are making and showing them how to improve. Individual learning targets are not generally set, so the children are not as aware as they could be of the progress they are making. Higher attaining children, and those who are gifted or talented, for example, are not involved in setting their own individual agendas to enable them to extend their learning.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

33. Teaching for children with special educational needs is good. The teachers are aware of the particular approaches that are specified in individual educational plans. Classroom assistants provide good support for individuals and groups in class. The teachers make good use of the expertise of the school's special educational needs co-ordinator and of specialised teachers from the local education authority. As a result of the well directed provision and of their own good motivation, the quality of learning for children with special educational needs is good, and they make good progress towards their learning targets.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

34. Children who are learning English as an additional language receive good support from a part-time fully qualified and experienced teacher in this field. This input is informed by a thorough analysis of test results and other assessment data relating to these children so that lessons can be pitched at the right level. This teacher is also committed to working in partnership with the class teachers to try and make the support for these children as effective as possible. The teachers and classroom assistants provide good quality support for the vast majority of the children, enabling them to participate fully in lessons and make good progress. Their targeting of questions at specific children is particularly effective. As a result of the staff’s input, the children have positive attitudes to learning, are well integrated into school and make good progress. There is little in-service training available for staff, however, so that when the specialist teacher is not

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

present, the rate of learning for some of these children, who are in the early stages of learning English, slows down. The effect of this is most severe on those children who need but do not receive specialist teaching a regular basis, and on occasions their lack of English prevents them from participating fully in lessons.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

35. The quality of learning is generally good. The children bring very positive attitudes to their work. This ensures that they get the most out of lessons, even when there is very little to interest or motivate them. They always make an effort to do as well as they can. When the lessons are lively and stimulating, they respond with enthusiasm and effort. For example, in an excellent mathematics lesson in a lower-attaining Year 5 / Year 6 class, virtually all the children’s hands were shooting up to answer questions. In this kind of lesson the children are very aware of how well they are doing because the teachers have shared very clear targets with them and involved them fully in discussion and review. In most of the lessons seen, it was noted that the children worked at a good pace. The only exceptions were when the children were not sure what to do because they had not been given enough clear guidance from the teacher. When homework is

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given, the children make an effort to complete it to the best of their ability, but this is not a particularly strong feature of the school’s provision.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

36. Some higher-attaining children, including come with exceptional ability, do not learn as quickly as they could because they are not given sufficient encouragement and support to set their own targets and widen their experiences. For example, fluent readers and not given enough opportunities to use their skills for specific purposes, such as research. Children who have a very good grasp of mathematics are not given opportunities to work at more complex problems than the rest of the class, or to undertake extended investigations. In these cases, the children lose some of their interest and enthusiasm and become difficult to motivate in lessons .

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TO PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

37. The curriculum is broad and balanced. It provides a satisfactory range of learning opportunities for Mossford Green Primary School - 16 children at each key stage. This represents an improvement since the last inspection, when there was incomplete coverage of information technology at Key Stage 2. The programme of studies includes all subjects of the National Curriculum and religious education, which is taught in accordance with the locally Agreed Syllabus. All legal requirements are met, including arrangements for sex education. Personal, social and health education is planned carefully as a separate subject, which is often effectively linked to other subjects. Appropriate emphasis is given to English and mathematics, with daily sessions for literacy and numeracy. Computer skills are taught effectively; this represents an improvement since the last inspection. Provision for children with special educational needs and for whom English is an additional language is also

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good and contributes well to the good progress that these children make. The delivery of the curriculum is enhanced by the provision of a support teacher who works in both key stages and the Foundation Stage.

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TO PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

38. The curriculum for the Foundation Stage is good. It enables the children to achieve nearly all the Early Learning Goals in each area of learning for this age by the end of the reception year. A purpose-built nursery class has been added to the school since the last inspection, which has enriched the provision for the youngest children, giving them a good start to their school life.

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TO PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

39. Overall, the allocation of time for all subjects is satisfactory. The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies are being well implemented and the other subjects also have adequate time. The children are all taught in mixed year group classes. To cater for this, subjects are taught in a two year cycle. The school monitors the coverage of subjects guard against units of work being repeated by some children. Teachers plan together in teams, using nationally recommended documents. This co-operative method is effective in ensuring that pupils in parallel classes have equal access to what is taught. In Key Stage 2, children are split into ability groups for mathematics throughout and for English in Years 5 and 6. This “setting” arrangement makes it easier for teachers to plan work to suit the children’s abilities. However, this stage of planning is still not as successful as it should be. Some able children still need greater opportunities to

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extend their skills whilst slower learners sometimes need more time to absorb new concepts and practise new skills.

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40. The government guidelines used to plan lessons in other subjects have not yet been suitably adapted into schemes of work based on the needs of the children from the various backgrounds represented in the school and for the different ages and abilities in each class. The head-teacher is aware of this and plans to address part of the problem by a project to identify children’s key thinking skills. Whilst this may be useful, teachers will still need to plan more effectively to meet the needs of all the children in each class. This issue was raised in the last inspection and there has been insufficient improvement so far.

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41. There is adequate provision for sex education, which is taught as part of personal, social, and health education in Years 5 and 6. The governing body is in the process of agreeing a programme for education about the misuse of drugs, which is likely to be included in teaching about a healthy lifestyle. There are good links with the local police who have come to talk about their work and to remind children about keeping themselves safe from strangers.

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42. The school ensures good equality of access and opportunities for pupils and full social and educational inclusion for all. All pupils receive equal access to the curriculum. Boys and girls and children from different backgrounds work together equally in all subjects and get on well at playtimes and lunchtimes. Some children who have individual music lessons sometimes miss the same parts of lessons each week, so this is being kept under review to ensure they keep up to date.

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43. Provision for children with special educational needs is good. Their needs are identified at an early stage and they are provided with appropriate support. This includes individual educational programmes for those children who are on Stage 2 and above of the Code of Practice. 4

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4 The special educational needs Code of Practice is a government document that lays out the procedures that schools are legally bound to follow. These cover all stages from initial concern (Stage Mossford Green Primary School - 17 Classroom assistants provide good support for individuals and groups in class, and when pupils are withdrawn from a lesson for additional teaching it is usually for regular practice in reading, or for intensive teaching in response to particular need. The school plans such withdrawals at varied times and for as short a period as possible to ensure that pupils are not unnecessarily deprived of access to the same lessons as the rest of the class.

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44. The provision for extra-curricular activities is satisfactory. Pupils play football and share an interest in living things in the ‘nature’ club and work with textiles in the fabric club. A choir is formed for school performances at the end of each term and takes part in local music festivals and events in the community. Other activities also enrich the school curriculum, including visits to museums and places of interest in the local area. Recently, people from the community who have connections with the school have come to talk about their work, lives and interests in whole- school assemblies. For example, the local authority surveyor was “hot-seated” in an assembly during the inspection. His description of his hobbies as well as his work gave the children a valuable insight into how people can have artistic and sporting interests alongside technical or managerial jobs. Storytellers, musicians and drama groups also visit the school. Children

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receive cricket and football coaching from local clubs and have the opportunity for sailing in Year 6. All these experiences have a positive impact on children’s understanding of the wider world. The school has satisfactory links with the local secondary schools, including the exchange of personal and educational records and information.

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45. The planned provision for children’s personal development is satisfactory. Children are treated with care and respect. They are occasionally given some opportunities to set their own targets. This helps them to be more aware of their progress and motivates them to learn independently. However, this is not a consistent feature of the school’s approach, and there are generally too few opportunities for children to carry out their own research and investigation in lessons or to take wider responsibilities in school.

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46. Arrangements for children’s spiritual development are satisfactory. Spiritual development is promoted through assemblies, religious education and through other subjects. The local vicar and others in the community contribute to assemblies and share their experience, interests and feelings with the children who respond sensitively, and are sometimes captivated. Care is taken to establish a reflective atmosphere through the playing of music and the quietness that is expected of children. Children respond well to the hymns and prayers in the assemblies and they show pleasure at the achievements of others. They also develop an understanding and respect for the beliefs of others as they study Christianity and other world religions.

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TO PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

47. Planning and provision for children’s moral development is good. From their earliest days in school, children are taught to understand the difference between right and wrong and to play fairly. Adults provide good role-models of co-operation, kindness and care. Issues are discussed as they arise and in personal, social and health education and in religious education. School rules have been agreed by adults and children and are sometimes displayed in classrooms. The school promotes good behaviour through the use of praise and encouragement and recognising the children’s efforts in celebration assemblies. The quality of relationships between all members of the school community is particularly good, setting a good example for the children.

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TO PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

48. Good provision is made for children’s social development and they respond well. The personal, social and health education programme provides planned opportunities for the children to discuss a range of social issues. The children co-operate well together in lessons and other activities and playtimes. They share and take turns effectively and respect others’ views in discussion. Some older children have responsibilities around the school, for example, in helping younger ones at lunchtime. These could be further developed. The children are encouraged to work and play well together and show care and consideration for others. The school raises money for charities, which also helps children appreciate the difficulties of others. Other experiences, such as

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TO PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

1), up to and including applying for and implementing “Statements” of special educational needs ( Stage 5). These require local education authorities to provide suitable teaching and other support for those children in greatest need. Mossford Green Primary School - 18 involvement in concerts and plays, inter-school sport and visits in the local community, help to extend the children’s social awareness.

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49. Provision for cultural development is satisfactory. The children experience a range of texts in literature and these include well-known writers and poets. In art, they have opportunities to see copies of the work of famous painters. They listen to music from a range of traditions as well as singing and playing themselves. There are good displays of multi-cultural artefacts and books around the school, which reflect skills from different cultures .

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

50. The school provides a good level of care for its children. The strengths in this aspect are the good procedures for monitoring and supporting the children’s personal development and behaviour and their overall welfare. The procedures for assessing children’s academic achievements are satisfactory. Assessments for children with special educational needs are good. They clearly relate to the targets set in their individual educational programmes.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

51. Procedures for monitoring and promoting children’s personal development are good. The staff set good examples in their relationships with each other and the children and this underpins the progress made by the children in their personal and social development. Teachers make time to sit and talk to the children during the lunchtime period, for example. Emphasis is placed, particularly in the early years, on furthering children’s personal and social skills and helping them think through the choices they make. Teachers promote the children’s self-esteem by making them aware and proud of their individual achievements. Examples of best work are displayed for all to see. The children are encouraged to share their thoughts and focus on their success through discussions and drama in lesson and assemblies. Links between teachers and parents, are improving, records on children’s personal achievements are good and the children have

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

opportunities in lessons to express their opinions. Through all these channels, the teachers build up a clear picture of the children they teach. They make good use of the knowledge gained to provide evaluative comment to parents at consultation evenings and in the annual reports.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

52. The school is effective in identifying children with learning difficulties soon after entry to the school. Good attention is paid to the Code of Practice for special educational needs and good care is taken of the children with English as an additional language. The school makes every effort to integrate all the children into all aspects of school life.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

53. There are good procedures for monitoring and promoting good behaviour in school. Teachers rarely have to resort to sanctions to manage the children’s behaviour in lessons. When children chatter too much, or become over-excited, they have effective ways of calming them down. On the other hand, when children behave unacceptably teachers immediately let them know their behaviour is unwelcome and a disappointment to others. In most cases, this successfully prevents the unacceptable behaviour of one child from impinging upon the learning of others. Records are kept of all incidents of unacceptable behaviour and these are used well by the headteacher in their discussions with parents. Because they are involved in discussions about their child’s behaviour at an early stage, parents are usually willing to support the school’s approach to discipline. The home/school agreement reminds all parents of the school’s policy

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

and makes clear the procedures for promoting good behaviour.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

54. The teachers encourage the children to care for each other and show particular kindness and tolerance to those younger than themselves. In this respect, the children are developing a good sense of equality and fairness in their dealings with each other. All children look forward to their playtimes and the chance to play football or have fun on the adventure playground with their friends. Teachers and supervisors reinforce the rule that unkind behaviour towards anyone is neither expected nor tolerated. There are other sensible rules to govern the way games are organised in the limited space that is available and the use of the adventure playground. However, some inconsistencies were observed in the way the observance of some of these rules were implemented by supervising staff. Mossford Green Primary School - 19 55. Registers are marked in accordance with statutory requirements. One-to-one discussions

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

between parents and the headteacher and/or the educational welfare officer are slowly beginning to change the relaxed attitudes some parents have towards the importance of their child’s regular attendance at school. The school realises more work has to be done to improve the punctuality of a significant minority of its children.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

56. Procedures for promoting the children’s well-being and health and safety are good overall. All staff maintain a high degree of sensitivity to the needs of the individual when dealing with issues of child protection. They know to contact only the designated teacher should they uncover concerns of a child protection nature. Good liaison is maintained with outside agencies and the health service, which helps the school meet the personal needs of children or those with specific medical conditions. Children are given appropriate information to raise their awareness of how sensibly to care and look after their bodies. There are carefully developed programmes of sex education and some aspects of drugs education are taught in science and in health education lessons across the school. Parents trust the school to provide sensitive and supportive teaching on the issues involved.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

57. Procedures for administering first aid are good. Staff keep an updated record of all injuries and accidents in school and there are sufficient numbers of staff holding the customarily recognised full certification for administering first aid to both children and adults. This allows the school to provide continuous first aid cover throughout and beyond normal school hours. The headteacher and caretaker undertake general risk assessments on the routine work of the school and regular inspections are also made of the condition of the school site and buildings. Both the school and the parents have lobbied the relevant authority about an urgent need to replace the old and worn sanitary fittings in the children’s toilets. The work is still to be carried out.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

58. The school’s procedures for assessing the children’s academic achievements are satisfactory . English and mathematics have been the focus and adequate data has been gathered to show how the children are progressing in these subjects throughout the school. The children have been arranged into “sets” for these subjects in some classes so that those with similar levels of attainment can be taught together. However, the teachers do not always make sufficient use of the assessment data to plan lessons that cater for the full range of age and ability in their sets. This contributes to the slow progress observed in some mathematics lessons. There is also a database of test results for science, and this is used to guide teachers towards what to teach next in each class. It is not yet being used effectively, however, to challenge children of different attainment levels in lessons. In other subjects, there is little or no information to show exactly

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

what skills the children have and what should be taught next. This limits the teachers’ ability to teach skills progressively, as was noted in music and art and design, for example. The arrangements for the assessment of children with special educational needs are good. Assessments of these children generally relate to the targets set in their individual education programmes, which are regularly reviewed and amended in the light of progress made.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

59. At the time of the last inspection, there was a sound partnership between the school and its parents. Since then, there have been improvements in the quality of this partnership. Parents’ views of the school have improved and are now good. The contribution they make towards their children’s learning and the impact that has on the work of the school are also good. The effectiveness of the school’s links with parents and the quality of information provided for them remain satisfactory. 60. The parents’ meeting with the inspectors and the parents’ questionnaires provided clear messages of support for the school and these were echoed by parents interviewed during the week of the inspection. There is a strongly held view amongst parents that their children like school and behave well when they are there. Parents were also warm in their praise for the way staff welcome them into school and deal positively and constructively with their queries. A

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

significant minority of parents expressed concern about their children being taught in classes of Mossford Green Primary School - 20 mixed age groups. The inspection evidence is that the teachers plan effectively for the two separate age groups in their classes, but do not always cater successfully for the full spread of ability. The bigger age range in the mixed year group classes exacerbates this problem, but is not the cause of it.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

61. The school sends a range of written information home but has not carefully thought through how clear it is for parents to understand and make use of. Parents visiting the school have easy access to bright displays of children’s work, parents’ information boards and the advice of helpful staff. Parents cite these and consultation evenings as the main ways in which they are kept informed about their children’s progress and learning. The regular whole school and class assemblies provide parents with good opportunities to judge for themselves the standard of children’s behaviour, their attitudes to school and the quality of work they produce.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

62. The end-of-year reports on children’s progress meet statutory requirements but vary in quality. The very best show that teachers know their children well and have a good understanding of what is needed to develop them both academically and personally. Some do not adequately cover what the child knows, understands and can do, however, whilst others use language that is too technical to be clear. There is good information relating to the personal and social development of the child but targets for academic progress are less well defined. This is because discussions about target setting are not a routine part of classroom practice and lesson planning. Parents of children with special educational needs are properly involved with the school’s procedures of reviewing the targets set for their children’s progress. This helps them understand what the children need to do to improve.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

63. The school brochure together with additional information on home visits provides parents with a good introduction to the school. The governors’ annual report has additional information about the work of the school but provides little insight into the part the governors play in raising standards and monitoring the progress children make. Newsletters also introduce parents to written information about the curriculum. Although this helps parents understand what their children will be learning it does little to explain how parents might help them with the work they will be covering. Similarly with reading, parents have had little written guidance on how best to help their child progress their reading skills.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

64. The effectiveness of the school’s links with parents is satisfactory. The number of parents offering their support in classes or on school visits is steadily growing. Most parents want to be involved in their child’s education and many are happy to be drawn into activities in which they have skills, such as dressing their children as book characters or helping decorate Easter eggs. Parents have exceptional fund-raising abilities and a good number give generously of their time, money and expertise to the organised events and social activities, raising large sums of money for additional resources in school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

65. Parent/teacher consultation evenings are, in the main, well attended but parents give more enthusiastic support to events at which their children can perform, such as school concerts, parades and sports days. They help teachers maintain the high standard of pupil behaviour by praising their children when they bring home news about their achievements and awards. By showing an interest in these occasions, parents promote the feeling amongst their children that their schoolwork is valued, which has a very positive impact on the children’s attitudes to their learning.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

66. The school is successful in recruiting parent governors and maintaining the commitment of its fund-raisers. Parents are keen to see their children succeed and want them to do their best. They view homework as providing a good link between the children’s learning at home and at school. Although they feel confident in supporting some aspects of schoolwork at home, such as helping their children with computer skills, not all parents find reading with their children an experience to regularly enjoy or to plan for .

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

Mossford Green Primary School - 21 67. The leadership and management of the school are good. There have been significant improvements since the last inspection, when there was little sense of educational direction. The new headteacher has provided this and is taking the school forwards at a manageable pace. The governors give good support and the recently revamped management team within the school is beginning to be effective.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

68. The school is now clearly focused on raising standards. The headteacher and governing body have this at the centre of their deliberations. They are aware that the school’s written aims need to be revised to take account of this new direction. The current aims include commitments to use language and number effectively within a broad curriculum, and to help the children to develop enquiring minds. The inspection found that these are areas that could be improved. There are too few planned opportunities for the children to undertake research and investigations, for example, and to develop their reading, writing and speaking skills in other subjects. The aims relating to an appreciation of moral values, tolerance of other races and religions and appreciation of human achievements and aspirations are reflected strongly in the school’s work.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

69. The central key issue at the last inspection was the lack of curriculum organisation. The headteacher has gradually rectified this by encouraging and enabling teachers to take full responsibility for the various subjects. There is still some way to go before this system is fully effective, as some of the co-ordinators are new to the post and others are not yet involved in directly evaluating and improving teaching and learning in their subjects. English has benefited from good leadership and management, for example, and as a result, teaching, learning and standards have improved. Mathematics, on the other hand, has had intermittent leadership and management, and here the drive to raise standards has not been so successful. The headteacher and governors recognises this and have appointed a new, enthusiastic co-ordinator with a view to raising standards. In most subjects, the co-ordinators have not yet had the time and resources to

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work alongside colleagues in order to develop a clear view of how their subjects are being taught and what needs to be done to raise standards.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

70. The management of the school has been restructured to accommodate the relative strengths and weaknesses of existing post-holders and utilise the expertise and experience of newly appointed members of staff. It is a broadly based team that works well to oversee the work of the whole school. There is good co-ordination between the three different stages (Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2). The team has not been in place for long enough to have had a measurable impact, but there is a lot of enthusiasm, energy and expertise available to harness to the task of raising standards on a broad front. This contributes very strongly to the school’s capacity to improve. Some of the recently appointed co-ordinators have already had a noticeable impact. The co-ordinator for information and communication technology, for example, has injected a new impetus to the teaching and learning of computer skills, which had been too slow.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

71. The governing body is very supportive of the headteacher and of the school and ensures that all statutory duties are fulfilled. The chair of governors gives a firm lead. He keeps in regular close contact with the headteacher and has a clear view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. The governors fulfil their role of critical friend well. For example, they were instrumental in initiating discussions that resulted in the appointment of a new information and communication technology co-ordinator, with evident benefits to the school.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

72. Individual governors are well informed about the areas of the school for which they have accepted particular responsibility. Some have visited the school with a specific brief to gather first-hand information and make judgements for themselves. For example, the numeracy governor has observed mathematics lessons in the infants and the top juniors to judge how well the National Numeracy Strategy is working. In general, however, the governors rely on the staff to provide the information on which they base their evaluations of the work of the school. The governors’ annual report contains all the required information for parents, and in addition contains useful summaries of each subject written by the teacher responsible. The governors make no direct contribution, however, and this does not reflect their active involvement. Mossford Green Primary School - 22 73. The headteacher has established a programme of lesson observations aimed at improving the

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

quality of teaching. In cases of teachers that have been under-performing, outside help has been sought to indicate paths for improvement. This has not yet been fully successful, and the continuing weaknesses in teaching in some classes are a cause for concern. The staff changes that have happened over recent years have resulted in an improved quality of teaching overall, however. The subject co-ordinators for English and mathematics have visited other classrooms to observe and evaluate teaching, learning and standards, but this process is not yet established for other subjects. As a consequence, the co-ordinators are not in the best position to know exactly what needs to be done to improve the delivery of the curriculum and the children’s performance in their subjects.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

74. The school has good policies and procedures for appraisal and performance management. Team leaders are in place, and the appropriate training has been given. The school’s main priorities for development drive this process alongside the professional development needs of individual members of staff. The headteacher has established good induction procedures for new staff, including newly qualified teachers. These ensure that newly appointed teachers quickly settle in and become fully effective.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

75. The school development plan is a good working document. It lays out clearly what the school intends to do over the short, medium and long term, and links these objectives to the school’s budget. All the teachers are consulted when the priorities are drawn up, and the governors asked to approve the final list. An annual review sets out what has and has not been achieved, keeping the school closely focused on its key objectives. From 1998 to 2001, these were raising standards in English, mathematics, science and information and communication technology, which were clearly the most important priorities. The plan also sets out manageable time scales for initiatives to be implemented.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

76. The school’s finances are managed well. The variable numbers of children on roll from year to year makes forward planning difficult, but the governors ensure that a sensible contingency fund is kept to guard against deficit. The budget surplus is currently a little above average, but the funds are earmarked for improvements to the building. The budget is administered very effectively by the school secretary, who is able to provide up-to-date financial information to the headteacher or governing body at any time. This includes a detailed list of all grants designated for specific purposes, which are put to the use they have been specified for.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

77. The office is run very efficiently. The part-time assistant secretary keeps all the children’s records and personal information on one computer while the full-time secretary keeps the financial information on a separate one. The local education authority conduct regular audits. The most recent one made only one or two minor recommendations to amend procedures and these have been acted upon. The school fund is administered and audited separately to a good standard.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

78. The school has a recently installed a computer suite which is being put to good use in the teaching of basic computer skills, but these are not yet being used across the curriculum. New computers have been ordered to facilitate more day-to-day use of this technology by the children. Good use is made of computers in the administration of the school’s business.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

79. There are sufficient teachers and support assistants to ensure that all children are taught in reasonably sized classes. The headteacher and governors have chosen to arrange the children in vertically grouped classes to accommodate the variable numbers in successive year groups. They are doing their best to alleviate the difficulties that this arrangement brings, which some parents have expressed concern about. The inspection found that, by and large, the strategies have been successful. The main problem is not the mixed-age arrangement itself, but in planning for a range of ability in one class. The support assistants are well deployed and are very effective, especially in their work with children who have special educational needs. In the Foundation Stage, the classroom assistants make a valuable contribution to the children’s learning.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

80. The school site provides an attractive and lively learning environment for the children. The grounds and building are spacious, and are looked after well by the caretaker and his staff. The Mossford Green Primary School - 23 headteacher and governors have made a deliberate and successful effort to brighten the interior of the building to make it a pleasanter and more stimulating place for the teachers and children to work in. The levels and quality of resources available to support lessons have also been improved. They are satisfactory in all subjects of the National Curriculum, and good in the key areas of English and mathematics. There is a good range of reading and reference books available, for example, although these are not always made best use of to promote reading and develop research skills. These initiatives have done much to raise morale and encourage everyone to make the efforts that have been required to improve the school’s performance.

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

81. In order to continue raising standards and improving the quality of teaching and learning the headteacher and governors should:

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) Improve standards in reading and mathematics by:

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Improving the quality of teaching in mathematics for the higher attaining children, in Key Stage 2; • Give the children more opportunities and encouragement to read more widely; • Continue to work towards greater interest in and support for reading at home. Paragraphs: 6, 9, 12, 30, 36, 58, 66, 72, 80, 103, 104, 107, 113, 119, 120, 121, 123, 124

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(2) Ensure that the quality of teaching in all classes is of a sufficient standard. Paragraphs: 16, 28, 29, 30, 35, 119, 120, 123, 124, 161, 172

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(3) Improve the planning of lessons so that they cater for the full ability range by:

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Ensuring that teachers adapt curriculum guidelines to suit the requirements of the children in each class; • Improve the use of test results and other assessment data to decide on starting points for lessons for each group of children; • Involve the children more in monitoring their own progress and in determining individual learning targets; • Providing more opportunities for higher attaining children and others to undertake extended investigations, research projects and any other activities that will encourage independent learning; • Improving the quality of marking so that it is clearly shows the children what they should do to improve. Paragraphs: 12, 30, 31, 32, 36, 39, 40, 45, 58, 60, 62, 68, 79, 80, 106, 111, 112, 114, 127, 131, 135, 146, 153, 156, 162

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(4) Strengthen the role of the subject co-ordinators by giving them the opportunity to more directly monitor teaching, learning and standards in their subjects. Paragraphs: 69, 73, 124, 130, 137, 142, 147, 163 Mossford Green Primary School - 24 In addition to these key issues, the governors should consider including the following areas for improvement into their action plan:

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Extend and improve the teaching and use of literacy skills across the curriculum; Paragraphs: 10, 31, 68, 115

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Improve resources for the Foundation Stage; Paragraphs: 83, 90, 93, 94, 100, 101

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Improve the quality of information given to parents; Paragraphs: 62, 63

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Provide more training for teachers in how to support children who are in the early stages of learning English as an additional language. Paragraph 34 Mossford Green Primary School - 25

p.24

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 34

p.25

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

p.25

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

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

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 19 253

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 0 47

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery Y R– Year

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 4

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 0 61

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 47

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 26

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 16

p.25

Attendance

National comparative data 5.2 National comparative data 0.5

p.25

Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Mossford Green Primary School - 26

p.25

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2000 10 10 20

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 5 7 9 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 8 9 10

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 65 (61) 80 (86) 95 (90) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 85 (83) 90 (87)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 5 5 5 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 8 7 7

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 65 (68) 60 (88) 60 (80) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 88 (86) 88 (87)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2000 14 29 33

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Boys 10 7 12 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 15 10 16

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 76 (76) 52 (79) 85 (67) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (70) 72 (69) 85 (78)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Boys 9 9 10 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 13 12 12

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 67 (61) 64 (61) 67 (73) at NC level 4 or above National 70 (68) 72 (69) 80 (75)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Mossford Green Primary School - 27

p.26

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 12 Black – Caribbean heritage 2 0

p.27

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 3 Black – African heritage 0 0

p.27

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 2 Other minority ethnic groups 0 0

p.27

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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.

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 12 Financial year 1999 -2000

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 21

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total expenditure 542849

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 8 Expenditure per pupil 1939

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 149 Balance brought forward from previous year 27091

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance carried forward to next year 50920

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 19

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 1

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 35

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

FTE means full-time equivalent. Mossford Green Primary School - 28

p.27

Percentage of responses in each category

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

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 41 49 9 0 0

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 36 58 4 0 2

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 25 48 17 5 6

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 39 40 16 2 2

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 62 31 5 1 1

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 44 47 5 2 2

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 35 45 14 5 1

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 22 56 8 4 9

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 33 55 7 1 4

p.28

Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 15 26 27 20 12

p.28

Summary of parents’ and carers’ responses

The parents’ views are overwhelmingly positive. They see the school as an effective and approachable place in which their children enjoy learning and become mature and responsible.

p.28

Other issues raised by parents

Some parents have expressed concern at the mixed age classes. The school has arranged the classes to cope with the admission limit of 45 set by the local authority. The inspection found that this in itself is not a serious problem. Mossford Green Primary School - 29

p.28

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

82. Children usually enter the nursery class at the beginning of the term following their third birthday. They attend part-time until they transfer to the reception class at the beginning of the term in which they become five years old. They attend the reception class for the rest of the school year before moving to Year 1. A small number of children in the reception class have not attended the nursery class or any form of pre-school provision. The nursery class is staffed by a teacher and qualified nursery nurse and caters for thirty-eight part-time children. The reception class now has thirty-one children on roll so a second teacher has just been appointed. Until now it has been staffed by one teacher with help from a teaching assistant and has catered for thirty children full- time. The group of children in the present reception class has experienced considerable changes of teacher during their time in school.

p.29

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

83. Good contact is maintained with parents and comprehensive records are kept of each child’s development in the nursery, which are transferred to the reception class and continued there. Baseline assessment is carried out in the first half term of the child’s entry to the reception class. Planning in both classes continues to develop to reflect the change to Early Learning Goals, the introduction of the Foundation Stage and the flexible use of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies in reception classes. There is good continuity in teaching and learning approaches between the two classes, which ensures that children move easily from the nursery to the reception class. The school is continuing to improve the level of resources to stimulate and extend the children’s experience and learning. There is particular need for wooden blocks for indoor construction use, dressing up clothes, role-play equipment, small world materials and

p.29

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

science equipment. The nursery class is newly built and provides a spacious and attractive environment for learning. The reception class is smaller but has a lobby area nearby which is used for group work. It too, is attractively arranged. The staff work closely together to create a welcoming environment for young children.

p.29

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

84. Most children enter the nursery class with levels of attainment similar to the average for the locality. Some children have special educational needs and some children are learning English as an additional language. By the end of the reception year, most children have made sound progress in all the areas of learning. Even so, the standards achieved by most children are still below the national expectation in communication, language and literacy and mathematics, though a minority meets the national expectations for their age group. This represents a change from the previous inspection when the children’s attainments in language and mathematics were judged to be in line with national expectations for their age group. In the other areas of learning, children’s attainments are in line with national expectations, which is similar to the findings of the last inspection.

p.29

Personal, social and emotional development

85. By the end of the reception year, most children are likely to achieve the Early Learning Goals for the Foundation Stage in personal, social and emotional development. They settle happily into the nursery class. Provision for their personal, social and emotional development is good and they respond well. Members of staff often make home visits before the children begin to attend and this has a positive impact on the quality of home-school relationships and the children’s sense of security and well-being. Most children soon become confident and are willing to try new experiences. They co-operate well together, have good relationships with adults and are willing to share and take turns to use equipment. They understand and abide by the rules and routines of the nursery. Most are able to organise some activities independently, and they concentrate well. They show respect for materials and property and they are interested in living things. They have

p.29

Personal, social and emotional development

positive attitudes to learning and enjoy all the nursery activities.

p.29

Personal, social and emotional development

86. In the reception class, all these aspects of learning are further developed. The children without Mossford Green Primary School - 30 nursery experience are soon happily integrated into school activities. By the end of the Foundation Stage, most children concentrate well at self-chosen and teacher-directed activities. They generally listen attentively to adults and co-operate well as a whole class or in smaller groups. Most children understand the difference between right and wrong and have good relationships with adults and other children. Children are confident in their approach and they show increasing levels of independence in organising their activities and working independently when there are opportunities to do so. They are at ease in the whole school, attending assemblies, staying for lunch and finding their way round a larger building.

p.29

Personal, social and emotional development

87. Teaching for personal, social and emotional development is good. All members of staff have good relationships with children and offer caring and sensitive support to develop children’s skills and sense of well-being. The warmth and enthusiasm of the adults are infectious. The children have a range of learning experiences and increasing opportunities to select and organise activities themselves, using their own interests as starting points for learning.

p.30

Communication, language and literacy

88. By the end of the reception year, a minority of children are likely to achieve all the Early Learning Goals in communication, language and literacy for the end of the Foundation Stage. Most children are likely to achieve the goals associated with speaking and listening and be working appropriately towards achieving the full range of goals for reading and writing.

p.30

Communication, language and literacy

89. In the nursery class, the children enjoy listening to stories and soon learn the words of songs and rhymes. They talk readily to each other and to adults and are keen to share their experiences. They talk about events in their lives and have sound general knowledge for their age groups. They show increasing control of pencils and crayons when drawing and beginning to write their names on letters, labels and pictures. Some recognise their names and some words and they enjoy sharing books. They know that print carries meaning and some know their letter sounds. They enjoy taking books home to share. In the reception class, these activities continue and there is further teaching of letter sounds and shapes and early reading skills. Most children can talk confidently to adults, can re-tell simple stories and undertake some extended conversations. A few children can read caption books and simple stories for themselves but most are working

p.30

Communication, language and literacy

appropriately towards these skills. They can read and remember some words and phrases and enjoy talking through whole stories. They read home-made class books on topics of interest to them. A few children can write a sentence or two with adult help and they have enjoyed making their own books about Old Macdonald’s Farm. Most children can write their name and some other words. They have made shopping lists to go to the class ‘Supermarket’ and have enjoyed contributing to class books. As their skills develop, children have more opportunities to become authors and illustrators of books on topics of their choice, for example, ‘My family’, ‘I like’, ‘My journey’, etc. which can be read by others. In this way, they can see the link between talk, reading and writing and see a real purpose for their work.

p.30

Communication, language and literacy

90. Teaching in the nursery and reception classes is generally good with some very good teaching and just one or two areas for improvement. Where teaching is good, teachers plan effectively for a range of activities to build on the children’s experience and knowledge. Good provision is made for speaking and listening, reading and writing and good use is made of available resources. The adults support the children in becoming independent learners and their careful input and sensitive questions help take the children’s learning forward. Where teaching is less effective, the adult input is too long, or the range of activities and resources is not well matched to the children’s abilities. In both settings, provision needs to be made for more access to a richer range of resources to encourage language development and co-operative play which is an important element in developing skills in communication, language and literacy.

p.30

Mathematical development

91. By the end of the reception year, the children have achieved most of the Early Learning Goals in mathematics, but some have not yet gained the expected levels of skills in formal addition and subtraction. Most children will be working appropriately towards them. In the nursery, the children have the opportunity to sort and count objects, and they begin to recognise and write numbers to ten or more. They know the names of some shapes and enjoy making patterns. They work with sand and water and they understand such concepts as full, half full, heavier, more, bigger. Children compare the sizes of things when using construction materials and when making models. They enjoy number songs and rhymes and counting activities and some can count objects reliably using one number for each object. Many of these activities continue in the reception class. Children recognise and begin to count accurately and write numbers to ten or

p.31

Mathematical development

more and begin addition. They are beginning to work with money in shopping activities and can recognise some coins. They enjoy number games involving matching and counting and they continue work on pattern and shape. Cooking provides good opportunities for weighing and counting. Work in sand, water and construction give practice in comparing size, weight and length. A minority of children manages practical addition and subtraction and they are able to record their work. Most children are working appropriately towards this goal.

p.31

Mathematical development

92. Teaching for mathematics is good in the nursery and reception classes. Teachers plan for a range of activities and support children’s work effectively. Good input and questioning help children develop their understanding and mathematics is effectively linked to other areas of learning. Adults help children record their work when it is appropriate to do so. In this area of learning, the range and quality of resources are satisfactory.

p.31

Knowledge and understanding of the world

93. By the end of the reception year, most children are likely to achieve the Early Learning Goals in knowledge and understanding of the world for the end of the Foundation Stage. In the nursery, children enjoy opportunities to talk about family matters and current and past events in their lives. They have experience of using a range of materials as they cut, stick and join things together to make models and collage. Good early scientific experience comes as they watch plants grow and observe the birds and insects in the garden outside. There is provision for role-play, though currently, resources are insufficient to provide for play in a wide enough range of settings, for example, a hospital, office or café. The children use a variety of construction and small world equipment imaginatively and they are keen to find out why things happen and how things work. Currently, they are learning about people who help us, including postmen. This has led to the

p.31

Knowledge and understanding of the world

provision of a post box and letters and cards being written to friends and families. Many use the computer mouse with confidence.

p.31

Knowledge and understanding of the world

94. These activities are continued in the reception class, though resources for role-play, small world and construction are more limited. Currently, children are learning about the local area and people who work in the community. They have visited the local supermarket and set up a class shop. A local policewoman has also visited the class to talk about her work. The children have planted bulbs outside and watched them grow and during the summer, they will be studying minibeasts (insects and other small animals). They continue to cut, stick and join materials to make collage and models. When they are cooking, children see how things change when mixed together and heated or cooled. They are motivated to find out why things happen and how things work. The children have the use computers but do not have access to a wide enough range of resources to support their scientific and technological development, for example, magnifiers,

p.31

Knowledge and understanding of the world

95. Teaching is good in the nursery and reception classes and some is very good. Teachers plan for a range of activities and by their input, careful questions and sensitive support, they help take learning forward. Good use is made of the available resources. The children make local visits to extend their experience and receive visitors to talk about their work. Mossford Green Primary School - 32

p.31

Physical development

96. By the end of the reception year, most children are likely to achieve the Early Learning Goals in physical development for the end of the Foundation Stage.

p.32

Physical development

97. Children in the nursery and reception class handle tools, objects and malleable materials safely and with increasing control. In the nursery, most children learn to draw, colour, cut and paint effectively for their age group. They use the climbing apparatus and wheeled vehicles with ease and control them well in the small outdoor area. They sometimes use the larger infant playground for developing skills using bats, balls, hoops and ropes. The children also use the school hall for dance and work on larger indoor apparatus to develop confidence in their physical skills. In the reception class, children’s fine motor skills are refined as they draw and begin to write and continue to use tools and malleable materials with increasing skill. Reception class children enjoy climbing, balancing and swinging in the school adventure play area, which they use well. They show good body control when using large and small apparatus and begin to throw and catch

p.32

Physical development

98. Teaching is satisfactory in this area of learning. Teachers and other adults support children well, individually and in groups. The organisation of sessions is satisfactory, but it is recognised that sometimes younger children need more ready access to outdoor physical activities. Good use is made of the available resources and extra adult helpers are well deployed.

p.32

Creative development

99. By the end of the reception year, most children achieve the Early Learning Goals in creative development for the end of the Foundation Stage.

p.32

Creative development

100. In the nursery class, children have daily opportunities for role-play and small world play, in which to express ideas, thoughts and feelings. Resources for this are limited, so that children have not experienced play in different settings, for example, a hospital, café or a railway station. They enjoy using pencils, paint and crayons to make pictures and making models with waste material and dough. They also learn how to print and make collage. Often the adults decide the subject matter which is linked to a theme and children need more opportunities to express their own ideas in a range of media. Children enjoy singing and quickly learn the words and actions associated with rhymes and songs. They are learning the names of percussion instruments and how to use them.

p.32

Creative development

101. In the reception class, children have less time for creative work and fewer resources for imaginative role-play. They enjoy using the home corner as a shop and have access to some small world and construction materials with which to develop their own ideas and imagination. They show good control of materials and draw, paint, print, use dough and make waste material models with increasing control. Much of this work is based on a theme chosen by the adults and children have too few opportunities to express their own feelings and ideas and choose the media and subject matter for their work and solve their own problems. When they do have opportunities for this, they learn very quickly. One example occurred when a group of boys drew road maps. These included bridges, buildings and traffic lights, and they used them to explore routes. Children enjoy singing and music making. They soon learn the words and tunes of

p.32

Creative development

102. Teaching is satisfactory and sometimes good in the nursery and reception classes. Where teaching is good, teachers plan well for children to use a range of creative materials and support children sensitively. They encourage children to express their own ideas and solve their own problems. Sometimes children’s imagination is developed by adults joining in role-play and by perceptive questions and input. Adults’ enthusiasm for singing and music stimulates a good response from the children. Occasionally, where teaching is less effective, adults over-direct the activity.

p.32

ENGLISH

Mossford Green Primary School - 33 103. The last inspection reported that attainment was in line with national expectations at the end of both key stages. Most children were making satisfactory progress and some made good progress. The findings of the present inspection are that attainment upon entry into Key Stage 1 is below average in literacy, and children make good progress through both key stages. While attainment remains below average at the end of Key Stage 1 (the low levels of attainment in reading are responsible for this), it is in line with the national average at the end of Key Stage 2.

p.33

ENGLISH

104. In the 2000 national tests for seven year olds, the percentage reaching Level 2 or above in reading (65 per cent) was well below the national average (83 per cent). It was below the national average in writing. In the tests for eleven year olds, the percentage reaching Level 4 or above in English was very close to the national average (76 per cent c.f. 75 per cent).

p.33

ENGLISH

105. In speaking and listening, the children's learning is strongly supported by their own confidence and good motivation, and by the encouraging and collaborative styles of many teachers. In Key Stage 1, children are attentive and responsive, and their answers to teachers' questions show careful thought and focus on what is important. They listen to their teachers and peers respectfully - even if sometimes their eagerness to respond makes them impatient - and at the end of the key stage, speaking and listening is good.

p.33

ENGLISH

106. In Key Stage 2, the informal aspects of speaking and listening remain good. For example, children in the third of the three English sets in Years 5 and 6 were observed offering some carefully considered comments on a poem about bullying. Children with higher levels of attainment develop good structural skills in speaking, and they reason out their responses to teachers' questions. However, they are not used to more formal speaking and no examples were seen of debates, individual presentations, mock trials or other such opportunities.

p.33

ENGLISH

107. In reading, attainment is below national expectations. In Key Stage 1, children are slow to develop the strategies required to become successful readers. Most children enjoy reading, and are enthusiastic about books and stories they know well, but even the highest attainers at the end of the key stage read hesitantly and with little expression. Children of average attainment for the school are not fluent readers because they have not mastered some important basic skills. For example, they do not use the strategies which they have learnt to work out a word from its components. "Perhaps" is read as "but", for instance, "paint" as "pull", "found" as "got", and "which" as "when". This inaccuracy also characterises the reading of the less skilled readers, who guess or tell the story from the pictures. The children do not read as widely as they could, especially at home. This partly explains why their performance in reading is not as good as in

p.33

ENGLISH

writing. While some pupils talk of going to the public library or of the books they have at home, the reading records of many children suggest that they only read at school.

p.33

ENGLISH

108. Reading improves as children move up the school, and by the end of Key Stage 2, those of middle and higher levels of attainment read to a standard in line with national expectations. There are, however, very few examples of above average reading aloud with liveliness of expression, and a comparatively large proportion of children have below average skills, and are hesitant and sometimes inaccurate readers.

p.33

ENGLISH

109. In the third element of English, writing, attainment is in line with national expectations in both key stages. The work seen from middle and higher attainers at the end of Key Stage 1 gave evidence of interesting word choice and well sequenced narratives. Pupils who reach the higher standards show enjoyment in writing adventurously and often at length. Punctuation is usually accurate and sentence structure is varied. Handwriting is well formed and positioned, and this also is the case with middle attainers, who write interesting stories with spelling that is usually accurate, or at least logical. Children who do not reach average standards have poorly formed handwriting, and are only beginning to understand the use of full stops. Nevertheless, there is evidence that they are conscious of the need to write for effect and to choose their words carefully. 110. The writing sampled from children at the end of Key Stage 2 showed - among the best - a good

p.33

ENGLISH

sense of structure in well planned narratives and persuasive writing. Words are well chosen from a good reserve, and punctuation, including that of direct speech, is accurate. Middle attainers Mossford Green Primary School - 34 write reasonably accurately, but their writing is often immature and obvious in expression. A high proportion of children in the current Year 6 do not write sufficiently accurately to reach average standards. Word choice is childish, spelling is inaccurate, and sentence breaks are not observed. This fits in with the school’s lower targets for this year’s national tests. Attainment is higher in Year 5, however, so the rising trend in test results should be re-established in 2002.

p.33

ENGLISH

111. The quality of children's learning is good in both key stages. The strongest influences are their own confidence and enthusiasm, and the generally good teaching they receive. They enjoy English, and respond very readily to the demands teachers make of them. They stay on task for what are often quite prolonged periods of time, especially for the younger ones. They work well individually and in pairs or groups, but examples of self-evaluation and independent learning are rare. Children with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language make similar good progress in parallel with their peers because of the support provided for them. However, on the occasions when the children at the early stages of acquiring English do not have specialist support, their rate of learning slows down. Behaviour is good, even on the few occasions when teaching is less interesting and distractions are tempting.

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ENGLISH

112. Teaching is good in both key stages. Of the lessons observed, all were at least satisfactory, and over 60 per cent were good or better. Two lessons were judged as excellent. Teachers generally have good subject knowledge, although there are some shortcomings in some the technicalities of language. The National Literacy Strategy is firmly established and is being put to very effective use. Planning is detailed and thorough, and resources are well prepared. Teachers' personal styles are engaging and collaborative, while remaining firm. Control is good, and in the best lessons the pace is so good that disciplinary interventions are unnecessary. Teachers have a good knowledge of their pupils, and work provided is usually adapted to their attainment levels. Marking is regular, and teachers often make comments in pupils' books. These are, however, usually of bland praise or congratulation. They are not analytical and rarely suggest ways in

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ENGLISH

which work might be improved or developed.

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ENGLISH

113. English is well managed by an enthusiastic and well-organised co-ordinator, who leads by very good example. The subject policy and other documentation provide good guidance to teachers. Assessment is very thorough, and tracks children's progress as their reading and writing develop. There is, however, no formal assessment of speaking and listening. The need to improve progress in reading is very well recognised, and children are encouraged to keep a book "on the go" at all times, and to maintain a reading record, in which parents and carers are invited to make comments. While many do this, a significant number do not, and the school continuously seeks ways of involving homes in close partnership to promote reading.

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ENGLISH

114. Resources for English are good, with big books, sets of readers for shared and group reading, and books to lend to pupils for private enjoyment. The two school libraries contain small collections of fiction and non-fiction, but these were not seen to be used during the inspection.

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ENGLISH

115. Literacy is not well promoted in the teaching of other subjects. The school marking policy has yet to be fully observed by all teachers; in other subjects, technical errors of expression often go uncorrected. Formal opportunities for speaking are rare.

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ENGLISH

116. English makes a satisfactory contribution to children's moral and social development through the collaboration necessary for the literacy hour, and through the discussion of important issues - like bullying - arising from their reading. Its contribution to their spiritual and cultural development is also satisfactory, through their own writing and through contact with great literature. However, no examples were seen during the inspection of children being provided with experience of writing from other countries and cultural traditions.

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MATHEMATICS

117. The children begin Year 1 with a sound overall mathematics understanding, but some of them have not achieved the early learning goals relating to addition and subtraction. By the age of seven, they achieve broadly average results in the national tests, although the school-based Mossford Green Primary School - 35 assessments are much lower. This is likely to reflect a lack of confidence on the part of the teachers in assessing the children’s skills. (Subject knowledge is one of the weaknesses in teaching.) The inspection found that the children’s’ knowledge and understanding is in line with expectations for their age in Year 2. Average attaining children add and subtract numbers to an appropriate standard and do simple multiplication and division sums. They are beginning to use and understand the metric system for weighing and measuring. For example, they compare two containers to see which holds more liquid and judge if the capacity is more or less than one litre.

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MATHEMATICS

The higher attaining children add, subtract, multiply and divide using bigger numbers and have a good grasp of simple fractions such as halves and quarters. The children know the names and basic properties of solid and flat shapes and use tallies to organise data and draw picture graphs. A pleasing feature of the work seen was the children’s ability to look for patterns and make mathematical statements, for example that there are three numbers less than 16 that divide equally by five. This reflects some good teaching of mental skills in the introductions to lessons.

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MATHEMATICS

118. By the age of eleven, the children have a wide spread of attainment, but standards overall are below average. The higher attaining children have a sound understanding of number, shape and measure. They divide hundreds, tens and units by tens and units and work confidently with decimal numbers. When using their knowledge and skills to solve practical problems, however, they need more support than they should. This is because they have not been given clear enough guidance on how to decide what information and which operations they should use to solve a particular problem. Sometimes, for example, they rely too readily on calculators or spend time working out exact answers when mental approximations provide a better solution. Average attaining children have the expected levels of number skills and a reasonable knowledge of shape and measure, including the use of the 24-hour digital clock and the measurement of angles in

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MATHEMATICS

degrees. However, many of the children in the present Year 6 have lower levels of attainment than this, including a high proportion of children with special educational needs. This means that the standards expected by the age of 11 are below average, if not well below, in terms of the scores expected in the national tests. The school’s targets have been revised downwards to account for this, but may still be too ambitious at 65 per cent Level 4 or above.

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MATHEMATICS

119. In the 2000 tests, only 52 per cent of the children attained Level 4 or above. This was well below average compared to all schools nationally and also well below the results from similar schools, compared with average results obtained in English and science by the same children. The school’s analysis of the children’s progress confirms that there had been little added value to the mathematics test results over the four years of Key Stage 2 for this group. A significant feature of the test results was that only half as many children reached Level 5 as in English, and only one third as many as in science. This suggests that the higher attaining children are not being taught mathematics effectively enough. The inspection found that this is indeed the case. The below average and average attaining children are being taught at least satisfactorily, with some excellent teaching observed in the lowest attaining class for the older children. On the other hand, there

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MATHEMATICS

was insufficient challenge for the higher attainers throughout the key stage. The best quality teaching was by more recently appointed teachers, and therefore has not contributed to existing test results.

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MATHEMATICS

120. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall; it ranges from excellent to unsatisfactory. The unsatisfactory teaching is in the juniors but the excellent teaching was seen here as well. Teaching is good overall in the infants. The success of lessons depends on how well the teachers understand the subject and enable the children to think for themselves. Children with below average attainment in Year 5 and Year 6, for example, achieve well because of some excellent, lively and incisive teaching that motivates and challenges them at an appropriate level. In an excellent lesson on money problems, the teacher kept all the children interested and learning throughout. This was achieved through very good organisation of the classroom and preparation of tasks that contained plenty of interest for the children, including references to local place names. The teacher’s explanations were clear and brief and a business-like approach,

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MATHEMATICS

coupled with humour, kept the children working at a fast pace. The children responded very positively to this level of challenge, sustaining their concentration to the end and trying to achieve their best. They showed real pleasure when they arrived at the correct answer and used the correct vocabulary. For example, a child spotted the teacher’s deliberate mistake and said: “this Mossford Green Primary School - 36 is a two-step problem and you haven’t done the second step.” By contrast, in unsatisfactory lessons, the teachers do not keep the children thinking along clear lines, solving problems with a purpose. Insufficient thought has gone into the worksheets that are given out, and as a result the children find themselves solving problems or carrying out tasks that they cannot really see the point of. For example, high attaining Year 5 and Year 6 children were working out the exact answers to the sums on their worksheets before giving an approximation, when the purpose of the

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MATHEMATICS

exercise should have been to use approximations to help solve the problems. Poor classroom organisation and management of the children also contributed to an unsatisfactory lesson in the lower juniors in which the children spent a long time waiting for instructions and then ended up copying instead of thinking things through for themselves.

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MATHEMATICS

121. Brisk introductions that make it clear to the children exactly what is to be learned characterise the most effective lessons. The mental warm-up sessions that precede that main lesson are also usually strong. In one very good such session in the infants, for example, the teacher got the children to spot patterns in the five and ten times tables and successfully challenged the older and higher attaining children to extend this to much higher numbers. The children are clearly learning to use their number knowledge and skills to solve problems. This was reflected in the samples of their written work as well as in lessons. What the teachers are not yet doing successfully enough, however, is enabling children with the ability to learn at a faster pace than others in the class. This was also evident in the samples of work, which were similar in content for all abilities.

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MATHEMATICS

122. Children with special educational needs make good progress. They have good targets in their individual educational programmes and receive good quality support in their work towards them. Children for whom English is an additional language also receive good support and achieve as well as the other children.

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MATHEMATICS

123. The teachers are very willing to accept advice and guidance. This was clear in lessons that followed on from previous lessons that had been observed. The teachers successfully included suggested improvements and achieved a better rate of learning for the children. For some teachers, this had a significant impact because of their relatively good teaching skills and good understanding of the subject. For others, however, only a marginal improvement was noted because the problems with teaching methods and subject expertise are more deeply rooted.

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MATHEMATICS

124. The judgements made in this inspection are similar to those made in the last one, indicating little improvement. However, some significant improvements have been made. Resources and displays are now good, teachers and children are using a wide range of mathematical vocabulary and most teachers have undergone some training. The National Numeracy Strategy has given a structure to the curriculum that was not there before, and most of the teachers have taken good advantage of this to teach skills rather than simply following a text-book. The lack of a permanent co-ordinator for the subject has led to the absence of an overview of how effective teaching and learning is across the school. A new co-ordinator has recently been appointed, however, and has brought enthusiasm and positive ideas for improvement, including greater involvement of parents. Some of the parents at the meeting expressed concern about mathematics, and would like to

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MATHEMATICS

know more about how it is taught. They feel the children are having to move on to new material before consolidating what has been learned. However, the inspection found that it was the variable quality of teaching rather than this factor that was affecting the progress made by some children. Some of the more recently appointed teachers are beginning to have a very positive impact in both key stages, and some of the more established teachers are becoming very effective, especially in the infants. The continuing inconsistency in the quality of teaching is an issue that should be dealt with as a matter of urgency, however. It is clearly having an impact on the children’s achievement, especially the performance of higher attaining children in Key Stage 2.

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SCIENCE

125. Standards in science are in line with the national average in both key stages. This is consistent Mossford Green Primary School - 37 with the last inspection findings and reflects an improvement on the 2000 test results which show standards of attainment as very low in Key Stage 1 and close to average in Key Stage 2. The school has addressed the issues raised by the previous inspection with particular reference to progression and continuity in children's learning. The trend since 1998 has been one of steady improvement in what children can do at the end of their respective key stages.

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SCIENCE

126. Many children in the current Year 2 demonstrate a developing understanding of materials and their properties. They can identify a range of materials and know what they are made from. Younger children recognise natural and made-made objects. In their work on investigating the human heart, higher attaining children in Key Stage 2 were observed designing an experiment to show how it pumps and circulate blood around the body. They can record and explain their experiment while children in other ability groups can label the diagram of a heart, but some are unsure of the functions of arteries, veins and capillaries. Investigative activities enable the children to think through scientific processes. The children generally produce a neat written record of their findings. This is, however, not the case with a significant minority of children throughout the school including those having special educational needs and/or learning English as an additional

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SCIENCE

language. These children have difficulty in recording and explaining their learning without support.

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SCIENCE

127. The quality of teaching observed was good. Most teachers have a good subject knowledge and this enables them to use questioning effectively to promote children's learning. This was evident in the majority of lessons observed. Teachers also encourage children to explain their activities. They place an emphasis on investigative learning and use a wide range of resources that hold children's interest. They have high expectations that children should work hard and behave well in lessons. However, insufficient emphasis is placed on planning work to meet the needs of different ability levels in classes.

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SCIENCE

128. The good teaching has a positive impact on the quality of learning. Children throughout school respond to investigative work with enthusiasm, and practical activities are especially beneficial to children with special educational needs and those learning English as an additional language. The children’s high motivation enables them to develop their scientific knowledge and understanding in other subjects. This was observed in Year 5/6 PE lessons, when children measured their pulse-rates in an attempt to see the impact of exercise on their heart. There is no significant gender difference in children's learning.

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SCIENCE

129. The children's positive attitudes to science enables most of them, including younger ones, to sustain concentration. They are co-operative, and many show well developed collaborative skills. They relate well to each other and their teachers, demonstrating good standards of behaviour.

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SCIENCE

130. The school offers a broad and balanced science curriculum. The review of the scheme of work since the last inspection has ensured progression in children's learning. There is evidence of cross-curricular links with art, mathematics and physical education. Records are kept, and this works effectively for the most part in influencing what children do next. However, differentiation is not always clearly focused, and monitoring is not sufficiently rigorous. Opportunities are also limited for formal assessment, in-service training and the use of computers in science lessons. Resources are sufficient, and the subject is well managed. The co-ordinator is currently planning mini “Science Weeks” to raise the subject profile. Mossford Green Primary School - 38

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ART AND DESIGN

131. As few lessons were seen, judgements on attainment in art and design are based mainly on discussions with children and teachers and the work on display around the school. From this evidence, most children achieve satisfactory standards by the end of both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Some children achieve above the national expectation in both key stages, but not to the extent that was found at the time of the last inspection, when art was judged a strength of the school with attainment above average at both key stages.

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ART AND DESIGN

132. In Key Stage 1, the children’s drawings reflect sound levels of skill and often accompany work in other subjects. The children have opportunities to paint and print, use clay and develop their skills in collage. In one class, the children have produced some skilful still life paintings of fruit, for example, and some very good pastel drawings of flowers and self-portraits in paint. Their careful drawings of instruments show above average attainment in their attention to detail. Overall, their work is of an expected standard.

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ART AND DESIGN

133. In Key Stage 2, the children continue to develop their skills using a range of techniques with pencils, paint, pastel, charcoal and clay. Their accomplishments in art and design also enhance their work in other subjects. For example, in one lesson, Year 3 and 4 children drew symbols of hieroglyphics to illustrate their work on Ancient Egypt. The work was then transferred to papyrus, helping to bring their historical studies to life. Some children have also produced some skilfull pencil portraits of their friends, with good use of shading, in both pencil and paint.

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ART AND DESIGN

134. There is a good range of work linked to other subject areas, and the children have plenty of real- life stimuli. For example, in Year 5 and 6 classes, the children are currently making good use of the school grounds to draw landscapes. Some of children produced some good work in a short time, reflecting their positive attitudes and eagerness to achieve. They have also made small clay heads after studying real life heads and photographs linked to their work on the body in science and drawn portraits of Victorian characters linked to their history topic. Links with design and technology include the making and dressing of string puppets. Children have considered the work of famous artists and used this to develop their own work. For example, having reviewed the work of Gainsborough in Year 3 and Year 4, they have made careful drawings of two people in relation to each other. In both key stages, the children co-operate well together, share materials

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ART AND DESIGN

and concentrate on the work in hand. They take their work seriously and do their best to complete what they start. They show respect for others’ efforts and are quick to praise the work of friends, as was witnessed when they were drawing landscapes in the school grounds.

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ART AND DESIGN

135. It is not possible to judge teaching in Key Stage 1, as only one lesson involving four children was seen together with parts of a similar lesson in another class. In Key Stage 2, from the two lessons seen, teaching is satisfactory, with some good points but with areas for improvement. Teachers plan their lessons carefully and offer the children good support to improve their skills. Satisfactory use is made of available resources and the sessions are well organised. In both key stages, however, there is insufficient attention paid to children’s different ages, experience and abilities. There are also too few opportunities for the children to express their own ideas in a medium of their choice. Most of the work is adult-directed, leaving the children very few opportunities to select the subject matter and materials for their work or to use their own ideas and imagination. They talk about their activity and can explain what they have been asked to do

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ART AND DESIGN

but they sometimes have insufficient time to develop and refine their skills.

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ART AND DESIGN

136. The quality of art and design displays is a strength of the school. The art co-ordinator gives a strong lead in this work. The displays in the hall, corridors and central areas reflect the best of the children’s efforts and achievements, showing them how it is valued. Good use is also made of artefacts to stimulate interest and discussion.

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ART AND DESIGN

137. The co-ordinator sees teachers’ planning and is available as a source of support. She organises resources and displays very effectively and provides a good example in her work with the children. She has not been involved in formal evaluation and monitoring of the subject, however, and has not yet had the opportunity to support colleagues by working alongside them. The school has Mossford Green Primary School - 39 appropriate policies for art and display and has adopted a nationally recommended scheme of work. This is not yet adapted to meet the needs of children of different ages and abilities in each class and to give the children more opportunities to express their own ideas.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

138. At the last inspection, standards were judged below expectations by the age of eleven and in line at the age of seven. Only one lesson was seen in this inspection, which provided insufficient evidence to judge the quality of teaching and learning throughout the school. On the basis of the work on display, however, the children reach standards that are broadly in line with what is currently expected nationally by the ages of seven and 11. This is an improvement since the last inspection when standards were below expectations at the end of Key Stage 2. The children’s work is attractive and reflects careful designing and making. Some of the displays show that the children have made individual choices in how to make use of a particular technology in a design. For example, the display of pneumatic toys in Year 4 includes monsters and tipper tucks. The diagrammatic instructions for making the toys are very clear and reflect attainment in line with

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

expectations for this age. The displays of puppets made by Year 5 and Year 6 children are also of a good standard, and include the children’s evaluations of their work. However, these were limited to the attractiveness of the puppets rather than to how well they worked. There was little evidence to show how the children are systematically building up their designing and making skills by, for example, examining products to see how they are made deciding on consumer requirements, evaluating the effectiveness of their designs and making improvements. The school has adopted government guidelines for the planning of the subject, and a start has been made on customising these to suit the needs of the school. The implementation of these ideas is at an early stage, however. The headteacher is currently overseeing the subject until a permanent co- ordinator is appointed. The organisation and management of the subject are little changed from

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GEOGRAPHY

139. The evidence on which judgements are based includes the only two lessons observed, one in each key stage, scrutiny of teachers' planning, children's work - particularly that on display - and discussion with staff and children. Indications are that standards of attainment are in line with national expectations by the end of both key stages.

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GEOGRAPHY

140. The majority of children make good progress in developing their geographical knowledge, understanding and skills. Children in Key Stage 1 show well developed map reading skills. Many can locate on a map the countries of the United Kingdom. Higher attaining children talk about the difference in scale between a map and a globe. They can identify, name and record features such as a mountain, a village, a farm and a bridge. Older children in Key Stage 2 demonstrate an understanding of how to use maps and photographs to find out how settlements develop. For example, they know what the Scottish town of Bonnyrigg was like in the past. Higher attainers achieve well in this area. They can identify and describe some changes in the physical, economic and social features that took place in Bonnyrigg over time, for example, and what impact this had on it.

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GEOGRAPHY

141. The quality of teaching observed was good with some very good features. A story approach enhanced younger children's motivation whilst clarifying learning objectives. The teacher’s intervention ensured a purposeful interaction involving older children whilst extending and consolidating their map reading skills. The teaching is characterised by good subject knowledge, high expectations and effective management of children. All of this has a positive impact on the quality of learning. Most children in both key stages concentrated well, showing high levels of participation. They are co-operative and very well behaved. Effective questioning leads to consolidation of the use of appropriate geographical vocabulary, for example associated with map reading. There is no significant gender difference in the children's learning, but those children who are at the early stages of learning English as an additional language make relatively slower

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GEOGRAPHY

Mossford Green Primary School - 40 progress than the others, particularly in recording their work.

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GEOGRAPHY

142. The school has adopted the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority scheme for planning the curriculum. This is designed to ensure that all the children build on their skills systematically as the move through the school, but it is unclear as of yet how this will be checked. There is also an insufficient focus on written work in the subject, limiting its impact on the development of the children’s literacy skills. The new co-ordinator has drawn up an action plan, highlighting areas for development including the establishment of a residential visit, the use of computers and the upgrading of resources. Her role in monitoring and evaluating teaching and learning in the subject is, however, under-developed.

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HISTORY

143. The last inspection found that attainment in history was below national expectations at the end of Key Stage 1, and in line with them at the end of Key Stage 2.

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HISTORY

144. In the present inspection only one lesson could be observed. Very little written work was available for scrutiny from Key Stage 1, and much of the work from children in Key Stage 2 was copied from originals provided by teachers. It is therefore impossible to record any judgement about attainment or progress. The following comments are based upon displays, planning records, subject documentation and discussions with teachers and children, as well as upon the small amount of work seen.

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HISTORY

145. In Key Stage 1, children are introduced to the concept of the past by making their own time lines, marking important points, like their first day at school, or their christening. They learn about significant people from the past, or great events like the Fire of London. They compare everyday life then and now by looking at objects in use, such as dolls. In Years 3 and 4, they cover various sequence of topics, including the Anglo-Saxons, Ancient Egypt, the Tudors, the Romans and the Second World War. In Years 5 and 6, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries form the main focus, although there is some diversion into the Aztecs, Tudors and Greeks. Among the work seen, children demonstrated a satisfactory knowledge of nineteenth century conditions, and some sense of the past as compared with the present. Most of the work was copied accurately, and children's illustrations showed their interest in the subject and their desire to present each item

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HISTORY

146. Judgements about the teaching suffer from the same limitations as those on attainment. Nevertheless, it is possible to note the incongruous sequence of topics already mentioned. In a subject where the order in which things happen is important, this presents a problem. Apart from this, the overall subject plan ensures satisfactory coverage of the National Curriculum for history. Teaching is supported by interesting displays, like the half life-size models of a girl and boy in a Victorian kitchen in one classroom. The planned visit to the British Museum when Ancient Greece is the current topic, is also useful reinforcement. The amount of copied work in children's books gives rise to concern about the provision of opportunities for them to undertake research and to draw their own conclusions. It also suggests that there is little adaptation of the work given to the children's prior attainment. As a result of this copying, much of the marking is no

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HISTORY

more than a tick or a brief comment. There is no analytical or developmental evaluation, which will carry each child's progress forward. There is no formal assessment of progress in history.

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HISTORY

147. The co-ordinator for history has been appointed very recently. She has a very clear idea about how the subject should develop, and the need to audit resources and to review the policy and scheme of work. She monitors the content of teaching through scrutiny of planning, but has no opportunity to observe classroom practice.

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HISTORY

148. Resources for history are just satisfactory, but they are severely stretched by having to provide for three classes in a year group. The collection of artefacts is limited, and the co-ordinator seeks to increase it. Mossford Green Primary School - 41 149. History does not play a strong role in promoting children's literacy. Marking does not focus upon errors of language, and copying has little influence in encouraging independent expression. Children do not undertake their own research, and so do not make individual presentations. 150. The subject contributes to the children's moral, social and cultural development through the examination of the laws, customs and arts of other times. There is a spiritual element in the contemplation of happenings and people of long ago, but this aspect of the subject is not especially well developed.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

151. Standards are in line with that expected nationally for children aged seven and eleven. This represents considerable improvement since the last inspection when children's attainment was considered below what was expected for their age group throughout the school.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

152. By the time children are seven, most are competent using the mouse, for example to place an appropriate question in a speech bubble. They also show developing keyboard skills. High attainers, for example, use the space bar and shift key for capital letters. By the time the children are eleven, many know how to manipulate the main function keys to operate software packages. They produce animations, for example, including images from prepared storyboards. More able children have started adding text and, in some cases, some special effects, as was observed in Years 5 and 6. The children have also started to use a digital camera in small groups to photograph an animation sequence. Many children throughout the school use word processing in the context of writing for different purposes.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

153. The teaching observed in both key stages had good, and occasionally very good, features. The teachers' subject knowledge varies, but, in the majority of cases, is sufficient for the group being taught; some teachers have well-developed skills. The interactive approach employed in lessons enables the children to pay attention and keep on task. However, the lessons do not always incorporate tasks that are suited to children of different ages and abilities within the class. Opportunities to practise skills are built into lessons in some other subjects, encouraging children to apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful activities. Effective use is made of resources, and the children are managed well.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

154. The quality of learning is good in both key stages. Most children are highly motivated and enthusiastic about hands-on experience of computers. They collaborate well in sharing equipment. They are well behaved and benefit from well-established and positive relationships. The children's positive response contributes to their learning. The use of the information and communication technology suite has a positive effect on the minority of children who find difficulty with sustaining concentration. The children are allowed to work at their own pace, and there is no significant difference in the way boys and girls develop their computer skills.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

155. The children learning English as an additional language and those having special educational needs make good progress, overall, in developing their skills in the information and communication technology suite. Those who have access to computers at home make relatively more rapid progress.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

156. The information and communication technology suite is making a good contribution to children's attainment and progress, though the school does not currently deliver the elements of control and monitoring fully. The suite is well resourced and computers for classrooms have been ordered. The subject is well managed, but there is no system for checking on teaching, learning and standards across the school and the planned use of information and communication technology across the curriculum is not yet fully established.

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MUSIC

157. Very few music lessons were seen during the inspection. From the evidence of children’s written work, teachers’ plans and records, standards are in line with national expectations in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In the previous inspection, standards were above expectations in Key Stage 2 Mossford Green Primary School - 42 and music was a strength of the school.

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MUSIC

158. In Key Stage 1, the children sing the words and tunes of songs and hymns and they begin to pay attention to pitch. They have some experience of using percussion instruments and can play a steady beat. At present, they are focussing on the recognition of long and short sounds. The children can recognise long and short sounds from everyday life and most begin to recognise them in songs. They know the names of some instruments of the orchestra and have enjoyed listening to a range of music in assemblies and music lessons. Sometimes they have drawn and painted in response to music.

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MUSIC

159. In Key Stage 2, the children learn to sing two-part rounds and have some opportunity to use tuned percussion instruments. In one lesson, for example, groups of Year 3 and 4 children made their own compositions on glockenspiels and were encouraged to find out how many different tunes they could compose and repeat. They managed this well and were very pleased with their achievements. In Year 5 and 6, children begin to learn to read music and understand notation. A few learn to play an instrument with the help of a peripatetic music teacher. The children enjoy listening to a range of music in assembly and music lessons and some know a little about composers. At present, there are no opportunities for children to learn the recorder or to sing in a school choir on a regular basis. The choir is formed a few weeks before a musical performance and then disbanded. The children make satisfactory progress in both key stages and enjoy their

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MUSIC

lessons. Most have positive attitudes to the subject and particularly enjoy composition and playing instruments. In individual instrumental lessons, the children try hard and concentrate well, but they need to practise more at home to improve their skills.

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MUSIC

160. The teaching observed in Key Stage 1 was good overall with some very good features. Clear objectives were set for the lessons and a sound pace was maintained. There were good opportunities for singing and playing and the teachers’ use of resources helped the children to develop their understanding. In a very good lesson, a good mixture of activities and effective support from a teaching assistant and parent enabled the children to find out for themselves what kind of sound the different instruments could make. The teacher showed good subject knowledge and good teaching skills in taking the children’s learning on and drawing the lesson to a very clear conclusion.

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MUSIC

161. The teaching observed in Key Stage 2 was satisfactory overall with one good lesson and one less than satisfactory. In the good lesson, the teachers organised the session effectively and took the children’s learning forward with sensible comments and questions. For example, in an effective lesson on composition, the teacher led the children from composing their own repeating tunes to writing them down, giving them an insight into how compositions can be built up. In an unsatisfactory lesson on the same theme, the guidance given was vague and on occasions misleading so that the children became confused about what was expected and made little progress during their composition time. The lesson was not brought to a clear conclusion, so the children were not aware of what they had learned and what could be the next step.

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MUSIC

162. The school uses a nationally recommended scheme for music and has a wealth of supportive material. The scheme has not been adapted, however, to suit the needs of the school. In both key stages, therefore, the teaching fails to cater for the full range of age and experience of the children in each class. This means that some children do not have enough opportunities to reinforce and practise skills while others do not extend their learning enough.

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MUSIC

163. The co-ordinator is able to see teachers’ plans and offer advice and resources but has not been involved in the evaluation or monitoring of the subject. She has not had the opportunity to support colleagues by working alongside them or by taking classes occasionally. The school has a good collection of tuned and percussion instruments. There is an appropriate range of recorded music and reference books. The school takes part in local music festivals and there is a performance each term for which musical groups are formed. The children’s learning experience is also enriched by performances from local instrumentalists who visit the school each term. Mossford Green Primary School - 43

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

164. Standards are in line with expectations at the end of both key stages. The majority of Key Stage 1 children display appropriate ball skills, particularly throwing and catching, showing a developing awareness of space. Higher attainers have relatively better control of their body, but some children have difficulty in catching small balls, while others lack confidence in combining skills. Key Stage 2 children demonstrate a sound knowledge and understanding of exercise and its impact on the heart. Older children have started measuring their pulse rates before, during and after exercise as part of a project linked to science. Some activities used in this context were not, however, sufficiently energetic to have a noticeable effect on the pulse rate. Some children in mid-year groups were observed performing repeating actions in outdoor games with focus on body control and co-ordination. However, the children’s skills in sequencing movements, and improving

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

their performance through evaluation are not yet fully developed. Swimming skills, on the other hand, are good. Over 90 per cent of the current Year 6 children can swim the required length and all the children are aware of basic water safety procedures.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

165. Teaching is of good quality in both key stages. This indicates an improvement since the last inspection when it was judged satisfactory. Careful planning and effective demonstration reflect the teachers' good subject knowledge and the activities planned match the children's interests and abilities. Teachers manage the children well and deploy a suitable range of resources. The quality of teaching has a positive impact on learning. Most children in both key stages are well motivated and show high levels of concentration. They show well-developed co-operative and collaborative skills. Sometimes, however, the children are not sufficiently encouraged to learn from each other through discussing and evaluating their performances.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

166. Most children work enthusiastically in learning to develop individual skills or group strategies and they use equipment with care. Their good behaviour enhances the quality of their learning, and this enables them to make good progress both in lessons and over time. However, the pace of learning tends to slow down in large group games. There is no significant gender difference in children's learning. Children with special educational needs and those learning English as an additional language make good progress in developing skills relating to physical education.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

167. A broad physical education curriculum is being offered. The focus was on athletics and games during the week of the inspection, but there is some photographic evidence of past activities covering dance. The subject has some cross-curricular links, for example with science and numeracy. Improvements since the last inspection include support from the local education authority and parental involvement in activities. The subject is well managed, though there is little evidence of children's skills being assessed or recorded systematically. The school has a record of past achievements in sport, but opportunities in this respect are currently limited.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

168. The last inspection reported that standards of attainment in religious education were satisfactory, and in line with the locally Agreed Syllabus. The findings of the present inspection are that they are good in Key Stage 1, and satisfactory in Key Stage 2.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

169. In Key Stage 1, children show a good understanding of the main aspects of Christianity. During a visit by a local Methodist minister, children in both Years 1 and 2 asked informed questions about religious topics, like what happens when people die, are baptised and married (one child referred to holy matrimony). They have some understanding of what “Communion” means, and a knowledge of Christian symbols. Children also understand that there is a range of faiths, each with its own customs and holy books. As well as Christianity, Judaism is studied in Key Stage 1.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

170. In Key Stage 2, while studies of aspects of Christianity continue, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism are also introduced. Children in Years 3 and 4 demonstrate a good cross-religious awareness of Mossford Green Primary School - 44 signs and symbols: of what they mean and how they work. In Years 5 and 6, they compare the moral codes of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible and show understanding of personal commitment to religion through their writing about customs of fasting.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

171. The children learn well though their own curiosity and good motivation. In evaluation sessions at the ends of lessons they demonstrate good recall of facts which they handle much better than the more abstract aspects of religion. Behaviour is good, and children undertake the tasks they are set conscientiously and with perseverance. Even in an unsatisfactory and slow lesson, children were patient, polite and well-behaved. Children with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language make satisfactory progress along with their peers, especially when appropriate work is set for them.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

172. Teaching is generally satisfactory, with one unsatisfactory lesson recorded. This was characterised by slow pace, thin content and lack of challenge. Teachers generally have satisfactory subject knowledge. They plan and prepare their resources appropriately, and manage classes well. Good use is made of visits, like the one planned to the local Methodist church, and of visitors like the minister. Much written work set is copied and does not lead to much progress, however. Marking is often superficial and not developmental.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

173. The co-ordinator for religious education is an experienced and well-motivated teacher. She knows the subject well, and is in the process of producing a new subject scheme of work which will take account of a recently revised locally Agreed Syllabus and of the advice provided by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Resources for the subject are satisfactory, and there is a good collection of religious artefacts (a good display of objects associated with Judaism was on show at the time of the inspection). However, in a class in Years 5 and 6 there were insufficient Bibles for each child to have one.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

174. There is little planned development of literacy in children's written work because of the amount of copying undertaken and because technical language mistakes are often not marked. The frequent discussion of religious topics, however, helps to develop the children’s skills of informal speaking.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

175. Religious education contributes well to children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through its consideration of religious ideas, rules of life and the duties of individuals towards others, as well as its focus upon the ways in which religions influence the expressive arts of many cultures.

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