Mickley Village Primary & Nursery School

MICKLEY COMMUNITY INFANT AND NURSERY SCHOOL

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

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MICKLEY COMMUNITY INFANT AND NURSERY SCHOOL

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Milton Avenue Stretton Nr Alfreton Derbyshire Postcode: DE55 6GG

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs B Rogers

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: May 1997 Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 4

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

2440 Mrs P Francis Registered inspector Mathematics Science Design and technology Information and communication technology Geography Foundation Stage curriculum What sort of school is it? The school’s results and pupils’ achievements. How well are pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? What should the school do to improve further? 13981 Mr T Morgan Lay inspector How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 1951 Ms Y Crizzle Team inspector English Art and design History Music Physical education Religious education Special educational needs Equal opportunities Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development. How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils?

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

Serco QAA Ltd Herringston Barn Herringston Dorchester Dorset DT2 9PU

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect 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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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

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

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

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AREAS OF THE CURRICULUM, SUBJECTS AND COURSES 26

Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 6

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Mickley Community Infant and Nursery school is small and serves a small council housing estate located between the towns of Clay Cross and Alfreton in Derbyshire. During the inspection the full time equivalent of 70 pupils, aged 3 to 7 years, attended the school. There are a third more girls than boys in Years 1 and 2. Nearly all of the pupils are white, and there are no pupils at an early stage of learning English. Most of the pupils live on the estate and come from a disadvantaged social background. The proportion of pupils who are eligible for a free school meal is well above the national average. Overall, the range of pupils’ attainment on entry is low. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and the proportion of children with statements, are broadly in line with the national average. However, in the nursery the proportion of children with special educational needs and those with statements is above

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

the national average. Pupils with special educational needs have moderate learning difficulties usually in social skills, language and communication with a few pupils who have poor sight or poor hearing. Since the previous inspection in 1997, the proportion of pupils who are eligible for free school meals and those with special educational needs have steadily increased.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a good school that provides good value for money and has many good and very good features. Pupils achieve very well in the nursery and well in most subjects in Years 1 and 2. They have good attitudes to their work and behave well. This is due to the overall good teaching and the good leadership and management from the headteacher and teachers that includes a shared commitment to continuous improvement.

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What the school does well

• Across the school, pupils achieve well in most subjects due to the good teaching. • Pupils’ attitudes, behaviour and personal development are good because of the very good provision for pupils’ social development, the good provision for their moral development and the school’s very good procedures for promoting good behaviour. • The headteacher and teachers provide good leadership and management that promote good achievement and effective teaching and learning. • The very good teaching and care of the children in the nursery provide a very good start to children’s schooling. • Parents think very highly of the school’s work due to the very effective links that the school has established with them. • The school provides a safe, supportive and caring environment for pupils that helps them to feel secure and enjoy school life, which has a substantial effect on their learning and achievement.

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What could be improved

• Standards in history, music, physical education and religious education, particularly through further development of pupils’ skills in speaking and listening and historical enquiry. • The ways in which teachers assess pupils’ progress during lessons and the quality of their marking of pupils’ work to help them to know what to do to improve. • The monitoring of the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning. • The accommodation to improve the facilities for the teaching of physical education, music and drama, for further involvement of parents and to improve the staff’s working conditions. 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 school was last inspected in May 1997. Since then, the school has made good improvement. The key issues of the last inspection to improve the attitudes and behaviour of pupils, and standards in mathematics, information and communication technology and in design and technology have been addressed effectively. The school has also improved its curricular guidance for staff to improve Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 7 progression in subjects. There have been many other improvements, particularly in the improving trend in pupils’ national test results in reading, writing and mathematics, in teaching and learning, and in parents’ partnership with the school. The improvements in the leadership and management of the headteacher and teachers mean that the school has a good capacity to improve further.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 2 based on National Curriculum test results.

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Performance in:

1999 2000 2001 2001 reading B D B A* writing D D A A* mathematics A C A A*

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Key

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

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Key

Children receive a very good start to school in the nursery and, by the end of the reception year, they attain average standards in all the areas of learning. From their low attainment on entry this represents very good achievement in the nursery and reception classes.

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Key

By the end of Year 2, in comparison with schools nationally, test results in 2001 indicated standards in writing and mathematics that were high; in reading, standards were above average. In comparison with similar schools, standards in reading, writing and mathematics were very high and were within the highest five per cent nationally. At the end of Year 2, there was a high proportion of pupils who attained the higher level, level 3, in, writing, mathematics and science. The very good results from 2001’s Year 2 are due to a year group that had higher attainment on entry than is usual for the school.

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Key

The work pupils were doing during the inspection showed that pupils achieve well in most subjects and usually attain standards that are average by the end of Year 2. In English, mathematics, science, information and communication technology, art and design, design and technology and geography this was the case. In history, music, physical education and religious education, pupils achieve less well than expected and attainment is below average. Pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress due to the good support they receive; however, this could be better in Years 1 and 2 if the targets within their individual educational plans were to be achieved over a shorter period and teachers’ marking showed them how to improve. Pupils’ listening is often good, but their skills in speaking, although improving, are below average and few pupils are skilled yet at contributing to discussion.

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Key

There has been greater improvement in the trend in the school’s results than the national trend and the school is on course to meet its current challenging targets.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Pupils like coming to school, they are keen to learn and have good attitudes towards their work. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Good. The high level of expectations of pupils’ behaviour shown by all adults successfully fosters a courteous and purposeful community. Pupils usually respond to these high expectations with good behaviour. There have been no exclusions in recent years. Personal development and Good. Pupils get on very well together and with all the adults in the Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 8 relationships school. The school helps them to become mature and responsible. Attendance Attendance has improved since the last inspection and is now satisfactory at near the national average. Almost all pupils are punctual; also an improvement from the last inspection.

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Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Reception Years 1 – 2

Quality of teaching Good Good Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Reception Years 1 – 2

Overall, the quality of teaching and learning is good with very good teaching in the nursery. Teaching in English and the skills of literacy is satisfactory, and is good in mathematics and the skills of numeracy. The particular strengths in teaching are the effective planning and the good use of skilled teaching assistants, which enables teachers to meet the needs of most groups of pupils. Teachers have high expectations for pupils’ academic standards and behaviour, they manage pupils well and as a result, in most lessons across the school, pupils behave well. Pupils try hard to succeed, they want to learn and work productively at a good pace when they are interested in their lessons. Due to the good specialist teaching of information and communication technology by the subject co-ordinator, pupils are acquiring improved skills in the subject; however, as yet, there is insufficient use of these skills across the

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Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Reception Years 1 – 2

Pupils who have learning difficulties learn satisfactorily. Their learning and that of other groups could be better if teachers assessed their work more thoroughly in lessons and in written marking. The limited evaluative comments on pupils’ work constrain pupils in their knowledge of how to improve their work. The school has worked to improve pupils’ speaking and listening skills. However, while pupils generally listen attentively, teachers give pupils insufficient opportunities to develop speaking skills further and particularly in role-play activities.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory. It is effectively planned in the nursery and helps children to achieve very well. Statutory requirements are met in Years 1 and 2. However, there are too few opportunities for pupils to develop library and research skills and to use information and communication technology to support some subjects, particularly English and history. Extra-curricular provision is good. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Overall satisfactory. It is good in the nursery and it is broadly satisfactory in the rest of the school. The quality of individual educational plans is broadly satisfactory but planning to meet pupils’ specific needs and assess how well they achieve could be better. Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Good overall provision for pupils’ personal development. There is very good provision for pupils to develop an understanding of their social

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Aspect Comment

responsibilities and good provision for their moral development. Provision for pupils’ spiritual and cultural development is satisfactory. How well the school cares for its pupils Good. The safe, supportive and caring environment provided for the pupils is a strength of the school. Procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress are good but the day to day use of assessment information to guide curricular planning is unsatisfactory.

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Aspect Comment

The school works in partnership with parents very well. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 9

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Good. The headteacher has a clear vision for the school’s development and provides good professional leadership that is focused upon raising standards and continuous improvement. The staff have accepted the developments she has introduced for the school to move forward and support her well.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Satisfactory. The governors work well with the headteacher and they show great support and commitment to the school. Governors’ understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses is good. Their role in shaping the direction of the school is satisfactory as is their role in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Satisfactory. The school evaluates pupils’ performance in national tests thoroughly and takes effective steps to improve any areas of weakness. While teaching is monitored, the impact of it on pupils’ learning is not evaluated in detail, and adjustments are not made to planning of work to meet pupils’ needs more effectively.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Satisfactory. The governors apply best value principles satisfactorily and target their spending to bring about improvements in standards mainly through the school improvement plan. The governors are very aware of the restrictions imposed by the unsatisfactory accommodation and have plans to improve it, if they can obtain the finance.

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Aspect Comment

The school has a good level of staffing and satisfactory learning resources. The accommodation is inadequate and restricts the activities that can be undertaken in music, drama and physical education and parents’ involvement in school activities such as assemblies. It also provides inadequate working conditions for staff.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• They are kept well informed about how their children are getting on. • They would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. • The school works closely with parents. • Their children like school. • Their children are making good progress in school. • The teaching is good. • The school expects their children to work hard and achieve their best. • The school is well managed. • No issues that parents would like to see improved were raised in the response to the parental questionnaire. • At the parents’ meeting before the inspection, parents identified the school’s accommodation, particularly the lack of a hall, as something that they would like to see improved.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspectors agree with parents’ and carers’ views of the school. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 10

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1. Since the last inspection, pupils’ results in national tests at the end of Year 2 have risen faster than the national trend. There has been good improvement in test results in reading, writing and mathematics. Children enter school with attainment that is low, particularly in their social skills and language. Due to the very good start in the nursery where teaching is very good and in the reception class where teaching is good, children attain the Early Learning Goals in all the areas of learning by the time that they leave the reception. These standards of attainment represent very good achievement in the Foundation Stage.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2. In 2001, the results of national tests at the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics were the best ever for the school. In comparison with schools nationally, standards in writing and mathematics were high and in reading were above average. In comparison with similar schools, standards in reading, writing and mathematics were very high and were within the highest five per cent nationally. A high proportion of pupils attained the higher level, level 3, in writing, mathematics and science. Over three years from 1999 to 2001, girls have generally done better than boys in reading and mathematics; in writing there were no significant differences. Last year’s pupils in Year 2 entered the school with higher attainment than is usual for the school.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3. The work that pupils were doing during the inspection demonstrated that pupils achieve well in most subjects in Years 1 and 2. In English, mathematics, science, information and communication technology, art and design, design and technology and geography pupils reach average standards by the end of Year 2. In history, music, physical education and religious education pupils achieve less well than expected and their attainment is below average. There are no significant differences between the performance of boys and girls. In history, teachers do not develop enquiry skills well enough. In music, teachers do not have sufficient expertise in the subject and they do not develop progressively the essential skills of the subject. In physical education, the inadequacies of the accommodation mean that opportunities for pupils to develop essential skills systematically are severely restricted and in religious education, teachers’

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

knowledge of the subject is weak and planning does not take sufficient account of pupils’ previous knowledge.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4. After the last inspection, the new headteacher appreciated that the most important improvements to make were in the pupils’ attitudes to their learning and their behaviour, and that the school needed to foster the support of parents to ensure that they could help their own children to succeed. Until teachers’ management of pupils had improved, she realised that the impact of teaching on learning and pupils’ standards of attainment was likely to be minimal. The school has undertaken several initiatives to improve the social skills and behaviour of pupils. The result of these initiatives is that teachers consistently apply good approaches to the management of pupils’ behaviour, which at times is still challenging. Teachers can now spend most of their time in teaching rather than in trying to control poor behaviour. Most pupils’ behaviour is now good and they are keen to learn and achieve well. The work that the school

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

has undertaken in harnessing the support of parents has also been very successful and has contributed to the improved standards seen during this inspection.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5. During the school’s work on improving pupils’ performance, the national literacy and numeracy strategies were introduced and the school integrated these strategies into its action plan. In English, pupils achieve well from a low starting point and standards of attainment by the end of Year 2 are close to the national average. Attainment in listening is average, but it is below average for many pupils in speaking. This is because teachers do not provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to speak in lessons or for role-play, do not challenge them enough to answer clearly or to use words well to express more subtle ideas and do not help them sufficiently to improve the quality of their performance. Attainment in reading by the end of Year Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 11 2 is close to the national average. A few higher attainers are likely to reach higher levels. The majority of pupils do not use the library and have unsatisfactory early research skills, which

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

does not support them well in their English work or in other subjects. Attainment in writing for pupils by the end of Year 2 is in line with the national average with a significant minority reaching higher levels. While pupils are confident in their writing and use grammar correctly, spelling is generally weak. Achievement for the majority of pupils slows because teachers rarely give appropriate guidance during lessons or through marking. This means that pupils constantly repeat their handwriting and spelling errors, and do not improve the quality of their work.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6. In mathematics, pupils achieve well due to the good teaching in the subject and, at the end of Year 2, standards of attainment, including numeracy, are average. Pupils have a good knowledge of mathematical language. Those pupils in Year 2 with prior attainment that is average and above average have a sound grasp of number bonds to 20. The lower attainers and pupils with special educational needs have an insecure knowledge of number bonds to ten and many still need their fingers as an aid to working these out.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

7. The school has not identified any pupils as gifted and talented although it recognises its higher attainers. Pupils in the nursery who have special educational needs make very good progress because of the good support that they receive from the nursery staff and good individual educational plans that meet their needs well. The achievement of pupils who have special educational needs in reception, Year 1 and Year 2 is generally satisfactory in relation to their prior attainment, although they could do better. Teachers give them too long to achieve their targets and assessment, including marking, does not support them sufficiently in telling them how well they are doing.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

8. All pupils have good attitudes to the school. A key issue in the previous inspection report was to improve behaviour and attitudes of the pupils, particularly in Years 1 and 2. The school has successfully implemented a range of initiatives to support pupils, such as positive play. There is now a positive atmosphere that promotes effective learning throughout the school. During the inspection week, pupils followed instructions well, responded sensibly, generally listened attentively, and were very willing to explain their work. Pupils are polite and keen to please, and almost all are interested to learn. There are occasions in lessons when some pupils become restless, and this is usually when the teaching lacks sufficient interest and challenge. Some pupils respond eagerly to questions. However, many pupils do not have the confidence, knowledge and understanding to develop their speaking skills in a large group. All pupils

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

generally respond well to their independent activities, such as writing. The school has yet to consider ways to take all pupils on in their learning effectively through well-structured activities and to build on its success by responding to pupils who want to learn and want to make effort.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

9. About 97 per cent of parents who responded to the pre-inspection questionnaire say that behaviour is good. Inspection findings confirm this. Pupils enjoy coming into school and are quickly and positively involved in an appropriate range of activities. The school helps them to become mature and responsible and this is seen throughout the day. For example, at the start of morning sessions, there is a good sense of purpose as parents and children work on early morning tasks. At the sound of a soft tinkle of the bell, children settle for registration without fuss or delay. Parents take their leave quietly and the school day continues with registration. This routine effectively displays the very good relationships between pupils, teachers and parents.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

10. The behaviour of all pupils, including those with special educational needs, is good in and around the school. Full use is made of the restricted indoor accommodation and of the adequate outdoor areas. For example, pupils and teachers have to sit close to each other in some lessons, such as music. The main focus is always to concentrate on the work and this helps everyone in teaching and learning. However, these cramped conditions do not enhance the quality of the working and learning environment. Overall, pupils work co-operatively with partners, reasonably well when in groups and productively on their own. Lessons are largely free from Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 12 disruption and, on the rare occasions when pupils with special behavioural needs demand attention, any difficulties are generally handled well by staff and pupils so that learning can continue. The high level of expectations shown by all adults successfully fosters a courteous

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

and purposeful community. There have been no exclusions in recent years.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

11. The personal development of the pupils is good. They have very good relationships with each other and adults. Pupils are given jobs to help with the smooth running of the school day and take their responsibilities seriously. They enjoy the opportunity to be extra useful, such as when they wear the computer expert badge. Appropriate opportunities abound for pupils throughout the school to acknowledge individual successes and they respond well to this.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

12. Attendance has improved since the last inspection and so far, for this academic year 2001 to 2002, is now satisfactory at near the national average. Almost all pupils are punctual, which is also an improvement. There is strict, correct interpretation of what can be deemed to be authorised absence with the result that unauthorised absence is above the national figure. Illness is the main reason for pupils not being at school. Registers are completed correctly in accordance with requirements. Efficient registration ensures a prompt start to lessons, which has a beneficial effect on pupils’ learning.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

13. Teaching across the school has shown good improvement since the last inspection when it was judged to be satisfactory with sixteen per cent of unsatisfactory teaching, of which five per cent was poor. Across the school, the majority of teaching and learning are good and there were no lessons seen that were judged to be unsatisfactory. In the nursery, the quality of teaching is very good.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

14. Overall in the Foundation Stage, teaching is good. Teaching in personal, social and emotional development and creative development is very good; in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development, knowledge and understanding of the world, it is good. Teaching is sound in physical development. The good teaching has a positive impact on children’s very good achievement from their low attainment on entry and, as a result, they learn well.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

15. Particular strengths in the Foundation Stage are in the high expectations that adults have of pupils’ success in learning and of their behaviour, their very good management of children based on very good relationships and a calm, quiet discipline. The adults ensure that rules, and the reasons for them, are very clear. In this secure, stimulating environment children try hard to succeed, work productively at a good pace and make very good progress. The organisation of the classrooms is good; resources match the children’s needs and are well organised for them to have access independently. Children know what is expected of them, know the routines well and become independent very quickly. All teaching adults have good knowledge and understanding of the needs of children, and of the areas of learning to meet those needs. Teachers provide a wide variety of visual and practical activities; for example, in reception in

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

mathematical development the teacher used a washing line of clothes labelled from one to 20, for children to count forwards and backwards and, a peg to identify the starting number when counting on as a way of adding numbers. All adults make effective interactions with children that make a significant contribution to their learning, as seen when the teaching assistant in the nursery was supporting a group of children to complete a jigsaw. Children show interest in the activities provided for them and are well motivated to learn. They sit quietly, listen attentively and concentrate well for their ages. The class teacher and the teaching assistant in the nursery have an excellent partnership; they are skilled and usually provide high quality support and opportunities for children to try out their emerging skills.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

16. Teachers’ planning is good. Teachers plan activities effectively from the curricular guidance for the six areas of learning for the Foundation Stage and they ensure that the children undertake many practical experiences and make good use of play to extend their learning. Sometimes, in reception, there is insufficient intervention by adults in the role-play activities. Pupils lose interest and miss opportunities to develop speaking and listening skills. Adults consistently Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 13 encourage and praise children for their effort and work, and ensure that they have good knowledge of how to improve. During lessons, teachers make good assessments of how much children know and extend their learning well by good questioning. In the nursery, the teacher observes children closely while they are working and often makes notes of their progress, for example, while children were looking for toy mini beasts in the sand. This information is used

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

well to plan further work to meet their needs. Teachers identify early those children who have difficulties in speaking and provide individual educational plans that support them very well. Speech therapists have trained the teaching assistants well to give support to individuals. This has been invaluable and highly successful in helping children to gain confidence through speech. Teachers cater very well for children who have individual educational plans in the nursery and satisfactorily in reception. This is because the special needs co-ordinator is also the nursery teacher and has a very good overview of how well children are doing. She does not have the same overview of children in other classes. In reception, children do not have sufficient opportunities to talk about their work and develop specific vocabulary well enough. The teachers use homework well to reinforce learning and parents are able to make a worthwhile contribution

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

to their children’s learning. Children and parents may borrow books and toys from school and parents obtain a good view of their children’s progress during the daily sessions when parents work alongside their children in classes. These occasions also give parents regular opportunities for a good dialogue with staff.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

17. In Years 1 and 2, teaching is good and pupils make good progress in most lessons and achieve well. Teaching was good in two out of three lessons seen and satisfactory in the remaining one. Teaching was good in mathematics, in information and communication technology, in physical education and in the single lessons seen in art and design, design and technology, and geography; it is satisfactory in English and music, and the single lesson seen in science. Although the lessons seen in religious education were satisfactory, other evidence from the subject suggests that teaching overall in the subject is unsatisfactory. No teaching was seen in history. A contributory factor in the weaker teaching in music and religious education is the teachers’ unsatisfactory knowledge and understanding of the two subjects.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

18. A strength in the teaching is the teachers’ good expectations for pupils to succeed in their work and to behave well. Adults and pupils have very good relationships and teachers base their good management of pupils on these. They use their assistants effectively to support pupils who have difficulties in conforming to teachers’ expectations for their behaviour. As a result, pupils usually behave well, they try hard to succeed and they work productively at a good pace. They show by their good attitudes that they are keen to learn. Teachers use an effective range of teaching methods. They establish routines well and pupils know what they are expected to do and how to behave. Teachers’ good lesson plans are detailed and demonstrate all stages of a lesson clearly. They identify clear objectives for pupils’ learning, which teachers share with them. Pupils are usually interested, they concentrate well and some groups, mainly the higher

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

attainers, work independently at times. There are occasions when the introduction to the lesson is too long, as seen in a science and some literacy lessons, and pupils become restless and inattentive. As soon as they start work on an activity, their interest returns and they sustain their concentration. Pupils with learning difficulties learn satisfactorily due to good support from teachers and their assistants. Their individual educational plans are satisfactory but planning to meet these pupils’ specific needs is not precise enough for individuals and they are given too long to reach their targets.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

19. To meet pupils’ needs, teachers plan many practical activities; however, as pupils have difficulty in reaching average standards in their speech, teachers do not use activities in which to improve pupils’ speaking skills enough. In English, art, history, music, physical education and religious education, there was evidence that teachers did not use discussion sufficiently and, even when the teacher set up a good role-play activity, such as the one in a geography lesson, there was no intervention from the teacher to challenge pupils, which led to them abandoning the activity. There was an example of the good use of discussion at the end of a design and technology lesson, when the teacher gave pupils in Year 1 opportunities to speak about the models they had made with the class. They explained how they had made the models, how they had Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 14 resolved problems and demonstrated how they had tested whether their models fulfilled the

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

20. A weakness in the teaching is in the assessment of pupils’ work. While pupils work in groups during the main activity of the lesson, the teacher works with one group and focuses her attention on those pupils. This means that she does not assess how other pupils are working nor is she aware of any difficulties that they may be experiencing. This lack of information about pupils’ difficulties means that the teacher is unable to adjust future planning to overcome the pupils’ problems. The school does not have a marking policy. Its philosophy is to praise pupils for their work, which all teachers implement well. This means that teachers tick pupils’ work and at times work is over-praised and often when it is incorrect, for example, in spelling. Pupils do not receive written guidance on how to improve their work when work is marked. The absence of a well-defined marking policy is unsatisfactory. Teachers do not take account of how well pupils

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

achieve and this is evident in planning seen for daily lessons. These weaknesses in assessment mean that pupils do not know enough about how to improve their work and pupils’ positive attitudes are less likely to be sustained as they grow up, if they have not been helped to improve their work at an early stage. Homework is used regularly and generally includes reading and spelling. This is satisfactory. However, it is unsatisfactory when reading books and spelling lists do not meet an individual’s needs well.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

21. The co-ordinator for information and communication technology teaches the subject well to all pupils in Years 1 and 2. There has been good improvement in the provision for the subject since the last inspection (see paragraph 127) and pupils make satisfactory use of their skills in mathematics, science, art and design, design and technology, and geography. Their improved skills are not used sufficiently yet in the other subjects of the curriculum.

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STUDENTS?

22. In the Foundation Stage, the curriculum is planned effectively and includes all the areas of learning including religious education. Teachers plan together and provide children with a satisfactory programme that helps them to achieve very well in all areas. This is particularly seen in the nursery. All children are well on course to attain all the Early Learning Goals by the time they begin Year 1.

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STUDENTS?

23. The quality and range of learning opportunities provided for all pupils in Years 1 and 2 are satisfactory. The allocation of time to all National Curriculum subjects is broadly satisfactory. During spells of fine weather, the teachers take pupils outside for physical education lessons because otherwise they would not have much experience of games in the restricted indoor accommodation. This is a correct decision and a good use of limited resources. However, when the pupils go outdoors for games they miss other timetabled lessons, which are not made up later. Music suffers particularly from these timetable changes. The school does not keep an adequate analysis of time lost so cannot accurately account for allocation of time later. The school would benefit from a closer analysis of time, for example, in music and physical education lessons. All subjects of the National Curriculum are taught as well as religious

p.14

STUDENTS?

education and statutory requirements are met. However, there are too few opportunities for pupils to develop library and research skills and to use information and communication technology to support some subjects, particularly English and history.

p.14

STUDENTS?

24. The whole school planning initiative is successful in making sure work is planned to avoid undue repetition and aims to help pupils to build on their prior learning as they move through the school. A key issue in the previous inspection was to develop schemes of work in all subjects to provide a secure basis for progression in learning. The school has responded to recent changes in education and implements the national literacy strategy satisfactorily and numeracy strategy well. National guidance is used for other subjects and the agreed syllabus is used for religious education. The school is beginning to feel the need to prepare schemes that will better meet the needs of their pupils and has already developed a few school schemes, for example, in design and technology. So, to a large extent the key issue has been addressed well. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 15 25. The school’s focus is to continue to raise standards of speaking and listening. However,

p.14

STUDENTS?

planning shows that opportunities to further develop essential skills are not sufficiently well considered to meet pupils’ needs. There is further work to do to raise teachers’ confidence and knowledge if pupils’ skills are to develop through role-play.

p.15

STUDENTS?

26. The provision for personal, social and health education is good. The school has been very successful in addressing the key issue raised in the previous inspection. Sex education and the misuse of drugs and general safety are taught appropriately. Parents are advised of these programmes and have been told of their right to withdraw their children from aspects of this work.

p.15

STUDENTS?

27. Provision for pupils who have special educational needs has improved to satisfactory. It is good in the nursery and it is broadly satisfactory in the rest of the school. The special needs co- ordinator is also the full time nursery teacher. The nursery team fulfils its duties well and provides high quality support that helps all children, particularly those with speech difficulties, to achieve well. The school would benefit from helping the special needs co-ordinator to have a better overview of how well pupils with special educational needs achieve in the rest of the school. The quality of individual educational plans is broadly satisfactory but planning to meet pupils’ specific needs and assess how well they achieve could be better. Paperwork is not organised well enough to present information effectively and usefully.

p.15

STUDENTS?

28. Teaching assistants are well trained and follow guidance carefully, but are not as effective in helping pupils learn as they could be. This is because the school’s philosophy to praise prevents them from advising pupils of how to improve their performance as can be seen, for example, from entries in reading diaries.

p.15

STUDENTS?

29. The school has an equal opportunities policy and feels that everyone is included well. The school is quick to seize new initiatives and implement them with groups of pupils. However, there is evidence of insufficient consideration being given to the needs of the pupils involved, and there is little or no evaluation of the effectiveness of the initiatives. The school is in a good position to review its work and to assess the next step to be taken to help pupils to continue to learn. This may mean re-deploying staff. For example, the whole class group reading session was a valuable experience providing pupils are helped to learn through an appropriate balance of praise and guidance.

p.15

STUDENTS?

30. A few educational visits take place to enrich the curriculum, including a visit to the church and to the theatre. Visitors are invited into school to talk to pupils and these include representatives from the church and the hospital. This is broadly satisfactory.

p.15

STUDENTS?

31. There is a good range of extra curricular activities and these include craft, gardening and computer clubs.

p.15

STUDENTS?

32. The school’s links with the community are satisfactory, maintaining the standard reported in the last inspection. Use is made of the local area in connection with lessons and projects such as the visit to Carsington water for environmental studies. Visitors to the school cover a wide spectrum of topics including a hospital play leader who talked to each class about how children who have long-term illnesses are encouraged to continue learning. The “Mickley Clever Clogs”, who started as a family numeracy group, continue their association with the school.

p.15

STUDENTS?

33. There are good links with partner institutions, particularly the receiving primary school. The headteachers meet regularly; the staffs share some professional training and there have been joint bids for speaking and listening initiatives. Pupils in Year 2 go to the primary school for a day and the teacher in Year 3 comes to Mickley on at least two days to work with the pupils in Year 2. There is close liaison on the transfer of pupils’ records. The school is fully represented on the various groupings of Derbyshire schools. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 16 34. Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural, development is good overall. Provision is very good for social development, good for moral development, and satisfactory for their spiritual and cultural development.

p.15

STUDENTS?

35. Assemblies support Christian beliefs through the telling of Bible stories and visits from the local vicar. The school meets the requirements for a daily act of collective worship. Aspects of personal and social development occur throughout the day and also during planned occasions, such as the Gold Assembly. Music is sometimes used to create a calm mood before lessons and is effectively used in the short relaxation sessions. It emerges through the improved social and moral awareness. However, very little contribution to pupils’ spiritual development is seen through the curriculum, opportunities to enhance this are not planned for by teachers, and this denies pupils opportunity to further improve their attitudes and social skills. An area for development would be to closely look at the useful guidance in the agreed syllabus and consider ways to enrich the curriculum to support this aspect of pupils’ development.

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STUDENTS?

36. Pupils are clear about the difference between right and wrong, and respond to their teachers well. All classes display a short list of sensible school rules. Teachers rarely refer to them because pupils are very clear about what is expected of them. It is evident that policy for personal and social education has been implemented consistently well and continues to be applied appropriately with due regard to the gains pupils have already made. This supports pupils well in their developing maturity, responsibility and outlook generally. The school is in a good position to build on this through greater opportunities to develop co-operative and collaborative work, through, for example, role-play.

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STUDENTS?

37. The school’s provision for social development is very good. Teachers apply rewards and sanctions consistently to uphold the school’s sensible rules and the strategies employed since the last inspection have improved pupils’ behaviour from unsatisfactory to good. Pupils demonstrate good attitudes to helping in the school. From a young age, pupils take messages, help in lessons when they tidy up and collect resources. They support each other in aspects of their work. A particularly good example was seen in the ‘computer expert’ who proudly wore his badge and could give all sorts of useful information about his role as a helper. The majority of pupils are at an early stage of listening to each other and offering ideas. In general, they learn from demonstration well. However, there are not enough opportunities to organise their own work and evaluate their own work and that of others. Although they have opportunities to develop

p.16

STUDENTS?

enquiry skills through questioning in science and in design and technology, this is not sufficiently apparent in other areas of the curriculum, particularly English and history. Opportunities to develop research skills are rare.

p.16

STUDENTS?

38. The school’s provision for cultural development is satisfactory. Some awareness of pupils’ own culture emerges through subjects such as geography, and local educational visits but not as well as could be expected. Pupils do not learn about the major world faiths, including Christianity, well enough, through religious education. Teachers give pupils some opportunities for pupils to experience the cultures and traditions of others; for example, from the visit of a Caribbean musician. In the nursery, there are cooking utensils from other cultures in the kitchen of the home corner, a photograph of children eating food using chopsticks, and tropical fruits on the table to illustrate the story book of ‘Handa’s Surprise’ set in the Caribbean. This helps them to appreciate the diversity and richness of other cultures and prepares them for the next stage of their schooling and for life in our multi-cultural society, but could be strengthened.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

39. The safe, supportive and caring environment provided for the pupils is a strength of the school. This good provision is an improvement on that reported in the last inspection. Pupils are well known by the staff, both teaching and non-teaching, and there is evident concern for their welfare and development. During lunchtime and other breaks, as well as in the classrooms, pupils are supervised sensitively and effectively. This makes a significant contribution to the pupils’ feeling of security and their enjoyment of school life, which has a substantial effect on their learning and progress. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 17 40. There are good procedures for the introduction of children into the nursery and reception class with parents being fully involved. Teachers and the teaching assistants know the pupils in their own classes very well and are always striving to provide an environment in which each pupil

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

feels valued and fully included in all class activities. The good programme of personal, social and health education underpins the development of pupils’ personal attributes and is well monitored through teachers’ detailed daily knowledge, diary entries and the continuous exchanging of pastoral information between all the staff. Acts of kindness and special effort are treated as importantly as academic achievement and are acknowledged and shared with the whole school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

41. Procedures for child protection are good and are regularly brought to the attention of staff. The health and safety policy is satisfactory as are the procedures for first aid and emergency evacuation and the routine servicing of fire and portable electrical equipment. There is a formal, annual walk-round health and safety inspection and all staff are vigilant about spotting any hazards. Risk assessments are done when required, such as on the nursery outdoor play area, which resulted in lowering the height of the trees at the rear of the area to reduce the growth of algae on the paths. There are good links with a range of professionals responsible for education, health and welfare.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

42. The procedures for monitoring and improving attendance are good, which is an improvement since the last inspection. With their very good knowledge of pupils and their families, staff quickly notice any irregularities giving rise to concern. Attendance figures for each week are put on a chart in the entrance hall with a smiley or sad face relating to the stated target of 95 per cent and parents often comment on the figures. Parents are reminded regularly that every day away from school has an adverse effect on their child’s learning and, in particular, taking holidays in term time is discouraged. The invitation to parents to come into the classroom with their children every morning for the ten minutes before the nine o’clock start, is a very successful initiative to get pupils in on time. However, “Better late than never” is in the prospectus.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

43. Since the last inspection, there has been a great improvement in the procedures for monitoring discipline and encouraging good behaviour, including the eliminating of oppressive behaviour; they are now very good. The strong behaviour policy is backed by school rules that are short and simple and are clearly displayed and consistently applied. There is an emphasis on praising positive behaviour with good behaviour being acknowledged by a cumulative scheme of awards, and parents are told when their child has done well. There is an escalating system of sanctions and appropriate procedures to deal with any harassment or bullying. The headteacher keeps detailed records of any incidents or concerns about an individual pupil’s conduct and consults with parents to determine a way forward.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

44. Procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress are good, particularly for literacy, mathematics, information and communication technology and science. Assessments occur frequently throughout the year, and also through an annual science investigation day. The school encourages parents to help too and guidance is given by the headteacher. Class teachers match work regularly to levels of the National Curriculum and use this information to predict where pupils will be by the end of Year 2. They are clearly skilled in this work as can be seen from the close match of Teacher Assessments and the recent National Curriculum test results. This has been effective in raising standards.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

45. Although procedures for assessing other subjects are not formal, they are linked to the attainment targets in the National Curriculum. This is broadly satisfactory. An area for development would be for all subjects to be assessed in line with a marking policy that places good emphasis on the need to be positive but without ignoring areas of difficulty. Teachers would benefit from knowing what pupils already know, what they have learnt and what they should learn next. Pupils would benefit from knowing how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve in order to achieve well and attain higher standards. At present, the use of assessment information to guide curricular planning is unsatisfactory. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 18 46. The procedures for monitoring and supporting pupils’ academic progress are satisfactory overall. Individual educational plans for pupils with special educational needs are satisfactory and have

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

appropriate targets. However, class teachers do not plan sufficiently well to make sure that pupils practise and achieve the targets within a reasonable amount of time. As a result, pupils tend to achieve less well than their age group. They could do better, particularly in literacy. Pupils who have statements are catered for very well and achieve well in relation to their prior attainment.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

47. The school’s partnership with parents is very good and makes a significant contribution to pupils’ learning. This is an improvement on the last inspection. The parents’ views are that the school is excellent and receives the confidence of the community that it serves.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

48. Twenty parents attended the pre-inspection meeting and were very enthusiastic in their praise of what the school provides for their children. Apart from a remark about the lack of sufficient space in the school, all the comments were totally positive on all aspects of the school’s activities and achievements. When asked how the school has improved since the time of the last inspection, comments included, “Everything has been raised for the better” and “The school has improved because the parents want the school to improve. Parents take pride because the school takes pride.”

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

49. Eighty two per cent of questionnaires were returned by parents – an exceptional response. Almost all parents say that their children like school; they make good progress both academically and in personal development; the school is well led and managed; teaching is good with high expectations; behaviour is good; the school works closely with parents, keeping them well informed and dealing appropriately with any questions or concerns, and that the right amount of homework is set. Negative opinions appeared on only one or two questionnaires. Inspection evidence supports the positive views.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

50. There are very effective links between the staff and parents and the parents make a good contribution to their children’s learning at home and at school. A noteworthy feature is the invitation to parents, bringing their younger children with them, to come into the classroom first thing in the morning for ten minutes or so until formal lessons start. They work with their children on tasks set out by the class teacher. During the inspection these included number bonds to ten and looking at hexagons, with up to 20 parents in the two main classrooms. There is much conversation between the staff and parents at this time and the headteacher roams between the rooms. The headteacher and the secretary also make themselves available to parents at most other times of the day and any parent dropping in with forms, queries or forgotten clothing is always given a friendly welcome.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

51. Parents and other adults are encouraged to offer to help in school but only a few do so regularly. However, there are plenty of volunteers when there are specific tasks to be done or escorts needed for educational visits. Reading at home with their children is done by a reasonable proportion of parents and homework is supported satisfactorily. Attendance at curricular evenings makes them worth arranging. The Mickley Clever Clogs was formed by a group of parents after they undertook a family numeracy course in the school; the group now organises a wide range of courses in the community and several parents are extending their education with a consequent beneficial effect on the learning of their children.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

52. The quality of information provided by the school is satisfactory. Newsletters and other correspondence are sent out frequently and are written in a clear friendly style. The school prospectus and the governors’ annual report to parents meet statutory requirements. The parents’ response to the Parents/School contract is improving and there has been an increase in the signed returns from 72 per cent in 1999 to 83 per cent in 2001. The school provides satisfactory information on pupils’ progress. There is a formal meeting with parents in the summer term and in the other two terms there are open afternoons when work is laid out and Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 19 children explain to their parents what they have done. Attendance at the informal afternoons is very good and it is improving at the more formal occasion. Annual reports on pupils are satisfactory and parents say that they reflect the child they know! Teachers keep parents of

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

children with special educational needs fully informed about the progress their children make and are involved in their annual reviews.

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

53. The headteacher started in the school just before the last inspection. Consequently, she received a detailed audit of the school’s strengths and weaknesses in the report soon after her arrival. She has implemented the action plan following the inspection, by building a staff team who have a very good shared commitment to improvement and the capacity to succeed. The headteacher correctly identified the most important priority for improvement as the unsatisfactory attitudes and behaviour of pupils in Years 1 and 2. She drew up a policy for personal, health and social education that has been consistently implemented by all staff and with the governors’ approval, employed teaching assistants to support teachers in the classroom. She also used as many external agencies and initiatives as she could to support the staff in this work. The good improvement in the school, including good teaching and learning,

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

and pupils’ good attitudes and behaviour, is the result of the work undertaken.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

54. The headteacher demonstrates good leadership. She conveys her clear sense of direction and the high standards she expects effectively, and will not accept that the pupils in the school cannot achieve well because of their social background. The staff have accepted the developments she has introduced for the school to move forward and give her their support willingly. In common with other small schools, all teachers have many responsibilities as co- ordinators. Recently the development of their role has been a priority for the school and the headteacher has delegated responsibilities to them well. Overall, their leadership in their subjects is good, particularly in mathematics, science, information and communication technology, and design and technology. This leadership is demonstrated mainly when the development of the subject they lead is a priority within the school’s improvement plan. The co-

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

ordinator for special educational needs provides satisfactory leadership, better in the nursery where she works. She has difficulty in fulfilling her role in the rest of the school because she is not given any time to do it. The co-ordinator for information and communication technology gives staff a good lead in the subject, partly because she has time financed by the Standards Fund to undertake her role and to undertake specialist teaching.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

55. The governors responded constructively to the last report and to the priorities within the school improvement plan. The governing body has difficulty in attracting members and it has only recently become a stable body. It is working corporately to develop its role and understanding of its responsibilities. The governors work well with the headteacher and they show great support and commitment to the school. Governors’ understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses is good. Their role in shaping the direction of the school is satisfactory, as is their role in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

56. The school’s shared values and aims are reflected in its work, combined with a commitment to equality of opportunity for all groups of pupils. There is good racial harmony in the school. The school’s improvement plan has clear targets for improvement and its priorities are good and the school is methodically addressing them to improve standards in the school. The school links financial planning successfully to these priorities and takes effective action to meet the targets within the plan. The good improvement in the school is due to the priorities undertaken since the last inspection. It is noticeable that in subjects where pupils achieve less well than expected, in history, music, physical education and religious education, those subjects have not yet been priorities for improvement.

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

57. The monitoring and evaluation of the school’s performance is satisfactory. The headteacher analyses pupils’ performance thoroughly and takes effective steps to improve any areas of weakness, with the result that pupils’ attainment in the school’s national test results over the last four years has risen faster than the national trend. Subject co-ordinators are in a good Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 20 position to keep an overview of their subjects through whole school planning. However, they do not have the opportunity to fulfil their roles properly in respect of monitoring teaching and its impact on learning. The quality and usefulness of planning is not evaluated with a view to its effectiveness on how well all pupils learn. An area for development is for the school to take a detailed look into what pupils know and understand and make appropriate adjustments to short term plans to help meet pupils’ needs more effectively. While the school has evaluated most of

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

the initiatives undertaken to improve pupils’ attitudes and behaviour, the impact on pupils’ learning and behaviour of a recent initiative to introduce the early literacy support to pupils in Year 1 was not evaluated sufficiently.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

58. The school has good induction procedures for new staff. There have been no new teachers for four years; however, all teaching assistants were appointed since the last inspection and their good support for, and very good relationships with, the teachers and pupils shows the effectiveness of their induction into the school. The school does not take trainee teachers in the classes for Years 1 and 2 because of the necessity for good management of pupils’ behaviour. The school has successfully worked with trainee nursery nurses in the nursery. The existing system of appraisal in the school, before the national procedures were introduced, has been put on a formal basis and provides good appraisal and performance management. Teachers expressed the view that the in-service training that they have received meets their personal development needs as well as the school’s requirements.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

59. The strategic management of all resources available to the school is sound. The last audit by the Local Education Authority found the records of financial systems to be of a high standard. Efficient financial systems are in place by means of computers linked to the authority’s financial department and the school’s secretary uses these to monitor and control expenditure against the budget. She reports regularly to the headteacher who keeps the governors informed. She also deals effectively with any bureaucratic demands on the school. The governors apply satisfactory principles of best value to purchases. The high spending on support staff is justified by the pupils’ good attitudes and behaviour; teachers can now teach rather than control behaviour for a large proportion of their time. There is satisfactory use of specific grants. The grant for pupils with special educational needs is spent mainly on teaching assistants and there

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

is good use of the specific grant within the Standards Fund for the development of information and communication technology (see paragraph 127). As usual in a small school, the income per pupil is above average but taking into account the good improvement since the last inspection in standards, teaching, and leadership and management, the school provides good value for money.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

60. The school has a good level of staffing and satisfactory resources. The governors understand that the school’s indoor accommodation is inadequate; consequently, they have a carry forward in the budget to save money to improve it. The school does not have a hall, a staff room, or a separate office for the headteacher. Classrooms, especially for pupils in Year 1 and 2, are cramped. The lack of space restricts the curriculum in drama and role-play in subjects such as religious education, there is no room that is sound proofed enough to teach music without disturbing other classes and the teaching of physical education is dependent on the weather, as all work, except dance, is undertaken outside. To teach a dance lesson, teachers have to move all the furniture and stack tables and chairs at the side of the classrooms. Assemblies take place on the carpeted area of a classroom and the school is unable to involve parents in these

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

occasions due to the lack of space. The school also has great difficulty in involving parents in other activities, such as Christmas performances, for the same reason. The pupils use the two main classrooms for dining at lunchtime, which inhibits teachers from working in their classrooms at that time. These restrictions imposed by the accommodation, hold back pupils’ standards in drama, music and physical education, they hinder the development of further links with parents and provide unsatisfactory working conditions for staff.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

61. In order to continue the good work of the school, the headteacher and governors should now address the following in their action plan: Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 21 (1) Improve standards in history, music, physical education and religious education by:

p.20

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

- further development of pupils’ skills in speaking and listening, particularly in role- play activities, discussion and the development of pupils’ skills of historical enquiry; * - providing in-service training for teachers to improve their knowledge and understanding of role-play, music and religious education.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(See paragraphs 3, 5, 16, 19, 25, 71, 86, 88, 90, 97, 98, 113, 114, 125, 135-138, 142, 147 and 149.)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(2) Improve the ways in which teachers assess pupils’ progress by:

p.21

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

- spending more time in lessons on talking to pupils about their knowledge and understanding and in observing them at work to gain information about their progress; - drawing up and implementing a marking policy that includes giving advice to pupils to help them to know what to do to improve; - using the information from assessment on what pupils do and do not know and understand, to adjust the planning of work for groups and individual pupils.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(See paragraphs 5, 7, 20, 28, 45, 75, 93, 95, 96, 104, 108, 126 and 147.)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(3) Improve the monitoring of teaching to identify the impact of teaching on learning by different groups of pupils. (See paragraphs 57, 99, 105, 109, 118 and 126.)

p.21

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(4) As finances allow, improve the indoor accommodation: *

p.21

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

- to raise standards in drama, music and physical education; - to involve parents further in the school’s work, such as, in assemblies and in music and drama productions; - to improve the staff’s working conditions.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(See paragraphs 10, 23, 60, 100, 138, 139, 143 and 150.)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

62. The following minor weakness should also be addressed:

p.21

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Improve the use of information and communication technology so that it supports learning in all subjects more regularly. * (See paragraphs 21, 23, 98, 125, 130 and 137.)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

* show priorities within the school’s own improvement plan. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 22

p.21

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 16

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

The table gives the number and percentage of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents more than four percentage points.

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR– Y2

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 17 53

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 5 21

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y2

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 2 0

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 8 10

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

English as an additional language No of pupils

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 0

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 11

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 6

p.22

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

School data 6.2 School data 0.4 Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 23 National comparative data 5.6 National comparative data 0.5

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 24 Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) Year Boys Girls Total

p.23

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2001 13 7 20

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Boys Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls

p.24

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Percentage of pupils School 95 (75) 95 (88) 95 (88) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (83) 86 (84) 91 (90)

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.24

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Boys Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls

p.24

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Percentage of pupils School 95 (75) 90 (88) 95 (75) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (84) 89 (88) 89 (88)

p.24

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

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

p.24

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Girls’ and boys’ results are not entered separately, as there were less than 10 girls taking the tests.

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Black – Caribbean heritage 1 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

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

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

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. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 25 Teachers and classes Financial information

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 2.4 Financial year 2000/2001

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 24

p.25

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Education support staff: YR – Y2 Total income 201,638

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of education support staff 4 Total expenditure 194,508

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total aggregate hours worked per week 63 Expenditure per pupil 2,462

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 25,308

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1 Balance carried forward to next year 32,438

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 17

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of education support staff 1.3

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total aggregate hours worked per week 42.5

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

FTE means full-time equivalent. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 26

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Percentage of responses in each category

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

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 78 20 0 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 72 25 3 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 64 26 2 0 9

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 82 18 0 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 92 7 0 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 93 5 0 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 87 12 0 0 2

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 93 5 0 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 83 12 0 2 3

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 63 20 8 0 8

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Other issues raised by parents

Six parents made further comments on the reverse of the questionnaire form. The opinions expressed are reflected in the questionnaire responses summarised above. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 27

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

63. Children are admitted to the nursery in the term after their third birthday. They attend the nursery for a half day session until the term before they transfer to the reception class, when they attend full time. They transfer to the reception class at the beginning of the term in which their fifth birthday occurs. On entry to the nursery, the attainment of most pupils is low, particularly in their social skills and in their speech and language. Overall, the teaching and learning in the Foundation Stage is very good. As a result, children achieve very well and meet the early learning goals in all the areas of learning by the end of the reception year. It is difficult to compare the findings of the last inspection with the judgements made in this report, because the last report did not make judgements on attainment against the desirable learning outcomes in all the areas of learning by the age of five, although it judged that children in the nursery made

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

good progress towards them. Since then, the Foundation Stage has been introduced, accompanied by guidance for a nationally recommended curriculum, which covers a wider age group. Teaching was judged to be good in the nursery during the last inspection.

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Personal, social and emotional development

64. Personal, social and emotional development has a high priority in the school. The very good achievement over the Foundation Stage is due to the very good and diligent support that children receive from all adults in the nursery and reception classes. The provision of a wide variety of activities and the calm, effective and consistent interactions with staff make a significant contribution to the children’s learning. Children show interest in the activities provided for them and are well motivated to learn. They sit quietly, listen attentively and concentrate for appropriate periods of time for their ages, even when sitting in cramped conditions. In the reception class, children usually concentrate well, except on occasions, during role-play. When they travelled on the bus to an adventure playground, the lack of an adult to stimulate the language work meant that they were soon off task, but they moved sensibly and quietly to

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Personal, social and emotional development

another activity. The group with a teaching assistant, who were undertaking role-play set up outside as a busy road, persevered and made good progress in their knowledge and understanding of road safety.

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Personal, social and emotional development

65. In the nursery and in the reception class, children form very good relationships with adults and other children. Adults emphasise the importance of sharing and taking turns, as seen when children were encouraged to share magnifying glasses and binoculars when searching for toy mini beasts in the sand. Because of the adults’ very good teaching, children take turns and share fairly, for example, when it is snack time in the nursery. Children found their name card and put it into the tin to show that they have had their turn. They took a seat, poured a drink from a jug into their mugs, and chose a biscuit. When they had finished, they fetched other children to take their places. When the teacher was developing their vocabulary in a literacy session, children understood that they needed to raise their hand to take their turn at contributing. When playing outside on the slide, children took turns and did not try to slide too

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Personal, social and emotional development

close to the person in front. In the reception class, children worked together harmoniously during activities when they explored the objects in the water tray and when they built models with construction kits and found and offered pieces that other children needed. Staff support children very well through their constant interactions with them, their extension of children’s speech and promotion of a higher level of independence.

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Personal, social and emotional development

66. Children show sensitivity towards others and their resources. In the nursery, children playing in the pet shop took great care of the toy animals. One child combed the dog’s fur very carefully; another child made a bed for a mouse using a blanket in a suitable box; a third child fetched a bowl of water for the elephant. In the Year R/1 class, a younger reception child was having difficulty in lifting the tray of construction pieces to put it away at the end of a session. An older child noticed what was happening and quietly came to his assistance. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 28 67. Children quickly learn some independent skills. In the nursery, they helped to tidy up at the end of play outside by stacking chairs, dismantling and storing a jigsaw in its box, they followed instructions to make a queue at the door, waited patiently, put on their own coats and looked after their belongings. All members of staff quietly and positively praise children for their good

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Personal, social and emotional development

manners and each small achievement constantly reinforces these skills throughout the day. Children enjoy the attention of staff and approach those they know with confidence to ask for help or share an idea or need.

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Personal, social and emotional development

68. Children’s behaviour is good both in and out of the classrooms. They develop their social skills well. The welcome extended to parents and carers at the beginning and end of each session adds to the children’s confidence. They follow routines sensibly. Staff actively promote independence by providing a range of interesting activities where children can make some choices within planned tasks or, when not directly being in an adult led group, can choose to play with a wide range of activities that are not overcrowded. Staff provide very good opportunities to promote and develop personal, social and emotional skills throughout the school day and in all areas of the foundation curriculum. These opportunities are provided for all children, including those with learning difficulties.

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Communication, language and literacy

69. The majority of children enter the nursery with skills in speaking and listening that are well below what could be expected of children of this age. It is clear children achieve very well in all aspects of this area of learning in the nursery and generally continue to achieve well in reception. This means that the majority are well on course to meet the Early Learning Goals by the end of the reception year. A significant minority are likely to exceed expectations in reading. The majority of children are likely to come close to meeting the expected levels in speaking and listening. This level of achievement is similar to that reported in the previous inspection.

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Communication, language and literacy

70. Teaching is good overall. It is good in the nursery and satisfactory in reception. Particular strengths are seen in the management of pupils and in the very good relationships. The class teacher and the teaching assistant in the nursery are skilled and almost always provide high quality support and opportunity for children to try out their emerging skills, for example, through role-play. Most children know the names of colours and often communicate by nodding or gesture rather than speech. Some are far too timid to speak or interact with anyone. The care shown by adults and the older children supports newcomers well.

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Communication, language and literacy

71. In reception, many children begin to communicate information clearly in informal, rather than formal, situations. This is because they do not have sufficient opportunity to talk about their work and develop specific vocabulary well enough. Children who are new to the mixed class of reception and Year 1 pupils do not have work sufficiently well planned to take account of their needs. Significant time is wasted in overlong whole class sessions. Children who have already experienced a term or more in this class are often catered for well. Children clearly become used to what is expected of them and this helps them in learning. However, valuable time is wasted.

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Communication, language and literacy

72. Teachers identify early those children who have difficulties in speaking and provide individual educational plans that support them very well. Speech therapists give support as necessary and have also trained the teaching assistants well. This has been invaluable and highly successful in helping children to gain confidence through speech. Children who have individual educational plans are catered for very well in the nursery and satisfactorily in reception. This is because the special needs co-ordinator is also the full time nursery class teacher and has a very good overview of how well children are doing.

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Communication, language and literacy

73. Children have very few experiences of books. A few newcomers to the nursery are keen to sit with an adult and look at pictures, point to photographs, and sometimes talk about the book. Mostly their language is incomprehensible. Older children, including those with statements of special educational needs, enjoy talking about their favourite books and their speech is more understandable. They also have greater confidence. Children generally know how to hold a book, Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 29 to turn a page at a time and that pictures tell a story. They develop useful early reading skills. Older children and the full time children recognise, write and name letters with developing skill and accuracy. In an activity in the nursery, they used early phonics and clues very well to identify the hidden objects beginning with ‘c’. Reception pupils show greater confidence as they explore and experiment with sounds and words. They recognise a few words and some simple

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Communication, language and literacy

sentences in their books. They know that print carries meaning and that it is necessary to read from left to right. In general, children talk about the story and characters with increasing skill.

p.29

Communication, language and literacy

74. Nursery children generally show that they know how to hold a pencil or marker and make firm and bold strokes and good letter shapes. Some children, who are less skilled at first, quickly learn from guidance given by an adult and from watching each other during demonstrations. Children have experience of handling tools and tracing and this contributes significantly to their confidence in writing as seen from book making activities. In reception, children show good levels of skill as they write words, use capital and lower case letters and full stops when they write short sentences. Children learn well because in the Foundation Stage good attention is given to correct letter formation, shape and spacing all the time. They are advised of errors and given every opportunity to have another go. This immediate attention to errors helps them to quickly correct their work and achieve well. Some older reception children produce accurate and

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Communication, language and literacy

75. Children would benefit from greater attention to meet their specific needs once it can be seen that they are confident enough to develop their skills independently. The co-ordinator would benefit from a close return to the guidance on the Foundation Stage and to use the stepping stones to help assess more accurately where the children are in their learning, and how they can be helped to continue reaching high levels of attainment. This is particularly important for those who are new to the nursery and to reception and those children who attend full time.

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Mathematical development

76. In the nursery, children can count up to five when singing number rhymes and some of the full time four year olds can count the numbers of children in the class to 15. After 15, some errors occur. Most children can name squares, rectangles, triangles and circles and have a good understanding of number for their age. By the end of the reception year, most children count accurately to ten, recognise and write numerals to nine and can find one more or one less than a number from one to ten. A few children have difficulty in writing all numbers the correct way round. Higher attaining children are beginning to work within the early levels of the National Curriculum in mathematics. They add two single digit numbers, use mathematical language such as long and short correctly, measure objects with cubes and count in fives. Most children attain the Early Learning Goals in mathematical development, which represents very good

p.29

Mathematical development

achievement from their low attainment on entry to the nursery.

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Mathematical development

77. The quality of teaching is consistently good. Teachers and other adults use mathematical language very well throughout the day. In the nursery, the time spent on the carpet during registration is particularly effective in reinforcing counting skills when children count how many children are present. A singing session with the teaching assistant was used very well to reinforce counting to five and calculating one less, using actions in songs such as ‘Hickory, Dickory, Dock’ and ‘Five currant buns’. In the Year R/1 class, the reception children are grouped by prior attainment with the Year 1 pupils and the work provided for the reception children meets their needs well. The teacher uses much practical work for children to visualise numbers. For example, in the introduction and main part of the lesson, the teacher used a washing line of clothes labelled from one to 20, for children to count forwards and backwards and a peg to

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Mathematical development

identify the starting number when counting on as a way of adding numbers. Teachers plan their activities well and these are specifically linked to the recommended curriculum for mathematical development for the Foundation Stage in the nursery, and for reception children in the Year R/1 class. During lessons, teachers make sound assessments of how much children know and extend their learning well through the use of good questioning. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 30

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

78. Children enter the nursery with well below average knowledge of the world around them. For some this is the first experience they have had out of their own family homes. During the consistently good teaching, children are presented with a wide range of experiences to help them learn, and they achieve very well during their time in the nursery and reception year.

p.30

Knowledge and understanding of the world

79. Children are introduced to a varied curriculum. In the nursery during the inspection, children showed curiosity when they played at fishing in the water tray with plastic fish and nets and talked about what had happened, they used tools to search for toy mini beasts in the sand tray and talked about and drew pictures of their observations on the ‘animals’ found. They tried to construct a jigsaw about animals in the countryside, used a computer and looked after animals in the pet shop. Reception children in the Year R/1 class named the external parts of the human body, knew the life cycle of a butterfly, explored their sense of touch, matched shadows with objects, discussed the differences between day and night and sorted shiny and not shiny materials in their work on exploration and investigation. They built and constructed with a wide range of objects and selected the tools they needed to assemble and join the materials they

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

used. They used computers to support their learning. They developed a sense of time through finding out about past and present, such as the differences between old and new teddy bears, how bathrooms have changed over time and their own family trees. They developed a sense of place by talking about their route from home to school, about places to live and work and about the local environment outside the school gates. They have begun to know about beliefs of other people by listening to Bible stories about people such as Noah and Joseph.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

80. Teachers plan activities well that clearly focus on the stepping stones leading to the Early Learning Goals. The nursery and reception teachers liaise regularly to ensure progression in the areas of learning from the nursery to reception. The planned activities complement other areas of learning such as language, mathematical and social skills. In the nursery, the teacher effectively plans work that meets the differing needs of part time three year olds and full time four year olds. In the Year R/1 class, the teacher plans many practical activities for the reception children that match the Foundation Stage curriculum and any high attainers work with the Year 1 pupils on the early levels of the National Curriculum in science, design and technology, information and communication technology, history, geography and religious education. In this way, she successfully matches the work to their needs. Teachers and

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

teaching assistants give additional support to children with particular learning needs throughout lessons. In the nursery, when children were experiencing difficulty in constructing a jigsaw depicting animals’ homes in the countryside, the teaching assistant gave good advice and asked very pertinent questions to support the children in their task. ‘Find a piece with a straight edge’. ‘Look for rabbits’. ‘Can you find a piece to match the badger’s hair?’ Meanwhile, the teacher recorded careful assessments of individual children’s responses when they searched for toy mini beasts in the sand and talked about the ‘animals’.

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Physical development

81. Teaching is satisfactory with good opportunities for older children to work with Year 1 pupils. This helps them to achieve well. The majority of children are on course to meet the Early Learning Goals by the end of the reception year. A strong feature throughout the Foundation Stage is in the management of pupils. The teachers and their assistants ensure that rules, and the reasons for them, are very clear. Routines are well established and there are high expectations of behaviour. The majority of children enter the nursery with broadly satisfactory skills in this area of learning. However, some children have very little experience of the work and are clearly bewildered by it. Lessons are regularly timetabled and include outdoor activities. They are planned to support other areas of learning and develop children’s sense of safety, space, imagination and movement reasonably well.

p.30

Physical development

82. The majority of children in the nursery respond cheerfully to the work as they listen to the tape and move to the music. Older children learn to catch, throw and dribble a ball with developing skills of care and accuracy. It is clear that once children have overcome their nervousness and Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 31 bewilderment, they quickly gain confidence and enjoy the work. They have a developing sense of the importance of exercise and show a good sense of balance as they bend down to touch their toes. An area for development would be to help children participate more fully in smaller groups to make better use of the restricted indoor space and also to help them overcome their nervousness at an early stage. Children who are older and those who are full time in the nursery would benefit from opportunity to develop poise in their movement. They use wheeled vehicles with good care.

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Physical development

83. Throughout the Foundation Stage, teachers provide a satisfactory range of activities to develop children’s manipulative skills. Children handle pencils, brushes and glue spreaders carefully. They use scissors with care and many develop cutting skills well in relation to prior attainment. They used simple tools successfully to find the ‘mini beasts’ in the sand.

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Creative development

84. Teaching is very good. It is clear from teachers’ planning that there is a range of interesting and appropriate activities to help children achieve very well in this area of learning. Most children are likely to meet the Early Learning Goals by the end of the reception year.

p.31

Creative development

85. The majority of children enter the nursery with very limited experiences of this work. They are helped to settle into routines by finding out how to use the different toys and resources. They have useful opportunities to cut and stick as they make a bee, paint a black spider and work with a suitable range of materials. They generally show swift achievement in working tidily with glue when they use glue spreaders. Older children in reception practise drawing using close observation to help them with detail as can be seen from their paintings of bicycles. Some children show very good achievement in colour mixing on their self-portrait work.

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Creative development

86. Children have some experience of music through singing rhymes and simple songs from memory, as well as through movement and relaxation sessions. Children sing together cheerfully. Newcomers to the nursery tend to learn from the older children and try to join in with an odd word or phrase. Mostly they have a good time shaking the maracas and silver bells. Children in the Foundation Stage learn the names of the instruments they use and an understanding of how to play them. These early experiences are particularly useful to help them gain confidence but as children grow up in the nursery and move on to reception, they do not build on early skills well. Singing is generally not tuneful. Insufficient attention is given to playing the instruments with a sense of rhythm. They do not have opportunity to further develop speaking and listening skills or to improve their musical performance.

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ENGLISH

87. Standards of attainment in English by the end of Year 2 are close to the national average and a significant minority are likely to attain above average standards. It is very clear that pupils achieve well from a low starting point. The National Curriculum tests in 2001 show that the percentage of pupils who reached level 2 and above in reading and writing was high. When compared with similar schools results in reading and writing were very high.

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ENGLISH

88. This inspection finds that in Years 1 and 2 pupils could do better. Opportunities to further develop literacy skills, such as speaking and listening through role-play, are limited. The school tends to have low expectations of what pupils can do when attainment on entry is lower than previously seen. The school feels that pupils will not attain the high standards of 2001. However, this view does not take into account the highly successful work that has been undertaken to promote good attitudes to learning. The school has established a very effective climate in which to work and learn. It is now in a very good position to enable all pupils to achieve well at an earlier stage. This requires a refinement of many aspects of their practice to make sure that they always meet pupils’ individual needs well.

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ENGLISH

89. There is no significant difference between the performance of girls and boys. Pupils who have special educational needs generally achieve satisfactorily in relation to their prior attainment, Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 32 although they could do better. Too long a period is given to them to achieve their targets and marking does not support them in telling them how well they are doing.

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ENGLISH

90. Attainment in speaking for many pupils is below the national average by the end of Year 2. Some pupils, from all levels of prior attainment, show they enjoy communicating information and do so reasonably clearly and precisely when they talk about their work. When pupils are introduced to new words they often repeat them after the adult. However, only a few pupils contribute in discussion work. This is because many pupils do not have enough experience of using technical vocabulary to explain what they are doing. Also, discussion work lacks appropriate challenge. It is too often restricted to responding to simple questions that require short answers. By the end of Year 2, pupils, including the higher attainers, are ill-prepared to use words well to express more subtle ideas. Pupils learn poems regularly and recite the words from memory reasonably accurately. However, they are not helped to do this with sufficient

p.32

ENGLISH

attention to clear diction and expression or to improve the quality of their performance.

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ENGLISH

91. Attainment in listening is usually average. In lessons, pupils generally listen well when their teachers have useful and interesting information to give them. They pay close attention to instructions because they are keen to know what they have to do. However, in lessons where explanations are overlong, pupils become restless and lose sense of the main points. This impacts adversely on their concentration and on how well they learn in a lesson and over time.

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ENGLISH

92. Attainment in reading by the end of Year 2 is close to the national average. A few higher attainers are likely to reach higher levels. Pupils use a limited range of strategies to help them in their work but not all of them do so successfully. They do not build up a secure knowledge of phonics to help them read unfamiliar words. Lower attainers struggle on every fourth or fifth word. This means that average and lower attaining pupils do not develop the fluency and expression that adds to the enjoyment of reading. Many pupils are unsure of the names of the letters in the alphabet and this does not help them in spelling. All pupils are introduced to specific vocabulary and know a range of terms, including characters, title and author. Few pupils are clear about the terms fiction and non-fiction or have experience of using a dictionary. The majority of pupils do not use the library and they have unsatisfactory early research skills. This

p.32

ENGLISH

does not support them well in their English work or in other subjects.

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ENGLISH

93. Attainment in writing for pupils by the end of Year 2 is in line with the national average with a significant minority reaching higher levels. From a young age, pupils learn to hold pencils properly and form letters carefully with satisfactory care to shape, size and spacing. They write sentences and use capital letters and full stops accurately. They write a recipe for ‘salt dough’ and stories linked to Anancy the Spider. However, pupils’ experiences of writing are not wide ranging enough. Although it is clear that pupils develop fluency and confidence in writing that is often grammatically correct, spelling is generally weak. Lower case letters, such as p, are often written incorrectly. Achievement is slowed down for the majority of pupils because they are rarely given appropriate guidance during lessons or through marking. This means they constantly repeat their handwriting and spelling errors, and do not improve the quality of their

p.32

ENGLISH

94. Improvement since the previous inspection has been good. Standards have risen and there is no unsatisfactory teaching. The school has successfully undertaken a number of initiatives to support pupils’ in improving their attitudes and behaviour and their literacy skills. However, weak elements identified in 1997 in all strands of literacy were seen, to some extent, in this inspection.

p.32

ENGLISH

95. Four lessons were observed. In three lessons the teaching was good and in the fourth, it was satisfactory. However, taking account of all the evidence, the overall judgement on the quality of teaching is satisfactory. Significant weaknesses occur in the lack of rigour in marking and in daily assessment to properly meet the needs of all pupils all the time. Teachers are competent in teaching phonics and essential skills. Routines are well established and help pupils to know what they are expected to do and how to behave. Relationships are good. Lesson plans are detailed and show all stages of a literacy lesson clearly. They start and finish promptly and Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 33 often activities within lessons are timed. This sets a sense of purpose and helps pupils to concentrate. However, time within lessons, and support staff are not always used well. This occurs when the introduction and main activity is overlong. Pupils have a positive attitude to

p.32

ENGLISH

school life and to their lessons. They have an expectation that the teacher will tell them what to do and help them to learn. However, they quickly show that when the explanation is overlong they lose interest, become restless and are less well behaved. They generally respond well to the instructions about an activity because they want to do to the right thing. Pupils show very good levels of concentration in, for example, a writing activity. They enjoy work and challenge. They want to make effort and are quickly bored when the work becomes too easy or when they have not understood the work well enough.

p.33

ENGLISH

96. Teachers mark work regularly and follow the school’s philosophy that its purpose is to praise. This means that work is ticked and often accompanied by ‘well done’ or ‘excellent’ but this is not at all helpful in alerting pupils to how well they are doing. Pupils are very interested in doing their best and are more likely to look up words in dictionaries, think more carefully about their spelling, how to write lower case letters properly and improve their presentation, if they knew what they had to do and how to do it.

p.33

ENGLISH

97. Aspects of the national literacy strategy are implemented effectively. It supports teachers well. However, insufficient account is taken of what pupils need to learn by building on what they know and understand and what they need to learn next in order to achieve well. Guided reading is taught well but teachers’ overview of how well pupils read during one-to-one sessions is unsatisfactory. Speaking and listening activities are not as successful as they could be. Too often the teacher leads the work and role-play is not introduced to pupils in a serious way and with sufficient guidance and opportunity for them to try out their ideas

p.33

ENGLISH

98. Information and communication technology makes very little contribution to the subject yet, as pupils are beginning to learn word processing skills in their information and communication technology lessons. Speaking and enquiry skills develop satisfactorily in a few subjects, for example, in science and in design and technology but, in general, this subject does not make the positive contribution to learning that it could.

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ENGLISH

99. While the monitoring of teaching is satisfactory, almost no action has been taken to rigorously monitor learning. The headteacher and staff are skilled in many respects and have a strong commitment to do the best they can. This was clear throughout the inspection. They would benefit from looking carefully at their initiatives and strategies in order to assess effectiveness regularly. For example, the early literacy strategy was seen to be ineffective in helping pupils to learn. The teaching followed the guidance accurately but the work did not meet the needs of the target group.

p.33

ENGLISH

100. The school does have significant accommodation weaknesses that hold back standards. There is insufficient space in which to develop drama. The library area is very small.

p.33

MATHEMATICS

101. Pupils achieve well and, at the end of Year 2, standards of attainment in mathematics, including numeracy, are average. Pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress. There is no significant difference between the attainment of boys and girls. Pupils enter the nursery with low attainment, they achieve very well through the Foundation Stage and, because of the good teaching in Years 1 and 2, continue to achieve well. Since the last inspection, there has been good improvement in pupils’ standards, which were judged to be below average, and in the teaching that was satisfactory. The improvements in the results of national tests have been at a faster rate than those seen nationally.

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MATHEMATICS

102. Pupils with average and above average prior attainment in Year 2 have a sound grasp of number bonds to 20 and use their speaking skills successfully to explain their different strategies for adding on numbers. The higher attaining pupils are confident in using doubles and near doubles to calculate answers. The lower attainers and pupils with special educational needs are not yet Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 34 secure in their knowledge of number bonds to ten and many still need their fingers as an aid to working these out. Teachers have good knowledge and understanding of the numeracy strategy and use correct mathematical terms. As a result , pupils have a good knowledge of mathematical language; for example, they use words such as vertices and faces to describe the properties of a hexagon.

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MATHEMATICS

103. The quality of teaching and learning in Years 1 and 2 is good. Since the last inspection, the school has undertaken several initiatives to improve the social skills and behaviour of pupils. The result of these initiatives is that teachers consistently apply good approaches to the management of pupils’ behaviour, which has had a positive impact on pupils’ behaviour and willingness to learn. Pupils’ attitudes to their work and their behaviour are now good. The employment of teaching assistants, to help individuals who have behaviour difficulties, helps teachers to keep the disruption of pupils’ learning to a minimum. The majority of pupils are interested, try hard to succeed and make good progress in their mathematical skills, knowledge and understanding in lessons.

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MATHEMATICS

104. The implementation of the numeracy strategy is good. Teachers provide opportunities for numeracy skills to be used and consolidated usefully in other areas of the curriculum, such as when weighing ingredients in cooking, and when using tally charts to record pupils’ predictions in scientific enquiry. Teachers use the numeracy strategy effectively to plan work and lessons have clear learning objectives that they share with pupils. The lessons follow the recommended structure for numeracy and during the main part of the lesson, pupils work in groups based on their prior attainment. The work teachers plan for each of these groups meets their needs effectively because they include many practical activities and visual materials. Lessons proceed at a good pace and teachers use their teaching assistants well to support individuals, especially those with learning or behavioural difficulties. Teachers make sound use of information and

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MATHEMATICS

communication technology when pupils consolidate their learning in number using computer programs and when pupils use calculators to check answers, previously worked out mentally. Teachers have very good relationships with parents and the first part of the day when parents work alongside their children in class, assists parents to help their children with any mathematical homework that they have been given. A weakness in the teaching is in the assessment of pupils’ work. While pupils work in groups during the main activity of the lesson, the teacher works with one group and focuses her attention on those pupils. This means that she does not assess how other pupils are working nor is she aware of any difficulties that they may be experiencing. This lack of information about pupils’ difficulties means that the teacher is unable to adjust future planning to overcome the problems. When marking pupils’ work,

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MATHEMATICS

teachers use praise for work undertaken in line with the school’s philosophy, and evaluative comments for pupils on the quality of their work is rare. These weaknesses in assessment mean that pupil do not know how enough about how to improve their work.

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MATHEMATICS

105. The joint subject co-ordinators are leading the subject well. Since the last inspection, the co- ordinators have implemented a sound action plan to address the issues identified during the last inspection, which included a programme of in-service training for staff, improved resources, work with parents and analysis of recent test results that has led to improvement in teaching, standards of attainment, pupils’ achievement and their behaviour. While co-ordinators have begun to monitor teaching, there is insufficient monitoring of the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning with an emphasis on how pupils could improve their work further.

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SCIENCE

106. Pupils achieve well and, at the end of Year 2, standards of attainment in science are average. Pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress. Pupils enter the nursery with low attainment, they achieve very well through the Foundation Stage and they continue to achieve well in Years 1 and 2. Since the last inspection, there has been satisfactory improvement. Pupils’ attainment and the quality of teaching have been maintained. The weakness in teachers’ management of behaviour has been improved. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 35 107. By the end of Year 2, pupils are developing sound skills of scientific enquiry. They make predictions of what they think may happen, for example, which substance is likely to melt first when butter, wax, ice cubes, ice-cream and chocolate are placed in a warm place. They make careful observations of what happens and compare their predictions with the results. The pupil

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SCIENCE

nominated as the scientific investigator clearly communicated her observations to the class. They have a secure understanding about what makes a fair test. Higher attaining pupils in Year 2 record their observations in pictures and writing but the lower attainers and pupils with learning difficulties find it difficult to record their observations in writing due to a lower level of skill in literacy. Scrutiny of pupils’ work shows that pupils have a sound knowledge and understanding for their ages of life processes and living things, materials and their properties, and physical processes.

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SCIENCE

108. There is insufficient evidence to make an overall judgement on teaching in Years 1 and 2, however, in the single lesson seen, teaching and learning was satisfactory. The teacher has a good knowledge and understanding of science and used the correct scientific language with pupils, which they, in turn, learned to use accurately. She planned some exciting work and showed pupils many examples of materials that had changed and talked about how they had changed. Unfortunately, a difficulty with behaviour disrupted the lesson at the beginning, too much work was planned and the class became restless because of the disruption and the long time that they were expected to sit and listen on the carpet. The teacher made good use of a teaching assistant to manage the unsatisfactory behaviour but did not adapt the content of the lesson sufficiently when she found that pupils were not concentrating and listening attentively to

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SCIENCE

her explanations. Once pupils were beginning to work on their activities, they made satisfactory progress, tried to succeed, concentrated well and undertook practical activities independently. Teachers use computers effectively in science; on display were examples of pupils’ use of Venn diagrams to record their sorting of materials using different criteria, such as metal and plastic, materials that are heavy and those that float. Marking of science work is limited to ticks and praise with rare evaluative comments to help pupils to improve their work.

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SCIENCE

109. As is common in a small school, the science co-ordinator also manages four other subjects. She provides good leadership to science by supporting the science policy with a scheme of work to ensure progression in the subject. She manages the science budget to ensure that resources are well maintained, and monitors teachers’ planning to ensure that the subject is covered sufficiently and through the action taken after analysis of the teacher assessments at the end of Year 2. She is just beginning to monitor the quality of teaching but does not yet monitor sufficiently the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning to improve standards further.

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ART AND DESIGN

110. Very little art was taught during the week of the inspection partly because teachers link it closely to lessons on design and technology. A judgement on standards is made from one good lesson observed, the analysis of pupils’ work, discussion with the co-ordinator and through attractive displays. By the end of Year 2, most pupils attain standards that are close to average. Young pupils have limited knowledge, understanding and skills in this work when they first start in the nursery. Throughout the school, pupils develop their awareness of art and quickly acquire some essential skills and achieve well. They show a developing competence and confidence in their work. By the end of Year 2, many pupils show a level of competence in handling materials that exceeds what can be usually expected at this age. Pupils who have special educational needs make equally good progress. There are equal opportunities for all groups of pupils to

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ART AND DESIGN

learn. There is no significant difference in the performance of girls and boys. The school has not identified any pupils as gifted and talented.

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ART AND DESIGN

111. Pupils work with a good range of textiles, use paint and pencil. They have learnt about Mondrian and have created designs in the artist’s style using information and communication technology. There is some three-dimensional work, for example in weaving and clay tile work. There are some good examples of drawing from close observation and evidence of mixing paints, such as, on self-portraits. In general, work with paint is not developed as well as it could be and figure drawing is weak. There is very little achievement in this work as pupils move through the school. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 36 This suggests that teachers lack sufficient subject knowledge in some aspects of art in the National Curriculum.

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ART AND DESIGN

112. Changes since the previous inspection include an improvement in achievement and in pupils’ attitude and behaviour. Pupils take good care in their work and use the resources well. They tidy up after themselves willingly and without delay.

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ART AND DESIGN

113. There is insufficient evidence to give an overall judgement on teaching. However, teachers use their skills and keen interest in the work to help pupils achieve well. The good characteristics in the lesson seen were preparation, clear explanation and the management of pupils. Resources available were appropriate and sufficient for pupils to have the opportunity to make decisions about what they wanted to use. Pupils show a good interest in the work particularly when they are involved in practical activity. They persevere well as they continue to add to their work from one lesson to another. The quality of guidance given to pupils throughout the lesson helped them to understand that mistakes in art can often be turned into design features. Planning shows good links with other subjects, such as science. This helps some pupils develop knowledge of specific vocabulary. However, in general, pupils do not develop their speaking

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ART AND DESIGN

skills as well as they could because there is insufficient opportunity to talk about the work, assess their own work and that of others.

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ART AND DESIGN

114. The school is beginning to adjust the national guidance for art to make sure that links with other subjects become less repetitious. However, the subject leader would benefit from returning to the National Curriculum to make sure that all necessary elements of the work are introduced and developed sequentially, particularly speaking and listening, which is the school’s focus. Areas for development include keeping a good overview of teaching and learning and assessment, and training staff in aspects of the work in which they may feel less confident.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

115. Pupils achieve well and standards are average at the end of Year 2. They are better now than in 1997 when the school was last inspected. The issues raised then of below average standards, unsatisfactory progress by pupils, unsatisfactory teaching including uncertain subject knowledge, lack of clear curricular guidance for teachers in a scheme of work and the pupils’ lack of respect for resources have been addressed and improved.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

116. While there is insufficient evidence to make a judgement on overall teaching and learning in the subject, the quality of teaching and learning in the single lesson observed was good. The teacher was secure in her knowledge of the subject; she planned effectively for pupils to model designs for equipment for an adventure playground and provided activities that were well matched to the two age ranges, reception and Year 1, within the class. When pupils in Year 1 experienced problems, such as how to fix the seat of a swing, she helped them by challenging questioning to find solutions themselves. As a result, pupils persevered to solve problems, they tested their models, evaluated whether they had fulfilled the design brief and modified their models to make improvements. A pupil used her mathematics effectively in estimating how long a piece of string she would need to suspend a seat for a swing. At the end of the lesson, the

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

teacher gave pupils opportunities to discuss their models with the class. They explained how they had made the models, how they had resolved problems and demonstrated how they had tested them using care bears and toy people. Due to the good support from teaching adults and the tasks that matched pupils’ needs, pupils with special educational needs also learned well. Pupils enjoyed their work, took good care of tools and materials and behaved well.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

117. Although only one lesson was observed, there was evidence in the classroom displays of the design process in Years 1 and 2. Pupils in Year 1 had designed a T-shirt and a coat of many colours for Joseph using a computer program and pupils in Year 2 had used a viewfinder to produce a design for a clay tile and then had made the tile. Pupils in Year 2 had also designed vehicles with a purpose; for example, a supermarket lorry. They drew the designs for their models and identified the materials they would need to make them. Older pupils also visit Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 37 Sheffield University on the annual Science Fun Days and Kelham Island Industrial Museum to augment their skills, knowledge and understanding of the subject.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

118. The co-ordinator has been influential in the good improvement made in the subject and has been supported well by the headteacher in managing the action plan for improvement following the last inspection. The teachers now have good curricular guidance in a scheme of work, their knowledge of the requirements of the subject are more secure, the work on pupils’ behaviour and attitudes has led to better learning and pupils use tools competently and safely. There are good procedures for maintaining records of pupils’ progress against the National Curriculum levels within the subject and during the lesson observed, the teacher used questioning well to assess pupils’ work. In turn, pupils know how to modify their work to improve it. To improve the subject further, the co-ordinator needs to monitor teaching more regularly to assess its impact on pupils’ learning.

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GEOGRAPHY

119. Pupils achieve well and standards are average at the end of Year 2. The last time the school was inspected, standards in geography were the same but pupils were reluctant to listen to each other, lacked self-discipline and had limited concentration. The teachers did not have sufficient curricular guidance to ensure progression in pupils’ learning and did not use the immediate locality sufficiently. All of these issues have been addressed successfully by work undertaken as part of the action plan following the last inspection and have been influenced positively by the co-ordinator’s leadership in the subject.

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GEOGRAPHY

120. Teachers’ planning ensures adequate coverage of the subject. Previous work shows that pupils in Year 2 have an awareness of places beyond their own locality, and selected appropriate clothing for Barnaby Bear when he visited hot and cold countries. Pupils described the geographical features of a locality and drew simple maps that showed their routes to school and the route that Red Riding Hood took to reach her grandmother’s house and they identified the geographical features that she passed on her walk, using the correct geographical vocabulary.

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GEOGRAPHY

121. Pupils in Year 1 have a sound knowledge of the locality outside the school. This is due to the good teaching, in the only lesson seen, which strongly emphasised fieldwork. The teacher developed pupils’ observations made during the previous lesson when they had gone for a walk outside the school to explore the locality. The pupils had taken photographs using a digital camera and the teacher used these well to remind pupils of the previous activity. They spoke knowledgeably about the geographical features that had been identified on the walk. Pupils drew a map of the area around the school and, using the photographs, incorporated the features accurately into their maps. The teacher planned the lesson effectively and made good use of the teaching assistant to work with the reception pupils so that she could focus on the Year 1 pupils to support and assess their work through her questions. In this way she supported all

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GEOGRAPHY

pupils, especially those with learning difficulties, to ensure that they made, at least, sound progress in the lesson and that they knew how to improve their work. Pupils tried hard to succeed, worked productively at a good pace and behaved well.

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HISTORY

122. A judgement on standards is based on analysis of pupils’ work, display and speaking to staff and pupils. There is insufficient evidence to make an overall judgement on the quality of teaching as no lessons were timetabled during the inspection period. Pupils’ attainment in history by the end of Year 2 is below average. Pupils, including those who have special educational needs, achieve less well than expected. Pupils do not develop essential skills to support historical enquiry systematically. A few worksheets show vehicles and nurses then and now. These are uninspiring and limited in challenge.

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HISTORY

123. Pupils recall learning about Florence Nightingale and enjoy remembering a few of the gory details of life in hospitals, such as, the rats. They know this happened a long time ago and that she is dead. Even the higher attaining pupils have difficulty remembering the meaning of the Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 38 word history. There is considerable confusion with geography as they recall a little about Jeremy Bear going to Brittany. It is clear that they do not use the non-fiction books or artefacts well enough to develop an understanding of the subject. Pupils are keen to explain what they know and remember and try hard to communicate information precisely.

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HISTORY

124. Since the previous inspection, standards have fallen by the end of Year 2 and so has achievement for all pupils. The school has moved away from its own clearly defined scheme, as judged previously, to national guidance. However, the school’s view that they need to return to a school based scheme once again to fully meet the needs of all pupils is correct.

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HISTORY

125. The subject is taught half-termly and alternates with geography. This arrangement is not an issue in itself. It is rather that pupils, of all levels of attainment, do not have good recall of the work they did recently, even yesterday, which suggests that speaking and listening and enquiry skills do not develop well enough. Therefore, it is even more difficult for pupils to recall what they have learnt after a block of time. Curricular links are seen with other subjects such as art and design but overall these are minimal and do not include information and communication technology.

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HISTORY

126. The subject co-ordinator would benefit from close reference to the National Curriculum in order to link the work with the available artefacts, well-selected educational visits and other educational opportunities to establish a coherent programme to support teaching and learning. Another area for development would be to monitor the quality of teaching and learning and to make sure that assessment procedures are implemented properly. There is limited rigorous evaluation of how well pupils learn.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

127. Pupils achieve well and, by the end of Year 2, pupils’ attainment is average. Since the last inspection, there has been good improvement in pupils’ standards that were judged to be below average. Direct teaching was not observed during the last inspection, though judgements were made that teachers lacked expertise and were unable to help pupils when they encountered difficulties. The co-ordinator’s good leadership of the subject is largely responsible for this improvement. She has improved the resources so that the ratio of computers to pupils is good at one computer to ten pupils, and she has led in-service training for her colleagues to improve their skills and confidence. She has introduced a scheme of work to improve the breadth, balance and progression in the subject and the school uses a grant from the Standards Fund to employ her each week for extra hours to teach skills to all Year 1 and 2 pupils in small groups.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

The school has usefully identified further development of staff’s skills in the subject as a priority within this year’s school improvement plan and the co-ordinator has plans for additional software and equipment.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

128. Pupils with special educational needs make sound progress due to the good support that they receive from teaching assistants as they practise skills, and from the co-ordinator in her teaching of skills to small groups. Many of the school’s computer programs have the facility for pupils to listen to a voice reading text; this facility particularly aids pupils with special educational needs who have difficulty in reading instructions. This aid was observed in mathematics where the pupils were assisted in their development of calculation by the voice reading the instructions to them accurately.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

129. In the two lessons observed, the quality of teaching and learning was good. The co-ordinator, who teaches most of the subject, has a secure knowledge and understanding, and great personal interest in the subject. She uses correct technical language with pupils and insists that they follow her example. Pupils know the correct terms for the parts of a computer and use terms such as ‘icon’ and ‘scrolling down’ accurately so that they are familiar with hardware and software. The co-ordinator plans effectively and has clear objectives for the lesson. When retelling the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, pupils retrieved information that they had saved during the previous lesson independently and they developed their ideas when they entered additional text to write their accounts. They also reviewed what they had written and modified Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 39 their work to improve it. One higher attaining pupil used a dictionary on screen to check a

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

spelling. The co-ordinator has trained the teaching assistants to support the children when they return to the classroom and practise their skills during lessons in other subjects. Her teaching methods are good. She revised skills learned in the previous session, demonstrated a new skill and pupils then practised these using computers in a relevant task while the teacher supported and assessed their progress. Due to her immediate assessment of their work and discussion with them, pupils know how to improve their work. She keeps good records of the work covered and the levels attained by each pupil within the subject. The co-ordinator has very good relationships with pupils, manages them well and in the teaching in the small groups challenges those who attain more highly to learn more skills to improve their work.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

130. As a result of the good teaching, pupils across Years 1 and 2 make good progress in acquiring skills and in applying these skills to their work in some subjects; however, they are not yet used widely enough across the curriculum. Pupils use word processing programs for writing, use computer programs in numeracy for consolidation of number work and calculators in checking answers, in science for recording the sorting of materials in Venn diagrams, in art for pictures and in design and technology for design. They also use a digital camera to record images to use later. Pictures formed in this way were well used in geography to remind pupils of the geographical features observed on a walk in the locality. Pupils have controlled a Roamer robot. The pupils have used electronic mail but the school has experienced problems recently with the ISDN line that enters the school and the Local Education Authority is trying to correct these

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

131. Pupils enjoy their learning, have good attitudes to the subject, behave and concentrate well; however, a few pupils have difficulty in working in pairs and are occasionally off task when it is not their turn to enter text. Very few pupils have computers at home, therefore it is not possible for many pupils to undertake homework in the subject. The school provides a lunchtime club where pupils take it in turns over a term to work in the small computer suite in the library, under the supervision of a teaching assistant, to practise and consolidate their learning, for example, in trying out and exploring what happens in an adventure game.

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MUSIC

132. The standard attained by pupils by the end of Year 2 is below average. Throughout the school, pupils make unsatisfactory progress in parts of lessons and achieve less well than expected in all aspects of the work over time. This is because essential skills are not developed systematically. The majority of pupils have too few useful experiences on which to rely. Time allocated to the subject is not always used for music and opportunities to learn in lessons are not always of sufficient quality to help pupils achieve well.

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MUSIC

133. Pupils who have special educational needs achieve in line with their age group. There is no significant difference in the performance of girls and boys. No pupils have been identified as gifted and talented. Although all pupils are included, the groups of pupils who take turns to leave for computer work, and those who are called away for individual reading, disrupt their own learning and that of others. The school has yet to consider ways in which all needs are met well.

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MUSIC

134. Pupils generally know the names of the instruments they use, such as chime bars, what they are made of and a general idea of how to play them. Many understand high and low and recognise these sounds. A few develop an understanding of specific vocabulary, such as pitch. Some use hand signs to show pitch reasonably accurately. Some Year 2 pupils show an early understanding of reading notation at a simple level. Older pupils show a good sense of maturity and interest when the work challenges them. Pupils sing simple songs from memory. They sing enthusiastically, often loudly and generally tunelessly due to the lack of subject expertise from their teachers. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 40 135. Since the previous inspection standards in music and in pupils’ achievement throughout the school have fallen. Some weaknesses identified then are raised in this inspection and include the very limited opportunity to compose and appraise music.

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MUSIC

136. Teaching seen was broadly satisfactory. However, there are significant areas of weakness that suggests the quality of teaching observed is not consistently applied over time. Pupils are well managed, lessons are organised with appropriate resources and routines are clearly established. This helps pupils to know what is expected of them and how to behave. Pupils often listen carefully and concentrate reasonably well. Teachers do not have sufficient knowledge of the subject to help pupils acquire essential skills systematically so some parts of lessons have a clearer sense of purpose than other parts. Pupils become restless when the work fails to hold their attention and this occurs in lessons, in whole school singing sessions and in assembly.

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MUSIC

137. Music is used well for appropriately short and effective relaxation sessions but opportunity to capture a sense of spirituality at these times is missed. It is further missed in singing because pupils are not helped to improve their work through keeping a tune and using expression. There is a weakness in developing speaking skills for all pupils because of the limited opportunities to appraise music. The contribution of numeracy and information and communication technology to the subject is weak.

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MUSIC

138. There is an urgent need for the school to take account of the time allocated to the subject and to make sure that it covers all aspects of the programme in music over time, in a way which will help pupils to make quality advances in their learning. This is essential if the school is to continue to meet its statutory requirements. An area for development is clearly to raise staff confidence in the teaching of music through a programme that supports the non-expert. The cramped accommodation in the classroom and lack of a space in which sound does not disturb other classes restricts the standards attained in music.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

139. Pupils’ attainment in physical education by the end of Year 2 is below average. Achievement throughout the school is erratic and over time it is unsatisfactory for all pupils, including those who have special educational needs. From speaking to the subject co-ordinator and scrutinising a range of school documents including planning, it is clear that opportunities for pupils to develop essential skills systematically are severely restricted due to the lack of sufficient indoor space. All pupils receive their full entitlement to the subject and there are no significant differences in the performance of girls and boys. Information and communication technology does not contribute to the subject.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

140. Pupils are reasonably clear about the need to exercise the body and how to prepare for physical work. Younger pupils learn how to control a ball by dribbling and catching. Many successfully catch the ball when thrown to them from a close distance. Older pupils throw and catch with some accuracy but not with the success that could be expected of them.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

141. Although pupils’ attitudes and behaviour, and the quality of teaching have improved since the previous inspection, standards of attainment have declined. This is because even though the pupils are now going outdoors to have their games lessons, they are not doing so on a regular and frequent basis, and when they have lessons indoors the lack of space and constant reorganisation of furniture detracts from the activity.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

142. The quality of teaching is good. Teachers plan lessons carefully and explain clearly all the necessary stages of the lesson to help pupils understand the importance of exercise and what they have to do. Pupils generally listen well to their teachers because they want to be involved. In the lessons observed, pupils showed good interest in the work but from time to time became overexcited by the novelty of a physical education lesson outside, and were distracted and fractious during the outdoor part of the lesson. This prevented them from listening carefully and making the best of the opportunity. Teachers manage them well and help them to concentrate. Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 41 Pupils are very willing to listen to advice and make adjustments, as they take greater care to throw and catch and aim at a target. They have some opportunity to learn by watching each other demonstrate and by following the teachers’ lead. However, opportunity to evaluate their

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

own work, comment on each other’s work and practise further to improve their physical and speaking skills is limited.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

143. The school makes every effort to use the available indoor and outdoor space well. However, outdoor work relies upon the weather and indoor work requires stacking the classroom furniture and moving it to one side. This arrangement is managed well by staff and pupils. However, the insufficient accommodation impacts adversely on how well pupils learn and is a significant factor in the unsatisfactory standards.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

144. Improvement since the previous inspection has been unsatisfactory because standards have fallen. By the end of Year 2, pupils attain standards in religious education that are below the expectations of the locally agreed syllabus. Throughout the school pupils develop their skills, knowledge and understanding too slowly. Achievement for pupils, including those who have special educational needs, is unsatisfactory. There is no significant difference between the performance of boys and girls.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

145. Pupils learn stories from the Bible such as Noah, they make an Easter card and recently, have written about Joseph; however, from speaking to pupils in Year 2, it is clear they have almost no knowledge of the subject. They remember going to the church at Christmas but cannot remember the parts they had in the play or what the play was about. Pupils are unable to name a religion, including Christianity, and generally confuse Bible stories with other stories. For example, they are very sure that God found the sheep in the Peter and the Wolf story. They do not recall the story of the Good Samaritan, which was taught to them during the inspection period, other than to say they did some weaving.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

146. The teaching seen during the inspection was broadly satisfactory. However, there are a number of significant weaknesses that suggests the quality of teaching seen is not consistent over time. The satisfactory features occur in some aspects of teachers’ planning, organisation and preparation. Teachers manage pupils well. This helps pupils to settle and they listen reasonably well from time to time. However, many become restless when the reading or story telling goes on for too long. Once they have lost the sense of the story they generally do not regain it. At other times, some pupils use exaggerated facial expressions to indicate what they think is the expected response when they hear of an act of unkindness. In general, this distracts them further and does not support them well in the development of personal and social skills. Teachers do not develop pupils’ speaking and listening skills well enough, for example, through

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

role-play. This prevents pupils from developing confidence and applying their own ideas.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

147. Overall, teachers’ knowledge of the subject is weak and planning does not take sufficient account of what pupils know and do not know. This leaves pupils with too few useful experiences on which to respond, explore and reflect. The personal, social and health education links are reasonably appropriate and pupils learn from them and apply them well in daily school life.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

148. Literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology do not contribute significantly to this subject.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

149. Planning shows that the subject is broadly linked to the agreed syllabus but with insufficient understanding of how to deliver the subject to include human experience and the religious perspective well. An urgent area for development would be to return to the agreed syllabus and refer closely to its approach to teaching that includes the six major concepts. This would have the added advantage of supporting the school’s focus on developing pupils’ speaking and listening skills through role-play. Clearly, there are several issues for the subject co-ordinator to Mickley Community Infant and Nursery School - 42 pursue and these include improving teachers’ knowledge of the subject and the need to keep an overview of how well pupils learn. 150. The accommodation, particularly for role-play, and the quality and range of learning resources are unsatisfactory to deliver the curriculum well. This restricts pupils from achieving higher

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