Crich Church of England Infant School

CONTROLLED INFANT SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 26 th February – 1 st March

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CONTROLLED INFANT 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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CONTROLLED INFANT 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. Crich C of E Infant School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Bowns Hill Crich Near Matlock Derbyshire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mr P Whitney

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: September 1997 Crich C of E Infant School - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities 23801 Mrs J Kime Registered inspector Equal opportunities Foundation stage curriculum Geography History Information and communicatio n technology Mathematics Science Leadership and management School’s results and pupils’ achievements Teaching and learning

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

14404 Mr A Rolfe Lay inspector Attitudes, values and personal development Partnership with parents Support, guidance and pupils’ welfare 18101 Mrs A Sharpe Team inspector Art and design Design and technology English Music Physical education Religious education Special educational needs Curriculum Crich C of E Infant School - 5 The inspection contractor was:

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Peak Education Partnership 19 Huddersfield Road Barnsley S70 2LT

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Crich C of E Infant School - 6

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 7

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

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HOW HIGH ARE STANDARDS? 12

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Crich Church of England Controlled Infant school is a smaller than average Infant school in restricted buildings and grounds. It serves the village and surrounding rural area, including some council housing. There are 42 pupils aged four to seven, taught in two mixed age classes; 25 boys and 17 girls, almost all are from white backgrounds and none have English as an additional language. Seventeen percent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is broadly average. Children’s attainment on entry to school is about what is expected nationally. There are currently 13 reception children, taught in a mixed reception and Year 1 class of 22, with a teacher and a part time support assistant. This class is taken by the headteacher, with a part time teacher for a day a week to release the headteacher for management duties. There are usually average numbers of pupils with special educational needs, though currently there are 26 percent, which is above average. There is one pupil with

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

a Statement of Special Educational Needs.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a caring and well managed school that provides its pupils with a sound education. Pupils enter school with attainment that is in line with that expected nationally. When pupils leave school, standards are average both in relation to all schools and compared with similar schools. The quality of teaching is good in Year 1 and 2 and standards are rising; more pupils are gaining expected levels of attainment and more are reaching the top end of the expected levels, though few reached higher levels in 2000. There are three significant areas that need to be improved in order for the teaching throughout the school to be more effective in raising standards. The headteacher, staff and governors work hard to improve the quality of education given to pupils. The school provides satisfactory value for money

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What the school does well • The attainment of lower attaining pupils has been raised in reading, writing and mathematics. • There is good teaching of Year 1 and Year 2 pupils, based on a broad and relevant curriculum and supported well by good systems to assess the progress pupils make. • The enthusiastic and dedicated headteacher provides strong leadership, supported well by an effective governing body and staff who work well as a team. • Children with special educational needs make good progress because they are given the right kind of work and support.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What could be improved • The provision for reception children. • The restricted accommodation. • The involvement of parents in the work of the school. 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

Since the last inspection in September 1997, the school has made big improvements in provision. The quality of teaching has improved greatly, with much more high quality teaching and much less that is unsatisfactory. The leadership of the headteacher remains strong. Crich C of E Infant School - 8 Satisfactory standards have been maintained in most subjects and standards in physical education have improved. Standards in reading, writing and mathematics are rising. The school responded positively to the key issues of the last report; the teaching of numeracy has improved and pupils are now adequately challenged in their numeracy work; more physical education takes place and standards in the subject have improved and are now in line with those expected; strategic planning is much improved; the governing body now works effectively and efficiently. The school has considered ways to improve the internal organisation of the building, though has not made major improvements. Teachers have

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

responded positively to the many recent national initiatives. The national guidelines for teaching literacy have been implemented well, those for numeracy satisfactorily. New national requirements for the curriculum have been incorporated well into the planning for Year 1 and 2, and good assessment procedures have been developed. In these efforts, however, a proper balance has not been kept with the needs of the reception children, and the quality of provision for them has not been maintained. The quality of provision for spiritual, moral and social development has fallen, though they are satisfactory. Satisfactory relationships with parents have not been built on sufficiently.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by 7 year olds based on National Curriculum test results.

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STANDARDS

Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

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STANDARDS

reading C C C D well above average above average A B writing A A C C average below average C D mathematics C B C C well below average E

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STANDARDS

Children in the reception year make satisfactory progress; they have expected levels of attainment by the end of the year. By the end of the infants, pupils achieved satisfactorily in the 2000 national tests, in line with similar schools, in writing and mathematics. Their performance was below similar schools in reading. There are differences in standards from year to year with small numbers of pupils. In all three subjects there is a trend of rising standards. More pupils are reaching expected levels of attainment, and more are reaching the top end of expected levels, in mathematics particularly. In all three subjects, however, few pupils reached higher levels in 2000. Inspection evidence generally confirms the test results though more Year 2 pupils are on target to achieve well in this year’s tests as a result of the school’s efforts to raise standards, and reading is in line with that expected in similar schools.

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STANDARDS

The school sets realistically challenging targets for individual pupils and for each year group. Inspection findings are that standards are in line with those expected and pupils’ achievements are satisfactory in all subjects except for music, where not enough was seen to be able to make a judgement. Crich C of E Infant School - 9

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attitudes to the school Good. Pupils enjoy school. They are keen to contribute to discussion and work hard.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Satisfactory. Pupils generally behave well in lessons, though at times a few do not wait for their turn to speak. At dinner times there is some boisterous behaviour and pupils do not always respond well to instructions from midday supervisors. There have been no exclusions.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Personal development and relationships Pupils willingly take responsibility for jobs such as tidying up and giving out milk. They co-operate well when working in pairs or small groups and help each other readily. Relationships with teaching and support staff are good, those with midday supervisors satisfactory.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attendance Good. It is slightly above the national average, with no unauthorised absence.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

The generally good quality of teaching results in pupils being interested and involved in their lessons. Pupils learn to respect other people’s views. They are accepting and supportive towards pupils with special educational needs. The majority of pupils are aware of what is and is not acceptable behaviour, though this is not consistently reinforced by staff.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

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

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

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

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Some high quality teaching was seen in both classes. Teaching was at least satisfactory in 95 percent of lessons. Twenty-one percent were very good, 37 percent good and 37 percent satisfactory. Work in literacy, for all age groups, is planned and taught well to match all pupils’ levels of learning, based on good assessment of what they already know. Another strength of teaching is the interesting way activities are introduced, which involves pupils and makes them keen to learn. At times, though, in their enthusiasm to answer, pupils call out too much. Teachers usually have a clear focus on exactly what is to be taught and learnt, and make this clear to pupils. Teachers are skilful at asking questions that make pupils think deeply. English is taught well, mathematics and the basic skills of numeracy are satisfactorily taught. Pupils with special educational needs are taught well; they are fully included in lessons and given

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

extra support where needed. At times, reception children are not given enough practical experiences. Five percent of lessons seen were unsatisfactory, due to muddled planning, so tasks were too general, they did not follow on from the introduction and pupils learnt little. Crich C of E Infant School - 10

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The quality and range of the curriculum There is a good, broad and relevant curriculum for Year 1 and 2. The curriculum for reception children does not take sufficient account of national guidance, with too few opportunities for practical activities.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good. They are supported and encouraged very well by staff, who help them take a full part in lessons. Parents are involved well.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Satisfactory provision is made for pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development. Good opportunities are made for pupils to learn about their own culture. Other cultures are introduced in an interesting way.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

How well the school cares for its pupils Staff know pupils well and pupils feel secure and supported well by the school. The procedures to ensure pupils’ care and welfare are satisfactory. There are good assessment systems to check pupils’ progress, particularly in English and mathematics.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The curriculum for Year 1 and 2 is carefully planned to cover all that needs to be taught and to make meaningful links between different subjects. Basic literacy skills are promoted in a structured way, supported by the good assessment procedures. Planning for reception children is too based on the curriculum for older pupils and does not allow enough time for learning through structured play activities and exploration of materials and equipment. There are no regular extra-curricular activities.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The school has maintained a satisfactory partnership with parents overall. Parents are supportive of the school generally. Good information is provided for parents. Not enough is done to try and involve parents in their children’s learning in lessons or at home.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The headteacher gives strong and enthusiastic leadership and manages the school well. Staff work hard as a team to support her efforts.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governing body carries out its role effectively. Governors are fully involved in planning and monitoring the work of the school.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The school’s evaluation of its performance This is satisfactory. Test results and assessments are used well to judge standards. The monitoring of teaching has started Crich C of E Infant School - 11 though it is not yet properly planned for and organised.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The strategic use of resources Strategic planning is good. Finances are prudently managed. Specific grants are used effectively. Available resources are used satisfactorily. There are sufficient staff and they are used satisfactorily. There are adequate resources for most subjects, though there is a shortage of good quality books other than reading scheme books and insufficient resources for reception children’s practical activities. Accommodation is inadequate. It restricts pupils’ learning, particularly in physical education, despite teachers’ best efforts. The headteacher and governors understand the principles of ‘best value’ and implement them satisfactorily.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

• Their children like school • The school expects children to work hard • Parents can discuss concerns with teachers • Most parents believe the school helps children become mature and responsible • Most parents believe behaviour is good • Most parents feel teaching is good • Extra-curricular activities • A significant minority do not feel school works closely with parents • Several parents are not happy with the amount of homework • A few parents do not think their children are making good progress

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

Inspectors agree with most of the strengths identified by parents. Pupils’ behaviour is satisfactory overall and they can behave well. Given the small size of the school, the age of its pupils and the curriculum it offers, inspectors judge the learning opportunities of infant pupils to be good, despite the lack of extra-curricular activities. Inspectors agree that school does not sufficiently involve parents in their children’s learning either at home or at school and does not involve parents closely in the daily life of the school. Inspection evidence shows pupils make satisfactory progress. Crich C of E Infant School - 12

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1 When children start school, assessment evidence shows a range of attainment that is broadly in line with that expected, taken over several years. Children make satisfactory progress and most are likely to meet the national targets for learning by the end of the reception year. Given their starting point they achieve satisfactorily and the school has maintained standards seen in the last inspection. The lack of a suitable curriculum for this age group, however, restricts children’s progress.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2 By the time pupils leave the school, standards in reading, writing and mathematics are in line with the national average. This is indicated by the national tests in 2000. The small size of the school means that one year’s results are not reliable by themselves as an indicator of performance, but inspection findings also indicate that standards are average. Standards have risen over the last three years, in line with the national trend. There are no significant differences between boys and girls in their performance.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3 The last inspection reported average standards in all subjects other than physical education and this picture has been broadly maintained. Not enough music was seen to judge standards in that subject. The last inspection judged attainment in physical education to be below expected levels, but this has improved and is now in line with what is expected by the end of the infants. Given that children’s home backgrounds and attainment on entry to school are broadly average, and they make steady progress through the school, their achievements by the time they leave school are satisfactory.

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Reading, writing, speaking and listening and mathematics

4 When comparison is made with standards seen in similar schools in the 2000 national tests, pupils’ performance in reading was below that of similar schools, though in writing and mathematics it was average. The number of Year 2 pupils in 2000 was relatively small, there were significantly more boys than girls and included several pupils with special educational needs. Care needs to be taken in making a detailed analysis of the results, but certain conclusions can be reached. In reading, writing and mathematics, although an average number of pupils reached the expected levels of attainment in the national tests, fewer than average achieved higher levels. The school has particularly raised standards of lower attaining pupils, with more achieving the higher end of expected levels, by giving extra support to these pupils.. This is especially true in mathematics, where the proportion of pupils reaching the top end of the expected levels of attainment in 2000 was well above that

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Reading, writing, speaking and listening and mathematics

seen in similar schools. In this respect pupils achieved well. Inspection evidence confirms this trend and indicates that more pupils are on track to reach higher levels of attainment this year. The improvement is due partly to good teaching in English and partly to the effective way the national strategies for literacy and numeracy have been used and adapted. Extra sessions to give higher attaining pupils in Year 2 appropriate work in numeracy have also been provided.

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Reading, writing, speaking and listening and mathematics

5 Most pupils in Year 2 can read simple books by themselves. Higher attaining pupils are more accurate and fluent and show greater understanding of what they are reading. Pupils’ attainment, however, is not as high as it could be, as the help of parents at home and at school is a resource that is insufficiently tapped. Books are used well as the stimulus for work in other subjects, for example, Katie Morag’s story about an island for geography work. Few opportunities for pupils to use books to find information for their work in other subjects Crich C of E Infant School - 13 were seen during the inspection. In writing, most seven-year-olds write in sentences, spelling many familiar words correctly. They can adjust their style of writing to a particular task. Higher attaining pupils write more extensively and use punctuation more accurately. Their handwriting is joined and fluent and they choose words carefully to add interest to the

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Reading, writing, speaking and listening and mathematics

writing. Good opportunities are made for pupils to practise their writing in other subjects, particularly in information and communication technology, science, history, geography and design and technology.

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Reading, writing, speaking and listening and mathematics

6 Pupils’ speaking and listening skills are satisfactory by the time they leave the school. Teachers place a priority on this and provide many opportunities for pupils to listen to staff and to each other and to try and express themselves. By the end of the infants most pupils are able to listen carefully in lessons. Teachers are skilled at asking challenging questions and helping pupils to express themselves clearly, using the new vocabulary they learn in each subject. By the end of Year 2, pupils can talk with reasonable confidence and clarity in a variety of situations.

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Reading, writing, speaking and listening and mathematics

7 Most pupils have a secure understanding of the order of numbers up to 100, add and subtract numbers to ten and are learning multiples of two, three, four and five. They measure using centimetres and weigh using kilos. They know some properties of two and three- dimensional shapes. Higher attaining pupils learn strategies to add 11, 19 and 21 to large numbers. Satisfactory opportunities are made to use numeracy skills in other subjects, particularly science and design and technology.

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Other subjects

8 By the age of seven, pupils’ attainment in science is average; their achievements are satisfactory. Teacher assessments made in 2000 indicate higher standards than this, in that a larger proportion than average were judged to have reached high levels of attainment. Inspection found average standards when this year’s Year 2 pupils’ work across all areas of science were looked at. The quality of teaching is good and pupils learn at a good rate in lessons. The time given to teaching science, however, is relatively low, and over time they make steady progress. By the time they leave the school, pupils have built up a satisfactory knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes. They investigate what happens to different vehicles going down a ramp. Most pupils make sensible predictions as to which will travel the furthest, carry out a test and record the results in a simple way. Little

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Other subjects

evidence was found of pupils’ knowledge of living things, though it is planned that they will work on that in the summer term.

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Other subjects

9 Standards of work in information and communication technology are in line with those expected. Pupils are taught specific skills in a structured way and then given good opportunities to practise these skills while working on tasks in other subjects, particularly literacy, art and design and geography. Pupils can, for example, choose the size and type of print, write and edit text, save their work and print it out.

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Other subjects

10 Standards in religious education are in line with the expectations set by the local agreed syllabus. Pupils build up a sound knowledge of Christianity and other religions. They learn about some of the important festivals of different faiths and show appropriate respect for the beliefs of others. Pupils’ learning is supported well by the teachers’ efforts to try to find ways of relating religious concepts to their day-to-day lives, such as discussing church as a special place and asking what makes places special for them.

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Other subjects

11 The quality of teaching in physical education is good, but, despite teachers’ best efforts, the lack of suitable accommodation restricts the progress pupils make. The restricted space and lack of facilities also impinge on pupils’ progress in art and design, despite good Crich C of E Infant School - 14 teaching. There is difficulty storing half finished work and pupils do not have enough independence in taking responsibility for their work. Not enough music was seen to be able to judge standards or progress through the school. Pupils make satisfactory progress in art and design, design and technology, geography, history and physical education. Standards in these subjects by the end of the infants are in line with what is expected for this age.

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Pupils with special educational needs and higher attaining pupils

12 Pupils with special educational needs make good progress as their individual needs are assessed very carefully and staff work hard to involve them fully in the same lessons as other pupils in the class. In literacy and numeracy particularly, pupils with special educational needs are given intensive support with their work. Staff encourage their efforts with praise and pupils are motivated to try hard.

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Pupils with special educational needs and higher attaining pupils

13 The school has recognised the need to plan carefully to ensure that higher attaining pupils are given challenging work, particularly Year 2 pupils in a mixed age class. The school, for example, analysed the 2000 national tests, which indicated fewer pupils achieved higher than expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics than in similar schools, and responded by providing increased support for higher attaining pupils. During the inspection, classes were mostly given tasks that would appropriately challenge all pupils. Targets are set for individual pupils and for each year group, based on individual assessments of the pupils. Recently adopted assessment systems focus teachers’ attention on the levels of attainment and what is expected of higher attaining pupils. Inspection evidence indicates that in reading, writing and mathematics more pupils are on track to achieve highly this year.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good. This is an improvement from the last inspection when they were judged to be satisfactory. Almost all pupils like coming to school and can identify favourite subjects. The majority of pupils listen carefully to their teachers’ instructions and are able to concentrate for appropriate periods of time. They enter into classroom discussions in an eager and confident manner. Pupils co-operate well in pairs and small groups; for example, pupils in Year 1 and 2 work well in twos when constructing an electrical circuit, enthusiastically discussing how to make the bulb light up. Pupils readily support each other and they spontaneously applaud other pupils’ efforts. Most pupils take a pride in their work, they are keen to show what they are doing and discuss their work.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

15 Standards of behaviour are satisfactory and this has been maintained since the last inspection. Most parents are happy with the behaviour in school. The majority of pupils are aware of what is and is not acceptable behaviour, that good behaviour will be rewarded and that sanctions will be applied in cases of poor behaviour. Pupils do not, however, have a clear understanding of a specific set of school rules. Whilst the majority of pupils are well behaved in classrooms, a few pupils regularly interrupt the lessons by calling out instead of raising their hand and waiting for the teacher to invite comment or answer to a specific question.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

16 When under the direct supervision of teachers, pupils move around the school in an orderly manner. When pupils are supervised by lunchtime support staff, however, there is some boisterous behaviour in the playground and the dining room. On occasions pupils are slow to react to lunchtime supervisors’ instructions to modify their behaviour, and do not always give the same level of respect afforded to teaching staff.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

17 In almost all lessons the good quality of relationships between pupils, teachers and educational support staff have a positive impact on pupils' learning. Pupils treat one another Crich C of E Infant School - 15 and school property with respect. They work and play happily together with pupils with special educational needs. They are accepting of their different needs and supportive towards them. Bullying is rare and the school have in place effective procedures to react to quickly and positively to any instances of bullying. Pupils are aware that help is available to them should they be subject to bullying and say they would seek help from their teachers in such circumstances. There have been no exclusions in the time since the last inspection.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

18 Pupils make satisfactory progress in their personal development and a large majority of parents consider that the school is helping their children to become responsible and mature. Through their work, pupils are developing respect for the ideas of others. Pupils in all year groups show a willingness to take additional responsibilities, undertaking a range of duties as classroom monitors, including tidying up after lessons and distributing the milk They have fewer opportunities, however, to use their initiative to enhance their own learning. In the art lesson seen, for example, resources were given to the pupils, rather than pupils being encouraged to select and take responsibility for their own resources. Reception children have few opportunities to go to activities independently.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

19 Attendance is good. The attendance is slightly above the national average and there is no recorded unauthorised absence. Registration is taken morning and afternoon and meets statutory requirements. It is used effectively to enhance pupils’ listening skills in imaginative ways. Most pupils arrive at school on time and lessons start promptly.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

20 Some high quality teaching was seen in both classes. Over half the teaching seen, 58 percent, was good or better. Twenty-one percent of the teaching was very good, 37 percent was good, 37 percent was satisfactory and a small proportion, 5 percent, was unsatisfactory. This is a big improvement since the last inspection, which judged teaching satisfactory, had no very good teaching and a larger proportion, 14 percent, of unsatisfactory teaching.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

21 Teachers are very concerned to ensure that pupils are sufficiently challenged in their work and make as good progress as they can. This is especially true since an analysis of national tests in 2000 showed fewer than average pupils achieving high levels of attainment. Staff try to make sure the Year 1 pupils have similar work whichever mixed age class they are in. This means the planning for the reception and Year 1 class is based on the programmes of study of the National Curriculum for infants. It is insufficiently adapted to also meet the needs of younger children. The quality of teaching for those Year 1 pupils is generally good. At times, reception children are appropriately stretched by working alongside Year 1 pupils and learn well. Overall, however, the quality of teaching for reception children is satisfactory rather than good, and there is an important area of weakness in the lack of

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

22 A strength of the teaching of reception children is that early reading, writing and spelling skills are taught well. The national guidelines for teaching literacy have been successfully adapted to meet the needs of both reception and Year 1 children in a mixed class. Another strength is the interesting way many lessons are introduced, so the children become engrossed in being ‘super scientists’ and in walking in a circle ‘walking back through time’. These stimulating introductions, however, are not always followed by appropriate individual tasks. The main weakness in the teaching of reception children is that, at times, it is insufficiently based on an understanding of how reception children learn through practical activities. During the inspection, too few opportunities were seen for reception children to explore, experiment, investigate and use practical equipment and resources. Much of the

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

Crich C of E Infant School - 16 learning was very structured, allowing little opportunity for children to independently choose activities or learn through play situations. An example of this was seen during a history lesson, where children sat for nearly an hour while staff handled old household artefacts and talked about their use. They also showed dolls house furniture and talked about what furniture goes in which room. The class ‘home corner’ was poorly organised and equipped and not used to help children learn about household tools or about the different furniture that goes in different rooms. In a geography lesson, unsatisfactory teaching was seen where reception children were given tasks that did not follow on from the introductory session. They were unsure what to do and learnt little, for example, about summer and winter clothes while cutting and sticking pictures of them onto paper.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

23 The high quality of teaching for pupils in Year 1 and 2 has resulted in a trend of improvement in several subjects, though it has not raised standards significantly to be above the average. In physical education, the quality of teaching is good, and pupils’ attainment has been raised from below average to average since the last inspection. Despite the teachers’ best efforts, and their good emphasis on improving the quality of movements, the unsatisfactory accommodation limits further progress. There is insufficient room for full physical effort either inside or outdoors. In art, the quality of teaching is good and effective use is made of the expertise of the co-ordinator to teach both classes. The teacher, however, has to work hard to manage art activities due to the deficiencies of the building. The restricted space and poor facilities inhibit pupils’ progress. In science, the quality of

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

teaching is good and pupils make good progress in lessons. There is, however, relatively little time allocated to science, and over time, despite the good teaching, pupils make satisfactory progress and achieve average standards.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

24 A strength of the teaching of many subjects is that generally teachers have a very clear focus on exactly what is to be taught and learnt. This is based on the good curriculum planning, using recent national requirements and guidelines, adapting them well to the mixed age classes for Year 1 and Year 2 and linking learning in the different subjects effectively. It is also supported by careful and detailed assessments. Both the curriculum planning and the assessment systems are recent and although they have helped raise the quality of teaching they have not yet had time to have made a significant impact on standards. Geography and religious education are taught satisfactorily. Insufficient teaching in design and technology, history, information and communication technology and music was seen in order to make judgements on the quality of teaching in those subjects.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

25 The national guidelines for teaching literacy have been implemented successfully and all aspects of English are now taught effectively, showing an improvement since the last inspection. Lessons are well planned and have a clear focus and a good pace. In reading and writing, teachers put a lot of emphasis on helping pupils to use the sounds that letters and groups of letters represent in order to read and write new words. This method is successful in making pupils confident to try to read and spell words by themselves. Teachers are skilled at making meaningful links between speaking, listening, reading, writing and other subjects of the curriculum and this helps to keep pupils interested and concentrating hard on their work. Teachers make very detailed assessments of pupils’ progress and use these purposefully to create targets for each individual pupil. These targets are shared effectively

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

with pupils, involving them in checking their own progress. Reading books are taken home each Friday to share with adults at home, but there are insufficient links between parents and school to give pupils the breadth of reading experience that pupils in many other schools have.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

26 The national strategy for teaching numeracy has been introduced satisfactorily and has resulted in more focused teaching of specific skills. A strength of the teaching of numeracy are the lively, practical oral sessions. Pupils really enjoy actions such as patting Crich C of E Infant School - 17 their head every time a multiple of five is counted. Teachers usually provide good resources, such as numbers along a line, for pupils to be able to check and correct their answers as they work. The school has worked hard to improve the degree of challenge for pupils, which was identified by the last inspection as a key issue to address. Questions in oral number sessions are at an appropriate level for different pupils, including higher attaining pupils, lower attaining pupils and those with special educational needs. When working by themselves, higher attaining pupils are given challenging tasks so they can achieve well. Lower attaining

p.16

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

pupils are occasionally given too difficult work so they struggle, instead of simpler work on the same concepts, such as addition with lower numbers.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

27 Teachers’ subject knowledge is adequate in most subjects and it is good in English, science, art and design and physical education. This subject expertise contributes well to the way teachers interest and involve pupils in their learning. It also ensures that tasks clearly help to build up pupils’ learning systematically. In geography, some insecure subject knowledge led in one lesson to comparison of a village with a country; there was insufficient focus on what exactly was to be taught and learnt, tasks were very general and pupils learnt little.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

28 A general strength of teaching is the effective way teachers question pupils both to extend their learning and check their understanding. Teachers introduce new vocabulary well in different subjects and help pupils to understand and use it; for example, they talk about circuits in electricity and map symbols and keys in geography.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

29 Teachers generally introduce the learning in different lessons in a lively and interesting way, often with good resources, which makes pupils keen to contribute their ideas. In their enthusiasm to answer, pupils sometimes call out rather than waiting their turn to speak. An example of this was seen in the Year 1 and 2 physical education lesson, where a few pupils acted in an over-excited way and called out, interrupting the teacher’s flow and making the dance lesson less effective for all pupils. Teachers have many positive strategies for regaining pupils’ attention, but allowing pupils to call out in this way at times detracts from how well pupils learn and also does not sufficiently teach them how to behave in a group.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

30 Much work in many subjects is done on paper. This work is usually marked with a positive comment but overall teachers do not use this opportunity sufficiently to urge pupils to improve, particularly their handwriting and presentation. The work is not dated and is kept in general folders and so can not easily be used by teachers or pupils to reflect on what pupils have learnt and the progress they have made.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

31 The quality of teaching for pupils with special educational needs is good, resulting in these pupils making good progress in their learning. Teachers are caring and keen to help pupils to do as well as they can. They enable pupils to take a full part in most lessons and provide extra support when this is needed, particularly in literacy and numeracy lessons. Teachers and support assistants work together co-operatively to meet the targets in pupils’ individual education plans. The visiting special educational needs teacher has a good knowledge of the needs and progress of a pupil with a statement of special educational needs.

p.17

PUPILS?

32 A significant weakness in the curriculum for the reception year arises because work for reception children does not take enough account of the national guidance for teaching the youngest children in the school. When children start school, their attainment is broadly what Crich C of E Infant School - 18 is expected of this age group. Although some are ready for formal education, and all benefit well from some parts of lessons, many children have too few opportunities to learn by playing and talking and by exploring materials and equipment. Curriculum plans show that teachers are aware of what needs to be taught, but they do not seek ways to make sure that children have attained the goals set for children of this age before they give them work from the programmes of study of the National Curriculum for infants. An example of this is that all reception children, including lower attaining children who had just started school in January,

p.17

PUPILS?

were given two wires, a bulb and a battery and ask to make the bulb light up by making an electrical circuit, work also given to Year 1 and Year 2 pupils. Reception children sometimes have to sit still and listen for extensive periods of time. Many find this difficult to cope with and do not learn effectively during these sessions.

p.18

PUPILS?

33 The school’s curriculum for Year 1 and Year 2 pupils meets the requirements of the National Curriculum and the Derbyshire Agreed Syllabus for religious education. It is broad, balanced and relevant, giving proper priority to teaching the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. Curriculum planning for this age group has remained the strength that it was at the time of the last inspection. It has been carefully revised and developed in line with recent changes in national requirements and guidance. Teachers have a clear picture of what needs to be taught in all subjects, and lesson plans are being constructed to make sure that everything is covered for pupils in mixed age classes in a way that builds on previous work. Teachers use curriculum plans thoughtfully to find meaningful ways to combine work in different subjects, as seen in Years 1 and 2 when work in literacy is enhanced by focusing work in art, dance and information technology on the ideas from the book being studied. The

p.18

PUPILS?

curriculum for information and communication technology includes good opportunities for pupils to practise skills in other subjects. Since the last inspection, the school has addressed a key issue well by increasing the amount of time for teaching physical education, and this has raised the standard of work. There is relatively little time allocated to science, and so despite good teaching the standards attained by pupils are average. The school has satisfactorily implemented the national guidance for teaching numeracy and makes adequate opportunities for pupils to use their numeracy skills in other subjects.

p.18

PUPILS?

34 The school’s methods for teaching literacy are good because they are well structured and tied closely to arrangements for assessing pupils. Teachers have adopted the national guidance well over the last few years. They enjoy working from the teaching programmes and are good at translating the guidance into work that interests and motivates pupils and helps them to do well. Pupils have worthwhile opportunities to write in most subjects and satisfactory opportunities to apply their reading skills.

p.18

PUPILS?

35 The school ensures that there is equality of access to the curriculum and opportunity to benefit from it for boys and girls and there are no significant differences in the standards achieved by either group. The school makes good provision for pupils with special educational needs. This is because teachers are keen to help all pupils to be successful with normal school work, alongside other pupils in their class. Pupils sometimes have additional work outside their classrooms, but this is the exception rather than the rule, and pupils do well because they are so thoughtfully considered and integrated. Pupils’ individual education plans are a satisfactory indication of what they need to learn, although some targets are quite broad. Provision meets the requirements of the Code of Practice.

p.18

PUPILS?

36 Links with the community and with partner institutions make an adequate contribution to the curriculum. The headteacher is hoping to extend links with the local junior school shortly, but at the moment there are no curricular links. In view of the interesting curriculum the school provides and the age range of the pupils, inspection evidence indicates that the learning opportunities for infant pupils are good, despite there being no extra curricular activities. Crich C of E Infant School - 19 37 The school’s extensive documentation suggests that teachers give high priority to teaching personal, social and health education in a cross-curricular manner. The headteacher has been very quick to respond to the most recent national guidance. It was not possible to see any specific lessons for teaching and learning in this area, as they happen later in the week. Inspection evidence suggests that the recent planning has not yet had time

p.18

PUPILS?

to be fully effective, though the school supports pupils’ personal and social education satisfactorily and there are many opportunities made for health education. In physical education lessons, for example, teachers put a lot of emphasis upon helping pupils to understand the importance of taking care of their bodies and in science, pupils are taught about the dangers of electricity.

p.19

PUPILS?

38 Provision for spiritual, moral and social development is not as strong as it was at the time of the last inspection. This is likely to be due to the many national curriculum initiatives that the school has been asked to respond to, and to the expectation for more time to be devoted to teaching basic skills. Nevertheless, provision for spiritual, moral and social development is satisfactory and provision for cultural development is still good.

p.19

PUPILS?

39 Whilst there are a lot of good opportunities in lessons, especially lessons in religious education, for pupils to think about the deeper meanings of life, assemblies are not used as well as they might be to encourage an atmosphere of quiet reflection and thoughtfulness. Music is played for pupils to walk into the assembly, for example, but in the assemblies seen, the music was turned off immediately pupils had come in, rather than allowing them time to listen and reflect.

p.19

PUPILS?

40 Teachers usually deal with matters relating to moral development as they arise on a day-to-day basis. The school rules are published in the prospectus, but these are phrased more suitably for adults rather than pupils. When asked, pupils know one simple school rule – ‘keep your hands and feet to yourself’, but they are not aware of any others. There are times when pupils get away with disrespectful behaviour, and the curriculum could do more to help pupils to apply a strong moral code to their lives in school. Teachers and support assistants are very good role models of personal behaviour for the pupils and relationships are positive. At lunchtimes, however, pupils are allowed to be too noisy and lively, so that lunchtime supervisors have to resort to shouting or blowing a whistle to get pupils’ attention. The school could do more to encourage pupils to have a better sense of self-discipline.

p.19

PUPILS?

41 Teachers successfully encourage pupils to get on by themselves and work independently in many lessons, but they do not always expect enough of them to take responsibility for their own learning or equipment. The school provides satisfactory opportunities for pupils to learn about living in a community. Lessons sometimes involve going into the village to look at the church, buildings or shops, and there are occasional visitors from the community, such as the local vicar who leads assemblies. Teachers give pupils a range of responsibilities, such as taking registers to the office and distributing milk. They occasionally involve pupils in fund-raising for a charity.

p.19

PUPILS?

42 Provision for cultural development is good. Lessons in English, religious education, art and dance are particularly effective in extending pupils’ knowledge of their own culture. The school teaches Maypole dancing in the summer term and places a lot of emphasis on the Christmas and summer productions, involving all pupils in songs, dance and speaking roles. Provision is made to introduce other cultures in an interesting way, using the different experiences of staff who have lived abroad.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

Crich C of E Infant School - 20 43 The school is successful in creating a family atmosphere, in which pupils feel safe, secure and can learn and develop. Staff know the pupils well and relationships are good between pupils and teachers and teaching support staff. Pupils are confident that they can approach their teachers should they have any problems with their school work or personal difficulties, and that appropriate support and guidance would be forthcoming. Parents are confident that staff would quickly identify any child who had difficulties.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

44 There are adequate procedures for child protection and pupils’ welfare. The head teacher has received appropriate training on child protection issues, and has given training to staff in the past. There has been no recent training, so some staff have not had training in child protection issues and lack guidance on the recognition of the signs and symptoms of child abuse. Whilst the school has a policy for the use of force to restrain pupils should this ever be necessary, staff have not yet received appropriate training. The school is committed to providing a safe working environment for staff and pupils, and arrangements for health and safety are satisfactory. The health and safety policy meets statutory requirements. Risk assessments are undertaken regularly, though some, such as for school visits, are not always kept. Assessment of hazardous substances is not completely up-to-date.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

45 The school has satisfactory procedures for monitoring and encouraging good behaviour, including the school discipline policy, published in the prospectus, that identifies what is and is not acceptable behaviour. The anti-bullying policy makes clear that bullying will not be tolerated. There is a reward system; for example pupils are given ‘stickers’ for good work and behaviour. Pupils, however, are not made clearly aware of the school rules. Teachers are sometimes inconsistent in the way they promote good behaviour. Good behaviour is not promoted well at lunchtimes, when pupils sometimes ignore the lunchtime supervisors’ instructions.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

46 The school’s procedures for monitoring and promoting attendance are satisfactory. Parents are advised of the need to inform the school if their children are absent for any reason. Staff monitor attendance on a daily basis and there is a good system to contact parents straight away if there are unexplained absences. The school monitors absence on a termly basis, and therefore are aware of pupils with poor attendance records.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

47 Children’s attainment is carefully assessed when they come into school, and teachers are beginning to use these assessments well to set targets for the end of the year. Literacy skills are assessed in detail and used effectively to group children and to provide them with tasks that support their learning well. In other areas of learning, however, sometimes insufficient use is made of these and other early assessments in order to provide appropriate levels of work for reception children, particularly in mathematical learning and knowledge and understanding of the world.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

48 The school’s procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress in Year 1 and 2 are good. Teachers make detailed assessments in reading, writing, spelling and mathematics and use these well to plan work for pupils and set individual targets. They also use them to construct the school’s targets for the end of each year and to provide extra support for groups of pupils to help them reach the targets. Test results are analysed and used to target specific areas of teaching and learning; for example, to provide extra sessions in mathematics so that higher attaining pupils achieve well. The school has adopted recent national guidance about the assessments to be made in other subjects and assesses pupils carefully at the end of units of work. These assessments are just starting to be used and so have not yet had a big impact on the rate of progress that pupils make or the planning of further work.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

Crich C of E Infant School - 21 49 Teachers quickly spot when pupils are not making the progress they should and the school seeks extra or specialist help if necessary when special educational needs are identified. Individual education plans are made, though at times they are rather general and so difficult to use to check pupils’ progress. Staff work closely with support agencies to make sure that the requirements of statements of special educational need are met.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

50 Overall the school has maintained the satisfactory partnership with parents that was found at the time of the last inspection. There is a significant weakness, however, in relation to how closely the school works with parents, to help parents support their children’s learning, both at home and at school.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

51 A high proportion of parents’ questionnaires was returned (79 percent) and 14 parents attended the meeting for parents. Generally, parents have positive views of the school. In particular, parents are pleased with the quality of teaching, that their children are expected to work hard and that the school is helping their children to become more mature and responsible. All parents think their children like coming to school. Parents also indicate that they would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. The majority of parents are pleased with the standard of behaviour and the progress their children make, although a minority expressed concerns. Evidence from the inspection generally confirms these positive views. Inspectors consider that, overall, pupils have satisfactory standards of behaviour and make satisfactory progress in their learning.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

52 A significant minority of parents expressed concerns in relation to the following areas; a lack of extra curricular activities (42 percent); that the school does not work closely with parents (21 percent); and the amount of work their children do at home (18 percent). Views on homework varied, and included a few parents who felt that their children should not be asked to do any school work at home. There are no regular extra curricular activities. Inspectors consider, however, that given the small number of staff, the age range of pupils, the good infant curriculum provided by the school and the restricted accommodation, it would be difficult for the school to also provide a range of extra curricular activities. Inspectors agree that the school could do more to involve parents in the life of the school and inspection evidence shows that homework has insufficient impact on pupils’ learning.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

53 Parents’ involvement in their children’s learning is unsatisfactory. Homework appropriately consists primarily of pupils taking home books to read, but this only happens of a Friday, and on occasions the books are not exchanged. Parents do not have the opportunity to take responsibility for changing the books. The school has recently sent home good guidance to parents about hearing their children read. The system of home-school reading diaries, however, where parents and teachers exchange information, has lapsed. The school is hoping to start a lending library soon. There is, however, a limited range of good quality reading material other than reading scheme books in school. Pupils do not have the support in learning to read that pupils in many other schools have, of a wide range of reading experiences through taking books home. This means they are not reading as well as they might. Other work is sometimes sent home, but with no expectation that it will be done

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

54 No parents help in classes, and in the current academic year the school has not taken any measures to encourage parents to be involved in their children’s learning in school. The school therefore misses opportunities both to use parents’ skills and to support learning Crich C of E Infant School - 22 in small groups, which is particularly relevant in mixed age classes. The school have satisfactory arrangements to involve parents of pupils with special educational needs. Parents help their children at home to achieve the targets in their individual education plans.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

55 Parents are given adequate formal opportunities and good informal ones in which to discuss their children’s progress. There are two parents’ meetings, one in the spring term and one in the summer term, at which parents discuss their children’s progress with teachers. Reception children’s parents are invited to discuss early assessments of their children's attainment soon after their children begin school. Pupils’ annual reports are satisfactory. The majority give good quality information about pupils’ strengths and weaknesses, though a number do not provide parents with a clear understanding of what pupils need to do to improve. Teachers involve the parents of pupils with special educational needs in their day-to-day progress.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

56 Parents receive good quality information about the school and its activities. The school brochure and annual governors’ report provide a wide range of information about the school and meet statutory requirements. Additional information is given by regular letters relating to specific events. The school has a comprehensive package of information for new parents and recently sent home a very useful guide to help parents when listening to their children read at home. There is an active parent-teacher association, which arranges social and fund raising events. Substantial funds are raised to buy additional learning resources. The association has also worked hard to improve the playground space.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

57 The headteacher continues to provide strong leadership and management. She is very aware of new requirements and works hard to incorporate them into the planning. Many policies and procedures have been recently revised, though they are waiting to be agreed by the governing body and have not had time to be fully effective in underpinning the work of the school. Staff work well together, led by the enthusiasm and dedication of the headteacher. All teaching staff have responsibilities for co-ordinating and developing different curriculum subjects and aspects of the school, and they do so effectively, leading to a good level of improvement in the school’s educational provision. The headteacher is also responsible for teaching a class and is given only a limited amount of time to carry out her management role. This is organised efficiently, supported effectively by the very good day-to-day administration

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

and financial management provided by the clerk.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

58 The school’s monitoring of what it provides and the standards achieved by pupils is satisfactory. Detailed analyses of the national test results are made. The school uses careful assessments of what each pupil can do, and the test results, to set realistic targets to try and raise standards. Governors are appropriately involved in this process. Teaching is starting to be monitored, though it is not yet properly organised in order to systematically identify strengths and areas for improvement in teaching. A policy on performance management has not yet been agreed, though it is being developed.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

59 The governing body is well informed and carries out its duties conscientiously. All statutory requirements are met. There has been a big improvement in the efficiency by which the governing body operates; discussions and decisions taken are carefully minuted and circulated to all governors. Governors are very supportive of the school and have developed the role of ‘critical friend’ well. This includes some informal monitoring of teaching by the governor with responsibility for literacy and numeracy. Strategic planning is good, based on projected pupil numbers and careful consideration of priorities of the school. Finances are prudently managed and the large financial reserves mentioned in the last Crich C of E Infant School - 23 inspection have been halved. This still leaves a bigger reserve than usual, but its use for supporting the staffing of the school is clearly defined. Specific grants are used effectively;

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

such as to organise specialist teaching of information and communication technology and to support the amount of clerical time available.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

60 The school development plans are satisfactorily linked to the budget, but they are not clearly organised in order of priority, and this deficiency was also noted in the last inspection. Governors, headteacher and staff all contribute their views as to priorities for development, but these are not then put together to outline the school’s agreed priorities. The development plans are not sufficiently focused on raising standards, having general rather than specific development points and no detailed plans that specify how and when the plans are to be implemented. This makes them a less effective tool for improving the school.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

61 Provision for pupils with special educational needs meets the requirements of the Code of Practice. The school’s policy is to be reviewed when the forthcoming revised code of practice becomes available. Staff are very careful to do all they can to include pupils with special educational needs fully in the life of the school. The formal systems for recording pupils’ progress with their individual education plans do not always result in complete records that are easily checked and evaluated. Educational support assistants and teachers work together co-operatively, but there are occasions when support time could be used more productively. The special educational needs budget is spent appropriately and governors are keen to make sure that pupils have the resources they need.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

62 The school has tried to find ways to improve the internal organisation of the building, as this was identified by the last report as a key issue for the school to address. A portable sink has been bought, but major internal improvements have not been made. Staff, governors and the parent-teacher association have all worked hard to create more play space outside. Staff do their best to work round the inadequacies of the accommodation, the school provides a broad and relevant curriculum for the infants, and pupils achieve satisfactorily. The restricted accommodation, however, is a significant area of concern as it impinges on many aspects of provision and adversely affects the progress pupils make in some subjects. Pupils are not able to use full physical effort in the confined spaces and their progress in physical education is limited by this. The cramped space and lack of facilities adversely affects pupils’ progress in art and design together with design and technology.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

There is nowhere, inside or out, for reception children to regularly use large play equipment to enhance their physical skills or their levels of co-operation. The limited space, and the need to be able to clear one classroom in order to carry out physical education lessons, restricts the organisation of the classrooms and display areas. The lack of storage space inhibits the ability of pupils to learn to choose and use equipment and books independently. In addition, there is no staff room and the area for administration is inadequate; for example, there is nowhere for confidential matters to be discussed with parents.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

63 Resources for most subjects are satisfactory. There is a shortage of good quality books other than reading books, so overall there is a limited range of reading material for pupils. The resources and equipment for practical activities for reception children do not sufficiently support a broad and balanced curriculum for that age group. The resources for information and communication technology are being built up well. Crich C of E Infant School - 24

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

In order to improve the quality of education provided and the standards achieved, the school needs to

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Improve the provision for reception children by: -

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• planning the curriculum for the reception year with greater reference to the national guidelines and targets for this age group

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• giving a clear indication as to when it is appropriate in this school to start children on the infant programmes of study

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• making assessments of children to ensure they have reached goals for this age group before moving on to infant programmes of study

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• providing more equipment and practical experiences in all areas of learning, particularly in mathematical development, knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• providing further training for staff (see paragraphs 1, 18, 21, 22, 32, 47, 63, 64 - 77)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Continue to investigate ways to improve the buildings and lessen the adverse effects of the restricted accommodation (see paragraphs 11, 23, 62, 66, 76, 77, 97, 105, 113, 114, 115)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Involve parents more closely in the work of the school by: -

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• agreeing specific arrangements for and organisation of homework, and making these clear to parents

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• improving the systems for books being taken to read at home so that pupils have more varied and frequent reading opportunities

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• considering ways by which parents can comment on their children’s reading at home and teachers can communicate the next skills to be learnt

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• considering ways to involve parents in classes on a regular basis (see paragraphs 5, 25, 50 – 56, 82)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

The following more minor issues should be considered for inclusion in the school’s development plan

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Drawing up a set of agreed school priorities in the school development plan, with reference to raising standards, and detailed plans specifying when and how these priorities are going to be carried out (see paragraph 60)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Raising the standards of behaviour by raising staff’s expectations of good behaviour, agreeing a set of positive rules that pupils are aware of and implementing them consistently (see paragraphs 15, 16, 29, 40, 45, 80, 115)

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Monitoring teaching in a more systematic and structured way (see paragraphs 58, 85, 90, 94, 99, 105, 117, 121) Crich C of E Infant School - 25

p.24

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 14

p.25

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

p.25

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

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

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 42

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 7

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 1

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 11

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 0

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 4

p.25

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 1

p.25

Attendance

National comparative data 5.2 National comparative data 0.5

p.25

Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Crich C of E Infant School - 26

p.25

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2000 9 6 15

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 87 (83) 87 (92) 87 (92) at NC level 2 or above National 83 (82) 84 (83) 90 (87)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 87 (92) 87 (92) 87 (100) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 88 (86) 88 (87)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

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

p.26

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 0 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0

p.26

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0

p.26

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 0 Other minority ethnic groups

p.26

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

This table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. This table gives the number of exclusions of pupils of compulsory school age, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

p.26

Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and classes: Reception – Year

p.26

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 2.2 Financial year 99/00

p.26

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 19

p.26

Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: Reception – Year 2 Total expenditure 123743

p.26

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 3 Expenditure per pupil 2750

p.26

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 46 Balance brought forward from previous year 24165 Crich C of E Infant School - 27 Balance carried forward to next year 18684

p.26

Teachers and classes Financial information

FTE means full-time equivalent. Crich C of E Infant School - 28

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

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

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 52 21 15 0 12

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 52 36 9 0 3

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 21 55 15 3 6

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 27 52 6 6 9

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 48 42 3 3 3

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 61 36 0 0 3

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 24 52 15 6 3

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 48 33 9 3 6

p.28

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 58 27 3 6 6

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 12 24 27 15 21 Crich C of E Infant School - 29

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

64 The last inspection reported that children’s attainment on entry to school was generally in line with that expected of this age, children made satisfactory progress and most met national learning targets by five years old. This inspection has found a similar picture. Children normally enter school in September if they are aged five by the end of the following April and in January for birthdays up to the end of the following August. Children have a range of attainment on entry to school, some years this is above what is found nationally, some years it is below average in certain aspects, particularly in speaking and listening and personal and social skills, but overall it is broadly average. Children make satisfactory progress and most are likely to meet the national targets for learning by the end of the reception year. Given their starting point their achievement is satisfactory.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

65 The school has made a tremendous effort to incorporate new national initiatives and requirements, particularly the recently revised curriculum for the infants and for the reception aged children. Curriculum planning is very detailed and clearly shows what is to be covered when. It is, however, based on the National Curriculum for infants. This sometimes is beneficial for reception children, providing challenging work for them. Too often, however, it does not take sufficient account of their needs, particularly the importance of learning through practical activities where children explore and experiment. There is too great an emphasis on listening to an adult talking then sitting at tables and ‘working’. While the quality of teaching for the Year 1 children in the class is generally good, and based on an interesting, relevant and stimulating infant curriculum, a proper balance has not been made with the

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

separate demands of the reception children in the same class. This results in an unsatisfactory curriculum for them. The quality of teaching for reception children has been judged satisfactory, and the children make satisfactory progress. Given the strengths of the teaching of Year 1 pupils in this class, the lack of a suitable curriculum prevents reception children making good progress in their learning.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

66 An added difficulty is the restricted accommodation, which impinges on provision in many ways. There are few places to set out ongoing activities that the children can go to throughout the week, resources are not easily stored at their level and there is difficulty in leaving half finished models and artwork to be completed. There is no large outside area or large play equipment to enhance children’s social and physical development regularly, and the area in the hall for physical education lessons is small.

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Personal, social and emotional development

67 Children are well settled into the class. Most children come into school cheerfully and manage the school routines with increasing maturity, such as answering the register in turn and lining up to go into assemblies. Staff provide good role models and create a positive working atmosphere. Many lessons are introduced in a lively and stimulating way and this results in children trying hard with their work and concentrating for extended periods. Children have good relationships with each other and with the adults in the classroom. They dress and undress themselves for physical education lessons, though a few need help to do so. Limited opportunities for children to go to activities independently or choose equipment were seen during the inspection, as many of the lessons observed were over-structured and directed. When they are given the opportunity to work together they co-operate well, such as

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Personal, social and emotional development

throwing beanbags to each other in physical education lessons. Crich C of E Infant School - 30 68 There are weekly sessions, based on the recent national guidance, for explicit teaching to promote personal, social and emotional development, though this was not seen during the inspection as it occurs later in the week. The teaching seen gives satisfactory emphasis to developing this area of learning, particularly through stories and praise of good behaviour and effort. This results in satisfactory progress in children’s personal social and emotional development.

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Communication, language and literacy

69 Almost all children are likely to reach the expected standards by the end of the year; they make steady progress through the year due to the satisfactory quality of teaching. Staff place a great emphasis on providing opportunities for speaking and listening and children are expected to take part in whole class or group discussions for extensive periods of time. Sometimes these sessions successfully promote children’s speaking and listening skills, such as when they listen to the story of ‘The Gruffalo’ and try hard to explain what they like about the book and why the characters acted as they did. At other times the lack of practical ‘hands on’ experiences means these long sessions do not support children’s learning effectively. An example of this is when all the reception children sat for nearly an hour watching and responding to questions while staff handled various old household implements

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Communication, language and literacy

70 Teachers have a good understanding of the national framework for teaching literacy and have successfully adapted it to ensure relevant work for both reception and Year 1 children in a mixed age class. The basic early reading, writing and spelling skills are taught well. Teachers make good assessments of the specific achievements of each child and many have individual literacy targets to work towards. The initial sessions are lively and involve the children well; for example they enthusiastically join in acting out putting letters in the ‘blending machine’ to work out what sound the letters ‘sn’ make. About half the reception children can think of words such as ‘snow’, ‘snort’, ‘snowball’, after the Year 1 children have given some other examples and almost all know the sounds individual letters make. This understanding is extended well by sorting different objects and matching them to the different

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Communication, language and literacy

letters. The individual tasks are not always as practical and at times reception children are asked to spend too long on formal writing tasks, which results in a few of them losing interest. Higher attaining children write legibly and spell some familiar words by themselves. Average attaining children copy the teacher’s writing neatly and attempt their own writing. Lower attaining children need a lot of support to form letters correctly. There is a range of attainment in reading. One higher attaining child reads simple text fluently. Other higher attaining and average attaining children recognise many familiar words and attempt to read simple text using pictures and their knowledge of the sounds letters make as clues. Lower attaining children recognise a few words and need support to ‘read’ books. Reading books are sent home once a week and useful guidance to parents on sharing books with their

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Communication, language and literacy

71 While the basic skills are taught well, the layout of the classroom and the organisation of the curriculum do not support children’s learning as effectively. During the inspection few opportunities were created for promoting speaking and listening skills during practical activities such as imaginative play or while investigating, for example, old artefacts. No opportunities were provided for children to practise writing in structured play situations such as in a class writing area, or making their own lists, books and invitations during imaginative play. During the inspection, the book corner was not a stimulating area that children were regularly encouraged to use to read to themselves or choose books to share with others. Crich C of E Infant School - 31

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Mathematical development

72 Almost all children are likely to meet the targets set for the end of the reception year. They make steady progress as a result of the satisfactory quality of teaching. Number rhymes are used well to reinforce number concepts and children enjoy acting them out. The national framework for teaching numeracy has been introduced adequately. There is a brisk pace to the initial sessions, with a good balance of questions to support reception children’s learning and provide opportunities for reception children to join in and be challenged by Year 1 oral work. Staff demonstrate concepts such as sorting three objects in order of size effectively. There is, however, an over-emphasis on moving straight from the oral work to recording on paper. Children are asked to cut and stick pictures of objects in size order in their books, before they have an opportunity to actually use different objects and put them into

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Mathematical development

73 The curriculum is not sufficiently well organised to support the learning of mathematical concepts through play activities that are carefully structured. Though careful assessments are made of children’s attainment, these are not always used well to ensure appropriate work is given to individual children. All reception children, including lower attaining children and those who have recently started school, do the same page in the published workbooks. Average and higher attaining children confidently sort, order and count sets of objects. They recognise and draw numerals up to five and are learning to do so up to ten. Almost all children identify simple shapes from an oral description of them. Higher attaining children also identify how many faces three-dimensional shapes have, such as cube and sphere.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

74 Children build up a satisfactory knowledge and understanding of the world. Many of the activities are introduced in a lively and stimulating way that interests and involves children well. They enjoy the start of a history lesson, walking round in a circle, ‘going back in time’, looking down on themselves, their parents and grandparents as babies. Most make a good guess at what various old household implements were used for. Higher attaining children identify a flat iron and scales. Insufficient practical activities, however, are planned for in some lessons in order to capitalise on the children’s interest and extend their understanding. Tasks are sometimes given to children that do not follow on from the introduction, leaving children unsure what to do, or occupied but learning little. This was seen in a geography lesson, for example, where it resulted in unsatisfactory teaching and learning about summer

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

and winter clothes. Most children show an understanding about where they live, based on good opportunities to learn simple geographical concepts at first hand. They walk round the village and draw simple maps. They look at the different houses and shops and what can be bought in each shop.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

75 Children enjoy being ‘super scientists’. They know that batteries have chemicals in them that are dangerous if they leak out. They correctly put two batteries the right way up in a torch to make it work. Some of the work on early scientific concepts, however, is too structured, with a ‘right’ answer, allowing insufficient opportunities to investigate and experiment at an appropriate level of learning. This was seen when all children were given a bulb, battery and two wires and asked to make the bulb light up. Children are given opportunities to design and make different artefacts. They show average skills in using tools such as scissors and glue sticks when making models and cutting out paper. Children enjoy using the computers, using the mouse with increasing control to drag various clothes across the screen to dress the teddy bear. They co-operate well discussing which number to press having counted the number of objects on the screen.

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Physical development

76 Children’s attainment is limited by the restricted accommodation, both inside and out, so that despite good teaching in physical education lessons their attainment is average. There is no outside play area with large play equipment in order to regularly develop physical skills outside. In the classroom, children show average pencil control and control of scissors. Few opportunities for practising co-ordination skills with activities such as threading beads and building with various construction equipment were seen during the inspection. In physical education lessons, children move with reasonable awareness of space and of others in the confined space available. They are learning to check for jewellery and footwear to ensure they can move safely. The enthusiastic approach of teachers helps children to enjoy physical exercise and to try and improve their movements. Most can work with a partner, throwing and catching beanbags with control.

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Creative development

77 Children achieve average standards in the artwork seen displayed in the classroom. They experiment with and explore a variety of media such as pencils, crayons, paint, inks and chalks. No teaching of art was able to be seen during the inspection, as it is taught later in the week. The cramped accommodation restricts opportunities for children to experiment with creative media independently at other times. Average standards of musical ability were seen in a structured music lesson. Children clap their own first names and have a go on percussion instruments, though they are given limited opportunities to experiment with sounds and instruments themselves. No imaginative play was seen during the inspection. The ‘home corner’ is poorly equipped and lacks any structure for stimulating children’s play.

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ENGLISH

78 In the 2000 national tests in reading and writing for seven-year-olds, pupils’ performance was in line with the national average. Fewer pupils than nationally reached a level higher than expected for their age, especially in writing, where there were none. When comparing the test results with results of pupils in similar schools, however, pupils’ overall performance was below average in reading and average in writing. The year group tested was relatively small, had significantly more boys than girls and included several pupils with special educational needs. These factors make the test results for one year an unreliable indicator for standards. Since 1997, when the school was last inspected, test results have improved similar to the national trend. The school was very successful in 2000 with increasing the proportion of pupils who attained at the top end of expected levels in reading. In writing, the proportion of pupils reaching expected levels has been rising since 1997.

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ENGLISH

Pupils in the current Year 2 are on track to attain the targets that teachers have set for them in the 2001 tests. If they do so, standards will continue to rise steadily, and more pupils will reach the higher than expected level of attainment than did so last year. There are no significant differences between the performance of girls and boys in tests.

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ENGLISH

79 Inspection evidence shows that the school has maintained the satisfactory standards in speaking and listening, reading and writing that were reported following the last inspection. Since that time, however, there have been a lot of improvements to teaching and the curriculum, and teachers’ expertise with teaching basic skills is now good. The national guidelines for teaching literacy have been adopted successfully, and the quality of teaching and learning in English is good. Lessons are well planned and have clear and relevant purposes. Also, teachers have improved their procedures for assessing how well pupils are Crich C of E Infant School - 33 doing, and they use the information they gather well to set targets for individual pupils to improve their performance. Teachers are particularly successful with involving pupils in their own progress by keeping them reminded and alert to which aspects of their work they need

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ENGLISH

to improve most urgently. The school has taken stock of last year’s test results and staff are working hard to make sure that higher attaining pupils do well enough in their forthcoming tests. The full effects of all the school’s recent efforts and improvements are not yet evident in pupils’ achievement, which is currently satisfactory. The school is well placed, however, to be able to demonstrate greater success in the near future.

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ENGLISH

80 Teachers put a lot of emphasis upon improving pupils’ speaking and listening. They are skilled with asking questions carefully so that pupils have to think, express their ideas and use the new words they are learning in all subjects. Teachers know that some pupils do not listen well enough to others in class discussions, and that a few pupils do not control their enthusiasm well enough and call out answers or comments. Teachers are keen, rightly, not to stifle pupils’ enthusiasm and their confidence to contribute to discussions. At times, however, the calling out interrupts the flow of what the teacher is trying to get across and makes learning for all pupils less effective. In other lessons, the same pupils show that they can listen well, as in a lesson in Year 1 and 2 when pupils took part in role play, pretending to interview someone or be interviewed. By the end of Year 2, most pupils usually listen

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ENGLISH

carefully in lessons in all subjects. They can talk with reasonable confidence and clarity in a variety of different situations.

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ENGLISH

81 All pupils make a successful start with learning to read and write. This is because teachers understand the importance of helping pupils to become confident to attempt to read and write new words using different methods, particularly looking closely at the sounds that individual letters or groups of letters represent. Teachers are skilled at making meaningful links between speaking, reading, writing and other subjects of the curriculum, and this helps to keep pupils interested and enthusiastic. Pupils in Year 1, for example, make good progress with listening, speaking, reading and writing when they draft and read a short story together, and then work individually writing their own ideas about it. Similarly, work on display for pupils in Years 1 and 2, shows that teachers motivate pupils to enjoy books by providing opportunities for them to develop ideas and themes through work in art, dance and

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ENGLISH

information and communication technology. A study of the book ‘Madeleine in the City’ is just one example. Such work makes a good contribution to pupils’ spiritual and cultural development.

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ENGLISH

82 By the end of Year 2, most pupils can read simple books by themselves. The higher attaining pupils are more accurate and fluent and show greater understanding of what they are reading. Although they know what an author is, a few are unable to name any in relation to books they know of. Their ability to use dictionaries and other reference books is not as good as it should be, and this is because they have few opportunities to learn to do so. The school is hoping to start a lending library soon, but the range of books available and used for teaching reading skills is fairly limited, especially for the oldest pupils. Pupils take books home to read with other adults each Friday, and the school gives parents good guidance about how to read them with their children. The help of parents at home and in school is a resource that is insufficiently tapped, however, and pupils do not have the breadth of reading

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ENGLISH

experience that pupils in many other schools have. This prevents them from doing as well as they could.

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ENGLISH

83 Teachers do well with encouraging pupils to attempt to write by themselves. Lessons during the inspection provided very relevant opportunities for writing, and pupils were confident to try. Although teachers usually mark work and add a few comments, they do not always use this opportunity sufficiently to urge pupils to improve, especially their handwriting and presentation. By the end of Year 2, most pupils can write appropriately while learning Crich C of E Infant School - 34 about different subjects, including using information and communication technology at times. They can adjust the style of their writing to a particular task. The higher attaining pupils write more extensively, and use punctuation more often and accurately. They add interest to their pieces by careful choice of words, and their handwriting is beginning to be more joined and fluent.

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ENGLISH

84 A strength of all the lessons seen is the successful integration of pupils with special educational needs. They make good progress because teachers give them worthwhile work alongside other pupils in their classes. They sometimes benefit from sensitive additional help at school and further work at home with their parents. This helps them to work towards the rather general targets of their individual education plans. The school sets aside teaching time each week to ensure that higher attaining pupils are helped to meet their literacy targets.

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ENGLISH

85 The subject co-ordinator has a good level of expertise and supports other teachers well. She has checked the quality of teaching in the other class, though not on a formal or systematic basis, and looks at the pupils’ work to find out how well they are doing. The co- ordinators’ knowledge and understanding of standards in the school is satisfactory. A new portfolio of assessed work is being assembled to help teachers to make sure that the National Curriculum levels they award in the national tests are accurate. Teaching has also been monitored informally by the governor with responsibility for literacy.

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MATHEMATICS

86 By the end of the infants, standards are in line both with the national average and with similar schools. This is borne out both by national test results and by inspection findings. Standards have improved steadily since the last inspection. Care needs to be taken in analysis of the national test results as the cohorts are small and so results vary from year to year. In the national tests in 2000, the only pupils who did not reach the expected level of attainment were those who had special educational needs. There was a high proportion of pupils who were at the top end of the expected levels of attainment, reflecting a priority of the school to raise the achievements of lower attaining pupils. Few pupils, however, went further and achieved higher levels of attainment. The school has recognised this and this year has adjusted the curriculum and teaching in order to provide opportunities for higher attaining

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MATHEMATICS

pupils to work at suitably challenging tasks in order to achieve highly. The trend over three years is one of rising standards, particularly in the proportions of pupils achieving well at the expected levels of attainment. Boys performed slightly better than girls over the last three years, though given the small size of the cohorts the differences are not significant.

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MATHEMATICS

87 In the lessons and work seen, Year 2 pupils confidently recognise odd and even numbers. They count up to 100 in intervals of five and ten and can put numbers in order up to 100. Most pupils confidently add and subtract numbers to ten and are learning to do so to 20. Higher attaining pupils handle larger numbers, adding and subtracting to 100 and learning strategies to add 11, 19 and 21 to large numbers. Most pupils are beginning to learn simple multiplication by discussing the patterns of numbers if they count in twos, threes, fours and tens. Higher attaining pupils are working with patterns of 8 and 9, lower attaining pupils need adult support to count in twos. Most pupils recognise and make halves and quarters of shapes, and complete simple symmetrical patterns. They know some of the properties of two and three-dimensional shapes. They weigh in kilos and measure using centimetres. They make simple graphs to find out, for example, the most popular colour of balloons.

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MATHEMATICS

88 The quality of teaching is satisfactory and results in a steady rate of learning for pupils. The national guidelines for teaching numeracy have been introduced satisfactorily and lessons are well structured with a brisk pace. Teachers ensure the oral sessions are Crich C of E Infant School - 35 lively and pupils actively participate, for example they pat their heads each time a multiple of five is reached when counting up to 50. This results in pupils being enthusiastic in lessons and they try very hard to quickly give the correct answers. Teachers question pupils well both to extend their learning and check their understanding. Different questions are given at appropriate levels for all pupils, including lower attaining pupils and those with special educational needs, making them confident enough to try and answer. Teachers give good levels of support by providing resources that pupils can use to check and correct their work

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MATHEMATICS

while they are working at a task. In a reception and Year 1 lesson, for example, Year 1 pupils check on a printed line of numbers whether they have counted the correct number. Year 2 pupils excitedly discuss the number patterns they find while using a square with numbers from one to 100 on.

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MATHEMATICS

89 A key issue in the last report was to review the teaching of numeracy and ensure a higher level of challenge. The school has responded well and worked hard to improve teaching. The national numeracy framework has since been implemented. Teachers use oral sessions effectively to challenge pupils at appropriate levels. Teachers make detailed assessments of what the pupils can do and what they need to work at next. Some pupils have individual numeracy targets and all have targets to reach by the end of each year. The last report identified as a weakness the way that pupils all worked at their own pace through workbooks, and teachers now use the numeracy strategy to give all pupils in the same year group the same work, though extra tuition is provided for higher attaining pupils in Year 2, to give them more challenging tasks. Workbooks are now used mainly to assess pupils. In much of the work, lower attaining pupils, including those who have special educational needs,

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MATHEMATICS

are given the same tasks and are helped to achieve by intensive adult support. Whilst this is often a successful strategy, at times it means that these pupils are given inappropriate work, and would be more successful if given work on the same concepts but at a simpler level. Pupils also work on paper, though this is not kept in a manner that easily allows teachers or pupils to check back and review the rate of progress.

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MATHEMATICS

90 The teaching has been monitored both by the headteacher and by the governor who has curriculum responsibility for numeracy, though this monitoring has been informal. Written assessment of teaching and points for improvement have not yet been made on a systematic basis. Adequate links are made with other subjects and these support the mathematical work satisfactorily. Pupils measure in millilitres to make fruit punch in design and technology. They measure with their feet how far each vehicle travels down a ramp in science. They make pictures using shapes such as circles and squares in art. Pupils collect data, such as making a traffic survey in geography, and the data is then collated onto a class graph.

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SCIENCE

91 Standards are average and pupils’ achievements are satisfactory by the time they leave the school. Teacher assessments in 2000 put pupils’ attainment higher than this, in that the proportion of pupils achieving higher than expected levels of work was greater than the national average. The inspection evidence showed average standards when the work done by the current Year 2 pupils was seen across all areas of science. Most pupils carry out investigations satisfactorily. They predict which vehicle will travel furthest down a ramp, carry out a test then record the result. No written evaluation of the result was made, nor whether the result was as predicted. Pupils are presently working on electricity, and by Year 2 all make an electrical circuit using wires, bulbs and batteries. Most pupils record their work by drawing a simple diagram of the circuit. Lower attaining pupils, including those with special

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SCIENCE

educational needs, need adult support to do so and have difficulty explaining what needs to be there in order for the bulb to light up. Higher attaining pupils experiment with different Crich C of E Infant School - 36 electrical circuits and work out that you can add a second battery into the circuit to make a bulb brighter. Pupils have sorted different materials and describe some of their properties. They have looked in a simple way at changes in materials when they are heated or cooled. There was very little evidence of pupils’ knowledge and understanding of living things, though they will work on this aspect of science in the summer term.

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SCIENCE

92 The quality of teaching is good and pupils make good progress within lessons. Teachers use effective strategies to introduce lessons in a way that interests and excites pupils, acting out putting on their white coats to be ‘super-scientists’. Lessons are well planned with specific objectives for learning that are made very clear to the pupils, which results in a working atmosphere with pupils concentrating hard. Teachers provide enough resources for pupils to spend most of the lessons investigating in a practical way. In the reception and Year 1 lesson on electricity, for example, each pupil is given wires, a bulb and a battery to try and make a circuit. In the Year 1 and 2 class, pupils work in pairs making circuits, enthusiastically helping each other with the stiffer crocodile clips so the wires are fixed securely. Support staff are used well to encourage and help lower attaining pupils and

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SCIENCE

those with special educational needs. This support means they are given a sense of achievement and are motivated to try hard and they make good progress in their learning. Teachers challenge pupils, particularly higher attaining pupils, to stretch their understanding. This was seen, for example, in the Year 1 and 2 lesson with the challenge to try and make the bulbs brighter and dimmer. Teachers question pupils effectively in order to make them think about the investigations and what will happen, rather than telling pupils how it should be, and this means pupils are building well on their prior knowledge and understanding. A good working atmosphere is created, with pupils respecting the efforts of others. This was seen when pupils in the Year 1 and 2 class spontaneously clapped the teacher’s efforts at drawing a circuit diagram.

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SCIENCE

93 Standards have been maintained since the last inspection and aspects of provision have been satisfactorily improved. The curriculum is carefully planned, based on recent national requirements and guidance and adapted sensibly for the mixed age classes. Assessments are made at the end of each unit of work. Teachers have started to use assessments well to set targets for each pupil to achieve by the end of each year and use these to set overall targets for the national assessments. These good curriculum planning and assessment systems have not been in place long enough to have made a significant impact on raising standards.

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SCIENCE

94 A strength of the provision is the clear focus on what is to be taught and learnt, with meaningful links to other subjects made where possible. This results in an interesting and challenging curriculum. Pupils’ work on electricity is linked to thinking about Victorian houses where there was no electricity. A weakness of provision is the relatively low amount of time allocated to the subject. This, coupled with the fact that the curriculum planning and assessment systems are very recent, means that even though the quality of teaching is good, overall standards are satisfactory. Another weakness is that pupils’ work is mostly done on paper and is often not dated or marked. It is not kept in a manner that allows pupils to look back and reflect on what they have learnt. The enthusiastic and hardworking co- ordinator has developed the curriculum and built up resources effectively. There is no formal

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SCIENCE

monitoring of teaching; however, staff discuss their work informally and the quality of teaching has improved since the last inspection.

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ART AND DESIGN and DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

95 By the end of Year 2, the standard of work is in line with national expectations in both subjects and the school has maintained standards reported in the last inspection. This Crich C of E Infant School - 37 judgement is made on the basis of the small amount of evidence available. Due to the restricted accommodation, little past work of pupils is saved. Curriculum and lesson planning are good because they take careful account of the requirements of the programmes of study of the National Curriculum and the related national guidance, and also include assessment as an integral part of the work. This ensures that pupils learn the right things and that lessons have clear and worthwhile purposes. Also, teachers are successful with making interesting links between subjects, such as art and design, information and communication technology, dance and English. This is seen in several displays in which

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ART AND DESIGN and DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

work based on books studied in literacy lessons is extended through activities in art and design as well as design and technology. Pupils’ spiritual and cultural development is supported well by work of this nature.

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ART AND DESIGN and DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

96 Only one lesson was seen in art and design and in that lesson teaching and learning were good. The subject co-ordinator teaches both classes and has a good level of expertise. She understands the importance of teaching specific art knowledge, understanding and skills. This is done through a series of lessons that build step by step on previous work, and by the skilful questioning of pupils during lessons. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 learn about working with clay, for example, and apply their skills to designing and shaping clay tiles that are decorated by both indenting and adding more clay. They have a good knowledge of the properties of clay and of the technical words associated with it. They enjoy experimenting with the clay to complete their task. Most pupils work sensibly and safely and try hard. Their pastel pictures of buildings on display around the hall are of the standard expected for pupils

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ART AND DESIGN and DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

of their ages. These show that pupils can reflect on the work of artists and produce their own attractive and interesting pieces in the same style. Some pupils have also made pictures using a computer program.

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ART AND DESIGN and DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

97 The teacher has to work hard to manage art activities due to the deficiencies of the building. Following the last report, the school has fitted one sink and bought a portable sink because there is no water in the other classroom. This helps a little, but it is far from ideal for encouraging pupils to take responsibility for managing and cleaning their own art equipment. Consequently, pupils do not do enough of this to have a sufficient level of independence and ability to take initiative.

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ART AND DESIGN and DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

98 No lessons were seen in design and technology, and no judgements about teaching and learning in this subject can be made. Pupils’ previous work and curriculum plans suggest that the school has addressed the weakness in evaluation skills reported in the last inspection. Pupils in Years 1 and 2, for example, make sandwiches and test them to decide which is their favourite filling. Their written work, however, is not always as careful as it should be. Pupils design a children’s playground and use construction kits to make realistic models of swings and slides.

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ART AND DESIGN and DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

99 The subject co-ordinator has responsibility for both subjects. She is able to find out about standards in art and design in each class because of the school’s arrangements for specialist teaching, but this is not as successful in design and technology where monitoring is still informal. The school has rightly identified the next step for development in art and design as building up resources for teaching about artists and craftspeople.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

100 By the end of the infants, pupils have a knowledge and understanding of geography and history that is in line with that expected nationally. They make steady progress in building Crich C of E Infant School - 38 up concepts and knowledge and their achievements are satisfactory. Standards have been maintained in both subjects since the last inspection.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

101 The quality of teaching and learning in geography is satisfactory overall, though one unsatisfactory lesson was observed during the inspection. The strengths of the teaching include the way that work is generally introduced in a meaningful context. Pupils walk round their village to learn about where they live and the purpose of the different buildings. They draw simple maps of the village and mark on the maps various features such as the roads, school and the hill. Higher attaining pupils draw detailed maps using several symbols and a key. The teacher of older pupils develops their understanding of maps satisfactorily by further work on human and physical features and how to draw them on maps of an island. This work is carried out for a very short time each week and sometimes results in less effective learning. In the lesson observed, pupils were interested in the teacher’s demonstration of symbols and were keen to draw their own maps but have to wait a week to

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

do so. Pupils are beginning to identify aspects of places and buildings that they like and aspects that could be improved. This work was made very relevant for them last year when teachers consulted pupils about plans to improve the playground. One lesson seen was unsatisfactory because, due to insecure subject knowledge, there was an insufficient focus on what exactly was to be taught and learnt. Pupils were asked to compare the village of Crich with the country of Austria. They were given pictures of Austria and asked to write about the pictures. Pupils were unsure of the tasks and learnt little.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

102 Only one history lesson was seen during the inspection, giving insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on the quality of teaching and learning in the subject. On the evidence of that lesson, looking at pupils’ past work and the planned curriculum, pupils make satisfactory progress and standards are in line with those expected. Pupils are given an awareness of the differences between the past and the present when looking at a collection of old toys. They learn about aspects of life in Victorian times and study old buildings in the village. Pupils build up an understanding of time by sequencing stories such as the Little Red Hen, times and activities in their day, days of the week and months of the year. They learn about some of the famous saints such as St David and St George.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

103 The strengths of the history teaching seen include the exciting way the subject is introduced. This ensures that pupils are interested and ready to concentrate hard on their learning. The teacher walks the class round in a circle ‘going back through time’. Pupils become involved in pointing to the middle of the circle and ‘seeing’ themselves as babies and one describes what his parents looked like further back in time as babies themselves. Such activities give pupils a good understanding of the passage of time. A weakness of the teaching seen was that insufficient use was made of interesting resources. A good collection of old household implements was shown to pupils, but they were than left on the floor while pupils cut and stuck pictures of artefacts onto worksheets. Pupils had no opportunities to examine the artefacts, handle them, use them in play situations that would effectively teach

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

pupils what living in the past and using these implements would have been like.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

104 Teachers have recently revised the curriculum in line with national requirements and guidance and have planned it in great detail. They have just started using national guidance for making assessments of pupils in these subjects. This good practice has not had time to help to raise standards. A strength of both the geography and the history curriculum is the meaningful links made with other subjects. Study of the local village strongly links work in both subjects and includes religious education by a visit to the local church to see what makes a church a special place. In physical education lessons they work in pairs and small groups to make shapes of the different buildings. Pupils look at old toys in history and how they move in science. Older pupils write letters as though they were writing home from a Victorian boarding school. Crich C of E Infant School - 39 105 Much of the work is done on paper and kept undated in general folders. It is not used

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

effectively to enable pupils to refer to their past work and reflect on what they have learnt. There has been no monitoring of teaching in either subject. The accommodation is restricted and impinges on the quality of experiences offered to pupils. This was seen, for example, in the lack of display space at pupils’ level for old household artefacts that pupils could examine and return to during their work over several weeks. The school has a good collection of old artefacts that is organised and displayed well as a museum.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

106 By the time pupils leave the school, their knowledge and use of information and communication technology is at the level usually seen by pupils of this age. This judgement is based on the evidence of pupils’ past work, brief observations of computers in use during the inspection and scrutiny of the planned curriculum. Standards have been maintained since the last inspection. Pupils can edit text, change the size and type of print and the colours used, as is shown in their word processed stories based on the story ‘The Mermaid’. Pupils can save and print out their work and are learning to retrieve their work to improve it further. They co-operate well when using computers in pairs, enthusiastically discussing how to make the electrical circuit diagram when using a scientific program. They help each other print the work out.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

107 Insufficient teaching was seen during the inspection to make a judgement about the quality of teaching and learning. Teaching is organised well, with brief focused sessions to teach specific skills to particular groups. The one brief session seen supported Year 2 pupils’ learning effectively. They were clearly taught how to edit text by deleting and adding words and punctuation. The teacher used good questioning skills to focus pupils’ attention and to assess their levels of understanding, both in editing text and in literacy skills such as punctuation. Higher attaining pupils were stretched by thinking of other ways to do the same task, learning to use the shift key as well as caps-lock key to add capital letters.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

108 The school has joined with four other schools to use a specific grant for funding a specialist teacher to work in the schools and teach groups of pupils. The teaching programme has just started but was not able to be observed as the teacher comes to this school later in the week. Class teachers then give pupils, individually or in pairs, opportunities to reinforce these skills and concepts through the next week. There is a very detailed scheme of work, based on national guidance, that covers the skills to be taught and learnt as well as the links to be made with other subjects. These links enhance pupils’ learning in the other subjects effectively whilst also supporting their developing skills in using computers and other technology. They use an art and design program, for example, to create pictures of the city and the countryside as part of their work in geography. Teachers make careful and

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

detailed assessments of pupils’ progress. The curriculum planning, assessment systems and specialist teaching are too recent to have yet had a big impact on standards, though they are a big improvement in provision since the last inspection. The enthusiastic and hard working co-ordinator is effectively developing the subject and building up new hardware and software appropriately.

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MUSIC

109 Only one lesson was seen and this was not enough evidence to make overall judgements about teaching and pupils’ learning or about standards by the end of Year 2. During registration, pupils in both classes sing their names in response to their teacher’s Crich C of E Infant School - 40 voice and to the tune and rhythm of a well known children’s song. This changes a daily routine into an enjoyable activity in which pupils show that they can sing confidently and in tune. During assemblies, pupils’ singing of familiar songs of praise is of the standard expected for their ages, though they sing with much more enthusiasm when accompanied by a guitar. Video evidence shows that pupils enjoy taking part in musical performances at Christmas and during the summer term. The recorded music that is played as pupils come to assembly provides a brief opportunity for them to listen to music. During the inspection,

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MUSIC

this was not taken full advantage of, as it was switched straight off the moment all pupils had sat down, allowing no time for quiet listening, and was not referred to at all. Planning indicates that recorded music is regularly listened to and discussed.

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MUSIC

110 Teaching and learning in the one lesson seen were satisfactory. Pupils in Year 1 listen carefully to spot the rhythm patterns in their names and in the names of breakfast cereals. They repeat these by clapping and playing percussion instruments, both alone and together with other pupils. They can name several percussion instruments and know how to hold them correctly. Pupils with special educational needs join in with the same level of enthusiasm and confidence as other pupils, and all make steady progress.

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MUSIC

111 The co-ordinator has responsibility for teaching music in both classes. This helps to make sure that lessons build successfully on what pupils have learned previously. She shows a sound knowledge and understanding of the programmes of study of the National Curriculum, and this results in an enjoyable and worthwhile lesson. Pupils are very keen to play instruments and to explore the sounds that they make, but the lesson plan restricts the time available for this and does not make fullest use of the support assistant present.

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MUSIC

112 The school has recently adopted the national guidance for teaching and the curriculum, and the teacher is gradually completing schemes of work for each class to match this. Pupils’ attainment is starting to be assessed after the end of each unit of work, in line with national guidance.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

113 At the time of the last inspection, standards were below national expectations because pupils had too few lessons. This was a key issue for the school to address. Since that time, governors and staff have tackled the problems as well as it is possible to do so. The school has also changed the use of a garden area outdoors to provide additional hard surface areas to use. The lack of suitable space indoors and outdoors remains, however, and teachers still have to spend time moving furniture around.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

114 Standards by the end of Year 2 are now in line with national expectations, and the quality of teaching is now good. Nevertheless, pupils could do even better if they had enough suitable space indoors to be able to move more freely and safely when working with equipment and apparatus and when taking part in energetic activities. Teachers do their best to minimise the effects of this deficiency in the accommodation, such as only having half the class actually moving around at any one time. This was seen in a dance lesson when the teacher, wisely, asked some pupils to watch others in order to spot the more interesting movements to use as demonstrations.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

115 Pupils in the Year 1 and 2 class enjoy dance lessons. Year 2 pupils move their bodies imaginatively in response to the recorded music that the teacher has chosen because it represents the ideas in a story book that pupils have studied. Pupils change their movements to reflect the quiet or more lively parts of the story, and can include movements Crich C of E Infant School - 41 at different heights. They use the limited space available with reasonable safety, although their enthusiasm sometimes leads to over-excited behaviour and movements and to calling out inappropriately. At times, teachers do not sufficiently insist on pupils working quietly, and this detracts from the flow of the lesson, the effectiveness of the teaching and the rate of learning for all pupils. Pupils with special educational needs join in happily and make progress at the same pace as others in the class. Girls and boys choose to work together

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

as partners, and pupils are content to watch others and to say what they think about their performances.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

116 Teaching and learning are good overall. This is partly due to the well planned and organised curriculum that takes good account of the national guidance for pupils of this age. Teachers are enthusiastic and know the programmes of study of the National Curriculum well. They are good at helping pupils to know how they can improve their movements, and pupils try hard to do so. The teacher in the reception and Year 1 class, for example, teaches pupils how to watch the ball or bean bag carefully and exactly when to try to catch. Matters of health and safety are emphasised well, and pupils know about the code of safe dress and how exercise affects their own bodies. Teachers give pupils physical problems to solve and this encourages them to explore movements and to improve their own performances.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

117 In this very small school, it is difficult for the subject co-ordinator to find out directly what teaching and standards are like in the other class, but she has watched a dance lesson and fed back her observations to the teacher. The co-ordinator has devised schemes of work for each year group to take account of recent national guidance, and plans to modify these in the future as changes are felt to be necessary.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

118 By the end of Year 2, standards are in line with the expectations set by the local agreed syllabus and teaching and learning are satisfactory overall. The school has maintained the position reported in the last inspection. The good quality curriculum is based on well planned themes taken from the Derbyshire guidance ‘All our Worlds’. Teachers take proper account of this guidance when planning their lessons, and they have a good understanding of its purposes. They are careful to try to find meaningful ways to incorporate work that supports pupils’ personal and social education into religious education lessons. This helps pupils to understand the relevance of religious education to their day-to-day lives.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

119 Religious education plays an important part in helping the school to achieve its aims, and some lessons make a good contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils are asked to think about what makes places special and to say what they think might be found in special places. They confidently make very thoughtful suggestions, such as cushions, water, carpets and flowers. This is because teachers encourage them to feel relaxed and comfortable to express their own ideas and to know that all pupils’ contributions will be accepted. A strong feature of the teaching in both classes is teachers’ skilled questioning of pupils. This makes them think deeply and improve their talking skills as part of work in religious education. Teachers make pupils aware of what they are expected to learn in each lesson, and check pupils’ understanding of this at the beginning and end of the lessons.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

120 Discussion with pupils in Year 2 and scrutiny of their previous work provides evidence that pupils have a sound knowledge of stories from the Bible and of religions other than Christianity. They recall in detail and with pleasure a ‘Divali Day’ held last year, and talk about this using religious terms, such as ‘Hindu’ and ‘celebration’. They answer questions about religion sensibly and are relaxed and confident when asking other pupils questions about their Crich C of E Infant School - 42 personal beliefs. Pupils know about the local church from their visits there and know that events, such as Christenings and Harvest Festivals, are held there. Pupils with special educational needs take a full part in lessons and make progress at the same pace as other pupils in their class.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

121 Pupils’ achievement is satisfactory, but the recent improvements to planning lessons and assessing pupils’ progress are likely to help them to do better in the future. Until recently, the subject co-ordinator taught religious education to both classes and was able to find out directly about how well all pupils were doing, but monitoring of provision in the other class is now done on an informal basis. The school development plan includes an intention to improve resources, although there are no significant shortages that have an effect on teaching and standards.

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