Carrington Primary and Nursery School

Carrington Primary and Nursery School

Dates of inspection: 25 th – 27 th June 2002

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Carrington Primary and Nursery School

Full inspection carried out under Section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Jenner Street Carrington Nottingham Nottinghamshire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: September 1997

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

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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INFORMATION ABOUT THE 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. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

21114 Mr M Johnstone Registered inspector Art and design History Equal opportunities English as an additional language What sort of school is it? The school’s results and pupils’ achievements How well are pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? What should the school do to improve further? 12682 Mr J Griffin Lay inspector Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 14851 Mr G Laws Team inspector Special educational needs English Music Physical education 11227 Mr J Moles Team inspector Mathematics Information and communication technology Design and technology. Religious education How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

10347 Ms R Rodger Team inspector The Foundation Stage Science Geography

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Bench Marque Ltd National Westminster Bank Chambers Victoria Street Burnham-on-Sea Somerset TA8 1AN

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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 Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 5

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? 9

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

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AREAS OF THE CURRICULUM, SUBJECTS AND COURSES 27

Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 6

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school is a community primary and nursery school situated in the city of Nottingham. It is smaller than other primary schools with 181 pupils on roll, consisting of 84 boys and 97 girls. In addition, there are 41 children who attend the nursery part time (21 in the morning and 20 in the afternoon). At the time of the inspection there were 29 children in the reception class. (The nursery and reception classes are known as the Foundation Stage.) The pupils come from a wide range of social backgrounds with a mixture of private housing, privately rented and housing association properties and two women’s refuges. On entry to the nursery attainment is broadly average, although there are significant numbers of children at both ends of the ability range. Thirty-one per cent of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, mostly black African and Caribbean, but including Pakistani and Chinese. Ten pupils have English as

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

an additional language and five are at the early stages of English language acquisition. These numbers are higher than in most schools. The main language of these pupils is Mirpuri-Punjabi. Twenty-seven per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals; this is above the national average. Twenty-four per cent of pupils are identified as having special educational needs; this is broadly average. These pupils have a variety of needs but most have moderate learning difficulties. One pupil has a statement of special educational needs. The number of pupils entering and leaving the school, other than at the normal times, is higher than in most schools.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

The school is effective in key aspects of its work. The new headteacher leads the school well and has quickly established the respect and trust of the pupils, staff, parents and governors. Pupils do well to achieve standards that are above average in mathematics, science, religious education and art and design by the end of Year 6. This is largely due to consistently good teaching in that year group. The school develops pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well. There is a high degree of racial harmony and respect for others. The school provides satisfactory value for money.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What the school does well • There is a strong family atmosphere, and racial harmony, relationships and respect for cultural diversity are very good. • The new headteacher leads the school well and has quickly earned the respect of staff, governors, parents and pupils. • Teaching is consistently good in Year 6 and pupils achieve well. • The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils is very good. • Standards in mathematics, science, art and design and religious education are above average by the end of Year 6. • The support for pupils with more severe special educational needs is very good.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What could be improved • Provision for children in the nursery and reception classes. • Standards in information and communication technology (ICT) and the use of computers to support learning across the curriculum. • Methods for finding out how well pupils are doing and using the information more effectively to plan subsequent work. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school has made satisfactory improvement since the last inspection in September 1997. There have been some breaks in continuity of leadership that have affected overall progress. The trend in standards has mirrored the national upward trend. The quality of teaching has been maintained and no unsatisfactory teaching was seen during this inspection. Curriculum planning is now better and the methods for finding out how well pupils are doing have improved in English and mathematics. Pupils’ Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 7 performance in national tests is analysed much more effectively. There is still work to be done on the development of systems to track pupils’ progress in other subjects. There is a good homework policy now but there are still inconsistencies in the amounts and regularity of work given across year groups. The capacity for further improvement is good.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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STANDARDS

Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

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STANDARDS

English A C D C well above average above average A B mathematics B B D C average below average C D science B B C B well below average E

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STANDARDS

Inspection evidence and provisional indications from the 2002 national tests for pupils at the end of Year 6 indicate that standards have improved on the results in 2001. Standards in English are now similar to the national average and are above average in mathematics and science. This results from a combination of factors, including consistently good teaching in Year 6 and a larger percentage of pupils with above average ability in the current Year 6. Since the previous inspection in 1997, results have fluctuated from being above average in some years and below average in others. The general trend, however, has matched the national upward trend. The school has done well to reach its appropriately demanding targets in English and mathematics and a high percentage of pupils reach the higher levels of the National Curriculum. In 2001, standards at the end of Year 2 were well below average in reading,

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STANDARDS

writing and mathematics. Inspection evidence and provisional indications from the 2002 results show that they are now similar to the national average. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs was much higher than normal in the 2001 group of pupils and this depressed the overall standards.

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STANDARDS

Pupils’ achievements are generally satisfactory as they move through the school, although they are more rapid in Years 5 and 6 where there is a higher percentage of good teaching. Staff changes in the current Year 4 class have led to some disruption to learning. At all stages, pupils use letter sounds (phonics) effectively to help them read unfamiliar words. The range and quality of pupils’ writing have improved and now matches national expectations. Speaking skills are average, but for a significant minority of pupils in Years 1 and 2, listening skills are below average. All pupils develop satisfactory understanding across all the elements of mathematics and in Year 6 this is particularly good. By the end of Year 6, standards in science, art and design, and religious education are better than normally seen. Despite recent improvements, standards in ICT are below average, and over their time in school,

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STANDARDS

pupils’ achievements are unsatisfactory. As a result of the very good levels of additional support that they receive, pupils with special educational needs and those who have English as an additional language, achieve well, particularly in English and mathematics. Children in the Foundation Stage are on course to attain the levels expected for children at the end of the reception year, except in communication, language and literacy, where most do not.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attitudes to the school Pupils enjoy school and are enthusiastic learners. They help each other Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 8 and are proud of their achievements.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms When moving around the school, in lessons and at playtimes, behaviour is good. In assemblies, it is very good.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Personal development and relationships Racial harmony, relationships and respect for cultural differences are key strengths of the school. The development of independence and responsibility is good.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

The good attitudes and behaviour of the pupils occasionally slips in some lessons in Years 1 and 2. This is the result of whole-class activities that go on too long and behaviour management strategies that are not applied consistently enough.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Quality of teaching Satisfactory 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

The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall and there has been reasonable improvement since the last inspection. Teaching in Years 5 and 6 is mostly good and there is some very good and excellent teaching in Year 6. The teaching of English and mathematics is satisfactory in Years 1 and 2 and mostly good in other year groups. The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies are well embedded in lessons and are helping to raise standards. Teaching in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory. New developments in the teaching of young children are not fully embedded in lessons.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

General strengths in all lessons are the good relationships and use of time, support staff and resources. Teachers make some good links between subjects and this adds interest to learning and enables pupils to use their literacy and numeracy skills to support work in other subjects. The good teaching is characterised by a brisk pace that keeps pupils motivated, high expectations that develop a good work ethic and the desire to succeed and work that meets the different needs of all the pupils and leads to effective learning. The needs of groups of pupils with special educational needs and English as an additional language are met well in all lessons. Shortcomings in teaching relate to whole-class sessions that are too long to sustain the full concentration of pupils. In Years 1 to 4, not enough attention is given to investigative work in mathematics and science. In a significant minority of lessons,

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

the highest attaining pupils could be extended more. This is a result of some weaknesses in using assessments of what pupils already know to plan new work. Teachers do not use computers enough to consolidate and extend pupils’ learning across all subjects.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The quality and range of the curriculum The school provides a good curriculum in Years 1 to 6 that meets statutory requirements and is relevant to the age and interests of the pupils. The curriculum for children in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Provision is good overall and there is effective additional support for pupils. Targets in individual education plans could be clearer. The support for pupils with more severe needs is very good.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with There is full-time additional support for these pupils. Intensive one-to-one Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 9 English as an additional language support and help in small groups within lessons help pupils achieve well and ensure access to the full curriculum.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Provision is very good overall. The provision is good for spiritual development, very good for moral and social and excellent for cultural development.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

How well the school cares for its pupils Procedures for child protection and for ensuring pupils’ welfare are good. Systems for finding out how well pupils are doing are sound in English and mathematics and the information is used satisfactorily to guide curricular planning. Systems in other subjects and in the Foundation Stage are underdeveloped.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The school has a good partnership with parents. There is a good range of extra-curricular activities, including sport. The school makes good use of visits and outside visitors to extend and enrich the curriculum.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The school is well led and the new headteacher has quickly gained the respect and trust of staff, governors, pupils and parents. The role of other key staff in the school is satisfactory. There is good teamwork in the school and a clear commitment to improvement.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governors’ role in shaping the direction of the school and acting as a critical friend is developing well. They fulfil their statutory responsibilities well.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The school’s evaluation of its performance Regular monitoring and evaluation of pupils’ performance in national and school-based tests keep the senior staff and governors alert to any general weaknesses in pupils’ learning in English, mathematics and science.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The strategic use of resources Educational priorities are linked well to the budget and there are good arrangements for seeking the best value for money. Most resources are used well, although computers and the school library could be used more effectively.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

There is an adequate number of suitably qualified staff with a range of experience and length of service. They are deployed appropriately. The accommodation is adequate and there are satisfactory resources to support teaching and learning in all subjects.

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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 and are making good progress. • The teaching is good and the school expects children to work hard. • Behaviour is good and the school is helping children become mature and responsible. • They would feel comfortable approaching the • The range of interesting activities outside lessons. • They would like more information about how their children are getting on. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 10 school with a suggestion or problem.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

Inspectors are in broad agreement with parents’ positive views. The range of interesting activities outside lessons is good. Whilst the information on pupils’ academic progress is considered to be satisfactory, it lacks clarity in terms of pupils’ progress against national norms and personal targets, especially for parents who do not have regular contact with school.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1. Children enter the school with attainment that is broadly average, although there are significant numbers of children at both ends of the ability range. This often varies from year to year. By the time they leave the reception class, most children attain the early learning goals (national targets) in personal, social and emotional development, mathematical understanding, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical and creative development. Many do not attain the goals in communication, language and literacy. Children’s achievements are satisfactory overall.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2. In the 2001 National Curriculum tests for pupils at the end of Year 2, standards were well below average in reading, writing and mathematics. In comparison with similar schools, they were also well below average in reading and writing and below average in mathematics. Girls outperformed boys markedly, although there were a significant number of boys with special educational needs in that year group. Analysis of trends over the past three years reveals some variations in standards, although no significant difference in the standards attained by boys and girls. In some years, for example in 2000, standards in reading and mathematics were above average. Standards in writing have been a consistently weaker element. Inspection evidence shows that standards in reading, writing and mathematics are now similar to the national average. There are fewer pupils in the current Year 2 group who have special educational needs and more pupils with above average ability. Also,

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

weaknesses in pupils’ writing have been targeted successfully by teachers. Teachers assessed standards in science as above average in 2001 but inspection evidence and teacher assessments for this year indicate average standards.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3. In the 2001 tests for pupils at the end of Year 6, standards were below average in English and mathematics and average in science. When compared to similar schools, they were high enough to be average in English and mathematics and above average in science. Inspection evidence indicates that overall standards have improved. Standards in English are now similar to the national average and are above average in mathematics and science. This results from a combination of factors, including consistently good teaching in Year 6 and a larger percentage of pupils with above average ability in the current Year 6. Since the previous inspection in 1997, results have fluctuated from being above average in some years to below average in others. This is essentially the result of variations in the abilities of the various year groups. The general trend, however, has matched the national upward trend. The school has done well to reach its appropriately demanding targets in

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

English and mathematics. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 11 4. In English, mathematics and science, pupils’ achievements are mostly satisfactory as they move through the school, although they are more rapid in Years 5 and 6 where there is a higher percentage of good teaching. Staff changes in the current Year 4 class have led to some disruption to learning in this year group. At all stages, pupils achieve satisfactorily with their reading and use letter sounds (phonics) effectively to help them read unfamiliar words. Achievement in writing has improved at all stages. Standards in composition, spelling, punctuation, language structure and handwriting are satisfactory for pupils at all stages and their achievements are sound. Speaking skills develop well, although the listening skills of a significant minority of pupils in Years 1 and 2 are below average and have a negative effect on their achievements.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

In mathematics, most pupils make satisfactory progress in Years 1 to 4. This increases as they move into Year 5, where teaching is mostly good. Consistently good teaching in Year 6 ensures that pupils achieve well and make rapid progress in the subject. In Years 1 to 4 in mathematics and science, not enough attention is given to extended investigative work. This sometimes means that the most able pupils particularly do not achieve as well as they might.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5. Standards in religious education and art and design are above average by the end of Year 6. Teachers develop key skills well in art and design and provide good opportunities for pupils to experiment with different techniques and materials. All pupils achieve well in the subject. In religious education, pupils achieve well in their knowledge of the major faiths of the world. In addition, they develop good understanding of the principles of those faiths. Pupils’ writing shows good empathy and sensitivity to those who are less fortunate.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6. Standards in ICT are below average for all pupils and achievement over time has been unsatisfactory. Key skills have not been developed progressively and computers are not used enough to consolidate skills and extend learning in all other subjects. The school is aware of this and has begun to take some effective action. In all other subjects, standards are as expected for pupils’ age and pupils’ achievements are sound.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

7. Throughout the school, pupils with special educational needs make good progress towards their targets. They know what their overall targets are and work hard to achieve them. Pupils who have profound difficulties make particularly good progress since they receive valuable support from teaching assistants, who know them well. Most pupils with special educational needs are able to work independently and interact well with other pupils. Skills in reading, writing and mental mathematics are developing well, although spelling remains a problem for many.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

8. Pupils who have English as an additional language achieve as well as all other pupils and for those who receive one-to-one help and help in small groups, their achievements are good, particularly in English. Through analysis of performance in national tests, the school has carefully targeted additional support for the few pupils who need this.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

9. Pupils show positive attitudes towards school and their work, behave well, form very good relationships and their personal development is very good. These factors have a very beneficial effect on pupils’ learning. The good partnership with parents, together with the very good provision for personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural, development make significant contributions to these positive attitudes Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 12 and values. The good standards identified in the previous inspection have been maintained.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

10. Pupils' attitudes to school are good overall. Based on questionnaire returns, nearly all pupils like school. Discussions with Year 6 pupils confirm that school plays an important part in their lives; for example they ranked school ahead of friends and hobbies and only behind family in a list of the important things in their lives. They also speak positively about the range of sports and team games provided. Attitudes in lessons are good overall. They are closely matched to the quality of teaching, with good attitudes among pupils in Years 3 to 6 and satisfactory attitudes in Years 1 and 2. In nearly all lessons, most pupils listen and concentrate well and start promptly on their individual work. The best attitudes and behaviour occur in lessons where expectations are high, work is demanding and pupils are busy and engaged in a variety of activities which provide the right level of challenge for them. This is most

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

marked in Year 6. Pupils who have English as an additional language and pupils with special educational needs have good attitudes to learning and are positive about the extra support they get.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

11. At all stages, behaviour is good overall. The good and reliable behaviour of nearly all pupils is an important element in the prevailing positive atmosphere for learning. In most lessons, nearly all pupils are well behaved. For a significant minority of pupils, particularly in Years 1 and 2, listening skills are unsatisfactory and cause some disruption to parts of lessons. Behaviour at lunchtime and playtimes is good and in assemblies, it is very good. There is no sign of any bullying, racist or sexist behaviour. Parents and pupils confirm that bullying incidents are rare and well handled by staff. They also speak very positively about the high level of racial harmony. The level of fixed-term exclusions is very low. Pupils take good care of property and resources and help keep their school in an attractive condition. Parents’ questionnaire responses fully support this positive picture, with nearly all parents

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

having positive views about pupils’ behaviour.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

12. Relationships between adults and pupils and among pupils are very good. Adults act as very good role models. Teachers value pupils' work and most effectively praise effort and good work. In Year 6, for example, pupils speak positively about the support they get from teachers and the fair way in which they are treated. As a result, in most lessons pupils are comfortable expressing views and asking questions of their teachers. This assists their learning well. Very good relationships among pupils, irrespective of background or ability is a very positive feature. Parents are very positive about the way pupils have friends across year groups and the way they care and share with each other.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

13. Pupils' personal development is very good. The very good overall provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development makes a major contribution. Parents, for example, are very impressed with the way pupils clearly identify the unacceptable elements within an incident with several contributory factors. Most pupils know and calmly carry out the daily routines expected of them. Pupils show concern for others, if they are ill or otherwise upset. Pupils, regularly and without prompting, hold doors open for each other and adults. When questioned in groups, pupils are comfortable listening to different views expressed by others. Pupils become increasingly comfortable taking responsibility as they move through school. For example, on a rota basis, six upper junior pupils operate as ‘Playtime Support Pupils’ (PSPs) helping with games, resolving little disputes and looking out for pupils who need befriending.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

Members of the well-established school council, comprising a boy and girl from each class from reception upwards, have contributed to the creation of the ‘Code of Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 13 Conduct’. As a result, the behaviour policy has been converted into a set of practical rules to shape and guide pupils’ attitudes and behaviour throughout the school day.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14. Attendance, including punctuality, is satisfactory overall. Attendance has been broadly in line with the national average in the current and previous school years. The unauthorised absence level is also broadly in line with the national average. Nearly all pupils come to school on time and settle to their work promptly and calmly.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

15. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall. There has been reasonable improvement in the quality of teaching since the last inspection. During the inspection, teaching was good or better in just under a half of the lessons seen. Much of the good teaching was in Years 3 to 6 and teaching was consistently good in Year 6.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

16. The teaching of English and mathematics is satisfactory overall. Teaching is always at least satisfactory in both subjects. In both subjects, teaching is mostly good in Years 5 and 6. In these classes, there are high expectations and challenge that develops learning effectively. The teaching of reading and writing is sound across the school. There is strong emphasis on the teaching of phonics and this helps pupils read most unfamiliar words successfully. The range of writing has improved as a result of the better opportunities teachers now provide for pupils in this aspect of their learning. The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies are firmly embedded and are helping to raise standards. All lessons have whole-class introductions, independent and group work and closing review sessions. Teachers use pupils’ literacy skills well to support work across the curriculum. Writing skills support work well in subjects

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

such as history and religious education and reference skills are used effectively to research work in subjects such as science, history and geography. Numeracy skills are used satisfactorily to support learning in subjects such as design and technology and science.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

17. Teaching in most other subjects is satisfactory. Teaching is almost always good in art and design and music. The school continues to benefit from the expertise of an accompanist who comes into school to assist with lessons. His support and interventions are of particular importance to some teachers whose subject knowledge is limited. Teachers do not use computers enough to support and extend pupils’ learning across subjects and there are weaknesses in the knowledge and confidence of some teachers in teaching aspects of ICT such as control and modelling, and combining information from a variety of sources. In all subjects, there is inconsistency in the marking of pupils’ work. In general, there are not enough written comments that indicate to pupils how their work might be improved.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

18. In all year groups and subjects where the teaching is good, effective links are made between subjects and this adds relevance and interest to learning. In a lesson for Year 4 pupils, for example, science, ICT and mathematics were linked. Pupils used laptop computers to record tables and graphs of the various proteins contained in various common foods. Homework associated with the investigation supplemented the learning effectively. Teachers’ good knowledge helps all pupils develop the correct subject vocabulary effectively. Expectations are high and pupils work well independently and support each other. In a Year 6 history lesson, for example, pupils Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 14 helped each other when necessary and worked intensively using census information to explore differences in family life now and in the nineteenth century.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

19. In all year groups, relationships, sensitivity and understanding of the needs of all pupils are very good and help to raise self-esteem and confidence. Most resources are used well to consolidate and extend learning. Teachers use good questioning to assess and develop pupils’ understanding; for example in a mathematics lesson in Year 4, the teacher asks ‘what do you notice about all the remainders in these division sums?’ 20. Much of the teaching in Years 1 and 2 is satisfactory. In most of the lessons, there were periods when pupils did not listen attentively to the teacher and expectations were not consistently emphasised. Some time was wasted in gaining the attention of all pupils. This was almost always in whole-class sessions that failed to capture pupils’ interest. In group and independent work, pupils worked more effectively. Most of the work in Years 1 to 4 challenges all the pupils suitably but on some occasions,

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

expectations of what the most able pupils could achieve are not high enough, particularly in mathematics and science. This is the result of some weaknesses in teachers’ assessments of pupils’ progress in lessons. Work planned in subsequent lessons does not always build successfully enough on what pupils already know.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

21. The quality of teaching in the nursery and reception classes is satisfactory overall. The strengths include effective relationships between the staff and children, sensitivity to the needs of all children and the good use of praise to encourage children. A main area of weakness is the lack of precision in planning and lack of familiarity with the nationally recommended ‘stepping stones’ to learning. The use of assessment information to inform what the children need to do next is underdeveloped. There are some basic weaknesses in the organisation and management of the reception class where the children spend too much time working as a whole class and not enough time developing independence and taking responsibility in their self-initiated activities. This is a result of some lack of knowledge in these aspects of children’s learning.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

22. The teaching of pupils who have special educational needs is good. All teachers are fully aware of the difficulties faced by the pupils and the preparation of individually tailored resources is a key feature of the school’s positive approach to inclusion. Lesson plans cater for the specific needs of these pupils in every class. Teaching assistants are a highly effective resource and provide astute support. They are much appreciated by class teachers and are involved in lesson planning. Independent learning is promoted whenever possible. Computers are not used enough to support pupils who have special educational needs. When they are withdrawn, the impact of additional support on pupils’ progress is particularly marked. The headteacher, for example, taught a group of five pupils in Year 3. Good questioning and the rapid pace of learning ensured that they made good progress throughout the session. The

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

support provided for pupils with more severe needs is very good. Key literacy and numeracy skills are planned systematically and taught sensitively.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

23. The teaching of pupils who have English as an additional language is good. Twenty- seven pupils currently receive support. These are spread across the nursery, reception and Years 3, 4 and 5. One-to-one sessions ensure learning is tailored to individual need and teaching in small groups within the classroom ensures pupils are included in general lesson work. Good questioning is used to develop literacy skills. In a session in Year 5 where pupils were studying a book about a journey taken by a Caribbean grandfather, for example, the support teacher asked a pupil ‘what luggage did you take with you when you went to Jamaica?’ and ‘what religion do you think Grandpa Chatterji is?’ The session was successful in helping the six pupils meet the Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 15 objectives of the lesson. These were to relate experiences in their own lives, express opinions and find meaning beyond the literal in a text.

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PUPILS?

24. Overall, the good curriculum identified at the time of the last inspection has been maintained. The curriculum for pupils in Years 1 to 6 is broad, balanced and relevant to the needs of all pupils. It covers all National Curriculum subjects and religious education and meets all statutory requirements.

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PUPILS?

25. The curriculum in Years 1 to 6 is well planned and all subjects have good policies and schemes of work based on national guidelines. This has given good uniformity to planning and effective support for teachers. As the pupils move through the school, teachers provide a curriculum that is broad and increases in depth as the pupils grow older. The curriculum for the core subjects of English, mathematics, science and religious education is good. The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies are well embedded and are having a positive impact on raising standards. Opportunities to practise learning in the core subjects of English and mathematics across the curriculum are satisfactory and developing well, particularly in English where the emphasis on improving pupils’ writing is reflected well in subjects such as religious education and history.

p.15

PUPILS?

26. The use of ICT to promote learning in other subjects and the development of skills from year to year are unsatisfactory and lead to below average attainment in this subject. The school is aware of this and has significantly improved the resources in recent times and has set in place an extensive programme of staff development to rectify provision in this area of the curriculum. Although the teaching of history and geography meets National Curriculum requirements they are taught in blocked units of time. This hampers continuity and progression in learning since key skills in the subjects are not consistently developed. This has a negative effect on pupils’ achievements.

p.15

PUPILS?

27. The curriculum for the Foundation Stage is satisfactory overall but has some weaknesses. It is based on half-termly topics and the early learning goals to be taught are listed on the medium-term planning. There is some confusion between the goals for each area of learning which suggests that staff are still coming to terms with the ‘stepping stones’ in each area. The new planning system has only been in place for just over half a term. Useful continuous learning objectives for personal, social and emotional development are included. Too much of the short-term planning does not include a well-focused learning objective. This is a particular weakness of the planning for literacy and numeracy each week. The contribution of learning in the outdoor environment is rather scant and only includes the equipment required outside. Opportunities for the children to learn through practical, first-hand activities are too

p.15

PUPILS?

28. The provision of support for pupils who have English as an additional language is good. There is a full-time teacher to support the few pupils who are at the early stages of English language acquisition and the larger minority who are at the later stages of learning. The pupils receive both one-to-one support and help in small Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 16 groups within all classes. This intensive additional support helps them achieve well and participate in all aspects of the curriculum.

p.15

PUPILS?

29. Throughout the school the provision for pupils with special educational needs is good in terms of the levels and effectiveness of the support these pupils receive. Pupils who have special educational needs receive the full National Curriculum alongside all other peer groups. All pupils with special educational needs have individual plans. These plans are currently under review since it is recognised that they lack clarity. Targets are rarely measurable, time lines are vague and evaluation procedures lack precision. This has a negative effect on learning. Only one pupil has a statement of special educational needs, although the school has identified several with severe learning difficulties.

p.16

PUPILS?

30. The provision of extra-curricular activities is good and includes art and crafts, ICT and French clubs. There is a good range of sports teams that includes football, netball, kwik cricket and rounders. Many of these teams have a good level of success against other local teams. The number of extra-curricular activities was a matter of concern to a minority of parents but taking into account the range of clubs, teams and the residential and school visits the inspection team does not agree with the parents’ views. The school makes good use of visitors to the school to support curricular provision. Visitors include such people as an African art and dance teacher, a Buddhist nun and a student of theatre production.

p.16

PUPILS?

31. Parents play a significant role in providing insight into their lives, religious beliefs and work, for example parents have helped pupils partake in Eid festivities and understand the Passover. They act as consultants in the design and manufacture of footwear. Pupils visit places such as a local church, mosque, synagogue and Buddhist temple as well as a farm and children’s unit at a hospital. Older pupils take part in a residential visit where they undertake adventurous activities as well as learning about the application of ICT for the analysis of data they collect whilst out on field trips. These activities make a significant contribution to pupils’ learning and to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

p.16

PUPILS?

32. There is a strong belief in the ideals of inclusion. This is clear in the very good provision to ensure equality of access and opportunity for all pupils. Procedures for the implementation of the school’s race equality policy are very good and lead to a high degree of racial harmony and understanding. The provision for personal, social, health and citizenship education is good and the school is currently working on a scheme of work to ensure better progression throughout the school. Citizenship is well promoted through the school’s work in the community and the visits to local places of worship that represent the main faiths of the community.

p.16

PUPILS?

33. Links with the local secondary schools and colleges are satisfactory and a recent government initiative is improving these links. The school is beginning to benefit from links with an ICT provider that provides both teachers and support staff with relevant training. Teachers’ knowledge and confidence in the subject have improved rapidly over recent times and the pupils are beginning to benefit from their increased expertise.

p.16

Overall, the provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very

34. The provision for pupils’ spiritual development is good, as it was at the last inspection. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on their feelings and emotions through the curriculum Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 17 and during assemblies. Through art and design, for example, pupils reflect on the difficulties encountered on the journeys of the American Indians. During assemblies and in religious education lessons especially, a great deal of respect for pupils’ reflections and views is fostered. Pupils are encouraged to develop personal beliefs and learn to understand that people have different individual and shared beliefs. The pupils are encouraged to think before they act and to express their views on a wide range of matters. They show a good sense of empathy, concern and compassion in the views they express.

p.16

Overall, the provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very

35. Provision for moral and social development is very good. This is an improvement since the last inspection when both elements were judged to be good. Most of the pupils have a strong sense of right and wrong and adhere to the Carrington Code of Conduct. This is prominently displayed around the school and signed by all pupils. In discussion, especially in Year 6, pupils were keen to explore their own and others’ views. The school council is a good forum for encouraging the pupils to take responsibility, care for the environment and resolve conflicts. The older pupils provide effective support for younger pupils during lunchtime and playtimes. The effectiveness of the school’s inclusion of pupils with special educational needs is well demonstrated at lunchtime by the care and concern shown by Year 6 pupils for younger pupils with special educational needs. Staff encourage the pupils to have

p.17

Overall, the provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very

very positive self-images through the day-to-day life of the school and at special times, such as the special effort award assembly, held weekly, to celebrate pupils’ achievements in different aspects of school life.

p.17

Overall, the provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very

36. Provision for the cultural development of the pupils is excellent. The aims of the school are well promoted in practice through the way in which the celebration of cultural diversity permeates all aspects of school life. Pupils are expected to show tolerance for the beliefs and backgrounds of everyone in the school. The curriculum is significantly enhanced through the ways in which cultural diversity is fostered. During Black History month, for example, the minority ethnic pupils contributed to the celebrations through the information they provided about their family origins. In other ways, positive images of powerful Black Africans and Black Caribbeans were shared with the pupils. They learned about the achievements and creativity of people such as Bob Marley, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali and Rosa Parks. Book weeks have been used to celebrate stories from other cultures through a Jamaican storyteller and

p.17

Overall, the provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very

celebrations of Indian dancing. The range of cultures in British society is strongly represented in the books and other artefacts around the school.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

37. As at the previous inspection, the care arrangements for pupils are good with the prevention of all forms of oppressive behaviour a particularly strong feature. Procedures to promote and ensure pupils' wellbeing are good. The school has effective arrangements for induction to nursery, reception and other classes. Transfer arrangements with the large number of secondary schools are well established and appropriate. Pupils confirm that they are well cared for when they are ill or otherwise distressed. With financial support from the Children’s Fund, good extra provision is provided for about a fifth of pupils in Years 1 and 2 who have difficulties associated with a lack of self-esteem or social, behavioural and emotional problems. Child protection procedures are good.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

38. Systems to ensure pupils' health and safety are good. Teachers make pupils aware of health and safety issues in subjects such as physical education and science. This effectively contributes to the development of a safety conscious attitude among them. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 18 Fire alarm testing, fire drills and the inspection of portable electrical equipment are routinely carried out. First aid arrangements are well established and appropriate.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

39. Procedures to monitor and promote good behaviour and discipline are effective. The positive behaviour policy and associated code of conduct provide a coherent basis for pupil behaviour, discipline and personal development. The main emphasis is on recognising and rewarding good behaviour and nearly all pupils respond positively. Measures to create and maintain discipline are appropriate, proportionate and consistently applied by staff in most lessons. There is an occasional lack of consistency in some Years 1 and 2 lessons when pupils become restless and fidgety.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

40. Procedures for monitoring and eliminating oppressive behaviour, including bullying and racism, are very good. There is a clear anti-racist policy. The lunchtime staff feel well supported by teaching staff and the headteacher in relation to playground incidents. Parents are effectively involved where significant concerns arise. Pupils confirm that they feel comfortable reporting rare incidents of bullying or other anti- social behaviour. Parents and pupils confirm that the measures taken to resolve such cases are usually very effective.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

41. Systems to monitor and improve attendance and punctuality are satisfactory overall. The educational welfare officer is effectively involved in helping to resolve the few cases where there are persistent attendance or punctuality difficulties. Measures to promote high attendance are satisfactory, with individual recognition and rewards given for full termly and annual attendance. A daily log is kept of the few pupils who arrive late. These measures have a positive effect on attendance and punctuality.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

42. Procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment in English and mathematics are satisfactory. They provide detailed and reliable information about pupils’ attainment in national and other standardised tests. Assessments are used effectively to judge how well groups of pupils are achieving year on year and as the basis for setting individual and year group targets. The results of National Curriculum tests are analysed in detail to identify any strengths and weaknesses in pupils’ learning. Outcomes are also used to compare results of both boys and girls and to see how well the school is doing over time.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

43. In other subjects, assessment procedures are unsatisfactory and have not developed enough since the last inspection. There are no consistently used whole-school systems to track pupils’ progress from year to year. This makes it difficult for teachers to identify strengths and weaknesses in learning and plan work that builds securely on what pupils already know, understand and can do. This results in some repetition of work that does not always challenge the above average pupils enough.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

44. Assessment arrangements in the Foundation Stage are underdeveloped. Useful records of progress for the children with English as an additional language track their development through the ‘stepping stones’ in each area of learning. The tick sheets of basic phonic knowledge and high frequency words are not enough in the reception class to provide an overall picture of progress. There is no firmly established overall planning and assessment scheme to help the staff become more familiar with the expected stages of the early learning goals. Assessment systems do not relate to the early learning goals and there are no procedures to record ongoing achievements on a record of achievement. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 19 45. Procedures to monitor and support pupils’ personal development are good. Pupils and their needs are well known to staff and good work and attitudes are regularly celebrated in assemblies. This recognition and reward provides pupils with frequent

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

and public confirmation of what is good in their lives and helps raise their self-esteem. Pupils are now given a good range of responsibilities, which is an important improvement since the previous inspection. However, opportunities are currently missed in the way the school council operates to provide experience of leadership and other responsibilities for its members. The member of staff present sometimes dominates meetings. Parents are very positive about the school’s part in helping pupils become mature and responsible. They are particularly impressed by pupils’ grasp of the rules and the reasons behind them.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

46. The school’s good partnership with parents makes a positive contribution to the quality of education provided and the standards achieved. The new headteacher has quickly won the trust and confidence of the parents.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

47. Parents are positive about what the school provides and achieves. Over a sixth of parents replied to the questionnaire and 15 attended the pre-inspection meeting. Nearly all confirm that their children like school and make good progress. They consider that the school has high expectations and helps pupils become more mature and responsible. They are positive about the teaching and nearly all pupils’ behaviour. Most feel comfortable approaching this well led school with suggestions, questions or concerns. However, nearly a quarter of parents do not consider that the school provides an interesting range of activities outside of lessons. A fifth of questionnaire respondents did not feel well informed about their children’s progress. The parents’ meeting indicated that this issue related to the quality of information provided on pupils’ academic progress. Inspection evidence supports parents’ positive views.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

Inspectors consider that the number and range of activities outside of lessons is good and better than what is typical in primary schools. Whilst the information on pupils’ academic progress is broadly satisfactory, it lacks clarity in terms of pupils’ progress against national norms and personal targets, especially for parents who do not have regular contact with school.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

48. Links with parents make a good contribution to pupils’ learning. The school and its governors are well aware of the diversity in its parental community and work hard to cater for the needs of all. Teachers are accessible and approachable. Pupils’ reading diaries provide a good routine communication link between home and school. Parents have been consulted on a wide range of issues. The survey results and plans to address the identified issues have been shared with them. Parents are fully involved where there are concerns about pupils’ progress, behaviour or attendance. Parents participate in the processes that lead to the identification of pupils with special educational needs. Parents of pupils who have English as an additional language are always welcome in the school and almost all recognise that their views are valued.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

49. The quality of information given to parents is satisfactory overall. Ongoing contacts and termly parents’ evenings mean parents are given sufficient opportunities to get regular updates on progress or concerns. The quality of pupils’ written annual reports is satisfactory. Reports convey a clear sense of what pupils are doing and give a clear indication of pupils’ personal development. In most reports, targets are systematically identified in the tested subjects, together with areas for improvement in attitudes, where needed. However, the reports lack a simple indication of how well Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 20 pupils are doing and whether the academic progress they are making is good enough. As a result, some parents justifiably feel reports are bland and lack context for the identified targets. Regular newsletters keep parents effectively informed about what is happening in school.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

50. Parents’ involvement with the work of the school makes a good contribution to pupils' learning and the life of the school. Parents are keen for their pupils to do well and most respond well to individual requests to discuss issues such as pupil progress, behaviour and attendance. Discussions with pupils indicate that most have somebody at home who checks that set homework is done. There is a significant number of adult helpers, mostly parents, in school. Many parents attend and enjoy Christmas and other performances, sports days and assemblies to recognise a range of pupils’ achievements. The Friends’ Group provides good support and funds by organising a range of events, such as an international food evening, summer fairs and regular discos. These activities also help to establish and maintain good informal links between staff, parents and pupils, as all parties are involved in many of the

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

events. The events therefore also contribute to pupils’ wider social and personal development and the sense of community that prevails.

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

51. Since the last inspection, the school has done well to maintain the good leadership and management identified then, despite a number of changes over the past year. A new headteacher was appointed in January 2002 after a period with the deputy headteacher acting as interim headteacher. She provides good leadership and, in the short time she has been at the school, she has accurately identified priorities and created a strong ethos for teamwork and school improvement. She has quickly gained the respect of staff, governors, pupils and parents and leads by example in her own teaching.

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

52. The school’s priorities are relevant to its future development and are reflected in the sound school improvement plan. This reflects the commitment to improvement in standards and the quality of education generally. It contains appropriately costed programmes of action and includes timescales, evaluation criteria and personnel responsible. The current plan has included greater direct involvement of the governors than in the past. Some objectives are too general and this is a relative weakness in the plan. One key objective to improve pupils’ writing skills, for example, gives little indication of how this might be achieved. There is no system for the identification of any gifted or talented pupils. The relatively high percentage of pupils who achieve the higher level (Level 5) in national tests suggests there may well be some pupils in this category. The school is aware of the need to take account of this

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

and has begun to prepare a policy and a register based on an analysis of pupils’ performance in national tests.

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

53. The aims of the school are appropriate and communicated very well. They are reflected well in the life and work of the school. For example, the aims to use the cultural richness in the school to develop respect and understanding of the beliefs and backgrounds of others, and to help each child to recognise and value the importance and uniqueness of their own identity, are clearly met.

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

54. Pupils’ performance in national and school based tests is evaluated well to determine strengths and weaknesses in pupils’ learning and track the value the school provides for individual pupils. This monitoring of strengths and weaknesses in learning has, for example, led to targeting improvement in the range of pupils’ writing. Inspection Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 21 evidence indicates that this aspect of learning has improved as a result. The performance of pupils who have English as an additional language and those with special educational needs is carefully analysed and targeted support is provided as necessary. The relative performance of boys and girls is monitored, particularly in years such as 2001 when girls outperformed boys significantly in the tests for pupils at the end of Year 2. It was found that the reason for this was to do with the relatively large number of boys with special educational needs in that group. Analysis of

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

relative performance over time indicated that there was no significant difference in performance. This is substantiated by inspection evidence.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

55. The role of the subject co-ordinators is satisfactory. Most key co-ordinators have had opportunities to monitor teaching and this has given them a satisfactory overview of standards and areas that need to be improved. They report to the governing body periodically about the development of their subject. They monitor teachers’ planning regularly, although their role in influencing key developments in teaching and learning could be stronger. The leadership of special educational needs and English as an additional language is satisfactory overall. The deputy headteacher was absent during the inspection and this makes it difficult to make secure judgements about his role and influence in the school. Indications are that this is at least satisfactory. The Foundation Stage does not have a named co-ordinator to ensure there is continuity in teaching and learning between the nursery and the reception class.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

56. The special educational needs co-ordinator was absent during the inspection and the headteacher had taken over the role and fulfilled it effectively. The special educational needs policy is supported well by the governing body, and enjoys the full support of a range of external agencies. The school has addressed issues raised by new requirements and teachers’ planning reflects these. All lessons take into account the needs of individual pupils. The headteacher is aware of weaknesses in the individual education plans. The co-ordination of provision for pupils who have English as an additional language is sound.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

57. Leadership by the governing body is good and its role in shaping the direction of the school and acting as a critical friend is developing well. Governors are involved in many aspects of the school’s work and have developed a good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. They regularly monitor and evaluate school performance data with the headteacher and, in this way, gain a good overview of standards. Some governors, responsible for literacy and numeracy, have observed lessons and this has given them valuable insight into pupils’ learning. The new chairperson is a regular visitor and often works in a support role alongside teachers. The work of the governing body is organised effectively into appropriate sub-committees with clear terms of reference. This has enabled them to fulfil all their statutory responsibilities well.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

58. The financial management of the school is good. Budgets are prepared thoughtfully and are closely linked to the priorities identified in the school improvement plan. A careful check is kept on expenditure throughout the year and the governors work closely with the headteacher and office manager on this. The relatively large under- spend (devolved capital) in last year’s budget is earmarked to help in the replacement of windows. Strategic planning is good and various scenarios are explored to address possible changes in funding allocations and incoming funding. Grants for specific purposes are used well and bids made for additional funding at appropriate times. The school pays appropriate attention to the principles of best value. This includes consultation with parents, the careful analysis of national test results and the identification of areas for improvement. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 22

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

59. There is an adequate number of suitably qualified staff with a range of experience and length of service. They are deployed appropriately and consideration is given to future deployment as part of overall planning. There is a good number of learning support staff who provide effective support for pupils’ learning, including support for pupils who have English as an additional language and those who have special educational needs. The support for pupils with more severe needs is very good. These high levels of support mean that all pupils are fully involved in the life of the school and all achieve well. Staff in the Foundation Stage require training in several aspects of the areas of learning, especially in the interactive ways in which children need to be involved in learning to read books and to write in the reception class.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

60. The school is managed well. The policy for performance management is clear and the arrangements are on course. Targets for performance management are appropriately identified in the school improvement plan. The school manager ensures that the school runs smoothly by providing calm, courteous and efficient support to the headteacher, staff, parents, governors and visitors. The caretaker and cleaning staff maintain the buildings and grounds to a high standard. The school is well supported at lunchtimes by the mid-day staff.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

61. The accommodation is adequate. The library is situated in the hall and is not conducive to study or used enough by the pupils. The windows are in poor condition and the school is negotiating with the local education authority for their replacement. Teachers display pupils’ work attractively and this adds much to the learning environment.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

62. Resources for teaching and learning are adequate and most are used effectively. Resources for ICT have improved since the last inspection and are now good. Some resources, such as the books in the library, are old and worn and do not inspire pupils to use them.

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

63. The headteacher, staff and governors should:

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) Improve provision for children in the Foundation Stage by:

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

a) appointing a Foundation Stage co-ordinator; b) improving planning to include more precise learning objectives in the focused activity plans for the inside and outside activities; c) providing a more rigorous assessment system related to the areas of learning which enables a calculation of the value added by the Foundation Stage; d) providing more opportunities for the reception children to learn in the outdoor environment; e) increasing adult intervention in focused and free play activities to extend children’s learning; f) reviewing the six point admission arrangements to ensure that the children starting in the reception class have experienced the elements of the literacy and numeracy hours in preparation for Year 1. (Paragraphs 21, 27, 45, 56, 60, 66, 67, 68, 71, 73, 75, 77)

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

a) ensuring that key skills are developed progressively from year to year; Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 23 b) using computers more to consolidate and extend pupils’ learning across all subjects. (Paragraphs 6, 22, 26, 88, 97, 101, 118, 123, 124, 129, 135)

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(3) Improve assessment and the use of assessment to plan subsequent work by:

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

a) devising manageable systems to record pupils’ progress in subjects other than English and mathematics and using them consistently across all year groups; b) refining assessment in all subjects to ensure that the work given to above average pupils provides more challenge; c) ensuring that in the marking of pupils’ work there is greater consistency and more reference to how it might be improved. (Paragraphs 17, 44, 45, 89, 90, 97, 103, 108, 112, 118, 123, 131, 140)

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(It is recognised that the school is aware of these issues and has already begun to take some effective action)

p.23

Other issues that the school should consider including in the action plan:

• Develop more opportunities to develop pupils’ listening skills and ensure teachers’ expectations of attentiveness in lessons are raised, particularly in Years 1 and 2. (Paragraphs 4, 11, 20, 88)

p.23

Other issues that the school should consider including in the action plan:

• Improve the individual education plans of pupils who have special educational needs by ensuring that targets and evaluation criteria are clearer. (Paragraphs 29, 57)

p.23

Other issues that the school should consider including in the action plan:

• Provide more opportunities for pupils in Years 1 to 4 to develop more independent investigative work in mathematics and science. (Paragraphs 4, 94, 99)

p.23

Other issues that the school should consider including in the action plan:

• Ensure key skills in history and geography are developed more effectively from year to year. (Paragraphs 26, 114, 123) Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 24

p.23

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 40

p.24

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

p.24

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

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

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 20 181

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 0 44

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR– Y6

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 1

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 0 47

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 10

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 14

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

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

p.24

Attendance

School data 5.7 School data 0.8 Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 25 National comparative data 5.6 National comparative data 0.5

p.24

Attendance

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

p.25

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2001 14 16 30

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 6 7 11 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 14 13 15

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 67 (74) 67 (63) 87 (81) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (83) 86 (84) 91 (90)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 7 13 14 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 13 14 16

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 67 (74) 90 (81) 100 (93) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (84) 89 (88) 89 (88)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

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

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2001 20 12 32

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 13 13 17 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 9 9 11

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 69 (73) 69 (79) 88 (82) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 71 (72) 87 (85)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 12 14 15 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 9 8 9

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 66 (67) 69 (76) 75 (67) at NC level 4 or above National 72 (70) 74 (72) 82 (79)

p.26

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 27

p.26

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 17 Black – Caribbean heritage 1 0

p.27

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 3 Black – African heritage 0 0

p.27

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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

p.27

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 10.4 Financial year 2001-2002

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 19

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total income 560,492

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 4 Total expenditure 529,276

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 112 Expenditure per pupil 2,786

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 35,526

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1 Balance carried forward to next year 66,742

p.27

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 20

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 1

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 32

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 3.6

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 4.0

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Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

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

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0 Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 28 FTE means full-time equivalent. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 29 Results of the survey of parents and carers

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Recruitment of teachers

Percentage of responses in each category

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

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

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

My child is making good progress in school. 59 36 5 0 0

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

Behaviour in the school is good. 36 56 5 3 0

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 31 59 10 0 0

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 44 31 15 5 5

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Recruitment of teachers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 59 33 3 5 0

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 62 28 0 0 10

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

The school works closely with parents. 36 51 13 0 0

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

The school is well led and managed. 41 44 3 0 12

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 49 41 5 0 5

p.29

Recruitment of teachers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 31 36 13 10 10 Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 30

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

64. The Foundation Stage comprises the nursery and reception classes. It is based on six areas of learning: personal, social and emotional development; communication, language and literacy; mathematical development; knowledge and understanding of the world; physical development; and creative development.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

65. Children are admitted to the nursery when they are three years old. They attend part time in the morning or the afternoon. Twenty-five children can attend each session. Children normally transfer to the reception class at half termly intervals throughout the year. The youngest children start in the reception class part time for two weeks after the summer half-term break before transferring to Year 1 the following September. These children are not fully prepared to take part in the full literacy and numeracy hours due to the lack of preparation provided in the reception class. There are two children in the early stages of learning English as an additional language in the nursery and several bilingual children. They are well provided for and have a specialist teacher working with them for some of the time. All staff in the nursery especially provide well for their additional needs. This helps these children to achieve

p.30

Personal, social and emotional development

66. Standards meet national expectations for pupils at the end of the reception year. Attainment is generally average when the children start school and they make steady progress in the nursery. Achievement throughout the reception class is satisfactory overall. There are a few children who have a very short time in the reception class who make less progress. Three-year-olds come into the nursery happily and begin to show care and concern for others. They enjoy choosing what they want to do. They show a high level of trust, especially when they work as a small group of three-year- olds. They learn to work as part of a group and to take turns. The children have good attitudes to learning and concentrate on what they do. By the time they are reaching the end of the reception class, the children sit quietly and stay interested in one task for longer periods. Relationships are good. Many of the older children are very

p.30

Personal, social and emotional development

confident and hold conversations with adults. For example, a four-year-old talked about walking to school because her mum’s car was in the garage getting repaired. The children learn to know the consequences of their actions and enjoy talking to other children about their work. However, some children tend to flit around their self- chosen activities and have difficulty sustaining concentration. There are too few opportunities for the reception children to become independent and to take responsibility for choosing what they want to do because they generally work as a whole class.

p.30

Personal, social and emotional development

67. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall with some good teaching in the nursery. Staff have good relationships with the children and use praise well to develop self- esteem. Nursery children are encouraged to develop confidence as they find their name cards each day and post them. They learn to co-operate and follow the rules as they go on the teddy bears’ picnic. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 31

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Communication, language and literacy

68. By the end of the reception year, most children are achieving levels which are generally lower than children of the same age. There is a wide variation in levels of attainment. Attainment in communication skills is satisfactory. The children enjoy listening to stories and taking part in role-play based on well-known stories. Tape- recorded sounds are used to help the nursery children develop their listening skills. During the inspection, the topic of bears was used as the basis of shared text work in the nursery and reception classes. The four-year-olds talked about their favourite characters and described the trip to the moon by ‘baby bear’. They also acted out the story with props in the home corner with a good level of knowledge about the story, the events and characters.

p.31

Communication, language and literacy

69. The children are familiar with a range of well-known stories and describe the sequence of some stories. They know that the title page is at the beginning and, with encouragement, predict what might happen next. Above average children know the differences between fiction and non-fiction books. However, the children have very limited understanding of the way in which words are constructed and do not use their knowledge of letters and how they are combined to read unknown words or to help with their early writing. This lack of knowledge is hampering their progress in reading and writing. 70. The quality of teaching in the nursery and reception classes is satisfactory overall. Relationships are good. The children enjoy their learning and are keen to succeed. Opportunities to take part in oral work is too limited, consequently the children are not making the expected gains in their learning in this aspect of the early learning goals.

p.31

Communication, language and literacy

The management and organisation of some lessons in the reception class have weaknesses, for example the children sometimes spend too much time working as a whole class and sitting on the carpet.

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Mathematical development

71. Standards meet national expectations for children at the end of the reception year. An appropriate emphasis is given to using numbers in a range of practical situations. For example, the nursery children counted back from ten as they counted down to ‘blast off’ as teddy went up to the moon. In the reception class, the children calculated the date using a calendar. The children know numbers to nine and some know higher numbers. They are not taught to count in tens, to add numbers together or to count on and back as recommended by the National Numeracy Strategy guidance for reception class children. Worksheets that expect the children to count and record a single number have been completed throughout the year. The analysis of work shows that the above average children are not progressing well enough.

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Mathematical development

72. The quality of teaching in the nursery and reception classes is satisfactory overall. Relationships between teachers and the children are good. Children in the nursery are encouraged to count in their daily activities. Opportunities to sing number rhymes are very frequent and the children are familiar with several well-known rhymes. In the reception class, the children begin to learn the difference between ‘more than’ and ‘less than’ when comparing collections of jelly bears. As the children frequently work as a whole class, there are limited opportunities for all children to benefit from the activities, and restlessness and talking sometimes disrupts their learning. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 32

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

73. By the end of the reception year, children achieve the national expectation in this area of their learning. A high priority is given to this area of learning in the nursery. Provision is generally satisfactory in the reception class but there are some missed opportunities to allow the children to be involved in investigative work. Much of the evidence gathered was based on photographs of visits made by the children over the year. Standards are generally typical and the children are likely to have achieved the early learning goals by the end of the reception year. An awareness of other cultural traditions is a strong feature of the provision. In the celebrations of Shabbat, the children danced to Hebrew music, and as part of a range of celebrations, Eid and Diwali are remembered. During a topic on people who help us, parents in a range of jobs, for example a plumber, talked to the children. A local doctor and school nurse

p.32

Knowledge and understanding of the world

talked to the children about their jobs as part of a baby topic. Satisfactory use is made of ICT to extend children’s learning. For example, a program called ‘At the Farm’ was used to prepare children for a visit to a farm.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

74. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall. The area of learning is given appropriate attention in the medium-term planning. Weekly plans also identify a specific learning objective, which acts as the focus for small-group adult-directed activities. There is a lack of precision in planning and at times adult intervention is too limited to promote effective learning.

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Physical development

75. Most children are likely to have achieved the early learning goals by the time they leave the reception year. The provision for physical development in the reception class is unsatisfactory. The outdoor environment is a bare playground with no outdoor equipment. This is in stark contrast to the well-resourced outdoor area for the nursery children.

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Physical development

76. Through cutting, sticking, rolling and shaping playdough, the children in the nursery develop their skills using equipment well. Hand-eye co-ordination is satisfactorily promoted. Children in the reception class learn to sew using a needle and thread to sew around a teddy template with appropriate levels of dexterity. Regular opportunities are provided for the nursery children to develop their skills of control and co-ordination of their bodies as they climb, jump and travel across apparatus. The nursery children developed a range of physical and creative skills as they went on a bear hunt around the school grounds, negotiating obstacles and searching for the bears. Children in the reception class have a daily exercise time outside where they run to different corners of the playground. However, some opportunities to promote control of movements are missed. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall.

p.32

Physical development

Planning includes this area as frequently as all other areas of learning. The staff encourage children to climb and balance in the nursery. There was too little evidence to judge the quality of teaching in the reception class.

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Creative development

77. By the time they leave the reception class, most children are likely to achieve the early learning goals in most aspects of this area of learning. The children use different media with confidence. Earlier in the year, the nursery children made African Kraal pictures using sticks to make designs. The children can paint every day with ready- mixed colours. They are not provided with the chance to experiment with mixing their own colours or to explore a range of malleable materials, such as clay. Playdough is Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 33 always provided, but what the children are expected to learn is not clear from planning. A high priority is given to imaginative play, both as a way to act out familiar stories, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and domestic role-play. The children learn to play co-operatively in such situations and their social development is effectively fostered.

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Creative development

78. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall. There are some missed opportunities to promote some aspects of the area. Very little music was seen. The children enjoy singing and have a reasonable repertoire of songs they know. There have been sessions with outside specialists where the children have explored the sounds made by various drums, but such activities are not provided on a regular basis.

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ENGLISH

79. By the end of Year 2 and Year 6, standards are similar to the national average and have improved in line with the national rate of improvement since the last inspection. In recent years, results in national tests have fluctuated due to the uneven spread of ability in the different year groups. In 2001, standards were below average and girls outperformed boys at the age of seven. In the present Year 2, there is no significant difference in the attainment of girls and boys, although the presentation of girls’ work is often better. Throughout the school, standards in writing have improved over the past year, particularly with regard to the range and quality of pupils’ work. This is the result of the school’s targeting of this aspect of English. These improved standards in writing have helped to lift the overall standards in English to their current levels.

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ENGLISH

80. In most year groups, there is a significant proportion of above average pupils plus varying numbers of pupils with special educational needs. Some of these have quite severe difficulties to overcome. There are also small numbers of pupils who have English as an additional language. Teachers generally cope very well with this wide range of ability and need. Planning takes account of the varying needs of these different groups and is a key factor in the successful implementation of the National Literacy Strategy.

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ENGLISH

81. By the end of Year 2 and Year 6, standards in reading are similar to the national average. Many pupils have reading levels that allow them to read for pleasure. An emphasis on phonics helps them to overcome initial difficulties in recognising vowel sounds. Average pupils begin to read for meaning and offer interpretations about relatively complex texts. Above average pupils describe the personalities of main characters well. Reading levels are enhanced by the input of the many parents who contribute thoughtfully to the informative reading records that advise parents of the books being studied in the literacy hour, and commonly used words to be learned that week. As they move through the school, pupils of all abilities learn to summarise and predict. Most read confidently and with good expression. Research skills are sound although the unattractive library area does not provide a suitable base for developing

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ENGLISH

pupils’ skills. All pupils in Year 6 have begun to write perceptive book reviews and maintain logs of ‘exciting quotes for future reference’. Above average pupils in this class produced some excellent summaries of a complex text and used a range of advanced reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to aid comprehension.

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ENGLISH

82. All pupils benefit from the school’s concentration on writing. Pupils write in a good range of styles, including poetry, stories and factual accounts. Standards in composition, spelling, punctuation, language structure and handwriting are similar to the national average. There are ample opportunities to practise key skills and to develop writing. The use of dialogue, including the use of speech marks, is a Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 34 recurring feature in pupils’ writing from Year 2 onwards. There are regular spelling practice sessions and pupils are taught appropriate strategies. Simple words are generally spelt correctly, but below average and some average pupils often misspell words in their free writing work. Teachers insist that pupils write grammatically correct sentences, build these into paragraphs and develop pieces of extended writing. Written work is peppered with imaginative use of adjectives and verbs. A

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ENGLISH

pupil of average attainment created a story plan about a ‘sloppy, googly-eyeballed octopus’. Most pupils develop short stories and engage the reader’s attention. Altering the characters in a well-known fairy tale, one pupil in Year 2 wrote: ‘Little Blue Riding Hood got up to mischief sometimes – she made a mud pie for her grandma’s breakfast!’

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ENGLISH

83. At all stages, pupils respond well to the trust placed in them by their teachers. They know that their work is valued and enjoy the praise they receive when good work or effort has been recognised. Initiative is encouraged and pupils are willing to experiment with language, often with impressive results. A below average pupil in Year 6 wrote: ‘The people she thought were her friends left her bruised and lost’. The above average pupils present sustained balanced arguments about a proposed by- pass.

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ENGLISH

84. Pupils with special educational needs have not yet moved on to narrative writing, but they construct sentences accurately. They know that these must start with capital letters and end with full stops. The use of commas is developing satisfactorily.

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ENGLISH

85. Pupils who have English as an additional language receive good support in literacy lessons and achieve well. Most are reading and writing at a similar level to most other pupils and some are represented in the above average groups.

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ENGLISH

86. Standards in speaking are average throughout the school. Speaking is encouraged in class and group activities throughout the school and this develops pupils’ confidence well. This is managed best in Year 6, where pupils are given clear parameters and they know that they have to focus on key elements of a topic. In this class, pupils discussed the purpose of drafting and redrafting animatedly.

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ENGLISH

87. Listening skills are variable, being generally below average by the end of Year 2 and average by the end of Year 6. When presented with specific comprehension activities, pupils with special educational needs in Year 2 learn comprehension techniques successfully when using listening centres.

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ENGLISH

88. The teaching of literacy permeates the curriculum. In history, pupils use language with increasing versatility. In religious education, lessons provide encouragement to read, write and discuss issues using appropriate language. In literacy lessons, sensitivity to other cultures is developed. For example, pupils in Year 5 considered modes of address and traditions in India when analysing a text by Anita Desai. Some written work is wordprocessed. However, the use of computers is not a significant feature in the development of pupils’ literacy skills.

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ENGLISH

89. Teaching is always at least satisfactory. It is good in Years 3 and 6. Throughout the school, planning is particularly good. Teachers prepare well for the wide range of ability in their classes. Resources are prepared very carefully so that they meet the needs of pupils of all abilities. Explanations and questioning are generally clear. Sometimes, questioning is not demanding enough for above average pupils and sometimes too complex for less competent pupils. Whole-class discussions are not crisp enough. At the end of each lesson, all teachers sum up effectively what has Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 35 been learned. The marking of work was a weakness in the previous inspection and remains so. Although the work presented for scrutiny had detailed comments and levels related to the National Curriculum, exercise books in lessons were not always marked with the same intensity. Remarks are often encouraging, but do not indicate

p.34

ENGLISH

precisely what the pupil needs to do to improve the quality of written work. The best teaching is in Years 3 and 6 where comprehensive planning, high expectations and challenge develop learning effectively. The quality of support for pupils with more severe difficulties is very good.

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ENGLISH

90. Leadership in English is satisfactory. Classroom observations have an agreed focus and teachers’ plans are reviewed regularly. Assessment strategies are sound and results are used satisfactorily to set individual targets, although this could be extended. The priorities for the subject identified in the school improvement plan are appropriate. The school recognises the need to improve listening skills in the first few years of schooling. There is a strong teamwork ethic that serves the school well.

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MATHEMATICS

91. By the end Year 2, standards are similar to the national average. By the end of Year 6, when the pupils leave the school, standards are above the national average. Since the last inspection, standards have fluctuated, in some years being above average and in others below. This has mirrored the relative attainment on entry of the various groups coming into school. For example, the 2001 Year 2 group of pupils entered school with a significant minority of pupils who had special educational needs. The current groups of pupils in Years 2 and 6 have a significant minority of pupils of above average ability. Overall, however, the school’s results have reflected the national upward trend.

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MATHEMATICS

92. As a result of sound teaching and the good implementation of the National Numeracy Strategy, pupils make satisfactory progress in Years 1 to 4. This increases as they move into Year 5, where teaching is mostly good. Consistently good teaching in Year 6 ensures that pupils achieve well and make rapid progress. There is effective individual and small group support for pupils who have English as an additional language and those who have special educational needs. This ensures that they are fully involved in all class work and achieve well.

p.35

MATHEMATICS

93. By the end of Year 2, pupils have good knowledge of basic multiplication tables such as the two, three and five times tables and use the associated division facts to solve simple calculations. They share coins amongst four pupils understanding that each pupil has one quarter of the original amount. They give the mathematical names of regular two-dimensional shapes such as square, circle, hexagon and octagon.

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MATHEMATICS

94. By the end of Year 6, pupils are competent at carrying out a wide variety of calculations to two decimal places and the use of standard methods of measurement, being competent with both metric and imperial measures. They are confident in the use of the 24-hour clock. They carry out an investigation into the patterns produced by calculating the digital root of sequences of numbers. Significant to the pupils of above average attainment and to their good levels of achievement is the confidence with which they note down relevant information and numbers in problem solving. They do this prior to trying out different calculations to obtain an answer that they then check by a different or inverse strategy. In other year groups across the school, pupils are less sure of selecting the most appropriate way of solving a problem independently and the most able pupils have insufficient opportunities to develop these skills through investigations.

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MATHEMATICS

Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 36 95. Pupils’ attitudes to the subject are good and they are keen to take part in mathematics work. They are keen to answer questions in mental work and work together well in group activities. Expectations of attainment by pupils in Years 5 and 6 are high and pupils strive hard to rise to the challenges set. This means they have to concentrate hard and apply considerable mental effort to their work.

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MATHEMATICS

96. The consistently good teaching in Year 6 is one of the main reasons for the good standards when pupils leave school. In one lesson observed during the inspection teaching was excellent in this class. In this lesson the teacher set a very demanding investigation into digital roots. She very skilfully set simple activities for pupils who found such concepts difficult to grasp but an open-ended investigation for those secure in their understanding. This meant that the above average pupils were stretched and found very sophisticated complex patterns. The final whole-class session (plenary) clarified the aims of the lesson and the degree to which the class had been successful. This left all pupils with a clear sense of achievement and understanding of the next step in the investigation. These plenary sessions are not as successful in other classes where they are sometimes rushed, not so well planned

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MATHEMATICS

and fail to help pupils evaluate their work effectively. In most lessons, teachers make sure that work is matched to pupils’ needs successfully, although in a few lessons, the above average pupils could be challenged more. The marking of pupils’ work is inconsistent and where errors have occurred in pupils’ work, these are not always followed up.

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MATHEMATICS

97. The mathematics curriculum is broad and pupils receive a balanced curriculum during their time in school. Pupils use their mathematical skills satisfactorily to support work in other subjects such as design and technology, geography and science. The leadership of the subject is good. The co-ordinator has reviewed standards across the school successfully and examined the statistical analysis of national tests in order to identify areas of strength and weakness. She has worked effectively with teachers to address weaknesses in learning and within particular year groups. This has had a good effect on raising standards. This good use of assessment data is an improvement since the previous inspection. Not enough use is made of computers to support mathematics work, although this is recognised and is being extended as teachers become more confident.

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SCIENCE

98. By the end of Year 6, standards are above the national average. The trend in the past three years has been in line with the national upward trend. An analysis of current work from Year 3 to Year 6 shows steady progress over the year in Years 3 and 4 and very good progress in Years 5 and 6. This mirrors the quality of teaching. In the 2001 assessments completed at the end of Year 2, teachers judged standards to be well above average. Based on an analysis of work and teacher assessments for the pupils now in Year 2, current standards are average and pupils of all abilities achieve satisfactorily. This is a similar judgement to that made at the time of the last inspection. The variation between standards in 2001 and those now is largely a result of weaknesses in teachers’ assessments. These are more realistic this year. Pupils with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language are

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SCIENCE

99. Pupils in Year 1 sort objects successfully to show whether they are magnetic or not. They begin to learn key vocabulary such as ‘attract’, and how to predict what they think will happen in an investigation. Pupils are not always involved enough in Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 37 discussing their work and time is lost due to periods when some pupils do not listen carefully to instructions and their attention wanders. This causes breaks in pupils’ progress, as instructions have to be repeated. The range of systems to track pupils’ progress is limited and too much work is done on worksheets. This limits opportunities for the pupils to use computers, tables, graphs and extended writing to record their ideas. Pupils successfully use their investigative skills to find out, for example, how animals and people move, but overall, insufficient attention is given to the development of investigative work.

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SCIENCE

100. Although no teaching was seen in Year 6, the work in these pupils’ books shows that a good range of investigative work takes place and pupils’ work is recorded in a variety of appropriate forms. Pupils use their numeracy skills effectively in the drawing of tables and graphs and use their writing skills well to record the results of their investigations. The presentation and recording of all work is of a high standard. Several of the topics covered show attainment that is above average, for example in a study of the life cycle of plants the pupils show understanding of food chains, photosynthesis and classification. They draw conclusions based on the evidence drawn from investigation. In Year 5 and 6, pupils’ investigative skills are well developed and they are given encouragement to work productively in small groups devising their own investigations. In a Year 5 lesson, for example, pupils tested the

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SCIENCE

properties of materials to use to make the most efficient earmuffs. Pupils’ learning was effectively extended by the intervention of the class teacher asking challenging questions to make sure the pupils kept to the task and remembered to check that the tests they devised were fair. In other year groups, some of the activities are not sufficiently challenging for the above average pupils. In all year groups, not enough use is made of computers to support and extend pupils’ learning in the subject.

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SCIENCE

101. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory in Years 1 to 4. It is consistently good in Year 6 and frequently good in Year 5. The features of the good teaching include:

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SCIENCE

• good subject knowledge which ensures that pupils are challenged in their investigative work through probing questions; • a high priority is given to experimental and investigative work which is well resourced; • pupils are keen to learn, motivated and interested in what they are expected to do.

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SCIENCE

102. Leadership of the subject is satisfactory. Methods to track pupils’ progress are inconsistent between classes and this has a negative effect on the development of pupils’ skills from year to year. The co-ordinator is aware of this and plans to review the arrangements to achieve consistency. Analysis of the national tests usefully informs the main areas for development in the subject. The co-ordinator has some overview of the subject through the record sheets passed to her at the end of each unit and through analysis of work and photographic evidence. However, she has not received any specific training in the co-ordination of the subject and has little opportunity to observe teaching in other areas of the school. This limits her knowledge of how well teaching and learning are developing across the school. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 38

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ART AND DESIGN

103. Across the school, the work in art and design is better than that normally seen and pupils achieve well. The work of pupils who have special educational needs and those with English as an additional language is good and they too achieve well in the subject. Standards have improved since the last inspection when they were judged to be similar to national expectations. Pupils use their knowledge well to communicate ideas and meanings, and design and make images and artefacts using good drawing, painting and modelling skills. They compare and comment on ideas and adapt and improve their work.

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ART AND DESIGN

104. The subject has a high profile in the school and pupils’ achievements are celebrated in good displays of their work around the school. Pupils’ work is entered in local competitions, and a successful art club, led well by a teaching assistant, further enhances pupils’ learning and experiences in the subject. Teaching is good across the school and the introduction of national guidelines for the subject has improved teachers’ planning and the development of pupils’ skills from year to year. Pupils show pride in their achievements and are keen to share their successes. In the two lessons observed in Years 1 and 4, pupils were enthusiastic, enjoyed the lessons and worked hard. These factors made a good impact on the standards that they achieved and the progress that they made.

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ART AND DESIGN

105. Teachers have good subject knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject. They plan and organise lessons well. Good use is made of visits and visitors to provide stimulation for pupils’ work. A recent visit to a large local park, for example, provided ideas and materials for pupils to work on seasonal collage work in a Year 1 lesson. The pupils selected materials from collections of twigs, leaves, feathers and seeds to make attractive and well-composed collages of scenes they had remembered on the visit. Good questioning by the teacher helped pupils think about their work and consider how it might be improved; for example, she asks ‘have you thought about placing this twig here?’ In a Year 4 lesson, pupils’ worked confidently and creatively with a good selection of paints, collage materials, printing rollers and inks to present images of an imaginary journey. They used a variety of techniques, such as stippling,

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ART AND DESIGN

dabbing, sticking and cutting, to represent their ideas. Good teaching ensured that pupils were encouraged to select their own materials, experiment and explore effects and evaluate their work.

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ART AND DESIGN

106. The subject makes an excellent contribution to pupils’ cultural development. Visitors to the school have given pupils experiences of African and Islamic art. These visitors have inspired very good window painting in an Islamic style and African Kraal prints. Art work linked to history topics on the Ancient Greeks, Ancient Egyptians and the Vikings, for example, has inspired good modelling and painting of artefacts connected with the periods and given the pupils an insight into aspects of a different culture. Teachers also use the work of great artists such as Picasso to give inspiration to pupils’ work. Teachers are good at linking art generally to other subjects. Pupils in Year 6, for example, have produced excellent paper mosaics of various sports people in action and have designed good posters connected with anti-racism, anti-sexism and anti-drugs issues.

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ART AND DESIGN

107. Leadership of the subject is satisfactory. The co-ordinator has done well to raise the profile of the subject and develop planning and experiences for pupils since the last inspection. There is some evidence of computers being used to develop learning in the subject but this is limited. Assessment is largely informal. There are no Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 39 consistently used whole-school systems and this makes it more difficult to ensure that key skills are developed from year to year.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

108. Standards are similar to those expected for pupils’ age and all pupils, including those who have special educational needs and those who have English as an additional language, make satisfactory progress. Judgements on standards are based on evidence from one lesson, an examination of pupils’ work, on displayS around the school and in pupils’ books and folders. There was not enough evidence to make a secure judgement about teaching throughout the school. Nevertheless, the standards achieved suggest that teaching is at least satisfactory.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

109. In Years 1 to 6, pupils follow an appropriate curriculum and cover the relevant Programmes of Study of the National Curriculum. There is a good concentration on the design and evaluation process and this aids pupils’ understanding of the value of design and technology in every day life and encourages thinking skills well. During the inspection, good use was made of design and technology with a pupil with more severe needs, to aid him with fine motor control, for example, through the construction of a model of a robot. Pupils make increasingly complex models and undertake more demanding activities as they move through school and they appropriately build on previous experiences and skills. They use measurement skills satisfactorily, for example to help them draw designs for their models.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

110. Pupils in Year 2 designed and made good wind-up models of spiders and similar creatures and placed these in small environments, such as a mysterious garden or alongside Miss Moffet’s tuffet. They enjoyed decorating a small floor robot to represent an alien. Pupils in Year 3 undertook the evaluation of different types of bread in a combined science and food technology project. Pupils in Year 6 designed, made and evaluated slippers effectively. In this project they carried out an analysis of different types of footwear for different purposes and the different requirements of different age groups; they then designed slippers. Good use was made of a parent, who is in the footwear trade, to help pupils select appropriate fabrics for the construction of the slipper. Through these projects, teachers help pupils learn about and understand the place of market research and design in their every day lives.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

111. Teachers make good links between design and technology and other subjects. For example, in the food technology lesson observed the teacher made a good link between the study of healthy eating in science and the preferences for flavour, texture and appearance in widely different types of bread from around the world. She helped the pupils evaluate the different breads so that they could identify a target group and then they designed an appropriately healthy sandwich for that group. This activity also successfully involved the use of computers in research through databases of nutritional values. It also brought in elements of art and design and mathematics through consideration of the assembly of attractive packing of a variety of shapes. Pupils find these activities interesting and discussion with pupils indicates that they enjoy design and technology work and are keen to take part in these activities. The

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

quality of the work seen, including artefacts and design and evaluation work, indicates that pupils have good attitudes to the subject.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

112. Leadership of the subject is satisfactory and there has been reasonable improvement since the last inspection. The strengths identified then have been maintained. There has been little progress with assessment and there are still no whole-school Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 40 assessment procedures to enable teachers to ensure progress through the school for individual pupils.

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GEOGRAPHY

113. Standards are similar to those expected at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 and reflect the findings of the last report. All pupils, including those who have English as an additional language and those who have special educational needs, achieve satisfactorily. The requirements of the National Curriculum Programmes of Study are met, although there are weaknesses in the development of key skills from year to year. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall with some good teaching in Year 4.

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GEOGRAPHY

114. The subject is frequently taught alongside history, when topics such as holidays and Ancient Greece are taught. The skills, knowledge and understanding of the subject are considerably lessened when this occurs; for example, in the lesson observed in Year 2, much more time was allocated to the historical aspect of learning, which is what the pupils recorded.

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GEOGRAPHY

115. By Year 2, pupils have broadened their knowledge and understanding of places through tracking the travels of Barnaby Bear. This is a continuous topic throughout Years 1 and 2. Pupils have also learned about different weather conditions by keeping a daily log of the weather and recording the temperature and the wind direction. Pupils used computers to design houses when they investigated the local area and compared it to an island home.

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GEOGRAPHY

116. By Year 6, pupils have used the BBC website to compare the climates in three different mountain regions across the world. Pupils develop sound understanding of factors affecting the local environment and understanding of various coastal features. Most pupils are beginning to develop sound understanding of how physical and human processes can change the features of places, and how these changes can affect the lives and activities of people living there.

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GEOGRAPHY

117. In the good teaching and learning, key geographical questions such as, ‘where is this place?’ ‘what is it like and how has it changed?’ were used effectively to encourage pupils to speculate on the view from their classroom window. Pupils were learning how to classify features by human and physical characteristics and were encouraged to draw plans of the area from a ‘bird’s-eye view’ perspective. Planning was appropriately matched to three levels of ability in the class and as a consequence the pupils learned enthusiastically because they were clear about what they had to do. They used their prior knowledge effectively as they designed symbols to represent the physical and human features on a base map. Shortcomings in teaching relate to an overuse of worksheets that limit opportunities for pupils to write extended pieces of writing or to record findings in other ways and too few opportunities for pupils to

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GEOGRAPHY

118. The leadership of the subject is satisfactory. A nationally recognised scheme of work is currently being piloted and is providing a useful framework for staff. Whilst there is some discussion at the end of topics as a form of assessing pupils’ understanding, there is no whole-school system to record pupils’ progress. This makes it difficult for the development of key skills to be guaranteed from one year to the next. Computers offer some support to work in the subject but this is not a regular feature of the teaching. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 41

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HISTORY

119. Overall standards are similar to those expected for pupils at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 and pupils’ achievements are satisfactory. This is a similar judgement to that made at the time of the last inspection, although teachers’ planning has improved. There are some examples of projects, such as the school’s Millennium timeline project and the work on Carrington in Victorian times, that include work that is better than normally seen. Opportunities for pupils to use their literacy skills in writing and research work are good, for example above average pupils produce good factual and empathetic accounts of life in various historical periods in all year groups. Pupils who have special educational needs and English as an additional language are well supported and their achievements are similar to all other pupils.

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HISTORY

120. The study of different cultures in different times adds effectively to pupils’ cultural development. Teachers make good use of visits to places of interest and visitors to school to add a further dimension to learning. A visitor dressed as a Viking warrior, for example, gave pupils a good insight into aspects of the Viking way of life and added interest and excitement to pupils’ learning. In Year 1, a visitor from the local community brought in a selection of Victorian toys for pupils to play with. This gave them good insight into the similarities and differences between toys then and now.

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HISTORY

121. It is difficult to make an overall judgement on the quality of teaching since no teaching was seen in Years 1 and 2. Scrutiny of pupils’ work and teachers’ planning, however, suggests that it is at least satisfactory. In the two lessons seen, teaching was good in Year 4 and very good in Year 6. In the lesson for pupils in Year 4, the teachers’ good subject knowledge and good use of secondary sources related to a topic on World War Two gave pupils good knowledge and insight into how evacuees might have felt. Activities were effectively planned and matched to pupils’ needs so that pupils of all abilities made good progress in the lesson. Above average pupils used their literacy skills well to produce good empathetic accounts of life as an evacuee. Below average pupils produced appropriate shorter accounts including drawings. In a Year 6 lesson on Carrington in Victorian times, the teacher’s good knowledge and

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HISTORY

very good use of census information, old maps and photographs developed pupils’ understanding of change and its effect on land use, industry and employment very effectively. Pupils were interested in the activity and found the old census returns fascinating. Good questioning such as ‘what do you notice about the numbers in each household?’ focused and extended pupils’ learning well. The teachers’ high expectations ensured that pupils worked diligently and presented their work very well.

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HISTORY

122. Scrutiny of pupils’ work indicates that pupils in Years 1 and 2 have developed sound knowledge of the lives of famous historical characters such as Florence Nightingale and events such as the Fire of London. Above average and average pupils have used their writing skills well to produce factual accounts related to these topics. Below average pupils have produced sound short extracts and pictures to record their work. A very good whole-school topic on Black History month gave pupils knowledge and understanding of the achievements of famous black men and women such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Jinga Mbandi and Harriet Tubman. Pupils used the Internet to find out information and to produce good factual accounts of their lives.

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HISTORY

123. Leadership of the subject is satisfactory. Subject planning is securely based on national guidelines and is monitored by the co-ordinator. Although the subject meets National Curriculum requirements, it is taught in blocked units of time. Because of the time lapse between units, the development of key skills cannot be guaranteed. There Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 42 are no whole-school assessment systems to ensure skills and knowledge build on what pupils already know and can do. This sometimes results in a lack of challenge in the work. Computers are being used in certain aspects of the work but this could be extended further across all year groups.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

124. Standards are below average at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. They were reported as satisfactory at the time of the last inspection, although it was noted that computers were not used enough, particularly in Years 3 to 6. Progress has not been sufficient to keep pace with the rapidly rising national expectation. This is because, whilst resources have improved and are now good, staff are only just completing a course of national training to keep them abreast of developments in the subject. The level of expertise and confidence of the staff, although improving, means that pupils’ key skills have not been developed effectively enough from year to year. Over their time in the school, the achievement of all pupils, including those with English as an additional language and those with special educational needs, has consequently been unsatisfactory.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

125. All pupils now have access to computers and all are fully included in all activities on a more regular basis. Teachers and classroom support assistants are increasingly using appropriate computer programs to offer good support to pupils with special educational needs. This is raising pupils’ attainment and ensuring that they make better progress.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

126. By the end of Year 2, pupils know that commands have to be given to a small robot to enable it to travel over a set course. They increasingly understand that it is the accuracy of their input of commands that result in a successful journey. They recognise that video- and tape-recorders and the school’s digital cameras are all items of ICT. They are not, however, confident in setting out text and retrieving information from a simple database.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

127. By the end of Year 6, pupils search through the website of a local school to find specific answers to questions asked by the teacher. They search a database for information about the protein content of particular foods. They use a paint package to amend a digital photograph. They are not yet as competent in the use of control technology as might be expected for their age or in combining elements of ICT in their work across the subjects of the curriculum.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

128. Pupils are keen to use the various computer programs available and treat the equipment with care. Most pupils listen carefully to their teachers, ask sensible questions to check what they have to do and then willingly work with the mouse and keyboard to achieve the task they have been set. From time to time the computer does not respond as it should and pupils attempt to troubleshoot the problem themselves before asking for help. This level of confidence, keen attitudes and the generally very good behaviour of the majority of pupils mean that pupils are beginning to learn the procedures and uses of information technology effectively.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

129. Overall the quality of teaching in ICT is satisfactory. There are some examples of teachers using computers to support work in other subjects, for example in a Year 3 lessons, the teacher introduced the pupils to the use of a database to research how much protein is contained in different foods. This was part of a science and design and technology project on healthy eating. Whilst there are not enough activities of this nature, it is this type of link that teachers are increasingly encouraged to make, under Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 43 the direction of the co-ordinator. This is helping pupils to develop key skills and become more familiar with the hardware and software available.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

130. The breadth and range of the ICT curriculum are satisfactory. The resources for the subject are good and are the result of considerable financial input over the past year. There is an adequate number of personal computers available in the classrooms and the school has recently hired sufficient laptop computers to allow one between two in lessons where the whole class is being taught ICT at the same time. Whilst the hardware and software exist, teachers’ skills are insufficiently developed to maximise their use and areas of the curriculum, such as control technology, are underdeveloped. All teachers have now undertaken basic training and are receiving individual specific training in particular aspects of their work. This training is well supported by outside agencies and by the subject co-ordinator in school.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

131. The staff are keen to raise their level of expertise and to identify uses to support teaching across the curriculum. The school is well placed to expand teaching and learning in the subject and to improve pupils’ achievement and standards. The subject contributes well to the development of pupils’ social skills as they work closely together to solve problems. The new subject co-ordinator provides good leadership and is raising the profile of the subject successfully. There are no whole-school assessment procedures and this restricts the opportunity for teachers to build progressively on pupils’ developing skills and knowledge.

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MUSIC

132. The standards reported at the time of the last inspection have been maintained. They are similar to those expected nationally by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. All pupils, including those who have special educational needs and those who have English as an additional language, achieve satisfactorily as they move through the school. Little teaching by class teachers was seen during the inspection, although the teaching that was seen was satisfactory. Some teachers have gaps in their knowledge and continue to benefit from the expertise of an accompanist who comes into school for some lessons.

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MUSIC

133. By the end of Year 2, pupils recognise songs such as calypsos. Singing of ‘I am the Music Man’ generated real enthusiasm and pupils of all abilities accompany rhythmically on percussion instruments, such as tambourines, triangles, chimes and drums. Due to the persistence of the visiting pianist, pupils begin to think carefully about the effect created when playing in a more restrained manner.

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MUSIC

134. By the end of Year 6, pupils identify and appreciate the value of contrast in composition. When listening to ‘Mars’ from the Planet Suite by Holst, they recognised that sounds are used to create mood; one pupil remarked that ‘It sounds as though troops are going into battle’. The class teacher also extended pupils’ thinking by urging them to develop their initial hypothesis. One pupil, for example, knew that Mars was associated with war and that the music reflected this. Singing is an important element in the pupils’ work. In hymn practice sessions, choral singing and the development of ‘rounds’, such as ‘Shalom’, supplement this. There is good promotion of cultural awareness as pupils learn spirituals like ‘Freedom’, lullabies and songs that tell a story, such as the tragedy at sea depicted in ‘Ellen Vannin’. There is good coverage of classical music, complemented by modern interpretations using

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MUSIC

synthesizers. Pupils’ composition skills are unsatisfactory, particularly in the use of notation. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 44 135. The work in music covers all elements of the National Curriculum. Class teachers complete their own assessment sheets on all key aspects. In Year 2, for example, pupils identify groups of instruments, Year 3 create sound pictures, Year 4 sing songs from around the world, Year 5 examine the mood created by different pieces of music and Year 6 evaluate their own work, identifying ways in which it can be improved. Computers are not used enough to develop learning in the subject and this restricts opportunities for pupils to experiment with simple composition work.

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MUSIC

136. A significant number of pupils receive tuition in flute, clarinet, trumpet and recorder and this adds much to their learning. Every Christmas the school produces a musical. Last year, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ was well received. The school choir performs at local hospitals, old people’s homes and churches. Multicultural aspects, such as African drumming and Samba workshops, are also experienced.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

137. Standards match those reported at the time of the last inspection. Pupils reach the standards expected nationally at the end of Year 2 and in Years 4 and 5. Pupils of all abilities, and those who have English as an additional language achieve satisfactorily as they move through the school. In the lessons seen, teaching was satisfactory. All observed lessons were outdoors and involved throwing, catching and striking skills. All pupils have swimming lessons every year from Year 3 onwards, and most can swim 25 metres by the time they leave the school.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

138. By the end of Year 2, almost all pupils use space well when moving around outdoors. Boys and girls work harmoniously together and try conscientiously to improve their techniques. When applying newly acquired skills in a competitive situation, technique sometimes wavers. Nevertheless, pupils show reasonable control in their performance and demonstrate an understanding of the need for fair play.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

139. In Years 4 and 5, pupils have good understanding of the need for ‘warm-up’ and ‘cool- down’ sessions. In catching activities, girls generally show greater control than boys do, however, boys demonstrate considerable ability in throwing exercises. Most recognise the need to follow rules, although some boys in Year 5 want to show how far they can throw a ball rather than concentrate on technique.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

140. Although tasks are planned to meet the different abilities of the pupils, this was not a strong feature in the lessons observed. Pupils are given suitable encouragement to develop their own techniques and time limits are set to encourage focused repetition of activities. Teachers move from group to group to offer good encouragement and advice. Occasionally, pupils do not listen to instructions carefully enough and time is wasted reiterating what is expected. There are no whole-school assessment systems to track pupils’ progress and this makes it difficult for the teachers to build effectively enough on what pupils already know and can do.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

141. During the weekend following the inspection, pupils from Year 6 were due to undertake a residential course involving adventurous activities, such as archery and fencing. In preparation for the orienteering element of this visit, the school had created a course on the school site.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

142. A good range of activities occur after school and these help to develop pupils’ skills in a variety of sports. They also make a valuable contribution to the development of pupils’ social skills. During the week of the inspection, a sports club operated to develop skills in cricket and tennis. The Magdala Tennis Club also supports the Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 45 school. A parent who is a qualified soccer coach helps to train the football squad. The adjacent school field is a valuable resource, and is occasionally used at lunchtimes for practices. The school organises two Sports Days each year, one competitive and one participatory.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

143. Leadership of the subject is satisfactory. The co-ordinator monitors and has integrated national guidelines into teachers’ planning. This has helped to provide better consistency in planning.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

144. By the end of Year 6, standards are above the expectations of the locally agreed syllabus. By the end of Year 2, standards are similar to those expected. Standards have improved since the last inspection when they were judged to be average by the end of Year 6. This is largely as a result of good teaching, particularly in Year 6. Over their time in the school the achievement of all pupils, including those who have English as an additional language and those with special educational needs, is good.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

145. By the time they leave the school, pupils have good knowledge of the major faiths of the world. In addition they have a perceptive understanding of the principles of those faiths. They show great empathy for the way in which religion encourages the care of the sick and the less fortunate and addresses suffering in the world. They write in great detail about the background to the religions being studied and use their literacy skills well to record their ideas.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

146. In the lessons seen in Years 4, 5 and 6, pupils show good attitudes to the subject. They are keen to learn about the various aspects of the different faiths. They listen carefully when teachers talk about the Bible or the Qur’an and tell some of the stories from the different faiths being studied. They write careful accounts of their visits to the places of worship and what was special for them about those places. They have good understanding of the similarities and differences between places of worship. They write extensively about significant people and features of the different religions and show great empathy with the principles of those religions. This makes a significant contribution to their spiritual, moral and cultural development.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

147. The quality of teaching in Years 4, 5 and 6 is good. Little teaching was seen in Years 1, 2 and 3, but from a scrutiny of pupils’ work, it is at least satisfactory. Teachers plan interesting activities for the pupils. In a Year 5 class, for example, pupils prepared a Passover meal. In Year 6, pupils studied the life of Buddha in preparation for a visit to the school of a Buddhist nun. This made the experience real for them and developed their note-taking skills in literacy well as they interviewed her about her life. They were prepared well for their visit to the temple in a future lesson. The thoughtful discussion and reflection that takes place in these lessons makes a good contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. In the lessons seen and in the scrutiny of pupils’ work over the past year, it is clear that teachers do not use computers enough to support learning in the subject.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

148. The school receives much support for promoting pupils’ learning in the subject from the representatives of the faiths in the local community. Collective worship supports the understanding of religious belief well. The school celebrates Eid with the help of parents, pupils learn about the Sabbath from a Jewish parent and about Christianity from a local vicar. They visit a church, mosque, synagogue and Buddhist temple and celebrate the Chinese New Year. By these means, the development of respect for all religious beliefs is promoted well. Carrington Primary and Nursery School - 46 149. The co-ordinator was absent at the time of the inspection and the post is temporarily undertaken by the headteacher. She is knowledgeable about the subject and provides good support to staff in a consultancy role.

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