Crescent Primary School

SCHOOL

Reporting inspector: Ms Bogusia Matusiak-Varley

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SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 21 st – 24 th October 2002

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SCHOOL

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

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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. Crescent Primary School - 1

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Booth Crescent Mansfield Nottinghamshire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mr Barry Answer

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: Not available – new school Crescent Primary School - 2

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responsibilities

19938 B Matusiak-Varley Registered inspector Foundation Stage English as an additional language The school’s results and achievements How well are pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? 9981 S Hussain Lay inspector Attitudes, values and personal development How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 22059 N Wales Team inspector Educational inclusion Science Information and communication technology Physical education How good are curricular and other opportunities?

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responsibilities

11642 C Parkinson Team inspector Special educational needs English Art and design Geography Music 10144 M Marriott Team inspector Mathematics Design and technology History Religious education

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responsibilities

PPI Group Limited 7 Hill Street Bristol BS1 5RW

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responsibilities

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

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responsibilities

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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responsibilities

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Crescent Primary School - 3

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 4 - 8

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 - 13

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Crescent Primary School is a large newly formed school which has been in existence for just over one year. The school has 304 pupils on roll, 155 girls and 117 boys, including 32 full time equivalent children, who attend the Nursery. There are more girls than boys in most year groups. The school is situated on the Bull Farm estate in Mansfield, an area of high socio-economic deprivation. The school faces many challenges; staff and pupils have had to move premises three times due to building work; pupils’ attainment on entry to Nursery is well below that expected of three-year-olds; on entry to the Reception class it is still well below national expectations. The school has a high percentage of pupils on the special educational needs register, 41 per cent, and the uptake of free school meals, 41 per cent, is above average. The percentage of pupils with statements of special educational need (0.6 per cent) is

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

below the national average. The nature and range of special educational needs are variable, but are mostly related to learning difficulties and emotional and behavioural problems. The majority of pupils are from British white backgrounds; 1.6 per cent are of mixed ethnic origins, including Chinese and white and black Caribbean. There are no pupils at the early stage of English as an additional language acquisition. The school has high levels of pupil mobility; 28 per cent of pupils joined and left the school in the last school year.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Whilst pupils are happy to come to school, generally want to learn and have good relationships with their teachers, they are not receiving a satisfactory standard of education and, as a result, are not making the necessary gains in learning, and all groups of pupils are underachieving. Standards are well below the national average overall and are not high enough for these pupils. The quality of teaching in Years 1 to 6 is unsatisfactory, as is the leadership and management of the school, which is not sufficiently focused on raising standards quickly enough. The school is not effectively meeting the academic needs of its pupils and its strategies to promote equality are unsatisfactory overall. Provision for children in the Foundation Stage of learning is good, but the gains these children make are not effectively built upon throughout the school. At present the school’s capacity for improvement is unsatisfactory, due to the

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

many weaknesses identified and it provides unsatisfactory value for money.

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What the school does well

• Provision for the Foundation Stage of learning is good and children achieve well in relation to their prior attainment. • Relationships are good throughout the school, pupils are well behaved and generally have good attitudes to learning. • Provision for pupils’ moral and social development is good overall and is enhanced further by the many opportunities for extra-curricular activities. • Procedures for child protection and ensuring pupils’ welfare are good. The school provides a warm, safe and secure environment for its pupils. • The accommodation is very good and the school generally has a good range of resources.

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What could be improved

• Standards in all subjects throughout the school, but especially standards in literacy, numeracy, science and information and communication technology (ICT). • Provision for pupils with special educational needs. • The quality of teaching throughout the school and the unsatisfactory rates of pupils’ learning. • Curriculum planning, checking that pupils build upon their prior learning, time allocated to subjects and opportunities for pupils to develop their skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT in all subjects. • Assessment procedures and their use in moving pupils on in their learning. • Pupils’ poor attendance rates. • The leadership and management of the headteacher, key staff, subject co-ordinators and governors. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. Crescent Primary School - 5

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

As Crescent Primary School is a new school, this is its first inspection. Therefore, comparisons with a previous report cannot be made.

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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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Key

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

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Key

The 2002 validated data shows that, by the end of Year 6, standards were very low and were in the bottom five per cent nationally of all schools in English and mathematics and were well below in science. In comparison with similar schools, by the end of Year 6, standards were well below average in English, mathematics and science. Results in Year 2 were similar to those in Year 6. National statistics show that girls did better than boys at Key Stage 1. In both key stages too few pupils attained the higher levels.

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Key

Inspection findings show that children start school with levels of attainment that are well below nationally agreed levels for this age. They make overall good progress in the Nursery and the Reception class. Whilst they do not attain the early learning goals in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development, knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development, in personal, social and emotional development and physical development they attain the early learning goals and achieve very well in relation to their prior attainment. Overall these good rates of progress are not maintained throughout the school due to lack of rigorous whole school systems of assessment and their use for moving pupils on in their learning. Inspection findings show that, by the end of Year 2 and Year 6, standards are well below national averages in English, mathematics, science and information

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Key

and communication technology and pupils’ achievements are poor. In religious education pupils do not meet the expectations of the locally agreed syllabus. In all other subjects by the end of Year 2 and Year 6, with the exception of average standards in singing and physical education, standards are below national expectations and pupils’ achievements are unsatisfactory, including the achievements of those pupils with special educational needs. Pupils’ weak skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT prevent them from fully accessing the curriculum.

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Key

The school has identified targets for improvement, but these are unambitious and too low. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluating of standards are not sufficiently rigorous to ensure that these targets are met. Crescent Primary School - 6

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Good overall, although some examples of unsatisfactory attitudes were seen in Key Stage 1 in English. Pupils enjoy coming to school and using the good quality resources that are available. Even when tasks are not sufficiently suited to their needs, pupils try hard to learn.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Good. Pupils are generally well behaved. During lunchtimes and playtimes they are considerate to one another. In lessons behaviour sometimes deteriorates when teachers’ expectations are not high enough. However, last year there were five fixed term exclusions.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Satisfactory. Relationships are good around the school, but opportunities for pupils’ personal development are limited as pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to develop their research and independent skills of learning.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Poor. The attendance rate is well below the national average and is a contributory factor to the low standards that pupils attain. Rates of unauthorised absence are well above the national average.

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Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Quality of teaching Good Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory 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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Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Overall the quality of teaching is unsatisfactory, but it is better in Years 4, 5 and 6 than in Years 1, 2 and 3. During the week of inspection 57 lessons were seen. Approximately one lesson in 20 was very good, one in two was good, one in three was satisfactory and one in seven was unsatisfactory. However, scrutiny of teachers’ planning, pupils’ work and interviews with pupils revealed that there are many weaknesses in teaching, including unsatisfactory use of assessment to inform planning, weaknesses in time management and planning and deployment of support staff. The teaching of pupils with special educational needs and below average attainers, of which there is a high percentage throughout the school, is unsatisfactory. Teachers have good relationships with pupils, are keen to improve their practice and want to do well, but they have not received sufficient guidance to help them overcome the many learning difficulties that their pupils exhibit. The weaknesses in curriculum planning,

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Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

weak assessments and the unsatisfactory use of assessment prevent teachers from giving of their very best. The children in the Foundation Stage of learning are taught well and make good gains in their learning. Very good teaching was seen in Year 5 in music and mathematics and in Year 2 physical education. No examples of very good teaching were seen in literacy throughout the school, although an example of effective practice was seen in one Year 6 class. The teaching of literacy and numeracy is unsatisfactory overall; teachers’ knowledge of teaching basic skills is not adequate enough to move pupils’ rates of learning on quickly and effectively.

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Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

At present the quality of teaching is not good enough to meet the needs of all groups of pupils and raise standards quickly as teachers’ expectations are not high enough, especially in Key Stage 1. As a result, pupils are not learning basic skills effectively, which in turn leads to a lack of confidence. Crescent Primary School - 7

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Unsatisfactory in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, good in the Foundation Stage. Whilst all subjects of the National Curriculum are taught the learning opportunities offered are insufficiently well planned to meet the needs of the pupils. The curriculum is insufficiently monitored to ensure that subject specific skills are developed and that time is appropriately allocated to cover the full programmes of study.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Unsatisfactory. Whilst the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) is knowledgeable in identifying pupils’ barriers to learning, staff do not use pupils’ individual education plans sufficiently well in lessons. As a result, pupils are not making sufficient gains in learning.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Unsatisfactory. Though few in number, none are at the early stages of language acquisition and their rates of progress are the same as their peers.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural, development Satisfactory overall. Good provision for moral and social development contributes well to pupils’ good attitudes to learning. A strong moral code pervades through the school and pupils are taught to respect one another’s differences. Satisfactory provision is made for spiritual and cultural development.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Good overall. The pastoral care pupils receive is good and the school has effective child protection procedures in place. However, the academic support for pupils is unsatisfactory overall due to weaknesses in assessment. Teachers are not sufficiently aware of how well pupils are learning key skills to be able to plan work which matches their needs sufficiently.

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Aspect Comment

Opportunities for literacy, numeracy and ICT are not sufficiently well identified and elements of composition (music), knowledge of artists (art and design) and evaluation skills (design and technology), are not taught in sufficient depth. Furthermore, there are weaknesses in religious education as several aspects of personal, social and health education are delivered in time allocated to religious education. Partnership with parents is satisfactory overall, but further work needs to be done in order to ensure that parents are involved in all aspects of school life. Crescent Primary School - 8

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Unsatisfactory. Whilst the headteacher is dedicated to the well being of the whole school community, she has not provided a clear enough strategy for raising standards quickly and effectively due to over delegation of responsibilities for standards to staff, weak assessment systems and ineffective allocation of time for effective curriculum coverage and development of skills.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Unsatisfactory. Governors are very hard working and supportive of the school, but they are not holding the headteacher and staff accountable for the standards that pupils attain and have not ensured that the curriculum is appropriately balanced for the pupils, and are not fully involved in judging the cost effectiveness of spending. This is due to lack of meaningful information received from senior management.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Unsatisfactory. Whilst the co-ordinator and senior management team have made an effective start at analysing national test results, they have not fully evaluated the extent and nature of pupils’ learning difficulties. This information has not fully altered curriculum planning, teaching methods and allocation of support staff.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Unsatisfactory. Whilst resources are plentiful and of good quality, support staff are not always effectively deployed and this forms a substantial percentage of the school’s budget. The library is underused and this results in pupils having underdeveloped research skills.

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Aspect Comment

The quality of accommodation is very good, with the exception of the lack of a covered walkway to link the two buildings. Governors generally apply the principles of best value in relation to spending, but do not yet challenge existing routines by rigorously questioning their practices, especially in relation to managing the performance of staff.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• Parents generally are very supportive of the school. • Staff are approachable. • Children like coming to school. • Children are making good gains in learning. • Some parents would like more information on their children’s progress. • A minority of parents felt that the school could work more closely with them.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Overall the school tries hard to work with parents and several of them regularly help out in school. Inspectors generally agree with parents’ positive views, but disagree with parents’ views in relation to children making good gains in learning, because all groups of children are underachieving. Inspectors agree with parents that reports could be more detailed and that the school needs to continue to improve its sound provision to good to ensure that parents are seen as true partners in their children’s learning. Crescent Primary School - 9

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1. As Crescent Primary School is a new school, only one full year’s set of national data is available. Therefore comparisons over time cannot be made. The nationally validated data of 2002 shows that, by the end of Year 2, pupils’ attainment in comparison with all schools nationally was in the bottom five per cent in reading and mathematics and it was well below the national average in writing. In comparison with similar schools based upon a high percentage of pupils on free school meals, standards were well below the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Teacher assessments in science indicate that standards were well below, both in comparison with the national average and the average for similar schools. Very few pupils attained the higher levels in reading, writing, mathematics and science. By the end of Year 6, in comparison with all schools nationally, standards were very low and were in the bottom five per cent in English and

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

mathematics. In science, standards were well below the national average in comparison with all schools and similar schools nationally. In comparison with similar schools, standards were well below the national average in English and mathematics. Whilst no significant differences in gender were seen during the week of inspection, the 2002 test results showed that girls did better than boys in reading, writing, mathematics and science in Year 2, and in Year 6 girls outperformed boys in English.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2. These very low results are not good enough for these pupils and all groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs, above average attainers and the very small percentage of pupils with English as an additional language, are underachieving. Pupils are not sufficiently well prepared for their next stage of education in secondary school because with such poor literacy and numeracy skills, they will be unable to access the secondary curriculum. Targets set for Year 6 pupils are not sufficiently challenging and it is very likely that they will not be met if the school does not immediately put in motion a clear agenda of what teachers need precisely to do in order to move pupils’ learning on at a much faster rate. Pupils in both key stages, whilst keen to learn, nevertheless have many barriers to learning. For example, they have short attention spans and they become bored very quickly; many have difficulty remembering what they have learnt, some

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

are excessively tired and easily distracted and others give up too easily because their poor literacy and numeracy skills prevent them from fully participating in learning. The headteacher and senior management have not fully recognised the degree of weakness in teachers’ planning to address these needs. There is a lack of a strategic overview in producing adequate whole school policies to address these needs, such as ensuring that pupils have the opportunities to acquire basic skills through well-planned programmes of work, especially in foundation subjects. Too many responsibilities have been delegated to co-ordinators without sufficient guidance given as to how standards are to be raised quickly and efficiently and, at present, staff know that they have to raise standards, but they do not know how to do it. This results in staff working very hard without being given a clear direction and, as a result, teachers do not see their hard work having a significant

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3. The school faces many challenges. An above average percentage of pupils is on free school meals, pupils’ mobility levels are high and an above average percentage of pupils are on the special educational needs register. Children’s attainment on entry to Nursery is well below that expected nationally of children of this age. The majority of children have underdeveloped speaking and listening skills, lack basic vocabulary and do not have well formed concepts regarding mathematical development, especially in relation to positional language. Many have not attended playgroups and have underdeveloped skills in personal, social and emotional development. Children love coming to Nursery; they skip into class in the mornings willingly, some without even saying goodbye to their parents and they settle to the well prepared activities that have been planned for them. Throughout the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception class) they make

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

good gains in all areas of learning because of a well-planned and well-resourced curriculum and the good quality of teaching. By the time that they enter Year 1, they are achieving well in relation Crescent Primary School - 10 to their prior attainment, in spite of not attaining the early learning goals in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development, knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development. In personal, social and emotional development and physical development, children attain the early learning goals on entry to Year 1 and their achievements are very good. Children in the Foundation Stage make good progress because they are taught well by their teachers and support staff. Assessments in the Foundation Stage of learning are satisfactory.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4. Good observations of how children learn are carried out by the hard-working staff and there is an appropriate balance between learning through structured play and the rigorous teaching of basic skills, but prior to entry to Year 1, pupils are not assessed according to the criteria of the Foundation Stage stepping stones and teachers, therefore, do not have the information they need to pitch their teaching more appropriately to the needs of the pupils. The lack of clearly defined recording of what pupils achieve results in under challenge in Year 1.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5. Children in the Foundation Stage make particularly good gains in learning letter sounds and early reading, writing and mathematical skills because teachers have high expectations, prepare their group well, use exciting and stimulating resources and intervene appropriately in their pupils’ learning by clearly showing what is expected of them. However, the good achievements of these pupils are not successfully built upon throughout Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6. Inspection findings show that standards are well below the national average in speaking and listening, reading, writing, mathematics, science and ICT at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. Pupils’ achievements in both key stages, in relation to their prior attainment, are poor and all groups of pupils are underachieving. This is because:

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• there is a lack of clear educational direction given to raise standards quickly and effectively;

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• insufficient analysis of pupils’ learning needs and barriers to learning has taken place and there is an imbalance of time, especially in Key Stage 1, in ensuring that staff have the necessary time to teach all of the subjects in the National Curriculum thoroughly;

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• there is insufficient direct personal involvement by the headteacher in implementing the literacy and numeracy strategies, and there is over reliance on co-ordinators to keep her informed of standards;

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• teaching is not monitored sufficiently regularly to gain an overview of strengths and weaknesses, to identify and address the continuing professional development of colleagues and regularly review the school’s success in achieving measurable targets;

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• insufficient information is given to the governors about why standards are so low, other than pupils coming in with low levels of attainment;

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• co-ordinators of literacy and numeracy do not have sufficient knowledge of end of key stage requirements. For example the numeracy co-ordinator’s knowledge of the demands of the Key Stage 2 curriculum is not as well developed as her knowledge of Key Stage 1; the literacy co-ordinator knows more about Key Stage 2 than Key Stage 1 and, as a result, there is a lack of a detailed, rigorous, whole school approach to raising standards;

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• above average attainers are insufficiently challenged; they do not receive work that involves a blend of faster pace, more breadth and greater depth of study in all subjects of the National Curriculum;

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• in Key Stage 1, several Year 2 pupils are taught with Year 1 because of their low attainment. This is an equal opportunities issue, which needs to be addressed, because these pupils are not receiving their full entitlement to the learning opportunities suitable to their age and, as a result, are not appropriately prepared for taking the national tests; Crescent Primary School - 11 • the lack of rigorous assessment procedures and use of data results in all groups of pupils making unsatisfactory progress. Support staff are not always effectively deployed to work with pupils who have the most need because the headteacher does not have a whole school overview of the main areas of pupils’ underachievement;

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• pupils who have special educational needs overall make unsatisfactory progress. This is because in lessons insufficient emphasis is placed upon using targets from these pupils’ individual education plans in ensuring that tasks are appropriately matched to their needs; and

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

• pupils’ skills of literacy and numeracy are too weak to enable them to fully access the curriculum.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

7. Standards in English, mathematics, science and information and communication technology at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 are well below average and pupils’ achievements are poor overall. In information and communication technology (ICT), pupils are starting to make short term satisfactory gains in learning because of the recent use made of the well-equipped ICT suite. However, as yet, insufficient opportunities are identified in other subjects to ensure that pupils have the opportunity to use information and communication technology as a valuable tool for learning.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

8. In English by the end of Year 2 and Year 6 standards are well below average. Pupils lack vocabulary of cause and effect and the ability to express their feelings. They often confuse tenses and the younger children have difficulty in listening for sustainable lengths of time. Only above average pupils attain appropriate standards at the end of both Year 2 and Year 6 in reading but the vast majority of pupils do not have higher order reading skills and their research skills are weak. The vast majority of pupils in Year 6 are unable to make inferences about thoughts and feelings of characters in a story with specific reference to text to explain and justify opinions. Pupils in Year 1 struggle with initial sounds and, in Year 2, pupils have difficulty in blending sounds and their word attack skills are poor. By the end of Year 6 reading is mechanical and many pupils do not know how to comment critically on issues raised in a story and how the author has handled them.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

They struggled with explaining how a writer conveys moods, feelings and attitudes, but they are starting to identify the characteristics of a writer’s style across more than one text. By the end of both key stages, standards in writing are well below national average. Pupils spell most common words incorrectly and their presentation skills are weak. The use of worksheets limits pupils’ progress. The majority of pupils write in an emergent style in Year 2, they do not use capital letters and full stops appropriately and they do not transfer what they have learnt in handwriting lessons into work in other subjects. By the end of Year 6 above average attaining pupils can construct a balanced argument, but they do not write for a sufficient range of purposes. Average and below average attaining pupils are beginning to write in paragraphs, but the content of their work contains too many spelling mistakes.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

9. In mathematics, by the end of Year 2 and Year 6, pupils do not have secure knowledge of number bonds, times tables, mathematical operations needed for problem solving, use of data bases, bar charts or graphs. In Years 1 and 2, many pupils do not know how to form their numbers correctly, they cannot record their work neatly and in Year 1 especially, they repeat work that they have learnt in the Foundation Stage. By the end of Year 6, the pupils’ presentation improves, but too many pupils are working at below national levels and higher attaining pupils in both key stages are under-challenged and make poor progress.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

10. In science, in both key stages, insufficient emphasis is placed on investigative and experimental science. Whilst the staff have recently had training in this aspect of the science programme of study, they have not had sufficient time to implement the recommendations. Pupils in both key stages do not have sufficient opportunities to communicate their findings in a variety of ways, especially in the form of charts and graphs and do not make sufficient gains in the learning of subject specific skills of prediction, observation, hypothesis or drawing conclusions from a variety of data. This is largely due to pupils’ poor skills in numeracy, literacy and information and communication technology. Crescent Primary School - 12 11. In the foundation subjects, the curriculum is not sufficiently well monitored for continuity and progression, assessments are unsatisfactory and subject specific skills are not clearly identified in

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

schemes of work. As a result, pupils are underachieving because teachers are unclear as to what pupils have previously learnt.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

12. In history, geography, art and design, design and technology and music, standards are below national expectations at the end of both key stages and pupils’ achievements are unsatisfactory in relation to their prior attainment. Standards in singing are satisfactory in both key stages and, in Key Stage 2, examples of satisfactory progress were seen in design and technology, because staff are starting to place emphasis on developing pupils’ skills of designing and making, but evaluation skills are underdeveloped. Pupils in both key stages achieve average standards in gymnastics in Key Stage 1 and in dance in Key Stage 2. In these areas, pupils make satisfactory progress overall.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

13. In religious education, standards are below the expectations of the locally agreed syllabus at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 because the school has not fully evaluated which aspects of the locally agreed syllabus will be supported by the national guidance from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and at present, time allocation is insecure because aspects of personal, social and health education are taught in time allocated to religious education. As a result, pupils are not developing their knowledge of religious education at a fast and sustainable enough rate. Pupils in both key stages have little understanding of how faith affects people’s lives.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

14. Pupils with special educational needs make unsatisfactory progress and some in Year 2 make poor progress. This is because tasks set for them by teachers do not help them to work independently and are not set at an appropriate level. A few make satisfactory progress where individual support is strong and class teaching is good. Pupils’ speech and language skills and literacy and numeracy skills are weak and their lack of achievement makes them bored and frustrated on some occasions, especially in literacy. This lack of progress is caused by the lack of use of assessment to plan suitable work for pupils. Also, the co-ordinator for special educational needs does not have sufficient time dedicated to monitoring pupils’ progress in lessons and supporting teachers’ planning. A significant proportion of pupils seen are below average attainers rather than having special educational needs and their individual education plans

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

reflect this. The school does not have sufficiently rigorous systems in place to identify pupils with special educational needs and there is apparent confusion between which pupils have special educational needs and which of them are below average attainers.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

15. Attitudes to the school are good, in spite of weaknesses in teaching, because pupils genuinely want to learn. Pupils show high levels of interest, enthusiasm and involvement in lessons and other school activities. For example, in a Year 4 mathematics lesson, a group of pupils enjoyed checking their answers to simple additions and subtractions involving two digit numbers, using learning aids. In a Year 4/5 literacy lesson, pupils were keen to answer whole class questions to show what they had learnt about words of instruction in sentences. Pupils also show much interest and enthusiasm in lunchtime and after school clubs. For example, the headteacher leads the weekly story club and it is pleasing to see how much pupils look forward to it. Pupils in the Foundation Stage are developing positive habits in their learning. They quickly get to learn the school routines. For example, during a lesson about letter and word sounds, all pupils were keen

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

to raise their hands to say what sounds were made by the names of toys in Donnie the Dog’s toy sack.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

16. The pupils at this school are well mannered and polite towards staff and visitors. Behaviour is good throughout the school. Pupils generally behave well in lessons, assemblies and at break times. However, when teaching lacks pace and challenge to any great extent, pupils become restless such that their behaviour deteriorates. Pupils say that bullying is not a problem, but if it occurs they are confident that they can tell staff and they will resolve it. Behaviour management by staff is generally satisfactory. Pupils show good moral development in their views about standards of behaviour they want to see in school. They often discuss school and classroom rules. These Crescent Primary School - 13 factors contribute to pupils’ good understanding of the impact of their actions on others. There were seven fixed period exclusions at this school in the last academic year, involving five boys.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

17. Relationships between adults and pupils and also between pupils are good. Pupils collaborate well in tasks with their peers. For example, in a Year 3 lesson on using the computer for writing, pupils worked well in pairs and supported each other’s learning. This also illustrates pupils’ good social development. Pupils show respect for the feelings, values and beliefs of others. This was evident in discussions with Year 6 pupils as they talked about different races and religions. It was also clear that pupils’ cultural development is sound, since they were sufficiently aware of their own cultural heritage, but more opportunities could be provided to enable them to learn more about life in a multicultural society.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

18. Personal development is sound on the whole. Pupils respond appropriately to responsibility. For example, pupils asked to carry out special tasks for their teachers and monitor duties, do so conscientiously. The school is well on its way to establishing a school council in the near future. Class councils have already held meetings. Even the youngest pupils are learning about ideas such as voting and election. Pupils show considerable initiative in making suggestions to improve the school; for instance, they are making good use of the ‘suggestions book’. However, pupils do not possess adequate independent learning and research skills. Inspectors also observed that teaching is often over-directed so that pupils are not learning to think for themselves enough.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

19. Attendance is poor. It is well below the national average and there is too much unauthorised absence. Punctuality is unsatisfactory as several pupils are frequently late each morning. Not all parents are fully aware of the importance of regular attendance and the poor attendance of some pupils is having a detrimental effect on their learning; as yet the school does not have rigorous enough systems to ensure that pupils catch up on what they have missed.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

20. Pupils with special educational needs have satisfactory attitudes to learning overall, but there are weaknesses in their response to learning. Teachers’ planning does not identify learning problems or create work with sufficiently small steps for pupils to make progress and overcome their difficulties. It does not make reference to the targets in pupils’ individual education plans. As a result the majority of pupils make unsatisfactory progress most of the time. Often the work is too difficult and does not enable the pupils to work with suitable independence. Sometimes literacy lessons in Key Stage 1 are far too long for these pupils who have short attention spans and, as a result, pupils lose concentration. Often teaching support assistants do not have instructions which are detailed enough to support pupils effectively, although they work hard and conscientiously. Where teaching is good, provision for special educational needs is improved

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

because of clearer presentation and more suitable tasks, but all teaching lacks finely graded work to make learning equally available to pupils of all abilities and this is an equal opportunities issue that the headteacher has not fully addressed. Pupils with statements do not receive sufficient attention in teachers’ lesson planning and are sometimes left without useful activities and occasionally without any activities at all. As a result, they lack concentration and their attitudes deteriorate.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

21. The quality of teaching is unsatisfactory from Year 1 to Year 6 and is a contributory factor to the slow rates of pupils’ learning. During the inspection 57 lessons or parts of lessons were seen. Approximately one lesson in 20 was very good, one in two was good, one in three was satisfactory and one in seven was unsatisfactory. Teaching is better in Years 4, 5 and 6, but weak systems relating to whole school self-evaluation prevent it from being effective over time and, as a result, standards in all subjects, apart from singing and aspects of physical education, are too low. This is because of unsatisfactory management which has not established a strong curriculum, effective assessment procedures or successful implementation of literacy and numeracy strategies. There are no cross-curricular policies identifying possible strategies to be used to reinforce the pupils’ basic skills. This has a knock-on effect for the learning of pupils of all abilities, including higher

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

attaining pupils and those with special educational needs. The lack of these policies makes it difficult for teachers to work together effectively and consistently because there is no strategic Crescent Primary School - 14 overview or vision for the school in relation to how teaching can be improved. This is largely due to insufficient monitoring of teaching and learning by the headteacher.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

22. In the Nursery and Reception classes teaching is good. Teachers have good subject knowledge, the curriculum is carefully planned and work is suited to the children’s abilities. Teachers’ expectations are high, their management of children is good and the children are successful, interested and motivated as a result. Teachers use assessment well and assess children with special educational needs early and, as a result, their needs are met effectively.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

23. In Year 1 and Year 2, teaching over time is unsatisfactory with elements that are poor, especially in literacy and numeracy. Whilst many lessons seen on inspection were satisfactory, scrutiny of pupils’ work, teachers’ planning and assessments reveal that there are nevertheless weaknesses which outweigh strengths. Planning is weak because of the unsatisfactory use of assessment to plan work to enable different groups of pupils to make satisfactory progress, especially those who are lower attainers and those who have special educational needs and these pupils are in the majority. For example, pupils often all had the same task with slightly greater or lesser degrees of difficulty rather than having their particular aims within targets analysed and specific tasks within the aim of the lesson set for them. Teachers in Key Stage 1 do not intervene sufficiently in pupils’ learning, for example, too often pupils consistently repeat the same spelling mistakes of key

p.16

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

words which are left uncorrected. Insufficient emphasis is placed on ensuring that numbers are not reversed and the use of time is unsatisfactory because such long periods are dedicated to teaching literacy and giving explanations that pupils do not get sufficient opportunities to stay on task and then evaluate their work. The remainder of the curriculum, where literacy, numeracy and ICT could be used in an interesting and practical way if the school had cross-curricular policies, is under-represented. This leads to reduced opportunities for pupils to practise and experience a wide range of skills and opportunities for learning which they need to help them to succeed at school. Teachers have insufficient knowledge of teaching reading, writing and mathematics effectively. Whilst they follow generally recommended guidelines, they have not taken into consideration the appropriateness of these in relation to the many difficulties that these pupils

p.16

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

experience in retaining information and recording their learning. As a result, pupils do not develop basic literacy skills adequately and this undermines and delays their progress throughout the primary school, because they cannot work independently and they lose confidence in their own ability. This makes work in Year 3 especially difficult as pupils start the Key Stage 2 curriculum with poor attainment in basic skills of literacy and numeracy. Teachers have not received enough help to support them, because school self-evaluation is not thorough enough as the monitoring of teaching and learning by the headteacher has not been rigorous. This is made worse by the lack of an effective curriculum, use of assessment and practical management to support pupils with special educational needs.

p.16

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

24. In Key Stage 2, during the week of inspection, the majority of lessons seen was satisfactory, with examples of good and very good teaching. Although the teaching is unsatisfactory over time because of a lack of whole school systems, teaching is better than in Key Stage 1 because time is generally used more effectively, the pace of teaching is better in most cases, there is more practical work and more opportunities are provided for pupils to practise what they have learnt in literacy and numeracy in other subjects. For example, in a Year 6 class, pupils were producing pamphlets encouraging people to visit a Sikh temple; this helped them reinforce previous learning in literacy. However, planning for lower attaining pupils and those with special educational needs is unsatisfactory and teachers’ expectations of their pupils are too low. These factors, with the school’s weak curriculum, combine to reduce the effectiveness of the efforts these teachers make

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

25. The most effective teaching is the result of highly organised practice, for example, in Year 5 in music and history and in Years 4 and 5 in art and design where lessons are interesting, practical and set at a level where all pupils can achieve. In other lessons, teachers’ expectations are reduced because they accept poor presentation, careless spelling and insufficient amounts of work. This is reflected in the unsatisfactory quality of teachers’ marking throughout the school where there is insufficient guidance for pupils to tell them how to improve their work and, too often, work that is clearly not their pupils’ best is marked as excellent. This gives pupils the wrong Crescent Primary School - 15 impression as to what is expected of them. An effective start has been made at introducing target setting, but not all teachers remember to encourage their pupils to focus sufficiently on their personal areas for improvement and there is a lack of consistency of approach throughout the

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

school. Whilst behaviour management is generally satisfactory, there are nevertheless weaknesses in Years 1 and 3, where the impact of the teachers’ subject knowledge in some lessons is not strong enough to remedy the high levels of underachievement and unsatisfactory working habits of some pupils. With appropriate systems in place, such as setting suitable targets, as the result of thorough assessment, correct teaching of basic skills of reading, writing and number, it is very likely that teaching in these classes could be satisfactory. 26. Teachers’ planning is unsatisfactory overall because it does not identify how the needs of various groups of pupils will be met and learning objectives are not sufficiently clear. As a result, the productivity and pace of work suffers and sometimes the pupils are not sure of what is expected of them. This reduces the amount and speed of independent learning. Too often teaching is over-

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

directed and because pupils want to learn they are initially receptive to any information available until they become bored as a result of their lack of success and then their attention and behaviour deteriorate. In spite of the many weaknesses, pupils generally want to learn and they enjoy using the good quality resources.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

27. Throughout the school there is generally a lack of sparkle and verve in teaching. Teachers’ pace is too slow. The pupils are biddable and too often teachers mistake this for effective learning. Teachers see pupils’ slow progress especially in Key Stage 1 as an inability to learn and do not recognise that the main reason for this is the lack of planning for pupils of different abilities. The productivity and pace of learning are poor in Years 1, 2 and 3 and unsatisfactory in Years 4, 5 and 6 over time, although some effective examples of satisfactory short term progress were seen during the week of inspection.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

28. Pupils with special educational needs are often willing to work hard and value new information, particularly in Key Stage 2 and when their work is more practical. For example in a lesson in Year 5 where the pupils learned how to filter water, pupils made good progress in learning new information and this, combined with good support, motivated the pupils so that they wanted to find out more. In an art lesson in Year 6 when pupils made and evaluated clay pots, their concentration and behaviour were good and they tried hard to work independently. However, in Years 1, 2 and 3 pupils become frustrated and bored because they cannot complete their work and have too little work they can complete alone.

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

29. In lessons observed it was clear that teaching support assistants are not regularly involved in planning and, at times, are unclear as to what is expected of them in order to help the pupils learn. Too often in lessons they shoulder the responsibility for supporting pupils who have learning difficulties without adequate guidance from management and class teachers. This is particularly the case when they are supporting pupils with severe and complex learning difficulties. At the other end of the spectrum they are often not deployed effectively, they spend too long listening to teachers’ whole class explanations and they are not sufficiently involved in assessing pupils’ work or offering suggestions based upon their observations of how pupils react to different methods used. Pupils with special educational needs are not taught effectively because insufficient analysis has been undertaken to establish their level of learning and this means that suitable work

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

is not set in lessons. As a result they do not achieve their full potential.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

30. Homework is satisfactory and is enjoyed by pupils but too often spellings are learned out of context and as a result pupils only remember them for the test and they are not committed to long-term memory. Too few opportunities are provided for pupils to develop their research and independent learning. In both key stages too many worksheets are used and this limits pupils’ rates of progress. Pupils are not taught how to learn, for example, some of the more effective strategies employed in the teaching of numeracy, such as holding numbers in your head to count on could usefully be applied to the teaching of spelling. Pupils are not taught what to do when they start losing attention and, as a result, they are not brought back to task quickly enough and learning becomes unsatisfactory. Crescent Primary School - 16

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PUPILS?

31. Crescent Primary is a new school and so it is not possible to compare the following judgements with those of a previous report.

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PUPILS?

32. The quality of curriculum provision is unsatisfactory. The school does not meet statutory requirements in teaching the agreed syllabus in religious education, because time is not properly allocated and there is confusion between this subject and personal, social and health education. No evidence was found, during the inspection, of the element of composition in music and there is insufficient depth to the planning and delivery of art and design. For example there is a lack of emphasis to developing in-depth pupil knowledge of famous artists, their techniques and their work.

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PUPILS?

33. In both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 the curriculum is generally broad, but insufficiently balanced. All subjects of the National Curriculum and religious education are taught, but the full programmes of study are not sufficiently well developed to have the required effect on standards. Policies are in place for all subjects and the school has adopted national strategies and guidelines. However, curriculum planning is not based upon a thorough analysis of pupils’ needs arising out of clear assessment procedures. As a result, national guidelines (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) for most subjects and commercially produced material for others, such as art and design, have not been amended or supplemented with additional planning to be tailor made and appropriate for these pupils, particularly in literacy and numeracy; this is one of the reasons why they make unsatisfactory progress. Literacy and numeracy strategies have been

p.18

PUPILS?

implemented, but they are ineffective in raising standards quickly enough. Basic skills are not being taught with sufficient and appropriate challenge and rigour. This is because teachers are not using assessment procedures to plan relevant work for different groups of pupils and they have not fully analysed pupils’ barriers to learning. As a result, lower ability pupils, those with special educational needs and higher attaining pupils are often given inappropriate tasks and make unsatisfactory progress. This is apparent from a scrutiny of pupils’ previous work and refers in particular to Key Stage 1 and Year 3. There is evidence that standards are beginning to improve in the later years of Key Stage 2, but they are not rising fast enough based upon the very low standards attained in test results in English, mathematics and science. The standards attained by the pupils in their written and recorded work generally are poor in Key Stage 1. The school is very

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PUPILS?

caring and does all it can to make sure the pupils are safe and happy. However, due to the unsatisfactory use of assessment and the imbalance of the curriculum, not all pupils are given the opportunity to be fully included in the statutory curriculum and the school’s equal opportunity obligations are not met.

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PUPILS?

34. The teaching of subject specific skills in each curriculum area to ensure pupils make appropriate gains in their knowledge and skills from year to year and Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 has not adequately been considered or monitored by co-ordinators or the senior management team. This results in an unnecessary repetition of work, especially in core curriculum areas and the lack of development of pupils’ skills and knowledge in other aspects of the subjects. At present, in spite of training given, not all co-ordinators are able to support and monitor the quality of teaching so that subject specific skills are taught with the required elements of progression, continuity, challenge and high expectation from year to year and Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2, because they are not fully trained in identifying how teaching methods used impact on the gains pupils make in learning.

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PUPILS?

35. The school has not considered the imbalance in time allocation to specific subjects across the school, especially in Key Stage 1, as is clearly demonstrated by the lack of appropriate time allocated for full coverage of the foundation subjects. The time given to literacy over and above the literacy hour, through activities such as story, guided reading, handwriting, extended writing and progression in phonics, together with the time given to personal, social and health education, results in the under-valuing of other subjects and there are times when pupils spend large parts of Crescent Primary School - 17 the day engaged in literacy pursuits. There are occasions when they lack stimulation and become bored because learning is out of context and the curriculum is fragmented.

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PUPILS?

36. The governors and staff have not yet developed a whole school policy on the use of literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology across the curriculum. It is very likely that once this is undertaken it will help to address the imbalance of time allocation. At present the school has not considered in particular the time allocation to science and foundation subjects, such as history, geography, art and design, music and design and technology in Key Stage 1. In both key stages a rigorous analysis has not been undertaken as to how much time will be devoted to personal, social and health education and how long pupils will spend learning religious education. Although an attempt has been made to reconcile the QCA scheme of work with the agreed syllabus, there is still much work to be done in ensuring that this is effectively completed. The time allocated for these subjects, by the ‘blocking’ system adopted in Key Stage 1, does not

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PUPILS?

always allow sufficient opportunity for teachers to cover the required elements and the progressive development of skills. The lack of whole school approaches, such as planning of the Key Stage 1 curriculum being different to that of Key Stage 2 and not teaching foundation subjects regularly, has a detrimental effect on pupils’ learning as evidenced by the very low standards attained at the end of Year 2 and Year 6.

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PUPILS?

37. The curriculum for the Foundation Stage of learning is good. It is well planned, providing the children with good opportunities for learning through their senses, structured play and more formal work. Good resources supplement the well structured learning activities provided for the pupils and the outdoor environment provides rich learning experiences because every opportunity is taken to improve pupils’ language development.

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PUPILS?

38. The provision for personal, social and health education is good and plays a positive part in the social and moral development of the pupils. The school ensures that pupils are aware of the dangers of drugs through a drug awareness initiative organised by the police. Growth and change are included in the science scheme of work in every year group and so the sex education unit in Year 6, to which the school nurse contributes, is a natural extension. Citizenship is being successfully introduced through class councils and the intention is for these to lead to a school council later in the year.

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PUPILS?

39. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory overall. It is good for moral and social development, but just satisfactory for spiritual and cultural development.

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PUPILS?

40. Provision for pupils’ spiritual development is satisfactory. Pupils are taught to care about their environment and good learning opportunities are provided by visits to Perlethorpe Environmental Centre and Brackenhurst where pupils develop their orienteering skills and are taught about the beauty of the outdoor environment. The use of signing to include pupils who have hearing impairment makes a positive contribution to pupils’ spiritual development as pupils are taught how to respect one another’s differences. Visitors from local churches make a good contribution to pupils’ spiritual development, especially in their understanding of the marvels associated with the creation story. Pupils have been to the Magna science museum and marvel at scientific discoveries. Pupils in Key Stage 1 have visited the local park to develop their scientific knowledge of forces, but overall there is a lack of a whole school approach in planning opportunities for pupils

p.19

PUPILS?

to develop their spiritual awareness across the curriculum, although they do happen incidentally.

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PUPILS?

41. Provision for pupils’ moral development is good. Pupils are given plenty of opportunities to discuss the implications of what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. They understand class and school rules and through these they develop a strong moral code in relation to understanding the impact of their actions on others. The personal, social and health education programme, together with circle time, helps pupils in situations that they might find difficult to cope with on their own. Pupils take great care in devising their class rules, discussing what makes them angry and are aware that resources need to be treated with care.

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PUPILS?

42. Provision for social development is good. The good range of extra-curricular activities contributes positively to pupils’ social development and pupils’ good attitudes to learning. Pupils are eager to Crescent Primary School - 18 learn and they participate well in the good range of clubs provided for them. They take part in school productions and they have performed in Yanamamo musicals with other Mansfield schools. They participate in the Nottinghamshire Christmas concert and they have taken part in Christmas productions in school. The residential trip to Derbyshire provided pupils with a good range of activities to develop their social skills. Various sports clubs enable pupils to develop a healthy competitive spirit. Pupils are given opportunities to take responsibility for jobs around the school. Tuck shop monitors and library monitors execute their duties well. Pupils work well together in

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PUPILS?

groups and, in Year 6, pupils display good social skills when working with one another in art and design and religious education.

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PUPILS?

43. Provision for cultural development is satisfactory. The school provides sound opportunities for developing pupils’ awareness of their own culture. Pupils are taken to theatres, museums and, in the coming year, a full range of trips is planned, including a trip to Jorvik. However, more can be done to develop pupils’ awareness of other cultures through well planned curriculum opportunities. At present too few opportunities are provided through art and design, literacy and other foundation subjects to ensure that pupils are fully aware of the multicultural nature of our society. For example, in religious education pupils are taught about customs, festivals and traditions, but they are not fully aware of how these bind communities together. There are limited incidents throughout the school of inadvertent use of racial stereotypes. Staff would benefit from having some training on these issues, even though there has been effective implementation of the Race Relations Act.

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PUPILS?

44. The overall good provision for pupils’ moral and social development contributes to developing pupils’ interests in learning and results in them having generally good attitudes to work. The school’s relationships with partner institutions are satisfactory and the school is actively involved with the Mansfield family of schools. As the school is only in its second year of admitting Year 6 pupils, effective links with secondary schools are being set up and links with partner institutions are satisfactory overall.

p.20

PUPILS?

45. The school provides a good range of before and after school activities. These range from the breakfast club, sporting activities, choir, art, computer, first aid, gardening and story club. These have a positive effect on the physical and social development of the pupils and illustrate the care and concern that staff have for the pupils. Good use is made of visits and visitors to the school. These include links with Mansfield Town Football Club, a residential visit to Hathersage, visits to the cinema and the seaside and visits from local clergy, the local education authority, peripatetic music teachers and a theatre group. These activities have a positive effect on the social, physical and intellectual development of the pupils. There are also good links with the local cluster of primary schools and the secondary school.

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PUPILS?

46. Provision for pupils with special educational needs is unsatisfactory because the school’s curriculum for all pupils is weak and because the quality of teaching does not ensure equal access to a range of subjects provided, as a result of teachers’ weak planning for pupils with special educational needs. The majority of pupils with special educational needs have better access to the curriculum where work is practical, such as in physical education, singing and art and in other lessons where the work is presented and explained in a practical way. Pupils with statements make sound progress where they have additional well planned support, but for most of the time, when they are unsupported, they are unable to learn effectively because support identified in statements is not rigorously upheld in practice.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

47. The school cares well for the pastoral needs of its pupils. Parents are rightly pleased at the level of care provided for their children. The school provides a warm, safe and secure learning environment. These factors are effective in supporting pupils in their learning. The school has established a breakfast club that is popular. This provides a good start to the day for many pupils who enjoy the healthy breakfast that is served.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

48. Arrangements for induction into the Nursery are good. New pupils are gradually and sensitively introduced to school routines and consequently they settle in quickly. At the other extreme, Year Crescent Primary School - 19 6 pupils are appropriately introduced to secondary school life, through good links with the Queen Elizabeth II Comprehensive School. Pupils have several opportunities to meet staff from the comprehensive school. For example, staff take assemblies and pupils can also take part in a summer school just before they are due to start at their new school. Good assessment procedures are in place and observations of pupils’ learning are carried out effectively. This enables staff to plan tasks best suited to pupils’ needs.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

49. Arrangements for child protection are good. The designated officer is appropriately trained and deals with any issues effectively. Staff show a high level of care and vigilance at all times. Many staff have had basic training in procedures and they all receive good written guidance. Procedures to ensure pupils’ welfare are good overall. Risk assessments are comprehensive and carried out regularly. Accident and emergency procedures are effective in dealing with problems, including arrangements for giving first aid. Fire drills are carried out regularly and appropriately recorded.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

50. The school works closely and effectively with several external agencies in raising awareness of health and safety matters. For example, the fire service and school nurse visit the school regularly to give talks to raise their awareness of issues of health and safety.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

51. Staff know pupils well and there are sound procedures to monitor and support personal development. A ‘pupil profile’ is updated regularly and such records are kept for all pupils. The information includes attendance, behaviour, interests and relationships. The pastoral care of pupils with special educational needs is good. Their individual education plans, drawn up by the special educational needs co-ordinator and teachers, are in place, but teachers do not always implement their targets when planning lessons. This, combined with insufficient analysis of their difficulties and lack of target setting, makes provision unsatisfactory overall because gains made in learning are minimal.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

52. Procedures to monitor and improve attendance are sound overall. Computer records provide detailed information about classes and individual pupils. However, the school does not identify groups of pupils who may have problems, nor does it quantify holidays taken during term times. Frequent reminders are given to parents about the importance of good attendance and punctuality. Certificates for good and improved attendance and class attendance cups are awarded each half term. This is beginning to develop a healthy spirit of competition in school and should help raise attendance levels.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

53. Procedures for monitoring and promoting good behaviour are good. Incident books are kept for lunchtime and classroom behaviour and these enable staff to identify and monitor any problems. The school works closely and effectively with external agencies to provide additional support where necessary. Rewards are well used. These include a gold award for good behaviour and a class of the week is nominated. Superstars assemblies are valued by pupils and include special mentions for kindness, good deeds and achievement.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

54. However, there are several significant weaknesses regarding the assessment of pupils’ academic abilities, so that inspectors judge the educational and personal support and guidance offered overall, to be unsatisfactory.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

55. Assessment is unsatisfactory overall in all subjects. Whilst aspects of assessment have been put in place for English, mathematics and science they are not as yet rigorous enough to give a detailed overview of pupils’ strengths and weaknesses in learning. Assessments in foundation subjects are unsatisfactory and teachers do not have a full overview of the standards that their pupils attain.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

56. The use of assessment to inform the next steps of pupils’ learning is unsatisfactory and, as a result, all groups of pupils are underachieving. The vast majority of teachers are unclear as to how their pupils are progressing in the acquisition of subject specific skills and, as a result, tasks are not sufficiently well matched to pupils’ needs. The lack of detailed assessments in foundation subjects means that reports for parents are less precise than they should be and that gifted and talented pupils are less likely to be identified. The unsatisfactory use of assessment hinders Crescent Primary School - 20 teachers from planning work at a suitable number of levels to challenge pupils, consolidate existing knowledge and help them learn to become independent in their undertakings. The school has made an effective start at analysing test results to determine particular weaknesses, but it has not translated these findings into effective strategies, as evidenced by curriculum planning,

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

that all teachers can use in order to raise standards at a much faster pace.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

57. The school is caring and the building is well planned for catering for pupils’ needs. However, the lack of suitable assessment and planning works against the school’s good intentions.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

58. Parents mainly have good and positive views of the school. Replies to the parental questionnaire and responses given at the parents’ meeting, show that parents have much confidence in the school and staff. They are pleased with the school’s expectations for their children, teaching and behaviour. The majority are pleased about their children’s progress, leadership and management of the school, their children’s enthusiasm for school and how the school is helping their children become mature and responsible. Most are content with homework and information from the school about their children’s progress, but a minority would like to have more information on what their children can and cannot do. Inspection findings are contrary to parents’ views in several regards and these are made clear in relevant sections of this report.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

59. The school provides some useful and well presented information for parents. However, the quality of information, especially about pupils’ progress, is unsatisfactory overall. This is because of the poor quality of pupils’ annual reports. They largely talk about what pupils have done, rather than how well they have done it. They contain very little information about what pupils know, understand and can do. Learning targets are sometimes set, but the weakness they are designed to address is rarely identified. The school prospectus and governors’ annual reports meet requirements and contain sufficient details about the school’s policies and procedures. In addition, there is good quality information about the Nursery, homework and attendance policies. Newsletters are sent home frequently, giving useful information and dates to remember.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

60. Links with parents are effective and their involvement has a sound impact on the work of the school. The contribution of parents to children’s learning, at school and at home, is sound. Several parents help out in the school and they are both dedicated and loyal in all of their undertakings. The school’s links with parents of pupils with special educational needs are satisfactory. Parents are invited to attend annual reviews.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

61. The parents’ and teachers’ association (Friends of Crescent Primary School) provides good support for the school through organising some successful social and fund-raising events. The group raises a considerable amount of money each year and this is used to buy additional learning resources. Some parents help with school activities on a regular basis. They give their time very generously in supporting pupils in classrooms, the library and in extra-curricular activities. Several parents are specially trained to listen to readers through the better reading partnership scheme. Together with a local college, the school works hard to provide training courses for parents on the school premises. Recent courses have included information technology and there are several others planned for the near future, but further work needs to convince parents of the value of education and motivate those parents, who at present are not sending their children to school, to

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

62. The leadership and management of the headteacher are unsatisfactory. Whilst the headteacher uses key staff well, she has delegated too much responsibility to them for keeping her informed of standards in their subjects without ensuring that they fully understand how to evaluate the impact of the school’s provision on standards. The headteacher has failed to give her staff a firm steer towards a secure vision and has not put sufficiently rigorous systems in place to curb pupils’ underachievement. The school aims to provide pupils with the best possible education, but this is Crescent Primary School - 21 not reflected in the day-to-day work of the school because staff cannot give of their best due to the fact that there are so many things to do in order to enable pupils to access the curriculum. The deputy headteacher is an effective classroom practitioner who has adequately identified certain

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

areas for improvement in relation to raising standards in literacy, but, because of too many duties and the headteacher’s lack of clear strategic vision to guide and support her, she is unable to raise standards quickly and effectively. Whilst the school’s standards are undermined by the weak use of assessments, new arrangements have been introduced and are in the early stages of being used. The newly appointed assessment co-ordinator has a clear view of how to raise standards and improve planning through the use of assessment data. However, the effect of this is not yet seen because the co-ordinator has only been in post for several weeks.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

63. Management of special educational needs is unsatisfactory overall because the special educational needs co-ordinator does not go into classes and show teachers how to use pupils’ individual education plans in planning. She teaches in the nursery and does not have sufficient opportunity to monitor special educational needs provision in classes. Also, she does not have sufficient knowledge of the demands of the Key Stage 2 curriculum in order to help teachers plan tasks best suited to the needs of the pupils. The special educational needs co-ordinator is appropriately aware of the new code of practice and pupils’ individual education plans are well written with respect to needs identification, but they are not used effectively in lessons to move pupils on in their learning or to alter curriculum planning to suit the various needs of all the pupils.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

64. The school’s weak assessment systems, unsatisfactory curriculum planning and insufficiently well implemented literacy and numeracy strategies combine to work against successful provision of formal systems required to help move these pupils on at a fast and efficient rate. Annual reviews for pupils with statements are satisfactory, but do not indicate programmes which are additional or different from those normally expected for pupils with a range of abilities in any classroom. Teachers do not have the necessary insight and information to provide strategies to meet the needs of their pupils and this is the result of insufficient support by senior management and lack of training.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

65. The governors are very supportive of the school. The chair of governors is knowledgeable and his professional expertise is used well. He cares deeply about the needs of the community, pupils, staff and parents. Governors have been told through external monitoring that staff are working in the right direction and that the quality of teaching is satisfactory. It is on the basis of this information that they have been involved in shaping the direction of the school. The governors have a clear committee structure and meet regularly, but they have failed to ensure that the headteacher and staff are accountable for the standards that pupils attain and that the curriculum is appropriately implemented. Governors are appropriately involved in all aspects of school development, but are not yet thoroughly assessing the cost effectiveness of spending in relation to the standards that pupils attain. Governors need to have further training on being clear as to how

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

teachers’ performance and pay are linked. As a result, the impact of their work is unsatisfactory. They do apply the principles of best value in the school’s securing and use of resources and services, but have not fully considered value for money given by support staff. The large carry forward figure (16 per cent) is earmarked to support teaching assistants’ salaries and consists of devolved formula capital funding which has already been committed.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

66. Performance management procedures are in place for teaching staff. However, targets are too broad and are not specific and measurable in using reasonable timescales for completion. For example, “to raise standards in reading” is very broad and insufficient strategies are identified as to how this will be achieved quickly and effectively. Performance management targets are not sufficiently supported by specific criteria to identify exactly how they will be achieved and the use of pupils’ performance data is not sufficiently rigorous. As yet support staff are not held accountable for the pupils’ rates of progress and standards that they attain and there is a lack of a whole school strategic overview relating to where staff will be appropriately deployed. As a result, targeted support for pupils is ineffective because their rates of progress are too slow. Overall performance management is not sufficiently well embedded and monitored to have a positive effect

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

on raising standards and is judged unsatisfactory overall. Crescent Primary School - 22 67. The school improvement plan is not sufficiently well focused to move the school on quickly and effectively because, whilst it identifies what needs to be done, it does not clearly identify how it will be undertaken so that staff are secure in their undertakings. It appears not to make explicit reference to the local education authority’s education plan and success criteria are too vague to enable effective monitoring to take place. For example, in order to raise standards in English, the school is going to focus on increasing children’s motivation to read. However this is solely linked to encouraging pupils to use the library and does not include a range of other means of raising standards, such as use of support staff, improving teaching skills, effectively deploying other adults, book weeks, parental involvement, resources for guided reading, training of support staff

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

and the focus of monitoring by the headteacher of what goes on in guided reading time and whether measurable performance indicators are related to pupils’ outcomes. Furthermore, staff’s professional development is not sufficiently well linked to pupil progress objectives, especially in helping staff evaluate the quality of teaching on learning and raising rates of progress for those pupils with special educational needs.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

68. The overall monitoring, evaluation and development of teaching is unsatisfactory; the headteacher is not aware of weaknesses in teaching and believes that all staff are good teachers. Her monitoring of teaching is too general to reveal the lack of pace, rigour and low expectations seen in many of the lessons during the week of inspection. The headteacher’s monitoring is not specific enough to evaluate the impact of teaching on learning over time and to identify where teaching needs to be improved. For example, information on assessments for English, mathematics and science is recorded, but these are not used sufficiently well to inform future improvements in relation to target groups and success criteria. Targets for 2002 were not set for literacy and numeracy because of the re-organisation of Mansfield schools. However, targets for English and mathematics for 2003 are unambitious and too low. The school does not

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

satisfactorily face up to its weaknesses and fails to take adequate steps to overcome them. The vast majority of staff share a commitment to improvement, but the current capacity to succeed is unsatisfactory. For example, there are no plans for Key Stage 1 staff to see the examples of effective practice in Years 4, 5 and 6. The headteacher is not sufficiently involved in having hands on experience of what is happening in classrooms and relies too heavily on co-ordinators to furnish her with vital information. This puts too much pressure on staff who are not yet sufficiently trained to make such refined judgements. The majority of co-ordinators are new to their posts. They have made an effective start at auditing their subjects, but need further training in monitoring standards and developing whole school systems for raising standards.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

69. Financial management is satisfactory. A recent audit report found appropriate systems in place and any weaknesses have been acted upon. At present the administrator is on sick leave, but the school’s administration is appropriately managed by relief clerical staff. The school is steadily developing its use of new technologies and assessment data and target setting is due to be electronically operated. The headteacher is working very hard to raise grants to support the school; she has been successful in acquiring money from the bids that she has put in, but needs to develop the role of a teacher funded by the single renumeration budget to work more effectively with parents so that they can become true partners in their children’s learning. At present this teacher is mainly deployed for targeted small group support and her skills are underused. The school has a good number of trained teachers and support staff to match the demands of the

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

curriculum, but they are not always best deployed to meet the needs of the pupils. The provision for the induction of staff new to the school is satisfactory, as is the general programme for continuing staff development, but the evaluation of subsequent effectiveness on the standards that pupils attain is unsatisfactory. Nevertheless staff need further training on raising multicultural awareness throughout the school and on helping staff deliver suitable learning opportunities for pupils with special educational needs.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

70. The adequacy of the school accommodation is very good, with the exception of the split site. Much valuable time is wasted walking pupils to the hall and to the ICT suite situated in the Upper Key Stage 2 building. When it is raining, staff and pupils get wet and consideration should be given to building an enclosed corridor as and when funds allow. The displays in the classrooms and around the school are satisfactory; they are well presented, but too often work on public display is not the pupils’ best and contains spelling mistakes which are on public view. Without Crescent Primary School - 23 appropriate modelling for pupils of what is perceived to be of high quality, pupils will not know what is expected of them. The internal accommodation is spacious and clean. A small library and reading area have been provided and these are used well to promote an interest in books. The external accommodation is good and pupils have plenty of space to use for outdoor play. The

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

accommodation for the Foundation Stage is very good, both indoor and outdoor. The outdoor accommodation offers plenty of opportunities for learning through discovery and structured play. Access for pupils with disabilities is good. As and when funds allow, governors may wish to consider the use of sound field systems to help pupils, especially the minority of pupils with hearing impairment, to diminish noise interference in class.

p.25

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

71. Overall the range and quality of learning resources are good and this has a significant impact on pupils’ positive attitudes; there are no serious deficiencies in any subject area. Co-ordinators have ensured that each subject is appropriately resourced and have identified future purchases that need to be made. Crescent Primary School - 24

p.25

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

For the purpose of clarity to readers of the report, reference to paragraph numbers of aspects inspected has been limited to Part B of the report.

p.26

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

72. In order to raise standards further, the headteacher, staff and governing body, with help from the local education authority, need to:

p.26

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(i) Raise standards and pupils’ progress in all subjects, but especially in English, mathematics, science and information and communication technology by ensuring that:

p.26

English 6, 7, 8, 23, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95

• the literacy strategy is effectively implemented with its constituent parts clearly linked to text level work; • the good gains made in the Foundation Stage of learning are effectively built upon in Key Stage 1; • a rigorous speaking and listening policy is implemented so that pupils can improve their vocabulary and sentence construction; • handwriting, spelling and reading are taught in context through text level work and that tasks set match pupils’ needs; • principles of guided reading are effectively taught and that pupils read books which are appropriate to their reading levels; • learning objectives are clearly defined and that pupils understand what is expected of them; • planning clearly identifies what all groups of pupils will be doing and that pupils with special educational needs have their targets from their individual education plans clearly identified in planning; • plenary sessions are purposeful and that pupils are helped to identify what they can

p.26

English 6, 7, 8, 23, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95

and cannot do; • opportunities are provided for pupils to practise what they have learnt in literacy in other subjects and that discrete teaching of skills is regularly applied back into reading and writing opportunities for pupils; • time is allocated appropriately so that pupils can finish their work; and • better use is made of the library to improve pupils’ opportunities for research and independent learning.

p.26

Mathematics 6, 7, 9, 23, 102, 103, 104

• the good gains made in the Foundation Stage are effectively built upon throughout the school; • pupils learn how to form their numbers correctly; • they are given plenty of opportunities to verbalise their thinking through well- structured opportunities of speaking and listening and appropriately focused plenary sessions; • clear learning objectives are shared with pupils and pupils know what is expected of them in lessons; • more opportunities are provided for pupils to become independent learners; • opportunities are identified in other subject areas for pupils to develop their numeracy skills; and • pupils use ICT appropriately to support their learning.

p.26

Science 6, 7, 10, 23, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116

• appropriate time is allocated to teaching the subject; • clear expectations of what skills and knowledge pupils will acquire are defined in medium term planning; • timescales for implementing the co-ordinator’s action plan are brought forward; Crescent Primary School - 25 • the curriculum is monitored for the clear development of scientific skills; • staff have further training in how to teach experimental and investigative science; • the use of worksheets is limited; • pupils are given opportunities to develop their research skills; and • opportunities are defined in curriculum planning for pupils to develop their skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT.

p.26

Information and communication technology 6, 7, 23, 134, 135

• ICT is used effectively to support all aspects of pupils’ learning in all curriculum subjects; • a whole school approach to using ICT across the curriculum is developed; • computers are used in classrooms to support pupils’ learning and that skills learnt in the ICT suite are effectively consolidated in classrooms; and • every subject has the appropriate software to support pupils’ learning.

p.27

Information and communication technology 6, 7, 23, 134, 135

(ii) Improve provision for pupils with special educational needs by ensuring that: 14, 20, 28,

p.27

46, 59, 63

• the special educational needs co-ordinator has sufficient time to monitor the progress of these pupils in lessons; • staff identify these pupils’ needs in planning; • pupils who have severe learning difficulties have appropriate equipment in place; • teachers are aware that pupils’ individual education plans must be additional and different to those of below average attainers; • teachers understand the difference between pupils who are below average attainers and those who have special educational needs when identifying them for school action; • teachers plan appropriately with support assistants for these pupils’ needs and that they carry ultimate responsibility for the pupils in their care; and • teachers receive appropriate training to meet the wide range of learning needs of these pupils.

p.27

46, 59, 63

(iii) Improve the quality of teaching throughout the school and the unsatisfactory rates of pupils’ learning by ensuring that: 2, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

p.27

46, 59, 63

• teachers have secure subject knowledge of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, science, ICT, religious education and all foundation subjects, especially subject specific skills; • teachers are fully aware of the skills underpinning level descriptors so that these can be used to move pupils on in their learning; • teachers match tasks to the needs of the pupils by improving the quality of planning; • teachers plan with support staff and identify clear learning objectives for all groups of pupils which challenge pupils suitably; • time is used effectively; • teachers have high expectations and improve the quality of their marking so that pupils know how to improve their work; • teachers limit the use of worksheets and insist that pupils produce their work neatly; and • teachers ensure that basic skills of reading, writing and number are effectively taught.

p.27

46, 59, 63

(iv) Improve curriculum planning by: 11, 23, 24, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 46

p.27

46, 59, 63

• developing a strategic overview of how much time needs to be allocated to each subject; Crescent Primary School - 26 • ensuring that curriculum planning is checked rigorously for a clear identification of subject specific skills and is monitored regularly for its effectiveness on pupils’ learning; • ensuring that pupils’ barriers to learning are fully analysed and that schemes of work are appropriately matched to meet the needs of these pupils; • identifying opportunities for literacy, numeracy and ICT in all schemes of work; • ensuring that clear expectations are defined in medium term planning of what pupils should know, understand and do in each year group in relation to their prior attainment; • ensuring that all pupils have equality of access to a curriculum suitable for their age; • ensuring that further opportunities are provided for pupils to develop their spiritual and cultural awareness; • ensuring that racial and other stereotyping are not promoted and staff are trained in

p.27

46, 59, 63

developing the multicultural dimension in all aspects of school life; and • ensuring that statutory requirements are met for religious education, music (composition) and art and design.

p.28

46, 59, 63

(v) Develop the use of assessment procedures and their use in moving pupils on in their learning by: 6, 20, 23, 54, 56, 59, 64

p.28

46, 59, 63

• clearly identifying assessment procedures in all subjects that are appropriately linked to skills underpinning level descriptors; • ensuring that analysis of test results alters curriculum and lesson planning effectively; • ensuring that parents and pupils are made fully aware of what pupils need to do in order to improve their learning and that reports to parents are more informative in relation to identifying pupils’ strengths and weaknesses in learning; and • ensuring that assessments are rigorously used for targeting all groups of pupils, including those with SEN and higher attainers.

p.28

46, 59, 63

(vi) Improve attendance rates by: 19, 52

p.28

46, 59, 63

• working more closely with parents to help them understand the value of education; and • providing more workshops for parents and inviting them into school so that they can be made aware of what goes on in the life of the school.

p.28

46, 59, 63

(vii) Improve the leadership and management of the headteacher, key staff, co-ordinators and governors by:

p.28

Headteacher 2, 6, 32, 33, 62, 64, 66, 68, 69

• ensuring that the headteacher has a strategic overview of the many weaknesses this school faces and establishes a clear educational direction for the school by raising standards quickly and effectively by bringing forward the dates in the school improvement plan for ensuring that teaching and learning are monitored; • establishing effective systems of whole school self-evaluation closely linked to performance management objectives of all staff; • ensuring that the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies are effectively implemented; • ensuring that teaching and learning and curriculum planning are effectively monitored; • ensuring that support staff are effectively deployed; • ensuring that the headteacher has first hand knowledge of every aspect of school life; and • ensuring that the school development plan appropriately reflects the school’s main priorities for improvement with a rigorously time limited schedule.

p.28

Headteacher 2, 6, 32, 33, 62, 64, 66, 68, 69

Crescent Primary School - 27 Crescent Primary School - 28

p.29

Key staff and co-ordinators 63, 68

• ensuring that key staff have a manageable workload and that they are given clear directions from the headteacher on how to raise standards; • ensuring that the SENCO has sufficient release time to ensure that staff use IEPs in their planning; and • ensuring that co-ordinators continue to be trained in monitoring standards in their subjects.

p.30

Governors 65

• ensuring that governors hold the headteacher and staff responsible for the standards that pupils attain and that they receive regular update of how effectively standards are rising; and • ensuring that they judge the cost effectiveness of their spending decisions. Crescent Primary School - 29

p.30

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 25

p.31

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very poor

p.31

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. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents more than one percentage point.

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 32 272

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 0 113

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 3

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 31 111

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 1

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 49

p.31

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 37

p.31

Attendance

National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5 Crescent Primary School - 30 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Crescent Primary School - 31

p.31

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 2002 14 15 29

p.33

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

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

p.33

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

Boys 8 8 9 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 11 13 12

p.33

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

Percentage of pupils School 66 (N/A) 72 (N/A) 72 (N/A) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (84) 86 (86) 90 (91)

p.33

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

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.33

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

Boys 8 10 9 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 12 14 13

p.33

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

Percentage of pupils School 69 (N/A) 83 (N/A) 76 (N/A) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (85) 89 (89) 89 (89)

p.33

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

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

p.33

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 2002 21 27 48

p.33

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

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

p.33

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

Boys 10 9 13 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 15 10 19

p.33

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

Percentage of pupils School 53 (N/A) 40 (N/A) 67 (N/A) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 73 (71) 86 (87)

p.33

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

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.33

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

Boys 10 10 12 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 14 13 16

p.33

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

Percentage of pupils School 50 (N/A) 48 (N/A) 58 (N/A) at NC level 4 or above National 73 (72) 74 (74) 82 (82)

p.33

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

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Crescent Primary School - 32

p.33

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Categories used in the Annual School Census No of pupils on roll Number of fixed period exclusions Number of permanent exclusions

p.34

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

White – any other White background 1 0 0

p.34

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Mixed – any other mixed background 0 0 0

p.34

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Asian or Asian British - Pakistani 0 0 0

p.34

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Asian or Asian British – Bangladeshi 0 0 0

p.34

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Asian or Asian British – any other Asian background 0 0 0

p.34

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black or Black British – Caribbean 0 0 0

p.34

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black or Black British – any other Black background 0 0 0

p.34

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

The table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. It gives the number of exclusions, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded. Crescent Primary School - 33

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 12 Financial year 2001/2002

p.35

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 22.6

p.35

Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total income 570,752

p.35

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 7 Total expenditure 478,749

p.35

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week N/A Expenditure per pupil 1,491

p.35

Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 0

p.35

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1 Balance carried forward to next year 92,003

p.35

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 30.1

p.35

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 2

p.35

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week N/A

p.35

Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 1

p.35

Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 12*

p.35

Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

p.35

Recruitment of teachers

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

p.35

Recruitment of teachers

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

p.35

Recruitment of teachers

* As school is newly amalgamated, it can be interpreted that all staff are newly appointed to their posts. Crescent Primary School - 34

p.35

Percentage of responses in each category

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

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 51 43 5 0 2

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 48 49 2 0 2

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 32 55 6 0 6

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 37 48 12 2 2

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 58 34 3 2 3

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 63 34 0 0 3

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 31 52 11 2 5

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 40 54 0 2 5

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 38 52 6 0 3

p.36

Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 38 45 5 0 12 Crescent Primary School - 35

p.36

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

73. Children enter the Foundation Stage of learning with standards of attainment that are well below average for speaking and listening, reading and writing. They enter the Nursery when they are three and the Reception class in the term of their fifth birthday. During their time in Nursery and in the Reception class they make good progress because of the good quality of teaching, good provision for learning, for example a well planned curriculum and learning resources and effective use of support staff. By the time they enter Year 1 the vast majority of children have attained the early learning goals in personal, social and emotional development and physical development. In these two areas of learning pupils’ achievements are very good. In all other areas of learning children do not attain the early learning goals, but they achieve well in relation to their prior attainment.

p.37

Personal, social and emotional development

74. The vast majority of pupils start school with immature skills in personal, social and emotional development. The appropriately organised induction procedures ensure that most children enter the Nursery and Reception class with a measure of confidence.

p.37

Personal, social and emotional development

75. Positive relationships develop between children and adults and the personal, social, emotional and health education programme is effectively implemented. In the Nursery children are only too willing to help Olivia the puppet understand classroom routines and tell her not to shout out answers to questions, but to put her hand up. Children share their toys and participate well in circle time. They take turns, they are polite with one another and tidy their toys up quickly and efficiently. Activities are organised so that children have plenty of opportunities to work together and independently, to make decisions for themselves and to take the initiative. All staff work together and provide good role models for the children, they acknowledge children’s feelings and work with them to resolve conflicts. Staff provide a well resourced, bright and cheerful environment that celebrates children’s achievements.

p.37

Personal, social and emotional development

76. The quality of teaching is good, both in the Nursery and in the Reception class and, as a result, pupils achieve very well in relation to their prior attainment. Teachers know their pupils well and ensure that classroom routines are followed correctly. Children are taught how to get on well with one another and follow classroom rules. Teachers ensure that these young children have the opportunities to look after pets, such as Rosie the rabbit. Teachers provide a safe and secure learning environment, resulting in children not being worried to leave their parents before coming to school.

p.37

Communication, language and literacy

77. Most children enter the Reception class with standards below those expected in communication, language and literacy. They make good progress, but do not attain the early learning goals. Many children pay attention to adults and listen carefully when being given instructions and guidance on activities. They make good gains in understanding, identifying and writing initial sounds and many of them know how to handle books, but have difficulty in discussing what is happening in the pictures. The Foundation Stage lending library and use of story sacks enable these young children to make good gains in learning because parents are encouraged to become true partners in their children’s learning. Most children can distinguish text from pictures and have good sequencing skills. For example, in the Nursery, they make good progress in acting out the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and in the Reception class children help the puppet to

p.37

Communication, language and literacy

identify initial sounds; in a guided reading session, higher attaining pupils were able to identify capital letters and full stops in text. Most children have appropriate book handling skills. They Crescent Primary School - 36 know how to turn pages carefully and several higher attaining children can identify several high frequency words in text.

p.37

Communication, language and literacy

78. The quality of teaching is good, both in the Nursery and in the Reception class. In the Reception class the class teacher is very effectively implementing aspects of the literacy hour; this results in most pupils being able to identify several key words in books. On occasions in the Nursery children do not spend long enough on task because they want to experience many of the good learning experiences provided for them. Persevering in relation to finishing what they have started would have even a more positive effect on learning. Teachers provide good learning opportunities for children to develop their emerging writing skills, for example, in the writing corner children are encouraged to write shopping lists, menus, letters and many of the children can write their own names. Teachers intervene appropriately in learning, they guide the children to find words in displays, they model correct letter formation and generally teach basic skills well.

p.38

Mathematical development

79. Although most children make good gains in their learning, standards in mathematical development remain below expectations at the end of the Reception Year. Many children are beginning to understand numbers through a suitable range of number action songs and are beginning to use their fingers to illustrate the number. In the Nursery, children keep asking the teaching assistant to repeat well-known number songs while they act out the actions. Activities are well planned and the good quality resources encourage pupils to stay on task. Children take part in good practical activities, both indoors and outdoors and every opportunity is taken to ensure that teachers make children aware of the many examples of mathematics around them. Teachers structure play activities, for example in the water and sand, for children to become aware of the mathematical language of capacity and volume. Children take turns in using lotto number cards, matching those

p.38

Mathematical development

that have the same numerical value. They sort vehicles, match shape and colour and, using programmable toys correctly, they use the language of forward and backward and make good gains in using positional language. Outside children skip on the painted numbers, run around the spiral and match shapes and colours. Children are learning how to form their numbers correctly, although quite a few number reversals were seen.

p.38

Mathematical development

80. The quality of teaching, both in the Nursery and in the Reception class, is good. It is enlivened by the good use of practical activities and number rhymes. Teachers manage their pupils well, plan tasks to suit the needs of all pupils and use a range of stimulating resources, such as brightly coloured cubes and well made jigsaw puzzles. This contributes to the good gains that pupils make in learning. Teachers understand the importance of consistently repeating instructions so that children know what is expected of them and, as a result, good gains are made in learning how to count and explain number values.

p.38

Knowledge and understanding of the world

81. Although most children do not attain the early learning goals in knowledge and understanding of the world, they nevertheless make good gains in learning in relation to their prior attainment. Many children know about their immediate surroundings and have a good awareness of their locality. They know that young children turn into teenagers and that adults become grandparents. They are developing good knowledge of the change in growing plants and that in winter trees lose their leaves. When exploring floating and sinking, children are given good hands on experience to explore the meaning for themselves. Children are given plenty of opportunities to try different foods, for example in Nursery they taste porridge, curry and fruit and are aware of the different textures and smells. In the Reception class, when testing waterproof materials for Barnaby Bear, children quickly identified that, although wool could keep him warm, he would nevertheless get wet

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

in the rain. Children have plenty of good opportunities to use programmable toys, for example, how to make a programmable dog get his bone.

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82. Children are taught the importance of hygiene and wash their hands when helping an adult prepare snack time. They know that Jesus told many stories and that people go to church to pray. They can switch the computer on, use a mouse appropriately and execute simple commands. Crescent Primary School - 37 However, opportunities to use the computer are not effectively planned as an integral part of their learning, especially in enabling them to develop basic skills.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

83. The quality of teaching is generally good. Teachers ensure that children have good opportunities to explore the world around them and their good planning indicates plenty of opportunities for pupils to learn using their senses. Teachers work well with support staff and, as a result, secure learning routines are established.

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Physical development

84. Most of the children achieve the expected standard in this area by the time they leave the Reception class. Suitable activities are provided to increase dexterity with pencils, crayons and small tools. The outside area is used very well; there is suitable equipment for climbing and balancing and playing collaboratively with large wheeled toys. The school hall is well used for physical development. Most children are well co-ordinated, they follow instructions carefully, they run, skip, jump and the vast majority are confident, demonstrating appropriate control of their movements when skipping, stopping and jumping.

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Physical development

85. The quality of teaching is good. In the outdoor environment support staff ensure that children play safely and collaboratively. In a lesson observed in the Nursery, the class teacher expertly used the skills of a grandmother and a regular helper to participate in the physical education lesson. Great fun was had by all and all children followed instructions very well. Both teachers are gifted at understanding when to bring children’s attention on to positional language of mathematics. For example, when children are participating in physical activity, the teachers ensure that they bring the children’s attention to focus on words, such as ‘next to’, ‘behind’, ‘in front of’ and this has a positive effect on children’s learning.

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Creative development

86. Whilst most children do not attain the early learning goals in creative development, nevertheless they make good gains in learning. Children are confident using scissors and glue, they adore using paint and paint detailed portraits of themselves and their friends and thoroughly enjoy singing. They act out stories in the role-play area; some boys, pretending to be Bob the builder, eagerly fix the painting racks. Children experiment with sounds of the outdoor music tree. All children sing well and they enjoy singing accompanied by the peripatetic pianist. They have a good repertoire of nursery rhymes and enjoy using finger puppets in the library to reinforce their learning of stories.

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Creative development

87. The quality of teaching is good. Teachers ensure that stimulating resources are used, for example dried pulses, pasta, a variety of tissue paper, card, different coloured inks and pastels. This encourages children to experiment in a variety of ways and has a positive effect on their creative development. Support staff promote children’s vocabulary well and effectively model how to use glue spreaders and paintbrushes. They are particularly effective in intervening to assist children in their role-play.

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88. Inspection evidence indicates that standards at the age of seven and 11 are well below the national averages. The school is treated as a new school because of its previous re-organisation in 2001, so there are no statistics over time or previous inspection report with which to make comparison. The 2002 results confirm inspection findings.

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89. Achievements of all groups of pupils are poor in relation to their prior attainment. Although the pupils have weak speaking and listening skills when they first join the school, they make rapid progress in the Nursery and in the Reception class and show themselves to be keen and able learners. However, in Key Stage 1, pupils make little progress and sometimes lose the skills they have learned in the Reception class. This is because the implementation of the school’s literacy strategy is so unsatisfactory that the great majority of pupils do not learn new skills to enable Crescent Primary School - 38 them to read, write and spell effectively and this hinders their progress throughout Key Stage 2, despite several examples of teaching which were often good in Years 4, 5 and 6 during the inspection week. The result is that pupils’ literacy skills, which affect every aspect of their academic work, are poor. The pupils’ achievements overall are poor, particularly in Key Stage 1,

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although achievement improves slightly in Key Stage 2 in response to better teaching, but not enough to help pupils overcome their barriers to learning and be appropriately prepared for secondary school. Too few opportunities are provided through all subjects of the National Curriculum for teachers to help pupils develop their competence in literacy, especially in writing.

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90. When children leave the Reception class, they can recognise some initial letters, begin to form letters correctly, read single words and begin to explain events and tell stories in an orderly and comprehensible way. They make good progress and their achievement in relation to prior attainment is good. In Year 1, their rates of learning and their work are unsatisfactory. Some pupils make poor progress and lose some of the skills they learned previously. This was identified in Year 2 assessments in their academic year 2001-2002 and it was also observed during the inspection week. In Key Stage 1, pupils in Year 1 and 2 make poor progress in reading, writing, speaking and listening. It is likely that standards will be well below the national average and well below averages in comparison with similar schools if the curriculum, timetabling and teaching are not altered significantly to ensure that pupils are taught basic skills of speaking and listening,

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reading and writing effectively. Pupils in Key Stage 2 made satisfactory progress in lessons seen during the inspection, but improvement in their work is poor over time because they have not been taught basic skills effectively enough in Key Stage 1 and the use of assessment data is not effective enough to move pupils on in their learning. These basic skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening are necessary for pupils to be able to learn an appropriate range of knowledge taught at a good pace. Pupils are frustrated because of their lack of skills and this makes teaching and learning difficult. This is particularly obvious at the lower end of Key Stage 2, where pupils’ concentration and listening skills are weak. They have established poor working habits in Key Stage 1 and have begun to lose confidence in their own ability to learn and complete their work to their own satisfaction. The contributory factors to the poor rates of pupils’ progress

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are due to the fact that there is a lack of a whole school approach to raising standards, pupils’ learning needs have not been appropriately identified and the quality of teaching has not been sufficiently monitored to help teachers identify how best to raise standards.

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91. Pupils enter the school with below average attainment in speaking and listening, reading and writing. They have difficulty expressing their thoughts and feelings because they have limited vocabulary and poor sentence structures. They have little knowledge of more formal language used in books or instructions. This reduces their capacity to predict what print is likely to mean, to understand instructions and to order their thoughts or convey their ideas in writing. This continues throughout the school and many opportunities for learning are missed in Key Stage 1 because plenary sessions are not planned well enough and are either separated from or are at the end of, very long literacy sessions. This means that, by the time these plenary sessions take place, pupils are tired, have forgotten what went on before and are not always helped by teachers to identify what they can and cannot do. Although the school has identified the pupils’ weak

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speaking and listening skills, no policy has been put in place to ensure that regular focused, formal and consistent opportunities are provided to develop pupils’ learning in this vital area. There are some opportunities for ‘hot seating’ (putting pupils in the role of a character other than themselves so that others may question them in that role) and pupils enjoy this, listen to each other carefully and learn to speak in different ways to present a range of feelings and characteristics. There are some useful opportunities for pupils to share stories with their friends and this encourages careful listening and good relationships. Pupils listen to and answer questions in class, but sometimes these sessions lack vibrancy, especially in Key Stage 1 and pupils take little initiative to contribute because they lack the confidence in their own ability to make themselves understood. There is an over dependency on teachers to direct their pupils.

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There is a lack of spontaneity and excitement because pupils’ barriers to learning have not been sufficiently analysed, nor steps taken to remedy them. Pupils in Year 6 struggle to convey their feelings and ideas in comprehensible language and confuse the meanings of words and parts of speech, although they try hard and want to play a successful part in activities. In Year 6 in role- play, pupils posed careful questions and improved their ability to speak in front of the class. Often Crescent Primary School - 39 they wanted to use new vocabulary and could not remember the correct words, although they showed great confidence in their teachers when asking for help, expressing their confusion and sharing ideas. There is a lack of teaching of subject specific vocabulary, both in the infants and the juniors and, as a result, pupils cannot fully access the curriculum.

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92. Attainment in reading at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 is well below average and progress is poor in both key stages. The teaching of guided reading in both key stages is a particular weakness. Pupils do not receive sufficient regular instruction to help them find ways to decode print or practise reading at the appropriate level for long enough. This means that they make poor progress. Often the text given to pupils in Year 1 and in Year 2 is too difficult and this, combined with a lack of effective teaching, means that pupils do not make good use of their time and their confidence in their ability to learn is undermined by a lack of success. For example, in Year 2, several pupils of average ability used picture clues and whole word recognition, but could not decode print effectively or make a reasonable guess at what a word might be by recognising its initial letter and the meaning of the other words surrounding it. The majority of pupils in classes

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are of below average attainment or have special educational needs and they have great difficulty blending sounds, cannot predict words, find difficulty understanding meaning and have reading books which are too difficult for them. In lessons seen when guided reading was taught, it was only the group of pupils who worked with the teacher who made short-term gains in learning and other pupils could not make good progress because the work was not planned in sufficient detail. There is an assumption by some teachers in both key stages that reading skills can be caught, not necessarily taught, by staff modelling reading in order to provide correct role models because pupils have not seen enough suitable models elsewhere to help them read, but this is often at the expense of time being used effectively to help pupils develop a full range of reading strategies. The school’s own analysis of the levels that pupils attain is not used effectively to address pupils’

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individual needs and ways of learning and this contributes to their underachievement. Staff are keen to raise standards and work hard, but systems to co-ordinate the subject are not effective enough to give teachers a successful way of working to improve pupils’ standards of work. The school has not successfully analysed its data in order to target support staff to those pupils who have the most need, nor to prioritise which areas of reading need to be tackled rigorously. In Key Stage 2 above average attaining pupils read fluently and with comprehension. Most pupils show a preference for fiction as distinct from any other kind of books and there are too few opportunities for research and independent learning for all pupils. The library is under used. Pupils’ weak reading skills make it difficult for them to understand the meaning of written information and this puts considerable limitations on their ability to research independently and to access all subjects

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of the National Curriculum. Some pupils are librarians and those who go to the library have a card to record the books they borrow and this gives some opportunities to make decisions independently. Average and above average pupils use the school library but lower attaining pupils do not; this is an equal opportunities issue that needs to be addressed. Pupils of average ability in Year 6 are reasonably fluent readers; they begin to read with some expression and to self- correct when uncertain of words. Below average readers, who are in the majority in Year 6, generally read slowly and their phonic and decoding skills are unsatisfactory. Pupils with special educational needs in both key stages make poor progress; this is because of the unsatisfactory teaching of reading and poor use of assessment to plan suitable tasks for pupils with different levels of ability and attainment. This affects the progress of the great majority of other pupils.

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93. Standards of writing at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 are well below average and pupils’ achievements are poor. Pupils in both key stages are taught writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and the school has policies for handwriting and spelling. The teaching of spelling is not related to the texts being taught and different elements of spelling are not taught consistently enough, or followed closely enough, in pupils’ reading and writing tasks to help them to remember the visual pattern. Even when some pupils in Key Stage 2 have the correct pattern of words in front of them they still misspell words because they have not been taught to look carefully enough in the early stages of writing to check their work. Pupils’ handwriting is poor in Key Stage 1. Letters are often incorrectly formed and vary greatly in size and evenness. It is unlikely that pupils will have joined writing by the end of Year 2 based upon the evidence seen during the week of

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inspection and the quality of written work seen in Year 3. In Key Stage 2, by Year 4, writing improves considerably in its presentation. Letters are generally correctly formed, neat and on Crescent Primary School - 40 lined paper. By Year 5, there is a considerable improvement in the amount of legible and purposeful handwriting and this is because of the high expectations of the class teacher. The amount of independent writing is too brief throughout the school, especially in Year 6 and this is the result of a lack of opportunities for pupils to develop well structured independent writing and research. Pupils of average ability write comparatively little and spelling is usually weak. Too often writing frames are not provided and pupils are expected to write without any support. Staff are misguided in their approach to teaching writing, they think that pupils need to write as much as they possibly can in order to express themselves, but the levels of their intervention are

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unsatisfactory. Insufficient emphasis is placed on developing pupils’ spelling, sentence construction, style and presentation and, as a result, all groups of pupils are underachieving.

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94. Information and communication technology is underdeveloped throughout the school and this limits pupils’ rates of progress and opportunities for presenting and revising their writing in different ways.

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95. Pupils’ attitudes are unsatisfactory in Key Stage 1, but improve generally in Key Stage 2 in response to better teaching. They become frustrated when work is too hard for them and their concentration span is reduced. Their behaviour is usually good and they watch their teachers carefully, especially at first in lessons, but in sessions that are unreasonably long or when work is unsuitable, their behaviour is unsatisfactory and pupils become bored and unsettled. There are too few opportunities for individual work and personal development in both key stages and this means that pupils do not increase their concentration spans and ability to work alone. In Key Stage 2, attitudes and behaviour improve steadily, especially in Years 4, 5 and 6, pupils are interested in their lessons and behaviour is good, but opportunities for independent work are too few. In Year 3, pupils have weak concentration and some have behaviour problems which are made more

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obvious because of the Key Stage 2 curriculum.

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96. Teaching during the week of inspection was sound overall, although it varied from unsatisfactory to good, but the scrutiny of pupils’ work and teachers’ planning indicate that, over time, teaching is unsatisfactory because higher attaining pupils and those who have special educational needs do not receive teaching that is appropriate enough to help them to reach their potential and to make good progress. Teacher expectations are not high enough; this is seen in the way that pupils’ work is marked. Often, work that is clearly not the pupils’ best is marked as being good. Too many opportunities are missed to help pupils get their basic spellings and sentence construction right. This is largely the result of poor use of assessment to plan suitable work. Teaching in Key Stage 1 has particular weaknesses in guided reading, handwriting, spelling skills, marking and use of assessment to plan the next steps of pupils’ learning. In Key Stage 1 literacy sessions are too

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long, they are fragmented by the teaching of spelling and writing that is not sufficiently linked to text level work. The pace is too slow, time is not used effectively and plenary sessions are uninspiring. Pupils have short attention spans and have difficulty in retaining information. They need plenty of opportunities for consolidating learning. This is frequently not provided in literacy lessons. Grammar for writing is not sufficiently well developed in Key Stage 2, pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to practise correct use of language and non-fiction writing is not sufficiently matched to pupils’ interest levels, for example, Year 6 pupils writing how to make a cup of tea. In the best examples of teaching seen in Years 4, 5 and 6, in the introductory parts of lessons, teachers gave clear explanations, showed pupils what they needed to do and tested pupils’ understanding. However, whilst tasks set for pupils were of different degrees of difficulty, they did

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not always enable pupils to practise and develop the basic skills needed in order to move them on in their learning, such as the correct spelling of key words. Teachers in both key stages have good relationships with pupils on the whole. However, the quality of teaching is not strong enough to enable pupils to learn at a suitable rate and methods used do not sufficiently move pupils on in their learning.

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97. In both key stages, the great majority of pupils with special educational needs do not receive suitably graded work which would enable them to make good progress. There are some examples of successful and sensitive elements in pupil support, especially for those pupils who have statements of special educational need where well qualified staff are able to give appropriate and perceptive help. However, some support assistants do not receive sufficient guidance from class teachers and senior management to make best use of their talent and commitment. Whilst they Crescent Primary School - 41 attend staff courses and training, they are not sufficiently well mentored in classrooms. There are some examples where there is too little specialist support and, as a result, pupils’ work is not planned in sufficient detail for enough of the time to enable them to make even satisfactory progress and this is an equal opportunities issue. The co-ordinator for special educational needs

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does not work sufficiently in classes and is not present to help class teachers increase their insight and understanding of the needs of these pupils and help teachers to plan more effectively, using pupils’ individual education plans as starting points for learning.

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98. The literacy strategy is unsuccessful and, despite support from the local education authority, standards are not rising fast enough. It appears from scrutiny of documentation that the school has not referred to the local education authority’s targets in its school improvement plan and has not taken up pointers for development with enough precision.

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99. The leadership of the subject is unsatisfactory because, whilst the co-ordinator is an effective practitioner, she does not have a full overview of the many weaknesses in the implementation of the literacy strategy, she has insufficient time to get to grips with the difficulties in Key Stage 1 and has too many duties to be able to devote enough attention to this area. A start has been made, but the difficulties and shortcomings in teaching English require urgent and significant commitment of co-ordinator time, organisation and training. There is insufficient monitoring and tracking of pupils’ progress and assessments are not sufficiently referenced to skills underpinning National Curriculum level descriptors and are unsatisfactory overall. They do not help staff identify the next steps needed to move pupils on in their learning and staff are not sufficiently involved in rigorously moderating work, assessment is not used effectively and planning is very weak in Key

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ENGLISH

100. Resources are generally good. Books are new and there are plenty of games to support learning.

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MATHEMATICS

101. The 2002 test results indicate that, by the end of both Year 2 and Year 6, standards were in the bottom five per cent nationally compared to all schools and well below average in comparison to similar schools. During the week of inspection standards were well below those normally seen by the age of seven and 11. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher Level 3 and Level 5 was well below average. Overall standards are not high enough for these pupils and all groups of pupils are underachieving.

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MATHEMATICS

102. Pupils' achievement is poor by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. This is because there is insufficient emphasis placed on ensuring that tasks match pupils’ needs and there is insufficient challenge for higher attaining pupils. Pupils' work is not sufficiently well focused to improve their knowledge, skills and understanding and opportunities are missed throughout the curriculum to enable pupils to develop their numeracy skills.

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MATHEMATICS

103. Inspection findings show that standards in Year 2 are well below average. When pupils start Year 1 their achievement is good because of the good gains made in the Foundation Stage. This good achievement is not built upon sufficiently well to enable all pupils to systematically develop their skills, knowledge and understanding and a lack of skills development results. Whilst pupils in Year 1 begin to recognise that addition can be done in any order and begin to find totals by counting on in tens, they reverse their numbers, have difficulty in counting on and struggle with mental mathematics by being unable to explain their thinking. This is not rectified in Year 1 and continues into Year 2. In Year 2 pupils learn to partition simple addition sums, but do not have a sufficiently strong sense of measuring, shape and space and their problem solving skills are poor because many of them cannot read what is expected of them and they have difficulty in

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MATHEMATICS

articulating their thinking. Work is insufficiently planned with reference to pupils’ prior attainment and learning objectives for all groups of pupils are not sufficiently clear. As a result, all groups of pupils underachieve because they are not fully aware of what is expected of them, as they do not understand the learning objectives, due to unclear explanations. Crescent Primary School - 42 104. Standards in Year 6 are well below average and all groups of pupils are underachieving. Whilst pupils show developing confidence in answering mental mathematical questions, they find difficulty in applying calculation skills and mathematical language within a variety of contexts, including problem solving and data handling. Pupils have limitations in describing what they are doing and in interpreting information on charts and graphs. This is because this aspect of the mathematics curriculum is insufficiently developed. Opportunities for using ICT and numeracy across the

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MATHEMATICS

105. The quality of teaching and learning is unsatisfactory overall, but some examples of good teaching were seen in Years 3 to 6. In these lessons teachers clearly explained the purpose of the tasks and used effective questioning to enable all pupils to learn. In Years 4 and 5 teachers provided a structure to the lessons, ensured that all pupils were on task and used effective questioning, which enabled pupils to make progress in their learning. In the best examples of teaching (Key Stage 2), teachers helped pupils describe the strategies they used for holding large numbers in their heads, so that they could count on and helped them identify the language used in problem solving that would determine which particular number operation to use. In the weaker lessons (Key Stage 1), pupils were given tasks that were practical, which they finished quickly. Insufficient extension activities were provided and, when pupils were asked to record their work, they were unsure of

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MATHEMATICS

what to do as the explanations were not clear enough; this was especially the case in Year 1. Any short term progress cannot be sustained because insufficient opportunities are provided for pupils to consolidate and practise their learning in other subjects. For these pupils, it is crucial that they have the opportunity to develop their skills in as many contexts as possible. Some teaching in the subject lacks the pace and challenge that are necessary to ensure that pupils develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in the subject. Teaching in Years 1 and 2 is mostly unsatisfactory. This is because there is a lack of skills development in number and a lack of broken down steps to develop learning. Pupils’ own knowledge of their learning is very limited. Insufficient extension opportunities are provided for pupils to record their work. Pupils record their work on paper and this is not always appropriate. A lack of modelling of what the final product

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MATHEMATICS

looks like and inconsistencies in marking, lead to pupils incorrectly recording number. There is a lack of opportunities for pupils to use their mathematical skills across the curriculum especially in science, design and technology, geography and history. Assessment does not inform planning for the next steps in pupils’ learning. Some teachers set homework; when it is used it consolidates what has been learned in the classroom.

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MATHEMATICS

106. The National Numeracy Strategy is beginning to have an impact on pupils’ learning in Years 4, 5 and 6 where examples of effective teaching were seen and teaching and learning are structured. However insufficient attention is given to matching activities to the needs of all pupils due to poor use of assessment information. Work in books and folders indicates that often all pupils are set the same work; although extension work is sometimes planned, it is not always challenging enough for the higher attaining pupils nor those pupils who have special educational needs. The National Curriculum levels are used at the end of the national tests to categorise pupils into levels of learning. However, these are not systematically used by teachers to set individual targets for pupils to achieve. Pupils do not know which target they are trying to achieve and by when they are expected to achieve it. Furthermore, they are unsure of how to improve the quality of their work.

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MATHEMATICS

107. Assessment in mathematics is unsatisfactory. Teachers do not always use information gained from lessons to plan the next steps of learning for all of their pupils. Use of assessment was stronger in Years 3 to 6 where teachers used appropriate intervention strategies to support pupils’ learning based upon their observations in lessons in relation to how well pupils coped with the work presented to them. However, the lack of whole school systems, to raise pupils’ attainment and rigorous monitoring of their effectiveness, are the main causes of pupils’ low standards. Teachers use praise effectively and acknowledge pupils effort and positive attitudes motivate pupils. Statutory tests in Years 2 and 6 and non-statutory tests in Years 4 and 5 are used to establish the attainment and progress of pupils. However, insufficient use is made of the information to help guide teachers' planning and set challenging work to suit the needs of the

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MATHEMATICS

different groups of pupils in each class, particularly the higher attaining pupils. This is the main reason for teaching being judged as unsatisfactory. Crescent Primary School - 43 108. During the week of inspection, pupils' attitudes and behaviour were good and often very good, with positive relationships in classrooms. Pupils enjoy learning in spite of weaknesses in teaching. Teachers set clear expectations of pupil behaviour and generally manage pupils well. Most pupils respond appropriately to these expectations and the use of positive rewards. Most pupils were enthusiastic and showed interest in mathematics lessons. However a minority quickly lost interest if they were expected to listen for any length of time.

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MATHEMATICS

109. Good use is made of resources to support pupils’ learning, but marking is ineffective in helping pupils to understand what they need to do to get better; too often it consists of ticks and crosses, seldom giving pupils clear indications of what they have to do to improve their work. Pupils' presentation is unsatisfactory overall, but it is worse in Years 1 and 2 and shows a lack of care and attention. This is because teachers do not correct incorrectly formed numbers and letters and work is presented on sheets of paper which are put together into a folder. This does not give pupils an appropriate standard which they are to achieve and does not encourage them to take care and pride in their work. In Years 3 to 6, examples of satisfactory presentation were seen.

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MATHEMATICS

110. The leadership and management of the subject are unsatisfactory. The co-ordinator has insufficient knowledge of the Key Stage 2 strategy in order to move pupils on in their learning. As a result, she is unable to clearly guide work in the subject. This is because of a lack of strategic direction in the school to develop skills, knowledge and understanding through a properly planned programme of work and assessment. At the present time the school does not plan in small steps which meet the learning needs of all of its pupils, or use assessment to help teachers with their planning a range of opportunities to meet the needs of all pupils. As a result standards are very low and pupils’ achievements are poor. The school has implemented the National Numeracy Strategy, but this is not effective because it has not been developed sufficiently well to enable teachers to plan for the needs of all of their pupils. Using and applying mathematics across the

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MATHEMATICS

curriculum is underdeveloped and there is a lack of skill development in teaching number. Too often work is repeated that pupils are familiar with. The lack of a strategic use of assessment is poor. As a result standards are very low and higher attaining pupils are insufficiently challenged. ICT is not used to support and develop the subject and pupils in both key stages do not have sufficient opportunities to become independent learners.

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SCIENCE

111. Inspection evidence indicates that standards at the age of seven and eleven are well below national averages and pupils’ achievements are poor. This concurs with the findings of the national test results of 2002.

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SCIENCE

112. By the end of Year 2, pupils know that there are domestic, farm and wild animals and that they eat, sleep and have young. They know that they have changed from when they were babies to what they are now. However, in Year 1, many are unsure whether they are human or some other kind of animal. Higher attaining pupils know that parts of their body grow and that they gain in weight. Year 2 pupils receive a visit from the school nurse and her friend and young baby. They prepare questions and learn how babies need to be looked after and that they change and grow. Whilst this was a well-organised lesson it illustrates the lack of continuity and progression in the teaching of scientific skills and knowledge from one year to the next for both classes are covering the same topic with little difference in the learning opportunities provided for them. The pupils’ topic folders contain teacher-produced sheets on the coverage for each term that indicate an emphasis

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on life processes and living things, for example the characteristics of animals and plants. However, a scrutiny of pupils’ work during the past year indicates that there is very little recorded work and what is available for scrutiny is of a poor quality. In lessons teachers tried to give pupils the opportunity to extend their speaking and listening skills through questioning and discussion. Higher attaining pupils responded appropriately, but many lower attaining pupils and pupils with special educational needs had great difficulty in verbalizing their thinking and, as a result, made poor gains in learning. Crescent Primary School - 44 113. By the age of 11, Year 6 pupils know that different plants have different root systems and that these have two main functions: anchorage and the taking in of nutrients. Good links are beginning to be made in Key Stage 2 with scientific enquiry and investigations. Pupils are given the

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SCIENCE

opportunity to take the plants out of the pots and to explore the root systems. They work together well in small groups and show interest and many are stimulated and are able to discuss their findings. It is significant that before they can do this work Year 6 pupils have to be taught about the investigation process and how to set out their findings. It is obvious that they have had little previous experience of this aspect. This is a weakness in pupils’ attainment.

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SCIENCE

114. Pupils are beginning to make short term satisfactory progress by the later years of Key Stage 2 due to the secure subject knowledge of the science co-ordinator, who, in the very short time she has been in post, has rightly identified the areas of development needed. However, as yet these rates of progress are not fast enough and all groups of pupils are underachieving. Scrutiny of pupils’ work, analysis of recent schools test data and interviews with pupils reveals that there is still an overemphasis on life processes and living things; other aspects such as the properties of materials, solids, liquids and gases, sound, forces, the solar system and circuits are beginning to be studied. The school is therefore not giving all pupils an equal opportunity and enabling all pupils to be fully included in lessons. All pupils do the same work and their writing is lacking in fluency. Most is copied by all pupils from worksheets or the whiteboard and is not their own original

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response to tasks set. Pupils in Key Stage 2 now use exercise books and this makes it easier for teachers to judge the progress they are making. Links with information and communication technology and mathematics have not yet been developed and staff have recently had training in using writing frames to help pupils record their work, but it is too early to judge the impact that these will have on subsequent progress. Overall in both key stages pupils are not acquiring the skills that they need to become effective learners of science.

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SCIENCE

115. In the lessons seen the behaviour and attitudes of the pupils were good, especially in Key Stage 2 when pupils are fully involved in practical investigations. They are curious and absorbed by their work on root systems and show the willingness to discuss sensibly. There are occasions in Key Stage 1, when they get restless when they have been sitting on the carpet for too long listening to the teacher and do not have sufficient opportunity to be actively engaged in their own work. In both key stages insufficient opportunities are provided for pupils to develop their research skills. The quality of teaching in Key Stage 1 is unsatisfactory. In Key Stage 2, even though satisfactory and sometimes good elements of teaching were seen during the week of the inspection, over time teaching is unsatisfactory. Pupils are making unsatisfactory progress in acquiring scientific skills and knowledge because subject specific skills are not sufficiently identified in planning and overall

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SCIENCE

their achievements are poor. Especially in Key Stage 1, teacher expectations are not high enough and pupils are not appropriately challenged because teachers have insecure subject knowledge of the scientific process. There is a lack of balance and curriculum time allocation and pupils are not learning in sufficient depth. The present ‘blocking’ system does not allow for sufficient time to be spent on the various aspects of science, as it has not been strategically analysed to ascertain how long it will take certain units of work to be covered. As a result teachers in Key Stage 2 are now trying to enable pupils to catch up on what they have missed in the past, but pupils are underachieving because of the lack of rigorous assessment systems which would enable teachers to plan work to match the needs of pupils. Throughout the school teachers do not make appropriate use of assessment procedures to plan future work that is suitable to the abilities of the

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SCIENCE

pupils. Marking is unsatisfactory. It is too brief and allows pupils to continue making the same mistakes. Links with literacy, numeracy and information technology are not yet established through a whole school policy. The majority of teaching staff of the school are capable and conscientious and care for the well being of the pupils, but there is a need for senior management to ensure that appropriate systems are in place to help teachers deliver scientific concepts, skills and attitudes in a coherent approach.

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SCIENCE

116. A new co-ordinator has recently been appointed who is capable and knowledgeable. She is aware of the changes that need to be made and has produced an effective action plan, but the timescales allocated to putting systems in place by senior management are too long and pupils will continue to underachieve. There is a lot for the new co-ordinator to do as the subject had not been sufficiently well developed last year. She has effectively analysed weaknesses in standards Crescent Primary School - 45 and now needs to guide staff in remedying them. There is a need for the governors, the senior management of the school and the rest of the staff to support the co-ordinator in implementing the changes that need to be made in order to raise the standards that pupils attain. The quality of teaching urgently needs to be monitored, especially in Key Stage 1, to ensure that teachers are imparting scientific skills as well as scientific knowledge. Assessments and their use, together

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SCIENCE

with identifiable links with literacy, numeracy and information technology should be fully developed because at present this is unsatisfactory. The school should consider the time allocation to the subject, especially in Key Stage 1 and the coverage of the different aspects of the science curriculum. Resources for the subject are good.

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ART AND DESIGN

117. Standards are below the level expected for both seven and 11 year olds. This is because subject specific skills are not taught in a developmental way throughout the school and teachers are relying very heavily on the art co-ordinator to produce lesson plans for them which she willingly does, but she already has a heavy workload being the SENCO and teaching Nursery full time. As a result pupils are not developing their skills in a progressive manner and this results in pupils in Year 2 and Year 6 not having sufficient knowledge and understanding of artists, their styles and techniques used. Pupils in Year 2 have underdeveloped observation skills and they have difficulty in colouring in neatly. Their drawings lack detail and they have difficulty in illustrating their work appropriately. For example, in an English lesson pupils were asked to draw a sequence of pictures to order events in a story, but their drawings were poor because they were unable to

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ART AND DESIGN

produce an appropriate shape to represent a human character. By the end of Year 6 pupils interviewed said that they had rarely worked with clay and, when they did, they thoroughly enjoyed it. Several examples of information and communication technology work were seen in both key stages, but these were very limited in number and largely consisted of pupils using paint programs. Sketchbooks are not sufficiently well used to record what pupils have learnt in lessons and are not used sufficiently well to develop pupils’ skills of shading and toning. Pupils have unsatisfactory colour mixing skills and they do not have sufficient opportunities to collect images and materials to help them develop their observations and feelings and evaluate and develop their work. Insufficient emphasis is placed upon developing pupils’ skills of collage, painting, texture and tone, and clay work, but several examples of sound line drawings were seen.

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ART AND DESIGN

118. The quality of teaching over time is unsatisfactory due to weaknesses in curriculum planning. There is a lack of clearly defined expectations for all groups of pupils. Staff have unsatisfactory subject knowledge and skills are not taught in a sufficiently progressive manner. Too few opportunities are provided for pupils to develop their independence, respond to a wide range of stimuli and to develop their own style.

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ART AND DESIGN

119. In spite of the weaknesses identified pupils have positive attitudes to learning and want to do their best and please their teachers. They behave well in lessons and enjoy the subject. In a good art lesson in Year 4/5 the teacher gave good clear explanations and pupils made good gains in learning about Seurat’s technique of pointillism and by the end of the lesson they were able to reduce the amount of paint they put on paper to produce a realistic effect.

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ART AND DESIGN

120. The leadership and management of the subject are unsatisfactory overall because in spite of the co-ordinator’s best efforts she does not have sufficient opportunity to monitor standards effectively and has not received recent and relevant training in carrying out her duties. She is very willing to support staff with lesson planning by producing sample lessons, but this is not effective use of her time. Resources are good overall but pupils have not had enough opportunities to use different materials and resources available to them.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

121. Standards are below average in Year 2 and Year 6 and pupils' achievements are below those expected nationally. In Years 3 to 6 there is evidence to suggest that standards are rising due to the emphasis placed on the designing and making process, however, pupils’ skills of evaluation Crescent Primary School - 46 remain weak. Higher attaining pupils are insufficiently challenged and pupils with special educational needs make unsatisfactory progress, because their individual education plans are not sufficiently well used to determine how learning opportunities will be altered, to help them learn faster and more easily, so that they can overcome their barriers to learning.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

122. By the time they are in Year 6, pupils accompany their work with written plans. In Year 6 pupils test the strength of five pillars using a variety of weights. Pupils evaluated their work so that they could understand where improvements could be made. Pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 considered how well they had made sandwiches and the quality of their work; they discussed improvements that they had made and recorded these in an evaluation folder. However, evaluations lack phrases relating to techniques used to improve the quality of their work and what resources would aid improvement.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

123. Teaching seen during the week of inspection was satisfactory overall, but had weak elements in Key Stage 1. Due to the many weaknesses in curriculum planning over time, teaching is unsatisfactory because pupils do not build progressively on their previous learning. Evidence that was presented, however, shows that pupils’ access in both key stages to the full programmes of study is limited. No designs or models were available which demonstrated that pupils developed their skills, knowledge and understanding in the subject. Teachers' planning shows there is a weakness in the development of subject specific skills, for example, labelling and evaluating their work. Planning for Year 1 to Year 6 does not provide sufficiently well for pupils with special educational needs and those who have higher attainment to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding. The quality and range of learning opportunities are unsatisfactory. They involve a

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

limited range of tools, techniques and materials and the focus of lessons is sometimes more appropriate to the art and design curriculum than that for design and technology. The time allocation is unbalanced and there is a weakness in teachers’ building on what pupils know, understand and can do because of unsatisfactory assessment procedures. In Key Stage 2 teachers gave clear explanations and checked pupils’ understanding, but insufficient opportunities are provided for pupils to talk about their work and carry out research about using materials and components to meet human needs. In Key Stage 1 insufficient emphasis was placed on developing pupils’ understanding of the designing and making with food and ended up with pupils becoming familiar with textures and smells of fruit and vegetables. Pupils did not make sufficient gains in developing their knowledge of design and technology, literacy and numeracy skills and,

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

after a time, became bored with talking about food, although they were fascinated by the broccoli.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

124. In both key stages designing and making skills are not developed in a sufficiently coherent way so that pupils can see the relationship between them and use them in combination. Insufficient emphasis is placed on identifying in planning what will be taught and what pupils will learn. As a result, unsatisfactory gains are made in learning.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

125. All pupils, including those with special educational needs, have good attitudes to their work in the subject; they enjoy exploring a range of stitches when making puppets and when given opportunities to plan and generate ideas.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

126. Arrangements for leading and managing the subject are unsatisfactory and this is because the co- ordinator is not given any time to monitor teaching and learning. Therefore, she has little knowledge and understanding of the relative strengths and weaknesses in the subject. As a result, she is unable to clearly guide work in the subject. ICT is underdeveloped in the subject and therefore not currently used for research. At present there is a lack of a strategic overview in relation to where design and technology is taught in other blocks of work where design and technology is not the main focus and how long it will take to teach units of work in sufficient depth. Whilst national guidelines are followed, they have not been sufficiently analysed to ascertain whether they meet the needs of these pupils and where particular aspects of context need to be developed further. For example, in Key Stage 1 pupils’ skills of measurement are weak and

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

opportunities for developing this aspect of their mathematical knowledge are missed because the school regards the national guidance as a complete scheme of work. Resources are good.

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GEOGRAPHY

Crescent Primary School - 47 127. Standards by the end of Year 2 and Year 6 are below national expectations and pupils’ achievements are unsatisfactory. Scrutiny of work reveals that pupils have not covered a sufficient amount of work in this subject and there is a lack of emphasis in planning placed on developing pupils’ geographical skills relating to people, places and environments at different scales in the United Kingdom and overseas and an appreciation of how places relate to each other and the wider world. Pupils in both key stages do not have sufficiently well developed skills of understanding how people are affected by their environment because their skills of prediction, synthesis, cause and effect, inference deduction and research are weak. This is because insufficient opportunities are provided for pupils to undertake fieldwork, use geographical terms appropriately, develop their map making skills and develop their skills of literacy, numeracy and

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GEOGRAPHY

information and communication technology appropriately to enable them to present their ideas in a variety of ways. Pupils have good respect for the environment due to the good range of visits provided for them, such as Bestwood Country Park and Perlethorpe Environmental Centre. Pupils understand the importance of recycling and looking after their environment and pupils in Key Stage 1 have been to Skegness to compare Mansfield with a seaside town.

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GEOGRAPHY

128. Pupils at the end of Year 2 can generally describe where they live and how to get there, but they have difficulty in expressing their own views about features of an environment and how it has changed. By the end of Year 6 pupils have not covered sufficient work to be able to explain similarities and differences in the United Kingdom and how physical and human processes cause changes in environments, but they have difficulty in describing land use. They know where teachers have been on their holidays and that Athens is the capital of Greece. In both key stages pupils’ written work is very limited and does not adequately support pupils’ knowledge of patterns and places. In both key stages too few opportunities are provided for pupils to develop their skills of geographical enquiry. Apart from the focus on recycling, too few opportunities are provided for pupils to develop greater appreciation and understanding of the influence of pupils’ beliefs,

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GEOGRAPHY

attitudes and values on sustainable development.

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GEOGRAPHY

129. Pupils have good attitudes to learning; they are generally well behaved and want to find out more. They listen attentively, use resources with care, but too often they are under challenged, especially in developing strategies to record their own learning and develop their research skills. At present the co-ordination of the subject is unsatisfactory, teaching is not monitored, analysis of planning does not reveal the gaps in pupils’ learning and the scheme of work has not been fully adapted to meet the needs of the pupils. As a result, pupils underachieve in both key stages. Pupils with special educational needs make unsatisfactory progress because their individual education plans are not used sufficiently well in planning. Resources are generally good and this has a positive effect on learning.

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GEOGRAPHY

130. Over time the quality of teaching is unsatisfactory. Teachers’ planning has weaknesses and this affects the long term effect of their teaching on learning, which is unsatisfactory overall. Teachers do not fully identify either subject specific words or skills to enable their pupils to access the curriculum at a fast pace. Whilst teachers offer clear explanations, they do not provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to develop a full range of information and communication technology, literacy and numeracy skills, although an effective example was seen in Year 6 when pupils were producing a leaflet for a camping holiday, taking the environment of the Lake District into account, but as the lesson developed, the geographical focus was consumed by the emphasis placed on literacy. A similar example with a science focus was seen in Year 5 when pupils were looking at water supply around the world and investigating the importance of clean water; pupils effectively

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GEOGRAPHY

filtered water, but did not have sufficient opportunities to discuss the main desert regions, identify sources of water on maps and develop their research skills of finding out more of the importance of water to third world countries to further develop their multicultural awareness. The co-ordinator has only recently taken on responsibility for geography and much needs to be done. It would appear that in the previous year geography had not received a high profile focus. In light of present standards seen, the co-ordination of the subject is unsatisfactory overall.

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HISTORY

Crescent Primary School - 48 131. At the time of inspection, standards in history were below average at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. Achievement is unsatisfactory in both these years for all groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs. Standards are unsatisfactory by the end of Year 2 because insufficient time is allocated to the curriculum and subject specific skills are not taught progressively. It was only possible to see two lessons during the inspection, as history is taught as part of a rolling programme taught during the year. The lesson seen in Year 2 was a part of an introduction for a new topic to begin after half-term and was taken by a visitor. This lesson contributed well to pupils’ cultural development as they made sound gains in understanding how people gave up their lives to fight for freedom. Members of the British Legion gave pupils very good explanations as to the

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HISTORY

significance of poppies. Judgements are formed from the one lesson seen, scrutiny of teachers’ planning, discussions with pupils and teachers and scrutiny of the very limited sample of books provided by the school. Very limited samples of work were provided by Years 1 and 2. Standards are not as high as they should be because, at present, the school regards the national guidance as a complete scheme of work and this has not been altered to meet the needs of the pupils. Insufficient opportunities are planned to consider the balance of skills acquisition across key elements and how historical skills and ideas are built up in an organised, systematic and rigorous way, based on learning that has already taken place. Although the curriculum meets statutory requirements, there are weaknesses in teachers’ planning. They lack clarity about what skills and knowledge will be developed in each year group. In addition plans do not always incorporate

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HISTORY

objectives to suit the learning needs of the different groups of pupils in each class. There is a lack of emphasis on subject specific skills present and in communicating information in a variety of ways. Pupils' needs and interest levels have not been sufficiently analysed to ensure that guidelines are supported by relevant learning opportunities to take account of the circumstances of the school and its aims and purposes. In both key stages insufficient opportunities are provided for pupils to develop their skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT across the curriculum.

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HISTORY

132. Standards in Years 2 and 6 are below average. Planning and discussions with pupils indicate that in Year 1 they learn about toys old and new and study different homes and, in the summer term, study seaside holidays. In Year 2 they develop their knowledge of famous people from the past, for example Florence Nightingale and in the summer term study the Great Fire of London. Pupils can identify some ways in which the past is represented, for example, they identify old and new buildings, but their writing lacks sustained and systematic writing of different kinds. Pupils in both key stages do not have sufficient opportunities to draw maps and diagrams to communicate historical understanding. In Years 3 and 4 World War II is the focus for learning and in Year 5, pupils learn about Victorian Britain. In Year 6, pupils study recent history through the life of a famous person, but they are unable to offer explanations about why people in the past acted as

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HISTORY

they did and they have difficulty in recording their knowledge and understanding of the past in a variety of ways, using dates and historical terms. In both key stages too few opportunities are provided for pupils to develop their research skills.

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HISTORY

133. The co-ordination of history is unsatisfactory. This is because the subject co-ordinator has not received sufficient training in the subject and insufficient opportunities are provided for monitoring teaching and learning. Consequently he does not have a full overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the subject and is, therefore, unable to guide teachers’ work. He has produced good guidelines for developing pupils’ skills of literacy, but as yet there is no whole school approach to implement his recommendations. As a result, history is underdeveloped. Currently assessment procedures are underdeveloped and are unsatisfactory overall. The school does not keep adequate samples of work to help teachers make judgements about pupils' achievements and so target any underachievement through more refined lesson planning. This is an important weakness. ICT is insufficiently used to support pupils' learning. Resources are good.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

134. Standards at the age of seven and 11 are well below national expectations. In the lessons seen pupils are now beginning to make satisfactory progress in relation to their prior attainment, but this is developing from a low level of understanding. Over time progress of all groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs, is unsatisfactory. However, it should be noted that a new computer suite has only been in use for just over a term and during that time there have Crescent Primary School - 49 been continuing problems with the hardware. This is a new school and so it is not possible to make a comparison with any previous report.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

135. The school is aware that the use of information and communication technology (ICT) across all curriculum areas is in urgent need of consideration and that a whole school policy needs to be developed in the future. Though there is a computer in every classroom, these were not used during the week of the inspection. Very few instances were noted of them even being switched on! As a result any skills pupils are learning in the ICT suite are not being consolidated and reinforced in the classroom. All statutory requirements are now beginning to be met, though they are at an early stage of development.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

136. By the age of seven, pupils learn how to program the ‘roamer’ and, through questioning, higher attaining pupils are able to predict the results of different instructions. The processes involved in clicking, dragging, turning and deleting are taught and, in the lesson seen, pupils made good progress. They are learning the names of items of computer equipment, such as the mouse, computer and screen. A scrutiny of pupils’ work in all subjects and displays around the school indicates that few opportunities are taken to use computers, apart from the use of an art program to paint pictures. Though in the pupils’ topic folders there is a list of the skills to be covered during each term, there is very little recorded or printed evidence that this has occurred, mainly due to the delay in being able to use the ICT suite.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

137. By the age of 11, younger pupils are developing an awareness of word operations. They learn to change font and colour and how to use the bold function before writing simple sentences to build familiarity with the ‘My Word’ program. However, they are at such an early stage of development that most pupils lack confidence in using the mouse and keyboard and have a poor awareness of the icons. Their technical vocabulary is underdeveloped and there is a lack of understanding of words such as ‘cursor’, ‘italics’ and ‘icon’.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

138. Older Year 6 pupils are producing a newsletter, using text and images in a multi-media presentation. During a series of lessons they make good progress in learning how to move around the computer, loading the word program, creating a title box and using ‘clipart’. By the end of these lessons they are able to enter text, import graphics from the Internet, move them around the screen and increase or reduce the size. Pupils demonstrate that, despite their still low levels of ability and lack of confidence with the hardware and software, they are able to make good gains in progress when challenged and given the appropriate opportunities. There is evidence in Year 6 that poetry, written by the pupils, has been word-processed using different fonts, size and colour.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

139. Pupils’ attitudes and behaviour during lessons are good. They enjoy the practical nature of the activities and are able to work co-operatively in pairs when sat in front of a computer. They discuss with each other and work with effort and concentration. When watching the teacher’s demonstrations on the whiteboard, it is noticeable that many have difficulties in being able to express themselves due to a lack of confidence and unsatisfactory speaking skills. The quality of teaching seen in the computer suite is satisfactory and, on occasions, good when the teacher shows confidence and has good subject knowledge. Good use is beginning to be made of the whiteboard. However, the quality of teaching over time is unsatisfactory. It is not allowing the pupils to make the necessary progress in their development of ICT skills due to the lack of use of computers in classrooms and the lack of a whole school policy for ICT across all curriculum areas.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

All staff have had a day’s in-service training in the use of the ICT suite in addition to the national training. There is now a need for them to be proactive and to plan classroom activities and additional use of computer suite time so that pupils are able to develop their skills at a far faster pace than in the past.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

140. The co-ordination of the subject is unsatisfactory at present. National Curriculum guidelines have been introduced as a scheme of work. The co-ordinator is aware of the needs of the subject and of the pupils’ gaps in learning. Raising standards for information and communication technology is included in the school improvement plan. She is working hard to provide teachers with the necessary resources for them to do their job. However, she requires support from the senior management of the school to ensure that computers are used in classrooms every day, that Crescent Primary School - 50 appropriate software is available and that a whole school policy is very quickly produced, supported and implemented by all the staff, for the use of ICT in all curriculum areas. Assessment procedures are in the process of being introduced, but at the present time assessment is not used by teachers to determine the needs of the pupils or to plan future work and this is unsatisfactory.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

141. Resources for the subject are very good in the ICT suite, but there is a need for further software to support work across the curriculum for computers in classes.

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MUSIC

142. By the end of Year 2 and Year 6 pupils do not attain the expected national levels and their achievements are unsatisfactory for all groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs. Standards in singing at the end of both key stages are satisfactory overall; this is because pupils in both key stages have regular singing lessons accompanied by a peripatetic pianist. Pupils generally have a keen sense of rhythm in both key stages and they can generally sing in tune, but there are weaknesses in both key stages in relation to pupils’ skills of composition, appraising and evaluating their own performance and understanding how music is used for particular purposes. Information and communication technology is not sufficiently used to support music and pupils interviewed were unable to name famous composers or recall any work that they had studied. Instrumentalists who take music lessons from peripatetic staff are unable to read

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MUSIC

very simple music, but they enjoy their music lessons. 143. During the week of the inspection several good lessons were seen in Key Stage 2 with one very good lesson taken by the co-ordinator. Pupils made good gains in learning because of the brisk pace and secure subject knowledge of the teacher. In a very good music lesson in Year 5 the teacher sang with appropriate phrasing and pupils copied him effectively. In a very short time pupils had made good gains in learning because they knew what was expected of them.

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MUSIC

144. Pupils enjoy music and have good attitudes when they are effectively challenged by the teacher. They generally listen attentively and respond well in lessons especially when teachers tell them clearly what their expectations are.

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MUSIC

145. The quality of teaching overall is unsatisfactory because teachers are not progressively building upon what pupils have previously learnt due to the lack of assessments in this subject. Whilst a scheme of work is followed it is open to teachers’ personal interpretation and teachers’ subject knowledge is insecure. The school does not make full use of the co-ordinator’s very good subject knowledge and his expertise is underused throughout the school.

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MUSIC

146. Whilst pupils take part in drama and music productions and this has a positive effect on their social development, they are not receiving their full entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum because learning opportunities offered are not rigorously monitored to ensure that all skills are progressively taught. Pupils lack a strong musical vocabulary as insufficient emphasis is placed in identifying subject specific words in planning. Assessments are unsatisfactory, as is their use in planning the next steps of pupils’ learning.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

147. During the inspection the focus of teaching was gymnastics in Key Stage 1 and movement and dance in Key Stage 2. Judgements on other aspects of the subject are made as a result of discussions with teachers and a scrutiny of long term planning. Standards at the end of both key stages are similar to those expected nationally and pupils’ achievements are satisfactory in relation to their prior attainment. All groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs, make satisfactory progress. There is strength in the standards attained by pupils in the Year 2 class in gymnastics as a result of very good teaching. Crescent is a new primary school, so it is not possible to compare these judgements with those of a previous report.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

148. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils readily develop their gymnastic skills in floor work, producing a range of jumps that show they have an awareness of narrow and wide shapes. They show an Crescent Primary School - 51 understanding of direction when moving from side to side and forwards and backwards and are able to produce a short sequence of movements involving jumps, shape and direction. When using the large apparatus they achieve good standards individually and in pairs when moving through, over, under and along the apparatus, showing an awareness of the safety requirements of the subject. In this lesson the quality and maturity of their movement is good and they are beginning to show the ability and understanding, for example, to begin and end their work on the apparatus with controlled style. It is highly significant that the reason for the pupils’ good standards in this lesson is due to very good teaching. In particular there were high expectations of the pupils and

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

the teacher had enthusiasm and a very good level of knowledge. This was demonstrated by the way in which she linked a series of activities and asked pupils to comment on how they could improve their work. During a Year 2 lesson, the teacher discussed with pupils how the very best gymnasts moved and the pupils responded to this and fulfilled the teacher’s expectations. The school might usefully take note of this in the teaching of other areas of the curriculum for the pupils demonstrated that they could respond to high levels of challenge.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

149. By the age of 11, pupils attain satisfactory standards when moving and interpreting music. Younger pupils work on a sequence of movements inspired by the poem ‘Shadows’ and, with partners, are beginning to link these movements together. Year 4 and 5 pupils create a short dance inspired by the language of the ‘lottery’. They create clear shapes in their movement and stillness when holding positions both on the floor and in the air. A growing minority of pupils are showing the ability to move with some grace and finesse. Older and higher attaining Year 6 pupils make sound progress and are beginning to move and interpret music with a growing confidence that demonstrates an awareness of their bodies.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

150. The standards attained by the pupils are encouraged by the good provision of extra-curricular activities, which include basketball, soccer and a general games club. Years 3, 4 and 5 are given the opportunity to attend a four day residential visit to Hathersage where outdoor adventurous activities such as orienteering and walking are included. Years 3 and 5 are taught to swim in fourteen weekly sessions and, by the time they leave the school, 70 per cent of pupils can swim 25 metres. This is lower than the national average. Pupils are given the opportunity to take part in competitive games against other schools, for example, in soccer, basketball and athletics. There are good links with Mansfield Town Football Club. The above opportunities have a positive effect on the pupils’ physical and social development.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

151. The attitudes and behaviour of the pupils are good overall and excellent when inspired by very good teaching that holds their attention and challenges them to attain high standards. Overall the quality of teaching seen during the inspection was good. Pupils and teachers are always appropriately dressed for the lesson and come into the hall in a quiet and orderly manner showing that they are aware of the safety requirements of the subject. Warm-up and cool-down exercises take place and pupils are aware of their importance through discussion. Most pupils have learned good routines and most lessons take place in an orderly fashion with very little noise. As a result there are usually good opportunities for pupils to listen and discuss with their teachers. Teachers’ planning is thorough, though there are occasions when, although the standards attained by the pupils are satisfactory, teachers do not challenge pupils to attain even higher standards of performance in

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

their work. Most teachers do encourage pupils to demonstrate good quality work, but in Key Stage 2 not enough opportunity is taken to suggest how further improvements might be made in the future.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

152. The school has considered the QCA documentation and augmented it with additional schemes of work. It is evident from the long term planning that all aspects of the subject are covered. The co- ordinator is very enthusiastic and is working hard to ensure that all the programmes are implemented. She has monitored lessons and the headteacher has organised in-service training for teachers on dance and games. Formal assessment procedures have not yet been introduced, but informal procedures, such as discussion and observation in lessons, do take place. However, they are not yet being used precisely enough in most lessons to identify how pupils can improve the quality of their performance. Further in-service training is needed to help the co-ordinator evaluate the impact of teaching on learning. Overall the co-ordination of the subject is unsatisfactory. Resources and accommodation for the subject are good. There is every possibility

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Crescent Primary School - 52 that the school can continue to improve the standards attained by the pupils in the future if all teachers have high expectations, challenge pupils and develop assessment procedures so they ensure pupils’ skills and performance continue to improve lesson by lesson.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

153. Teaching was seen in Years 5 and 6. Judgements are based on evidence from the two lessons seen, together with the very small sample of pupils work provided by the school, teachers' planning and discussions with pupils and teachers. On the basis of this evidence, attainment of all groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs, is below that expected nationally and by the locally agreed syllabus, by the end of Years 2 and 6; pupils’ achievements are unsatisfactory. Pupils' knowledge and understanding lack depth about what religion means to communities and how it affects their lives and subsequent choices they make.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

154. By Year 2, pupils have learned about stories Jesus told and made a class book of these. Pupils remembered some of the stories, for example, The Good Samaritan and the House upon the Rock. Pupils could talk about what the moral of the story was. Pupils visit the local church and learn about baptism, but they have little knowledge of initiation rites in other faiths. Their lack of understanding is inhibited by the lack of opportunity to visit places of worship of a wide range of faiths, because the school has not yet established such links and by the confusion of teachers between personal, social, moral and religious education. By age 11, pupils have a broad knowledge and understanding of some of the major world faiths but lack sufficient knowledge to talk about them in depth. They discuss their present learning about the main features and customs associated with worship practices in the Gudwara. However there is insufficient emphasis

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

on the concept of worship and their knowledge of holy books in other religions and their understanding of some of the ways in which believers interpret story, symbolism, language and ritual. Whilst an effective start has been made to enrich pupils’ understanding of different religions, not enough emphasis is placed upon developing an awareness of the richness of religions and their contribution to the multicultural nature of our society. Whilst pupils are learning about religions, they are not sufficiently developing their learning from religions to ensure that they understand the deep commitment that underpins people’s involvement in religious practices.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

155. The quality of teaching seen during the week of inspection was satisfactory overall, but over time it is unsatisfactory. Teachers planned their lessons carefully and aimed to promote an understanding of other faiths, for example, in Year 5 pupils learn about the Muslim religion and in Year 6 about Sikhism. However, over time, planning shows that lessons have an insufficient emphasis on the concept of worship and a full range of religious skills and pupils do not have an understanding of the meaning of faith in a religious sense. Lessons tend to focus on the moral development of pupils and too often personal, social and health education is the focus of lessons. The school has made an effective start at incorporating aspects of Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism and Judaism, but has not fully embraced planning of national guidelines alongside the locally agreed syllabus and insufficient analysis has been done to identify that teachers know the

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

difference between religious education and personal, social and health education. As a result, pupils underachieve because they are not taught the skills in a progressive and coherent manner and too much is left to teachers’ personal interpretations. As a result, pupils in the older classes do not reflect sufficiently on their own identity and struggle to give examples of what is meaningful in their own lives. Teaching does not challenge the most able pupils and, as a result, their learning is unsatisfactory. These pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to develop their thinking skills and, as with other subjects, their skills of research and independent learning are unsatisfactory.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

156. Pupils, including those with special educational needs, have positive attitudes to their learning and usually behave well in lessons. The subject is taught alongside personal, social and health education and confusion has arisen amongst some staff as to which lesson is to be taught and, sometimes, the difference between the two subjects. Crescent Primary School - 53 157. There is not enough curriculum guidance or staff training to support teachers in delivering the subject. This results in unsatisfactory curriculum provision. Links between religious education and other subjects are not well developed.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

158. The co-ordinator is new to the task. She has made a good start in auditing resources and is reviewing what is taught. There is currently no established assessment procedure. Information and communication technology is not used to enhance and support learning.

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