Pilsley Primary School

Inspection Report Pilsley Primary School

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112605 Unique Reference Number DERBYSHIRE LEA LEA 278973 Inspection number 20 June 2006 to 21 June 2006 Inspection dates Mr. Ian Nelson AI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Station Road School address Primary Type of school S45 8EU Community School category 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 01773 872378 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01773 875792 Fax number 182 Number on roll Mrs.Allison Butterworth Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr. Nicholas Snape Headteacher 26 June 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278973 20 June 2006 - 3 to 11 21 June 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors

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Description of the school

This is a slightly smaller than average primary school. More children than usual are entitled to free school meals. The number of children who need extra help with their learning is a bit higher than is usually found. The vast majority of children come from White British backgrounds. The school is involved in the Behaviour Improvement Programme and the Excellence in Cities project. At the time of the inspection the deputy headteacher had been acting as headteacher for the school year. Children start in the Nursery with some of the skills and knowledge expected of children of this age, but are weaker in language and social skills.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Pilsley Primary School, 20 June 2006 to 21 June 2006

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Grade: 3

The school accurately judges its overall effectiveness as satisfactory and it gives satisfactory value for money. The quality of care is good and is recognised as a strength by the parents, who say, 'I have always found the staff to be caring and approachable'. Parents' views are overwhelmingly positive. Children's attitudes to school, their behaviour and attendance are all good. There were issues with some poor behaviour last year but these have been resolved. Children achieve satisfactorily and reach average standards by the end of Year 6. However, they do better in mathematics and science than in English. The school has taken steps to make children more enthusiastic about writing and these are helping to raise standards. Provision in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory and children make reasonable progress, with most reaching the goals expected of their age. Teaching is satisfactory overall with some good features. The

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Grade: 3

acting headteacher has maintained the school's drive for improvement during the year. He is adequately supported by senior staff though they do not have a clear enough understanding of the information they receive on the results of national tests at Year 2 and Year 6, and lesson observations do not focus enough on learning. The school recognises that there are potential safety issues with cars having to cross the playing areas to the car park. The improving results in national tests and in the children's behaviour and attitudes show that the school has what it takes to get better still.

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What the school should do to improve further

- Help children to get better at punctuation and sentence structure so that their writing continues to improve. - Ensure that teachers in charge of subjects have a clearer understanding of the information contained in the results of the Year 2 and Year 6 national tests, and a stronger focus on learning when observing lessons. - Continue to seek ways to improve the school site to create a playground that is separated from the vehicular access.

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Grade: 3

Achievement is satisfactory and children reach broadly average standards by the end of Year 6. Children enter Nursery with some of the skills and knowledge expected of their age but are weak on language and social skills. They make satisfactory progress in the Foundation Stage and reach the standards expected of their age when they start Year 1. In the national tests at Year 2 in 2005 girls did better than boys and the school is working hard to find ways to encourage boys to take a greater interest in learning. By the time children reach Year 6 standards are broadly average. However, children do better in mathematics and science than in English because they find difficulty with punctuation and the sentence structure of their writing. Children are more motivated by practical subjects like mathematics and physical education and the school is developing ways of getting them more interested in writing. The school has

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Grade: 3

2 Inspection Report: Pilsley Primary School, 20 June 2006 to 21 June 2006 set progressively harder targets for the future Year 6 tests which children are on track to meet. Children who find learning hard make satisfactory progress.

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Grade: 2

Children's personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is good. They have satisfactory opportunities for quiet reflection but these are not yet systematically built into teachers' lesson planning. They enjoy school, and attendance is better than in many schools. Behaviour is good and children say it is better than it was. They say there is no bullying, 'though we sometimes fall out'. Older children act as play leaders for the younger ones to help play times run smoothly and make sure no-one is left without a friend. Children are involved with the wider community through links with the local church, presenting concerts and raising money for charity. Children say there is always someone to go to with worries or concerns and they like the worry boxes and the 'tell teddy' systems. They have a good awareness of safety issues. Indeed, they pointed out the danger of having cars crossing the

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Grade: 2

playing area to the car park and how this could be resolved by re-siting the current canteen. They know how to stay fit and healthy and are very positive about physical education lessons and after-school sport. The school council is proud of its achievements and the way it is able to pass children's views on to the adults. Children's growing literacy, numeracy and social skills prepare them satisfactorily for the next stage of school and later life.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall with some good practice. Lessons are well planned and in the best ones teachers use a range of methods and resources to help children become enthusiastic and enjoy learning, though not all lessons are of this calibre. Particular strengths in the teaching lie in the positive relationships between teachers and children. As a result, children enjoy learning, especially physical education and mathematics, and say that 'teachers make learning fun'. The teaching support staff effectively help children who find learning difficult so that they make satisfactory progress. The school has good systems in place to track how well children are doing. Teachers use this information to set clear individual and group targets. In the best lessons this information is used effectively to plan activities that are well matched to children's abilities, but in some lessons all the children do

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Grade: 3

the same work at the same level regardless of their ability. Children are aware of their targets and are clear about what they need to do to improve. Teachers mark work regularly to give children clear indications of how their work can be improved. 3 Inspection Report: Pilsley Primary School, 20 June 2006 to 21 June 2006

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Grade: 2

The overall quality of the curriculum is good. The school provides a satisfactory range of activities to help children to learn, although it recognises in its improvement plan that there is still work to do to make learning even more creative and exciting. Throughout the school there is a strong and effective emphasis on promoting children's personal and social development so that they have a good understanding of staying safe, keeping healthy and of citizenship. There are many visits and visitors to school such as storytellers, musicians and sports coaches, and two residential visits to add interest to learning. There is a good range of out of school activities including music and sports clubs. These attract many children and make a strong contribution to their learning and enjoyment. Their enjoyment of learning is further enhanced with opportunities to learn to play orchestral instruments and to learn French. Those children

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Grade: 2

who have been identified with specific gifts and talents are well supported and encouraged to develop their talents through a range of additional activities.

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Grade: 2

The care, guidance and support provided for the children are good. Children are happy in school and know that, should they have a problem, they can talk to any member of staff. Procedures for child protection are in place. Health and safety procedures are effective with checks on possible risks to children's safety carried out regularly, although the management of systems to record some elements of these lacks rigour. The school has recently placed greater emphasis on developing positive strategies to manage children's behaviour. These are having a significant impact. Parents strongly support the view that their children are safe and well cared for. Children, however, did comment on the potential dangers of cars crossing the playground to reach the car park even though play times are well supervised. The school has developed good procedures to assess and monitor children's progress. These are used well to identify children with

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Grade: 2

learning difficulties as early as possible and also to set individual and group targets. These are well known by the children so that they have a growing understanding of how well they are doing and what they need to learn next.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The school has been ably led this year by the deputy headteacher in the absence of the headteacher. He has an accurate view of how well the school is doing and what it needs to do to improve, though not all senior staff have such a secure understanding of how well the school is performing. Teachers in charge of subjects understand the school's systems for checking how well children are doing. However, they do not have a clear enough understanding of the information the school receives each year on the results of national tests at Year 2 and Year 6 and how best to use that information. Governors are very supportive of 4 Inspection Report: Pilsley Primary School, 20 June 2006 to 21 June 2006 the school but rely too heavily upon the headteacher for guidance and information. They do not yet have enough confidence to ask challenging questions of the staff. The school has tackled some difficult staffing issues in its bid to raise the quality of

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Grade: 3

teaching. However, lesson observations focus too heavily on what the teacher is doing rather than on what children of different abilities are learning. The views of parents and children are sought regularly and the school takes good account of their ideas in planning for the future. For example, the school council was fully involved in reviewing the anti-bullying policy and introducing the worry boxes. The school accurately identified issues with behaviour and with achievement in writing and has tackled both effectively during the year. It is satisfactorily placed to continue improving. 5 Inspection Report: Pilsley Primary School, 20 June 2006 to 21 June 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Pilsley Primary School, 20 June 2006 to 21 June 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 3 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 3 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 3 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 3 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for being so welcoming when we came to inspect your school recently. This letter is to tell you what is good about your school and how it could be better. You behave well and enjoy school. The adults look after you well so that you always have someone to go to if you are worried or upset. You also have the worry boxes so that you never need to feel upset for long. Older children do well in looking after younger ones as play leaders. Some of your lessons are exciting and you like PE and mathematics especially. You do better in science and mathematics than you do in English because at times you have trouble with your writing. The school council is good at telling the adults what you think about school. They told us that you have concerns about the cars having to cross the playground to the car park. The school gets a lot of information on how well you have done in your tests at Year 2 and Year 6 but not all

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

the teachers fully understand it. Mr Snape has done a good job of running the school while Mr West has been away. He and the teachers have plenty of ideas for making the school better. We have asked them to help you to get better at writing. We have also asked them to get better at understanding the information contained in national tests and to seek ways to improve the playground so that cars do not have to cross it.

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