Trent Vale Infant School

Inspection Report Trent Vale Infant School

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122541 Unique Reference Number NOTTINGHAMSHIRE LEA LEA 281293 Inspection number 14 November 2005 to 15 November 2005 Inspection dates Ms. Sheelagh Barnes LI Reporting inspector

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

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Trent Road School address Infant Type of school NG9 1LP Community School category 3 to 9 Age range of pupils 01159179224 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01159179264 Fax number 94 Number on roll Mr.B Oxley Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs. M Churton and Mrs L Hone Headteacher 13 September 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281293 14 November 2005 - 3 to 9 15 November 2005 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

Trent Vale is slightly smaller than most schools, with 94 pupils, and a thirty place nursery class. It is situated in the residential area of Beeston Rylands, in Nottingham. This is a changing area. Circumstances of families living in the area are broadly average and the free school meals intake is relatively low. Nearly all pupils are of white British heritage. Five pupils are at an early stage of learning English. There are five pupils with special educational needs at the school action plus stage; one pupil receives higher level funding from the Local Authority to support their needs. The school has been through a turbulent year, with ongoing staffing changes. The role of headteacher is currently shared between the deputy head and a seconded headteacher. A new headteacher has been appointed to take up her post in January. The school's facilities are used well by the local community. The school gained Investors in People status in

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Trent Vale Infant School, 14 November 2005 to 15 November 2005

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Grade: 3

The school provides a satisfactory quality of education for all its pupils. Senior managers have an accurate overall view of the school's effectiveness. There has been a satisfactory level of improvement since the previous inspection. The school provides satisfactory value for money. Currently, the school is going through a significant period of change. Many staff and governors are new, including some in key roles. Plans are in place to consolidate and develop leadership and management roles in January, when the new headteacher takes up her post. These plans include developing the role of the co-ordinators in monitoring standards in their subjects. In the meantime, the school is being kept on course through the dedication and hard work of all staff, and in particular the two acting headteachers. Children in the nursery and reception classes attain standards appropriate for their ages by the time they transfer into Year 1.

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Grade: 3

However, there are limited opportunities for them to climb and develop strength and agility on a regular basis. Standards in reading, writing and mathematics are average at the end of Year 2. The provision for pupils' care, guidance and support is a strength. The behaviour policy is effective and pupils behave well throughout the school. A real strength of the school is in the links it has within the local community and with local industry. The support it receives from these sources makes a positive contribution to the standards pupils attain and to their social development.

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What the school should do to improve further

- Establish roles and responsibilities for the new senior management team and governors to work together efficiently to take the school forward. - Develop the role of co-ordinators to monitor and help improve standards in their subjects across the school. - Improve staff confidence in, and develop the use of, information and communication technology as an aid to pupils' learning across the school. - Improve opportunities for children in the Foundation Stage to climb and develop strength and agility.

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Grade: 3

Standards are broadly in line with those expected at the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils' progress and achievement of all groups, including pupils with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language, is satisfactory throughout the school. Standards in national tests were broadly average in the three areas of reading, writing and mathematics in 2004. Following an analysis of these results, there was a concerted effort during the year to increase the proportions of pupils attaining level 3 in 2005. Challenging targets were set and met. However, more pupils also scored at the lower levels so that the overall results remained broadly average in all three areas. The school feels that the higher proportion of pupils attaining the lower levels was due in part to staff changes during a long-term absence through illness of a key staff member. Children in the nursery and reception classes have a

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Grade: 3

sound start to their education and work covers the full range of areas for their age. 2 Inspection Report: Trent Vale Infant School, 14 November 2005 to 15 November 2005 However, provision of regular, frequent opportunities for them climb and develop strength and agility is limited, although teachers work to make best use of all of the opportunities available to them.

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Grade: 3

Children behave well, are keen to learn and have good relationships with all staff and one another because of the good provision for social and moral development. Children enjoy receiving the 'chance cards' and certificates. They said 'When someone gets a chance card we all behave beautifully in case we get one'. Children's spiritual and cultural development is satisfactory. This school is an active player in community life and pupils are encouraged to be responsible citizens from a very early age. Older ones helped deliver harvest parcels to retired people living nearby. They have a satisfactory understanding of what a healthy lifestyle means. Playtimes are happy, healthy occasions because there are a good number of different activities that keep pupils busy. The school gives pupils a satisfactory foundation in basic skills, to prepare them for the next stage in their education. Information and communication technology (ICT) could

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Grade: 3

be used much more in lessons than it is at present. Pupils learn the relevance of money when they use real pennies in mathematics lessons. Attendance is broadly average although it has fallen in the last year. The education of a significant minority of pupils is interrupted by holidays taken during term time.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching is satisfactory throughout the school and leads to pupils from all groups making steady satisfactory gains in their learning. All staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour and implement the new behaviour policy well. As a result, pupils are well behaved and lessons proceed smoothly with little interruption. The school has recently invested in improved hardware for ICT. However, training is not yet completed and some systems are still not functioning fully. As a result, many opportunities are missed for computers to be used to make learning more memorable. Assessment and tracking of pupils' progress has been developed well in English and mathematics and for the children in the Foundation Stage. As a result of the analysis of general trends, support has been put in to raise standards overall. Work is set which is at an appropriate level for each class. Marking of pupils' work is regular and generally

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Grade: 3

provides information to help monitoring of progress, although there is some inconsistency. The school is developing target setting to meet individual pupils' needs and this is starting to involve them in an understanding of what they need to do next to improve. 3 Inspection Report: Trent Vale Infant School, 14 November 2005 to 15 November 2005

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory and the range of work children do meets legal requirements. Children soon learn the basic skills needed for the next stage in their education. During the inspection, many of the very new computers were not working or set up. The school has improved resources but teachers have not had time for sufficient training to enable them to use the new equipment. There is good use of visits out in the community to add relevance to what pupils are studying. School has just introduced arrangements to enable more frequent short trips out in the locality, for example to the canal, nature reserve and park. Special activity weeks help to enliven learning, for example, arts weeks with visiting artists. There is a satisfactory range of outdoor sports and extra curricular activities, mostly held in the summer.

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Grade: 2

This is a school with a friendly atmosphere, where pupils are happy and looked after well. Levels of pastoral care are good. Child protection procedures are understood and whole staff training booked. All necessary support systems are in place for those children who need extra care, or whose home circumstances are difficult. There is an appropriate oversight of health and safety procedures. There is good provision for pupils with special educational needs. Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to provide a combination of class support, individual and group work. Provision for pupils with English as an additional language is satisfactory. There is good liaison with external support agencies for the benefit of those pupils who require it.

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Grade: 3

The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory. During the many recent changes, the school has continued to move steadily forward due to the hard work and commitment of all those involved. For example, more pupils attained the higher levels in the most recent tests. Many of the teachers responsible for different areas of the curriculum are relatively new to their post. Co-ordinators have not had sufficient regular opportunity to monitor teaching and learning across the school and so do not have a clear overview of standards. In addition, many of the governors are also new and undertaking training to help them develop their role. Despite the many changes, the school has an accurate view of its strengths and weaknesses and how it compares to other schools nationally. The views of parents and pupils are regularly taken into consideration. Financial management is sound. The school has made satisfactory

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Grade: 3

progress since the previous inspection and is now in a position to establish roles and responsibilities for the new senior management team and governors to secure continued improvement. The school provides satisfactory value for money. 4 Inspection Report: Trent Vale Infant School, 14 November 2005 to 15 November 2005 .

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

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 5 Inspection Report: Trent Vale Infant School, 14 November 2005 to 15 November 2005

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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 3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 3 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 3 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 3 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 3 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 helping us to get to know your school and being so polite and friendly. What we liked most about your school: - We were pleased that you get such good opportunities to visit interesting places. - Your teachers all look after you well. - School provides good opportunities for you to learn how to work together and look after each other. - You enjoy your lessons and behave well. - Your teachers help those of you who have special learning needs well. - Lots of people who live and work near school come in to help you. What we have asked your school to do now: - Make sure that your new headteacher and new governors really get a chance to get to know you and the school. - We have asked the teachers who are responsible for each subject to look at your books and visit your lessons more often so that they know how well all of you are getting on. - We have asked the teachers to find out more about using computers in your lessons and to give you more opportunity to use them. - We

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

have asked the school to develop the playground for those of you in the nursery and reception classes to help you to grow strong and healthy.

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