Sundorne Infant School and Nursery

Inspection Report Sundorne Infant School

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123395 Unique Reference Number Shropshire LEA 281466 Inspection number 15 November 2005 to 16 November 2005 Inspection dates Mary Hamby HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Corndon Crescent School address Infant Type of school Sundorne Road Community School category Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 4LE 3 to 7 Age range of pupils

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01743 362519 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01743 358737 Fax number 330 Number on roll Mrs Emily Wadda Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Chris Bell Headteacher 11 October 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281466 15 November 2005 - 3 to 7 16 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 of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and one additional inspector.

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Description of the school

Sundorne Infant School is set in an area of mixed housing and most of the children live in the immediate area. The proportion of children entitled to free school meals is broadly average. The vast majority of the children are from White British backgrounds and the remainder come from a range of minority ethnic groups. Very few of the pupils are at an early stage of learning English as an additional language. The percentage of children with learning difficulties is above average. Two members of staff were absent on maternity leave at the time of the inspection. The headteacher joined the school relatively recently, in January 2005.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Sundorne Infant School, 15 November 2005 to 16 November 2005

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Grade: 3

This school is effective in helping the children to make good progress. It has clear strengths but also aspects in need of improvement. The school judges itself to be good in all areas; this is a more positive view than inspection evidence reveals. One area in which inspectors and the school have agreement is that the teaching is good and that most children achieve well. The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception) are good because the teaching is lively and the children are well motivated to do their best. Teaching is good through Key Stage 1, but the provision for mathematics is not as good as English, particularly for higher attaining pupils. The personal development of the pupils is good because the staff work together well to give the children confidence and they value the contribution of each and every one of them. The children enjoy coming to school but their attendance is not as good as

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Grade: 3

it should be. The curriculum is satisfactory and there are adequate systems in place to ensure that pupils receive suitable guidance and support. Leadership and management are satisfactory. There is an appropriate focus on pupils’ achievement and the school has recently set up some potentially useful procedures for tracking their progress from term to term. However, there has been too little attention to checking the quality of teaching and reviewing the progress of pupils with learning difficulties. Development planning focuses on many of the right issues but has some weaknesses. Governors support the school well but are currently not involved enough in some aspects of self-evaluation. The school has made reasonable progress since the last inspection and standards have risen steadily since then. The school has a sound capacity to continue to improve and gives good value for money. Parents are very pleased with what the school provides

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Grade: 3

and comment on the ‘lovely atmosphere’ and the fact that staff are ‘most helpful’.

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What the school should do to improve further

•Improve leadership and management by ensuring that teaching and learning are monitored regularly, self-evaluation and development planning are more rigorous, and ensuring that targets for pupils with learning difficulties are reviewed more regularly attaining children with more challenge, and providing the children with more constructive feedback •continue to implement strategies to improve attendance by working closely with parents so that they understand the importance of good attendance. •improve the provision for mathematics by ensuring that children are taught more effectively how to use and apply their knowledge, providing the higher

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good. By Year 2, the pupils reach higher than average standards. Achievement is particularly good in writing where the school has an impressive record of high standards. The school is successful in helping boys to achieve well; their 2 Inspection Report: Sundorne Infant School, 15 November 2005 to 16 November 2005 performance is equally good, and in some instances better, than that of girls. Pupils with learning difficulties reach their targets and achieve well, but for some of these the targets are too easy and they do not have a new one set soon enough. The children enter school with average skills and make good progress through the Foundation Stage, particularly in their personal development. Most of the children reach the nationally expected goals by the time they enter Year 1 and a significant proportion of them exceed these. Children with birthdays in the autumn term reach higher standards than their younger classmates.

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Grade: 2

Through Year 1 and Year 2 the pupils make good progress, particularly in literacy. Most pupils make good progress in counting and learning about measuring and shapes. However, the pupils do not achieve as well in using this knowledge to solve problems, or in mathematical challenges. The school recognises that more able pupils are not doing as well as they might in all aspects of mathematics.

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Grade: 2

The school and the inspection team judge that pupils’ personal development is good. The children behave well, enjoy coming to school, and feel that it is a safe place to be. They play harmoniously and relate well to adults. They have been involved in planning the recreation areas and agreeing their class rules; such opportunities help them to make a contribution to school life. Children are encouraged to look after themselves and about half choose to have the school’s healthy lunches. The system of paying for their lunch each day provides a valuable opportunity for them to develop an understanding about money, a good life skill. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils are given opportunities to learn about other cultures through practical activities, such as making Diwali lamps and role play in their class travel agency. Assemblies, and visitors from different religions, help to develop pupils’ understanding of the wider world. They are

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Grade: 2

encouraged to be responsible for their own possessions and are given appropriate responsibilities, such as delivering registers and collecting fruit boxes. Attendance is unsatisfactory and has been so for the past three years. Monitoring of attendance has not been thorough enough to bring about improvements. The governors have recently agreed a more rigorous approach which is reducing requests for holidays in term time.

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Grade: 2

The teaching is good and so the pupils do well; this is consistent with the school’s own view. The teaching assistants work well and enjoy very positive relationships with the children. All the staff manage the children’s behaviour very well and the pupils who 3 Inspection Report: Sundorne Infant School, 15 November 2005 to 16 November 2005 have behavioural difficulties concentrate hard and make good progress. The staff use a range of resources well to help the pupils understand new ideas. For example, they use interactive whiteboards to engage the pupils’ interest and add enjoyment to lessons. The teachers assess the pupils’ work regularly and identify targets for the pupils based on these assessments. The pupils themselves are becoming familiar with their targets but are not clear enough about what they need to do to improve their work in mathematics. This is because the marking, although regular and positive, is not always

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Grade: 2

helpful in identifying what the pupils should do to improve. The teaching of pupils with learning difficulties gives them confidence, but the work that they are set is not always matched well enough to their specific needs. In mathematics the teaching in sets is effective in most respects but some of the questioning is not probing enough, and the work is not hard enough to challenge the higher attaining pupils. The school has identified the need for mathematical problem solving and reasoning to be taught more effectively and inspectors agree with this evaluation.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory. The school judges the curriculum to be good despite there being no whole school curriculum plan. Thus it is not clear how pupils will develop their knowledge, understanding and skills across different subjects. Individual teachers plan links between subjects and this is effective. For example, pupils developed their instruction writing in an English lesson after making jam tarts as part of their learning in design and technology. There are few occasions where pupils are able to extend their learning outside the normal school day, although pupils in Year 2 have recently been given the opportunity to take part in football training after school. The pupils are taken on visits to bring their learning to life, for example, children in the Foundation Stage have recently visited a local park as part of their work on the natural world. The curriculum for children in the Foundation Stage is lively and interesting, but the school

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Grade: 3

recognises the need to develop provision for learning in the outside area.

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Grade: 3

The care, guidance and support of pupils are satisfactory. The school judges this aspect of their work as good and the parents express positive views about how their children are cared for and guided. The pupils are looked after well in school by staff who clearly care for them and value them as individuals. The school has suitable procedures in place for safety in school but procedures for safety on school visits are not good enough. The school’s arrangements for protecting pupils who are vulnerable are sound. The support for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is satisfactory. The school works well with other professionals to give extra support to those 4 Inspection Report: Sundorne Infant School, 15 November 2005 to 16 November 2005

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are sound. The school’s judgement is that this aspect of the school’s work is good, but there is not sufficient evidence to support this judgement. There are some effective elements, such as the precision with which the school has started to track pupils’ progress from term to term. There is also a clear sense of teamwork in the school and there are good training opportunities for all staff. Parents are pleased with what is provided and most of them think that the school is well led and managed. The leadership team is dedicated to school improvement, has made suitable progress since the last inspection, and has sound capacity to take the school forward. The governors support the school well through a network of committees and by actively taking the role of critical friends. However, there has not been sufficient opportunity for them to be involved in some elements of self-evaluation despite the

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Grade: 3

fact that they are keen to do so. The headteacher is still in his first year at the school and is developing systems to take the school forward. He has rightly identified many appropriate areas for school improvement. A reasonable start has been made on self-evaluation but it is still at an early stage of development. Development planning is focused on suitable issues but the targets are not specific enough and the plan is not revisited and adjusted in the light of new information. There has been too little checking up of teaching and learning, and although the quality of the teaching is good, it could be even better. The leadership of provision for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is temporarily being carried out by the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Although this is expedient in the circumstances, the school should consider a more permanent arrangement to ensure that this important area of its work is effectively managed in

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Grade: 3

the long term. 5 Inspection Report: Sundorne Infant School, 15 November 2005 to 16 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. 6 Inspection Report: Sundorne Infant School, 15 November 2005 to 16 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 2 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 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 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 4 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 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 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 3 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 4 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 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 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

Sundorne Infant School Corndon Crescent Shrewsbury Shropshire Sy1 4LE 16 November 2005 Dear Children I am writing to you all about the visit that I made to your school with my friends Mr Mumby HMI and Mr Collins AI. Can you remember that we came to look at all the work that you were doing and to talk to you and your teachers? We really enjoyed talking to you and thought you were very friendly. We would also like to thank your parents for filling in a form about the school. It helped us to get a good picture of your school in the short time we were there. There were lots of good things that we will remember about your school. These include: the happy atmosphere in the school how your teachers work hard to make sure that you all learn well the way your teachers know you all well and listen to your concerns the way that governors take a lot of interest in what you are doing how much you enjoy your lessons and your playtimes

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

the way you behave well and try your best how you feel safe and cared for and have someone to turn to if you need it. To make your school even better, we have asked the governors and staff to: think more carefully about how they check each other’s work to make sure that your school is always getting better make sure you do as well in mathematics as you do in English make sure you come to school every day unless you really are too poorly. Keep trying hard to do your best and make sure you enjoy all the things that your school does for you. Best wishes from Mrs M Hamby Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools

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