Newhall Infant School

112636 Unique Reference Number DERBYSHIRE Local Authority 289359 Inspection number 13 °14 March 2007 Inspection dates Jane Melbourne HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Infant Type of school Community School category 3 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 223 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Sean Bambrick Chair Mr Neil Loftus Headteacher 20 May 2002 Date of previous school inspection Sunnyside School address Newhall Derbyshire DE11 0TJ

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01283 216496 Telephone number 01283 216472 Fax number

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3 °7 Age group 13 °14 March 2007 Inspection dates 289359 Inspection number .

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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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and one Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

The school serves the local mainly White British population of Newhall, close to the small south Derbyshire town of Swadlincote. The school shares a site with a junior and secondary school and a performing arts centre. Children come to school with slightly below average attainment. Approximately 10% of the pupils have learning difficulties and disabilities. No pupils are learning English as an additional language. An above average proportion of pupils are eligible for free school meals. The school has a Green Flag award for being Eco-friendly.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Newhall Infant School, 13 °14 March 2007

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Grade: 2

Newhall Infant and Nursery School is a good school that gives good value for money. Due to the tireless commitment of the staff and governors, there is no risk of complacency. The headteacher, who has been at the school for just over two years, has injected enormous energy into the school and has been instrumental in bringing about many positive changes. Everyone works hard as a team to make sure the school as a whole and the standards pupils achieve keep getting better, as they have consistently done over the past five years. All take responsibility for nurturing those pupils who need additional support and the methods used for this are very effective. Hence, the pastoral care and support afforded to pupils is outstanding and they make particularly good progress in their personal development. The school ensures that 'Every Child Matters' and works very effectively with a range of professionals outside the school to achieve this. Pupils typically enter the Nursery with lower

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Grade: 2

than expected attainment, particularly in personal, social and emotional development and their communication, language and literacy skills. They make good or better progress so that by the end of the Reception year, marking the end of the Foundation Stage, many pupils are above local and national expectations. Most pupils continue to make good progress in Years 1 and 2. Standards of teaching are predominantly good. The learning environments are stimulating. Children are clear about what they are going to learn and are motivated towards group targets for literacy and numeracy. Occasionally, pupils spend too long sitting before moving across to the activities or do not have chance to reflect on whether they have learnt what was intended. Some pupils think the work is too easy or that they have covered similar tasks too often before. The curriculum and other activities are good and mostly meet the needs and interests of all

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Grade: 2

pupils. The provision for information and communication technology (ICT) and extra-curricular activities has improved since the last inspection. Academic guidance given to pupils is improving. Teachers try hard to ensure the consistency of marking across the school and follow the school policy for this, whilst recognising there is still more to do here. Pupils are not always sure of their personal targets and what they need to do to improve. The school has already started to put some strategies in place to help with this. The leadership and management of the school are good. The senior management team is setting clear direction, which is linked closely to the school's improvement plan. The monitoring of teaching and learning is not sufficiently regular or rigorous to identify differences across the school. However, it has already begun to scrutinise pupils' work across the whole school, which has usefully informed staff of some inconsistencies and enabled them to compare the accuracy

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Grade: 2

of levels awarded. The headteacher has been very effective in building a strong staff team that support each other and work together very well.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure the monitoring of teaching and learning is undertaken more regularly and effectively evaluated so that staff know exactly what to do to improve and co-ordinators gain an accurate view of current standards across the school. • Develop consistent practice in the use of pupils' individual targets, raising the profile of these with children and parents, and ensure both children and parents are clear if they're making progress towards these. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Newhall Infant School, 13 °14 March 2007 • Continue to work at the challenge given to groups of pupils and further develop active learning across the school so that enjoyment remains high and all children achieve their potential.

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Grade: 2

Achievement for all groups of pupils is at least good and for some pupils it is outstanding. Pupils enter the Nursery with slightly below average attainment and by the end of the Foundation Stage most have met or exceeded the early learning goals expected for their age. They mostly continue to make good progress in Key Stage 1 and standards have remained well above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Systems of tracking pupils' progress are robust and enable the early identification of pupils needing additional support. Although pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities do not always attain what is expected for their age, they do make good progress, particularly when awarded a statement of special educational need.

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Grade: 2

The school motto 'seeing and encouraging all strengths' is evident in the good personal development and well-being of the pupils. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils know how to keep healthy and conduct themselves safely and sensibly throughout the school. There are high expectations for behaviour and effective methods for managing this. Behaviour is, therefore, good across all age groups. Most pupils enjoy coming to school and the staff have worked really hard to provide incentives for good attendance and timekeeping to good effect. Attendance has improved and is now in line with national averages, although some parents still choose to take holidays in term time. Pupils make a very positive contribution to their school, local and worldwide communities. They respond to monitor duties maturely and are willing helpers in every respect. Links with the feeder pre-school and the local elderly are strong and the school is well thought of in the

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Grade: 2

community. The pupils work hard to raise funds for children in other parts of the world who are less fortunate than themselves. The recent introduction of a school council with the continuing work of the Eco Club and the planning of the school environment and curriculum ensures that pupils develop the necessary skills to promote their future economic wellbeing.

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Grade: 2

Teaching across the school is predominantly good. Staff have mutually agreed a range of minimum expectations for each classroom in terms of the learning environment and the routines. This has helped to nurture consistency in particular aspects across the school. The impact of this has been to help pupils understand what they will be learning and to develop an enthusiasm and desire to read and write, particularly for reticent boys. The good personal development of the pupils ensures staff can get down to teaching quickly. Lively, stimulating classrooms and good quality resources ensure that children mostly learn in active and practical ways. In outstanding lessons the pace is very good and all pupils remain interested because the work is then very well adapted to the needs of all pupils. Very occasionally, in some classes, children 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Newhall Infant School, 13 °14 March 2007

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Grade: 2

remain sitting for too long before they start to work independently and sometimes the work set is insufficiently challenging for some pupils.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum provides good opportunities for learning and helps pupils to become confident and caring individuals. The school has tried to engage boys' interests and developed some cross curricular activities which have greater appeal to them. The provision for those who have learning difficulties and disabilities is good and the curriculum is adapted effectively to meet their particular needs. It is sometimes less well adapted to the needs of the more able pupils. Good provision for literacy, numeracy and ICT equips the children well for their next steps in learning, including the move to junior school. Visits, visitors and extra-curricular activities enhance the curriculum well. Good use is made of visiting specialists in curriculum areas such as physical education and art, which has particularly enriched and stimulated the pupils. After school clubs are well attended and appreciated by pupils.

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Grade: 2

The level of pastoral care and support pupils receive is outstanding. Their academic care and guidance is at least satisfactory and sometimes good. Pupils have a developing understanding of their learning through their group targets, which are regularly reviewed. However, individual targets are less secure because they are not yet used consistently. Arrangements for safeguarding children and minimising risk are secure and meet national requirements. The school works very closely and effectively with support agencies, impacting on the good progress made by pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. The school has a close and successful partnership with parents.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher has a strong vision for the school which is shared by all staff and governors. There is a determination to continually improve standards and keep getting better. The learning environment has improved across the school and academic standards have improved year-on-year. The school accurately evaluates its strengths and weaknesses and has prioritised well in order to bring about change and the early impact of this is evident. A favourable partnership with parents, the use of resources and effective pupil tracking data ensures that children's needs are quickly identified and interventions put into place when necessary ensuring equality of opportunity. The school identified that it needed to continually do more for those pupils who were able, gifted and talented and strategies have already begun to try to take account of their needs. This is sometimes effective, although expectations do vary and adaptation

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Grade: 2

of work and extension activities is better matched to children's skills and talents in some classes more than others. The devolvement of management is working effectively and staff are motivated by new challenges and responsibilities. The school recognises that the next stage is to monitor this more closely. Currently, performance management is clearly linked to school improvement, but the monitoring of teaching and learning is not yet sufficiently rigorous and regular to ensure 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Newhall Infant School, 13 °14 March 2007 consistency in all areas across the school. The governors now understand their responsibilities well and are beginning to take a more proactive role in the monitoring of the school. The school has a good capacity to improve further. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Newhall Infant School, 13 °14 March 2007 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Newhall Infant School, 13 °14 March 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Newhall Infant School, 13 °14 March 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Newhall Infant School, 13 °14 March 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

15 March 2007 The Children Newhall Infant and Nursery School, Sunnyside, Newhall, Derbyshire, DE11 0TJ Dear Children Thank you for being so kind and helpful when Mrs Harker and I visited your school recently. We enjoyed talking to you about your work and what you think of your school. We agree that it is a very happy place to be. Your teachers and helpers work very hard and your headteacher does a good job in leading the school. We think that your classrooms and displays look lovely. We were pleased to see you enjoying the improved playground with lots of things to play with. You behave well and try really hard to have 'Kind hands, kind words and kind feet'. You nearly all listen when your teachers are talking. This means that you are ready to learn, which is important. You do good work and do well in your tests but we think some of you might do even better if you try to learn things more yourselves and teachers make the work a little bit

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

harder for those of you that find activities too easy. Most of you know about the targets for your class and what the little 'WILF' cards are about, but we want all of you and your parents to know and understand what you each have to do to get better. We want your teachers and headteacher to check how all of you are being taught and what you are learning a little bit more. I am so glad that you found Dudley duck! I am sure that the wonderful posters that you made helped everyone to recognise him. Yours sincerely Jane Melbourne Her Majesty's Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Newhall Infant School, 13 °14 March 2007

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