Annesley Primary and Nursery School

Inspection Report Annesley Primary and Nursery School

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122404 Unique Reference Number NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Local Authority 292389 Inspection number 15 °16 February 2007 Inspection dates Patricia Cox 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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Forest Road School address Primary Type of school Annesley Woodhouse Community School category Nottinghamshire NG17 9BW 3 °11 Age range of pupils

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01623 468806 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01623 468807 Fax number 203 Number on roll (school) Mrs Linda Ward Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Paul Nolan Headteacher 25 November 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 292389 15 °16 February 2007 3°11 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 school is average sized but numbers are falling due to changes in this ex-mining community. There are 32 children part-time in the Nursery. A lower than average proportion of pupils are entitled to free school meals. The number of pupils identified as having learning difficulties or disabilities is below average. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds and none have a first language other than English. Attainment of the children on entry is similar to national expectations. The school is part of an Excellence Cluster, a local group that provides support for improvements in achievement. It is part of the local Creative Partnership, with a focus on raising pupils' motivation and aspirations. There has been disruption over the past four years through staff absence.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Annesley Primary and Nursery School, 15 °16 February 2007

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school, providing satisfactory value for money. The headteacher has steered the school soundly through a lengthy period of disruption due to staff absence through illness. The senior leadership team has been strengthened and provides enthusiastic and sound support. Overall the school is showing satisfactory capacity to improve further. However, the subject leaders have not been enabled to develop their leadership and management skills sufficiently and consequently do not take enough responsibility for progress in their subjects. Standards in English, mathematics and science at the end of Year 6 have been maintained at the national average, after having risen from 2003 when they were exceptionally low. However, pupils' attainment in English fell in 2006, particularly in writing, where standards were low. Because the school knows itself adequately, this shortcoming has been identified and some

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Grade: 3

initiatives are in place to tackle it. There is a degree of over-optimism about the school's effectiveness in some areas such as the curriculum. Systems for checking how well the school is providing for its pupils are not altogether rigorous and therefore the key weaknesses in writing have not been pinpointed with sufficient accuracy. Teaching is satisfactory overall, and is sometimes good but there are also weaknesses. Because teaching is at least satisfactory in the Foundation Stage, children make a sound start, leaving both the Nursery and the Reception classes with attainment similar to that expected for their age. Relationships are strong through the school and the best teaching builds well on what the pupils already know. However, there is inconsistency in the way that some teachers apply school policies, for example, in assessing their pupils' progress from day to day. As a result, activities set for pupils

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Grade: 3

are sometimes too easy or difficult. Consequently, while pupils' achievement is satisfactory, they make uneven progress through the school. Pupils' personal development and well-being are satisfactory. While their spiritual and cultural development is adequate, their moral and social development is good. This is because they readily adopt the positive values and relationships encouraged by the school. They are keen contributors to school life, raising money for play equipment, and take their part in raising money for other good causes seriously. Pupils behave well and are prepared adequately for their future lives. The curriculum is satisfactory and the wide range of activities outside the school day makes a good contribution to pupils' enjoyment. The school takes satisfactory care of pupils, who feel safe and are developing their understanding of how well they are doing.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise standards, particularly in English, by continued rigorous identification of the shortcomings and focused action to tackle them. • Ensure that staff use agreed assessment policies consistently to match activities to pupils' needs. • Improve the leadership and management of subject leaders by ensuring that they take full responsibility for raising standards in their subjects. 2 Inspection Report: Annesley Primary and Nursery School, 15 °16 February 2007

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Grade: 3

Standards at the end of Year 2 have varied considerably over the years, due to disruptions in teaching in Key Stage 1 and the Foundation Stage. Staffing has now been stabilised. Children in the Nursery and Reception classes make sound progress and are on course to reach the expected standards by the time they enter Year 1. Standards in English, mathematics and science are now broadly average in Years 2 and 6 and all pupils make satisfactory progress. Achievement in writing is improving. Pupils generally listen well, but their speaking skills, particularly their vocabulary, are not as strong and this affects their ability to write. The school reached its targets in mathematics but missed them in English. The targets for 2007 are extremely challenging and are more likely to be achieved in mathematics than English.

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Grade: 3

Pupils have a good regard for their own safety and that of others. Behaviour is good and, throughout the school, pupils are helpful and form positive relationships with each other. They are not concerned about bullying, knowing it rarely happens and what to do if it should. Pupils' attendance is satisfactory but their enjoyment of school is good, especially because of the wide range of extra activities provided before school, at lunchtimes and after school. Overall, pupils' attitude to staying healthy is more limited despite the school's efforts to promote healthy eating, although many pupils benefit from playing sports. Their steady progress and self-confidence prepares them reasonably for the future.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall. The best teaching is lively and enthusiastic; the pupils respond well and are totally involved in the lesson. For example, in an English lesson with Year 6, the teacher used a promising piece of writing to focus the pupils' attention on how this could be improved. They were eager to contribute and the results showed good improvement. Some teachers use their day-to-day assessments well to adapt their planning for the next lessons. Where teachers have a good understanding of the level their pupils are working at, they set activities that are matched well to their individual needs. However, this is inconsistent and often the same work is set for the whole class. Some lessons are dull, do not engage the pupils sufficiently in learning and there is a lack of understanding of how pupils can achieve a lesson's aims. Pupils sometimes have to sit on the floor too long and on other

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Grade: 3

occasions too much attention is given to the boys at the expense of the girls. 3 Inspection Report: Annesley Primary and Nursery School, 15 °16 February 2007

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Grade: 3

The range of work and activities are satisfactory in supporting pupils' achievement. Initiatives are being implemented aimed at raising standards, for example to promote problem-solving skills in mathematics, and different ways of supporting pupils' writing have been introduced. However, developments are at an early stage and it is too soon to know fully their impact on standards. Because the timetable is not organised as efficiently as it could be, and a high priority has been given to English and mathematics, there has not been as much attention to the development of the full range of subjects. Work and activities in some subjects are fairly narrow as a result, and geography in particular remains an area where improvement is needed. Nevertheless, the use of specialist agencies to provide creative activities has resulted in a number of projects that have proved exciting and challenging for the pupils involved.

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Grade: 3

The school provides a wide range of additional opportunities for all pupils. The breakfast club and after-school clubs are popular with pupils and greatly appreciated by many parents. Boys and girls are enthusiastic about the opportunities for sports and other clubs and many take part.

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Grade: 3

The care, guidance and support of pupils are satisfactory. Pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities have their needs supported soundly and, as a result, they are fully involved in the life of the school. Relationships in school are very positive. Pupils spoke extremely warmly of their teachers. One said, 'They are like second parents'. They value greatly the support and encouragement they receive in lessons. While this is improving, it is not always as sharply focused as it needs to be because the use of assessment is not consistent. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 know the level they are working at and their targets. However, as some pupils know, the targets sometimes could be made more challenging. Marking is sometimes helpful in showing pupils how well they have done and what they need to do to improve, but this practice also varies considerably. Close attention is paid to many aspects of pupils' safety and security.

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Grade: 3

However, the school has not yet centralised all its staffing information.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher provides the school with satisfactory leadership and management. He has a sound vision for the school and works closely with the enthusiastic senior management team, which provides him with satisfactory support. A few staff have taken the initiative to develop their subjects but this has not been the general case. Suitable initiatives ensured that standards rose since 2003 and these have been maintained in spite of staff absence. There are strong links with parents who hold the school in high regard; some commented that it had 4 Inspection Report: Annesley Primary and Nursery School, 15 °16 February 2007 improved in the past few years. However, a few parents rightly feel that their children make good progress in some classes but less so in others. The senior management team has a reasonable understanding of the progress that pupils make through the

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Grade: 3

school. This is used adequately to identify areas for improvement and to challenge staff to develop their practice. However, monitoring systems are not rigorous enough to demonstrate how well the teaching has an impact on pupils' learning. Planning for school improvement does not focus sufficiently on the areas that the school has identified as weak and there are not enough checks on how well developments are having an effect. Governance is satisfactory; governors are involved well in the life of the school and hold it adequately to account. 5 Inspection Report: Annesley Primary and Nursery School, 15 °16 February 2007 .

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Annesley Primary and Nursery School, 15 °16 February 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? 3 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 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

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

3 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 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 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?

3 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. 7 Inspection Report: Annesley Primary and Nursery School, 15 °16 February 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? 8 Inspection Report: Annesley Primary and Nursery School, 15 °16 February 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

19 February 2007 Dear Children Annesley Primary and Nursery School, Annesley Forest Road, Annesley Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, NG17 9BW Thank you so much for looking after us during our visit to your school last week. We enjoyed meeting you and talking to you very much. We thought you behaved well and you told us a lot about the school. The school council does their job well and has made some good changes. I thought you'd like to know what we found out about the school. You told us that you enjoy school and that your teachers are really nice to you but that sometimes you find your targets and your work rather easy. We agree, but we also think that some children have work that's too hard sometimes. We saw that your progress is generally all right but that you could do better, especially in writing. So you could help by working harder at your writing and making sure you get all your good ideas down on paper. But we also think that your teachers could

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

keep a better check on how well you're doing in all subjects so that they could get the work they plan just right for you. That would help to make some of the work in subjects like geography more of a challenge for you. Mr Nolan and the staff are trying out some new things to make the work more interesting, like some of the recent visits you've had. The staff have worked hard to make sure that the school still ran smoothly when some of the teachers were ill. But we've asked your teachers to try harder to all do things like marking your work in the same way. Wishing you the very best for the future. I'm sure you'll do well because most of you have a good attitude to your work. Mrs Pat Cox Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: Annesley Primary and Nursery School, 15 °16 February 2007

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