St Andrew's CofE Primary and Nursery School

Age group 3-11 Inspection date(s) 8 May 2007 Inspection number 292494 Unique Reference Number 122742 Local Authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 292494 Inspection dates 8 May 2007 Reporting inspector Sue Hall

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

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Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 3-11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number on roll School 367

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Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr John Summerfield Headteacher Mrs Karen Brookes Date of previous school inspection 10-11 March 2003

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School address Mansfield Road Skegby Sutton-in-Ashfield Nottinghamshire NG17 3DW

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Telephone number 01623 484522 Fax number 01623 484523 St Andrew's C of E Primary and Nursery School Inspection report Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk 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. Document reference number: HMI 2507 01 April 2007

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

St Andrew’s is a slightly larger than average sized primary school serving the former mining area of Skegby, near Mansfield. The attainment of pupils on entry to the nursery is slightly below what is normally expected of young children especially in the area of communications, language and literacy. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average. The very large majority of pupils are of White British backgrounds and all speak English as their first language. The proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties and / or disabilities is below average. The school has gained Investors in People status and a Healthy Schools award.

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Description of the school

Inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: whether all pupils achieve all they can especially in English, whether teachers make full use of assessment information to set challenging tasks and whether the monitoring of the work of the school is effective in identifying areas for further improvement. Evidence was gathered from discussions with the headteacher, senior staff and governor representatives. In addition there was observation of parts of several lessons, scrutiny of school information and its self evaluation, samples of pupils’ work and parent questionnaires, and discussions with pupils. Other aspects of the school’s work were not investigated in detail.

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Key for inspection grades

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Satisfactory Grade 4 Inadequate Document reference number: HMI 2507 01 April 2007

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Overall effectiveness of the school Grade: 3

The overall effectiveness of the school is satisfactory. This is a popular and over- subscribed school where there is a positive ethos and where people get on well together. Parents are pleased with the quality of education and care provided with one noting that the school is ‘producing well mannered and well educated children’. The school provides satisfactory value for money and has satisfactory capacity to improve. The school’s own evaluation is higher in all areas, other than for personal development, than the inspection findings indicating scope for the school to be more rigorous in the evaluation of its performance.

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Overall effectiveness of the school Grade: 3

Progress and provision in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory. Whilst it was not possible to inspect provision in the Foundation Stage in depth, observations which were made indicated that staff did not ask enough of the pupils in what they were doing. As pupils move through the school most make steady progress in literacy. However, their ability to read is often much better than their writing skills, which are below average. National test results at age eleven show variation from year to year. Last year standards in English were considerably below those in mathematics and very few pupils achieved the higher levels in writing. While overall standards across the subjects in Year 6 have largely been average in the last two years, school tracking data suggests that they are improving this year because of more focused teaching, particularly in Year 6. However, the progress made across the school is inconsistent and overall standards in writing are still below those in other areas. Over

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Overall effectiveness of the school Grade: 3

time, while the progress of boys and girls including those of different abilities and backgrounds is similar, some pupils have not attained the standards they are capable of and the achievement of all groups of pupils is no better than satisfactory.

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Overall effectiveness of the school Grade: 3

Pupil’s personal development is good as is their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to their learning. There is a good emphasis on moral development and pupils understand their rights and responsibilities as part of the school community. There are good opportunities to develop social skills through discussions and opportunities to work in groups. This is seen well in the very enthusiastic way in which higher attaining Year 6 pupils discuss their ideas, give everyone the opportunity to contribute and value each others’ ideas. Pupils have a good understanding of how to adopt a healthy lifestyle. They enjoy the healthy school menus although they have fewer physical education lessons than recommended. They know how to keep themselves safe and enjoy the opportunity to take on responsibilities including taking part in the school council. Attendance is

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Overall effectiveness of the school Grade: 3

satisfactory although the rate is adversely affected by families who take holidays in term time.

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Overall effectiveness of the school Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning are satisfactory overall. While good elements were observed in the inspection and the teaching of the oldest pupils is occasionally outstanding, the teaching of some skills, and in particular writing, is not consistent enough across the school. This is largely because staff do not make effective enough use of assessment information to set consistently challenging work. The curriculum is satisfactory overall. The emphasis placed on the development of writing skills has not so far been effective in maximising the opportunities for pupils to prepare well for their future economic well-being. The care, guidance and welfare of pupils are Document reference number: HMI 2507 01 April 2007 satisfactory and the school ensures that the safeguarding of pupils is a key focus. Pastoral care is good. Pupils are confident that there are plenty of adults to talk to if they are worried. The needs of pupils who have learning difficulties and / or

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Overall effectiveness of the school Grade: 3

disabilities are met well and good quality support is provided by experienced teaching assistants. However, the information available from the checks made on pupil progress is not used well enough to guide the school’s planning, particularly in English.

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Overall effectiveness of the school Grade: 3

The quality of leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher and deputy have good communication skills and are well respected by parents, pupils and staff. The school has been very successful in past years but has not acted with sufficient urgency to address the more recent dips in achievement and standards. Improvement planning is satisfactory but does not consistently identify how the school will tackle specific weaknesses such as writing well enough and, as a result, improvement is not as fast as it could be. Governance is satisfactory. Governors are enthusiastic and supportive and are keen to develop their role further in monitoring the school’s progress and development. While senior staff and subject leaders have occasional opportunities to monitor the quality of teaching and learning across the school, such work lacks evaluative rigour in identifying specifically what needs to be

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What the school should do to improve further

 Raise standards in writing by ensuring that pupils of all abilities are fully challenged and achieve all they can in the different aspects of writing.

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What the school should do to improve further

 Ensure more consistency in the analysis and use of assessment information to inform planning particularly in core subjects.

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What the school should do to improve further

 Develop a more rigorous and consistent approach by senior staff to checking how well the school is doing when updating school improvement planning.

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What the school should do to improve further

A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection. procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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Inspection judgements

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

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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? The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements 3

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Achievement and standards

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

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Personal development and well-being

How good is the overall personal development and well-being of the learners? The extent of learners’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 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 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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The quality of provision

How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of learners’ needs? How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? How well are learners cared for, guided and supported? 3

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Leadership and management

How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners? Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? Yes Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? No

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Leadership and management

1 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.

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3DW

Thank you very much for looking after us when we visited your school recently. We really enjoyed speaking to you in lessons, at lunchtime, in the playground and at the meeting with the school council.

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3DW

These are the things that we found are best.  You behave well, enjoy coming to school and try hard.  You know how to lead a healthy lifestyle and keep yourselves safe.  The teaching for higher attaining pupils in Year 6 is outstanding.  Senior staff work hard to make sure you, your parents and people in the local area feel part of the school community.

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3DW

These are areas that we think could be improved.

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3DW

 More of you could do even better in writing.  Staff could use information from checking your work to make sure that tasks are challenging enough for you.  Staff should check more carefully what is happening in your school compared with other similar schools to make sure that it is doing well.

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3DW

Thank you again for being so helpful and friendly towards us. You all contribute well to the life of the school through your positive attitudes and enthusiastic approach to being part of the school and local community. You can help contribute even more by trying really hard with your writing and making sure you attend regularly.

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