All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton

All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton Inspection report

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125653 Unique Reference Number Warwickshire Local Authority 293320 Inspection number 23 °24 April 2007 Inspection dates Alison Grainger 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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Primary Type of school Voluntary controlled School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 157 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Brian Fulleylove Chair Sally Kaminski-Gaze Headteacher 21 January 2002 Date of previous school inspection Knebley Crescent School address Nuneaton CV10 7AT

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024 76382123 Telephone number 024 76320531 Fax number

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3 °11 Age group 23 °24 April 2007 Inspection dates 293320 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The school draws its pupils mainly from the surrounding housing estates. Most pupils are of White British heritage. No pupils from minority ethnic families are at an early stage of learning English. The percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well above average. About a third of pupils have learning or behavioural difficulties, which is also above average. Many children's attainment on entry to the Nursery is well below the level expected for their age.

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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: All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, 23 °24 April 2007

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Grade: 4

In accordance with section 13 (3) of the Education Act 2005 Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. The overall effectiveness of the school is inadequate and it is not meeting pupils' needs. Nevertheless, children get off to a strong start in the Nursery and Reception Year because the provision for them is good. In particular, children grow in confidence and develop well as enthusiastic young learners. One parent accurately reflected children's response to their start in school by commenting that, 'My son is loving his time in the Nursery!' At the end of the Reception Year, children's attainment is still below the level expected in early

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Grade: 4

reading, writing and mathematics, even though they have moved on well. Across the rest of the school, standards are exceptionally low and pupils' achievement is unsatisfactory. Pupils' progress from the start of Year 1 to the end of Year 6 is patchy and much too slow. The more capable pupils and those of 'average' ability are not challenged to move on at an acceptable rate. Many with low attainment hardly move on at all. The main reason why there is so much underachievement is that teaching and the curriculum are inadequate. Although there are some positive features, these are outweighed by the many significant weaknesses. Teachers' expectations of the standards pupils are capable of attaining are too low. Teaching and the range of activities are poorly matched to pupils' needs. Inadequacies in teaching and the curriculum are further exacerbated by weaknesses in assessment. Pupils' progress is not tracked accurately or frequently enough to identify what

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Grade: 4

the next steps in their learning should be. As a result, teachers have too little understanding of the level at which work should be pitched for different groups of pupils and individuals. Too little clear and helpful guidance is given to pupils about how well they are doing or how they can improve their performance. The shortcomings in academic guidance are so substantial that they result in the overall quality of care, guidance and support being unsatisfactory. This said, there are positive features to the pastoral support which lead to pupils feeling able to approach staff with worries or concerns. Relationships between adults and pupils are mostly good. Enough is done to ensure that pupils' personal development and well-being are satisfactory overall. Even so, the attendance rate is low and is not improving quickly enough. Leadership and management are inadequate. Progress since the last inspection has been

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Grade: 4

unsatisfactory. Self-evaluation is ineffective. The school has not recognised the extent of the action needed now to ensure that pupils have a satisfactory education. The reason why the school does not know itself sufficiently is that monitoring and evaluation of provision are too infrequent and neither systematic nor rigorous. A further factor restricting the school's improvement is that the staff's leadership and management roles are significantly underdeveloped.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve progress and the standards attained by pupils throughout Years 1 to 6. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, 23 °24 April 2007 • Ensure that teaching and the curriculum are closely matched to the needs of all pupils so that they do as well as they should. • Make sure that pupils are given clear information on how well they are doing and about what they need to do next to improve their performance. • Work closely with parents to improve pupils' attendance. • Rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of provision in each class and take swift action to rectify weaknesses.

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Grade: 4

Achievement is inadequate and standards are exceptionally low. Children come in well below average and get off to a good start in the Nursery. This is built on further in the Reception Year. They make particularly good gains in speaking, listening and also in aspects of their knowledge and understanding of the world. Even though progress is good in early literacy and mathematics skills, standards in these areas are still below the level expected at the end of the Reception Year. Inconsistent and slow progress in Years 1 to 6 results in standards being exceptionally low across the school. Standards are relatively better in Year 5 because this year group started from a stronger position. Whilst it is possible to identify some individuals who are making reasonable gains, underachievement is evident among all groups of pupils in the school.

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Grade: 3

Children in the Nursery and Reception Year make big strides in their personal and social development. They settle quickly into school and behave well, approaching activities with enthusiasm and interest. Children enjoy good relationships with each other and with the adults who work with them. Overall, pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is adequate. Moral and social development is stronger than spiritual and cultural development, as seen in the majority of pupils' positive attitudes and behaviour. As pupils move up through the school, their enthusiasm and enjoyment diminishes. Some older boys are disaffected and several pupils are frequently excluded, which is a significant concern. Although better than at the last inspection, the attendance rate remains stubbornly low. Pupils' cultural development, particularly their awareness of modern multi-ethnic society, is only just acceptable.

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Grade: 3

Pupils have a reasonable understanding of the importance of healthy eating and regular exercise. They observe safe practices, for instance, when moving about the school and in physical education lessons. Pupils' contribution to the school and wider community is adequate, for example, through the activities of the school council. Weak literacy and numeracy skills result in pupils being inadequately prepared for the next stage of their education and their future lives, although most are courteous and want to learn. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, 23 °24 April 2007

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Grade: 4

Good teaching in the Nursery and Reception Year is the main reason for children's strong start. Adults are particularly good at responding spontaneously to children's needs as well as planning for them. Spontaneous interventions in children's learning do much to develop their competence in spoken language and to increase their knowledge and understanding of the world. Some good features are found in teaching in Years 1 to 6, although these are not consistently evident. Some lessons are well organised and structured and include clear explanations and instructions. Most teachers manage pupils' behaviour well. The main weakness is that teaching in Years 1 to 6 is not well enough based on an assessment of pupils' needs. As a result, instruction and activities are not pitched at the right level to challenge and support pupils of differing capability. Often, expectations of pupils are too low. Not enough is done to develop pupils' initiative and independence as learners or to involve

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Grade: 4

Children in the Nursery and Reception Year enjoy a good range of activities. The right balance is achieved between adult-directed activities and those set up for children to work on independently. Some experiences for children in Year 1 link well with those in Reception, such as the use of role play in mathematics. Coverage of many subjects lacks depth in Years 1 to 6. Much work lacks challenge in subjects such as science, religious education, geography and history as well as in English and mathematics. Pupils have few opportunities to develop literacy and numeracy skills through their work across the subjects. Little attention is given to developing initiative and skills in problem solving through discussion in English or involvement in practical and investigative activities in mathematics and science. Enrichment of daily lessons through visits, visitors and clubs is only just adequate. Pupils appreciate visits, for example, commenting on how a visit related to a topic on the Victorians

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Grade: 4

in Year 5 provided interest and brought the subject to life.

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Grade: 4

Children are helped to settle well in the Nursery. Throughout the school, most pupils have trusting relationships with adults. Arrangements for child protection, health and safety are properly in place. The school environment is clean and safe. Although attendance is rigorously monitored, not enough is done to make the school an exciting place in which pupils want to be. This, together with the lack of a close working relationship with parents, results in the attendance rate remaining low. It also limits the effectiveness of the significant efforts made by the learning mentor. Nevertheless, some good informal liaison with parents, particularly on the part of teaching assistants, has helped to meet some individual pupils' personal and learning needs. Links with outside agencies to support pupils with learning or behavioural difficulties are secure. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, 23 °24 April 2007

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Grade: 4

Academic guidance is weak. Pupils' progress is not carefully monitored and much of the assessment information is insecure. Marking is patchy and not effective in helping pupils to make progress. Although pupils have targets for English and mathematics, they do not always know what these are or how they might be used to improve their performance. There is a marked lack of involvement of pupils in evaluating their performance and identifying their next steps in learning.

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Grade: 4

Effective teamwork of staff in the Nursery and Reception Year is reflected in the good outcomes in children's progress. Throughout the school, teachers and teaching assistants work closely together. Non-class-based assistants are well deployed, for example, to support pupils' language development. Staff want pupils to be successful and know that standards are too low. However, leaders at all levels are ineffective in identifying and tackling weaknesses. As a result, the school is not being driven forward. The school does not rigorously evaluate its performance. In particular, it does not analyse how well teaching, the curriculum and academic guidance promote progress. It does not consider carefully enough how what it does, affects pupils' attitudes and motivation. Leadership at subject level is very underdeveloped. Whilst there have been some recent changes in post holders, there is no history of successful leadership of subjects and aspects of the school's

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Grade: 4

work. Governance has improved this school year and is now just satisfactory. Governors say that the pupils' more recent performance in national tests has served as a 'wake up call' for them. They are now starting to challenge the school's professional leaders over pupils' progress and why it is as it is. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, 23 °24 April 2007 .

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Grade: 4

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, 23 °24 April 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 4 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 4 The capacity to make any necessary improvements No Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

4 How well do learners achieve? 4 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 4 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 3 The behaviour of learners 4 The attendance of learners 3 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 3 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?

4 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: All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, 23 °24 April 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? Yes Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, 23 °24 April 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

25 April 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of All Saints C of E Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, CV10 7AT Thank you for helping us when we visited your school. We enjoyed talking with you. We found that most of you are polite young people who are sensible and want to learn. You generally get on well with each other and with the adults in school. We were pleased to find out that you are able to talk to an adult in school if you have any worries. You get off to a good start in the Nursery and Reception Year. You settle well into school and grow in confidence. In particular, you get better at speaking and explaining your ideas and at listening to other people. You also move on well in other areas of your learning. We found that your school has a lot that needs to be improved in Years 1 to 6 because it is not effective enough. We want all of you to do as well as you possibly can so that you are prepared for the next school you will go to in Year 7. We know that the adults in school want this, too.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We have asked the teachers to check carefully that the teaching and the work they set is just at the right level for each of you. To help you to make better progress, we've asked them to mark your work more to tell you how you are doing and what you need to do next. We have asked them to make sure that you have clear targets to work towards that you understand. It would be good for you to be more involved in checking your progress, too. The attendance rate in your school is much lower than in most primary schools. We have asked the school to improve this. You and your parents can help with this, too. The adults are going to do much more checking up on how well they are meeting your needs. Other inspectors will visit the school to see how well it is getting on. Thank you again for your help and best wishes for the future. Yours sincerely Alison Grainger Lead Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: All Saints CofE Primary School and Nursery, Nuneaton, 23 °24 April 2007

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