Setting

Cambridge Education Demeter House Station Road Cambridge CB1 2RS T 01223 463956 F 01223 578501 Inspections_1@camb-ed.com

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The Headteachers Haydn Primary School Sherwood Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG5 2JU

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Introduction

Following my visit to your school on 12 – 13 March 2007, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector to confirm the inspection findings.

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Introduction

The visit was the third monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures in February 2006.

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Introduction

This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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Evidence

I observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the headteachers, the subject leaders for English, mathematics, science and information and communication technology (ICT), other staff, the chair of governors and a representative from the local authority (LA).

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Context

The headteachers were appointed in January 2007 and they share the role. During the monitoring visit, two classes were taught by temporary teachers and there were two temporary support members of staff. During this monitoring visit not all classes were visited.

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Achievement and standards

The school’s results up to and including 2006 were reported in the previous monitoring letter.

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Achievement and standards

Pupils’ achievement throughout the school is satisfactory. Children enter the Nursery with knowledge and understanding typical of young children nationally. Most children this year are on course to reach the standards expected in all the areas of learning by the end of Reception. Children make good progress in their personal and social development in the Nursery and Reception classes. In Year 2 this year, the school’s predictions for pupils’ standards indicate that they are likely to be broadly average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils are currently making satisfactory progress.

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Achievement and standards

The school has successfully halted the decline in standards seen in 2004 and 2005. Appropriate support is provided for those pupils who have learning difficulties and they make similar progress as their peers. This present Year 6 is a lower attaining year in comparison with last year. Pupils are expected to reach average standards. During the visit, pupils were making satisfactory progress in all lessons seen and good progress in some, such as in mathematics in Year 6.

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Personal development and well-being

Pupils’ enjoyment of school is reflected in their good attendance. In assemblies, nearly all pupils listen well because of the interesting way in which they are presented. A wide range of assembly themes provides well for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Displays in the hall demonstrate the good range of countries that pupils learn about, such as Mexico and Spain.

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Personal development and well-being

Pupils mostly behave well in lessons and when playing outside with friends. Pupils work well with partners or in groups, for example, when sharing the laptops in ICT lessons. There are odd moments when pupils chatter and waste time in a few classes.

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Quality of provision

The school has made satisfactory progress in improving the quality of teaching and learning. Checks on lessons, correctly concentrating on the pace of teaching and the match of work to pupils’ abilities, have taken place. The new leadership team has a good understanding of the quality of teaching and learning throughout the school and what still needs to be done. The school has further developed the strengths in teaching reported at the time of the last visit. For example, the use of lesson targets, rigour at the start of lessons and the use of the concluding (plenary) part of the lesson have improved.

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Quality of provision

In many lessons seen, pupils were fully aware from the outset of what they were expected to learn and how they should do this. The pace of these lessons was brisk and behaviour was managed well. The best plenary sessions successfully highlighted pupils’ gains in skills, knowledge and understanding during the lesson, and related these to their earlier learning. In many lessons seen the class targets were used effectively to check learning.

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Quality of provision

Teachers set targets for all pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. Marking of pupils’ work is improving and good examples were seen in Year 2 that give pupils plenty of information to help them improve their work and learn faster. Pupils’ progress is now tracked closely to check their rates of progress. Teachers use this information increasingly well to provide suitable work for pupils with particular needs or to place pupils in the right groups so that they have work that is well matched to their abilities. Pupils are making better progress because teachers are better informed about what pupils can and cannot do.

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Quality of provision

The school has made satisfactory progress in improving the provision for information and communication technology (ICT). All pupils have one timetabled lesson every week and lessons focus on developing pupils’ computer skills and their knowledge in other subjects. Pupils’ standards are catching up as better use is made of existing equipment, but there are still too few checks on whether the National Curriculum is met fully and whether pupils receive their full entitlement to ICT.

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Quality of provision

The new leadership team has completed a detailed audit and the clear plan of action for a complete overhaul of the ICT network is well thought out. The school has been very successful in gaining funds to carry out the plans in the next six months.

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Quality of provision

In the Foundation Stage, adults give careful thought to the planned use of the outdoor area. Adults in the Nursery have introduced new activities, such as to consolidate children’s understanding of spelling outdoors. Children searched for letters and collected them to show that they could spell animal names such as ‘hen’. They loved this activity. Good progress has been made in this area. Support and guidance for pupils’ academic development is satisfactory and improving. New arrangements for identifying, supporting and monitoring pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities are embedding satisfactorily. Teaching assistants continue to provide good support for pupils. The quality of targets and planned actions in their individual education plans (IEPs) is more consistent. Targets in pupils’ IEPs are measurable and are written in such a way that pupils can understand them. There has been good progress

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Quality of provision

in this area. Thorough checks on how all staff are getting on with providing for pupils in class and on the progress over time that pupils make are still to be made.

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Quality of provision

Progress on the areas for improvement identified by the inspection in February 2006:

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Quality of provision

 Raise standards in English, mathematics and science by improving the quality of teaching and learning in the core subjects – satisfactory progress.

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Quality of provision

 Improve ICT provision – satisfactory progress.

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Leadership and management

The newly appointed headteachers have made a good start. Since the last monitoring visit, the school has made satisfactory progress in some areas of leadership and management and good progress in others. The priorities the school is working on continue to be the right ones. Many important new ways of organising the school have been put in place and they are having a beneficial effect.

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Leadership and management

The school now has a system for managing the performances of its staff and good progress has been made in this area. Pupils’ writing standards have been addressed in Key Stage 1. Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work is more thorough and referenced to targets pupils have to reach. Inconsistencies in pupils’ achievement are being addressed adequately through the monitoring of teaching.

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Leadership and management

The governing body and staff continue to show determination to ensure that the school improves further. Appropriate links have been made between subject coordinators, classes and governors. Governors have an increasing knowledge of how well the school is working, its priorities and how much progress has been made to date to meet the issues identified in February 2006. Governors and the headteachers have made good progress with the well thought out plan to restructure staff posts, meet the needs of the pupils better and deal with the budget deficit. The governing body does not yet make enough on site checks on the quality of the school’s work, as ‘critical friends’.

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Leadership and management

Subject leaders for English, mathematics and science have a realistic understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in the school’s provision. Their progress in understanding how to develop their subjects has been good. For example, they collect assessments of pupils’ work in reading, writing and mathematics so that they can check their rates of progress and examine trends in pupils’ performances. End of year targets are not as accurate as they could be.

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Leadership and management

The school is building its capacity to sustain improvement with help from the LA. As a result of these contacts, the school is showing increasing signs that it can evaluate what it provides accurately and take suitable steps to make things better.

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Leadership and management

Judgement Progress on the areas for improvement identified by the inspection in February 2006:

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Leadership and management

 Improve the quality of self-evaluation by focussing on the impact of the initiatives taken to raise standards – satisfactory progress.

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Leadership and management

 Improve leadership and management so that the work of the school is monitored rigorously and action taken to bring about necessary improvement - good progress.

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External support

The quality of the external support provided for the school is good. The LA provides many useful sources of information and practice that the school uses to guide its improvement. The school has established a worthwhile link with another school where there is good practice.

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Main Judgements

Progress since being subject to special measures - satisfactory.

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Main Judgements

Progress since the previous monitoring inspection – satisfactory.

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Main Judgements

Newly qualified teachers may be appointed.

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Main Judgements

Priorities for further improvement – none. I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the chair of governors and the Director of Education for Nottingham City.

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