Setting

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404045 F 020 7421 6644 www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr H Payne Headteacher Medina Primary School Medina Road Cosham Portsmouth PO6 3NH

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on children and young people and their families

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during our visit on 04 October 2006 to look at the impact of extended services on children and young people and their families.

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on children and young people and their families

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions, but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half-term.

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on children and young people and their families

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: interviews with governors, community workers, staff, parents and pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation and observation of activities.

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on children and young people and their families

The overall effectiveness of the extended provision was judged to be good.

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Achievement and Standards

Standards are improving over time although, they were just below the national average in 2005. Pupils enter the school with below average attainment and make satisfactory progress during their time at the school. In English the number of pupils achieving higher levels was close to the national average. The number of pupils achieving higher levels in reading improved in 2005 with more girls doing better. This year, in English and mathematics, standards have fallen from the 2005 results. However, this year group did have more pupils with special educational needs and more who were at the lower end of achievement when they entered the school. There were also fewer more able pupils. Attendance is below average but is improving. Activities like breakfast club have encouraged children who would be late, or not attend school at all, to come to school early and meet friends. As a result more pupils are enjoying their time at school and attending more regularly.

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Achievement and Standards

Behaviour and attitude at the time of the last report was good with the school making good provision for pupils’ personal development. This has continued and the number of excluded pupils has fallen to zero compared to three years ago when exclusions were the highest in the city. The introduction of learning mentors and a behaviour support worker has had a significant impact on the behaviour of a few pupils. The individual mentoring plans drawn up for children involve parents. The provision of a mental health worker and family link worker is benefiting the school community overall. There are a good range of sport activities offered to pupils such as basketball, hockey, rugby and tennis. Many pupils have gone on to join outside clubs as a result of their growing interest started at the school. Opportunities for residential visits and access to the Children’s University prepare them well for future life. Good health is promoted through access to a school nurse. Pupils

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Achievement and Standards

have regular height and weight measurements taken and are offered school fruit to encourage them to eat fruit more regularly. The school is monitoring pupil growth rate, dental health care and obesity to indicate whether some of its provision is having and impact on reducing the number of pupils with health problems.

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Quality of provision

The development of the extended services over a two year period has resulted in a full community partnership, where if children need additional support they get it. Many children make good progress because of the wide range of support they and their families receive. There is individual mentoring of pupils, speedy referrals of concerns and collaborative working with other agencies to supply a wide range of services to support the school, the families and the community. Communications are good, the school has a good knowledge of the families it serves and there is very good team work. This is having the greatest impact where work with the whole family has a positive effect on child’s behaviour resulting in better attendance and better performance. Good team work begins with early identification of vulnerable children, high quality care and good special education needs support for the pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. There are good links with the

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Quality of provision

nursery school and visits to all homes sending pupils to the school. Pupils identified as more able are offered a variety of activities.

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Quality of provision

Project management and a family link worker supports parenting classes and adult literacy and training for information and communication technology (ICT). Every parent is now helping their child read at home and they say that good phonic teaching has helped pupils to improve reading. The number of pupils achieving level 5 reading improved in 2005. A system is being developed for the informal sharing of information, and the awarding of points to the pupils for their health and well being. This will also provide useful data which will enable the school to begin measuring the impact of its extended services. There is a growing range of professional advice available to families and a stronger partnership with parents, although attendance of some parents at events is low. There are good links with the police. The community co- ordinator uses facilities at school and co-ordinates newsletters and information to parents as well as meets people from the community. Some

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Quality of provision

pupils who would normally have been excluded from residential trips have been allowed to attend and this has been a positive message to support their improving behaviour. There are good transition arrangements, including sharing of information, when pupils are ready for secondary school. Pupils visit the school and are paired with pupils in Year 7 who support them when they first arrive.

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Leadership and Management

Leadership and management are good. Communication within the school is good. The identification of pupils’ problems by staff ensures that provision goes to those who need it most. The school facilities including the floodlit all- weather pitch help to maintain community links and means that the school can offer basketball, hockey, rugby, tennis and regular sport coaching. Many pupils have joined outside clubs or play in school leagues and this helps pupils build self esteem and gain confidence as they grow. The arts base supports family learning and the after school clubs which regularly have up to 20 pupils attending. Individual mentoring plans which involve parents are reviewed every half term. The school is logging poor behaviour and tackling problems with the support of agencies and by offering services to parents and children. There is evidence of tracking data. This system of tracking pupils’ progress against targets and prior achievement is being developed

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Leadership and Management

well and the school is working on more measurements to gauge the impact of the extended school service it offers.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 developing methods to measure the impact of extended services on pupils’ learning, personal development and improved well being.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop extended services in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

As I explained in my previous letter, a copy of this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on Ofsted’s website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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