Grindon Infant SchoolOfsted inspection, 15 Jun 2007

108766 Unique Reference Number Sunderland Local Authority 301721 Inspection number 14 °15 June 2007 Inspection dates Linda Buller 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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Infant Type of school Community School category 3 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 211 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mr John Wall Chair Mrs Joan Adamson Headteacher 1 June 2003 Date of previous school inspection Gleneagles Road School address Sunderland Tyne and Wear SR4 9QN

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0191 5536865 Telephone number 0191 5536871 Fax number

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3 °7 Age group 14 °15 June 2007 Inspection dates 301721 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 is average in size and is situated in an area that is socially and economically disadvantaged. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is twice the national average. Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities is well above average although the proportion of pupils who have a statement of special educational need is below average. Children’s attainment when they start in the Nursery is below that which is typical for children of their age. A new headteacher was appointed to the school in September 2006.

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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: Grindon Infant School, 14 °15 June 2007

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Grade: 2

This is a good school that provides good value for money. Pupils develop well personally and academically. They feel safe and confident in school and readily accept responsibility, such as membership of the school council. This provides them with a role in shaping the future of the school community. Central to this is the good level of care, support and guidance they receive from staff. The school has good links with outside agencies and often engage their support, particularly when dealing with vulnerable pupils. For example, partnership with the ‘every school day counts’ programme has supported those pupils who find regular attendance difficult to sustain. As a result, attendance has improved significantly in the last school year. Most pupils display good behaviour but a few in each class need support to do so. The school provides a wide range of activities for pupils to learn about the importance of healthy lifestyles, resulting

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Grade: 2

in pupils’ good understanding of how to eat healthily and the benefits of regular exercise. Good provision in the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception) enables children to make a positive start to school. They make rapid progress and by the time they enter Year 1 most are well on the way to attaining the goals expected for their age. Achievement is good, when taking into account pupils lower than average starting points, so that by the time they leave the school standards reached are broadly in line with the national average. The curriculum is good and helps pupils to develop good basic skills that prepare them well for their future education. Pupils enjoy school and speak enthusiastically about the good range of extra activities. Teaching and learning are good. Teachers make good use of teaching assistants; this ensures that in most lessons a group of targeted pupils receive well-focused support. Pupils and staff

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Grade: 2

get on well together and pupils say they are confident to ask for help if they encounter difficulties in their work. Most lessons move at a brisk pace and pupils respond well to a wide variety of activities, including good use of information and communication technology (ICT) resources. Assessments by subject leaders of how well pupils are doing in literacy and numeracy are not always rigorously analysed or carried out frequently enough to regularly check on pupils’ progress. In most lessons day-to-day assessments of pupils’ learning ensures that most tasks are well planned to ensure pupils good progress. However, progress slows down in lessons when tasks are more often matched to what is appropriate for their age rather than taking full account of what pupils already understand, know, can or cannot do. Good leadership and management have brought the school to a position where it is highly regarded by parents. The headteacher, ably supported by governors, is determined to raise

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Grade: 2

standards further and to ensure that pupils develop well socially and emotionally as well as academically. The information gained from effective systems of monitoring and evaluation has been used well to ascertain priorities for improvement. Good improvement has been made since the last inspection and there is good capacity to improve further.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that pupils’ progress in literacy and numeracy is regularly and rigorously assessed and analysed. • Ensure that the work planned in all classes is well matched to pupils needs. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Grindon Infant School, 14 °15 June 2007

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ achievement is good and standards are in line with the national average. Children in the Foundation Stage make good progress because their work is enjoyable and interesting. In the Nursery, good provision results in all children making rapid gains in their learning, with especially good progress in emotional and social development. Work is well planned to ensure that children take the small steps that build and increase their skills and knowledge. Therefore, by the time they join Year 1 standards are broadly similar to those found nationally. In the national assessments in 2006, pupils in Year 2 reached standards that were broadly average. This represented good achievement from their below average skills and knowledge when they began in Nursery. School records and inspection evidence shows that although pupils make good progress overall, progress in some classes is slower. This results from a combination

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Grade: 2

of teaching, which does not always fully meet the needs of pupils of varying ability, and curriculum planning, which is not yet ensuring an effective transition from Foundation Stage into Key Stage 1. Boys and girls do equally well except in writing, but some boys remain reluctant writers, particularly in the Year 1 classes. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve well because the school’s systems are geared up to early identification of their needs and teaching them through strategies that are flexible and supportive.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ personal development and well-being, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils enjoy school; this is demonstrated by improved levels of attendance and punctuality, which are now good. Pupils are polite, show interest in school visitors and respect towards staff. The majority of pupils behave well; although, there are a few in each class who find it difficult to maintain good behaviour. Pupils feel safe in school and have positive views about the installation of new fencing, recognising that it is there to protect them from strangers. They are also confident that they can talk to teachers if something is worrying them. The school council gives pupils a voice in school decision making. As a result, they make a valuable contribution towards aspects of school life such as naming the mascot “Grinbow” and ideas for a mural to brighten up the school environment. Pupils are aware of the importance

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Grade: 2

of a healthy diet and during lunch time make healthy choices when selecting food. They have a good understanding of why fruit helps to keep them healthy and they are aware that sporting activities help to keep them fit. Good progress in the development of basic literacy and numeracy skills together with the growth in their social and emotional confidence prepares pupils well for future economic needs.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good. Teachers provide a good variety of activities so that pupils' interest and motivation are maintained. Good relationships ensure that pupils are confident in contributing to class and paired discussions and are not frightened to try, even if they fail. Most teachers use questioning well and use the final minutes of lessons effectively to reinforce 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Grindon Infant School, 14 °15 June 2007 pupils' learning. Teaching assistants play a very effective role in supporting groups, such as those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, to achieve well. Teaching is good in the Foundation Stage. There is a good balance between time to explore and time for teachers to focus on essential early skills. The children progress well as a result. Teaching in Year 1 is satisfactory. In some classes assessment information is not always used well enough to match work to pupils’ needs and this can affect the pace of learning, particularly

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Grade: 2

A good quality curriculum that meets all statutory requirements contributes to pupils' enjoyment of their learning. The school has worked hard to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of all pupils. For example, pupils in Year 2 are organised into ability groups for literacy and numeracy and this has a positive impact on their rate of progress. Less successful is the overlap in the curriculum for children when they move from the Foundation Stage into Year 1. Improvement to this aspect of provision is currently a school priority. Pupils' personal, social, health and citizenship are developed well by the school. Effective enrichment activities include, the ‘Beanstalk’ focus in the Foundation Stage, which impacted on all areas of learning and the African project, which enabled parents to share in pupils’ learning. Many pupils attend the wide range of lunchtime and after-school clubs, including mathematics, art, ICT and netball. Sporting activities in particular have a high profile,

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Grade: 2

with visiting specialists who create positive links with other schools through the ‘sport in school’ programme.

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support are good and make an important contribution to pupils’ achievement. All pupils, including the most vulnerable, are looked after by a responsible and dedicated school staff who show a high degree of care and concern for their safety. There are secure child protection and safeguarding procedures in place and all staff adhere to this provision. Those pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress because of the good support they receive. Most pupils are helped to know how to improve through reference to their targets and opportunities to assess for themselves how well they are learning. For example, at the end of some lessons, pupils are able to indicate whether they understood the learning intention or need more help. These systems are not yet consistent throughout the school.

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Grade: 2

Good leadership and management ensure that pupils achievement and personal development is good. Strong leadership from the headteacher ensures that the school is closely focused on raising standards. Self-evaluation is accurate and appropriate priorities for improvement have been established. For example, the determination to involve parents in the work of the school and to improve pupils’ attendance has been highly successful. Parents are now almost wholeheartedly supportive and attendance has improved by approximately 3% over the last school year. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Grindon Infant School, 14 °15 June 2007 Middle leadership is improving, but remains somewhat uneven. Whilst the monitoring and evaluation of provision for those pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities contributes well to the good progress made by these pupils, the checking of pupils’ progress across the school in literacy and numeracy lacks rigour. As a result, analysis of how well pupils are doing

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Grade: 2

is not sharp enough to support classroom practice. This is one of the key reasons why pupils in some classes make slower progress. Governance is good. Governors are successfully improving their role. They now effectively use the information they have to ask questions and to check that the school is successful. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Grindon Infant School, 14 °15 June 2007 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Grindon Infant School, 14 °15 June 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 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 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

2 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 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 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 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?

2 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: Grindon Infant School, 14 °15 June 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Grindon Infant School, 14 °15 June 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

19 June 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Grindon Infant School, Sunderland, SR4 9QN Thank you for the part you played in the inspection of your school. I enjoyed meeting you and all the staff at the school. Like you, I think your school is a good school. It was good to see how much you enjoy your work. You respect your teachers and most of you try to be responsible in lessons. Teachers work well to make your work in lessons interesting and fun. Your headteacher, helped by all staff and governors, has your best interests at heart and makes sure that the school is a safe and secure place to be. Your headteacher is always looking at ways of improving your school further so we have asked her to keep a careful check on how well you are doing and especially to make sure that those of you in Year 1 always have work that you do not find too easy or too hard. It was great to see how much your attendance at school has improved and you can help to

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

make your school even better by making sure that it stays this way in the coming years. I wish you every success for the future! Yours sincerely Linda Buller Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Grindon Infant School, 14 °15 June 2007

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