Coleman Primary School

Coleman Primary School Inspection report

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120095 Unique Reference Number Leicester City Local Authority 313513 Inspection number 22 °23 April 2008 Inspection dates Alison Cartlidge 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 Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 633 School The governing body Appropriate authority Ivan Waddington Chair Nigel Bruen Headteacher 10 November 2003 Date of previous school inspection Gwendolen Road School address Leicester LE5 5FS 01162 490109 Telephone number 01162 733419 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 22 °23 April 2008 Inspection dates 313513 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 four Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The pupils come to this larger than average sized primary school from the city of Leicester. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties is above average. The proportion eligible for free school meals is broadly average. Most pupils are of Asian or Asian British backgrounds and a high proportion speak English as an additional language, with about 4% being in the early stages of learning English.

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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: Coleman Primary School, 22 °23 April 2008

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Grade: 3

This friendly school provides a satisfactory education for its pupils. Standards are broadly average by the end of Year 6 and pupils' achievement is satisfactory, although progress is not even across the school. Children make a good start in the Nursery and Reception classes. Satisfactory teaching between Years 1 and 6 enables most pupils to make at least steady progress. However, there are occasions in writing, mathematics and science when teachers do not use assessment information well enough to match work closely to the needs of all pupils, especially for the more able. When this happens, learning slows. Well-trained teaching assistants provide valuable support for small groups of pupils, especially those with learning difficulties, enabling them to make good progress in all classes. Members of staff and pupils themselves are good at helping those who are learning to speak English, ensuring that they learn the

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Grade: 3

language quickly. Good pastoral care, guidance and support underpin the pupils' good personal development and well-being. Pupils show their thorough enjoyment of school by attending regularly and behaving well. They typically make comments such as 'Everyone is friendly and so are the teachers.' Pupils take responsibility sensibly in their role as 'Green Hat' monitors and take great pride in supporting the school and wider community by looking after the environment. A few parents expressed concerns about pupils' behaviour, especially at playtime. Inspection findings are that whilst pupils from different ethnic backgrounds work and play together amicably, their understanding about how to stay safe is only satisfactory. Some can be over boisterous at playtime and cause minor accidents by bumping into each other. Throughout the school, enthusiastic teachers have good relationships with the pupils. Their

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Grade: 3

positive management of behaviour successfully helps most pupils to develop confidence and to feel free from oppressive behaviour. The satisfactory curriculum provides good additional activities such as clubs and visits and supports pupils well in learning good life skills such as how to stay healthy. Academic guidance and support are satisfactory because teachers do not consistently involve pupils well enough in their learning by ensuring that they all know their targets and follow advice given on how to improve their work. As a result, not all pupils rectify errors quickly enough. Pupils' good social development, together with their satisfactory basic skills, equips them soundly for the next step in their education. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The senior management team analyses pupils' progress in detail and has a firm grasp of how to improve the school. All staff and governors work hard and want the best for the pupils. Middle managers are developing their roles so that

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Grade: 3

they can monitor provision more rigorously and have greater impact on improving pupils' progress by ensuring the continuity of good practice across the school. The school has started to respond more swiftly to dips in attainment and this has proved to be particularly successful for less able pupils. Most parents are pleased that their children come to this school. They make positive comments such as, 'Teachers are very helpful, friendly, caring and professional' and 'my child enjoys coming to school to work and play', reflecting the aspects that this school does really well. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Coleman Primary School, 22 °23 April 2008

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Grade: 2

Children in the Nursery and Reception Years make good progress especially in speaking, listening and personal development. When they transfer to Year 1, standards are broadly average overall, with relative weaknesses in writing and mathematical calculations. Good teaching and close links with parents ensure that children enjoy school, settle well into routines and learn to develop independence quickly. The good curriculum includes plenty of opportunities for children to talk about what they are doing. A wider range of carefully planned, interesting activities is available indoors than outside. Building work is currently under way to provide a more accessible outdoor area. The temporary buildings are not purpose built for young children and displays of children's work are too high to be of full benefit. Provision is led and managed well and action is taken as needed to make improvements. For example, work is well under way to

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Grade: 2

increase the children's knowledge of letter sounds.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that teachers consistently use assessment information to meet the needs of all pupils in writing, mathematics and science, especially those who are more able. ■ Involve pupils more in their learning by ensuring that they know and follow the next steps to improve their performance. ■ Enable middle managers to monitor and improve provision so that good practice is more consistent. 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.

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Grade: 3

Most children's attainment is below the levels expected for their age when they start in the Nursery Year. Children make good progress in the Nursery and Reception classes, and standards are broadly average when they start in Year 1. Standards by the end of Year 6 are broadly average and pupils' achievement is satisfactory. Pupils' progress is satisfactory throughout Years 1 to 6, with the best progress being made in reading. This subject has been a recent focus for whole-school development and teaching concentrates well on improving the pupils' understanding of what they read. The school is aware that not all pupils, particularly the more able, do as well as they could in writing, mathematics and science because teachers do not always ensure that they are challenged enough. Members of staff support well those who are at the early stages of learning to speak English, enabling them to make good progress.

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Grade: 3

Good support for pupils with learning difficulties helps these pupils to make good progress. The school sets realistic targets for the end of Year 6 and these were broadly achieved in 2007. The school has started to set more challenging targets throughout the school.

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Grade: 2

Most pupils enjoy attending school, although a few arrive slightly late in the mornings. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good, and pupils learn to respect cultural differences 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Coleman Primary School, 22 °23 April 2008 from a young age by playing sensibly with 'persona' dolls. Pupils reflect maturely on spiritual matters and become confident and polite individuals who are sociable and support each other well. They behave well, especially in lessons. A few pupils' understanding of how to stay safe is no better than satisfactory because they are unaware that hurrying outside and over enthusiastic behaviour at playtime can lead to avoidable minor accidents. Pupils adopt healthy lifestyles well. They take frequent exercise and make healthy choices of food and drink. Children learn to work together and to become independent from the time they start school in the Nursery Year. They enjoy taking responsibility and older pupils make a good contribution

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Grade: 2

to the community by helping other children in their roles as 'Green Hat' monitors and librarians. School councillors are proud of the way they helped raise funds for a hospital with their 'starburst' concert.

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Grade: 3

There are good features to the teaching in all classes. In the Nursery and Reception Years, members of staff work together well as a team and meet differing needs effectively. Relationships are good throughout the school, leading to a pleasant and purposeful atmosphere for learning. Teachers demonstrate good subject knowledge and focus well on speaking and listening to support pupils at the early stages of learning English as an additional language. Skilful teaching assistants have a good impact on learning, especially when supporting pupils with learning difficulties. Some aspects of teaching are not consistently good enough. For example, teachers sometimes spend too long in discussions at the start of lessons, limiting time for pupils to work independently, and do not use assessment information fully to plan work that builds on what pupils already know. This is noticeable in writing, mathematics and science when at times the

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Grade: 3

work is insufficiently challenging for the more able pupils in particular. Teachers' marking is frequent but is not always followed up to ensure that pupils' work improves quickly.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum for children in the Nursery and Reception Years is good because it focuses on areas of weakness in children's standards and meets differing needs well. In Years 1 to 6, the curriculum supports steady progress in developing pupils' basic skills. There are suitable opportunities for pupils to extend their numeracy and information and communication technology skills in other subjects but an overuse of worksheets in some classes limits opportunities for pupils to write independently in science. The school has started to improve the level of challenge in mathematics lessons by teaching pupils in Year 6 in classes set according to ability. In addition to daily lessons, good experiences such as clubs and visits help pupils to enjoy school. Pupils are encouraged to maintain their health and fitness through a wide range of sporting activities. Safety awareness is covered appropriately, although a few pupils are not

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Grade: 3

always fully aware about how to stay safe when playing outside. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Coleman Primary School, 22 °23 April 2008

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Grade: 2

Parents and pupils are right to be pleased with the good quality of pastoral support, especially in maintaining good social skills. For example, anger management sessions have helped some pupils to control their behaviour. Members of staff are prepared well to tackle sensitive issues such as bereavement. Good links with outside agencies and good contact with parents enable members of staff to support pupils with learning difficulties successfully. Members of staff take good steps to safeguard pupils' well-being and safety procedures are generally robust. Attendance is monitored rigorously and has been improving rapidly. Academic support and guidance are satisfactory. There are good procedures to assess pupils' work and the progress of pupils at an early stage of speaking English is monitored closely. Pupils with learning difficulties have their needs identified and supported swiftly. However, teachers in some classes do not always make enough use of assessment information to ensure

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Grade: 2

that the work of more able pupils consistently builds on what they already know. Pupils have individual targets but some are not clear about what they are, which limits their involvement in monitoring their own progress.

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Grade: 3

The headteacher, senior leaders and governors are working together well and have identified correctly what needs to be improved. There is a strong determination to do the best for the pupils. There are good links with parents and outside agencies and these are especially successful in supporting the pupils' good personal development. The school's systems for self-evaluation are satisfactory. There is a shared understanding of the school's strengths and priorities, although in some cases evaluations are slightly generous. Senior leaders realise that middle managers do not monitor actions taken to improve provision rigorously enough to ensure that good practice is consistent across all classes. The school shows that it has a sound capacity to improve because improvement since the last inspection has been satisfactory and recent developments in raising attainment in reading have been successful. Governance is sound. Governors are kept well informed of developments and they make sure

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Grade: 3

that limited funding is spent wisely. They are starting to expand their role by monitoring standards more rigorously. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Coleman Primary School, 22 °23 April 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Coleman Primary School, 22 °23 April 2008

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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? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 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 extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 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: Coleman Primary School, 22 °23 April 2008

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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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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: Coleman Primary School, 22 °23 April 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

24 April 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Coleman Primary School, Leicester, LE5 5FS Thank you for welcoming us to your school and for sharing your work with us. Your school provides you with a satisfactory education. Here are some points about your school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You make satisfactory progress and reach average standards by the end of Year 6, but some of you could learn more quickly in writing, mathematics and science. ■ Children in the Nursery and Reception classes settle well and learn quickly.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You behave well, help each other and know how to stay healthy.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You take responsibility well. The 'Green Hats' are doing a good job in helping the school to run smoothly. ■ Teaching is satisfactory. Teachers are enthusiastic and help you to enjoy your work.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You study a suitable range of interesting things.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The adults in the school care for you well and help you when you are finding your work hard.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your headteacher, other teachers and governors know how to make your school even better.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

What we have asked your school to do now.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Make sure that information on how well you are doing is always used to set work at the right level for you in writing, mathematics and science, particularly to help those of you who learn quickly. ■ Ensure that you always know clearly how you can improve your work.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Help all leaders to make sure that all classes do equally well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Make sure that you read and act upon advice on how to make your work better.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We thoroughly enjoyed talking with you about your work and watching you learn. We are glad that you enjoy coming to this friendly school and wish you well for the future. Yours sincerely Alison Cartlidge Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Coleman Primary School, 22 °23 April 2008

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