Edgewood Primary and Nursery School

Edgewood Primary and Nursery School Inspection report

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122587 Unique Reference Number NOTTINGHAMSHIRE LA Local Authority 314337 Inspection number 27 °28 February 2008 Inspection dates Gill Broadbent 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 335 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Claire Widdowson Chair Miss Lynn Thompson Headteacher 14 October 2002 Date of previous school inspection Edgewood Drive School address Hucknall Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG15 6HX 0115 9561337 Telephone number 0115 9561428 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 27 °28 February 2008 Inspection dates 314337 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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This above average size school houses a leisure centre and library, which is used jointly with the local community. In December 2007 the building extension and refurbishment was completed. Almost all pupils come from White British backgrounds with very few from minority ethnic groups. An average proportion of pupils are entitled to free school meals. Children enter the Foundation Stage with skills that are often below those expected for their age. The numbers of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is average overall with wide variations in year groups. The school holds the Healthy Schools Gold, Sports Silver, Activemark, Investors in People and International School awards.

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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: Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, 27 °28 February 2008

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. The headteacher, staff and governors, with the support of the local authority, successfully minimised the disruption to pupils' education during recent construction work. The building has improved vastly since the last inspection. It provides an educational setting where pupils and staff can work effectively and safely. Consequently, staff morale is high, standards are rising and pupils are right to be very proud of their school. Good teaching and learning together with a good, improved curriculum ensures that most pupils make good progress overall in relation to their starting points, and achieve well. In the Foundation Stage, children have a good start to their education. Standards vary each year in national assessments and test results at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. In 2007, they dipped and were below the national average. Although many pupils reached the levels expected for their

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Grade: 2

age, very few pupils reached the higher levels, especially in writing and mathematics, because of lower starting points. The impact of initiatives to improve these subjects is showing early signs of success. Pupils are well cared for and know how to keep themselves safe, for example, through lessons on road safety and drugs education. They have positive attitudes and enjoy learning because relationships are good, as is the guidance and support they receive. Attendance is satisfactory. Pupils' personal development and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are also good. Pupils know the importance of eating well and taking regular exercise. Their behaviour is good. Although several parents expressed concerns about the behaviour of a small minority, these pupils respond well to the school's good guidance and support. As a result, there is no longer the regular disruption to other pupils' learning that occurred at the time of the last

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Grade: 2

inspection. The leadership and management of the headteacher and senior management team are good. The headteacher and senior management team are well established, experienced and ambitious for pupils' achievement. Through strong teamwork, they set a clear direction for school improvement. They rigorously analyse, check the effectiveness of their work, and accurately identify successes and areas to improve. This ensures that the school has improved at a good pace since the last inspection and demonstrates a good capacity to improve further. Governance is satisfactory. The governing body is new and in the early stages of developing their monitoring role to hold the school to account. Governors, do however, meet their statutory obligations. Good procedures for setting pupils' targets and tracking standards supports the good progress they make. The senior management team work hard to co-ordinate a range of information that

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Grade: 2

ensures achievement is good. However, this is too complicated to extract relevant information easily and frequently, in order to help everyone ensure pupils make even better progress.

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Grade: 2

Good leadership and management of the Foundation Stage ensure children do well, regardless of their starting points or needs. Parents appreciate this good start to their child's education. Parents and their children are well prepared for going to Nursery. Children settle quickly into its caring and captivating learning environment. Staff relationships with children are positive which build children's independence, self-esteem and confidence. This is shown in role-play, when staff encourage children to pretend to be car mechanics who rush to provide assistance. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, 27 °28 February 2008 Teaching and learning are good. Staff assess the children's needs frequently across all areas of learning, in order to plan both free and staff-directed activities. They pay extra attention to speaking and listening skills, letter sounds, writing skills and mathematical development so

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Grade: 2

that children make good, and at times, rapid progress. By the time they leave the Foundation Stage their skills are in line with national expectations in most areas of learning, but below for their age in communication, language and literacy and mathematical development. Staff use good quality resources to plan activities which develop all areas of learning indoors. Outdoor activities only focus on physical and language development, rather than all areas of learning.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards and achievement in writing and mathematics by making it easier to check pupils' achievement at a glance and identify swiftly any areas of weakness. ■ Provide activities to help Foundation Stage children make progress in all areas of learning outdoors. ■ Develop the monitoring role of governors so that they can contribute effectively to school self-evaluation.

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Grade: 2

In Years 1 and 2, pupils build upon the good start they have in the Foundation Stage. They continue to make good progress from their different starting points. In 2007 standards at the end of Year 2 were below average. An average proportion of pupils reached the level expected for their age but few pupils exceeded them. At the end of Key Stage 2, test results were below average overall. However, pupils reached average standards in reading and science reflecting the success of a sustained focus on these subjects. In writing and mathematics, an average proportion of pupils reached the standard expected for their age, but too few pupils reached the higher levels. The school sets targets that are suitably challenging and usually meets them. Too few boys reached the expected levels in writing because they narrowly missed their targets. Even so, they made good progress from their earlier attainment. Currently, in Years 1 to 6

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Grade: 2

standards show good improvement with more pupils already working at the appropriate level for their age.

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Grade: 2

Learning to speak Spanish and strong links with schools in Madrid and Mexico make a good contribution to pupils' understanding of other cultures. This is acknowledged by the International School award. The Healthy Schools and Sports awards acknowledge that pupils choose to eat healthily and many take part in sports. They develop good habits from an early age and take full advantage of the Leisure Centre's swimming pool and after school activities. The development of pupil' skills for their future economic well-being is satisfactory. Pupils are socially well prepared but their basic skills could be even better. Pupils feel safe in school because, although bullying is rare, staff deal with it properly if it happens. The formal election of the school council representatives, involvement in school initiatives, and proper management of a considerable budget develops pupils' understanding of citizenship well. Pupils are polite

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Grade: 2

and undertake their roles and responsibilities in a mature, responsible way. This makes a good contribution to a happy and lively school. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, 27 °28 February 2008

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Grade: 2

Relationships between teachers, adults and pupils are good and create a positive atmosphere that enables pupils to learn well. Teaching assistants and the learning mentor work closely with teachers to support pupils of all abilities to help them participate fully in lessons. Staff are particularly skilful in managing pupils' behaviour so that this does not disrupt learning. As a result, lessons move at a good pace. In the most effective lessons, discussion and questioning techniques capture pupils' interest, extends their learning and encourage them to develop their language skills. Pupils are enthusiastic, concentrate and work hard especially. Teachers know their pupils well and use assessment information skilfully to set challenging individual targets. However, they are not able to use information about pupils' achievement easily to ensure pupils make even better progress.

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Grade: 2

An improved curriculum makes links between subjects and ensures the progressive development of skills, knowledge and understanding. The special themed weeks such as the 'cultural week' provide good opportunities for pupils to use skills in English, mathematics, science and information and communication technology (ICT) in practical situations. Although planning of these is relatively new and is to be expanded further, this approach helps pupils to learn more effectively in an enjoyable and exciting way. Provision in ICT is good and improved since the last inspection. The production of a film and DVD by pupils demonstrates a good range of ICT equipment is used very well. A good selection of after school activities, visits and visitors to school for example theatre groups enrich the curriculum. Pupils also have the opportunity to learn to play a wide range of musical instruments. A good range of programmes is provided to

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Grade: 2

support those pupils who need additional help or challenge.

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Grade: 2

The school provides good pastoral care for the pupils. The majority of parents strongly support the view that their children enjoy school, feel safe, and are happy and well cared for. Teachers and other staff know the pupils well and pupils feel confident to talk about their problems when they arise. Procedures for health and safety, risk assessments and child protection are secure. Strategies for supporting pupils' behaviour are good. A strong programme for personal, social and health education ensures that pupils know how to stay safe and be healthy. Challenging targets set for individual pupils and groups are based accurately on thorough procedures to assess and monitor their academic progress. Most pupils know and understand their targets, which helps them to improve their work. The school has lots of information on achievement and recognises it needs to find ways to streamline, and make even more effective

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Grade: 2

use of, it. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, 27 °28 February 2008

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Grade: 2

The headteacher, staff and governors are committed to continual improvement. They are outward looking, work well with other schools and organisations to support their work and share expertise. School improvement planning is thorough and the senior management team evaluates the impact of their actions accurately. New curriculum teams provide opportunities for all staff and governors to contribute their skills, talents and interests to support school development. Governors are mostly new and are still exploring ways of checking the quality of the school's provision. Although some parents would like more information, the school provides a good range of guidance to help them support their children's learning at home and newsletters. Through annual questionnaires, informal discussions and surveys, the headteacher and senior management team seek and act upon the views of parents and pupils. A new Parents Forum

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Grade: 2

provides another vehicle for parents to contribute to the school's development. Teaching assistants, the learning mentor and resources are managed and deployed effectively to support or provide challenging activities for pupils of all needs and abilities. This is because everyone is determined to raise the standards and achievement for all pupils. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, 27 °28 February 2008 .

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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: Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, 27 °28 February 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 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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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 extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 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: Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, 27 °28 February 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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 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: Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, 27 °28 February 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

29 February 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, Hucknall, NG15 6HX Thank you for making us so welcome when we visited your school recently. This letter is to tell you some of the important things we found out about your school. Your school is good and the new building will help everyone to improve how well you learn. Many of you reach the levels expected for your age but few reach the higher levels. You have achieved really well. This is because you enjoy learning and work hard. Learning Spanish and the links with schools in Madrid and Mexico is exciting and helps you find out about other cultures. You keep fit and healthy through taking part in swimming, sports and eating sensibly. Your behaviour is good. A few pupils need extra help to behave well, which makes sure lessons are uninterrupted. Other pupils also have help if they have difficulties or special interests. There

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

is hardly any bullying and if it happens, it is dealt with properly, through the school council. Doing tasks responsibly and by being kind to younger pupils you will help to make the school a happy and lively place. The staff and governors want your school to be even better and have confirmed that they will:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Improve writing and mathematics by checking how well you are doing more often and making sure they have the right information they need. ■ Help the youngest children learn a wider range of different things outside.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Help the new governing body understand how well the school is doing so they can work to make it even better. You can help too by making sure that you keep up your good behaviour and keep supporting and getting involved in the work of the school council. Yours sincerely Mrs Gill Broadbent Lead inspector, on behalf of the inspection team 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Edgewood Primary and Nursery School, 27 °28 February 2008

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