Bingham Robert Miles Infant School

Bingham Robert Miles Infant School Inspection report

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122620 Unique Reference Number NOTTINGHAMSHIRE LA Local Authority 314347 Inspection number 16 January 2008 Inspection date Dorothy Bathgate HMI 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 4 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 113 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Alison Agar Chair Mrs Janet Baker Headteacher 7 September 2004 Date of previous school inspection School Lane School address Fairfield Street Bingham Nottingham Nottinghamshire NG13 8FE 01949 837422 Telephone number 01949 836909 Fax number

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4-7 Age group 16 January 2008 Inspection date 314347 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors. The inspection evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: teaching and learning, curriculum and care, guidance and support. Evidence was gathered from lesson observations, the scrutiny of pupils' work, parents' questionnaires, interviews with staff, pupils and governors and extensive school documentation, including its self-evaluation. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail, but the inspector found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as detailed in its self-evaluation, were not justified and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

This is a smaller than average sized school. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is above average. Almost all pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is above average. Children enter the school with levels of skill, knowledge and understanding which are generally below those expected.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: Bingham Robert Miles Infant School, 16 January 2008

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Grade: 1

This is an outstanding school, which provides its pupils with a high level of care and excellent opportunities to learn and achieve to their full potential. The school is successful because of the outstanding leadership and guidance of the headteacher and the strong teamwork amongst all staff. The success of the school is reflected in the pupils' enthusiasm and passion for learning, as well as in their regular attendance. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school and are extremely positive about their children's experiences. They appreciate the warm and caring ethos which reflects the school's motto, 'caring and learning together.' One wrote, for example, 'We are proud to send our children to this school. It is a loving, thriving and inclusive environment which our children enjoy very much.' This is supported by the findings of the inspection and the school provides excellent value for money.

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Grade: 1

Teaching in the Foundation Stage is outstanding because of staff's excellent knowledge of how young children learn. Adults have exceptional relationships with children and inspire confidence and success. Consequently, all children make outstanding progress and by the time they start Year 1, most pupils have achieved the standards expected and often exceeded them. This excellent progress continues in Years 1 and 2. By the time they leave the school, pupils reach standards that are consistently exceptionally high so their achievement is outstanding. The current Year 2 pupils are well on target to achieve similarly high results. In addition, the teachers' own assessments and the evidence of pupils' work show that there is clearly high quality work in science, art and design, and music. All groups of pupils in the school make equally excellent progress towards the individual levels expected of them and the challenging

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Grade: 1

targets set. These high standards are achieved as a result of outstanding teaching and learning. Teachers work very hard to plan consistently effective, high quality lessons and activities that match all pupils' needs and learning styles. Innovative use of paired working, excellent questioning skills, clear purposes for learning and high expectations are dominant features in all lessons. Teachers are very well supported by the teaching assistants, who have a wide range of roles in the school. The curriculum provided offers pupils excellent opportunities to learn the basic skills necessary for their future education and lives after school. The school has recently revised its schemes of work for art and science to ensure that pupils learn the key skills necessary in these subjects in a more progressive way. The school is planning to extend this into other subjects. There is a wide range of appropriate enrichment activities to help bring learning alive and make it more

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Grade: 1

purposeful and meaningful, including visits and visitors. For example, during the inspection, the Year 1 pupils thoroughly enjoyed an interactive drama workshop on the Pied Piper, which supported their traditional story telling work in English. Care, guidance and support are outstanding. Pupils say they feel safe in school and that they have adults they trust and can turn to if worried or unhappy. Safeguarding requirements and other expectations regarding child protection and welfare are met. The school offers excellent levels of personal support for the children through a strong partnership with parents. This partnership is evident from many parental comments and from observing the work of the school, and is especially strong for pupils who find learning more difficult. Transition arrangements at all points are exemplary. The school provides outstanding academic guidance. This is due to the excellent relationships

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Grade: 1

teachers and other adults have with the pupils. Work is marked appropriately for young children 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Bingham Robert Miles Infant School, 16 January 2008 and this helps pupils know what they have done well and what they need to do to improve further. Pupils' progress is tracked carefully and teachers are aware of how well individuals are doing. Intervention in the learning process by providing extra support is used imaginatively and for various purposes. For example, not only those with learning difficulties or disabilities, but also groups of middle ability and high achieving pupils receive support to provide a boost to their learning and to their self-esteem. These high levels of care result in outstanding personal development. Pupils' behaviour is exemplary and they have very positive attitudes towards learning. Their knowledge of how to keep themselves healthy is excellent for their ages. They willingly take responsibility. Pupils

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Grade: 1

are very aware of the needs of others and enjoy raising money for a range of charities. They are developing excellent literacy and numeracy skills, as well as good information, communication and technology (ICT) skills. All pupils are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage in their education. The school's success is underpinned by very effective leadership. The school is constantly looking to improve and innovate, and there is no hint of complacency in its work. Subject leaders provide strong leadership in their areas and all staff understand their responsibilities. There are rigorous systems in place for monitoring. An effective system for managing the performance all staff is linked to pupils' progress. The governance of the school is of high quality and governors offer good levels of support and challenge. The strategic committee undertakes highly effective monitoring of the school improvement plan. The high standards

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Grade: 1

achieved consistently over time, together with the excellent leadership and the improvements made since the last inspection, show that the school has an outstanding capacity to maintain the high quality of its work and to continue improving further.

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Grade: 1

The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage is outstanding because of the very effective work of the staff and the excellent progress made by the children. The colourful, exciting and well-planned learning environment ensures that children have equal access to all six areas of learning and experience a broad, rich and exciting curriculum. The outdoor facilities are used effectively to provide an excellent, imaginative and safe area in which children can play and learn. The planning ensures an appropriate balance between adult-directed and child-led activities. The Foundation Stage co-ordinator has led the development of a very effective system for assessing children's progress which helps all staff to be clear about how well individual children are doing and to intervene where appropriate to support their learning.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ extend the review of schemes of work to all foundation subjects, to ensure a more consistent approach to progressive skills teaching and learning. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Bingham Robert Miles Infant School, 16 January 2008 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: Bingham Robert Miles Infant School, 16 January 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? 1 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

1 How well do learners achieve? 1 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The attendance of learners 1 The behaviour of learners 1 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?

1 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. 7 of 9 Inspection Report: Bingham Robert Miles Infant School, 16 January 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 1 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 1 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? 8 of 9 Inspection Report: Bingham Robert Miles Infant School, 16 January 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

17 January 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Bingham Robert Miles Infant School, Bingham, NG13 8FE Thank you very much for making me so welcome when I recently visited your school I had a great day and just like you, I think your school is a happy and exciting place in which to learn. It was so good to see you all enjoying your learning and wanting to learn more. You are taught by excellent teachers who want you to achieve high standards. They are very successful at doing just that!. You are to be congratulated on the excellent progress you make and the high standards you achieve. I was particularly pleased to see some exciting phonic work where you were enjoying lots of different games including sound machines and sound street!. I enjoyed watching the Year 1 children re-tell the story of the Pied Piper through drama. Those of you who sometimes find learning a bit difficult are extremely well supported by teaching assistants.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Everyone's behaviour is excellent both in lessons and in the playground. All the staff and governors take good care of you and you are also good at caring for them and for each other. You told me how much you enjoy your fruit and vegetable snacks and understand how good they are for you. You are learning lots of excellent literacy and numeracy skills that will help you as you grow into adults. I have asked Mrs. Baker to help you develop your skills in other subject areas in a more step by step way. This is really important because it will help you to make even better progress. You can help too by practising all your skills in as many different ways as possible, at school and at home. Your parents are rightly pleased that you attend such an excellent school. Keep up all the good work. Thank you again for making my visit such a happy one! Dorothy Bathgate HMI Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Bingham Robert Miles Infant School, 16 January 2008

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