James Peacock Infant and Nursery School

James Peacock Infant and Nursery School Inspection report

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122675 Unique Reference Number NOTTINGHAMSHIRE LA Local Authority 314363 Inspection number 7 February 2008 Inspection date Alison Cogher 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 247 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs S Mountain Chair Mr R Waldron Headteacher 2 February 2004 Date of previous school inspection Victoria Avenue School address Manor Park Ruddington Nottingham NG11 6DS 01159144225 Telephone number 01159144226 Fax number

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3-7 Age group 7 February 2008 Inspection date 314363 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 an Additional Inspector. The inspector evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: pupils' achievement and standards, teaching and learning, and leadership and management. Evidence was gathered from national published assessment data and the school's records of pupils' progress over time. The school's self-evaluation information, a range of documents and the questionnaires returned by parents were also looked at. Meetings were held with school staff, governors and pupils, and parts of lessons were observed. 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 given 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 average sized infant and nursery school admits pupils from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. The school is popular and growing in size. Almost all pupils are of White British heritage, with a small number from other ethnic groups or of dual heritage. An extremely small number of pupils are learning English as an additional language. Few pupils are entitled to free school meals and a below average number of pupils have learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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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: James Peacock Infant and Nursery School, 7 February 2008

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Grade: 2

James Peacock Infant and Nursery is a good school. It has the overwhelming support of almost all its parents, many of whom wrote to express their confidence in the school and how pleased they are that their children enjoy school and are learning well. The school provides a welcoming and vibrant environment where the effective support children receive ensures they do their best both personally and academically. Standards overall on entry to the nursery are broadly similar to those generally found for children of nursery age. They are lower in some areas such as the linking of sounds and letters and writing aspects of communication language and literacy. Standards in Year 2 in 2007 were broadly average and school based assessment data shows that this group made satisfactory progress overall. However, children typically did significantly better in reading and mathematics than in writing. Children in all year groups who are currently at the school are making good

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Grade: 2

progress and standards are rising. All groups of children are achieving well as a result of improvements secured in teaching and the curriculum, and the use of assessment and target setting to support children in their learning. Teachers' high expectations help children to make good progress and achieve well. They set them challenging targets based on the accurate assessment information and also use this information well to guide their planning. Lessons are well matched to children's abilities and interests, and so capture their imagination and motivate them to learn. Children concentrate well in lessons and work hard to achieve their targets. With support they are developing the skill of checking their own work to identify how it could be improved. Resources including information and communication technology are used effectively to support children's learning although more use could be made of the school's extensive grounds. Close attention is paid to

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Grade: 2

teaching children basic skills such as their knowledge of letter sounds and writing in well-constructed complete sentences. This is ensuring children have a firm foundation on which to build their future learning. Skilled teaching assistants work very effectively with teachers to support the learning of individuals and groups of children. Good use is made of visits, visitors and after school clubs to enrich and extend children's learning and the links made between subjects give children's learning context and relevance. Threaded through the curriculum are opportunities for children to learn about how they can help themselves to stay fit and healthy. They have a basic knowledge of the importance of eating a healthy diet and understand the benefits of taking regular exercise. In lessons and whole school assemblies children have the opportunity to consider the ideas and feelings of others. They enthusiastically celebrate each other's achievements and know that their own efforts in

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Grade: 2

all that they do are valued and appreciated. This does much to raise their self-esteem and underpins their positive attitudes to learning. Children's pleasure in being at school is very evident in the way they try hard in lessons and their good behaviour. They enjoy each other's company and take care of each other at playtimes. Children say they like being at school because they '...have fun, and the activities are exciting and adults help them to learn...' The good care, guidance and support children receive underpins their good personal development. Robust safeguarding and child protection procedures are in place and the school works well with outside agencies, neighbouring schools and the community to support and enhance children's personal and academic opportunities and development. Good relationships are evident throughout the school and the school's five golden rules provide 4 of 9 Inspection Report: James Peacock Infant and Nursery School, 7 February 2008

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Grade: 2

children with effective strategies to help them to feel safe and secure. They are confident that if they had a problem an adult would help them. Children are enthusiastic about being given responsibilities and take them seriously. The school council is keen to have a more active role but has no systematic way of collecting other children's views and ideas or reporting back to them on actions taken. Consequently their contribution to school improvement is limited. The headteacher provides very focused and determined leadership. Staff and governors share his vision for the future of the school and work successfully as an energetic and committed team to make things better for children. Monitoring and evaluation of the school's work is well focused, rigorous and accurate. Staff readily evaluate their own effectiveness and are quick to take action to address weaknesses identified. They have secured improvements to systems for

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Grade: 2

assessing children, tracking their progress and using the information gathered to improve the effectiveness of teaching. The success of this work is evident in the good pupil progress and improving standards seen in lessons and school data. This proactive approach has secured good improvement since the last inspection. It also demonstrates why the school provides good value for money and has good capacity to improve in the future.

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Grade: 2

Provision in the Foundation Stage is good overall and is well led and managed. Good admission arrangements ensure children settle quickly and happily into school. They make good progress with most achieving or exceeding the expected goals by the end of their reception year. Meticulous records of children's progress and their achievements are shared with parents who are encouraged to be involved in their child's learning. Teachers in the nursery and reception classes make good use of this assessment information to plan activities that children find interesting and fun. Focused teaching and activities that enable children to practise what they have learned is improving children's knowledge of letter sounds and their writing skills and ensure children are well placed to continue to make good progress in Year 1. This approach to teaching is part of the whole school drive to improve children's achievement and raise standards.

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Grade: 2

Activities in the nursery provide children with many opportunities to develop their personal learning skills by making choices as they work and play independently of adults. Opportunities for children to build on these important life skills in the reception classes are developing well.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards in writing to more closely match those secured in reading.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Develop ways for the school council to take a more active role in school improvement. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: James Peacock Infant and Nursery School, 7 February 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: James Peacock Infant and Nursery School, 7 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? 2 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 3 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 3 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. 7 of 9 Inspection Report: James Peacock Infant and Nursery School, 7 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? 8 of 9 Inspection Report: James Peacock Infant and Nursery School, 7 February 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

7 February 2008 Dear Children Inspection of James Peacock Infant and Nursery School, Ruddington, NG11 6DS Thank you very much for helping me with the inspection of your school and for making me feel so welcome. I particularly liked talking to you and watching you work in your lessons. You told me that the adults at school help you to learn and make you feel safe. You told me that you think your lessons are fun and that you enjoy going on visits to places that you find interesting. Here are some of the things I like best about your school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Mr Waldron and all the other adults are working hard to make things even better for you at school. ■ You are trying to reach your targets by working hard.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You behave well and care about each other.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your teachers plan lots of interesting things for you to do to help you to learn well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Almost all the parents or carers who wrote to me are pleased with the school and the education and care you receive. I think you go to a good school that helps you to enjoy learning. To make it even better I am asking the teachers to:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ help you to be as good at writing as you are at reading;

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ find a way for the school councillors to find out what your views and ideas are so that you can help your school to be even better. Thank you very much for making my visit such an enjoyable day. I hope that you will keep on working hard and enjoying your time at school. Best wishes Alison Cogher Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: James Peacock Infant and Nursery School, 7 February 2008

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