Exhall Cedars Infant School

Exhall Cedars Infant School Inspection report

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130898 Unique Reference Number Warwickshire Local Authority 315652 Inspection number 30 June °1 July 2008 Inspection dates Roger Sadler 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 157 School The governing body Appropriate authority Fran Wilkins Chair Sharon Hillyard Headteacher 8 March 2004 Date of previous school inspection Trenance Road School address Exhall Coventry CV7 9FJ 024 76 316034 Telephone number 024 76 316034 Fax number

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3-7 Age group 30 June °1 July 2008 Inspection dates 315652 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 serves an area where most families are White British and around a third are Asian British with roots in India. The percentage of pupils whose first language is not English is well above average. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is a little below the national average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties is below average. Most children enter Nursery on a part-time basis and move to full-time education at the beginning of the Reception Year. The school received a Healthy Schools Award in 2007. A daily pre-school breakfast club is provided on the school site. The new headteacher took up post in January this year.

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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: Exhall Cedars Infant School, 30 June °1 July 2008

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Grade: 2

Due to good leadership and management and good teaching, the quality of education provided to pupils is good. Pupils' personal development and well-being are good, and a strength of the school. Relationships are strong, and staff treat pupils with sensitivity and kindness. Pupils are proud of their school. They enjoy their time in it and, due to some determined work with pupils and parents, levels of attendance have risen and are now satisfactory. The curriculum is good. Pupils appreciate the efforts staff make to ensure that learning is interesting and fun. They also appreciate the wide range of clubs and enrichment opportunities available to them. Most parents regard the school highly. One parent captured the views of many when she wrote, 'It is a happy and friendly school which welcomes both children and parents from day one.' Pupils make good progress during their time in school and achieve well. Children enter the

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Grade: 2

school with knowledge and skills below those expected nationally. They make a good start in Nursery and Reception and continue to make good progress in Years 1 and 2. Standards are rising and are above average in Year 2. Many girls attain above expected standards but few boys do as well, and opportunities to provide more able boys with additional support are occasionally missed. Staff provide frequent opportunities for pupils to develop their speaking and listening skills. The introduction of daily teaching of letters and sounds in Reception is helping to improve standards in reading and spelling. Guided reading in school and home reading are well organised and many parents make an important contribution to the good progress their children make in their reading. Academic guidance is good. Staff regularly assess and carefully analyse each pupil's progress and the school directs extra help to those who are

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Grade: 2

not achieving in line with the expectations for their ages. Pupils at early stages of learning English are provided with regular targeted support and this helps them make good progress in developing their skills and confidence in using English. Pupils who find learning difficult receive carefully tailored support from teachers and teaching assistants which helps them progress well. Pupils' skills in assessing their own work are limited. They are not provided with sufficient guidance to see where and how to improve aspects of their work, particularly in mathematics. Pastoral care and support are good. Older pupils show a growing sense of responsibility and try to help and consider others. The new headteacher has made a good start and has quickly won the support of staff and governors. Monitoring and evaluation are effective and the school has a clear understanding of its strengths and of where improvements are needed. Senior staff have successfully led the

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Grade: 2

school in bringing about important improvements, such as in the way that pupils' progress is monitored. This indicates that the school has good capacity to continue to improve in the future.

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Grade: 2

Due to good induction arrangements, children get off to a confident start in the Foundation Stage. They thrive in this thoughtful and supportive setting. Although on entry to the school children's language skills are not as strong as their skills in other areas, children are helped to make good, and sometimes outstanding, progress in their language, especially in their speaking and listening skills. By the end of Reception, most children reach the standards expected for their ages in all areas of learning. The recently introduced 'Write Dance' programme is already beginning to lead to increased hand control when developing writing skills. Exciting and varied 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Exhall Cedars Infant School, 30 June °1 July 2008 learning experiences are provided for children both in and out of doors. When children are working independently, adults interact well with them in order to promote their learning.

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Grade: 2

Consequently, children soon learn to talk confidently about the activities that they undertake. While working as a whole class, the responses of individual children are not always closely monitored and assessed and this occasionally slows progress. 'Family Time' gives children the opportunity to reinforce and learn new social skills within a warm, caring atmosphere. They make good progress in their personal social and emotional development and are well prepared for work in Year 1.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Provide additional support and challenge to boys so that more of them attain standards above those expected for their ages. ■ Ensure that pupils throughout the school are helped to see where and how to improve particular aspects of their work, particularly in mathematics.

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Grade: 2

Pupils achieve well and make good progress overall. School records, pupils' work and recent national assessments indicate that standards are rising. Standards in Year 2 are above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils in Year 1 are on track to achieve ambitious targets the school has set for their attainment. The school appropriately places strong emphasis on developing English language skills. Despite their limited skills on entry to the school, pupils make good progress in reading, writing and speaking and listening, preparing them well for the next stage of education and for adult life. Although many girls exceed standards expected for their ages, few boys do as well. The school, through its broad and interesting curriculum, helps pupils achieve well in other subjects, such as art and design, where standards are above expected levels.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' spiritual, moral and social development is good and well supported by regular personal and social education lessons. Pupils express their ideas politely and confidently. They behave well around school and concentrate well in most lessons, except on the few occasions where the pace of teaching slows or where not enough is expected of them. Pupils know how to act safely and also consider the safety of others. Through various physical activities and regular physical education and 'Write Dance' sessions, pupils exercise regularly. They know what constitutes healthy eating and mostly, but not always, eat healthy snacks at school. Their cultural development is good and pupils' awareness of the cultures represented in the diverse communities of today's Britain is developing well. Good involvement in fundraising helps pupils make a positive contribution to the community and think about the needs of those less fortunate

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Grade: 2

than themselves. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Exhall Cedars Infant School, 30 June °1 July 2008

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Grade: 2

Teachers plan their lessons carefully to meet the full range of learning needs. All teachers make very effective use of information and communication technology to aid learning. Pupils are given frequent chances to speak to partners or in small groups. This helps them to develop their speaking and listening skills, which, in turn, helps to support their enjoyment of learning and their progress in all subjects. Classrooms are stimulating and encourage pupils to want to learn. When the class is working in groups, skilled teaching assistants make an important contribution to the good achievement of those who find learning difficult. However, teaching assistants are sometimes less effectively deployed when the teacher is teaching the full class.

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Grade: 2

The school places appropriately strong emphasis on developing basic skills in literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology. However, other subjects are not forgotten and the curriculum is broad and varied. Pupils enjoy the exciting opportunities that the school provides in all subjects including the arts and physical education. Projects such as the one on Aboriginal Art, the mini-beast safari and making old-fashioned toys help pupils to gain experience and make links between subjects. Pupils are given many opportunities to develop their writing skills in other subjects, especially in science and humanities. The curriculum is modified effectively to meet the needs of most groups of pupils but additional support and challenge is too rarely provided for higher achieving boys.

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Grade: 2

Care arrangements are good. Pupils feel they are listened to and know that staff will help if they are worried or upset. Child protection and safeguarding procedures and other systems for ensuring health and safety are all secure. From the beginning of Nursery and throughout the rest of the school, those at the early stages of learning English are given good quality extra guidance and support to help them progress well in their skills and confidence. Pupils' progress is regularly assessed and those who may be falling behind or need specific help are identified and provided for. Pupils, especially at the end of lessons, are given too few chances to assess their own and others' work to help guide them to see where improvements are necessary.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher and staff work together well as an effective team. Staff training and guidance is good and careful follow-up checks by senior managers ensure that staff adopt a consistent approach to such matters as how pupils' work is marked. Subject leaders make a satisfactory contribution to improving their subjects. Appropriately, the new headteacher is working with them to extend their role to include greater responsibility for monitoring standards in their subjects. The Foundation Stage is led well, resulting in children making good progress in Nursery and Reception, especially in their language development. Throughout the school, communication 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Exhall Cedars Infant School, 30 June °1 July 2008 with parents is regular and parents are kept well informed about the teaching and learning in each class and the contribution that they might make. Governors are closely involved in the

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Grade: 2

school and provide good support and challenge. Although governors have a clear understanding of what needs improvement, they recognise that they take too limited a role in designing and monitoring the implementation of the school improvement plan. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Exhall Cedars Infant School, 30 June °1 July 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: Exhall Cedars Infant School, 30 June °1 July 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 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: Exhall Cedars Infant School, 30 June °1 July 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: Exhall Cedars Infant School, 30 June °1 July 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

2 July 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Exhall Cedars Infant School, Coventry CV7 9FJ Thank you for making Mrs Atcheson and me so welcome when we came to inspect your school. A special thanks to those who met Mrs Atcheson at lunchtime on the first day of the inspection. We are pleased that you enjoy school so much and that many of you now attend more regularly. We thoroughly enjoyed talking with you and your teachers and watching you learn. We think your school is a good school. It is run well and is giving you a good education. Nursery and Reception children quickly begin to learn to read, write and behave well. Adults provide good teaching, so that you make good progress. You are being well prepared for life at your next school. I am pleased yours is such a happy and interesting school and that you and your parents are so pleased with it. You know how to act safely. You very clearly understand what is right and what is wrong, show

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

consideration for others and are very friendly to each other. You should be proud of your good behaviour and manners. Those of you who need extra help with your learning make good progress because the school helps you learn. There are many things that your headteacher, the staff and the governors want to improve because they want your school to get even better! We agree with them that there are two important things that need doing first.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Help more boys to do really good work.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Help you to see exactly how to make your work better.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

With very best wishes for the future Mr R. Sadler Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Exhall Cedars Infant School, 30 June °1 July 2008

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Inspection of Exhall Cedars Infant School, Coventry CV7 9FJ

Thank you for making Mrs Atcheson and me so welcome when we came to inspect your school. A special thanks to those who met Mrs Atcheson at lunchtime on the first day of the inspection. We are pleased that you enjoy school so much and that many of you now attend more regularly. We thoroughly enjoyed talking with you and your teachers and watching you learn. We think your school is a good school. It is run well and is giving you a good education. Nursery and Reception children quickly begin to learn to read, write and behave well. Adults provide good teaching, so that you make good progress. You are being well prepared for life at your next school. I am pleased yours is such a happy and interesting school and that you and your parents are so pleased with it.

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Inspection of Exhall Cedars Infant School, Coventry CV7 9FJ

You know how to act safely. You very clearly understand what is right and what is wrong, show consideration for others and are very friendly to each other. You should be proud of your good behaviour and manners. Those of you who need extra help with your learning make good progress because the school helps you learn.

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Inspection of Exhall Cedars Infant School, Coventry CV7 9FJ

There are many things that your headteacher, the staff and the governors want to improve because they want your school to get even better! We agree with them that there are two important things that need doing first.

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Inspection of Exhall Cedars Infant School, Coventry CV7 9FJ

• Help more boys to do really good work. • Help you to see exactly how to make your work better.

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