Mount Nod Primary School

Mount Nod Primary School Inspection report

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131239 Unique Reference Number Coventry Local Authority 315761 Inspection number 16 °17 October 2007 Inspection dates Martin Cole 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 323 School The governing body Appropriate authority Tracy Sarjeant Chair I Rose Headteacher 25 April 2005 Date of previous school inspection Greenleaf Close School address Coventry CV5 7BG 02476 466837 Telephone number 02476 421570 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 16 °17 October 2007 Inspection dates 315761 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

The great majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds. Pupils start at the school with attainment in line with what is expected nationally at their age. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is similar to the national average.

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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: Mount Nod Primary School, 16 °17 October 2007

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. The pupils' good attitudes and behaviour are combined with good teaching to ensure that they learn and achieve well. They make good progress and the standards of their work are above average. Pupils greatly enjoy coming to school. They relish the lively activities provided for them, which include a good range of after-school clubs. Many enjoy the good opportunities for sport and exercise provided and in doing so act on the good guidance they receive on how to stay healthy. Pupils get on very well with the adults and each other. They feel well looked-after. School staff provide sensitive and caring support for pupils' personal and physical well-being. From the Foundation Stage through to Year 6, pupils' positive feelings about school provide an effective basis for their learning. Lessons are calm, happy and purposeful events where teachers and pupils are fully focused on learning. Teachers plan suitable and engaging tasks

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Grade: 2

for pupils and they manage pupils very skilfully. They challenge pupils to do their best and provide plenty of encouragement and support. However, when marking pupils' work, teachers sometimes give pupils too little information to understand what they must do next to make progress. The school curriculum is in most respects broad and stimulating, and is particularly good in terms of physical education and modern foreign languages. Educational visits and visitors are well used to make learning lively. A weakness of the curriculum is the limited opportunity for pupils to use information and communication technology (ICT) during their learning; the school has too few computers. The driving force of the school's good leadership and management is the full commitment and clear vision of the headteacher. This is supported by good staff teamwork and a shared ambition to improve the school. Checks made by the headteacher and other key staff give the school a

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Grade: 2

good understanding of its own performance. This has been the basis for planning many good improvements which have been made since the previous inspection, and shows that the school has a good capacity for further improvement. However, some staff who are new or inexperienced in their management responsibilities roles are currently making only a limited contribution to checks on school performance or planning for improvement.

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Grade: 2

Children enjoy their time in the Nursery and Reception classes. They benefit from good teaching, the good relationships adults make with them and the lively and attractive activities, accommodation and learning resources provided. Nursery children soon develop the confidence and independence to choose their own activities, indoor and outdoor. In the Reception class, children have learnt to attend and concentrate well on teachers' input. The well planned curriculum is taught by an effectively deployed and close-knit team of adults. This provides both intensive adult direction, sometimes in small groups or individually, as well as good opportunities for pupils to explore and choose for themselves. Staff keep a good watch over children's progress but recognise that assessment in mathematical development is not sufficiently frequent or precise. The well managed provision for the children helps them make good progress

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Grade: 2

and reach above average standards by the end of the Reception Year. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Mount Nod Primary School, 16 °17 October 2007

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Extend resources for ICT and ensure pupils make full use of them to support their learning across the curriculum. ■ Ensure all staff with management responsibilities are able to contribute effectively to checks on school performance and planning for improvement. ■ Ensure that teachers' marking of pupils' work consistently helps them to understand how to make further progress.

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Grade: 2

Pupils of all abilities, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, achieve well. Pupils make good progress, particularly during their early years in the school, and leave with above average standards. In almost every recent year, pupils in Year 6 have achieved results in national tests that were above the national average. Results dipped a little in 2007, mainly because of the impact of a higher than usual level of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and of pupils who had joined the school at a late stage of their primary education with low attainment. Detailed records of the progress of present Year 6 pupils show them to be on track to maintain the school's long-term record of above average standards.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' very good relationships with adults and each other are a particularly strong feature of the school. They help to account for pupils' good attendance, the enjoyment clearly evident in their smiles and in the contentment they express when talking about their school. The firm but friendly and caring guidance teachers provide, and the very good role models they present, lead to pupils' responsible attitudes and good behaviour. Even the youngest children are capable of working well independently. Older pupils also show a good capacity for independence but their opportunities to exploit this during learning are somewhat limited. Pupils behave safely and feel safe, insisting that bullying is not a problem in their school. They know how to be healthy and like to take exercise, but they are less inclined to make healthy eating choices. Pupils contribute well to the community through their much enjoyed school council and

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Grade: 2

fund-raising activities. Older pupils respond sensibly to opportunities to take formal responsibility, such as acting as 'Buddies' to the youngest children. Pupils' good progress in literacy and numeracy, together with responsible attitudes and a determination to succeed, is preparing them well for the demands of future adult and working life.

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Grade: 2

Teachers plan lessons that are well suited to the range of pupils' abilities and needs. Lively presentations hold pupils' attention and interest. In a striking example, a science investigation came alive when the teacher wrapped her mobile phone in a plastic bag and immersed it in water to see if its ring could still be heard! Sensitive, encouraging relationships with pupils build self-esteem very effectively so that pupils keenly and confidently volunteer answers and their own ideas. When asked to work on their own, pupils do so with concentration and care. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Mount Nod Primary School, 16 °17 October 2007 Occasionally, over-long whole-class teaching limits pupils' opportunity to learn independently. A shortage of computers also means that independent learning through ICT is only occasionally possible. Teaching assistants give close and effective support to pupils who find the greatest

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Grade: 2

difficulty in learning. Recently, improved use of assessment of pupils to plan their work has helped to increase the achievement of the most able pupils, especially in mathematics. Teachers often mark pupils' work with encouraging comments but sometimes fail to make it sufficiently clear how the pupil can take further steps to improve their work, or how well they are meeting the targets they have been set.

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Grade: 2

Alongside good provision for the main subjects of English, mathematics and science, the school also takes care to provide a wide range of other good quality learning experiences. Effective links with specialist local schools and colleges and other organisations provide good opportunities, both through lessons and after-school clubs, for pupils to begin learning a number of modern foreign languages and to develop sports skills. Strong provision for pupils' personal development is reflected in their positive attitudes and behaviour across the school. Support for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is well planned. A good range of after-school activities, many educational visits and visitors greatly enrich the curriculum. Recalling a visit to an open air Victorian museum, one pupil remarked: 'It was much better than learning from books. You could actually feel what it must have been like to be a Victorian.'

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Grade: 2

Amongst many strengths, a weakness of the curriculum is insufficient use of ICT to support pupils' work in other subjects.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are given good help to settle in when starting in the Nursery and again when moving from the Foundation Stage into Year 1. The constant care all staff show in their dealings with pupils is complemented by rigorous formal procedures for ensuring pupils' health, safety and welfare. Pupils are confident staff will provide whatever help they need. The school has a good knowledge of pupils as individuals and of their progress, both academic and personal. Individual needs are well identified. Good links with appropriate external agencies and with parents contribute to the effective support of pupils with learning or personal difficulties. There is very good guidance for pupils on personal matters. On academic matters, pupils are given clear targets to aim at in their work and parents are informed of them and encouraged to support progress toward them. Most pupils know and understand their targets but teachers do not

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Grade: 2

always use them well when guiding pupils, and a few pupils have difficulty remembering them.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher leads the school with a very clear vision of how it should be. Her determination to realise this vision is supported by the good teamwork of hard-working staff. Since the previous inspection, school strengths have been maintained and weaknesses largely eradicated as more able pupils' mathematics standards have risen significantly and governors have become 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Mount Nod Primary School, 16 °17 October 2007 much more effective in their role. Amongst other improvements are more precise assessment of pupils, a richer curriculum, better Foundation Stage accommodation and resources, closer links with parents and the development of after-school care. Financial planning and control has also improved and governors and senior staff are successfully overcoming a legacy of past financial stringency which had hindered resourcing, particularly in ICT. The school has a good understanding of ways in which it can be still better, thanks, in particular, to the careful watch

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Grade: 2

the most senior staff keep over the school's performance. Some other staff with management responsibilities are new to and inexperienced in their roles. Recent training has begun to help them make a more substantial contribution to checks on the school's performance and planning for improvement. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Mount Nod Primary School, 16 °17 October 2007 .

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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: Mount Nod Primary School, 16 °17 October 2007

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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 2 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: Mount Nod Primary School, 16 °17 October 2007

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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: Mount Nod Primary School, 16 °17 October 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

18 October 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Mount Nod Primary School, Coventry CV5 7BG The inspectors who visited your school recently would like to thank all of you for your very friendly welcome. We enjoyed meeting you and talking to you. It was good to find that you enjoy school a lot and that you get on very well with each other and with the adults. You have a very sensible attitude to school, and to your work, and your behaviour is good. It is clear that you feel safe and happy at school. All of this is helping you to make good progress. The standard of your work is good. Some of you told us how much help the teachers and the other adults give you. We saw this for ourselves. The adults look after you well. They give you lots of help and encouragement. The teachers give you good lessons and provide good work that helps you learn a lot. They also organise lots of interesting visits and events and put on good after-school activities which

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

you enjoy. We have said that yours is a good school. The adults in charge of the school are doing a good job and they are improving the school. However, we think there are three ways in which the school could give you still more help. We would like the school to buy more computers for you to use to help you learn. We also think more of the teachers should be able to help the headteacher check up on how well the school is working. Finally, we are asking the teachers to make sure that when they mark your work they tell you how you can improve it. We wish you the very best for the future. Yours sincerely M H Cole Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Mount Nod Primary School, 16 °17 October 2007

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Annex B

Inspection of Mount Nod Primary School, Coventry CV5 7BG

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Annex B

The inspectors who visited your school recently would like to thank all of you for your very friendly welcome. We enjoyed meeting you and talking to you.

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Annex B

It was good to find that you enjoy school a lot and that you get on very well with each other and with the adults. You have a very sensible attitude to school, and to your work, and your behaviour is good. It is clear that you feel safe and happy at school. All of this is helping you to make good progress. The standard of your work is good.

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Annex B

Some of you told us how much help the teachers and the other adults give you. We saw this for ourselves. The adults look after you well. They give you lots of help and encouragement. The teachers give you good lessons and provide good work that helps you learn a lot. They also organise lots of interesting visits and events and put on good after-school activities which you enjoy.

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Annex B

We have said that yours is a good school. The adults in charge of the school are doing a good job and they are improving the school. However, we think there are three ways in which the school could give you still more help. We would like the school to buy more computers for you to use to help you learn. We also think more of the teachers should be able to help the headteacher check up on how well the school is working. Finally, we are asking the teachers to make sure that when they mark your work they tell you how you can improve it.

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Annex B

We wish you the very best for the future.

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