Robin Hood Primary School

Robin Hood Primary School Inspection report

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131007 Unique Reference Number City of Nottingham Local Authority 319543 Inspection number 24 °25 June 2008 Inspection dates Keith Edwards 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 439 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Anne Hutchby Chair Mrs Joanna Bell Headteacher Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection Beckhampton Road School address Bestwood Park Nottingham NG5 5NA 0115 9153982 Telephone number 0115 9153983 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 24 °25 June 2008 Inspection dates 319543 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 is a new primary school, formed from the merger of separate infant and junior schools on the same site; it opened in September 2007. The headteacher from the former infant school was appointed as the headteacher of the new school. Robin Hood School serves a large estate on the outskirts of Nottingham. The pupils come from a broad range of cultural backgrounds, although the majority are White British. Pupil mobility, particularly pupils joining school during the course of the school year, is high. Attainment on entry to the school is well below the national average with a significant minority starting school with poor communication skills. A significant proportion of the pupils have learning difficulties and/ or disabilities including two pupils who have a Statement of Special Educational Need.

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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: Robin Hood Primary School, 24 °25 June 2008

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Grade: 2

The fact that this is already a good school is a tribute to the outstanding leadership provided by the headteacher and to the strength of the teamwork that she has nurtured during the course of the current academic year. The school is particularly successful in managing the above-average levels of pupil mobility and settling new children effectively, especially those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The school has the respect of the community that it serves and has formed outstanding partnerships, with parents, other schools and support agencies to promote pupils' well-being and learning. Children start in the Nursery with particularly poor early language, literacy and numeracy skills. Nevertheless, they make good progress because they are well taught and the quality of the children's experience provides a secure foundation for their future learning. Standards in reading and mathematics in the national assessments for pupils in Year 2 are below the national picture

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Grade: 2

and standards in writing are well below. Although overall standards in Year 6 are closer to the national average, writing remains a weakness for many pupils. Nevertheless, the achievement of pupils is good because they now have a much clearer idea of what they need to do to improve and are committed to learning. Boys and girls achieve equally well. Those pupils who find learning difficult make good progress because they are well supported, both by the teachers and a team of dedicated teaching assistants. The personal development and well-being of all pupils is good. Although attendance rates are below average, and remain an ongoing concern for the staff, pupils still thoroughly enjoy coming to school. They feel safe and secure and respond well to the many initiatives encouraging them to adopt healthy lifestyles. Staff respect and value the pupils and consequently they develop self-confidence, self-esteem and self-discipline. Pupils' behaviour is good. They work hard and

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Grade: 2

play well together, forming strong relationships with one another and with adults in school. The pupils' social development is promoted effectively through special events and reward systems. They contribute well to the community and are developing appropriate skills to prepare them for the next stage in their education. The quality of teaching and learning is good and the school provides good levels of pastoral care as well as academic guidance. The curriculum is good; it meets statutory requirements and motivates the pupils to become active learners. However, too little use is made of information and communication technology (ICT) to support pupils' learning in different subjects. The headteacher has nurtured a common ethos that supports and values pupils' achievements and has motivated and empowered her colleagues to settle for nothing but the best. Governors are fully involved in the strategic development of the school. The staff's view of the school's

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Grade: 2

effectiveness, although rather modest, accurately identifies areas for further improvement. As a result, and given the very good start the new school has made, the capacity for further improvement is outstanding.

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Grade: 2

The Foundation Stage staff share a commitment towards providing the best for the children, and seize on every opportunity to overcome the children's poor language skills. For example, participation in the Early Reading Project has greatly enhanced children's letter sound awareness. However, in spite of making good progress through good teaching, writing remains a weak 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Robin Hood Primary School, 24 °25 June 2008 area when children move into Year 1. Carefully planned activities create excitement, ensuring the right balance between independent and adult-led learning. Occasionally, there are missed opportunities for ICT to be used as an integral part of children's learning. The children in most need receive good quality one-to-one attention, enabling them to succeed. The development of children's personal, social and emotional skills is very good. Excellent links with parents and

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Grade: 2

outside agencies ensure the needs of individual children are effectively met. Assessment procedures are good and the data is used well to inform the next stages of learning for each child.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Continue to raise standards, particularly in writing.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Take further steps to promote improved attendance.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Develop the use of ICT to support learning across the curriculum.

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Grade: 2

Although standards in literacy and numeracy in Years 2 and 6 are below average, pupils consistently make good gains in their learning in each phase of the school. Pupils' achievement is good. This is because the quality of teaching is good and staff have accurately targeted the need to develop pupils' speaking and listening skills as their first priority. The high proportion of pupils with learning difficulties benefit from sensitive support that breaks down learning into small steps and as a result, they make good progress. Higher attaining pupils do not consistently reach their potential, particularly in mathematics and science, because there is a lack of challenge in the work set for these pupils. The school recognises that not all pupils do as well as they could in writing. This is because many lack confidence in their use of vocabulary and their spelling and grammar is inaccurate. Standards in singing are above average and

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Grade: 2

strongly support the pupils' personal development.

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Grade: 2

Positive attitudes and strong relationships are a fundamental part of the school's success. Pupils display obvious enjoyment of learning and most behave well. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good, with particularly effective cultural growth. Pupils are prepared well for life in a multicultural society. They have a secure understanding of healthy lifestyles and are very aware of how to stay safe. Participation in an extensive range of lunchtime and after school clubs is high. Those with responsibilities, especially the school council, make a strong and positive contribution to the school community. Although some pupils struggle to acquire basic academic skills, they gain secure personal skills in preparation for the next stage of their education. Despite the school's best efforts to encourage full attendance, levels remain below average because of irregular attendance by children from a small proportion of families.

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching and learning is variable across the school, but overall it is good. Teachers' planning is good, enabling pupils of all abilities to make good progress. Teachers refer regularly 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Robin Hood Primary School, 24 °25 June 2008 to their learning objectives throughout lessons which helps the pupils to understand what and how they are to learn. In the best lessons the teachers' enthusiasm fires the pupils' attitudes to learning, enabling them to make outstanding progress. In most lessons teachers use questions well to encourage pupils to think about their work and this helps to develop what they are learning. Teaching assistants are deployed effectively in lessons to support pupils of all abilities in their learning. Where teaching is not as effective, the teachers spend too much time talking to the class, resulting in pupils having too little time to complete their own tasks. In some

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Grade: 2

lessons, teachers do not ensure that pupils are using their time effectively to complete the tasks they are set.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum strongly supports the children's personal, academic and physical development. There is a good focus on literacy and numeracy. Although pupils are systematically taught skills to enable them to use computers, they are given too few opportunities to use ICT to enhance their learning. The school provides a good range of activities to support the day-to-day curriculum. For example, 'Enterprise Day' enabled pupils to learn about their immediate and wider environment. Throughout the school, the extensive range of out-of-school clubs, visits and visitors provides pupils with good opportunities to develop social skills and to further improve the skills they learn in lessons.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are cared for well. Arrangements for safeguarding children meet current requirements and all staff are aware of the child protection procedures and what they should do if they have concerns over any child. Risk assessments are undertaken effectively for all activities. The pupils say that they feel safe in school and they are confident that should they have a problem there is always an adult who will treat their concerns seriously and deal with the issue effectively. Pupils' academic guidance is developing well and is now good. The staff undertake systematic assessments of pupils' progress and the results are used to set targets and to plan specific work for pupils. The quality of marking is variable across the school. At its best, it gives pupils clear guidance on what they should do to improve their work, but at times it merely consists of brief comments or ticks.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher provides outstanding leadership. She maintains a clear view of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the new school and has established an accurate agenda for school improvement. She has resolutely built a team to take the school forward and to raise standards. A key element of her success is the quality of relationships that have been forged and the growing strength of the teamwork. This has enabled the staff to grow in confidence and to share the responsibility for effective school leadership. This is apparent in the leadership team's excellent work in monitoring school performance and in strengthening and sharpening assessment arrangements. The school makes very effective use of local partnerships and national initiatives to improve the quality of learning. The community recognises the high aspirations and level of care provided by the school and, consequently, pupil numbers remain buoyant

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Grade: 2

6 of 11 Inspection Report: Robin Hood Primary School, 24 °25 June 2008 through this transition period. The governing body is fully involved in the school's strategic development and is confident in its ability to hold the school to account, particularly in terms of understanding school effectiveness. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Robin Hood Primary School, 24 °25 June 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: Robin Hood Primary School, 24 °25 June 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 1 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: Robin Hood Primary School, 24 °25 June 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: Robin Hood Primary School, 24 °25 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

26 June 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Robin Hood Primary School, Nottingham, NG5 5NA We really enjoyed our visit to your school recently because everybody was so helpful and friendly. We particularly enjoyed our discussions with you and hearing your views. It was also delightful to be able to work with you in your classrooms, take part in your assemblies, meet the school council, listen to your delightful singing and become involved in your Enterprise Day. We can understand why you are so proud of your school as there are many things that make your school special. Here are some of them.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You clearly want to do your best to learn in lessons and are prepared to try hard.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You are making good progress with your work.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The school is mindful to keep you safe and happy.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Everybody understands the school rules and the behaviour of the great majority of you is good. ■ Your teachers work hard to make your lessons interesting and fun.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The school provides a wide range of activities and visits to keep you interested.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Mrs Bell is very determined to make sure that your school is as good as it possibly can be.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

You school is improving rapidly. This is because Mrs Bell and the staff understand how to make learning fun and are working hard to help you. It is really important that you continue to try your best and make the most of the opportunities the school provides. I know that you achieve well, but I am asking your teachers to keep on finding ways to help you to improve your writing and to give you more opportunities to use computers in your work. We have also noticed that your attendance rates are not as good as they should be, so we want all of you to do your very best to come to school each day. This way we know that you can help the school to become even better. Very best wishes for the future. Yours sincerely Keith Edwards Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Robin Hood Primary School, 24 °25 June 2008

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