Cotmanhay Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching in order to increase pupils’ progress and raise standards by:
  • ensuring that teachers use assessment information about pupils’ skills and knowledge to set work at the correct level of difficulty, particularly in mathematics
  • teaching pupils to better reason and problem solve in mathematics
  • raising teachers’ expectations of the amount of progress pupils should make
  • ensuring that teachers use consistent and systematic approaches to rapidly develop pupils’ phonics skills
  • developing pupils’ resilience to enable them to explore learning independently.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • ensuring that assessment information is used to accelerate the progress of all pupils
  • using assessment information to effectively hold teachers to account for the progress pupils make.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders were too slow to react to the changes to the national curriculum, and as a result, pupils were not well prepared for the raised expectations at the end of key stage 1 in place since 2016. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard at the end of key stage 1 improved in 2017, however, it is still below the national average.
• The expectation of the progress pupils should make and the targets leaders set for pupils are too low. Leaders and teachers have been too accepting that some pupils will not make the minimum progress expected of them. This means that some pupils do not make the progress they are capable of.
• Leaders have not been robust enough in holding teachers to account for the progress that pupils make. Leaders have not placed enough emphasis on pupils making more than the minimum amount of progress expected of them. As a result, the proportion of pupils achieving at the expected standard at the end of key stage 1 is below the national average.
• Leaders have not ensured that the teaching of phonics develops pupils’ phonic knowledge rapidly enough. Leaders have not evaluated the effectiveness of the current system for teaching phonics and as a result, pupils are unprepared for the phonics screening check in Year 1.
• Leaders have been too slow to react when teaching is not effective. Leaders’ expectations of the quality of teaching and learning have not been high enough, and some teachers have not been effectively challenged to improve their teaching.
• Following the low attainment of pupils at the end of key stage 1 in 2016, leaders reorganised the curriculum to ensure that pupils were taught in line with the expectations of the national curriculum. Pupils develop their skills in English and mathematics through topics. As a result, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in 2017 improved.
• Leaders have begun monitoring the progress of disadvantaged pupils with increased rigour. Through regular meetings with teachers, leaders have raised teachers’ awareness of the progress that disadvantaged pupils are making. Targeted support for speech and language, reading and writing has meant that the attainment of disadvantaged pupils is drawing closer to other pupils at the school.
• Leaders have responded well to the fall in pupils’ attendance in 2017. The appointment of the family support worker has enabled absence to be followed up quickly. The family support worker meets with families to highlight the importance of pupils attending school regularly. Attendance information shows that the attendance of pupils has improved this year.
• Leaders are committed to ensuring that vulnerable pupils receive high-quality nurture provision. Pupils make rapid progress towards milestones relating to their social, emotional and behavioural development. Due to the skill of the staff in the nurture provision, pupils who may otherwise have been excluded from school remain in a mainstream setting and thrive.
• The leader for the provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities has a comprehensive understanding of the progress these pupils make. They have developed close relationships between the school and families to ensure that the support pupils receive is well tailored to meet needs. The leader seeks additional support for pupils and ensures that whenever possible additional funding is secured to enhance the provision pupils receive.
• Leaders have ensured that through assemblies and the wider curriculum pupils have a good understanding of what it means to be a British citizen. By electing school council representatives, pupils develop their understanding of democracy, equality and diversity. Pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is a strength of the school, with pupils having opportunities to learn about different artists, significant events in history and different religions.

Governance of the school

• Governors are committed to providing pupils with the best possible start in their education. They have a good understanding of the challenging circumstances that some pupils may experience. Their commitment to developing the early years provision has ensured that families locally have access to quality nursery education.
• Pupils’ welfare and well-being are a high priority for the governing body. They have ensured that the safeguarding procedures at the school are robust and meet the needs of the pupils in the school. The governing body recognised that leaders were spending a disproportionate amount of time managing welfare concerns. The appointment of a family support worker has ensured that families are well supported, and leaders are able to take a strategic view of school improvement.
• Governors have not had high enough expectations of the progress pupils can make in key stage 1. Due to the challenges that some pupils face, they have been too accepting of pupils not reaching the expected standard. However, governors now understand that pupils should be doing better, and are beginning to use assessment information more stringently to hold leaders to account for the progress pupils make.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have comprehensive and robust systems in place to monitor and track pupils who are at risk of harm. The designated safeguarding leads hold strategic roles in the school, and have an effective overview of the needs of pupils and families.
• The family support worker has established positive relationships with families and pupils. They are determined to champion vulnerable pupils, and have set up systems to ensure that the views of pupils of all ages are heard.
• The safeguarding team are determined in their work to ensure that pupils and families receive the support they need. They are diligent in following up safeguarding concerns, and are rigorous in holding the local authority to account. Where cases do not meet the local authority thresholds for involvement, the safeguarding team seek support from other agencies, or provide support in school.
• Staff have a secure understanding of procedures for reporting safeguarding concerns. A comprehensive programme of staff training ensures that staff, governors and volunteers have a good understanding of the challenges that pupils may face.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching and learning requires improvement because it is not yet consistently good. The expectation of what pupils can achieve has been too low and as a result, pupils’ progress is not as rapid as it could be.
• In order to raise the attainment of pupils in Year 2, leaders have structured classes differently to the rest of the school. Due to the expectation of the teachers in each class, pupils have been set a ceiling on the amount of progress they can make. The expectation of what pupils can achieve in each group is too low, and as a result, some pupils are not making the progress which they are capable of.
• Sometimes in lessons pupils are over supported by adults and pupils are not given time to try things for themselves or to make mistakes. As a result, some pupils do not develop resilience to practise and extend their skills. These pupils do not make as much progress as they could.
• The development of pupils’ early reading is not rapid enough. Pupils’ phonics skills are not developed systematically or quickly and because of this some pupils are unable to use their phonics skills to read unfamiliar words. Sometimes the teaching of reading focuses too much on basic retrieval of information and pupils are not encouraged to develop their inference and deduction skills.
• The teaching of mathematics does not always focus carefully on building on pupils’ previous knowledge. Teachers are not using their knowledge of what pupils can already do to develop and extend skills. Pupils sometimes repeat tasks that they have already demonstrated they can do, and they are not challenged to develop their skills further. Pupils are not given enough opportunities to develop their problem solving and reasoning skills.
• Teachers provide pupils with many opportunities to develop their grammar skills. Pupils’ workbooks show that teachers encourage pupils to use these skills in their writing. Writing links well to the creative curriculum ensuring that pupils understand why they are writing and for what purpose.
• Where teaching is stronger, teachers use creative approaches to pique pupils’ interests. Teachers use their knowledge of what pupils can already do well to set tasks that challenge pupils. Teachers assess pupils’ understanding effectively within lessons to move pupils’ learning on, ensuring that pupils are sufficiently challenged. This is not consistently the case across all year groups.
• The additional support for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities develops these pupils’ skills in reading, writing, mathematics and speech and language well.
• Teaching in the school’s nurture provision is of a high standard. Adults ensure that the activities are set to challenge pupils at their level. Pupils are encouraged to work independently, and are encouraged to try things for themselves before they ask for help.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are confident in their attitudes to learning and are keen to learn. They are enthusiastic to participate in activities that interest them, and readily join in during lessons. Pupils are proud of their achievements, and are keen to share their successes. One pupil said to an inspector when reading to the inspector, ‘Are you ready to be blown away?’
• Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe outside the school. They know what to do if approached by a stranger. Pupils have a good understanding of what they need to do to keep themselves safe online, including pupils in Reception. Pupils understand different forms of bullying, but say that bullying does not happen at the school.
• The provision to develop pupils’ personal development and welfare in the nurture provision is outstanding. Skilled staff work hard to develop the self-esteem and emotional and physical well-being of pupils. As a result, these pupils are able to access mainstream teaching.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils behave well around the school. They are polite and courteous to adults, including visitors. Pupils play well together on the playground, and enjoy participating in different games and activities.
• Pupils’ behaviour in the nurture provision is excellent. Pupils who have struggled to manage their behaviour in the past are able to participate in a range of activities that they may not have been able to cope with previously. For example, pupils were playing party games in which they could be called ‘out’. All pupils accepted the decisions made by adults and other pupils, and congratulated each other when they won.
• The family support worker is diligent in monitoring the attendance of pupils. Clear targets are set for pupils who fall below the school’s attendance target, and the support worker works closely with families to ensure regular attendance. As a result, the proportion of pupils who are absent from school has fallen this year.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ outcomes require improvement because the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard at the end of key stage 1 has been too low. Leaders’ use of assessment information to set targets for pupils led to more pupils reaching the expected standard in 2017. However, the acceptance that some pupils will not make enough progress resulted in some pupils not making as much progress as they should.
• The school’s system for teaching phonic skills does not develop pupils’ phonic knowledge rapidly enough. As a result, some pupils have not learned enough sounds to reach the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check.
• Teachers’ expectations of what some pupils can achieve are too low. Pupils are not challenged well enough to develop their skills of inference and deduction, and teaching focuses too much on retrieval of basic information. As a result, some pupils do not make enough progress and the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard at the end of key stage 1 is below the national average.
• In mathematics, teachers do not develop the skills of some pupils rapidly enough. They do not have high enough expectations of what some pupils can achieve and as a result, these pupils do not make the progress of which they are capable. Due to this, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard at the end of key stage 1 has been below the national average.
• Leaders have carefully targeted the progress made by disadvantaged pupils. The school’s own assessment information shows that these pupils are making better progress when compared with previous years. As a result, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils achieving the expected standard at the end of key stage 1 is drawing closer to other pupils in the school.
• Teachers use topic links to excite pupils about their writing and to provide them with a purpose for writing. Teachers develop pupils’ grammar skills systematically, and pupils are encouraged to use these in their writing. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading rose in 2017, and is now in line with the national average.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader and team are determined to ensure that children new to the early years make rapid progress. Thorough assessments on entry to the early years ensure that staff have a good understanding of the needs of children. This information is used carefully to plan children’s induction and identify areas for development.
• Due to effective assessment, the early years team are able to quickly put in place additional support for children and families. This includes accessing support from alternative providers when necessary. The funding for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is used well to provide additional support for pupils, including developing children’s well-being and their speech and language.
• The early years curriculum is structured to provide children with experiences they may not usually encounter at home. Adults use effective questioning to develop pupils’ learning. Pupils are encouraged to access learning independently, and they move from one activity to another with focus and determination.
• Children have an extensive induction programme on entry to the Nursery. The early years team take time to get to know families before and after children start school. Staff carry out home visits and children are invited to attend settling-in sessions to allow a smooth transition to the Nursery. Once children start, links between home and school are further developed through events such as the ‘tea time talking club’ to develop speech and language skills.
• A high proportion of children start the early years with levels of development that are below the national average for their age. Due to the focused input of adults and the well-structured curriculum, pupils make rapid progress. The proportion of children leaving the early years at the expected standard is in line with the national average.
• Occasionally, activities are not developed well enough to challenge all pupils. Sometimes the most able children repeat tasks that they can already do. On these occasions, the progress of these pupils slows.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 112570 Derbyshire 10041582 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Nursery and Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 2 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 309 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Sabrina Malik Katy Latchford 0115 930 2064 www.cotmanhayinfants.co.uk info@cotmanhay-inf.derbyshire.sch.uk Date of previous inspection March 2015

Information about this school

• The school runs its own nurture provision for pupils with behavioural, social and emotional needs. Pupils are referred to the provision through the school and the local authority.
• The school shares the same building as Cotmanhay Junior School. The school’s Nursery is spread over two sites.
• The school receives monitoring visits from the local authority. Leaders work closely with leaders from Cotmanhay Junior School.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed learning in a number of lessons, some of which were observed jointly with the headteacher or senior leaders. They observed the teaching of early reading skills and listened to pupils read. The inspectors also talked with pupils about their school and looked at examples of pupils’ work in all year groups to gain a view of the impact of teaching over time.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders, a newly qualified teacher and representatives of the governing body.
• The inspectors spoke with parents informally and considered the 65 responses to the online parent questionnaire, Parent View.
• The inspectors looked at a range of documents, including: the school’s self-evaluation and plans for improvement; the most recent information on the achievement and progress of pupils; information relating to the health, safety and safeguarding of pupils; the most recent data relating to the attendance of pupils and minutes from meetings of the governing body.
• The inspectors considered the range and quality of information provided on the school’s website.

Inspection team

Helen Williams, lead inspector Antony Witheyman Lynn Corner-Brown Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector