Newbold Verdon Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • methodically monitoring and evaluating the impact of the additional support provided to help pupils catch up
  • ensuring that the school’s website meets requirements on the publication of information.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to further improve pupils’ outcomes by:
  • continuing to ensure that work is consistently matched to pupils’ needs, especially for the lower attaining pupils
  • tailoring teachers’ professional development targets so that they are specific in addressing the teachers’ own needs
  • sharing best practice in the Nursery phase of early years more systematically.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders have high expectations and lead by example. Staff morale is high.
• The impact of senior leaders’ accurate checks on the school’s work, and the actions they take to address any shortcomings, can be seen in improved rates of progress and better outcomes for pupils.
• The school’s development plan sets out a path for improvement. Priorities for improvement are clear. However, these priorities now need to be more challenging to recognise the successful journey the school has taken and ensure that improvement continues.
• Governors use the school development plans to monitor the actions taken by leaders. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and pupils’ outcomes are used as measures to check the impact of these actions.
• Senior leaders meet regularly with subject leaders, who take an active role in leading improvements in key areas of the school. Subject leaders play a valuable role in supporting teachers and other adults. They are effective in their work and this is improving the quality of teaching across the school, which is now typically good.
• Teachers are supported through a programme of checks on teaching, class action plans and relevant training opportunities. The sharing of good practice is evident across both key stage 1 and key stage 2. Professional development to support weaker teaching has been effective and teachers evaluate their work carefully to improve overall practice. The headteacher has not been afraid to tackle difficult issues in order to ensure that pupils receive a high-quality education. However, targets used to help teachers improve are not as tailored as they could be to enhance the quality of teaching further.
• Newly qualified teachers appreciate the support they are given. They have daily support from a well-structured mentoring programme which increases their knowledge base and helps develop the skills they require to be successful teachers.
• Leaders are well supported by the local authority and teaching alliance partnership. The school is actively involved in a school-to-school network. Staff across the school benefit from a strong working relationship, and the sharing of good practice, with staff in other schools.
• Leaders have set out a suitable approach for assessing pupils’ attainment and their understanding of the new national curriculum. Accurate assessments inform teachers how well pupils are doing. Teachers’ assessments of pupils’ attainment are compared with those of other local schools to ensure that judgements are reliable.
• Teachers comply with the school’s marking and feedback policy, although occasional lapses do occur. Feedback was found to be most effective in the school when teachers gave pupils a good understanding of how successfully they had completed their work, and provided a clear idea of what they needed to do next in order to improve. Pupils are committed to improving their work when they have the opportunity to do so.
• Senior leaders promote equality of opportunity well. They evaluate the performance of different groups of pupils effectively. Relevant action is taken to ensure that all pupils have an equal chance to succeed.
• The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils learn about many different subjects through a combination of discrete lessons and topic-based learning. All pupils learn French. The teaching of music has a high priority in the school and musical instrument tuition is popular. A variety of themed days, such as ‘Mighty Creatives’ and ‘Artists in Residence’, complement the overall curricular provision.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is woven into the curriculum. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain and have a good understanding of democracy and the rule of law.
• The school provides a range of extra-curricular activities which either reinforce curriculum learning, such as the well-attended homework and mathematics clubs, or provide additional opportunities to explore pupils’ interests, as with the Lemon Jelly drama club and the running club.
• Senior leaders and governors ensure that funding for disadvantaged pupils is used effectively. Additional teaching staff have been employed to work with disadvantaged pupils. These pupils make good progress at school and the differences in attainment between them and that of other pupils nationally are diminishing. In many areas of learning the differences have already closed.
• Senior leaders and governors make effective use of the additional special educational needs funding to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. These pupils make good progress both in the mainstream school and in the unit.
• The school uses the physical education and sport premium funding to make a positive difference to pupils’ participation in, and enjoyment of, physical activity and to support positive attitudes to health and well-being. It has been used effectively to improve the skills of teachers to deliver good-quality physical education lessons. Coaches bring a high level of expertise to the school.
• The school works hard to maintain good communication with parents and carers. However, this is not always felt to be effective by a very small number of parents. A little information on the school’s website is also out of date.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has a sound grasp of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and is committed to improving the school. Governors have an accurate view of the improvements that leaders have made since the last inspection.
• All members of the governing body have undertaken extensive training to increase their knowledge and understanding. They use this increased knowledge to ask challenging questions and hold leaders to account for the school’s performance.
• Governors check for themselves that what leaders tell them is accurate. For example, they visit the school, carry out subject reviews and take into account the views of pupils and parents.
• Governors are fully prepared to challenge underperformance where teaching and pupils’ progress have not been good.
• Governors track the progress different groups of pupils make in detail. However, they do not evaluate the impact of the additional support the pupils receive well enough.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school has a strong ethos of safeguarding. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are well maintained.
• Staff are kept up to date about safeguarding issues through a regular programme of updates and briefings from the headteacher. Policies are well understood by staff, who understand how to deal with disclosures and report any concerns, including those associated with radicalisation and extremism.
• As the designated teacher for child protection and safeguarding, the headteacher ensures that referrals are acted on in a timely manner and that concerns are followed up with rigour. The headteacher is well informed about individual cases.
• Partnership working with parents and external agencies is effective in making sure that all pupils are supported and are safe. The school has a strong relationship with the local authority.
• Groups of pupils who spoke with inspectors said that they feel safe in the school and that they know staff care for them. The learning opportunities provided through the school’s curriculum help pupils develop a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations.
• Parents, through the online questionnaire (Parent View), the school’s own surveys and those who were spoken with during the inspection, agreed that their children are safe and well cared for.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved since the last inspection and is now typically good.
• Pupils show positive attitudes towards their learning as a result of their teachers’ high expectations. Pupils are confident and keen learners.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and devise imaginative activities that capture pupils’ interest and give their learning relevance and purpose. Pupils enjoy their learning and want to succeed.
• Pupils work enthusiastically because teachers make learning interesting. For example, in a Year 5 writing lesson, pupils were enjoying taking part in a role-play activity as a prelude to a writing exercise.
• Teaching was most effective when questions were asked which stimulated pupils’ thinking and developed their reasoning skills. Pupils’ understanding of concepts was quicker when learning was modelled in the school.
• Teachers make accurate assessments of pupils’ work to find strengths and weaknesses. This information is then used to plan lessons which increase pupils’ knowledge and strengthen their skills.
• Where teachers provided work that was more demanding, most-able pupils were challenged more. This was seen to be most effective when pupils had access to a variety of resources to support their own learning. However, some teaching is not adequately planned to ensure that lower attaining pupils are supported well enough.
• Phonics teaching is well organised to meet the needs of different ability groups. Inspectors heard pupils of different abilities read and found that they use their phonics skills well when decoding words in their reading books. The most able readers used higher level skills, such as deduction and prediction of what will happen next, to help them gain a deeper understanding of their books.
• Pupils’ work in grammar, punctuation and spelling has improved since the last inspection. They use these skills to write well for different purposes and audiences. Teachers give good attention to developing pupils’ fluent handwriting skills and this has led to writing being presented more carefully in the pupils’ work books. However, some pupils, and particularly those who are lower attaining, struggle at times. For example, in a Year 4 grammar lesson, a few pupils left work incomplete when they could not understand it well enough.
• The most able mathematicians are challenged particularly well and are expected to think hard about their work. Pupils are encouraged to use their reasoning skills to make sure that they understand what they are learning. In a Year 4 mathematics lesson, pupils were being challenged to work out what method had been used to calculate an answer.
• Teaching in the unit is extremely well matched to pupils’ needs. Staff have an excellent knowledge of each individual. High expectations, positive relationships and a stimulating environment help to instil confidence in the unit’s pupils and quicken the progress they make.
• Teaching assistants support learning and help pupils develop their ideas and understanding effectively. Homework is used to encourage research and creativity. It is varied and consistently used to reinforce and consolidate learning.

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 polite, friendly and courteous to each other and to adults. There is a strong culture of respect and tolerance throughout the school. Pupils are empathetic towards others who have different learning needs. They have a sense of fairness and they accept, and abide by, the school rules.
• Pupils who spoke with inspectors were clear that they feel happy and are well cared for at this school. They were adamant that bullying was extremely rare and were confident that it would always be acted upon if it did occur. A few pupils, through the Ofsted online pupil questionnaire, did not share the same confidence.
• A culture of vigilance means that everyone plays their part in safeguarding pupils. Pupils are taught how to keep safe and healthy. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe when using technology. Pupils talked to inspectors knowledgeably about eating well and keeping fit.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development benefits from learning about different religions, studying local history (such as Richard III), and receiving topical talks from visitors on tolerance and other cultures. Pupils told inspectors how they find it interesting to hear about the experiences of pupils who have come from other countries.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave well in lessons and engage in their learning. They listen attentively, tackle activities with determination and are happy to work with others during their lessons. The most able pupils do not shy away from the extra challenges they receive. In a minority of lessons, however, a few pupils take longer to settle into some aspects of their work and are a little distracted.
• Pupils’ conduct at playtimes and around the school site is good. They display a good degree of self-discipline during these social times.
• The school’s behaviour policy is understood by the pupils. Detailed records, maintained by the school, show that behaviour-related incidents have decreased over time. Actions taken by leaders to address identified behaviour patterns are effective, but further actions are still required to improve behaviour further.
• Pupils’ attendance remains broadly average. However, while the number of pupils who are persistently absent is falling, some pupils do not attend as often as they should. The school is working with these pupils and their families to help bring about the further improvement required.
• Parents typically agree that behaviour is good. A small minority of parents who returned the online questionnaire (Parent View) did not agree. Inspectors did not find their concerns to be well founded.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils typically make good progress across the year groups at Newbold Verdon Primary. Pupils’ achievement by the end of Year 6 has risen steadily since the last inspection in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils at the end of Year 2, in 2016, made good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Some of these pupils made rapid progress and achieved higher levels.
• Pupils’ attainment continues to improve. The number of pupils in Year 2 reaching age-related attainment in reading, writing and mathematics in the 2016 tests was similar to other pupils nationally.
• Attainment in 2015 for Year 6 pupils improved to be similar to national figures in reading, writing, grammar, punctuation and spelling, and mathematics. Attainment in 2016 was not high; pupils began the key stage from a lower starting point. However, their progress was good.
• Phonics outcomes, after a dip in 2015, have improved again. Pupils read with enthusiasm, fluency and understanding because reading is promoted well across the school. The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are proficient readers.
• The school’s use of the pupil premium funding for improving progress and attainment for disadvantaged pupils is effective. Disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are making good progress by the end of Year 6. The progress these pupils make in the younger year groups, which has not been as strong historically, has improved. Current assessment information from the school indicates that this trend is likely to continue.
• The historical difference in the achievement of boys in the school compared with that of other boys nationally has reduced. However, differences in reading and writing in the older year groups have not yet been fully addressed.
• The most able pupils are making good progress. Teachers are now better at pitching work at a higher level and have much higher expectations of what the most able pupils could and should achieve. The progress most-able pupils make in the younger year groups has increased significantly.
• Teaching does not consistently help the lower attaining pupils to understand the activities they are undertaking. As such, the lower attaining pupils do not make the same rapid progress as other pupils in the school.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress towards their individual targets. This pattern is reflected for pupils in the unit.
• Pupils make good progress in their learning in other areas of the curriculum. They particularly enjoy learning science and make good progress in this subject at both key stage 1 and key stage 2.
• Pupils leaving Year 6 are becoming increasingly well prepared for their transition to secondary school and to make a success of the next stage of their education.
• School leaders quickly and accurately identify where a particular dip in achievement occurs. They take effective action to tackle the issues identified, at an individual pupil level, so that pupils catch up as quickly as possible.

Early years provision Good

• Many children enter the early years with skill levels that are lower than typical in the different areas of learning. Staff are quick to address this, and make sure that children are provided with opportunities to acquire the skills they need.
• The number of children gaining a good level of development by the end of Reception is improving and is almost at the national average. Children come a long way from their starting points and make good progress in the early years.
• Adults working in the school take care to ensure that children are kept safe. Leaders ensure that safeguarding practices are effective and statutory requirements are met.
• Children are motivated by the school’s bright and lively environment. The curriculum provides exciting opportunities and meets the needs of the children. A range of activities supports both inside and outside learning well.
• Adults’ careful planning and organisation of interesting and challenging activities encourage children to be curious and solve problems.
• Children behave well, take turns, share resources and listen attentively. They are able to sustain concentration for a considerable time because they enjoy, and are relaxed in, their play. This was observed by inspectors when children were making cakes from modelling dough.
• Structured teaching, seen in the Nursery class, helps children increase their numeracy awareness, and writing skills are being developed well. The latter is especially true for boys, where activities such as ‘Funky Fingers’ and ‘Jedi Writing’ help them to enjoy writing about what they are learning.
• Phonics teaching is effective and is reinforced through other elements of learning. Adults’ interactions with the children are used to strengthen language development. Good questioning is used to extend children’s vocabulary and increase their knowledge and understanding.
• Teachers use assessment information to ensure that subsequent activities help children to develop skills in areas where they are less secure.
• Differences in the progress made by boys, girls or children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are diminishing. Additional funding is used well so that disadvantaged children are able to make the same progress as children who are not disadvantaged within the early years.
• Good links are being forged with parents. Parents are involved in their children’s transition to the school and are kept informed through the use of children’s learning journals. Leaders recognise that this is an area which is still evolving and have plans to do more.
• Although children make good progress in Nursery, the overall quality of the provision does not replicate the high standard in Reception.

School details

Unique reference number 119942 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 10009127 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 236 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Anthony Oxley Headteacher Heather Causon Telephone number 01455 822362 Website www.newboldverdonprimaryschool.co.uk Email address head@newboldverdon.leics.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 27–28 March 2014

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the percentage of pupils who achieved the combined higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics, or on up-to-date admission arrangements, on its website.
• Newbold Verdon is smaller than the average-sized primary school. There is one class in each year, including Nursery and Reception. There are also three classes in the unit.
• There have been a number of staffing changes since the last inspection.
• The vast majority of the pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is very small.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, supported by the pupil premium, is below average.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the school who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The proportion with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is well above average.
• The school operates a specialist resourced provision, ‘the unit’, for pupils who have autism spectrum disorder. The unit is managed by the school on behalf of the local authority. It takes its pupils from all over the local authority area. Currently, 24 pupils, from Reception to Year 6, attend the unit. All these pupils have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.
• In 2015, the school met the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 14 lessons, including in the unit. Some of this learning was observed together with senior leaders.
• Discussions took place with school staff, the governing body, a representative of the local authority and the school-to-school support link.
• The inspectors met with two groups of pupils, talked to pupils informally and took account of the questionnaires completed by 25 pupils.
• Inspectors listened to Year 2 and Year 5 pupils read.
• The 18 questionnaires completed by staff and the 47 responses submitted by parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View) were taken into account. Inspectors spoke informally with a few parents at the beginning of the school day and reviewed the school’s own surveys.
• Inspectors observed the work of the school and looked at a broad range of evidence, including: the school’s analysis of its strengths and weaknesses; planning and monitoring documentation; the work in pupils’ books; records relating to attendance and behaviour; and the school’s own information on pupils’ current attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school’s child protection and safeguarding procedures were scrutinised.

Inspection team

Vondra Mays, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Janis Warren Ofsted Inspector