Ordsall Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of leadership and management by:
  • ensuring that leaders’, especially subject leaders’, checks on teaching and learning across the school are more frequent and drive improvements more rapidly
  • ensuring that leaders and governors check all records to ensure that they are completed effectively
  • ensure that the curriculum develops a broader cultural knowledge and deeper understanding of democratic values.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • strengthening teachers’ subject knowledge across the curriculum
  • ensuring that pupils, and particularly the most able, make more rapid progress by building swiftly on what they already know and understand, particularly in key stage 1
  • ensuring that teaching assistants are deployed effectively and that they support pupils who need their help.
• Improve the personal development and behaviour of pupils by consistently applying the school’s behaviour management policy in lessons.
• Improve the effectiveness of the early years phase by ensuring that activities are consistently planned to meet children’s needs and are developed using accurate knowledge of children’s strengths and weaknesses.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders are making checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress. However, these are not frequent enough and do not clearly identify areas for improvement. Therefore, they do not consistently lead to the necessary improvements in teaching and in pupils’ attainment.
• Leaders are enthusiastic about the changes that they are making to the broader curriculum, developing links between different subject areas and ensuring that mathematical and English language skills are practised in other subjects. For example, pupils worked with enthusiasm and purpose when taking a piece of writing and using it to construct an information and communications technologies presentation that would be displayed on screens across the school.
• Pupils’ understanding of democracy is weak and older pupils do not have an age-appropriate understanding. Pupils’ knowledge and understanding of different cultures is not developing quickly. Pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development are well promoted in many aspects of school life and extracurricular activities.
• Leaders provide a wide range of additional activities for pupils to take part in after school. These include cookery, pottery, choir, adventure activities, golf and cricket. Participation rates are high.
• Leaders have provided teachers with a wide range of opportunities to develop their assessment skills. As a result, their judgements of pupils’ attainment in key stages 1 and 2 are accurate.
• Senior leaders are fully committed to improving pupils’ attainment and have accurately assessed the strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning. They have introduced changes to the curriculum and to teaching that have led to pupils making better progress, especially in key stage 2.
• Leaders have ensured that the staff team is highly motivated to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Leaders have increased the opportunities for staff to develop professionally and have linked the training closely to the school’s plan to improve. Staff are very happy and proud to work at the school.
• Pupil premium funding has been spent on providing additional resources and staffing to support disadvantaged pupils. The progress that these pupils currently make is in line with the progress made by other pupils in the school. Leaders have clearly identified the priorities to spend the grant on next year.
• The PE and sport premium funding is used to increase participation in sports across the school. Expert coaches have worked with teachers to plan activities and embed good practice. Sports interventions have been run with specific pupils to increase their physical well-being.

Governance of the school

• Governors are not monitoring all of the school’s record-keeping in sufficient depth. They have plans to increase their capacity to cover all necessary areas.
• Governors have substantially increased the level of challenge and support that they provide the leadership team to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Governors regularly visit the school. Their visits are always purposeful, focusing on a specific area of the school’s improvement plan. They assess the progress that leaders report pupils are making and robustly hold leaders to account.
• Governors have supported the headteacher as he has increased staff involvement in leadership of the school. Governors meet with and question the effectiveness of leaders, including those for safeguarding, the support and challenge offered to disadvantaged pupils and to pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a positive culture of safeguarding within the school. Pupils feel safe in the school and parents are confident that their children are safe.
• The school is fully compliant with the safeguarding checks that it makes on employees, volunteers and contractors.
• Leaders have carried out substantial improvements to the site’s security. They have ensured that all staff are trained to recognise signs of abuse, are knowledgeable about local issues and understand their statutory duties to report concerns about pupils’ safety.
• Nevertheless, there are some areas of administration that are not as consistently applied as they should be. As soon as these areas were identified by inspectors, leaders began to address them robustly.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Too frequently, teachers do not use their knowledge of what pupils can do to set work that challenges them. Pupils’ progress is slowed by not being challenged rapidly enough.
• Teaching assistants do not consistently intervene when appropriate to support the learning of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. When this happens, they do not ensure that the pupils have fully understood the tasks set or are able to respond to the questions that the teachers ask. The participation of these pupils is then greatly reduced.
• Evidence from observations, in pupils’ work and from talking to pupils confirms that a number of teachers, when introducing new concepts and ideas in several subjects, do not successfully ensure that all pupils understand them. Approaches that subject leaders have identified as effective in support of learning are not yet being used consistently.
• Teachers do not challenge and deepen the thinking of the most able pupils often enough. Questions asked are sometimes too simple and focused on what to do instead of encouraging explanations of why they have done it.
• Teachers do not maximise opportunities to develop pupils’ vocabulary. For example, when pupils encountered the unfamiliar word ‘prairie’, teachers did not encourage them to try and work out what it meant by using the context to provide clues. Leaders have recognised that limited vocabulary and limited strategies to extend it are slowing disadvantaged pupils’ progress in reading and have made it a priority in their planning for the next academic year.
• Teachers do not consistently set the appropriate tasks for pupils to help them achieve the learning outcome that they want, because their own subject knowledge is not always good enough. As a result, pupils do not learn the skills or increase their knowledge in the areas that the teachers had intended them to.
• Teachers often present learning in a real-life context and are successful in gaining pupils’ interest and attention as a result. This is most effective when teachers have good subject knowledge and can match activities effectively to what they want pupils to learn.
• Pupils report that they enjoy reading. They use their phonics knowledge well to read unfamiliar words.
• Teachers are developing and embedding their teaching of reasoning, particularly in mathematics. Through their good subject knowledge, they challenge all pupils, particularly the most able, to justify their answers and explain their reasoning. When this happens, pupils’ confidence and fluency increase rapidly.
• Phonics teaching is approached consistently in the early years and early key stage 1. As a result, pupils make steady progress developing and using their phonics knowledge.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Some pupils have not fully developed the independent learning skills that the school is promoting. These pupils often choose to not try and find solutions to difficulties themselves, and they look first for support from their teacher.
• Pupils feel safe at the school and have a very good understanding of what bullying, and cyberbullying are. Pupils know how to keep safe online and are aware of how to report suspicious behaviour online. The curriculum has enabled pupils to recognise common dangers in and around their environment.
• The large majority of pupils take pride in their work and ensure that it is well presented. This is true for pupils of all abilities and across all subjects. There are many examples of pupils’ work on display all around the school.
• The school’s initiative to improve cooperation between pupils is having a very positive impact on their team work skills. Pupils in the year groups that this initiative has been trialled in show a high level of awareness of other pupils’ needs, and they are willing to offer help and support when they believe that it would be useful.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Teachers do not apply the school’s behaviour management policy consistently in class. Pupils who are involved in low-level disruption are not routinely checked by all teachers. The result is that there are too many occasions when pupils do not conduct themselves well in lessons.
• Pupils consistently behave well as they move around the school and at break and lunchtimes. They are well mannered and polite, holding doors open for others. Pupils behave well in the lunch hall. Pupils report that there are incidents of bullying and some poor behaviour, but they are not very common, and staff deal with these events effectively.
• Attendance has improved overall this year, including that of disadvantaged pupils, and is now in line with the national average. Rates of persistent absence have decreased this year. This reflects the work of leaders to promote regular attendance with pupils and parents.
• The percentages of fixed-term exclusions over the last three years are in line with the national percentages for each year. There have been no permanent exclusions over the last two years and none so far this academic year.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• The school’s assessment data shows that the proportion of pupils likely to meet the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, at the end of key stage 1 this year, has fallen from 2017. Pupils have not made the progress that leaders expect.
• The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check is likely to have increased substantially in 2018. It remained below the national percentage for three years and, while it is still likely to remain below in 2018, the gap is likely to be much reduced.
• Historically, pupils have made poor progress in key stage 2 in reading and mathematics.
• Pupils currently near the end of key stage 2 have not made the accelerated progress needed to attain at the higher standard in line with the national average.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ attainment in key stage 1 has improved. However, it remains well below other pupils in the school and nationally.
• The school’s current assessment data and work in pupils’ books show that pupils’ progress has improved in most year groups this year. As a result, the proportion likely to meet the expected standard at the end of the key stage 2 is in line with the national average.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make progress that is generally in line with sufficiently challenging targets.
• Current assessment information in school and the scrutiny of pupils’ work show that disadvantaged pupils’ progress and attainment have increased. They are on track at the end of key stage 2 to attain as highly as other pupils in the school.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The early years leader has ensured that there are procedures in place to record children’s achievements and to assess what they are able to do. Sometimes teachers are not using their knowledge of what children can do well enough to plan for their next steps in learning. Teachers’ planning does not focus sharply enough on closing gaps in children’s learning.
• The early years leader has undertaken a comprehensive review of the early years provision since her arrival at the school in September 2016. She has changed significantly the planning and the learning environment to ensure that all areas of the early years curriculum are covered. The recent development of the early years outside space has enabled teachers to develop pupils’ learning outside of the classroom.
• Adults develop children’s learning through focused activities with small groups and individual children. Teachers plan tasks to develop children’s understanding of aspects of the curriculum. Sometimes adults do not use prompting and questioning well enough during independent activities. Some children are busy, but they are not learning. Adults do not always recognise when this is happening and miss opportunities to intervene and to develop children’s learning.
• Teachers plan tasks that link learning across different areas of the curriculum and to interest pupils. For example, children were learning about insects and were using books such as ‘Superworm’ to develop their enjoyment of books, and to became explorers investigating what different insects looked like. However, sometimes activities do not have a sharp enough learning focus, and this dilutes and slows the learning that takes place.
• Teachers are sometimes not sharp enough in planning for disadvantaged children’s next steps. As a result, these children do not catch up rapidly enough and the proportion who achieve a good level of development is below other children in the school.
• Children play well together and are supportive of each other’s differences. When children occasionally have difficulties sharing, adults are skilled in supporting them to think about why they should share. Adults provide children with alternative activities to prevent problems developing.
• Where teachers use assessment information appropriately, they plan activities well that interest children and can be used to develop their thinking. For example, adults encouraged children in the Nursery to draw on paper pinned to a wall and to think about why the marks that were made looked as they did. Other children were using water to draw patters in the floor and walls. Adults encouraged them to think about what would happen to the water marks in the sun.
• Teachers identify children who have SEN and/or disabilities quickly. The early years leader and the leader for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities work closely with parents to understand pupils’ needs. Leaders seek additional support from other agencies when required.
• In the past, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of the early years has been well below the national average. The school’s own assessment information shows that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development this year will be higher and is drawing closer to the national average. More children will be leaving the early years well prepared for Year 1 this year than in previous years.
• Parents say that the adults in the early years help their children to settle well, and they enjoy coming to school. They say that teachers keep them well informed about their child’s learning. The early years environment is secure, and children’s welfare needs are well met. For example, adults ensured that children were wearing hats and sun cream before going to play outside.

School details

Unique reference number 134028 Local authority Nottinghamshire County Council Inspection number 10054987 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 552 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Peter Smith Richard Chapman 01777 702 852 www.ordsallprimary.com office@ordsallpri.notts.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 11–12 March 2014

Information about this school

• Ordsall Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school. It has undergone a substantial expansion since the last inspection in 2014 and is now three-form entry in Nursery, Reception and Years 1 and 2. It is two-form entry in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.
• A new building was completed in February 2018 that helps to house the expansion of the school.
• The headteacher formally took up post in January 2017, having worked in the school with the outgoing acting headteacher for six weeks. A new assistant headteacher, who is also the school’s SENCo, also started work at the school in January 2017.
• The school was identified by the local authority as requiring targeted support, which it receives from a partner school and a local authority adviser. The support is ongoing and has had a positive impact, for example to strengthen teachers’ assessment and moderation of pupils’ work.
• The majority of pupils are from a White British background and speak English as their first language.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in 17 lessons, many of which were visited jointly with a senior leader. During visits to lessons, inspectors sampled pupils’ books and talked with pupils to evaluate the quality of their learning.
• Inspectors observed the behaviour of pupils at breaktime, lunchtime and as pupils moved around the school.
• Inspectors held a number of meetings with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, and governors, including the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. The lead inspector spoke with one representative on the telephone and met with another.
• The lead inspector spoke with the lead of an alternative provision used by the school.
• Inspectors spoke with pupils from all year groups in meetings, in lessons and around the school at breaktime and lunchtime.
• The inspection team looked at a wide range of the school’s documentation, including the school’s evaluation of its own performance and its plan for development. They considered information on pupils’ attainment and progress, attendance, bullying and looked at behaviour records, safeguarding procedures, and minutes of meetings of the governing body.
• Inspectors took account of 50 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and responses from parents to the Ofsted free-text service. The 27 responses to the online questionnaire for staff were also considered. There were no responses to the questionnaire for pupils.

Inspection team

Clive Worrall, lead inspector Helen Williams Heidi Malliff Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector