Woodland View Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, the use of assessment and pupils’ learning by:
  • ensuring that teachers’ expectations, particularly of the most able pupils, are consistently high
  • ensuring that staff routinely identify pupils’ misconceptions as they are working
  • helping pupils understand where and how to improve their work
  • ensuring that teaching assistants are deployed effectively throughout lessons.
• Improve the curriculum and the teaching of writing and mathematics by:
  • placing greater emphasis on developing pupils’ extended writing and helping pupils improve their writing skills in other subjects
  • ensuring that the curriculum places sufficient emphasis on problem solving in mathematics.
• Improve the provision in the early years so that the rate of progress children make from their starting points is accelerated.
• Work to help more parents recognise the positive changes that have taken place in the school over the last two terms.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Instabilities in leadership and management and weaknesses in governance have hampered the school’s capacity to secure good-quality teaching and good outcomes for pupils.
• Over time, leaders have not provided sufficient guidance to staff or shown them how to improve their teaching and pupils’ learning. Support and training has been lacking until quite recently.
• Over time leaders have not sufficiently monitored and checked the progress of individual pupils. Therefore, underachievement often went unrecognised and unaddressed by leaders.
• The school has lacked systems to ensure that teachers’ assessments of pupils’ learning are consistently accurate and reliable.
• Over time, the school did not sufficiently monitor and manage the progress of disadvantaged pupils. The school lacked an effective system to ensure that pupil premium funding and additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities was spent to good effect. Historic data indicates that these pupils did not make the progress of which they were capable.
• The situation has improved considerably over the last two terms since the appointment of the new headteacher and the re-established governing body. Nevertheless, leadership and management cannot yet be securely evaluated as good because the good-quality initiatives taken by leaders have not yet had time to bear fruit.
• Teachers value the good-quality guidance they receive after leaders have observed their teaching or looked at pupils’ books from their classes. However, a few weaknesses remain. Leaders’ reports to teachers provide a clear and perceptive analysis of the teaching in each class and whether or not each teacher is carrying out the school’s policies on such aspects as how pupils’ work is marked. However, reports lack analysis of the progress made by different groups in the class.
• Leadership roles are now being more effectively shared among staff and senior and middle leaders. Subject leaders appreciate the much more extensive role they are being asked to play. They also appreciate the clear direction and guidance they are now given to help them develop their skills as leaders. This has appropriately been started in the core subjects of reading, writing and mathematics and the school has an effective plan to extend the role of subject leaders.
• Teachers meet with other teachers in the school and also with teachers in other schools to check that their assessments are accurate. Staff have welcomed this guidance, and the quality of assessment throughout the school has now begun to be more accurate.
• Leaders have reviewed all aspects of provision for pupils who find learning difficult and much more additional support is now available. The progress of all pupils is now being carefully checked. There are early indications that these pupils are now beginning to make improved progress. Recently, pupil premium funding and additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is being spent to much better effect.
• Leaders have reviewed and improved the school’s procedures for managing pupils’ attendance and behaviour. These recently introduced arrangements are beginning to have their desired effect on pupils’ attendance. However, rates of attendance, although improved on last year’s figures, are still a little below average.
• Staff appreciate the school’s revised and better managed approach to managing pupils’ behaviour. Staff are pleased to tell inspectors that behaviour has improved over the last two terms. Although the school’s curriculum is now much more effectively modified to meet the needs of pupils who find learning difficult, it is still not sufficiently challenging for the most able pupils.
• The curriculum for writing has been improved, but weaknesses are still evident. Pupils do not undertake sufficient extended writing. Also, opportunities to develop their writing skills in other subjects are limited. The mathematics curriculum for calculation is effective but insufficient emphasis is given to problem solving and investigation in mathematics.
• The school’s curriculum places appropriate emphasis on the development of basic skills. Some good work has also been done to extend the range of subjects provided. Pupils enjoy their weekly French lessons. They are particularly impressed by the much-improved provision for sports and physical education, both in the school timetable and during lunchtime and after-school clubs. Pupils appreciate the recently introduced coaching they now receive and the greater participation in competitive sports with other schools. Much of this is due to the wise spending of the primary sport premium funding.
• Because leaders have placed greatest emphasis on the development of basic skills, some gaps in the curriculum are evident. For example, the school has only very recently begun to introduce more science teaching and learning. Subjects such as design technology and art and design currently have little priority. The school is aware of these deficiencies and has a programme to bring about the necessary improvements.
• The curriculum places appropriate emphasis on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils are mostly prepared for life in modern Britain, and their knowledge of British values is developing well. For example, they learn about democracy when they are elected to various roles of responsibility in school. Leaders are aware that pupils lack knowledge and experience of other cultures and ways of life and have a good plan to address this.
• The local authority has arranged good-quality partnerships with other schools that are enabling staff to learn one from another. For example, regular meetings are held with staff of other schools to compare pupils’ work and to check that assessment judgements made by teachers are accurate and reliable. The headteacher and the new governing body are very appreciative of the support of the local authority.
• Leaders, including governors, have increased the level of accountability expected of teachers. Decisions on leaders’ and teachers’ salaries are now being directly linked to pupils’ progress.

Governance of the school

• The local authority’s effective intervention and good-quality support have done much to address previous weaknesses in governance.
• In response to concerns, a wide range of useful actions have recently been taken to set governance on an entirely new and much improved track.
• The governing body now contains a suitable range of well-experienced and capable governors who are acting with great determination to ensure that they play a full and proper role in supporting and monitoring the school’s improvements.
• Governors have a clear and detailed view of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and are well placed to challenge and support staff and leaders. This means that they are now helping the school to improve.
• Governors have organised themselves well into an appropriate system of committees. They have appointed specialist governors in a range of key areas and ensured that governor training is much improved.
• Governors are now aware of the quality of teaching throughout the school and have set up appropriate systems to ensure that teachers are only rewarded when their teaching and the pupils’ learning are good.
• Governors are much better placed to evaluate how spending decisions are helping improve pupils’ outcomes; for example, how additional funding including pupil premium and primary sports funding is spent.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective and meet requirements.

• Staff and other adults in school who come into contact with pupils are trained so that they understand the correct procedures to follow, including those relating to radicalisation and extremism. Staff are attentive in their daily practice and a good culture of safety and safeguarding has been established at the school. Staff knowledge of these aspects is kept up to date through regular briefings and training.
• The designated teacher and governor for safeguarding ensure that any concerns are followed up with an appropriate degree of rigour and urgency. The school checks its procedures in line with expert advice provided by the local authority.
• Although some parents expressed concerns about issues such as bullying, the vast majority of parents judged that their children are kept safe and happy in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Over the last two terms, inadequate teaching has been eradicated and the proportion of good teaching evident in the school is rising. Teaching is, however, not yet consistently good throughout the school.
• Expectations for the most able, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are not consistently high across the school. This means that the most able pupils are not fully extended or reaching their full potential.
• Assessment is not sufficiently used to help pupils learn. Staff do not routinely identify the misconceptions made by pupils in lessons. Nor do they use them sufficiently to direct their teaching and thereby help pupils to quickly correct their errors and move their learning forward.
• Pupils too often lack a clear idea of their learning targets and this slows their progress.
• The teaching of reading has improved. Younger pupils are taught to use phonics to help them improve their spelling and reading. Many more pupils are now on track to be successful in national phonics screening checks at the end of Years 1 and 2. In Reception, occasionally inaccurate teaching of phonics slows the progress made by children. Some of the most able readers are reading books that are too easy for them.
• Teaching assistants are deployed effectively when pupils are working in groups, or individually. Teaching assistants often make a key contribution to the learning of those who find learning more difficult, especially of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and of disadvantaged pupils. These groups of pupils are making much better progress than previously. In whole-class sessions, teaching assistants are sometimes passive and underutilised.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.

• In some classes, pupils lose concentration towards the end of longer lessons, when the pace of learning slows. The most able pupils, when they are doing work they can already do, or when working on tasks that are not hard enough for them, do not consistently show good attitudes to learning, especially towards the end of lessons.
• In some classes, routines to ensure that pupils can move on to the next stage of their learning are not fully secure. This means that occasionally, when pupils finish a section of work, they waste time waiting to be directed by the teacher rather than knowing what they should move on to.
• However, many pupils show largely positive attitudes to learning. They work well with others and listen respectfully to adults. Pupils often work hard and try their best. This is evident in the improving pride they take in their work and books. Standards of presentation of work are rising in all classes.
• The school’s curriculum includes weekly lessons to support pupils’ personal development and welfare. These, and the positive values and good-quality care all staff promote, are helping pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils learn to get on with each other and to respect each other’s points of view.
• New opportunities for pupils to take responsibilities have been introduced and pupils are proud to be elected to roles such as the school’s student leadership team. Pupils’ physical and emotional well-being is central to the ethos of the school. Staff are aware of the issues many pupils face and have systems in place to help them. Pupils are well looked after and cared for.
• The school has a daily breakfast club which is well attended and much appreciated by parents and enjoyed by the pupils who use it.

• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and they act with respect for the safety of others. They are often courteous and polite. They are well versed in how to keep themselves safe on the internet and when using electronic devices.
• Since the introduction of the new behaviour policy, the management of behaviour is much improved and is consistent throughout the school. No poor behaviour was observed during the inspection, although concentration sometimes wanes towards the end of longer lessons when time is not used fully effectively by the teacher.

• Since the introduction of the new behaviour policy, the management of behaviour is much improved and is consistent throughout the school. No poor behaviour was observed during the inspection, although concentration sometimes wanes towards the end of longer lessons when time is not used fully effectively by the teacher.
• On the playground, in assemblies, in the dining hall and in classes, pupils conduct themselves appropriately. Inspectors saw no instances of poor behaviour and pupils told inspectors that behaviour is always similar in their school and was not different from normal at the time of the inspection. Disruptions to learning are rare and when these occur, incidents are effectively dealt with so that the learning of others in the class is not interrupted.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Published information on pupils’ outcomes shows that, historically, pupils have made insufficient progress from their different starting points. Although there are positive signs of improvement this year, pupils are currently not making consistently good progress across the school.

• In 2016, the progress of pupils during key stage 2 was lower than it was for other pupils nationally, in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, pupils’ attainment in these subjects, as well as in science and in their grammar, punctuation and spelling, was also below the national average.
• Most pupils in key stage 1 have attained broadly average standards in reading, writing and mathematics in national assessments. However, this has not been the case for disadvantaged pupils, those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and boys. These pupils have not entered key stage 2 well enough prepared. However, pupils’ work since September indicates that most pupils are making better progress than previously. The best improvement has been made by those who find learning difficult, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The least improvement has been made by the most able pupils.
• Throughout the school, because of a legacy of low attainment, too few pupils attain what is expected for their age. However, pupils’ work and the school’s own assessments indicate that, although rates of progress are inconsistent, overall, standards are rising. For example, in Year 6, pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is set to be much closer to national averages by the end of this academic year. Thus, pupils are now being satisfactorily prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Leaders are aware that the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, do not reach their full potential by the end of Year 6. This is because, throughout the school, expectations have not been high enough. Pupils are now receiving more challenging work, but work is still not consistently pitched at a sufficiently high level to fully meet the needs of the most able.
• Due to effective use of the pupil premium additional funding, disadvantaged pupils are making much better progress overall. This group of pupils and those who find learning more difficult, including pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are now making enough progress to reduce the difference between their attainment and the attainment of other pupils nationally. This is largely because they are being better supported in their learning and because these pupils are attending more regularly.
• Improved teaching of phonics and better methods of teaching reading mean that current pupils are doing well with their phonics and are on track to meet national expectations at the end of Year 1. Gaps in phonics revealed in last year’s national screening of Year 1 phonics have been carefully addressed and all pupils who had weaknesses in phonics last year are on track to attain the expected standard this year. Standards of reading are rising throughout the school.
• In writing, pupils’ punctuation and presentation are better than their spelling and grammar. They are more adept at short writing exercises than in extended writing.
• In mathematics, pupils’ basic calculation skills and their understanding of shape and space are better developed than their skills in applying mathematics to solve problems. Due to some good work, including homework, pupils are becoming more secure in their number facts such as multiplication tables.
• In subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics, the best progress is made in physical education and in modern foreign languages. Rates of progress in science are beginning to improve now that science has a more prominent place in the school’s curriculum. However, the school has identified that more needs to be done to improve pupils’ attainment in such subjects as art and design and design and technology.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Leadership and management of the early years require improvement because, although improving, the curriculum still does not yet provide a broad range of interesting and demanding experiences that fully meet children’s needs and ensure that they achieve a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year.
• Leaders do, however, have a sound understanding of the improvements that are needed and are beginning to implement a plan to bring about the necessary improvements.
• Over the last two years, published assessment results show that standards by the end of Reception have declined and too few children have made good progress to attain a good level of development.
• During this school year, improvements have been made and the progress made by children is accelerating, especially in the Nursery Year. Some weaknesses remain, mainly in the Reception Year. Although children are now being better prepared for Year 1, there is still more to be done.
• Many children enter the early years with skills and knowledge a little below those typical for their ages in their language and mathematical development, but their personal and social development is in line with that expected for their age.
• Resources, materials and the classroom, including displays, do not consistently provide high-quality stimulation for children’s learning.
• Some opportunities are provided for children to think for themselves and develop their learning, but on occasions adults intervene too soon and this slows learning.
• The quality of teaching of phonics in Reception is limited when letter sounds are incorrectly pronounced.
• Expectations of children, particularly of the most able, are not consistently high. Disadvantaged children and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making more progress than previously. This is due to better support for their learning this year and also to better-planned use of additional funds.
• Many parents are appropriately involved in school and are helped to support their children’s learning at home. Induction arrangements, including home visits, help children settle into the Nursery quickly and confidently.
• The strongest aspect of provision, throughout both the Nursery and Reception Years, is in the support provided for children’s personal, social and emotional development. Procedures for safeguarding are secure and children are well looked after and cared for. They feel safe and confident and enjoy their learning and respond well to adults’ directions. The vast majority work cooperatively with one another and enjoy being at school.
• Children learn to sit and listen attentively, to behave well and to maintain concentration.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority 122473 Nottinghamshire Inspection number 10011749 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 Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 390 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Date of previous inspection Janice Addison Ruby Grey 01623 487 087

http://www.woodlandview.notts.sch.uk head@woodlandview.notts.sch.uk

15–16 July 2014 (under the school’s previous name, John Davies Primary and Nursery School)

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is larger than most primary schools. Few pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Very few pupils are from families who speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is around one third. This is higher than the national average for primary schools.
• Each year, a group of pupils join the school from a neighbouring infant school at the start of Year 3.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.

• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• A new headteacher was appointed from the start of the summer term in 2016. From June 2016 the school also changed its name from John Davies Primary and Nursery School as it moved into a new building.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes. Some lessons were observed jointly with senior leaders. In addition, a number of shorter visits were carried out to see particular aspects of the school’s work, such as the teaching of reading.
• A range of other school activities, including playtimes, lunchtimes and assembly were observed.
• Inspectors scrutinised past and current work of pupils of different abilities in all year groups and heard some pupils reading.
• A meeting was held with three governors, including the chair of the governing body. A telephone conversation was held with a representative of the local authority.
• Inspectors analysed documents, including plans for school improvements and reports showing the school’s view of its own performance and the local authority’s view of the school and minutes of the governing body’s meetings. The school’s website was evaluated. Safeguarding documents as well as policies and records relating to pupils’ personal development, behaviour, welfare and safety, and attendance, were inspected.
• Inspectors analysed information on the performance of the school in comparison with other schools nationally and the school’s own records of pupils’ progress.
• Inspectors took account of the 57 responses to the online survey, Parent View. Inspectors also took account of the results of the school’s most recent survey and spoke to parents at the start of the school day. They considered the responses of 24 members of staff who completed a staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Roger Sadler, lead inspector Paul Tuffin Jeannie Haigh

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector