Springhead Infant and Nursery School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • creating more formal opportunities to write and record information across a range of subjects.
• Strengthen further the quality of leadership and management by:
  • continuing to develop the curriculum so that sufficient time is given to teach all subjects well.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The executive headteacher and other senior leaders have been crucial to the improvement of the school since the last inspection. The plans put in place for school improvement have been sharp and well focused. Consequently, any previous poor performance has been eradicated. All groups of pupils are now making much better progress than previously and their attainment is rising quickly, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics. This clearly demonstrates the school’s commitment to equality of opportunity for all to succeed.
• Some middle leaders have only recently taken up their roles. Nevertheless, they all have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. They are beginning to check on the quality of learning and use this information to draw up actions for further improvement.
• The additional funding the school receives to support disadvantaged pupils is used effectively. It is used for the delivery of individual programmes to support those who may be falling behind. In addition, it contributes to the services of a pastoral care worker who has been extremely effective in helping pupils make good progress. Consequently, these pupils achieve very well, particularly in reading and writing where there are no negative differences in achievement with other pupils nationally. The most able disadvantaged pupils make good progress, particularly in reading and writing.
• The work of the special educational needs coordinator is successful in ensuring that the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are met and that they are well supported. As a result, these pupils make good progress and achieve well.
• The primary sports funding is used effectively. Pupils are taught by specialist coaches, alongside their teachers. Pupils have been able to access specialist dance and games coaches, and as a result pupils say they really enjoy these sessions and their skills have improved.
• The curriculum is generally well planned. The plans cover a wide range of topics and subjects, which pupils find interesting. For example, pupils enjoy studying the plague and have a good understanding of the causes and consequences of the event. However, on occasions, not all subjects are given sufficient time to ensure that they are taught as effectively as they could be and studied in depth.
• The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and activities, which are highly valued by parents and pupils. They make a significant contribution to pupils’ personal development and well-being.
• The school promotes British values well. Weekly assemblies address some of the British values using ‘The Gruffalo’ to help the pupils understand each concept. In addition, the school celebrates national events that promote British values, such as the Queen’s birthday and St George’s Day.
• The school effectively promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. Pupils are helped to gain a deeper understanding of other faiths and festivals including Yom Kippur and Eid. They are also given opportunities to visit museums and galleries, including a sculpture park. These opportunities greatly enhance pupils’ experiences and help to make learning fun.
• The school is appreciative of the support offered by the local authority and the executive headteacher has been fastidious is choosing support that has maximum impact on improving the school. The local authority is confident that the school provides a good education and will continue to go from strength to strength without the need for additional support.
• Considering the school’s strong recovery from requiring improvement to a good school, senior leaders and governors are well placed to sustain this improvement.

Governance of the school

• Governors have improved their knowledge of the school over the last two years. They have a range of skills that they use effectively to support and challenge leaders. Although disappointed with the result of the previous inspection, they quickly moved to establish the federation and secure the leadership of the school.
• Governors have an increasingly good understanding of teaching, the performance of the school and pupils’ achievement. They are knowledgeable about the school’s work to reward good teaching and tackle underperformance
• The procedures for managing the performance of teachers are robust. Teachers are rewarded when governors are satisfied that they are performing well.
• Governors have a good understanding of the financial position of the school, including how well additional funding is spent to support disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and to enhance sports provision.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff are well trained to ensure that pupils are kept safe. Policies and procedures are reviewed frequently to guarantee that staff are always fully aware of their duty to keep pupils safe.
• Senior leaders have ensured that all staff and governors have read and acted on the latest guidance on keeping children safe, including the dangers of extremism and radicalisation. The school works well with key partners to ensure that all pupils are safe and well cared for.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved since the time of the last inspection and has brought about rapid progress in pupils’ learning. Lessons are well planned. Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to engage the pupils.
• The learning environment is stimulating and displays celebrate pupils’ work and help them with their learning in equal measure.
• Pupils make good progress because teachers question and probe pupils’ understanding in most subjects and have high expectations of what they can achieve. Sometimes in some subjects there is insufficient time to study a subject in depth.
• Reading is taught effectively. Reading corners are attractive and inviting and, as a result, pupils are keen to read. Pupils use their knowledge of phonics to read a range of books and they were able to tell inspectors which books and authors they enjoy.
• Pupils are making better progress in writing than previously, particularly the most able pupils. The achievement for Year 2 pupils in 2016 showed an improvement from the previous year. However, pupils do not always have enough opportunities to write formally about what they have been learning, or record their understanding in a variety of ways across a range of subjects.
• The teaching of mathematics has also improved since the last inspection. Pupils appreciate the range of resources and apparatus to help them with their learning, and teachers set work which is appropriately challenging. As a result, pupils make good progress in mathematics.
• The school’s policy for marking and feedback is applied consistently and to good effect. Pupils know what they have done well and understand how to improve their work further.
• Very good support is given to pupils in lessons by teaching assistants. They break down tasks, probe understanding and help ensure that all pupils make good progress.

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 very proud of their school and they are keen to talk about it and what they do.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves healthy. They take part in a range of exercise and sporting activities. Children in Nursery were keen to tell inspectors which fruit and vegetables they were having for their lunch.
• There are opportunities for pupils to develop their leadership skills. Some pupils are school councillors, while others are eco-council representatives and team captains. These roles are quite new, but already pupils are able to give their views in ways to improve their school even further. The eco-council representatives are particularly proud of the homes for insects they produce.
• The pupils know how to keep themselves safe on their computers and know to tell an adult if something on the computer upsets them or makes them feel uncomfortable.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. They benefit from a range of visitors, including from the police and fire service, who help them understand dangers and risks.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils say that behaviour is good. They say that if there are disagreements on the playground they are sorted out very quickly and everybody gets along together again quickly.
• There is a robust behaviour system in place. Pupils receive stars and they say they particularly like the bronze, silver and gold awards they can earn for good behaviour. Behaviour logs in pupils’ diaries allow parents to clearly see how their children are behaving.
• The vast majority of parents say that behaviour in school is good and that their children are happy and well looked after.
• Bullying is extremely rare and if it does occur records show it is dealt with swiftly and effectively. Pupils say there is no prejudiced-based bullying and that everyone gets along most of the time.
• Attendance is improving for all groups of pupils, although the attendance of pupils from minority ethnic groups is lower than the national average.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Across the school, pupils make good progress and achieve well in most subjects. Typically, pupils leave the school at the end of Year 2 with results that are above the national average.
• Assessments are now much more reliable than they were previously, and current assessment information from the 2016 national tests show that the number of pupils achieving the expected standard for their age is above the national average. In addition, the number of pupils working beyond the expected standard is also above average in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The outcomes of the Year 1 phonics screening check are in line with the national average and improved over the last three years. This shows that the teaching of phonics and early reading is strong.
• Pupils’ achievement in writing has improved because leaders have reviewed the way in which they teach writing. This has had a significant impact on improving pupils’ skills in lessons. However, senior leaders are aware that opportunities for pupils to write formally across a range of other subjects require extending.
• Achievement in mathematics is also good. Pupils’ work shows that they have good mathematical understanding because teachers are increasingly creating opportunities to allow pupils to use and apply their knowledge.
• Leaders are acutely aware that the achievement of the most able pupils in key stage 1 in 2015 in writing was disappointing. A significantly low number of pupils attained the highest levels. Leaders took swift and decisive action to address this dip. Current assessment data indicates that pupils at the end of Year 2 in 2016 achieved well as a result of improvements to provision.
• The number of disadvantaged pupils in each year group is quite low. However, disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, achieve well. In 2016, the proportions of pupils achieving the expected level in reading and writing was above other pupils nationally. In mathematics, the difference between disadvantaged pupils in the school and other pupils nationally is diminishing. This is because these pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The work of the pastoral support worker has had a significant impact on the progress of disadvantaged pupils as they attend school more regularly and are engaged in lessons.
• Good adult support in the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities means that these pupils make good progress across the school from their own starting points.
• The achievement of pupils who have English as an additional language is particularly strong. Results from national tests and the school’s own tracking system indicate that these pupils make outstanding progress.
• The work in pupils’ books shows that they make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. However, achievement in other subjects is sometimes variable as insufficient time is given to some subjects.

Early years provision Good

• Children start school with skills that are typically below those expected for their age, although this varies slightly year on year As a result of good teaching and a positive learning environment, they achieve well throughout their time in the early years.
• Children settle quickly and make great strides with their learning. Consequently, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year is slightly above the national average. Children are well prepared for Year 1.
• Disadvantaged children enter the early years with skills that are below those typically expected for their age. They are extremely well supported and as a result make good progress.
• The recently appointed early years leader has been relentless in her efforts to improve the provision in the early years over the last year. Her efforts have been successful: the environment is warm, welcoming and an exciting place to learn, both indoors and out.
• Pupils thrive because adults plan exciting learning opportunities. For example, in Reception, children were hunting ‘Sid the circle’ who had stolen a chair from their classroom. They enthusiastically studied fingerprints, footprints and other clues to solve the crime.
• Learning is just as engaging in Nursery. A group of children were busy making models of ambulances as part of their topic on people who help us.
• Children enjoy learning outdoors and the school has worked hard to successfully improve outdoor provision since the last inspection.
• The procedures for assessing children’s progress are robust. Teachers and other adults skilfully question and observe children while they are learning. Parents also contribute to assessments by letting teachers know what children enjoy and do at home.
• Partnerships with parents are very good and parents feel their children settle quickly. The school also has a good relationship with other nursery providers. This means that children make a smooth transition when they start school.
• Keeping children safe is given a high priority. Policies and procedures to keep pupils safe are reviewed regularly. Staff are vigilant in promoting children’s health and well-being. Consequently, children are confident, polite and well behaved.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 105668 Oldham 10019798 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Infant and Nursery School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 3–7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 268 Appropriate authority Chair Executive Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Local authority Malcolm Milwain Gillian Kay 01617705620 www.springhead.oldham.sch.uk info@springhead.oldham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 1–2 October 2014

Information about this school

• This is a slightly larger than average infant and nursery school.
• The school has a before- and after-school club, which is managed by another provider.
• The majority of pupils are of White British heritage. Around a quarter of the pupils are from minority ethnic groups and about a fifth of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is lower than the national average. The proportion of pupils in receipt of an education, health and plan is also below average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for support from pupil premium funding is lower than the national average.
• Since the previous inspection, the school has formed a federation with a local primary school and an executive headteacher has been appointed. A number of senior staff work across the federation.
• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about school policies and pupil premium information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed teaching in lessons across all classes and year groups.
• The inspectors listened to pupils reading. They looked at examples of pupils’ work and observed pupils at lunchtime and breaktimes.
• The inspectors held meetings with pupils, staff, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. They spoke to parents as they brought their children to school.
• Inspectors took account of the 37 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 31 text responses.
• The inspectors looked at a range of documents, including data on pupils’ current progress across the school, the school’s view of its own effectiveness, and how the school checks on the quality of teaching and learning.
• The inspectors checked the arrangements for safeguarding pupils and looked at records relating to behaviour and attendance.
• There were no responses to staff or pupil questionnaires.

Inspection team

Emma Jackson, lead inspector Michelle Beard David Deane

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector