St Anne's Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • leaders rigorously monitor and improve teaching and learning so that they are consistently strong across the school
  • middle leaders develop the skills to improve teaching and learning to enable different groups of pupils to make better progress
  • leaders fully evaluate the impact of the pupil premium to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make the progress of which they are capable
  • leaders develop strategic oversight to further improve provision and outcomes within the early years.
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning so that pupils’ achievement rises, by ensuring that:
  • teachers use assessment information effectively to plan appropriate activities that meet pupils’ learning needs, particularly for the least able pupils 
  • the teaching of problem solving and reasoning in mathematics is good across the school
  • pupils develop the ability to use grammar, spelling and punctuation accurately when writing across the curriculum. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• School leaders have not acted swiftly enough to improve the quality of teaching, learning and outcomes, particularly for children in the early years and for disadvantaged pupils. However, school leaders are increasingly aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They have plans for improvement and are taking action.
• School leaders’ evaluations of the quality of teaching and learning are not precise enough to enable them to identify how to improve teaching. They do not focus enough on the impact of teaching on pupils’ achievement. Consequently, teaching is not consistently strong across the school.
• Middle leaders are generally aware of the school’s priorities for improvement and the need to raise standards. However, many of these leaders do not yet have effective leadership skills. They do not use assessment information well enough to plan the precise support that some teachers require.
• Leaders are now ensuring that teachers’ assessments of pupils’ learning are more accurate. Teachers check these assessments with other schools. This is providing greater confidence in their validity. However, teachers are not then using these assessments to plan activities that help pupils build on their knowledge and understanding.
• Leaders’ support for disadvantaged pupils has been ineffective. This is because they have given too little attention to ensuring that teaching builds on what these pupils know, understand and can do. Plans are in place for these pupils, but these are not acted on sufficiently in lessons.
• Leaders have the appropriate skills and knowledge to support pupils with SEND. They understand the needs of pupils well. Support plans and targets for pupils with SEND are increasingly well matched to pupils’ individual needs. As a result, some of these pupils are making good progress from their starting points. However, this is not yet consistent across the school.
• Leaders have recently implemented a range of improvements. For example, they have revised the curriculum. The new curriculum highlights the enquiry skills of the pupils. Pupils are enthused by this approach and are developing their skills in subjects such as design and technology. For example, Year 1 pupils had a visit from a milliner. They then designed and created their own hats using a variety of new-found skills. Other initiatives are still in the planning stage, however, such as improving assessment for foundation subjects. Therefore, their impact on improving outcomes for pupils is minimal.
• School leaders and governors are ambitious for the school. The headteacher has developed a sense of teamwork among the staff. They are highly supportive of her leadership. As a result, they all share the same goal to further develop school practices and procedures to improve pupils’ outcomes.
• Leaders set high expectations for pupils’ conduct and behaviour. They ensure that pupils are well cared for and their social and emotional needs are met.
• The sport premium is used effectively to engage pupils in physical activities. Sports coaching is having a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes to physical education. The funding has also been used to provide good-quality professional development for teachers. The leader for the sport premium has introduced new playground activities led by sports coaches at lunchtimes. They are well used by the pupils, who appreciate the opportunities they have. There has been an increase in participation in extra-curricular sporting activities, especially for disadvantaged pupils.
• The curriculum for spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is effective in promoting pupils’ understanding of the need for tolerance, respect and care for others. Pupils know and understand these values and try their best to uphold them.
• Parents who spoke with inspectors and those who responded to the online Parent View questionnaire are positive and supportive of the school. For example, they value the openness of the headteacher, as well as the care provided for their children.

Governance of the school

• Governors are ambitious for the school. The newly-appointed chair is transforming the structure of the governing body. This is ensuring that governance is becoming more strategic and enabling governors to hold school leaders to account more effectively. However, many members of the governing body are new to their role and do not yet have the skills in place to help improve the school further.
• Governors share leaders’ understanding of the strategic priorities of the school. They know that there is still work to do to achieve the best for all pupils. Governors make regular visits to review the impact of leaders’ actions to improve the school. These visits include meeting with school leaders and talking with children. This ensures that they have a good understanding of how to question and challenge leaders further.
• The governing body ensures that leaders keep children safe. Governors make sure that the school makes the necessary checks on staff when they are appointed, and that training on how to protect children is kept up to date. A nominated governor meets with the headteacher regularly to check on these procedures and the safety of those pupils most at risk.
• Governors are ensuring that additional funding for sport and for SEND pupils is used effectively. However, governors have not ensured that pupil premium funding is used effectively. Their monitoring has not been effective, because plans lack precise success criteria. This has been recognised by the headteacher and governors, who are initiating an external review of how this could be improved.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• School leaders are extremely vigilant and have created a strong culture of safeguarding to ensure that pupils remain safe from harm. All staff are well trained and have regular updates provided on different aspects of how to keep pupils safe and secure. These include child protection, radicalisation and extremism. Every member of staff has a good understanding of their responsibilities and the systems used within the school to record any concerns they may have.
• Leaders liaise effectively with outside agencies. This ensures that pupils in need are well cared for and provided with the appropriate support required to keep them safe. Leaders are supportive of parents and have gone to great lengths to assist them. This support has been praised by the external agencies the school works with.
• Parents and pupils say that the school is a safe and happy place. Pupils know how to stay safe, both in and out of the school and online. They know who they can report any concerns to, should they arise. Pupils are aware of bullying, but they report that this rarely happens in their school. When incidents do occur, leaders deal with them swiftly.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching and learning across the school is not yet consistently strong. Leaders have not ensured that teachers get the training they need to improve their teaching.
• Where teaching is stronger, teachers adapt their plans to build on what pupils know, understand and can do and so more precisely target the next steps in learning.
• Some teachers do not use assessment information well to plan activities that build on pupils’ prior knowledge and understanding. Tasks do not meet the needs of pupils or provide adequate next steps in learning. This is particularly the case in writing and mathematics. Consequently, not enough pupils reach the standards of which they are capable, particularly the least able pupils.
• Recent changes to the teaching of mathematics to improve pupils’ problem solving and reasoning are not yet fully embedded. Pupils’ knowledge of calculation methods is developing and is providing them with a solid basis of understanding. However, pupils lack the skills to explain their thinking. As a result, the new approach has not yet had the necessary impact on improving pupils’ progress.
• Pupils’ writing does not demonstrate an understanding of spelling, punctuation and grammar. This is because teachers do not ensure that pupils apply these skills consistently and accurately. Pupils’ writing in subjects other than English is weak. The curriculum does not provide a range of opportunities to enable pupils to apply their knowledge and understanding of literacy.
• Where pupils with SEND are well supported by teachers and teaching assistants, they engage well with their learning. Pupils with SEND are benefiting from interventions to help them catch up. However, their progress is not consistent across the school, as they are not expected to transfer their learning from these intervention sessions into their class work.
• Teaching of phonics is effective. Consequently, standards are in line with the national average. Most pupils are able to segment and then blend sounds to enable them to develop their reading skills rapidly.
• Leaders are fostering a culture in which pupils enjoy reading. Pupils value their visits to the school’s inviting library, which is easily accessible during the day and after school. The school is using reading-volunteers well to provide pupils with additional opportunities to read regularly.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good. Where teaching is engaging, pupils are attentive and work hard. They do not disturb others and settle well to their learning for the majority of the time. However, where teaching is weaker, a small minority of pupils do not concentrate well enough. This is particularly evident when pupils are not challenged to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding.
• The school prides itself on the nurturing and caring ethos that it creates for all pupils. This was evident during the inspection. Parents commented positively on how well their children are cared for.
• Pupils demonstrate respect for each other in the playground and in lessons. Relationships between pupils and adults are positive. Pupils speak to each other politely and respond appropriately when asked questions by adults. Leaders expect pupils to demonstrate the school values of respect, kindness and cooperation. Pupils work together collaboratively in class and when playing.
• The school promotes pupils’ understanding of diversity in modern Britain. Pupils are aware of the values of tolerance and individual liberty. School leaders and governors ensure that all pupils have equal opportunities.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and secure in the school. They also learn how to keep safe outside the school. Pupils have a good understanding of the potential risks when using the internet and use it safely and with confidence. For example, they know the importance of protecting their personal information.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• The school is calm and orderly. Pupils move around sensibly, following the guidance of their teachers. Parents and pupils understand, and believe in, the school’s values and ethos.
• Pupils play energetically and harmoniously in the playground. They feel safe and say that other pupils are kind. Leaders have ensured that lunchtimes and playtimes are well managed. Pupils have a high regard for the rules and expectations set by teachers.
• Leaders track incidents of poor behaviour well and take swift action to involve parents if necessary. Incidents of poor behaviour have reduced in the past year. Pupils are very aware of leaders’ higher expectations. They say that teachers apply rewards and consequences fairly.
• The school’s strategies to improve the engagement of pupils with more challenging behaviour have been successful over the past year. This has reduced pupil exclusions this year. Pupils have benefited from teachers’ consistent implementation of expectations of behaviour.
• Pupils’ attendance has improved further this year, particularly the attendance of disadvantaged pupils. Leaders’ actions to reduce the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent have been effective. Leaders have built and maintained strong relationships with pupils and parents to ensure that work to improve attendance has a positive impact.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• The outcomes of children in the early years are not good enough. Children enter the Reception class with standards that are typical for their age. However, too few make the progress they need to achieve a good level of development by the time they leave Reception. As a result, they are not achieving as well as they should.
• The progress of current pupils is not consistently good. In particular, it is too variable in writing. Pupils are not provided with enough opportunities to demonstrate how they can apply their skills in different types of writing across the curriculum.
• Disadvantaged pupils have not achieved the standards they should for some years and the situation remains the same for current key stage 1 pupils. Pupils with SEND also underachieve. These groups of pupils are not making consistently strong enough progress to enable them to catch up and to be working at standards appropriate for their age in writing and mathematics. This is because teachers are not ensuring that they plan activities that enable pupils to build on their skills and knowledge within the classroom.
• Currently, the least able pupils do not make good enough progress. These pupils are not consistently provided with activities that match their needs or given the support they need by teachers or other staff.
• The attainment of pupils at the end of key stage 1 has improved over the past three years. Last year a larger proportion of pupils achieved the expected standards across reading, writing, mathematics and science. This was in line with national averages.
• Over the past few years, a greater proportion of the most able pupils have achieved higher standards. However, current pupils are not challenged consistently enough for them to make the progress of which they are capable. As a result, their progress is too inconsistent.
• The proportion of pupils who achieve the expected standard in the phonics screening check has been steadily rising over recent years, resulting in it now being in line with national figures. However, there are still some pupils who leave the school without the necessary skills in phonics for them to be successful in their reading and writing.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Leaders have not improved the quality of teaching or children’s outcomes in the early years because they have insufficient strategic oversight. Teaching within the early years is inconsistent. Changes in personnel over the past three years, which have been out of school leaders’ control, have not been well managed to ensure that children make the progress of which they are capable. A large proportion of children left Reception without the basic skills to enable them to access the start of key stage 1 successfully. As a result, the progress they made during the autumn term of Year 1 was not as good as it should be.
• Senior leaders recognise that assessment has not been precise enough. They have taken measures to ensure that assessments are now more robust and accurate. They have sought advice and support from the local authority to validate these.
• Most children who are now in Reception are making progress from their starting points at the beginning of the year. This is because some teaching is more precisely planned to ensure that children are being provided with a wider range of activities that move their learning forward. However, the least able children are making weaker progress. Teachers and other adults are not precise enough in planning tasks that meet their needs. As a result, these children are falling behind their peers in developing key skills in English and mathematics.
• Disadvantaged children are beginning to make better progress. The catch-up sessions provided for these children are having a positive impact on their understanding and knowledge. They are benefiting from support from teaching assistants to enable them to apply what they have learned.
• The most able children are improving their understanding and beginning to apply the skills they have learned in writing and mathematics. They have a good grasp of number and can solve simple addition and subtraction calculations. They are also applying their phonics skills to enable them to write simple sentences that are mostly spelled correctly.
• Children in the Nursery benefit from experiences which engage them. These children are sustaining their concentration on activities which stimulate and enthuse them. Consequently, they are making strong progress in communication and language development. Effective early phonics teaching ensures that they are ready for Reception.
• Leaders have recently transformed the physical environment. This has been effective in ensuring that children have access to different experiences and resources to aid their learning. The environment is inviting, and children enjoy learning and playing in the different areas, such as the creative room.
• Teachers plan many different learning experiences. However, adults do not always make sure that children are being challenged enough to maximise the impact of these experiences. Where these are more successful, adults question children well to develop their understanding further.
• Relationships between adults and children are positive. Children respond well to adults and they play well together. They cooperate with and help each other during activities. Children are developing independence and are enthused by their learning and environment. Parents are encouraged to be engaged through ‘play and stay’ sessions and reading sessions, as well as by being able to contribute to learning journals.
• Safeguarding is effective. Adults ensure that the children are kept safe from harm and risks. The school meets the statutory welfare requirements.

School details

Unique reference number 108956 Local authority Bristol City Council Inspection number 10054364 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 3 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 282 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Scott Temple–Farmer Anna Sutherland 0117 9031435 http://www.stannesinfants.co.uk school@stannesinfants.co.uk Date of previous inspection 20 March 2018

Information about this school

• St Anne’s Infant School is a three-form infant school and is larger than the average- sized infant school.
• The proportion of pupils who are in receipt of the pupil premium is well below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is below the national average. The number of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is well below the national average.
• The school has an onsite Nursery, which it manages. It takes children from the age of three years old until they are ready to start school in the Reception class.
• The school has a breakfast club.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed pupils’ learning across the school. Some observations were undertaken jointly with the senior leaders.
• The inspectors looked at pupils’ current work across the curriculum and carried out learning walks across the school.
• The inspectors listened to pupils read in Year 1 and Year 2 and spoke with them to find out about their attitudes to reading.
• Meetings were held with governors, middle leaders and pupils. The lead inspector had a telephone conversation with the support partner from the local authority.
• The inspectors took account of 160 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and held informal discussions with parents when they brought their children to the school. Inspectors took account of 34 responses to the staff questionnaire. The inspectors took account of 53 pupil responses to the online questionnaire and talked with pupils at breaktime and lunchtime, as well as during lessons.
• The inspectors looked at a wide range of school documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, school improvement plan, school policies, minutes of governors’ meetings, and the school’s own assessment systems and monitoring records.
• The inspectors reviewed a wide range of safeguarding evidence, including the school’s single central record and incident logs.

Inspection team

Paul Smith, lead inspector Paula Marsh Steph Matthews Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector