Nanstallon Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • the quality of subject leaders‟ monitoring of the curriculum and pupils‟ progress is further improved so that pupils achieve well in writing and mathematics
  • the governing body challenges leaders more rigorously to improve outcomes for pupils, particularly the most able
  • leaders establish a more consistent system for assessing and tracking pupils‟ progress.
• Eliminate inconsistencies in teaching and raise standards of teaching, learning and assessment so that:
  • teachers plan learning that matches pupils‟ skills and knowledge more precisely, particularly for the most able
  • the skills of reasoning and problem-solving in mathematics are taught consistently well across all classes. An external review of governance 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

• Until recently, senior leaders‟ assessment of pupils‟ progress has lacked accuracy. Leaders have not taken sufficient action to help pupils make better progress. The school‟s use of the assessment system is now improving slowly, strengthening leaders‟ awareness of how well current pupils are achieving. This is beginning to ensure more timely action, but this work is in its infancy.
• Since the introduction of a more stable staffing structure, improvements in middle leadership have meant that teaching has improved. The teaching of phonics, in particular, is a strength of the school. However, the changes are too recent for current pupils‟ attainment in writing and mathematics to be in line with that expected nationally.
• Leaders and governors carry out their statutory duty to manage the performance of teachers. However, leaders‟ expectations of progress for particular groups of pupils are not high enough to bring about the improvements required to raise the attainment of pupils.
• Middle leaders have not received sufficient professional training and support required for them to fulfil their roles and responsibilities effectively, nor to acquire the skills needed to contribute well to school improvement. Work is currently underway to address this and leaders‟ skills are developing appropriately in order for them to support curriculum development and pupils‟ progress more effectively.
• The school‟s internal assessment system has been oversimplified and inaccurate. It has provided a false impression of pupils‟ progress, particularly since the introduction of a revised curriculum. This has led to the headteacher forming an unreliable and overly positive evaluation of the school‟s strengths and areas to improve. As a result, in recent years, action to halt the decline in pupils‟ achievement had a limited impact on standards.
• Leaders‟ plans for improvement are not detailed enough, nor do they reflect the urgency needed to accelerate pupils‟ progress in some subjects and year groups. This has meant that, in recent years, teachers have not had enough guidance in ensuring that all groups of pupils, including the most able, make the progress they are capable of.
• Monitoring has not identified pupils‟ academic needs quickly enough to enable timely intervention. It has therefore failed to halt the decline in performance since the previous inspection, particularly for most-able groups. These groups are not making enough progress as they move through the school, particularly in writing. The school‟s ability to measure progress is weakened by insecure assessment.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are supported well. Leaders ensure that pupils are identified and targeted quickly to receive the further support they need. Parents appreciate the early identification of barriers to learning, such as dyslexia.
• The curriculum promotes learning across all subjects. Older pupils say they find work interesting. Literacy and numeracy are a focus for the school and parents are generally pleased with the progress their children are making. However, some parents rightly believe that there are „limited opportunities‟ for their children to „do more taxing work and excel‟.
• Leaders use the additional primary physical education (PE) and sport premium funding effectively, providing a range of sporting activities, such as, forest school and netball, for the pupils to enjoy. Pupils say they enjoy the range of clubs open to them and like going swimming every week. However, the lack of a school hall, and the inability to teach outdoor sports in inclement weather, has a negative impact on the school‟s ability to fulfil the requirements of the national curriculum in PE. Parents said they would like their children to do more sport.
• Leaders and teachers, particularly those in the early years, are developing positive working relationships with families and building their trust. Many parents appreciate the help they receive from teachers. This is particularly evident where pupils are lacking in confidence in their learning.
• Recent training has supported staff, who said that they are gaining the confidence and skills needed to improve their teaching. Joint assessment, training and moderation with other schools are supporting staff to improve the quality of teaching.

Governance of the school

• Governors have not been effective in holding leaders to account for the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school. As a result, the halt in the recent decline of standards has not happened soon enough. They receive regular reports in general terms on the progress of pupils, but do not probe with sufficient rigour.
• Governors do not completely understand the need to accelerate the progress of disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils.
• Governors possess a range of valuable skills; they use these to undertake a variety of monitoring tasks. For example, they routinely evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the school site and additional funding expenditure, including sport premium funding. However, recent discussions regarding the process of the school joining a local multi-academy trust have deflected the focus away from the core priority of monitoring pupils‟ achievement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Senior staff and governors work closely together to ensure that there are clear procedures for keeping pupils safe. They undertake the necessary checks when recruiting staff and record the required details on the school‟s central record.
• Staff act in a timely and proportionate way to keep pupils safe. They also ensure that pupils are taught and have the skills to be independent and make the right choices to stay safe. For example, pupils told the inspector that the school has filters in place so that they do not use certain websites and that they do not bring mobile phones to school. Pupils say that they feel safe and would talk to an adult if they had any concerns at all.
• Leaders and governors ensure that staff are kept up to date about keeping pupils safe. Training is in place, including, for all staff and governors, „Prevent‟ duty training to protect pupils from the risk of radicalisation and extremism. Staff clearly understand their responsibilities and recognise that safeguarding is everyone‟s concern.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Despite some effective teaching in parts of the school, the overall quality of teaching is not good enough. In particular, teachers do not enable pupils to capitalise on the strong start they make in phonics in Year 1.
• Teachers do not consistently match work closely enough to the needs of the pupils. As a consequence, tasks can be either too easy or too difficult, especially for lower-attaining and the most able pupils.
• Adults‟ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too variable. This limits the degree to which teaching helps pupils‟ concentration and completion of tasks. Teaching does not challenge pupils to do their best. Leaders‟ identification of the most able pupils is inconsistent.
• Teachers‟ subject knowledge and the clarity of their explanations are inconsistent. This means that pupils are not always clear how to tackle tasks correctly. This impedes their progress.
• Teachers do not routinely intervene in pupils‟ learning to ask questions or clarify misconceptions. This inhibits pupils‟ ability, in some classes, to reflect on their learning, explain their understanding or correct mistakes.
• Teachers‟ explanations of how pupils can improve their work are not always clear. As a result, pupils do not always understand precisely what to do next.
• Teachers regularly provide homework to support pupils‟ reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils enjoy continuing their learning at home.
• School leaders provide some well-targeted pastoral, emotional and social support for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. This provision supports them well and helps them to engage positively in learning. A pupil commented, „The school helps us to say, “I can‟t do this yet”, as opposed to “I can‟t do this”.‟
• Stronger teaching in the school is characterised by high expectations, well-pitched learning activities and clear explanations. This helps pupils remain focused and enables them to practise and secure skills in different subjects. For example, younger pupils develop their descriptive vocabulary well in their writing.
• When adults use effective questioning, this draws out pupils‟ understanding well and helps pupils extend their learning further. For instance, pupils enjoyed explaining how using a number line helps them understand addition and subtraction.
• Teachers effectively plan phonics sessions which allow pupils to practise and develop their reading skills. As a result, pupils achieve well.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school‟s work to promote pupils‟ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Pupils‟ thinking skills are not supported effectively by the activities set. This is particularly true when pupils have finished their work and do not know what to do next.
• Some pupils do not show positive attitudes in learning and can distract themselves and others in lessons. This commonly occurs where work is not well matched to pupils‟ needs and abilities.
• Pupils feel safe and are emotionally well cared for. They do not believe bullying is a problem and have confidence that teachers will act quickly to prevent it on the rare occasions that it should occur. They understand different forms of bullying and know how to keep themselves safe. They can talk with confidence about some of the risks of the internet. Overall, pupils enjoy being part of a happy school and particularly like the fact that it is small and friendly.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Leaders encourage pupils to attend regularly. As a result, overall attendance is broadly in line with the national average. Pupils who spoke to the inspector said they enjoyed coming to school.
• The school environment is generally orderly and classrooms are organised well. The recent drive to improve the quality of displays in English and mathematics in the classrooms is also better supporting pupils in their learning.
• Pupils mix and play well together. They are proud of their school and are keen to help each other at every opportunity, especially in lessons. The school motto, „Working well together‟, is very apt.
• The majority of pupils behave well, both in and out of lessons. Occasionally, pupils stray away from activities, which sometimes goes unchallenged. However, the majority of parents say that staff manage pupils‟ behaviour well.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Successive years of weak performance have meant that the school‟s progress in 2017 in key stage 2 is in the lowest 10% of schools in writing and the bottom 20% of schools for mathematics. This has been recognised by the headteacher, who is now taking steps to accelerate progress in the school.
• In 2016, too few pupils, including the most able pupils, met the expected standards at the end of key stage 2. Progress was significantly below the national average for writing and mathematics respectively.
• In 2017, standards improved in key stage 2. However, too few pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and most-able pupils, reached the higher standards except in reading. Fewer pupils than seen nationally achieved the expected and higher standards in writing and mathematics. More pupils met the expected and higher standards in reading as a result of carefully targeted support.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils achieving expected standards in reading and writing at the end of key stage 2 in 2017 was in line with the national average. The number of disadvantaged pupils in key stage 1 was too low to report on.
• At the end of key stage 1, fewer pupils achieved expected and higher standards in reading and mathematics than pupils nationally.
• Many pupils do not have a secure understanding of how to manipulate numbers and apply them. However, teachers‟ recent increased focus on pupils‟ reasoning and thinking skills is supporting improvements in some year groups. For example, pupils in upper key stage 2 apply their mathematical understanding well to solve problems.
• Progress in phonics is good, with high proportions of pupils achieving the required standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1.
• The quality of writing seen in pupils‟ books is starting to improve. There is evidence of pupils writing for different purposes across the curriculum. However, most-able pupils in some year groups do not yet have the technical skills to write fluently or the resilience to write at length. This holds them back.
• The headteachers‟ raised expectations are beginning to lead to higher-level discussions between teachers and pupils to improve outcomes in communication, speaking and listening, writing and mathematics. However, gaps in some year groups for particular pupils, including the most able, are still wide and require acceleration to catch up.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Children generally make a positive start in Reception, developing their knowledge, skills and understanding well. However, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception in 2017 was lower than expected nationally.
• Leaders do not consistently check how well children are achieving. As a result of this, interventions do not always help them to catch up quickly enough. This means that children are not always well prepared to move into Year 1.
• Adults and children form strong and respectful relationships with one another. Teachers and teaching assistants explain tasks well. They use effective questions to check children‟s understanding. However, questioning requires further development to challenge the most able children in the class. Generally, children make good progress from their starting points.
• The size of the indoor and outdoor environments limits the number of exciting activities the children engage in. While „stepping stone‟ number mats and other number activities help to develop children‟s counting skills and number recognition, other areas of the curriculum, such as knowledge and understanding of the world, are not as well developed.
• Children are kept safe. Adults who work in the early years have been suitably trained in safeguarding and first aid. They know who to speak to if they have concerns about a child‟s welfare.
• Children understand the school routines. As a result, they behave well and most listen carefully to adults before confidently embarking on their activities. They enjoy exploring the outdoor area, but their interest is not always sustained for long periods, as the activities provided by the adults are not sufficiently exciting. This also happens indoors, where children gravitate mostly to the role-play area or use electronic tablets to access mathematics games. Children do not routinely explore interests and activities of their own choosing. This limits their concentration and their ability to be fully immersed in their learning for longer periods of time.
• Early years leaders and other adults work closely with parents to support their children‟s achievements. Parents value the support the school provides for their children. One parent said, „The Reception/Year 1 team are warm and welcoming. Nothing is too much trouble.‟

School details

Unique reference number 111914 Local authority Cornwall Inspection number 10042745 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Foundation Age range of pupils 5 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 103 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jacquie Gammon Headteacher Peter Dingle Telephone number 01208 831418 Website www.nanstallon.cornwall.sch.uk Email address secretary@nanstallon.cornwall.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 4–5 December 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is a much smaller than the average-sized primary school. It has four classes: one for children in Reception and Year 1; one for Years 1 and 2; one for Years 3 and 4; and one for Years 5 and 6.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups, or who speak English as an additional language, is lower than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below the national average.
• The school met the government‟s floor standards in 2017.
• The school provides before-school care.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed teaching and learning in all classes across the school. Several lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher.
• The inspector held several discussions with the headteacher and other senior leaders throughout the inspection. The inspector held meetings with curriculum leaders and representatives of the governing body and the local authority.
• The inspector reviewed a wide range of documentation provided by the school, including the school improvement plan, the school‟s evaluation of its work, attendance information and safeguarding records. The inspector took account of the school‟s own assessment information, governors‟ minutes and external reviews of the school‟s performance.
• The inspector held a meeting with a group of pupils to gain their views of the school and listened to pupils reading in lessons.
• The inspector took account of the 15 responses to the online survey, Parent View, and several additional comments.
• Current pupils‟ books, across a range of subjects and classes, were scrutinised.

Inspection team

Julie Jane, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector