Ofsted report 20-21 March 2018.

We are very pleased that our school has been judged as being “Good” in all areas of the Ofsted framework.

Our staff and governors have worked extremely hard during the last two years to meet the recommendations made in the previous Ofsted report.  We are particularly proud that we have achieved this without losing focus on what matters to us most of all – the emotional well-being of the children and the provision of a broad, exciting and stimulating curriculum that motivates them as learners.  This will always be more important to us than a relentless focus on targets and data.

Ofsted report for Consett Infant School

It’s nearly time for parents to decide which school they would like their child to attend in September 2018 once they leave their Nursery provision. We are holding two sessions where parents can visit us to gain an insight into the life of our school and our approaches to teaching and learning.   These will run on Wednesday November 1^st at 1:30pm and Thursday November 2^nd at 9:30am.  Please come along and take this opportunity to ask questions and meet the staff.

Local Authority advisors visited our school in September to conduct a rigorous assessment of the standards of teaching and learning. They observed all classes, spoke to leaders and found the following:

• The Reception environment, both indoors and out has strengthened significantly since the time of the last inspection and high priority is given to promoting early language skills and children’s personal development
• Relationships are strong between children and staff provide good role models and their enthusiasm for learning enriches play and inspires children
• Children use their time purposely, they are enthusiastic learners, keen to talk about and involve others in their play.
• Adult-led activities are well focused and intervention is precisely focused on next steps in learning
• Children are enthusiastic and motivated learners because tasks are well matched to the age and stage of development of pupils. They understand what is expected of them and try hard to do the best they can
• Work is appropriately differentiated and TAs contribute well to learning during independent tasks. Questioning is used well to check for understand and to consolidate learning
• Assessment is used well to inform planning and lessons builds sequentially

Staff and governors are delighted with our school results for 2017, particularly the % of children reaching above age related in Y2 compared to National figures.

Reception:

The % of children achieving the Good Level of Development is up from 35% in September

2016 to 65% in July 2017

Key Stage 1:

The % of our Year 2 children reaching age related expectation in Reading is 70% compared to 76% nationally. The % of our Year 2 children reaching above age related expectation in

Reading is 30% compared to 24% nationally.

The % of our Year 2 children reaching age related expectation in Writing is 72% compared to 68% nationally. The % of our Year 2 children reaching above age related expectation in

Writing is 13% compared to 16% nationally.

The % of our Year 2 children reaching age related expectation in Maths is 75% compared to 75% nationally. The % of our Year 2 children reaching above age related expectation in

Maths is 25% compared to 21% nationally.

We are incredibly proud of the children and staff for these achievements.

We have been awarded a grant to promote healthy and active lifestyles from the National Lottery.  Please see Big Lottery Fund for more details.

Check out our schools app. Keep up to date with all the school news and events.  It even sends you reminders.

 

On the 13^th of December 2016 HMI Michael Reeves carried out a monitoring inspection within school.  This inspection was to assess whether we have taken effective action since February 2016 to address the recommendations made in our previous report.

We are pleased to report that the conclusion drawn from this inspection was that,

“Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.”

The full report will be published on the Ofsted website on the 19^th of January and on the school website from the 17^th January.

Consett Infant School Ofsted Update Report

I would like to update you on the work that we have undertaken since the Ofsted inspection in February. Whilst being disappointed with the overall judgement made during inspection, we were determined to rise to the challenge and harness the opportunity to make further improvements to ensure we offer a high standard of education to all children.  Some of the main developments are listed below:

• We have reviewed our curriculum and planning to make it more responsive to the children’s interest and abilities, with a view to increasing progress and levels of motivation.
• Our assessment processes are now more robust, tightly linked to the statutory curriculum and allow us to track each child’s progress closely and provided intervention work should they make less than good progress.
• Our new marking policy is consistently applied across school and encourages the children to correct their own mistakes and identifies to them their next steps
• Governors have increased their involvement with monitoring school improvement and have areas of responsibility allocated to them for when they conduct supportive visits
• Staff are accessing regular local authority and external training, along with visits to other schools to extend their skills and knowledge

Data for this academic year is looking very strong.

• In Reception, the percentage of children achieving the Good Level of Development has increased from 49% in 2015 to 65.5%, an increase of 16%.
• In Year 1, 76% of children reached age related expectation in Reading, 72% in writing and 71% in Maths
• Overall phonic outcomes have improved from 76% to 78% (88% without SEN children)
• In Year 2, 84% of children reached age related expectation in Reading, 85% in writing and 89% in Maths

At this stage we do not know how these figures compare to National data but we are confident that they will be very strong and put us in a good position for our next visit from HMI in the autumn term.

I would like to thank staff for their tremendous hard work and resilience this past term, they are a very dedicated team and have the children’s very best interests at heart. The children have worked very hard as well and their achievements are a credit to you.  School governors have been an invaluable source of support to both myself and staff and have helped “rally the troops” along the way.  Finally I would like to thank you as parents for your words of support and encouragement; they have been much appreciated by staff.

If any parent has any questions or comments about the information above, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Our After School Childcare for children attending Consett Infant School and siblings from Consett Junior School opened in November 2015 and can provide up to 30 childcare places for children aged 4 to 11 years. This provision is open from 3.15pm until 6.00pm weekdays, during term time.

More Information – After School Childcare

Consett Infant School & Nursery Unit and Beechdale Nursery School are proposing to establish a Federation between the two schools.

1st June to 10th July 2015 is the six week consultation period.

Please access the document below for more information and send the completed response form to either school if you wish to make your views known to the Governing Body.

Consultation Document – Consett Infant School & Nursery Unit and Beechdale Nursery School