By Nick Griffiths

Last updated at 13:59, Friday, 16 November 2012

Inspectors say a school “requires improvement” – but also has a number of strengths.

Pupils at Norman Street school know adults in the school look after them and listen to their concerns

An Ofsted report highlighted areas where Carlisle’s Norman Street Primary School could do better while flagging up good work already taking place.

The report on the school, near Greystone Road, listed “key findings” on why the primary needed to improve.

These were:

• Teaching in years one to six did not always “match the individual needs of pupils with different levels of ability”.
• Teachers’ marking did not always give pupils enough information on how to improve their work.
• Teachers did not always “have high enough expectations of the amount and quality of pupils’ work” – nor did they provide pupils with a “fully secure understanding of letters and the sounds they make”.
• Leaders had brought in systems that led to improvements in pupils’ achievement and quality of teaching but they could improve on how they evaluated this work.
• Pupils’ progress in years one to six was improving but it varied between classes.
• Most pupils had good attitudes to learning but in some lessons behaviour dipped because they did not fully understand the work they were expected to do and could not complete tasks independently.

Inspectors found the school’s strengths were:

• Leaders were committed to improving the quality of teaching and had a clear view of what needed to be done.
• Factors including good teaching meant children settled into school swiftly and made good progress.
• The curriculum had improved since a previous inspection and pupils benefited from “an increasingly wide” range of outside visits and visitors.
• Relationships were strong. Parents were said to feel “very welcome” and pupils knew that adults in the school would look after them and listen to concerns.

The report states: “Inspectors observed 17 lessons. In addition, the inspection team made a number of short visits to lessons and small group sessions.

“Meetings were held with groups of pupils, parents, members of the governing body, a local authority representative and school staff.”

Inspectors also looked at 30 responses to a questionnaire, a phone call from a parent and 24 staff questionnaires.

Documents including information on behaviour and attendance and pupils’ progress were also scrutinised.

The report said improvements to the overall quality of teaching should include the planning of lessons to make sure any “whole-class teaching” was at the right level to meet all pupils’ needs.

It noted teachers had good relationships with pupils and generally had good subject knowledge.

But the report also found the quality of marking varied between classes. In some classes, inspectors said, pupils were “not instilled with a pride in the quality or quantity of their work”.

Children said they enjoyed coming to school and inspectors found the headteacher provided “strong leadership and had high aspirations for the school”. The governing body was said to be “a strength of the school”.

Nick Page, headteacher, said he was disappointed with Norman Street being a school that required improvement but was determined and committed to make the improvements it needed.

“The report recognises the improvements we’ve made over the last couple of years,” he added.

“The parents are very supportive of the school and the work we are doing. Lots of parents have been to see us to thank us for the work we’ve done.

“They see that we are an improving school.”

He added the school was a popular place for parents to send their children, with applications to join the school outnumbering the places available for the last two years.

First published at 13:58, Friday, 16 November 2012
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk