pdf School inspection report - Ofsted

very good supervision of activities has a very positive impact on their attitudes to
school. They become absorbed in what they are doing to the extent that there is no
inappropriate behaviour and levels of co-operation are very good.
Language and literacy
80. Attainment is well below national expectations. On entry to the nursery class, nearly
all children communicate only in their home language and are unable to speak, read
or write using English. Very good teaching and support in the nursery class ensure
that children quickly adapt to listening to and following instructions in a new language.
Bilingual support is used sensitively to enable children to make the transition to more
regular use of spoken English. In nursery and reception classes across all the areas
of learning, adults speak clearly and slowly to ensure understanding. They encourage
children to reply increasingly in English and this develops their confidence in speaking.
On a small number of occasions, teachers do not give clear direction to support staff
about their role during a lesson. Consequently, their interaction with children becomes
merely supervisory and lacks focus. Opportunities to assess listening skills or develop
specific vocabulary are missed. In the majority of lessons, however, all adults
intervene constructively to encourage children to express ideas and experiences. By
the age of five, most children have significantly improved their ability to listen and
understand. They regularly use a number of words which occur frequently in their
school life. The majority of children at this stage limit responses to single words, whilst
a small number of higher attaining children use whole sentences: for example, one
child discussing his family explained, I have one sister who lives in Pakistan and
another who lives in London.
81. As children enter the nursery, many are unfamiliar with books, whether in their home
language or English. A significant minority do not hold books the right way up or are
not aware that words convey meaning. Many children do not recognise that print is
read from left to right. Teachers in nursery and reception classes plan regular reading
sessions during which children are encouraged to handle, read and enjoy books.
Additionally, they have many opportunities to listen to favourite stories both in their
home language and English. This ensures that they are making good progress in
reading by the age of five in relation to their achievement on entry. By the age of five,
most children enjoy reading with support. Many recognise individual words and use
pictures to help them to understand stories. Nursery children develop early writing
skills through mark making and the formation of familiar initial letters from books they
have seen. Higher ability children in the reception classes form at least some of the
letters of their name showing clear pencil control. By the age of five, most children
over-write letters or short words using tracing paper or by joining dots.
Mathematics
82. Attainment is well below national expectations. However, good teaching helps
children to improve from a very low level of achievement on entry and they make good
progress. The teaching of basic skills in numeracy throughout nursery and reception
classes is very effective. Teachers provide a wide range of activities, well matched to
children’s needs, which familiarise them with numbers one to ten. One adult in the
nursery class, for example, asked children to sort clothes into sets according to their
suitability for a baby or an older child. Children are encouraged to feel numbers made
from a variety of tactile materials or fill in the shapes of numerals using paper or paint.
In reception classes they put their knowledge to practical use by, for example, sorting
pairs of socks according to their colour. By the age of five, most children count to ten
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