Setting

Mrs K Gray Headteacher Broadhembury Church of England Primary School Broadhembury Honiton EX14 3NF

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I inspected your school on 4 October 2011, for the time you gave to our telephone discussions and for the information which you provided before and during the inspection. Please pass on my thanks to the governors, teachers and pupils who spent time talking to me.

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

Since the previous inspection the number of pupils on roll has fallen from 31 to 30. A new executive headteacher took charge in September 2011. She is also the headteacher of a local school. The two schools are working together in a management partnership.

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

As a result of the inspection on 26–27 April 2010, the school was asked to address the most important areas for improvement which are set out in the annex to this letter.

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time the school has made satisfactory progress in making improvements and satisfactory progress in demonstrating a better capacity for sustained improvement.

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 6 has fluctuated over the past three years largely due to very small cohort sizes and their differing starting points. Pupils including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress in lessons and over time. The school has introduced more effective systems to track the progress of different groups of pupils as well as individuals which is having a clear impact in raising attainment. This demonstrates the school’s increased capacity to sustain improvement. Leaders and managers recognise that pupils known to be eligible for free school meals do not always make the same good progress as other pupils. Strategies to improve teachers’ lesson planning through more accurate use of assessment information are beginning to have a clear impact in raising the Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 3115319 Direct F 0117 3150430 Direct email :matthew.parker@tribalgroup.com September 2010 Page 2 quality of teaching and learning. However, leaders and managers recognise that improvements to teaching are not fully embedded in all classes.

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

Good systems are being developed to support the continuing professional development of all staff to improve their assessment practice further. Since the previous inspection the school has made effective use of a range of training activities to develop this area. More accurate and frequent assessment throughout the school is helping pupils to understand what they have achieved and how to improve their work. Teachers are developing their ability to use targets in planning for individuals and groups and to refer to them more effectively in their marking. Although not yet fully embedded, this information is being used to help all staff identify where new teaching approaches need to be developed to improve learning.

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

Teachers have high expectations, are thinking creatively about how best to maximise learning and are providing more interesting and stimulating cross-curricular lessons. Teaching is supported by more consistently well-structured lesson planning that focuses on relevant learning objectives and outcomes with clear learning milestones for pupils to work to. Teachers and teaching assistants now work much more effectively than before in terms of planning for and assessing the progress of pupils. Teaching assistants are now integrated into the systems for assessing learning and they work alongside the teacher to specifically target intervention so that it better meets individual need. The best practice was observed where teaching assistants used targeted questioning and dialogue to support and promote pupils’ independent learning. However, variability still exists across the school and progress is slowed

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

where too much teacher or teaching assistant talk limits opportunities for pupils to develop their ideas fully.

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

A whole-school focus has raised expectations with regard to the quality of presentation in pupils’ books. Pupils say how much they have enjoyed the introduction of weekly ‘sharing assemblies’ which enable them to proudly display their work to parents and carers and visitors. Recently, teachers have been working with pupils to identify the characteristics of ‘effective learners’ and raising expectations through the modelling of high quality exemplars. As a result, pupils are increasingly able to discuss their targets clearly and are developing an understanding of how the comments made on their work are helping them improve and aim for higher standards

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

The curriculum has been developed since the last inspection and is having a clear impact in strengthening pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the faiths, beliefs and cultures of those outside the school’s immediate community. Pupils demonstrated a good understanding of the diverse communities that exist in the United Kingdom and across the world and related this well to their work on carnivals. Pupils confidently discussed the global role played by charities such as Water Aid and demonstrated good understanding of the concept of thankfulness when celebrating harvest with the local community. This understanding demonstrates the good impact of the school’s work to develop the curriculum and its work to promote better September 2010 Page 3 community cohesion. Leaders and managers recognise that work to evaluate the impact of these strategies is not fully developed. Nevertheless, progress made against this recommendation further demonstrates the school’s strengthened

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

Good support has been provided by the local authority in the form of targeted intervention to develop the accuracy of assessment and to support the development of continuous provision for pupils in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Consequently, these aspects of provision are stronger than before and the school now has more robust assessment data to inform teachers’ planning so that it is more closely aligned to meet pupils’ individual needs. Governors too are developing their understanding of how to provide effective challenge well, especially with regard to evaluating the full impact of the changes made to provision.

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Broadhembury Church of England Primary School

I hope that you have found the inspection helpful in promoting improvement in your school. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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place in April 2010

 Increase the impact of assessment on teaching, learning and progress by:  clearly identifying in all lessons, precisely what pupils are expected to learn  ensuring that pupils’ work is presented well enough to allow them to use it to review their learning  increasing the involvement of teaching assistants in assessing pupils’ achievements.

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place in April 2010

 Increase pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the faiths, beliefs and cultures of others outside their immediate community by:  formalising this aspect of the curriculum  increasing teachers’ awareness of ways to develop this knowledge and understanding  developing the school’s work on community cohesion.

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