Goring-By-Sea CofE (Aided) Primary School

Age group 4–8 Inspection date(s) 23–24 February 2012 Inspection number 381178 Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 126045 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 381178 Inspection dates 23–24 February 2012 Lead inspector Diane Wilkinson

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school First School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–8 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 240 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rev George Butler Headteacher Dawn Kearney Date of previous school inspection 26–27 June 2007 School address Mulberry Lane Goring-by-Sea Worthing BN12 4NT Telephone number 01903 241175 Fax number 01903 505698 Email address office@goring-by-sea.w-sussex.sch.uk Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 2 of 11

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and educati on and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 3 of 11

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspectors visited 22 lessons and observed eight teachers. They held meetings with members of the governing body, staff and pupils, and a small number of parents and carers bringing their children to school were also spoken to. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at analyses of pupils’ progress, development planning and monitoring, local authority reports, a range of policies and procedures, curriculum planning documents and a sample of pupils’ work as well as hearing a sample of pupils read. They also scrutinised questionnaires returned by 157 parents and carers.

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Information about the school

Goring-by-Sea is an average-sized first school. Most pupils are of White British heritage with few speaking English as an additional language. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is broadly average. These are mainly associated with speech, language and communication, and behavioural, emotional and social needs. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The school holds the Quality Mark Level 2 and an International Award. Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 4 of 11

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Key findings

 This is an outstanding school. Staff and members of the governing body are extremely successful in ensuring that each pupil’s needs are addressed very effectively and their talents fostered. Parents and carers and pupils themselves are highly appreciative of this approach.  The focus on individual learning ensures pupils’ achievement is excellent in all year groups and their attainment is a year ahead of that expected by the time they leave. Outstanding support programmes for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs ensure they achieve equally well.  The excellent curriculum and outstanding teaching motivate and challenge pupils exceptionally well. Staff are highly skilled at questioning pupils to secure their understanding and enabling them to assess their own work. As a result, pupils become very effective independent learners.  Pupils’ outstanding attitudes underpin the excellent behaviour seen. The

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Key findings

behaviour of the small number of pupils who find this difficult improves exceptionally well during their time in the school. Pupils show great concern for others and their capacity for teamwork is especially good. Bullying is extremely rare and always dealt with speedily and successfully.  The headteacher and senior staff are excellent leaders, highly skilled at managing performance related to the quality of teaching, accountability for pupils’ achievement, and staff contribution to the drive for improvement. Outstanding partnerships with other schools and agencies are highly effective in supporting the excellent provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development. Parents and carers are very much involved in their children’s learning, although the use of information and communication technology to support homework has yet to be developed fully. Exceptionally good self- evaluation and development planning has been extremely successful in bringing

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Key findings

about improvement. This gives the school an outstanding capacity for improvement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make better use of information and communication technology to provide Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 5 of 11

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

parents and carers with a wide range of ways in which they can help their children’s learning at home.

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Achievement of pupils

Almost all parents and carers recognise that their children are doing very well, typically commenting, ‘We are thrilled with our child’s progress.’ Reception-Year children get off to a flying start because staff foster in them a great enjoyment of learning. Children see a purpose in learning to read, write and calculate; for example, in recognising the different sounds to help build new words and in the early morning session, when children, eagerly, select books to read to each other. Almost all Year 2 pupils build unrecognised words accurately and have an excellent awareness of exceptions to spelling rules. They read fluently and expressively, enthusiastically discussing different types of books and their favourites. Year 3 pupils are very mature readers, using books as an excellent source of information as well as enjoyment.

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Achievement of pupils

Reception-Year children enjoy writing greatly and, halfway through the year, many are already doing so in sentences. By Year 1, pupils write at a level normally seen in Year 2 or above, making excellent use of ‘wow words’ such as ‘scary’ or ‘zoomed’ and even similes like ‘as white as snow’ to enliven their work. This is built on especially well so that, by Year 2, pupils write very effectively in different formats, including letters, or a vivid description of the Great Fire of London. Year 3 pupils wrote excellent Tanka or Cinquain poetry to describe Ancient Rome. Through the excellent promotion of oral language, pupils’ communication skills are especially good. They explain their learning easily and speak very thoughtfully and clearly, with a maturity and confidence well beyond their age.

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Achievement of pupils

Excellent activities help Reception-Year children to count, order numbers, and do simple addition and subtraction. Older pupils’ understanding of place value and how to use this knowledge in calculations is excellent. By Year 2, pupils calculate with two-digit numbers, doing so with hundreds as well by Year 3. They work with data or measures very confidently and solve mathematical problems, with Year 3 pupils becoming very skilled in calculating with Roman numerals as well. Their exceptionally well-developed skills support learning in other subjects such as history, science and religious education, where they also achieve very well.

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Achievement of pupils

Excellent support is given to disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and other pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. As a result, they are swiftly closing the gap on where they should be, with most reaching the expected levels by the time they leave. This represents excellent achievement, as does the fact that the higher-attaining pupils attain levels well beyond those expected.

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Quality of teaching

Virtually all parents and carers agree that their children are taught well, correctly holding the view that ‘Teachers go above and beyond to ensure that children are happy and do well.’ This is apparent in a wide range of subjects as well as in Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 6 of 11

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Quality of teaching

reading, writing and mathematics, because the exceptionally well-planned curriculum links subjects together seamlessly. Teachers’ great enthusiasm for working with pupils is infectious and lessons are always highly enjoyable, instilling in pupils an excellent commitment to doing well. In Reception Year, excellent resources fully engage the children in adult-led or independent activities, such as shells and seeds to count or put in order and very interesting books that children enjoy reading.

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Quality of teaching

Adults have exceptionally high expectations of what pupils can achieve and teach them in a way that helps them to do so. Teachers are highly skilled at monitoring progress in lessons, frequently drawing the whole class or group together to check learning, set new challenges and address misconceptions. For example, in an excellent Year 3 poetry lesson, the teacher’s exceptionally clear explanation drew an audible ‘Ah!’ from the large number of pupils, who now clearly understood what they should do. Activities are adapted to support the least able and challenge the high attainers especially well, so that all ability groups learn equally well. This was most notable in an excellent Year 2 mathematics lesson on calculating different ways a centipede could share out its shoes between other minbeasts. On this and many other occasions, teaching assistants and parent helpers provide excellent support for different ability groups. Excellent questioning by all staff ensures pupils identify the

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Quality of teaching

‘Steps for Success’ that they need to make themselves and become skilled at assessing how well they are doing. This is why they develop into such good independent learners, making an excellent contribution to their spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development. The use of marking and assessment information is exemplary, ensuring pupils move between groups regularly as their needs require. In addition, the support for pupils with special educational needs is adjusted continually to maximise their progress.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

A particularly consistent and positive approach to behaviour management underpins the excellent outcomes in this aspect. The strong focus on this is apparent right from Reception Year, where, in an excellent lesson, children learned how ‘to make good choices when playing with other people’. By Year 3, pupils’ considerate and thoughtful behaviour ensures paired or group activities support learning especially well. Staff are excellent at encouraging all pupils to make the best of their education and to develop a great pride in their work. Consequently, pupils enjoy school greatly and behave especially well. This is typical for all pupils, including those with behavioural needs. For those pupils, a key factor in their rapidly improving behaviour is the outstanding individual support provided by the learning mentor, ensuring disruptions in lessons are extremely rare. The exemplary relationships between

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

pupils, as well as those with adults, are based on mutual respect. Pupils develop a considerable maturity in how they conduct themselves. For example, after a very lively and enjoyable drumming lesson, pupils lined up quietly while their teacher spoke to the musician.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

A very large majority of parents and carers are pleased with behaviour and that their children feel so safe. Very many comment on how happy their children are. They and their children are adamant that the rare incidents of bullying, usually limited to unkind behaviour or name calling, are always dealt with especially well, and there have been no serious incidents for a number of years. Pupils report they feel very safe in school and have an excellent awareness of how to keep safe; for example, on Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 7 of 11

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Leadership and management

Staff and members of the governing body evaluate the effect of provision on pupils’ achievement continually, adjusting development planning and rigorously monitoring its impact. Improvements since the last inspection have been outstanding, especially in raising the proportion of pupils reaching expected levels in national assessments, despite their attainment on entry declining. The school’s success in raising achievement gives it an excellent capacity for improvement. The headteacher and senior leaders provide outstanding support for teaching, including behaviour management. For example, teachers new to the school may enter as satisfactory practitioners, but they become outstanding ones rapidly. The extremely well- informed governing body provides excellent challenge and support, especially through the standards and achievement meetings. Parents and carers agree that the school is led very well, one typically commenting ‘This is a beautifully run school by

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Leadership and management

The excellent curriculum provides opportunities for high-quality learning, motivating pupils exceptionally well. ‘My child is so enthusiastic about the topic on the Romans, I wish I’d been taught like this,’ was the comment of one parent. It has a considerable impact on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development, gaining the school the Quality Mark Award for basic skills teaching and an International Award for pupils’ awareness of different countries and cultures. Intervention programmes and support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are outstanding. These strengths, encouraged by the governing body, underpin the school’s successful prevention of discrimination and pupils’ excellent equality of opportunity.

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Leadership and management

Outstanding partnerships with other schools and organisations benefit pupils’ education and welfare exceptionally well. Links with the local church make an excellent contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, and social development. Close liaison with other agencies, together with the rigorous attention paid to the prevention of bullying, vetting of staff, and child protection, ensure that all safeguarding requirements are fully met. Parents and carers are very appreciative of how well they are informed and they support children’s learning very well, both at home and in the classroom. However, the wide range of programmes available electronically to support homework is currently underused. Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 8 of 11

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100. Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 9 of 11

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning. Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 10 of 11

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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School, Worthing BN12 4NT

Thank you for welcoming us to your school. We enjoyed our time talking to you and seeing all the things you do very much. I want to thank particularly the pupils who read with us or gave up their time to talk to us. We have judged your school to be outstanding and are very pleased that so many of you think so too.

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School, Worthing BN12 4NT

Here are some of the things we found that were especially good about the school.  Reception-Year children get off to an excellent start and, in all classes, you achieve very well in lots of subjects. Those of you who find learning or behaving well difficult receive outstanding support and achieve as well as your classmates. By the time you leave, your attainment is a year ahead of where it is expected to be.  Teaching is outstanding. Staff plan very exciting and challenging activities. They are especially good at explaining things and questioning you to help your understanding or move you on to a new level. We are extremely impressed by how well you understand your learning and know what to do to improve.  Behaviour is excellent and you have outstanding attitudes to your work. You are very thoughtful, friendly and helpful young people, who are especially good at working with each other.  You have an excellent headteacher. Together with staff and members of the

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School, Worthing BN12 4NT

governing body, she is exceptionally good at helping the school to improve, which it has done very well since the last inspection.

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School, Worthing BN12 4NT

Here is what we have asked the school to improve. Your parents and carers do a lot to help you with homework, but not many use ‘Moodle’, the special website which gives them ideas on how to do this. We have asked the school to think of a better way to provide these activities and advice.

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School, Worthing BN12 4NT

Di Wilkinson Lead inspector (on behalf of the inspection team) Inspection report: Goring-by-Sea Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 23–24 February 2012 11 of 11

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School, Worthing BN12 4NT

procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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