Osmaston CofE (VC) Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 19–20 March 2012 Inspection number 378578 Osmaston CofE (VC) Primary School Inspection report

p.1

Unique reference number 112847 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 378578 Inspection dates 19–20 March 2012 Lead inspector John Horwood

p.1

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

p.1

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 126 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Bailey Headteacher Jeanette Hart Date of previous school inspection 28 June 2007 School address Moor Lane Osmaston Ashbourne DE6 1LW Telephone number 01335 343140 Fax number 01335 343140 Email address info@osmaston.derbyshire.sch.uk 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 education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

p.1

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 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’.

p.2

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.

p.2

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

p.2

Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. The inspector used a number of strategies to observe learning. These included lesson observations ranging from 10 to 35 minutes. Over three hours was spent observing teaching, which included visiting seven lessons taught by four teachers. Meetings were held with staff, members of the governing body and groups of pupils. Informal discussions also took place with parents, carers and pupils. The inspector took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at documents including the school improvement plan, minutes of meetings, the school’s information on pupils’ progress and samples of pupils’ work. The responses to 100 questionnaires from parents and carers, 12 responses from staff and 73 responses from pupils were examined and analysed.

p.3

Information about the school

Osmaston CofE (VC) Primary School is a smaller than average-sized primary school. All pupils are taught in mixed-age classes. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is much lower than that found nationally and a well-below average proportion speaks English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is lower than that found nationally. The proportions of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are similar to the national figures but none have a statement of special educational needs.

p.3

Information about the school

The school was awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the primary school of the year section of the School Sports Matters Awards 2011. It was also recognised in a letter from the Minister of State for Schools as being amongst the 100 top performing primary schools in 2010.The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

p.3

Key findings

 This is an outstanding school. Excellent leadership ensures that outstanding teaching enables pupils to reach high levels of attainment. Behaviour throughout the school is outstanding and attendance is high. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly satisfied with the school and a typical comment was that ‘Osmaston is a fantastic school delivering an excellent all-round education’.  Most pupils make outstanding progress. This includes pupils with disabilities and those with special educational needs. Rapid progress is seen in all subjects.  Teachers set challenging targets and always tell pupils what to do to get to the next level in their learning. Lessons involve a rapid pace of learning and teachers skilfully set work to match the needs of pupils across the age ranges in their classes. Teachers share each others’ best practices in order to maintain the high levels of attainment but there is not a formal system to ensure this

p.4

Key findings

continues in the event of any staff changes.  Pupils thrive on the rewards they get for all aspects of their learning and for aspects of their social development. They make an excellent contribution to keeping themselves and others safe, for example by active involvement in promotion of internet safety and anti-bullying. Pupils say they feel safe in school and are taught how to keep safe and healthy.  The inspirational headteacher is well supported by the governing body and staff in pursuing her vision for enabling pupils to achieve their full potential. This vision is typified by the outstanding sporting successes the school has achieved. Rigorous monitoring and evaluation of teaching, supported by excellent professional development opportunities, has led to outstanding teaching. All aspects of the curriculum are outstanding in supporting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

p.4

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the existing high levels of attainment are maintained by formalising the current systems used to share best practice. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

p.4

Achievement of pupils

Children enter Reception with skills in line with those expected for their age. The Early Years Foundation Stage teacher carries out a base-line assessment early in the Autumn term as children come from a wide range of pre-school provision. In Reception children make rapid progress and attainment is above average when they move to Year 1. Attainment levels and progress made are closely monitored and analysed.

p.5

Achievement of pupils

In Key Stages 1 and 2 pupils make outstanding progress. Attainment in mathematics and English, including pupils’ reading skills are well above average in Year 2 and high at the end of Key Stage 2. Pupils make rapid progress in all lessons and gain a very good knowledge and understanding in a wide range of subjects across the curriculum. All groups make similar progress including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Throughout the school, the progress seen in lessons is always at least good and mainly outstanding. This is confirmed by the work seen in books. All parents and carers who returned questionnaires said their child is making good progress. Pupils have also excelled in many sports and arts.

p.5

Achievement of pupils

Pupils enjoy their learning, as was seen in a Reception lesson where children all joined in investigation work about different shapes. They already showed mature and sensible approaches to learning together. In a Years 2 and 3 geography lesson pupils developed an excellent understanding of the moral issues associated with deforestation, so supporting their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. In all lessons pupils show good attitudes to learning and are keen to answer questions and join in the activities. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are always fully integrated into activities and well supported by adults.

p.5

Quality of teaching

Children in Reception benefit from outstanding teaching including that of letters and sounds (phonics). Learning is linked between the indoor and outdoor areas and children have good opportunities to choose their own activities. Children’s emotional development is well supported by caring staff and the small group size. They work closely with the Year 1 pupils ensuring a smooth transition into the Key Stage 1 learning.

p.5

Quality of teaching

Throughout the school teachers have excellent relationships with pupils. They use their knowledge of pupils’ abilities to plan their lessons and also to respond quickly to any misunderstandings of the subject that arise during the lesson. The curriculum is planned on a two-year cycle so that work is not repeated. Teachers plan exceptionally well to ensure that both year groups in their class are challenged and make excellent progress. The impact of the teaching is evident in the rapid progress Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

p.5

Quality of teaching

pupils make. Members of the teaching staff work very well together to increase the effectiveness of their teaching. Exchanges of ideas help teachers to provide a range of stimulating activities by developing links between subjects to make learning meaningful. All of the teaching seen during the inspection was at least good and most was outstanding, a finding consistent with the outcomes of routine observations carried out by school leaders. Teachers are very effective in helping pupils understand the purpose of learning activities and high quality marking of their work ensures that they know how to reach their targets. Teaching assistants provide good support both in the classroom and during small group work.

p.6

Quality of teaching

In the two upper-school classes, English and mathematics are taught by the subject leaders. In these lessons teachers’ subject knowledge was excellent and pupils responded well to the challenges set. In the Year 5 and 6 mathematics lesson about division, pupils were questioned in depth about the methods they could use and they responded well with a range of ideas. In the Year 5 and 6 English lesson the task of analysing text for the organisation of content and language features was very well presented whilst challenging for the pupils. This demonstrated the high expectations that teachers have of the pupils’ abilities.

p.6

Quality of teaching

Teachers plan well to develop both academic and personal skills well, using themes to link subjects and activities which extend and develop pupils’ basic skills. Teaching has an excellent impact on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development by providing good role models and using curriculum content to teach about other faiths and cultures, for example. The vast majority of pupils agreed that teaching was always good and all parents and carers who completed the questionnaires agreed that their children are well taught. These views are consistent with the inspection findings.

p.6

Behaviour and safety of pupils

The behaviour seen during the inspection was outstanding. Parents and carers, as well as pupils and staff, confirm that this is the normal situation in the school. The questionnaire responses about behaviour and bullying are very positive. This is also reflected by pupils saying they feel safe in school, a view shared by staff, parents and carers. There is no evidence of repeated bullying in the school and on the very rare occasion any occurs it is dealt with quickly. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are well cared for and feel safe. Pupils are aware of the need for internet security and no incidents of cyber bullying have been recorded. Pupils are very active in promoting good behaviour and safety. The school council led an assembly as part of anti-bullying week and supported the introduction of playground buddies. Pupils also contribute to producing school rules as well as enthusiastically

p.6

Behaviour and safety of pupils

taking on responsibilities to help during the school day. Pupils have also produced posters about keeping safe The school has excellent health and safety procedures with an outstanding approach to risk assessments. Incidents of any type are very rare and there have been no exclusions in recent years. The school is a very harmonious community with excellent relationships throughout. Inspection findings support the prevailing view that behaviour and safety are typically outstanding. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

p.6

Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance at school is high compared to other schools.

p.7

Leadership and management

The headteacher provides outstanding leadership and is very well supported by the deputy headteacher, the subject coordinators, the Early Years Foundation Stage leader and the governing body. Since the previous inspection they have addressed fully all the areas identified for improvement. They have introduced and now manage a ‘before and after school club’ to extend pupils’ opportunities, provided professional development for staff so that teaching has improved from good to outstanding, which has in turn led to pupils making outstanding progress. During this time the behaviour and the curriculum have been maintained as outstanding. The school has an outstanding capacity for sustained improvement. The governing body provides excellent support and challenge to the school. Governors have a good understanding of the school and what needs to be done for it to improve further. The excellent relationships throughout the school mean that every pupil is well known by adults

p.7

Leadership and management

and their needs are addressed to ensure they all have equal opportunities to succeed. The achievement of all groups of pupils is similar and there is no evidence of discrimination of any kind. Members of the governing body and school leaders are all involved in monitoring the well-being of pupils and all safeguarding requirements are met.

p.7

Leadership and management

The school leaders have supported teachers well in developing their skills through a programme of classroom observation and professional development. The subject leaders have also been supported in developing their role and are now fully involved in school improvement. The school improvement plan is appropriate in content to the small size of the school. It clearly focuses on what needs to be done and is based on a clear understanding of the school.

p.7

Leadership and management

The curriculum is broad and balanced with an outstanding range of extra-curricular opportunities. It supports the interests of pupils and so, for example, is being modified this year to reflect their interest in the 2012 Olympics. Pupils talk excitedly about the clubs and activities available to them after school. There is great enthusiasm for sport and the school has been very successful in competitions. The curriculum is well adapted to support disabled pupils and those with special educational needs as well as ensuring opportunities are provided for the specific gifts and talents of pupils. All pupils have the opportunity to go on a residential visit, usually in Year 5 or Year 6. Through the partnerships with other schools pupils have good opportunities to meet pupils from different backgrounds to their own and there are opportunities through the local cluster of schools to provide additional opportunities for those who have particular gifts or talents. The curriculum makes a

p.7

Leadership and management

strong contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, not the least through its strong links with the local church community and through visits to the more multi-cultural centres in Derby.

p.7

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.

p.8

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

p.8

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.

p.8

Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

p.8

Common terminology used by inspectors

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

p.9

Common terminology used by inspectors

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

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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.

p.9

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

main findings from the inspection of their school.

p.10

Inspection of Osmaston CE(VC) Primary School, Osmaston, DE6 1LW

Thank you for making me so welcome when I visited your school. I enjoyed talking with you and looking at the work you do. Your school provides you with an outstanding education.

p.10

Inspection of Osmaston CE(VC) Primary School, Osmaston, DE6 1LW

There are many things I admired about your school and these are a few of them.  You all get on very well together and enjoy coming to school.  You feel very safe and contribute well to helping others.  You make excellent progress in your lessons because of outstanding teaching.  Behaviour is normally outstanding throughout the school.  Your teachers give you lots of challenges in lessons which make lessons enjoyable and help you to learn.  Your headteacher is an excellent leader.  You have lots of opportunities for sport – congratulations on your successes.

p.10

Inspection of Osmaston CE(VC) Primary School, Osmaston, DE6 1LW

For the school to continue to be outstanding, I have asked your headteacher to ensure that teachers always share with each other things that have worked well in lessons.

p.10

Inspection of Osmaston CE(VC) Primary School, Osmaston, DE6 1LW

All of you can help the school to move forward by continuing to work hard. I wish you every success in the future.

p.10

Inspection of Osmaston CE(VC) Primary School, Osmaston, DE6 1LW

John Horwood Lead inspector 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 .

p.10