Grundisburgh Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 22–23 March 2012 Inspection number 380924 Grundisburgh Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 124584 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 380924 Inspection dates 22–23 March 2012 Lead inspector Nick Butt

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 148 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Clive Willets Headteacher John Lynch Date of previous school inspection 25 November 2008 School address Alice Driver Road Grundisburgh Woodbridge IP13 6XH Telephone number 01473 735281 Fax number 01473 735126 Email address ad.grundisburgh.p@talk21.com 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

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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’.

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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

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspector observed nine lessons taught by six teachers. Meetings were held with parents, carers and pupils, two members of the governing body and members of staff. The inspector took account of the responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at a wide range of documentation including self-evaluation documents, strategic plans and other development plans. The inspector scrutinised 74 questionnaires returned by parents and carers and those returned by staff and pupils.

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Information about the school

Grundisburgh is smaller than the average-sized primary school. Almost all pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is average. The school meets current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress. There are six classes, with mixed-aged groups in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 and a few Year 2 pupils in the Year 3 class. The headteacher joined the school in January 2011. 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

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Key findings

 Grundisburgh is a good school. It has maintained above-average attainment since its last inspection and all pupils achieve well. All teaching is consistently good. It is not outstanding because there is not enough outstanding teaching yet. Some inconsistencies remain in the implementation of the marking policy.

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Key findings

 Pupils make good progress from starting points a little below those normally expected. Achievement is good throughout the school. The school is particularly successful in helping pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable to overcome barriers to learning.

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Key findings

 All lessons are conducted at a brisk pace and engage pupils well in learning. There is plenty of practical activity, which pupils enjoy. Lessons are well- organised and purposeful, but do not always inspire pupils to excel. Some teachers are successfully using whole-class books as a focus for learning, but the extent to which this happens varies.

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Key findings

 Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding both in the classroom and around the school. Pupils are extremely considerate of one another and go out of their way to help somebody in need. The older pupils look after the younger ones particularly well. A pupil said, ‘Everyone’s happy – we all have big smiles on our faces!’

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Key findings

 Leadership and management are good. The headteacher has quickly won the respect of the whole school community and built on the school’s many existing strengths. He has focused on the leadership of teaching so that all teaching is now consistently good, and on management of performance. He has identified that the existing tracking system has limited usefulness as a measure of pupils’ progress and is changing to one that meets the school’s requirements more precisely. The governing body gives a strong strategic lead and provides a good level of challenge for senior leaders. 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

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching by:  taking every opportunity to inspire pupils to make even better progress  ensuring that the school’s marking policy is consistently applied by all staff so that all pupils know how to improve their work and respond to teachers’ comments  building on the work to use whole-class books as a basis for accelerating pupils’ learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Build the capacity of staff with leadership responsibilities further by:  using a more efficient and accessible tracking system  agreeing common procedures for lesson observations.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and say how interesting and enjoyable they find lessons. They particularly like being actively involved, as when Year 4 pupils designed and carried out experiments to see which substances dissolve in water. They planned a fair test and predicted what they thought would happen, comparing this with the actual outcomes of their investigations. Pupils collaborate well in class and are keen to share their ideas. For example, pupils in Years 1 and 2 read out examples of complex sentences that begin with time connectives such as ‘during’ and ‘while’.

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Achievement of pupils

Children achieve well in Reception because the activities promote their early reading and writing skills. For example, two boys chose to write a get-well letter to an absent friend. This year, for the first time, all children had joined the school by January and attainment is likely to be at least broadly average in most areas of learning, reflecting their good progress. This good progress continues because teaching is consistently good in every class. Attainment is above average in writing in Year 2 and well above average by the time pupils leave at the end of Year 6. Writing is particularly strong this year because of the measures the school has taken to encourage pupils to write with a purpose and for extended periods of time. Reading is taught well, so that attainment is above average by the end of Year 2 and when pupils leave in Year 6. Younger pupils have a good understanding of the sounds that

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Achievement of pupils

letters make and older pupils enjoy reading a wide range of books. All parents and carers rightly believe that their children make good progress at Grundisburgh. Attainment in mathematics is also above average in Year 2 and 6.

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Achievement of pupils

Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress because support is tailored precisely to meet their needs. Experienced teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to their good achievement. There are no 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

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Achievement of pupils

gaps in attainment between different groups of pupils and all pupils nationally.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers are very clear about what they want pupils to learn and are good at explaining to them the objective of the lesson; they often share with pupils the steps to success that will enable them to meet its aims. They use open-ended questioning well to make pupils think and extend their understanding. Both teachers and pupils use technology well as a tool to promote learning. For example, Year 3 pupils added hyperlinks to electronic presentations they were compiling about the Caribbean island of St Lucia. Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can do and achieve, and this leads to good quality work. For example, Year 4 pupils wrote metaphorical poems inspired by the Van Gogh painting ‘Starry Night’. One pupil wrote:

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Quality of teaching

‘They are not sparkling silver shields from strong soldiers from the war Neither God’s glittering nails holding up the night’s sky’.

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Quality of teaching

The planned curriculum is well designed to ensure that work challenges all pupils and meets their differing needs and abilities, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. This is especially so where classes have mixed-age groups in Key Stage 1. The impact of teaching on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils work hard and support one another in class, sometimes assessing each other’s progress. Pupils gain a good understanding of other cultures through story-telling, art and music. A whole-school focus on teaching aspects of the Chinese New Year produced high quality work including tissue-paper lanterns, dragon arm puppets and slat-style books of Chinese writing. Pupils say, ‘I’m learning new things every day’ and their positive views about teaching and learning are justifiably supported by all parents and carers.

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Quality of teaching

All pupils have individual curriculum targets in their books and most know what these are. Much work has been done to improve marking, and in most classes pupils receive regular guidance about how to improve their work. How this is set out varies, however, and pupils do not always have opportunities to respond to their teachers’ comments. While teaching is consistently good, there is not more outstanding teaching because there are not enough lessons that really inspire pupils to do their very best as a result of imaginative approaches to learning.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are highly adept at managing their own behaviour without prompting from adults. For example, in a drama lesson, a group of pupils encouraged the weakest member to take the lead role in explaining their sketch in order to boost his confidence. Parents and carers are extremely positive about their children’s behaviour. Pupils also say that behaviour is very good. They are adamant that there is no bullying of any kind, such as cyber bullying, and say that adults are very good at dealing with any concerns they may have. School records support the view that behaviour is typically outstanding, with very few incidents that merit noting and no 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

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

racist incidents at all. Pupils are fully engaged in lessons and seize every opportunity to make the most of their schooling. For example, more than half the school takes part in the choir, and excels in performing both in school and at venues around the county. Leaders can point to examples of pupils whose circumstances made them vulnerable blossoming as a result of the kindness of their peers and the excellent pastoral care the school provides. Pupils’ great enjoyment of school is reflected in their outstanding attendance.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils say that they feel completely safe in school and their parents and carers all agree with them. Pupils have a very good understanding of potentially unsafe situations and what to do in an emergency. Their caring and tolerant attitudes ensure that everybody is included and work and play together in a happy and harmonious atmosphere.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher has communicated his vision very well since joining the school just over a year ago. He has won the respect of parents and carers, staff, pupils and the governing body alike. He has high standards and has lost no time in developing the school’s existing strengths as well as tackling areas of relative weakness. Lesson- planning is tighter as a result and marking, while not fully consistent, is more effective. Good professional development has ensured that teaching is consistently good. Approaches to lesson observation are, however, variable, so that not all staff apply the same rigour when observing teaching. Self-evaluation is accurate and leads to well-written plans for improvement. The governing body holds the headteacher to account very well and takes an active role in monitoring progress towards achieving the school’s priorities on the school development plan. Leadership of the Early Years

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Leadership and management

Foundation Stage is good, and staff work together well to ensure children make good progress. The school’s success in maintaining above-average attainment and its good progress since the last inspection confirms its strong capacity to improve further.

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Leadership and management

While the school tracks the progress of individual pupils, and is able to gather basic information about the performance of year groups, the existing tracking system is limited in its scope and not very efficient. The headteacher has made it a priority to replace it with a system that is more accessible for staff and the governing body, and which produces a wider range of information about how different groups of pupils are performing. The curriculum provides a good range of memorable experiences for pupils. Recent whole-school projects such as ‘East Feast’ about growing food and a multi-cultural ‘Art Week’ when pupils made large hangings from around the world, were particular successes. The outdoor curriculum is well developed, with pupils having free access to woodland, wildlife areas and the school’s garden. They rear their own hens and sell the eggs. The curriculum has a positive impact on pupils’

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Leadership and management

spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through circle time, when they discuss moral dilemmas, and enrichment activities such as a biennial residential visit to France.

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Leadership and management

Equality of opportunity is at the heart of all the school does. Pupils are valued as 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

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Leadership and management

individuals and every effort is made to help them succeed academically and socially. Discrimination is robustly tackled. Safeguarding arrangements are of a high quality, with meticulous records kept and everybody trained up to date. Parents and carers are great ambassadors for the school, with extremely positive views about all its work. A typical comment that summed up the school was, ‘Children leave Grundisburgh with more than a great education; a sense of pride, self confidence; a sense of belonging and happy childhood memories’.

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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.

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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.

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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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Inspection of Grundisburgh Primary School, Woodbridge, IP13 6XH

Thank you for making me so welcome when I visited your school recently and for sharing your views with me both in person and through filling in the questionnaire. I particularly enjoyed watching the choir perform. I agree with you that Grundisburgh is a good school. Here are some of its strengths.

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Inspection of Grundisburgh Primary School, Woodbridge, IP13 6XH

 You make good progress in your work and do better than most pupils nationally.  Your behaviour is outstanding and you look after one another very well.  You have an excellent attendance record.  The teaching is always good and teachers make lessons enjoyable and interesting.  There are exciting projects for you to enjoy such as ‘East Feast’ and ‘Art Week’.  The school is led and managed well by the headteacher, senior leaders and the governing body.

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Inspection of Grundisburgh Primary School, Woodbridge, IP13 6XH

For your school to become even better I have asked leaders and teachers to:

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Inspection of Grundisburgh Primary School, Woodbridge, IP13 6XH

 make learning even more exciting for you  use marking consistently to show you how to improve your work  make more use of whole-class books to develop your learning  install a new system to track how well you are doing  agree how they are going to check the quality of lessons.

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Inspection of Grundisburgh Primary School, Woodbridge, IP13 6XH

You all can help by continuing to do your best and responding to your teacher’s comments in your books.

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Inspection of Grundisburgh Primary School, Woodbridge, IP13 6XH

Nick Butt 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 .

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