Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr D Nelmes Headteacher Littleham Church of England Primary School Littledown Close Littleham Exmouth EX8 2QY

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education in primary schools

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff and pupils, during my visit on 24 May 2012 to look at work in enterprise education.

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education in primary schools

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

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education in primary schools

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with staff and pupils; scrutiny of relevant documentation; analysis of pupils’ work; and observation of two lessons.

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education in primary schools

The overall effectiveness of enterprise education in promoting pupils’ economic and business understanding and enterprise and financial capability is good.

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Achievement in enterprise education

Achievement in enterprise education is good.

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Achievement in enterprise education

 Pupils demonstrate very well-developed employability skills as they work in teams, show leadership and take responsibility in a wide range of contexts. Older pupils for example have been well trained as playleaders to organise and deliver a rich programme of lunchtime activities for their younger peers. The Year 5/6 class has been fully involved in the research and design of a new village play park, working within a budget and dealing with representatives of contractors and the local council. Pupils regularly carry out a full range of duties in the school office. They show enterprise in organising fundraising activities for a large number of charities.  Pupils’ financial capability is sound. Their skills in recognising coins and counting money are lower than expected in the Early Years Foundation Stage, but their competence grows through the school as they deal with increasingly complex questions involving money. By Years 5 and 6 they

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Achievement in enterprise education

speak confidently about allocating budgets to projects.  Pupils’ understanding of the economic and environmental issues around sustainability in the use of resources is a key strength. A very energetic eco-committee continually reviews aspects of the school’s functions and local developments in terms of their environmental impact. However, the understanding of current economic events such as recession and inflation is limited for many pupils.  Many pupils have clear and well-considered aspirations for future occupations, but they have a limited understanding of pathways into careers and how these might match their own skills and personal qualities.

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Quality of teaching in enterprise education

The quality of teaching in enterprise education is good.

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Quality of teaching in enterprise education

 Lessons and projects involving enterprise themes are well designed and managed. They incorporate a wide range of opportunities for pupils to develop and apply their literacy and numeracy, as well as other key skills, such as working with others and using information and communication technology. For example, in the project to design the village play park, pupils processed the results of the opinion surveys they conducted using spreadsheets to present a report using clear charts, and wrote persuasive letters to councillors and planners. Many projects are related to current real-world themes such as Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics.  Teachers know their pupils well. They group pupils effectively and use questioning appropriately to promote full engagement of all pupils in lesson activities. However, in mixed-age classes with a wide range of ability, high attaining pupils are not always challenged to produce answers

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Quality of the curriculum in enterprise education

The quality of the curriculum in enterprise education is satisfactory.

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Quality of the curriculum in enterprise education

 Pupils have many opportunities within and beyond the formal curriculum to apply their leadership and teamworking skills. In a small school, all pupils are given responsibilities and discharge them with a good deal of maturity. The number of enterprise-related projects is increasing, such as those involving the growing and sale of plants in the new garden plots. However, no formal framework is in place to guide the progressive development of enterprise skills and economic understanding. Some opportunities are therefore lost to make the most of the learning presented in the many activities that take place.  The school’s ethos encourages pupils to reflect carefully on how their contributions can make a positive difference to others. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted very effectively through their fundraising work for charities and their strong commitment to the protection of the environment. Pupils’ understanding of global

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Quality of the curriculum in enterprise education

economic development is enhanced by their charity work and links with schools in France and Kenya, but they have few opportunities to experience working with foreign currencies.  Members of the public services, such as the police and fire services, visit the school occasionally to talk about their work, and pupils have a number of opportunities to explore the roles and functions of local councillors. There are, however, relatively few active links with businesses to support enterprise education in the school and to develop pupils’ understanding of the workplace.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in enterprise education

The effectiveness of leadership and management in enterprise education is good.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in enterprise education

 The school’s aims - ‘to help children develop into independent, confident people’ and ‘make a positive contribution’ - give a strong focus to the many opportunities provided to develop pupils’ employability skills. You articulate a clear vision for strengthening further this aspect of the school’s work. The school’s outward-looking approach has promoted a very effective engagement with the local and wider community, which has done much to promote pupils’ role as active citizens.  The school has a very clear understanding of its strengths and weaknesses in this subject area. However, there are few formal ways of evaluating the success of provision in terms of outcomes for pupils.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 developing links with businesses to support enterprise projects and develop pupils’ understanding of workplaces and career pathways  strengthening pupils’ understanding of current economic events  developing a coherent programme for the progressive development and evaluation of pupils’ enterprise skills and economic understanding.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope that these observations are useful as you continue to develop enterprise education in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

As explained previously, a copy of this letter will be published on the Ofsted website. It may be used to inform decisions about any future inspection. A copy of this letter is also being sent to your local authority.

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