Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Age group 4–10 Inspection date(s) 14–15 June 2012 Inspection number 377892 Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 109241 Local authority North Somerset Inspection number 377892 Inspection dates 14–15 June 2012 Lead inspector Gordon Ewing

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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 Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–10 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 175 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Lesley Millard Headteacher Gillian Quick Date of previous school inspection 18 September 2007 School address Woodspring Avenue Worlebury Weston-super-Mare BS22 9RH Telephone number 01934 625923 Fax number 01934 625923 Email address Worlebury.pri@n-somerset.gov.uk Inspection report: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 2 of 12

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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 education 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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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: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 3 of 12

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Inspectors visited twenty lessons, observing seven teachers. Meetings were held with the headteacher, other senior leaders, members of the governing body, members of staff and groups of pupils. Informal discussions were conducted with some parents and carers, and with pupils. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line Parent View questionnaire in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work and scrutinised documentation, including the systems for assessing and monitoring pupils’ progress, pupils’ work and teachers’ planning and marking. Policies and procedures for safeguarding pupils were scrutinised. Inspectors also took account of questionnaires completed by 90 parents and carers, 15 staff and 81 pupils.

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Information about the school

Worlebury St Paul’s is smaller than the average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well below average, with the great majority of pupils being of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well below average. The number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus, or with a statement of special educational needs, is well below average; predominantly, these pupils have speech, language and communication needs.

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Information about the school

The school is working towards a phased expansion in order to become a 210-place primary school by September 2012. A significant building programme is now complete. As the school has yet to have a Year 6 cohort, its performance is not yet measured against the current floor standard, which are the minimum standards expected by the government.

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Information about the school

The school has experienced some significant staffing issues in recent times.

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Information about the school

A serious incident that occurred at the school since the last education inspection has been investigated by the appropriate authorities and is now closed. Ofsted does not have the power to investigate incidents of this kind. The welfare provision in the school was evaluated against regulations that are in place and inspection judgements are based on the evidence available at the time of the inspection. Inspection report: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 4 of 12

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Information about the school

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

 Worlebury St Paul’s is a good school that is successfully emerging from a period of significant disruption because the senior leadership team has taken robust and decisive action to address key areas of concern. It is not yet outstanding because the proportion of outstanding teaching is not high enough to accelerate learning so that pupils’ achievement is at its best. Furthermore, pupils are not provided with enough opportunities to acquire securely the skills necessary to develop high levels of independence in their learning.

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Key findings

 Achievement is good throughout the school. All groups of pupils make better than typically expected progress, and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 and Year 5 is above average and rising over time.

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Key findings

 The quality of teaching has been variable in the past, largely due to significant staff turnover. However, it is now securely good because effective performance management and focused staff training have addressed issues of consistency, for example, in improving attainment in writing. Teachers are enthusiastic and dynamic in using their good subject knowledge, precise questioning and well- focused resources to challenge pupils of all abilities. That said, pupils are not given enough opportunities to tackle open-ended investigations, to evaluate their learning meaningfully or to develop skills in the use of reference tools, including information and communication technology (ICT), with confidence and independence.

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Key findings

 Very positive relationships throughout the school, founded on pupils’ good attitudes to learning, ensure that behaviour is good. Together with robust and precise systems to safeguard pupils and adults, these create a safe and vibrant learning environment for all. Attendance is consistently above average.

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Key findings

 The effective leadership of the headteacher and the focused support of a knowledgeable governing body have ensured that the school is moving forward Inspection report: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 5 of 12

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Key findings

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

convincingly in meeting its ambitious agenda of improvement despite some significant challenges, particularly with regards to staffing.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching so pupils make sustained and accelerated progress, especially in reading, writing and mathematics, by:  sharing existing best practice and ensuring, through additional training and peer coaching, that all teachers have a confident understanding of the key features of outstanding teaching  ensuring that an increased number of classroom activities are precisely designed to provide pupils with challenging and open-ended learning opportunities  closely tracking the impact of professional development activities on pupils’ achievement in order to identify and spread the improving practice across the staff.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase pupils’ independence and critical thinking in their learning, so that they apply a wide range of skills to best effect, by:  ensuring that pupils have an explicit understanding of the key steps to success in every learning activity  developing pupils’ independence in selecting appropriate resources, including ICT, to support and advance their learning  improving pupils’ use of self- and peer-evaluation so that their actions are focused specifically on their learning outcomes and on setting their own targets without unnecessary reliance on adults.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils make good progress in their learning and achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics from starting points similar to those expected for their age. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage get off to a confident start because staff know them as individuals and work successfully in making learning well tuned to their needs. Across the school, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs achieve as well as their classmates. This is because adults provide personalised support that ensures learning activities offer just the right amount of challenge to spur pupils on. Pupils’ attainment in reading at the end of Key Stage 1 and Year 5 is above average because the school’s approach to teaching phonics (linking letters and sounds) is consistent and effective throughout the school. The very large majority of parents and carers are of the view that their children make good progress at this

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Achievement of pupils

school. Inspection evidence supports this view.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ enjoyment of all that the school provides is tangible throughout the school. Inspection report: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 6 of 12

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Achievement of pupils

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

They are enthusiastic learners and work hard to rise to the challenges that lessons provide. They are exposed to a wide range of learning activities and are keen to respond to teachers’ well-selected questions and feedback. For example, in an effective Year 3 literacy lesson, pupils were developing their understanding of personification in poetry. The teacher selected an excellent poem about a river, read the poem with atmospheric effect and then ably challenged the pupils to reflect on how they could empathise with the river as a character. Pupils used their talk partners to share and refine their understanding of personification and created their own poem of themselves as the river. Their writing was greatly enriched by the experience as they used their five senses to imaginatively describe the flow of the river down to the sea. However, pupils are not consistently provided with opportunities to develop their independent learning skills and this limits the pace of

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Quality of teaching

Teaching is good across the school. Teachers closely track individual pupils’ progress using a school-wide systematic tracking process. This swiftly identifies any underperformance and intervention is triggered to help pupils make up any lost ground. Teachers and teaching assistants work in close partnership so that activities are generally well adapted to pupils’ pace of learning, including for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Consequently, no pupil is left behind. That said, occasionally, teaching assistants are not always effectively deployed, especially when the teacher is leading the whole class, and opportunities can be missed to provide additional one-to-one support. A particular strength of the teaching is the way in which teachers work to engage and stimulate pupils. This was evident in an effective Years 3 and 4 lesson where groups of pupils worked collaboratively to

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Quality of teaching

promote an imaginary planet as a tourist destination. They worked well in separate teams on producing a presentation to parents and carers at the end of the afternoon. Pupils used their prior knowledge of the solar system to choose the best position for the planet, used ICT judiciously to produce promotional leaflets, and music to enhance their presentation. The whole activity enabled pupils to use a range of key skills to create colourful display stands that clearly impressed the invited guests.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers’ marking is accurate, positive and punctual. Their feedback in pupils’ books helps to move learning forward and to provide pupils with targeted ‘next step’ guidance that sets additional challenges. Pupils are encouraged to evaluate their work on a frequent basis but most pupils tend to consider what they have done rather than what they have learned. This is because pupils are not consistently provided with the key skills to judge how well they are learning. Furthermore, though lessons often provide pupils with thought-provoking and challenging activities, not enough activities encourage them to undertake open-ended investigations or to use a broad spectrum of learning resources. Consequently, pupils’ skills in the use of reference tools are underdeveloped and few are able to use a dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopaedia or ICT independently and effectively in order to reduce their reliance on adults. As a result, opportunities are sometimes missed to develop pupils’

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Quality of teaching

independent learning skills. Sensitive and thought-provoking teaching ensures that Inspection report: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 7 of 12

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Quality of teaching

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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Quality of teaching

pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strong feature in shaping every pupil as an individual.

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Quality of teaching

The very large majority of parents and carers express the view that pupils are taught well. Their children agree. As one pupil remarked, ‘Teachers are helpful in moving us forward.’

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils feel very safe, are well cared for and enjoy coming to school. As one parent noted, ‘The care and kindness from all staff is excellent’. Pupils clearly want to come to school and their attendance and punctuality reflect this. Relationships are very positive and pupils work and play together as part of a cohesive and harmonious community. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed being involved in developing the reward- based approach to managing behaviour, reflected in the comment, ‘Our behaviour system works well’. Incidents of bullying of any kind are rare and pupils express confidence in adults when they have a concern or are worried. They have a good awareness of the different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying and prejudice- based harassment, and report that problems are dealt with quickly. On a few occasions, when lessons lack a sharp focus, some pupils’ attention can waiver but teachers’ good behaviour management ensures that they are soon brought back on

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

track. Pupils play a formative role in improving aspects of school life and sensitively support each other in lessons and at play.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The very large majority of parents, carers and pupils rightly judge that behaviour and safety are good and disruption to learning is low.

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Leadership and management

There is no doubt that the school has experienced significant turbulence in staffing and a few parents and carers have expressed justified concerns over the impact of this on pupils’ learning. However, the strong and decisive leadership of the headteacher, with the support of the able governing body, has ensured greater stability, and leaders have shown considerable resilience in addressing key staffing issues. As a result, the school is emerging from this difficult period with vigour and focus. Consequently, areas of underachievement for a few pupils in some classes have been addressed successfully so that all groups now make good progress and any gaps in performance are closing rapidly.

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Leadership and management

The school has set out a challenging improvement agenda and this is embraced fully across the staff, whose morale is high. The school’s sustained improvements in achievement over time are founded on a strong and effective commitment to focused training and systematic performance management for all adults. For example, the Early Years Foundation Stage leader has been encouraged to use an action research project to evaluate children’s performance in problem solving, reasoning and numeracy. This project has had a significant impact on improving children’s key skills, for example, in calculation, so that their achievement is now similar to that in Inspection report: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 8 of 12

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Leadership and management

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

reading, writing and communication. Nevertheless, leaders recognise that in order to increase the proportion of outstanding teaching there is scope to provide additional opportunities for teachers to share best practice and to develop a secure understanding of the features of highly effective teaching.

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Leadership and management

The good curriculum is stimulating, effectively structured and accurately tuned to pupils’ needs so that they develop secure basic skills and are well prepared for the challenges ahead, both within and beyond the school. Pupils’ learning experiences help them to consider important issues in life and to reflect on how their actions affect those around them. One parent wrote, ‘It is an excellent school with lovely morals, standards and values’. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school’s work. The safeguarding of pupils and staff has a high priority and procedures and practice are systematic and rigorous. The whole staff are meticulous in ensuring that any form of discrimination or inequality is addressed swiftly and sensitively.

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Leadership and management

The very large majority of parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire said that they would recommend this school to another parent or carer.

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Leadership and management

As a result of the school’s accurate self-evaluation, the leadership’s success in addressing some key challenges and the secure and improving picture of achievement over time, the school’s capacity to sustain further improvement is good. Inspection report: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 9 of 12

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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 to 31 December 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: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 10 of 12

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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

Floor standards: the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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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: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 11 of 12

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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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Primary School, Weston-super-Mare, BS22 9RH

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome extended to the inspection team during our visit to your school. We really enjoyed visiting lessons, observing you at work and play and in discussing your views about the school. Your good behaviour, above average attendance and positive attitudes are a credit to you. Your feedback, including that provided in the questionnaires, helped the inspection team to make important judgements about many aspects of school life. You clearly enjoy coming to school, work hard in your lessons and show respect to your fellow pupils and adults in the school. You proudly undertake responsibilities as playground buddies and as members of the Children’s Voice group. For example, you are justly proud of your role in helping to shape the school’s behaviour system and in designing the school’s logo. We agree with you that you are taught well and make good progress in your reading, writing and mathematics. Your lessons, together with special events such as

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Primary School, Weston-super-Mare, BS22 9RH

‘WOW’ days, provide you with memorable learning activities. This is why Worlebury St Paul’s is a good school.

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Primary School, Weston-super-Mare, BS22 9RH

Your headteacher and other school leaders are doing a good job and are keen for the school to carry on improving. We have, therefore, asked the staff and governors, in particular, to do the following.

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Primary School, Weston-super-Mare, BS22 9RH

 Improve further your levels of achievement by making sure that more teaching is as good as the very best so that you make rapid progress in all lessons.  Provide more opportunities for you to tackle open-ended problem-solving activities, increase your independence as learners by using reference tools, including ICT, and help you to think even more carefully about how well you are learning.

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Primary School, Weston-super-Mare, BS22 9RH

You can help by making the most of all that the school has to offer and doing your best at all times. You can continue to play your part by sharing your ideas with the Children’s Voice group and with your headteacher.

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Primary School, Weston-super-Mare, BS22 9RH

We wish you every success in your future education and in your life ahead.

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Primary School, Weston-super-Mare, BS22 9RH

Gordon Ewing Lead inspector Inspection report: Worlebury St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 14–15 June 2012 12 of 12

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Primary School, Weston-super-Mare, BS22 9RH

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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