Pendragon Community Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 18–19 June 2012 Inspection number 378129 Pendragon Community Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 110617 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 378129 Inspection dates 18–19 June 2012 Lead inspector Richard Blackmore

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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 289 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sheila Turner Headteacher Carol Shaw Date of previous school inspection 5 December 2011 School address Varrier-Jones Drive Papworth Everard Cambridge CB23 3XQ Telephone number 01480 830267 Fax number 01480 830267 Email address office@pendragon.cambs.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

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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 inspectors observed 11 teachers teaching 26 lessons. Meetings were held with members of the governing body, school staff, pupils and a representative of the local authority. The inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line Parent View survey in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work and looked at analyses of the pupils' work. In addition, a number of documents were looked at, including those relating to: development planning, safeguarding, assessment and tracking of pupils’ progress and external views of the school. The inspectors also analysed 119 parents’ and carers’ questionnaires and those from pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This school is larger than the average-sized primary school and has grown considerably over recent years. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low. The majority of pupils are White British and others are from a range of minority ethnic heritages, of which a small minority speak English as an additional language. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported at school action plus or by a statement of educational needs is average. The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. A before- and after-school club are provided each day but are not managed by the governing body and are reported separately. Recent accreditations include the Healthy Schools Award.

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Information about the school

The school is organised into 11 classes. Nearly all the classes have pupils of mixed ages. 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

 This is a good school. Pupils leave as confident and polite young people who are well prepared for their next stage of education. The school is not yet outstanding because there is a relative weakness in the standard of pupils’ writing because opportunities for extended writing are limited. In addition, there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching which hold back achievement, particularly of the more-able pupils.

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Key findings

 Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage providing a positive foundation for future learning. Most pupils achieve well throughout the school. Attainment in writing is below that in reading and mathematics because pupils have too few opportunities to develop writing skills in all subjects.

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Key findings

 Teaching is at least good and sometimes outstanding. Good questioning helps to draw out more detailed answers as pupils are encouraged to explain their thinking.

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Key findings

 Pace and challenge in learning, especially for the more able, are not always well practised, and pupils are, occasionally, not well enough informed how to improve their work through marking and verbal feedback.

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Key findings

 Pupils behave well and collaborate particularly well in lessons. They display maturity and thrive on taking responsibility. They enjoy school greatly as reflected in their above-average attendance. Pupils and their parents and carers are rightly confident that the school keeps them safe.

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Key findings

 Teaching and school performance are led and managed well. Pupils’ progress is regularly monitored to seek ways of improving it. The improved curriculum is helpful to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

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?

 By December 2012, raise attainment in writing by:  improving opportunities for pupils to develop and use their writing skills in subjects other than English  providing more time and opportunity for pupils to write at length.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 By December 2012, improve teaching and learning to take pupils’ achievement further forward by:  ensuring teachers plan sufficient challenge in all the work they set, particularly for more-able pupils  making sure teachers maintain a brisk pace of learning throughout lessons ensuring marking and verbal feedback always give clear guidance how pupils can improve their work.

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Achievement of pupils

Inspection findings that achievement is good are matched by the views of parents, carers and pupils. Learning and progress in lessons are good or better. Pupils are attentive, willing to work hard and capably absorb knowledge and ideas. For example, pupils in a Year 5/6 lesson were totally focused on categorising living things. They confidently identified features, such as vertebrae and exoskeletons, while considering the climates different animals need.

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Achievement of pupils

Children start school in Reception with skills below those typical for their age. They achieve well and enter Year 1 with skills close to those expected nationally. Children make particularly good progress in reading because they accurately sound out the new words they read because the teaching of the sounds that letters make (phonics) is lively and engages them well.

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Achievement of pupils

By the end of Year 6, attainment is broadly average, representing good achievement across the school. Test results have fluctuated in recent years from above average to average because attainment on entry to the school has varied. Progress across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 exceeds national expectations in mathematics and English. In Year 6, progress has improved noticeably over the last year, and is good.

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Achievement of pupils

Attainment in reading is average at the end of Key Stage 1 but above average at the end of Key Stage 2, while in writing it is average. Attainment in writing is lower than in reading and mathematics because teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to use their writing skills in all subjects, for example in history and science. Writing in these subjects is sometimes restricted to lists and labelling rather than extended sentences.

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Achievement of pupils

The school monitors pupils’ achievement carefully so that any gaps in performance between different groups are swiftly identified and remedied. For instance, the gap in 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

attainment between boys and girls in Key Stage 1 is closing now that the school has introduced more practical activities to enthuse boys. Work in books and the school’s tracking data confirm the good overall progress made by disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. This is because these pupils receive very well planned interventions in their learning from teachers and from the school’s talented and committed team of teaching assistants. Pupils who speak English as an additional language also achieve well because they access the full curriculum through the school’s carefully tailored programme of support for developing reading skills, after an early and accurate identification of their learning needs.

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Quality of teaching

Good teaching and resulting good progress are rightly recognised by parents and carers. One parent commented, ‘Our children love going to Pendragon Primary School and always talk enthusiastically about their day and what they have learnt.’ Some outstanding teaching was observed during the inspection and evidence of this was also clear in pupils’ work over time. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, good teaching enables children to thrive in a creative environment, to follow their own interests and make good progress. The confidence children gain early on enables pupils across the school to voice their opinions, share ideas and act responsibly. Teachers further promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development by encouraging them to be curious learners, interested in the world around them and able to appreciate books, poetry, music and the arts.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers use questioning well to check what pupils understand. In most lessons, teachers move learning along briskly and set high expectations of what pupils can achieve in carefully timed activities. Occasionally, the pace of learning slows and more-able pupils, in particular, are not challenged enough. In general, there are many opportunities for pupils to find out things for themselves and to practise their basic skills of numeracy and information and communication technology. For example, Year 3/4 pupils were seen expertly using primary and secondary sources of evidence to learn about the differences between the Olympics in 2012 and when they first began. There are fewer opportunities for pupils to develop their writing skills during such activities. Teachers develop reading skills well by ensuring pupils frequently make inferences and deductions from a range of texts that interest and challenge them. This also encourages pupils to read widely and greatly enjoy reading.

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Quality of teaching

The teaching of pupils who are disabled and those who have special educational needs is characterised by a thorough knowledge of pupils’ level of understanding in different subjects. Staff know the best way individual pupils learn and tasks are planned that keep each focused and learning quickly. Teachers assess and track pupils’ progress carefully. They mark pupils’ work regularly, correcting mistakes and giving praise. Increasingly, but not consistently, pupils are familiar with identifying features of their work of which they are proud. Pupils are not always made aware of how they can improve their work and move from one level to the next. Pupils reported that they are much more secure in their knowledge of how to improve in mathematics than in writing. Thus, achievement in writing is not always as good as it 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

Behaviour and safety are good. The behaviour policy is well applied and pupils are clear about the school's expectations. Strong relationships underpin these high expectations and help to ensure pupils expect much from one another. Pupils say they feel safe at school and are in no doubt that any issues or concerns are dealt with appropriately. The expertly led and much valued ‘Happy Sad’ club provides pupils with effective and sensitive support to deal with difficult issues that they have experienced. They have a keen sense of how to stay out of harm’s way and are knowledgeably cautious about their use of the internet and mobile phones.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

In lessons, nearly all pupils work hard, concentrate on the task in hand and achieve well. They very much enjoy learning, soak up new ideas and relish the challenge to debate their opinions and justify their thinking.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Most parents and carers who returned the questionnaires correctly rate behaviour as good. While pupils express an accurate understanding of bullying in all its forms, they are adamant that bullying of any kind is very rare. Any instances of homophobic bullying, name calling or racism are speedily tackled and the very large majority of parents, carers and pupils express confidence in the school’s systems for dealing with bullying. Pupils are courteous and are quick to offer help without prompting. They show great maturity and are highly trustworthy as they carry out duties around school. The school works hard to encourage all parents to support their children’s education by bringing them to school regularly and on time. Pupils’ regular attendance and good punctuality help them to achieve well.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher provides caring and effective leadership. She is ably supported by a talented team of senior leaders who use monitoring and performance data to challenge staff to speed pupils’ progress. All staff, including teaching assistants, are involved in managing the curriculum and, consequently, it is constantly evolving to meet pupils’ learning needs and interests. Senior leaders organise an effective schedule of professional development for all staff to ensure, for example, that staff are confident about using assessment information. This helps them to keep a close check on how well pupils are achieving, and ensures that equality of opportunity for all groups of pupils is fully maintained. Consequently, the school has successfully closed the gap between the standards reached by boys and girls. A range of well- understood and applied procedures ensure there is no discrimination. The school has

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Leadership and management

an accurate view of its strengths and weaknesses. Pupils’ good achievement, supported by effective teaching and their own positive attitudes to learning, demonstrate the school’s capacity for further improvement.

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Leadership and management

The governing body provides good levels of challenge, support and time to leaders and managers. It has a clear overview of the school’s work and priorities by 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

timetabled and random monitoring of a range of aspects, including safety. The school meets requirements with regard to safeguarding. All adults, including administrators and lunchtime staff, pay close attention to pupils’ safety and well- being.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum provides all essentials and improvements to it successfully promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development – a strong element of the school’s work. In all lessons and at other times, the school encourages thoughtfulness, honesty and respect for difference through ‘Class Charters’ which specify expectations for pupils’ conduct and attitudes to learning. Adults continually encourage pupils to ask questions to encourage curiosity and a thirst for learning.

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Leadership and management

The school has done much to widen communication channels with parents and carers, for example by developing regular newsletters, giving details about each pupil’s attainment on reports and by developing email messaging. The school is willing to do what it can to engage with all parents and carers. This is demonstrated by the way the headteacher is available to meet parents and carers most mornings and opportunities for them to enter into dialogue with governors through ‘Parent Voice’ so that any concerns are considered.

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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.

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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.

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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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3XQ

Thank you for your friendly welcome when we visited your school recently, particularly those of you who spoke to us about your work and what it is like at Pendragon. Your school provides you with a good education.

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3XQ

These are some of the features of it that impressed us.

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3XQ

 Children in Reception make good progress and all of you in both key stages also make good progress, especially in reading and mathematics .  Your teachers plan lessons to make them fun and interesting and you told us how much you liked them, particularly when work is practical. Staff ask you challenging questions to help you learn.  You said your school is a safe, happy and friendly place to learn and we agree with you. You told us that bullying is rare. Your behaviour in lessons and around school is usually good.  Those who lead your school know it well and how to make it better.

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3XQ

We have asked school leaders and teachers to do the following to improve your school further:  help you reach higher standards in writing by giving you opportunities to write longer pieces of work in all subjects  make sure work is well matched to your different learning needs, especially those of you who learn quickly and easily, and always tell you how to reach the next level in your work.

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3XQ

You can help by telling staff if you find activities too easy, and if you are unsure how to improve your work.

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3XQ

Richard Blackmore 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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