Marazion School

Age group 4 – 11 Inspection date(s) 14 – 15 June 2012 Inspection number 395392 Marazion School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 111792 Local authority Cornwall Inspection number 395392 Inspection dates 14–15 June 2012 Lead inspector Janet Dinsmore

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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 97 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Del James Headteacher Jenny Rainbow Date of previous school inspection 11 March 2009 School address School Lane Marazion Penzance TR17 0DG Telephone number 01736 710618 Fax number 01736 710618 Email address secretary@marazion.cornwall.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 inspector observed ten lessons taught by four teachers. Meetings were held with staff, groups of pupils, and members of the governing body. 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 school documentation, including the school’s own self-evaluation, school development plan, monitoring of teaching, incident logs, minutes of the governing body’s meetings and reports from external monitoring visits. Questionnaires were received from 47 parents and carers and these were analysed alongside those from pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This is a much smaller than average sized primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is much higher than average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported with a statement, or at school action plus, is much higher than average, as is the proportion of pupils entering and leaving the school at other than the usual times. A new headteacher was appointed in September 2011. The school is no longer part of a ‘soft federation’. There is a children’s centre on the school site which is inspected separately. The school did not meet the government’s floor standards in 2011, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Key Stage 2. 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

 Marazion is a good school. In this inclusive school mutual respect and high quality relationships at all levels mean that it is a harmonious community that values the individual. It is not yet outstanding because pupils are not consistently informed of what they need to do to improve and there is scope for sharpening the monitoring skills of middle managers and governors.

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Key findings

 Achievement is good. The diverse and specific needs of all individuals, including disabled pupils those with special educational needs, are well met and this enables them to achieve well and make good progress in reading, writing, communication skills and mathematics from a wide range of starting points.

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Key findings

 Teaching provides numerous ‘hands-on’ experiences in all areas of the curriculum, giving good opportunities for pupils to apply their skills. Activities are well matched to pupils’ prior learning and engage them well so they make good progress in lessons. Standards in reading are improving faster than would normally be expected, but sometimes, especially in mathematics, the teaching does not define what is to be learned clearly enough, so pupils are uncertain about how to improve.

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Key findings

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural and, particularly, social understanding is well developed through the curriculum. Behaviour and attitudes to learning are good because pupils are motivated and enthusiastic learners. They work together well in lessons and those facing circumstances that make them more vulnerable are well supported so that they can participate fully in learning.

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Key findings

 The headteacher and leaders at all levels are a committed team that share a clear ambition that ‘satisfactory is not good enough’. Teaching and learning are monitored well using a good range of indicators. As a result, clear action plans for improvement are quickly put in place if any performance less than good is identified. The school has an outstanding relationship with parents and carers who say it is ‘like a family’. 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 teaching that is outstanding by ensuring that pupils have clearly defined learning objectives for activities in lessons, especially mathematics, so that they know what to do to improve.  Improve school self-evaluation by sharpening the skills of middle managers and governors in monitoring the impact of improvement strategies in all parts of the school so they are better equipped to drive improvements.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils enter the school with a broad range of skills, some of which are below those typically expected for their age. Each cohort has a wide range of abilities and individual characteristics. They make good progress in the Reception Year, particularly in reading. They apply their knowledge of sounds well in developing their writing skills, for example in writing postcards. The well-resourced indoor and outdoor environments provide a creative stimulus for imaginative play that extends children’s communication skills well. The many opportunities for learning outside, including visiting the local beach, enable children to gain a good knowledge and understanding of the world. These prepare them well for Key Stage 1.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils develop communication, reading and writing skills in a fully integrated way in Key Stage 1, for example in describing real or imaginary objects in a bag, sequencing a story and learning to discuss the possible feelings of characters, all of which give a real purpose to writing and recording. Activities are well matched to the needs of all groups of learners so that they make good progress in lessons. Individual progress is tracked with secure assessments that quickly identify any potential underachievement. Parents and carers are pleased with the way planned additional support, particularly for reading, has improved their children’s progress.

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Achievement of pupils

Reading is well taught throughout the school and pupils’ attainment is above average in Year 2 and Year 6. The younger pupils apply their good knowledge of letters and sounds to work out unfamiliar words, while pupils in Years 3 and 4 use their wide knowledge of vocabulary to answer questions from texts. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 used their knowledge of text characteristics well to produce a book specifically designed for a much younger reader whose interests had been researched. Such tasks provide rich opportunities for pupils to develop a full range of skills in reading, writing and communication. Pupils make good progress in developing writing skills. Current assessments across the school demonstrate this and some Year 6 pupils have made outstanding progress since Key Stage 1. Most parents and carers say that their children make good progress and inspection evidence supports this. Pupils arriving at times other than those normally expected settle well and make rapid

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Achievement of pupils

progress. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs achieve well 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

because of the well-targeted support they receive.

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Achievement of pupils

Mathematical skills are applied well but progress in mathematics is not consistent across the school. Children in the Reception class have many opportunities for developing calculation skills and as a result achieve slightly above what would be normally expected when they move to Key Stage 1. These skills continue to develop well in Key Stage 1 where pupils demonstrate, for example, that they can interpret data in a graph. Progress in mathematics in Years 3 and 4 is satisfactory and then accelerates by the end of Key Stage 2, resulting in good progress overall for all groups. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 demonstrated a secure grasp of multiplication that enabled them to solve problems when, for example, they determined the number of tables and layouts needed for different numbers of guests at a party. This outstanding teaching developed systematic approaches, challenged all groups of learners and resulted in the more able devising several solutions. Although

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Achievement of pupils

achievement is rising, attainment is broadly average. Attainment varies considerably year on year because of the small and diverse cohorts in the school.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers plan learning opportunities that motivate pupils well so that they are fully engaged. For example, children in the Reception class enjoyed using a wide range of shells for counting and combining two quantities. Model sea creatures were used well for ordering size and extending their knowledge and understanding. A visit to a local allotment enabled pupils to write about their experiences of observing chickens and another to a museum resulted in them learning to make and decorate clay tiles.

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Quality of teaching

The school-wide topic themes with cross-curricular planning provide good opportunities for pupils to learn through ‘hands on’ experiences in an integrated way. The current topic on exploring aspects of an Indian village and fair trade, which promotes both cultural and social understanding, enables pupils in Years 3 and 4 to use text extracts to learn about elephants and an Indian poet by applying their reasoning skills and extending their knowledge. In Years 1 and 2, pupils explored aspects of different tea leaves in science activities. Pupils applied their knowledge of places in the United Kingdom and further afield to determine regional and local characteristics using a Venn diagram in mathematics.

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Quality of teaching

Researching, planning, writing, illustrating and designing a book for younger readers enabled all groups of learners in Years 5 and 6 to apply a wide range of skills from a number of subjects and resulted in imaginative books being written. The clearly focused activities for each stage of this process were well planned by the teacher and the pupils were highly motivated and achieved well. Oral and written feedback helps pupils know that they are working hard but, as a minority pointed out in the questionnaire, they do not always know how well they are doing. Feedback is limited because lesson activities are not always evaluated by pupils and teachers against clear criteria for learning.

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Quality of teaching

Trained teaching assistants contribute well to the progress of all groups of learners. 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

Specific targeted interventions help those at risk of underachieving in reading. Parents and carers commented that their children had gained in confidence and skills very rapidly as a result of good teaching. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs and those facing challenging circumstances are given excellent support to access learning in the classroom. Questioning is used well by all adults to promote learning. Teachers review learning during lessons frequently so that a good pace is maintained. Parents and carers say that their children are taught well at the school and are acquiring good skills in reading, writing, communication and mathematics and inspection evidence agrees.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Inspection evidence, including incident logs, parent and carer and pupil questionnaires and discussions with pupils show that behaviour is typically and consistently good. A clear code of behaviour is applied across the school. Pupils and parents and carers report, and incident logs show, that bullying is rare and consists usually of minor name-calling. Pupils are aware of other forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying, and know how to stay safe when using the internet. The school has effective procedures for dealing with bullying and pupils feel confident that any concerns are addressed promptly by staff. Attendance is above average and adults’ good knowledge of families and individuals enables action to be taken swiftly to prevent unnecessary absences. Pupils feel safe and parents and carers agree. Pupils play well together in the playground, ensuring that games are fair and everyone gets a turn.

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Leadership and management

The energy and drive of the headteacher and staff team have led to a clearly focused school development plan, with measurable outcomes, which clearly identify the key priorities for school improvement in order to raise standards. School self-evaluation is accurate and there is good capacity for further improvement. Middle managers and governors are involved appropriately in monitoring the school’s effectiveness but do not have a sufficiently clear overview of how well the actions taken are improving the quality of learning and progress in different parts of the school. The outdoor learning environment for the Reception class has been improved, following a recommendation for this in the school’s previous inspection report, and is used well to promote learning across all areas of the curriculum.

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Leadership and management

Teaching and learning are monitored well using a range of indicators. There are good professional development opportunities through partnership working with other schools to moderate assessments. The cycle of monitoring of teaching and learning and the review of pupils’ progress identifies any underperformance. Results are used effectively to inform teachers’ performance management and so bring consequent improvements.

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Leadership and management

Leaders and managers ensure the school provides pupils with a broad and interesting curriculum which meets the needs of all groups. The school has strong 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

links within the local community through volunteers and governors, as well as with other schools. This enables this small school to provide an extensive range of extra- curricular opportunities for pupils. Visits are used well to promote pupils’ cultural understanding and knowledge of a modern democratic United Kingdom. The relationship with parents and carers is outstanding. Parents and carers are fully involved in many aspects of the work of the school, including developing the school improvement plan, and they speak highly of the school’s work and the excellent relationships they have with staff.

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Leadership and management

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective and all staff are well trained. The school eliminates discrimination and ensures that the promotion of equal opportunities is good through the consistent application of its well-conceived policies.

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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 abou t 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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Inspection of Marazion School, Penzance TR17 0DG

Thank you for making me so welcome when I visited your school and telling me about all that you do.

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Inspection of Marazion School, Penzance TR17 0DG

Yours is a good school. I agree with you and your parents and carers who are involved in the school and say it is good too.

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Inspection of Marazion School, Penzance TR17 0DG

Here are some of the things that are particularly good.

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Inspection of Marazion School, Penzance TR17 0DG

 The relationships that you have with each other and all the adults in school mean that you all work together really well and are safe.  Teachers plan interesting work for you to do so that you make good progress with learning.  You work enthusiastically in class and play together well in the playground.  Those of you who have disabilities or difficulties with learning are fully included in school life and are making good progress.  Many people from your local community are involved in the school.

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Inspection of Marazion School, Penzance TR17 0DG

In order to make it even better I have asked your teachers to make sure that you know exactly what to do to succeed and know how well you are doing in lessons. I agree with you that you do not always know what to do to improve. I have also asked the staff and governors to help the headteacher to check in more detail how well the school is doing so that they can plan to improve the school even more.

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Inspection of Marazion School, Penzance TR17 0DG

I know that you will continue to work hard and enjoy school.

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Inspection of Marazion School, Penzance TR17 0DG

Janet Dinsmore 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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