Derry Hill Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 21–22 June 2012 Inspection number 381225 Derry Hill Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 126400 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 381225 Inspection dates 21–22 June 2012 Lead inspector Justina Ilochi

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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 4-11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 208 Appropriate authority The Governing Body Chair Richard French Headteacher Sheryl Staton Date of previous school inspection 11 December 2006 School address Church Road Derry Hill Calne, Wiltshire SN11 9NN Telephone number 01249 812139 Fax number 01249 812139 Email address admin@derryhill.wilts.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 i nformation 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. Inspectors observed 17 lessons taught by nine teachers. Meetings were held with staff, pupils and members of the governing body. Informal discussions took place with a number of parents and carers and pupils. 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 school’s documentation including the school’s development plan, minutes of meetings, school’s records on pupils’ progress and samples of pupils’ work. They examined and analysed questionnaires from 148 parents and carers, 85 pupils and 20 staff.

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Information about the school

Derry Hill Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is an average sized primary school. This is a one form entry school and children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are taught in a discrete Reception class. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is below that found nationally and no pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is broadly average. The school has achieved Healthy School status and International Schools Award. The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. At the time of the inspection, the headteacher was leading a residential visit to France with Year 6 pupils. In her absence the school was led by the acting deputy headteacher. During the inspection

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Information about the school

the pupils were taking part in ‘Olympic’ activities in collaboration with other local schools.

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Information about the school

A serious incident that occurred at the school since the previous 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 the regulations that are in place and inspection judgements are based on the evidence available at the time of the inspection. 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 an outstanding school where pupils achieve exceptionally well. The headteacher supported by a committed and very effective leadership team have worked relentlessly to raise standards across the school, especially in writing. As a result, overall attainment continues to be above average by the end of Year 6, as it has been over the past three years.

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Key findings

 Children make an excellent start in Reception, and pupils across the range of ability continue exceptional progress in mathematics and in reading, writing and speaking and listening through the school.

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Key findings

 Reading is a key strength of the school. The systematic development of reading has secured exceptional attainment in reading across the school.

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Key findings

 The quality of teaching is outstanding. Teachers have high expectations of all pupils and the pace of learning in lessons proceeds extremely well. Teachers build effectively on accurate assessment of prior learning and excellent lesson planning between teachers and teaching assistants ensure that pupils in need of additional support receive it. At times though, pupils’ do not have a clear enough view of how individual targets for improvement link to national curriculum levels to help them fully lift their aspirations.

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Key findings

 The school’s caring ethos lies at the heart of a stimulating curriculum, which provides valued periods of calm reflection and strongly promotes the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. As a result, pupils feel very safe and their outstanding behaviour, relationships and attitudes to school underpin their great willingness to learn.

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Key findings

 Leadership and management are outstanding. Senior leaders, including governors, share a remarkable sense of ambition and drive to improve the work of the school. Exemplary self-evaluation and sharply focused professional development has improved the quality of teaching and pupils’ writing and further show an outstanding capacity to sustain improvement. 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?

 Build on outstanding practice to extend the pupils’ independent learning skills by linking targets more specifically to national curriculum levels so that pupils have a better picture of how well they are doing.

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Achievement of pupils

Observations of lessons, a scrutiny of pupils’ current work and the school’s assessment records show that pupils’ attainment is above average by the end of Year 6 and represents outstanding achievement. School assessment data also shows that standards continue to rise. Pupils’ attainment at end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 is above average, including in mathematics and in all aspects of English.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter school in Reception with levels of skill that match those normally expected. They make an excellent start and make significant gains, particularly in the development of their communication skills. Rapid progress continues through Year 1 and 2, especially in reading. Progress accelerates through Years 3 to 6 as pupils’ ability to learn independently matures enabling them to contribute more to learning. This was seen, for example, in a mathematics lesson in Year 4 where pupils challenged themselves and each other about their understanding of co-ordinates and quadrants.

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Achievement of pupils

Following a whole school focus, pupils’ work in books now shows that progress in writing is also outstanding. For example, higher ability pupils in Year 5 wrote letters to the editor of a newspaper which conveyed clear meaning about the advantages and disadvantages of playtimes and school uniforms. The pupils’ high quality handwriting, spelling and punctuation also reflect their very positive response to strong teaching.

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Achievement of pupils

Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs also make outstanding progress in relation to their needs and low starting points. This is because they receive exceptional support from teachers and teaching assistants. For example, pupils’ respond well to sharply focused questions during small group discussions that enables them to progress just as rapidly as their peers.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ significantly above average reading skills at the end of Year 2 and by the time they leave the school are notable outcomes, commented upon and much appreciated by the parents. Pupils in Reception and Years 1 and 2 benefit from a well structured approach and systematically develop a very good understanding of letters and sounds. Parents are encouraged to be fully involved in extending their children’s 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

reading at home helping pupils to learn to read and enjoy books extremely well. Pupils also develop excellent speaking and listening skills and generally use these very effectively to support their learning. Occasionally, their ability to contribute more independently is not developed as consistently. Even so, pupils reflect perceptively about their learning in lessons and skilfully express their views as members of the school council. In addition, pupils in Year 6 also contributed confidently to the ‘Children’s and Young People’s Plan’ by clearly outlining their views of the local area in a computer power point presentation.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils also make exceptional progress in mathematics. For example, in Years 1 and 2 pupils’ responses in lessons and in their recorded work in books showed outstanding progression in the way they extended their understanding of place value and applied their knowledge of number to solve problems.

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Quality of teaching

Inspection findings support the views of parents, carers and pupils that teaching is outstanding. Lessons are planned to promote creativity in learning. This helps pupils to develop a fascination and interest in a variety of topics . Teachers use lessons very effectively to promote pupils’ spiritual, cultural, moral and social development by ensuring that enough time for reflection is included in lessons. For example, in personal, social and emotional lessons pupils were encouraged to be silent and to reflect on their week and to present and share their thoughts. This approach is a key element within a very well planned curriculum, which is highly successful in developing the pupils’ ability to speak, listen and write or draw about their experiences. The school’s healthy school status and its International Schools Award further show the richness of the taught curriculum.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers and teaching assistants plan together to match activities to the pupils’ differing needs and challenge them to make outstanding progress. For example, in a Year 3 English lesson, the teacher and teaching assistants set high expectations and gave clear guidance, which enabled pupils to enrich their writing. Teachers and teaching assistants provide high quality support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs to include them fully in lessons. Targeted and high quality support for some particularly vulnerable pupils enables them to overcome learning difficulties.

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Quality of teaching

Lessons proceed at an excellent pace. Lesson objectives with clear targets for improvement are clearly stated and shared with pupils. There are significant strengths in the teaching of reading with flexible arrangements in Reception and Years 1 and 2 classes ensuring that pupils understand the sound of letters to read words.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers use assessment accurately to match work closely to pupils’ ability. For example, in an English lesson in Year 5 the teacher’s precise knowledge of the pupils’ previous learning about story characters ensured that pupils were challenged at the right level and made accelerated progress. Marking of work and pupils’ involvement 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

in self-evaluation is a strength in some classes. However, marking is not often linked to national curriculum levels to give pupils a picture of how well they were doing against other pupils nationally and to fully raise their expectations.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils' behaviour is typically outstanding in lessons and around the school and is another special feature that has been sustained over time. Parents’, carers’ and pupils’ responses to the questionnaire also indicate their pleasure with the pupils’ behaviour. Pupils show excellent attitudes to learning and participate fully in lessons. Very positive relationships and an excellent commitment to school lead to sustained interest and high levels of concentration. Pupils listen carefully to their teachers and respect each other’s contributions in lessons.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

There have been no exclusions in recent years. School records and pupils report that there are few incidents of unacceptable behaviour. Pupils treat each other extremely well and there are very positive relationships between staff and pupils. Staff are available to supervise a wide range of activities during playtime and this helps the pupils to feel secure around the school.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils say they feel very safe in school because they are known and feel valued by staff. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and that bullying can take several forms, for example, verbal and physical abuse and cyber-bullying. They report that bullying is rare, and that any occasional instances of unkindness are quickly dealt with by adults. When questioned about bullying one pupil said, ‘Teachers are really friendly and will always listen to you and help you.’ Pupils show great respect during assemblies where the school’s Christian ethos also promotes reflection and their concern for other people. Attendance continues to be above average, reflecting the schools’ close partnership with parents and the pupils’ love of school.

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Leadership and management

This is a self-improving school where self-evaluation lies at the heart of the school’s work and brings continued improvement. Priorities for improvement in the school development plan and performance management for staff are drawn very effectively from the school’s self evaluation. This ensures that actions are considered extremely well by the headteacher in collaboration with senior staff and governors. By these means the school has fully addressed the issues identified for improvement in the previous inspection. As result, the quality of teaching and pupils’ writing are now particularly strong aspects. Continued improvement in the pupils’ reading skills also shows an excellent capacity to bring further improvements.

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Leadership and management

Leaders and managers keep careful records of how well individual and groups of pupils are doing, and use the information to provide outstanding support for pupils, including disabled pupils and those with a range of special educational needs. This accurate tracking of progress and helpful support from teaching assistants ensures that standards continue to rise. 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

The school's success in promoting equal opportunities and eradicating discrimination is evident in the everyday life of the school, its caring ethos and in pupils’ equally successful achievement over time. Close teamwork between staff and members of the governing body ensures that all statutory requirements are met, including rigorous safeguarding of pupils’ welfare.

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Leadership and management

The very effective promotion of pupils' personal qualities is seen in the harmonious relationships and the thoughtful and understanding attitudes that pupils and staff show to each other. Celebrations of work during end of week assemblies reflect the richness of a very broad curriculum that strongly promotes the spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of learning. The pupils’ knowledge of other cultures and faiths is developed well through activities such as the Year 6 residential visit to France led by the headteacher, links with schools in China and the school’s active involvement with local schools in Olympic events. 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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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 la test 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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Calne SN11 9NN

Thank you for being so warm, friendly and helpful when we came to visit your school. We enjoyed talking with you and listening to your views. We are happy to confirm your views and those of your parents that your school provides you with an outstanding education. This means that it helps you to learn exceptionally well.

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Calne SN11 9NN

These are some of the other excellent things about your school.

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Calne SN11 9NN

 You make outstanding progress, especially in reading and writing, as you move through the school.  Your headteacher leads the school exceptionally well, and staff and governors work very hard to help you enjoy school, keep improving it and prepare you for your next school.  Your behaviour and personal development are outstanding. You have been taught how to reflect extremely well, you get on with each other very well and have very positive attitudes to learning in lessons.  Your teachers teach you exceptionally well, they mark your work carefully and help you to learn very well.  You told us that you feel very safe in school and are well cared for and we agree with you. Your attendance is above average.  You told us that you really enjoy school because it provides lots of interesting activities for you to take part in. You told us the Olympic event was great fun.

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Calne SN11 9NN

To assist the school in getting even better we have asked the headteacher and staff to help you to improve your own learning by giving you more information about how well you are doing in relation to other pupils of your age.

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Calne SN11 9NN

 You can help your teachers by asking them what levels you are working at more often.

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Calne SN11 9NN

Thank you again for welcoming us to your school and our best wishes for the future.

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Calne SN11 9NN

Yours sincerely Justina Ilochi 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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