Worplesdon Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 2–3 July 2012 Inspection number 381027 Worplesdon Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 125025 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 381027 Inspection dates 2–3 July 2012 Lead inspector Alison Cartlidge

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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 417 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ginny Willis Headteacher Alistair Parsons Date of previous school inspection 29 September 2008 School address Envis Way Guildford GU3 3NL Telephone number 01483 232126 Fax number 01483 234676 Email address admin@worplesdon.surrey.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 inspection team observed 29 lessons, taught by 14 teachers. Meetings were held with parents and carers, pupils, members of staff and members of the governing body. 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 questionnaires from 130 parents and carers and 52 pupils. Inspectors heard pupils read and looked at pupils’ books, information on their progress, safeguarding documentation and other information supplied by the school.

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Information about the school

This school is larger than the average-sized primary school. Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low. The school has a broadly average proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including pupils who are supported by school action plus or have a statement of special educational needs. These pupils have a range of differing needs. The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

The school has several awards, including the ‘UNICEF Rights, Respecting Award’ and International Schools’ Award. 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. It is not yet outstanding because there are occasions when teaching is satisfactory at Key Stage 2, and pupils do not have enough opportunity to practise their mental mathematics at a quick pace.  Following a dip in progress at Key Stage 2, two years after the last inspection, all groups of pupils across the school are now achieving well. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress because they are given good support in lessons and through specific intervention groups. Children in the Reception classes do well and pupils’ attainment is above average at the end of Years 2 and 6.  Teaching is good overall. Lessons are thoroughly planned to meet pupils’ differing needs and interesting activities help pupils to enjoy learning. There are a few inconsistencies in teaching, specifically in the involvement of pupils in discussions, opportunities for pupils to respond to marking and expectations for

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Key findings

keeping work tidy.  Pupils behave well and have good attitudes to learning. They are keen to come to school and they work well with their talk partners. They feel safe at school and their positive spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is evident in their respectful and well-rounded personalities. A comprehensive range of activities in the curriculum motivates pupils to learn quickly.  The leadership of teaching through the management of performance is good. Professional development is matched carefully to the needs of the school and to individual members of staff. Leaders, including the governing body, have a clear understanding of what the school needs to do to become outstanding and are demonstrating the capacity to improve in the way that they have successfully increased the role of subject leaders since the last inspection and maintained good achievement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Eradicate the few remaining inconsistencies in teaching by April 2013, especially at Key Stage 2, 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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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 making sure that all pupils are fully involved in discussions at the start of lessons  ensuring that pupils are given sufficient and timely opportunity to reflect and act on teachers’ comments on how they can improve their work  raising teachers’ expectations for the way pupils present their work in their books.  By April 2013, ensure that sessions to extend and practise mental mathematics consistently expect pupils to recall number facts at a quick pace.

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Achievement of pupils

Attainment on entry to the school varies from year to year. In the current Reception Year, the majority of children started school working at the levels expected for their age. Children make good progress in all areas of learning, especially in personal, social and emotional development and reading. For example, children know that they are responsible for mopping up spillages of water and are enthusiastic about sorting and matching words. Attainment rises to broadly average on entry to Year 1. In lessons, children enjoy the wide range of interesting activities indoors and in the outdoor area. They are keen to learn and cooperate well with each other and members of staff. For example, a group of children were enthusiastic about discussing with each other the apparent change in water colour when the liquid was transferred to a different coloured bucket.

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Achievement of pupils

Parents and carers are right when they say that their children make good progress across Years 1 to 6 and, as a result, attainment is above average by the end of Years 2 and 6, including in reading. Pupils extend their knowledge and use of phonics (sounds and letters work) as they move through the school. For example, pupils in Year 2 increased their knowledge of the impact of the letter ‘e’ at the end of words on the vowel sound and in Year 3 pupils worked well, discussing various ways of spelling the sound ‘oy’. Pupils increase their use of adventurous vocabulary and description to make their writing interesting, although they do not consistently ensure that the work in their books is completed tidily.

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Achievement of pupils

Focused work for target groups is successfully narrowing the gap in achievement between girls and boys in mathematics and writing. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are supported effectively in class so that they can work towards their individual targets, and consequently most are doing well. Senior leaders are aware that in mathematics, not all pupils are quick enough when asked to carry out calculations mentally and that sessions to boost this facility are not consistently challenging enough. Nevertheless, pupils develop good literacy and numeracy skills that help them to learn effectively across the curriculum. 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

Inspection evidence supports the view of most parents and carers and their children that teaching is mostly good, with examples of outstanding teaching. Teaching, including that of reading, ensures that pupils learn quickly in most lessons.

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Quality of teaching

In the Reception classes, teachers and teaching assistants work well together and provide children with constructive support. There is a strong emphasis on the development of social skills and literacy. For example, in one session, children were supported well in inventing good descriptions for their aliens such as ‘he’s got big bobbly eyes’ and ‘spotty ears’. Almost all tasks are worthwhile, although occasionally activities such as filling in a simple work sheet provide limited challenge and are less motivating.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers in Years 1 to 6 are skilled at explaining the purpose of each lesson and they use the interactive whiteboards and their good subject knowledge well to instruct pupils. For example, targeted questioning is used well in most lessons, especially in Key Stage 1, to keep all pupils concentrating and involved. This was seen to good effect in a Year 2 information and communication technology lesson, where the teacher assessed pupils understanding of fact files before moving learning on. There are occasions at the start of lessons in Key Stage 2 when not all pupils are fully involved in discussions and too few put forward their ideas and answer questions. Teachers provide interesting activities that motivate pupils to learn. For example, pupils in Year 1 were excited about sharing books about their Pirate topic and pupils in Year 4 were enthusiastic about writing stage directions for the characters they had invented. As one pupil put it, ‘It has given us the opportunity to

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Quality of teaching

write our own scripts.’ Work is carefully planned so that pupils’ differing needs are met and their interest is raised because they are involved in selecting the curriculum topics they are to cover each term.

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Quality of teaching

Behaviour is managed well because there are good relationships between members of staff and pupils. Teachers’ marking shows next steps clearly, but pupils are not always given the opportunity to respond straight away. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs learn well just like their peers because they are supported effectively.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching supports spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well, and pupils learn much about human rights and respect for others. For example, in a Year 6 lesson about censorship and propaganda, pupils posed interesting questions about censorship in China, such as, ‘Why would China want to stop people finding things out for themselves?’

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Most parents and carers agree with the inspection findings that behaviour is typically good. A minority of pupils say that behaviour is not always good and say that some pupils ‘bump and barge’ at playtime. Inspection evidence agrees with pupils that 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

lunchtimes can be a little boisterous, especially during the short period when all pupils are outside on the cramped play area. The school has sensible plans to increase the playground space so that there is more room for pupils when the field is too wet to be used. Behaviour in lessons and around the school is good and most pupils are friendly and say that they feel safe. They understand that there are different types of bullying, including cyber-bullying, and say that members of staff can be trusted to tackle their concerns promptly.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils have good attitudes towards learning, although they do not always present their work as tidily as they should. Rates of attendance are above average and the school works tirelessly with the very few families who do not respond to their requests for good attendance. Pupils support each other well in class. For example, in Year 6, pupils worked well with each other when discussing how best to calculate the cost of several items for a beach holiday.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils benefit from the work they cover on ‘rights’ and ‘respect’ and demonstrate through their considerate behaviour why they deserve the ‘UNICEF Rights, Respecting Award’. For example, when discussing the importance of responsibility for an educational visit, pupils in Year 2 explained ‘We have to be responsible as we are representing the school’ and ‘We must sit still and wear our seat belts.’ Pupils have also earned the International Schools’ Award. They support a school in Africa and have recently raised funds to ensure that it has a clean water supply.

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Leadership and management

Leaders, including the governing body, are sharply focused on school improvement and have increased the rigour of target setting and tracking pupils’ progress over the past two years. This has enabled them to increase the challenge and to successfully tackle the dip in pupils’ progress at Key Stage 2. Subject leaders have increased their role since the last inspection. They are involved in monitoring and improving provision and progress and are working together closely to identify and rectify remaining inconsistencies in teaching and learning. Leaders demonstrate they have the capacity to improve the school further, because progress is increasing and expectations are higher than in the past. Equal opportunities are promoted and discrimination is tackled well so that minor gaps in progress are being identified and reduced. The school is inclusive and the remaining slight unevenness in learning and progress is being tackled robustly. Performance management is ensuring that

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Leadership and management

teaching is being strengthened, teachers are made aware of how they can improve further and training is provided as necessary.

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Leadership and management

Most parents and carers are supportive of the school and are keen to help their children with homework in literacy, numeracy and mini projects. They typically make positive comments such as ‘I’m very impressed with the school’ and ‘A lovely school, both my children are very happy here.’

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Leadership and management

Safeguarding arrangements meet requirements and most pupils and their parents and carers say that they have confidence in them. The planned curriculum is broad 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

and balanced and provides a wealth of additional learning opportunities, with specialist teaching in French, music and physical education enhancing learning and helping to prepare pupils for the next stage of education and later life. It provides good opportunities for pupils to develop and use their literacy and numeracy skills and for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, in a lesson in Year 5, pupils discussed why they needed cooperation to successfully complete a corporate task and in an assembly, pupils reflected sensibly on the meaning of the word ‘responsibility’.

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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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Inspection of Worplesdon Primary School, Guidlford GU3 3NL

We enjoyed coming to inspect your happy school, hearing some of you read and talking with you about your work. Thank you for being so helpful during our visit. We agree with you that your school provides you with a good education.

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Inspection of Worplesdon Primary School, Guidlford GU3 3NL

These are the best things about your school.

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Inspection of Worplesdon Primary School, Guidlford GU3 3NL

 You like school and learn quickly in most lessons.  We agree with you that your teachers are good at making learning interesting and that you learn a wide range of skills in lessons, during visits and in clubs.  You benefit from the support from members of staff in developing important values that help you to behave well and respect others.  The headteacher, other leaders and the governing body know what they want to do to make your school even better.

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Inspection of Worplesdon Primary School, Guidlford GU3 3NL

To help it improve further, we have asked your school to make sure that teachers:

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Inspection of Worplesdon Primary School, Guidlford GU3 3NL

 always include you all in discussions at the start of lessons, give you the opportunity to take notice of their marking and encourage you to ensure that your work is tidy in your books  make sure that you are given enough opportunity to learn how to use mental mathematics quickly.

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Inspection of Worplesdon Primary School, Guidlford GU3 3NL

Thank you once again for telling us about your school and letting us see your work. You can help your teachers by always trying to answer questions in discussions and by working carefully in your books.

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Inspection of Worplesdon Primary School, Guidlford GU3 3NL

Alison Cartlidge 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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