Partney Church of England Aided Primary School

Partney Church of England Aided Primary School Maddison Lane, Partney, Spilsby, PE23 4PX

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils’ progress is monitored well and potential underachievement tackled rapidly, so they achieve well and attainment is above average by Year 6.  Recent improvements in the Early Years Foundation Stage are ensuring that children develop their language and communication skills quickly in a stimulating environment.  Extensive support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs enables them to make good progress.  The majority of teaching is good. Teachers are skilled in motivating pupils’ interest in learning and the desire to do well.  Teachers are enthusiastic and set high expectations which pupils respond to positively in lessons.  The mutual respect between pupils and adults contributes to a strong, positive and calm atmosphere.  Pupils behave well and feel safe.  The headteacher, staff and governing body display high aspirations for pupils’ academic and personal development.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Their prudent financial management and thorough strategic planning have led to improvements in the school building and pupils’ achievement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 the school does not emphasise literacy skills, especially reading, enough in Years 1 and 2  some lessons do not include enough opportunities for pupils to work independently  teachers do not always involve pupils enough in judging how well they are doing against their individual targets.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed five lessons, one of which was a joint observation with the headteacher. In addition the inspector made a number of other short visits to lessons and looked at the work completed by pupils during the previous school year.  Discussions were held with two groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body, one other governor, the three class teachers and a professional adviser for Lincolnshire schools.  The inspector took account of the 25 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View), the school’s planning and monitoring documentation, and the data relating to pupils’ current progress.

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Inspection team

Cathy Morgan, Lead inspector Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 Partney Church of England Aided Primary School is smaller than the average primary school.  The number of pupils attending the school has fluctuated in recent years, but is now similar to that found at the time of the previous inspection.  All pupils are taught in mixed-age classes.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is average, but falling.  The large majority of pupils are from a White British heritage. No pupils are at an early stage of learning to speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action level is above average, as is the proportion who are supported at school action plus.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding lessons by:  providing more opportunities for pupils to exploit their ability to learn independently  ensuring that pupils are more actively involved in setting and reviewing their own targets for learning.  Improve the rate of progress made in reading by pupils in Key Stage 1 by:  increasing the time allocated to the teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters make) to enable younger pupils to extend their use of strategies to help them to accurately decode words  ensuring that all staff receive training in the use of phonics  enhancing the specialist teaching of literacy by making one-to-one support a more formal aspect of intervention strategies provided for pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 When starting school in the Early Years Foundation Stage, children’s skills and aptitudes vary from year to year but are usually below expected levels. Skilled teaching, effective intervention and rigorous assessment ensure that children in Reception make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The attainment and progress of pupils in mathematics are consistently better than those achieved nationally. Pupils develop confidence in numeracy at an early age. They are effectively supported and challenged to continuously practise and improve their skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In Key Stage 1, pupils’ attainment is broadly average in reading and writing. Good, focused support at the start of Key Stage 2 enables pupils to make rapid progress. By the end of Year 6 they are working above the level expected nationally in English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Too little time is devoted to the specialist teaching of phonics in Years 1 and 2. Consequently, progress in reading is slower for the youngest pupils. However, it accelerates sharply in Years 5 and 6 so that all groups make good progress overall.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In general, much headway is being made to raise attainment in English. Improvements to the school library, the introduction of stimulating learning resources and the initiatives to engage parents and carers are successful in nurturing children’s interest in reading. Older pupils are confident, fluent readers and they talk with enthusiasm about the books they are reading.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make fast progress in most lessons because they concentrate well and work hard. In one mathematics lesson, Year 4 and 5 pupils quickly grasped the concept of partitioning through a lively and practical group activity. They were able to use complex terminology to accurately describe the process of multiplication and the use of brackets.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs typically make good progress. They are well supported by classroom assistants, are helped to improve their language and communication skills, and are encouraged to participate fully in lessons.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium make the good progress expected of them in English and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers are skilled in managing mixed-age classes and motivating pupils’ interest in learning. Typically, lessons are well planned, and activities are engaging and enable pupils to be creative.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers and teaching assistants demonstrate consistently high expectations of work and behaviour. Pupils of all ages respond maturely and responsibly to the clear instructions and requirements set by teachers which ensure that lessons are productive and purposeful.

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The quality of teaching is good

 An outstanding lesson demonstrated how quickly the children who were new to Reception had established positive relationships with staff and their peers in Year 1. Slick organisation of active group work enabled pupils of all abilities to develop their understanding of letter sounds through a lively ‘what’s in the bag’ song.  The valuable one-to-one literacy support provided by a qualified English teacher, on a largely voluntary basis, is proving to be particularly effective. However, this does not form a central part of the formal intervention strategies provided to support pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The nationally developed and standardised approach to assessing pupils’ progress is used well to make judgements about the standard of pupils’ work. Teachers use this effectively to plan future learning activities and target specialist support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 When reading aloud, younger children occasionally lose fluency and understanding because they have not been taught to decode the words they are reading correctly. This leads them to struggle to recognise words that they often do know orally.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Older pupils benefit greatly from well-designed resources to stimulate and assist them in their extended writing tasks. Sometimes, however, they do not have sufficient opportunities to exploit their ability to learn independently in lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers monitor pupils’ progress effectively and make good use of the computerised tracking system. They occasionally miss opportunities to ensure that pupils know precisely what they need to improve in order to achieve their targets.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted effectively and they develop excellent social skills through planned opportunities to work, eat and play together.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 All pupils know one another well. They show caring attitudes to each other, and are particularly kind to any pupils who have difficulties or who are new to the school. Older pupils respond maturely to the additional responsibilities they are given which help to secure the safety of all members of the school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The mutual respect between pupils and adults contributes to the school’s strong, positive ethos and calm, happy atmosphere. Pupils are polite and very mature in their attitudes and incidents of bullying are rare.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils work hard in lessons and on the very few occasions when individuals lose concentration, teachers respond quickly and effectively to help them refocus. Teachers constantly endorse pupils’ ‘good sitting’ and ‘good listening’ and encourage pupils to become responsible for their own behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have excellent opportunities to participate in thoughtful school assemblies when they sing, pray and celebrate the achievements of individual and groups of children.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils show a good understanding of safeguarding and particularly the risks associated with the use of new technology and cyber-bullying. The overwhelming majority of parents and carers who completed the online questionnaire think that pupils behave well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is slightly above average. The school has implemented a range of positive initiatives to encourage punctuality and discourage parents from taking children out of school during term time.  The risk assessments undertaken by staff and governors are rigorous and secure the safety of pupils and staff. Detailed records are kept of the few incidents of pupils’ misbehaviour, demonstrating effective liaison between the school and parents, carers and specialist agencies.

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The leadership and management are good

 The thoughtful and creative leadership of the headteacher is demonstrated by her uncompromising and successful drive to tackle the areas of weakness identified at the time of the previous inspection, and to continue to meet the varying needs of small year groups.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is highly critical when evaluating the work of the school. The organisation of class groups and the curriculum are regularly reviewed and adjusted to secure best value for money through efficient and effective deployment of staff expertise, skilled teaching assistants and helpful volunteers.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher works closely with class teachers, governors and staff to ensure the successful implementation of the current priorities for improvement. All have an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They collaborate effectively with partner schools and the professional adviser for Lincolnshire to share best practice.

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The leadership and management are good

 Regular and informative communications with parents and carers ensure that they are fully informed about and actively involved in their children’s education.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils benefit from a curriculum which is well designed to provide them with a range of cultural and religious experiences and opportunities to develop French language skills, use information and communication technology, play musical instruments and participate in a range of enrichment activities.

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The leadership and management are good

 All teachers are challenged positively and effectively to raise standards in English and mathematics by improving the quality of teaching, resources and support for pupils. Their roles and responsibilities are clearly identified and they are provided with the most appropriate training opportunities to support them in developing their teaching and assessment skills.

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The leadership and management are good

 While all staff are able to participate in training opportunities, not all have received sufficient focused training in phonics to ensure that all pupils receive the same quality of literacy support.

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The leadership and management are good

 All statutory requirements relating to safeguarding are met.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  is effective in challenging the headteacher to meet the school’s targets for improvement  has an accurate understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement across the school  is actively involved in identifying the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school

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Grade Judgement Description

is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 120627 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 401955

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

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 62 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair John Hudson Headteacher Caron Ementon Date of previous school inspection 5 June 2010 Telephone number 01790 753319 Fax number 01790 753319 Email address caron.ementon@partney.lincs.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille,

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School details

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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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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