St Margaret's CofE Primary School

Arundel Road, Angmering, Littlehampton, West Sussex, BN16 4LP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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 make consistently good progress as they move through the school, reaching standards in English and mathematics that are above average by the time they leave Year 6.  Teaching is good, and sometimes outstanding, enabling pupils to learn well in most lessons.  The school’s care and support systems are excellent in helping pupils who find it hard to learn to be happy in school, overcome their difficulties and ensure they learn well.  Pupils behave well and enjoy coming to school. They have excellent relationships with adults and each other and a highly-developed understanding of right and wrong.  The strong governing body and senior leaders have a clear vision which the staff share. Priorities for further improvement have been correctly identified and have already had an impact on raising standards, most notably in writing.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There is not a high enough proportion of outstanding teaching to enable all pupils to make consisitently rapid and sustained progress. This is because the monitoring of the quality of teaching does not always focus sufficiently well on pupils’ learning.  Too few pupils are making outstanding progress in mathematics because they are not challenged often enough with activities which really stretch them.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 25 lessons, of which three were joint observations with senior leaders. In addition, inspectors made a number of other short visits to lessons.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body and school staff. Pupils in Years 2, 4 and 6 took the inspectors around the school and spoke about their learning and well-being. The inspectors spoke to pupils about their reading and listened to them read. A telephone conversation was held with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 84 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and spoke to parents and carers at the school gate on both days. The inspectors also looked at the 34 responses to the staff questionnaire.  They observed the school’s work, and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s own data related to achievement of pupils in 2011/12, the school’s self-evaluation summary,

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Information about this inspection

planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to behaviour and attendance, policy documents and documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Martin Marsh, Lead inspector Additional inspector Desmond Dunne Additional inspector Laura Dickson Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 St Margaret’s is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is well below average.  Pupils supported through school action, school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs represent much smaller proportions of the school’s roll than are found nationally. Their needs relate mainly to speech, language and communication.  Very few pupils are from minority ethnic groups and/or at an early stage of learning English.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to ensure all pupils make outstanding progress in a greater proportion of lessons by:  placing a greater emphasis on the progress pupils make when monitoring lessons  better use of questioning to check on learning and targeting more carefully the next stage in learning  developing the skills of pupils in judging the quality of their own work and that of others  ensuring that marking indicates precisely what the pupils need to do to improve their work.  Increase the proportion of pupils making rapid progress in mathematics, especially in Key Stage 2, by:  giving the most mathematically able pupils activities that more routinely challenge their thinking and deepen their learning  improving teachers’ subject knowledge in shape and space and in applying mathematics in a range of different contexts  identifying more precisely what is preventing a small number of pupils making faster

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

progress and implementing effective interventions.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ attainment in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6 is above average. This has been maintained over several years. Most parents and carers feel that their children make good progress and inspection evidence agrees with this.  Children join the school with abilities that are broadly age related. Their social skills and physical development are better than their communication and mathematical skills. From these starting points children make good progress in Reception and through to the end of Year 2 where standards of literacy and mathematics are above average.  During the last year, targeted intervention in English at Key Stage 2, together with improvements in teaching, is resulting in many more pupils making faster progress than has been the case historically, particularly in writing. Progress in mathematics is slower for some pupils because the reasons for their slower progress are not identified precisely

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The achievement of pupils is good

enough and interventions are not as well targeted.  Pupil premium funding is well targeted and, as a result, the gap is closing between the attainment of the pupils who benefit from it and their peers.  Pupils identified as having special educational needs, the majority of whom have speech and language difficulties, make good and sometimes rapid progress because work is adapted to their needs in lessons and adults provide effective well-focused one-to-one and small-group interventions.  Pupils enjoy reading and make good progress in all year groups to reach above average levels.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most parents and carers believe that the quality of teaching at the school is good and this was borne out by inspection findings.  All lessons are characterised by excellent relationships between children, teachers and other adults. This creates an environment where children can concentrate and they learn well as a result. This was shown to outstanding effect in a Year 6 English lesson where pupils were role playing characters from a text. The ‘audience’ challenged the actors with highly relevant questions which deepened the thinking of the whole class about how the characters were feeling. This led to high quality empathetic writing in the first person.  Teaching assistants provide excellent support in lessons, working hard with the class teacher to ensure that pupils learn. They are well managed by the teachers and are very skilful in how they both support and question pupils.  Typically, teachers plan lessons well and use a variety of resources to make learning

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The quality of teaching is good

interesting and accessible to all. When pupils are working on a task, teachers and adults provide good support for targeted groups and individuals, whilst allowing other pupils to work independently and/or learn from each other.  Provision for learning in Reception is good and the outside area is particularly stimulating. The area provides good opportunities for pupils to explore, play and learn. Adults engage with children well, whilst also giving them plenty of opportunities to learn for themselves and from each other. Early teaching of reading is effective in ensuring that the vast majority of pupils enter Year 1 as confident readers.  Teachers give good oral feedback and generally pupils know what they need to do to improve their work. Occasionally, marking does not precisely identify the next steps in learning and does not benefit learning as much as it could. In some lessons, pupils are asked to evaluate their own work and the work of others, but because they do not

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The quality of teaching is good

understand the next steps in learning themselves this is rarely effective.  In some lessons teachers do not systematically check on pupils’ understanding often enough through questioning to identify errors and tackle misconceptions and redirect learning if necessary. This results in slower progress particularly when pupils are working without the support of an adult.  Teachers’ subject knowledge is good, especially in English. In mathematics, although knowledgeable about teaching number, teachers are less confident in their understanding of shape and space and ways in which they can deepen pupils’ learning through giving more opportunities to apply their developing skills. The most able mathematically do not get enough opportunities to work on activities that really challenge their mathematical thinking.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy coming to school. All parents and carers spoken to during the inspection and the vast majority who responded on Parent View believe their children to be happy at school. The pupils took great delight in speaking to inspectors about their learning and are very proud of their school.  In lessons, pupils’ behaviour is typically good and often outstanding. Only on rare occasions, when work is not challenging enough or an introduction to a lesson is a little overlong, do pupils lose concentration, but this does not disturb the learning of others.  Around the school and in the playground pupils’ behaviour is typically very good. Year 6 pupils talked proudly to inspectors about being on ‘Peace Patrol’, where they are available to give support during break times to pupils who may be unhappy about something that may have happened.  Pupils feel safe in school and say that behaviour is good. They understand the expectations

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

as to how they are to behave and the school behaviour plan, ‘Catch them being good’. The school’s monitoring of behaviour indicates that incidents of poor behaviour are falling.  Pupils have a good understanding of what constitutes bullying and pupils in the school council have designed and distributed a leaflet to parents and carers about this. A small minority of parents and carers feel that the school does not deal with bullying quickly or effectively enough. The inspectors examined policies and logs of incidents and found that the actions the school takes are appropriate and timely in dealing with the small number of incidents that do occur. There were no racist incidents recorded last year.  Attendance is above average and good systems are in place to tackle the very small number of pupils who do not come to school regularly enough.

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The leadership and management are good

 Key leaders in the school have a clear vision as to how the school can improve still further. Data are now being used more extensively by leaders at all levels to measure the impact of the school’s work on pupils’ progress and to hold teachers to account through the performance management process. As a result, progress at Key Stage 2 in English, which has historically been just above national figures, is now much improved and progress in writing is outstanding.  Senior and middle leaders drive forward initiatives enthusiastically and this has led to improved standards of teaching across the school. Now and again the monitoring of lessons focuses too much on what the teacher is doing and not on the progress the pupils are making. This results in teachers not always getting appropriate feedback to move their teaching forward.  The school is very inclusive and promotes equal opportunity and tackles discrimination

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The leadership and management are good

effectively. The pupil premium funding is being used successfully to narrow the gap between more disadvantaged pupils and their peers.  Parents and carers rightly acknowledge how well the children are cared for at the school. The school does everything possible to ensure that children are happy and in a place where they can learn well, especially those who may be particularly vulnerable. One new parent or carer approached the inspectors and talked enthusiastically about how well her son has been welcomed into the school, how his needs were being met and how pleased she is with the progress he is now making.  The school’s curriculum, particularly how it provides opportunities for pupils to develop the spiritual, moral, social and cultural parts of their lives, results in pupils leaving the school as well-educated young people ready for the next stage in their education.  The governance of the school:

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors are highly knowledgeable about the strengths and areas of development for the school and hold senior leaders to account for all aspects of the school’s performance.  The governing body takes a strong strategic lead and is fully involved in school planning and development.  Governors take statutory responsibilities extremely seriously.  They ensure that safeguarding arrangements are effective and meet statutory requirements.  The local authority provides light touch support for this good 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 126018 Local authority West Sussex Inspection number 403591

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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 500 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Chris Snell Headteacher David Boreham Date of previous school inspection 8–9 May 2008 Telephone number 01903 785416 Fax number 01903 850749 Email address office@st-margarets-pri.w-sussex.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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