Clapham Terrace Community Primary School and Nursery

Clapham Terrace Community Primary School and Nursery Clapham Terrace, Leamington Spa, CV31 1HZ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils can do arithmetic but are not always good at applying their skills to solve real-life mathematical problems.  Pupils do not always choose interesting words in their writing, or describe things in ways that bring them to life.  The pupils currently in Year 3 are not working at a high enough level because they did not make enough progress when they were in Year 1.  In a small number of lessons, teachers do not set work that is hard enough to really stretch the most able pupils.  Leaders and governors check on how well they are spending money, but do not always analyse what they find in enough detail to be sure exactly what is giving them good value.

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The school has the following strengths

 Teaching has improved considerably this year because of the actions taken by the new headteacher. It is now typically good.  This means pupils are catching up in most areas of their work.  Pupils behave well and feel safe at school.  The headteacher, other senior leader and governors are well aware of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and have made the right plans for improving it.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors held meetings with staff, groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and one other governor.  A meeting was held with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors looked at a range of evidence including the school’s improvement plan, the information collected on pupils’ progress, the work pupils were doing in their books, and documentation relating to safeguarding.  The inspectors observed teaching and heard pupils read in 16 lessons. Three of the lesson observations were carried out with the headteacher, who was also observed giving feedback to teachers in two of them.  The inspectors looked at the work of the current Year 6 pupils who were out of school on a residential trip.They talked to two groups of pupils about their work and heard them read.  The inspectors met some parents informally at the start of the school day, and considered the 47 responses made through the online Parent View website.

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Inspection team

David Bray, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Fatiha Maitland Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average primary school.  The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds, and of those who speak English as an additional language, are broadly average.  The proportion of pupils identified as requiring extra support through ‘school action’ is average.  The proportion supported at ‘school action plus’ or through a statement of educational needs is slightly higher than average.  The proportion known to be eligible for extra funding through the ‘pupil premium’ to support their learning is broadly average.  The school has specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs. This specialist unit caters for 11 pupils with speech and language difficulties. It is supported by a speech and language teacher, a teaching assistant and a speech and language therapist.  The Early Years Foundation Stage consists of a Nursery class and a Reception class.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve achievement, particularly in writing and mathematics, by:  making sure the work given to more-able pupils is always hard enough  moving pupils on quickly to working actively or on their own, rather than listening to the teacher for too long  giving pupils more practice in using their calculating skills to solve real-life problems  helping pupils to choose exactly the right word and describe things better, for example older pupils using metaphors, when they write  checking the standards and progress of the current Year 3 pupils very closely, in order to make sure that any gaps in their learning are quickly filled.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Fine-tune the way information on pupils’ progress is used, so that leaders and governors can identify exactly how and where funding such as the pupil premium is having an impact.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement is not yet good because the improvements the school has made to teaching are too recent to have had an impact on pupils’ longer-term progress. Pupils are capable of doing better in writing and mathematics. Their ability to calculate is as it should be. They can do sums and mental arithmetic, but are not so good at choosing and applying their skills when trying to solve real-life problems.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children join the Nursery with skills and abilities that are below the levels expected nationally for their age. They make good progress in the Nursery and Reception, and start Year 1 with broadly average standards.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In 2010 and 2011, standards in Year 2 were above average in reading and mathematics, and average in writing. In 2012 standards in all areas fell to below average. This year group had a disrupted experience in Year 1 because they had several changes of teacher and are behind where they should be. The school has introduced various good initiatives to make up for their missed learning, but they still have gaps in their knowledge and understanding.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress has improved for pupils currently in Key Stage 1, including in reading. The proportion reaching the expected standard in the Year 1 national phonics test in 2012 was average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Over the last three years, Year 6 results have been well below average in reading, writing and mathematics. The current pupils are doing much better and the work seen during the inspection was on track to be above average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school has had some success in raising writing standards, and knows where the weaknesses lie. Pupils do not always use a rich vocabulary when they write, and lack some of the advanced skills to describe things in a striking way, for example when older pupils are comparing the thing they are writing about to something else, through similes or metaphors.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 More-able pupils have not made enough progress in previous years. They are now reaching higher standards, but still occasionally make slower progress in lessons than other groups.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress made by disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and those new to learning English, is similar to that of other pupils and improving thanks to more effective teaching. Most pupils in the well-run speech and language unit are also making similar progress. Like others, they are benefiting from better teaching but their standards have not yet caught up.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school works to break down barriers to learning so that all pupils can benefit from a good education. For example, those known to be eligible for the pupil premium are starting to make better progress because of extra resources such as additional adult support to boost their learning. However, their progress is not yet consistently good so they are not catching up with other learners at a rapid enough pace.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is now typically good in all year groups. Teachers usually plan lessons well so that pupils make good progress. Marking and feedback are often good. Teaching has improved over the last year because of recent effective training and sharing of existing good practice.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The new staff are teaching well, and there is a small amount of outstanding teaching. For example, in a Year 1 numeracy session pupils of all abilities made rapid progress because the teacher made clear that only hard work was acceptable, and used questioning skills very well to be sure that all pupils understood the tasks set as the lesson progressed.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Improving progress in mathematics and writing has rightly been the school’s priority. It has introduced extended sessions such as ‘Exciting Writing’ in order to give pupils more time and sharpen their writing skills. Pupils enjoy these sessions and their work is improving. An action plan for developing the teaching of mathematics has begun, and the numeracy lessons seen were good.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Where teachers’ planning is good the most able pupils develop their extended writing and mathematical skills successfully. A few lessons still require improvement when teachers do not always set hard enough work for the most able pupils, and/or do not push them to work rapidly. They occasionally spend too long explaining ideas and so pupils do not get started on more active work quickly enough.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the most effective lessons, teaching assistants understand learners’ specific needs and provide good individual support and guidance. In a small number of lessons they provide more general help and encouragement, but still make a positive contribution to the pupils’ learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils typically behave well in lessons, and are enthusiastic about learning. They are responsible around the school and treat each other with respect and care. Older pupils help younger pupils, especially at break and lunch time.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils from different cultural and social backgrounds get on well together. They say that bullying in its various forms, including name-calling, is very rare. Pupils say they feel safe at school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Nurture groups are used effectively to support pupils who need extra help to develop their confidence in some lessons or when working on their own and without direct adult support.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In the playground, pupils use a wide range of equipment and facilities with care and respect.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school makes good arrangements to ensure that pupils are safe, and that adults have an appropriate background to work with children.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school has worked hard to develop a strong culture of shared expectations. These are exemplified by its mascot ‘Clapham Carl’, who can be found all round the school. Pupils understand and embrace the idea of being Caring, Achieving, Respectful Learners (CARL).

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is average and very few pupils have long periods of absence.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides very good leadership. He has only been at the school for a year, but the positive impact of his work is clear everywhere. Other senior leaders provide strong support and together they are successfully improving the school with determination.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have a good and accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. They use this knowledge well in their planning for improvement. As a result key areas such as teaching are now improving strongly, and the issues identified for improvement in the previous inspection report have been tackled well.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupil premium funding is used to plan extra help for eligible pupils, for example sessions where pupils work on their own with an adult, or where groups are taught outside the main lesson to boost their skills. The school tracks the impact of these actions and can show that overall the progress of these pupils is improving. It does not carry out a fine-tuned analysis of exactly what is causing the more rapid progress, and in the case of the few who have not improved, why that might be.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior leaders check thoroughly to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently good. This has enabled the school to tackle previous underperformance through highly-effective training, and to ensure that new staff perform well. The headteacher has made sure that the pay rises teachers get are appropriately linked to how well they are teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has provided the school with suitable support, including access to staff training to support improvements in teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors provide effective challenge to school leaders.  They keep a check on the progress made by pupils in order to judge how effective the school is, and have made sure its budget deficit has been tackled successfully.  They know how well teaching has improved, and about how the school reviews staff salaries and performance.  Governors know how pupil premium funding is spent, but have only a broad picture of how well it is working.  The members of the governing body have a good range of skills and experience, and make sure they get enough training to do their job properly.

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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 is

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Grade Judgement Description

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 125554 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 402335

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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 Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 191 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mike Towl Headteacher Jason Henderson Date of previous school inspection 9 February 2010 Telephone number 01926 423404 Fax number 01926 430854 Email address head2312@we-learn.com 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, please

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School details

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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