Godshill Primary School

Godshill Primary School Godshill, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 3HJ

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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.  Godshill has improved well since its previous inspection, exceptionally so since the current headteacher’s arrival. He rapidly put in place rigorous systems to check and improve the quality of teaching.  Teaching is now consistently good and occasionally outstanding, with a strong determination to improve the quality further.  As a result, achievement has accelerated especially well. Reception children get off to a good start and in all year groups pupils achieve well. Attainment is securely above average and well placed to rise further.  There is a very strong sense of purpose amongst the whole school community. Leadership and management at all levels are good, with all staff working effectively together to drive forward improvement.  Good self-evaluation ensures weaknesses are quickly identified. Those that remain are already being tackled, ensuring the school is well placed to improve further.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The governing body challenges and supports the school well. The Stenbury Federation also provides good support, especially with regard to sharing expertise and training to develop teaching.  Pupils and their parents are full of praise for the changes that senior leaders and staff have made. Parents provide excellent support for school activities and homework.  Pupils have responded really well to the improvements and are very positive about school. Attendance levels are rising, behaviour good and pupils are very proud of their school. They feel very safe and well cared for.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ achievement in writing is not improving as rapidly as in reading and mathematics because of weaknesses in presentation and because some higher attaining writers do not do well enough in the younger classes.  In a minority of lessons the slow pace causes pupils to lose concentration.  When marking pupils’ work staff do not always indicate how well pupils have done or how to improve. These weaknesses limit progress.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed eight lessons. In addition, the inspector made a number of other short visits to lessons and heard a sample of pupils read.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of the governing body and staff including senior and middle managers. A representative of the local authority was also spoken to.  The inspector took account of the 21 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and spoke to a small number of parents and carers bringing their children to school.  The inspector observed the school’s work and scrutinised a number of documents including the school’s records on current pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance. Documents relating to planning and monitoring and safeguarding were also looked at.

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Inspection team

Diane Wilkinson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Godshill is a small village primary school of six classes.  The school is part of the Stenbury Federation which includes two other primary schools. They share a governing body and the headteachers work closely together in leading and monitoring different aspects across the federation. The Godshill headteacher provides advice and support within the federation on strategic development.  The school has been subject to lengthy absence and turnover of staff since its previous inspection. A new headteacher has been appointed since then.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those with special educational needs supported at school action plus or by a statement of special educational needs is high, but the proportion supported at school action is below average.  Most pupils are of White British origin. Very few are from minority ethnic groups and speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, including those known to be

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Information about this school

eligible for free school meals, is below average. This is additional government funding provided to support these pupils.  The Griffins Nursery, which shares the school site, provides for children between two and five years and runs a breakfast and after-school club which school pupils can attend. It is separately registered as early years provision and was not inspected.  The school meets the government’s current 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?

 Raise pupils’ achievement in writing by:  ensuring that pupils write neatly, spell accurately and punctuate correctly in all their written work  extend the strategies in place to help more able pupils in Years 1 and 2 do better by increasing the opportunities for writing independently.  Strengthen the quality of teaching from good to outstanding by ensuring that:  teachers capitalise on pupils’ very positive attitudes to learning by maintaining a brisk pace in all activities so that pupils are well focused and work hard throughout lessons  when marking work, including during lessons, pupils are provided with clear information on how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Increasing numbers of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, many of whom have speech, language and communication needs, have led to a decline in attainment on entry which is slightly below the expected levels for children of that age.  Reception children make good progress, most reaching the level expected for their age by the time they join Year 1.  Achievement throughout the school is good and pupils and their parents agree this is the case. The rapid progress last year has made up for past weaknesses so progress over time is good. By Year 6 attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is above average and well placed to rise further.  Pupils’ equality of opportunity in this school is good so that disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, those from minority ethnic groups or who speak English as an additional language and those receiving pupil premium funding achieve well. These pupils are

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The achievement of pupils is good

closing the gap on their classmates effectively, occasionally exceeding them.  By Year 2, attainment in reading is above average. The sounds in words (phonics) are well taught, including for older pupils needing extra support in this aspect. Pupils in Year 2 who find reading difficult attempt to use the sounds to build words they do not recognise.  The school’s reading challenge, which encourages all pupils to read widely and often, produces mature and enthusiastic readers. In this activity parents provide excellent support. Virtually all Year 6 pupils attain the levels expected for their age and around half exceed them.  Writing, previously slower to improve, is now a priority for the school. Good attention to increasing the quality of language is evident in Year 2 pupils’ good use of connectives, effective adjectives and similes. However, there are too few opportunities for independent writing which

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The achievement of pupils is good

prevent some higher attaining pupils exceeding the expected Level 2 in national assessments.  By Year 6, pupils’ writing interests the reader, with strong vocabulary and varying sentence starters fostering the imagination. Presentation weaknesses, including careless spelling and punctuation in all year groups, sometimes make writing difficult to read and hamper achievement.  Understanding place value and calculation is instilled from a young age. Year 2 pupils work confidently with tens and units and by Year 6 little time has to be allocated to developing calculation skills. Pupils use these confidently when working with measures or data and increasingly in solving very challenging problems, with little advice from their teacher. They are well able to work out the method to use and solve them correctly.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Very rigorous and regular monitoring of teaching, supportive feedback and good opportunities for professional development have helped produce good teaching. Pupils and their parents and carers are highly satisfied with teaching in the school.  Teachers’ good subject expertise and accurate assessment and progress records help teachers plan activities well targeted at the needs of individual pupils. Teachers and classroom assistants explain and demonstrate things well, using questioning very skilfully to draw out understanding from pupils of different ability.  Challenging lesson activities enable pupils to make good progress. In the best lessons, the rigorous pace keeps pupils exceptionally well focused and working hard throughout, as was observed in an excellent mathematics lesson in Years 5/6. However, occasionally, when the pace is slow, pupils lose concentration, limiting their progress.  Adults manage pupils’ behaviour effectively so lessons are rarely interrupted. They monitor

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The quality of teaching is good

group or individual activities skilfully, intervening to correct errors or extend learning for pupils who do well.  When consistently applied the school’s marking policy is highly successful, helping to produce excellent learning as was observed in the marking of Year 3 pupils’ writing. However, sometimes teachers praise effort rather than achievement and do not always advise on how to improve.  In other marking, few teachers check whether the pupil has responded properly and follow up (if necessary) during lessons to check how well oral advice is responded to.  The use of pupils’ individual improvement targets is very good. It is a feature observed in all lessons and a key to pupils’ strong commitment to continuous improvement. Adults rarely have to remind pupils to check their targets against their progress during lessons. Pupils have an excellent awareness of how close they are to achieving them and a strong determination to go

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils greatly enjoy school, praising the interesting learning activities and the many extra- curricular activities run by staff. Parents are unanimous in their view that children are happy at school.  During lessons behaviour is uniformly good and, when teaching is outstanding and the pace rigorous, usually excellent.  Around school pupils are thoughtful, polite, respectful of and helpful to others, especially the younger ones, including nursery children to whom Year 2 pupils regularly read.  Strong links with a school that has many more pupils from different backgrounds on roll raises pupils’ awareness of diversity, preparing them well for life in a multicultural society.  There are a few occasions at playtimes when a few pupils annoy others, but pupils report that bullying, largely associated with name calling or unkind behaviour, is rare and always dealt with successfully. They are familiar with different kinds of bullying. There have been no exclusions in

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

recent years.  Pupils feel safe and well looked after and trusting of adults at the school. They are vigilant of their own safety, exceptionally so in avoiding being at risk when using the internet.  Parents report that children are very keen to come to school. Unauthorised absence has decreased and attendance risen and is now broadly average.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has shown considerable skill in increasing staff morale and gaining the commitment of the whole school community to focus on continuous improvement. Regular and thorough checks now in place provide accurate information about how well provision, especially the quality of teaching, is supporting achievement. These strengths are a major reason for the rapid improvement this year.  They have ensured challenging development planning is in place that aims to remove remaining weaknesses and provide the best quality education for pupils. Although already on the way to achieving this, the school is fully aware that more needs to be done, especially in writing and tackling weaknesses that prevent some teaching from being outstanding.  Monitoring and support for teaching have been very successful in raising the quality and the school is now using coaching, provided by its own and the federation’s outstanding teachers, to

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The leadership and management are good

improve the quality further.  Improved performance management procedures have strengthened the level of accountability and challenge for teachers and leaders. Staff are confident in the process, feeling well supported by the training opportunities for increasing their expertise. Subject leadership, for example, is now strong as a result.  The rich and interesting curriculum promotes good progress in literacy, numeracy, and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It provides activities that inspire very positive attitudes to school. As a result, pupils are well prepared for their future education and life in a modern democratic society.  Safeguarding policies and procedures, including those relating to the vetting of staff and child protection, fully meet requirements.  The school’s engagement with parents is outstanding. Those spoken to uniformly praised the way the staff help address any concerns. They are extremely supportive of homework and

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The leadership and management are good

school activities, especially those provided through fundraising.  The Stenbury Federation headteachers benefit from each other’s different expertise. Subject leaders and other staff from federation schools share good practice and provide effective staff training, such as for teaching key literacy skills. These strengths support improvement at Godshill well.  The local authority’s good support was especially helpful during the changeover of headship and in arranging for staff to visit successful schools within the authority to gain new ideas and strategies for improvement. There is a recognition that the level of support now needed is minimal.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is well informed. Through the improved monitoring information it receives regarding teaching quality and pupils’ achievement, members have enhanced their capacity to hold the headteacher to account for the performance of the school. The governors are

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The leadership and management are good

exceptionally well focused on ensuring they receive good value for money. As a result, they are focused on raising achievement and fulfil their statutory duties very effectively. For example, they are rigorous when monitoring the impact of pupil premium funding and approving salary increases regarding performance management targets for staff.

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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 118159 Local authority Isle of Wight Inspection number 405752

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 119 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alison Child Headteacher Neal Bosworth Date of previous school inspection 23–24 June 2011 Telephone number 01983 840246 Fax number 01983 840246 Email address godshillpri@lineone.net 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

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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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