Audley Primary School

Audley Primary School Whyteleafe Road, Caterham CR3 5ED

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Overall effectiveness

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

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

 The quality of teaching is not yet consistently good, so that pupils, particularly the more able and those eligible for pupil premium funding, do not achieve well over time.  Given their starting points, pupils’ progress in writing and mathematics is uneven across year groups and is not yet good overall.  Pupils are not given enough opportunity to respond to teachers’ comments in marked work and, therefore, do not make rapid gains in their learning.  Pupils’ targets are not always understood easily by pupils, so they are not always clear about how to reach the next level.  New members of the governing body have not been in post long enough to have had a strong impact on the work of the school.  Recent actions taken by leaders and managers to improve attainment, particularly in mathematics, have not had time to have a positive impact on the progress of all groups of pupils.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils enjoy school, feel safe and behave well around the school and in lessons.  Pupils have good opportunities to develop cultural and social awareness and the school is a harmonious community.  The quality of teaching is improving, so that work is matched better to pupils’ abilities and needs and marking consistently provides pupils with comments about how to improve.  The school made good use of local authority support to improve writing, so that attainment in English at Key Stage 2 has risen above the national average.  The new governing body is ambitious for the school.  Staff are supportive of the headteacher and parents are positive about their experiences of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection took place over two days. It included observations of 22 lessons or part lessons across a range of subjects and years, meetings with senior and middle leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body, a local authority representative, pupils and parents.  Pupils were observed in class and around the school and all teachers present during the two days were observed teaching. Some of the lesson observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ work in lessons and with the headteacher. They heard pupils reading and considered a wide range of school documentation, including that on the school website, current progress data, the school development plan, its self-evaluation, and local authority and safeguarding information.  There were 37 responses from Parent View and 16 staff questionnaires which were analysed.

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Inspection team

Najoud Ensaff, Lead inspector Additional inspector John Collins Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 This is smaller than the average-sized primary school, with a one-form entry.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funds) is below average  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is lower than the national average.  The proportions of pupils who are supported through school action, school action plus, or with a statement of special educational needs are below average.  There have been a number of staffing changes since the last inspection.  No pupils attend alternative, off-site provision.  The school meets government 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?

 Improve the quality of teaching so it is good across different subjects and year groups, to increase rates of pupil progress, by:  ensuring senior leaders check on the quality of teaching and focus on its impact over time, particularly in mathematics  making sure pupils have regular opportunities to respond to teachers’ feedback in marked work and that their responses are reviewed regularly by teachers  creating clear targets, so that pupils understand fully what they need to do to make good progress  ensuring more able pupils are challenged consistently by the tasks they are set and that they are supported to achieve well.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment in writing and mathematics, particularly for the more able and those eligible for pupil premium funding, by ensuring that, when progress slows for individuals and groups, this is addressed in a timely manner.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality and impact of leadership and management by:  accelerating improvements to the quality of teaching  ensuring that the school’s assessments of the quality of teaching are more closely aligned with national gradings and focus more on the impact of teaching upon pupils’ progress  ensuring that the governing body has a greater impact upon school improvement, including by holding the school to account more robustly.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils make uneven progress across the school and across subjects. More-able pupils, in particular, do not always make enough progress.  The pattern over recent years is one of uneven progress across Key Stage 2 in particular, with dips in 2011 in attainment in English and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2. Over time, progress across the Early Years Foundation Stage is similar to that in the rest of the school.  Attainment in English in both key stages rose last year, so that pupils left with well above- average skills in English. Pupils in Key Stage 1 performed well in the letters and sounds (phonics) screening test last year. Over time, reading skills across the school are generally at expected levels, although they improved last year in both key stages. Attainment in writing and, particularly, mathematics is weaker than in reading overall, particularly for more-able pupils and those eligible for pupil premium funding.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils, those with special educational needs, those from minority ethnic groups, or who speak English as an additional language make progress in line with their peers and some of these pupils make good progress. The very few pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium make less progress than their peers and sometimes less progress than their national counterparts as shown by their lower average point scores.  Although there was an increase in the number of pupils who attained the expected and higher levels in English last year, particularly at Key Stage 2, the more-able pupils, generally, make slow progress across the whole school.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are some weaknesses in the quality of teaching. While there is some good teaching in the school, consistently good teaching resulting in sustained good progress is not yet evident throughout.  Not all teachers express pupils’ targets in a way that pupils understand fully or explain clearly enough to them what they need to do to make progress in their learning. As a result, pupils are not always clear about how to move on to the next level in their work.  In most lessons, teachers ensure that work matches pupils’ needs and, in better lessons, the work is well matched and carefully considered, so that the skills of pupils of different abilities are developed effectively.  Good teaching was seen in a Year 4 literacy lesson, where pupils wrote a newspaper report based on a nursery rhyme of their own choosing. Work was matched to pupils’ needs well and learning was well structured. Pupils were provided with clear guidance and, as a result, they

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

made good progress. In another Year 3 numeracy lesson, the teacher used skilful questioning to help pupils make especially good progress. In a Year 6 numeracy lesson on multiplication, all pupils were provided with good levels of challenge and understood exactly how to make progress. Here, work was matched carefully to their needs.  The school has improved the quality of marking, so that teachers mark work regularly and consistently provide ‘next step’ comments in pupils’ books. The comments are not yet acted upon by pupils routinely, as teachers do not provide pupils with regular opportunities to respond to the comments or check the responses regularly. As a result, pupils’ progress over time is not as rapid as it could be.  The better marking seen on inspection in mathematics demonstrated for pupils the correct method or steps that pupils needed to take to improve their work, but this was not seen

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

typically in pupils’ books.  Teachers promote pupils’ social skills well. Pupils often share their learning in pairs or in groups and have increasing opportunities to assess their own and others’ learning. Opportunities such as these are, however, missed sometimes in lessons.  Pupils’ spiritual development is promoted well through a programme of regular assemblies, such as one which centred on the Christmas story and when pupils considered the difficulties faced by Joseph and Mary. Opportunities to promote pupils’ spiritual development through moments of reflection or exciting and awe-inspiring discoveries in lessons are sometimes missed, however.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Almost all pupils behave well in lessons so that there is very little disruption to their learning. Behaviour logs indicate that this is typical. Behaviour around the school is especially good. Pupils were seen to interact harmoniously together at break and lunch times and were courteous and polite.  A few pupils reported that individual pupils’ behaviour is not always good. The school has introduced a new behaviour policy which is helping teachers to manage behaviour more effectively than in the past and it is working towards analysing trends in behaviour over time.  Pupils report that any rare instances of bullying are handled well by the school and that the Year 6 and Year 3 buddy system and counsellors help in this regard.  Pupils show a good awareness of how to keep safe and can describe what they need to do to keep safe when travelling. Older pupils understand how to keep safe when using the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

They understand different forms of bullying, such as verbal bullying and physical and cyber bullying.  Over the past year, attendance has risen to be above average. Pupils are punctual to school and attend regularly.  The majority of parents believe their children are happy and safe at the school and most parents think behaviour at the school is good and that their children are looked after well by staff. The very few concerns that were raised by parents were explored and judged by the inspection team to be unfounded.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 While senior leaders and the governing body are ambitious for the school, they have concentrated a lot of their efforts on improving English. Although this led to good achievement in this subject last year, they have only recently started to focus on improving teaching in mathematics, particularly for the more able and for those eligible for pupil premium funding.  The recent actions to improve teaching and to raise attainment in mathematics and in English at the higher levels have not yet had an impact on pupils’ outcomes. The challenge and support offered by the new members of the governing body have also not had time to have an impact on the quality of teaching across the whole school and the achievement of all groups of pupils.  Leaders and managers have been supported well by the local authority in helping them to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the school. The help has also led to

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The leadership and management requires improvement

improvements in the teaching of writing, in particular, and in making closer checks on individuals, classes, and the progress of groups of pupils. The improvements led to higher attainment in English at Key Stage 2 in 2011.  Senior leaders make better and more regular checks on the quality of teaching and planning than previously, so the checks inform whole-school training. While the school’s judgements on teaching are broadly accurate, they are not aligned closely enough with nationally accepted gradings and do not always focus on the impact that teaching has on achievement. Senior leaders conduct formal progress review meetings with teachers, linked to performance management, and this has led to improvements in the quality of teaching and marking.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has supported pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding by paying for counselling and one-to-one tuition, additional staffing, training, and literacy support for pupils, resources linked to numeracy, and places on extra-curricular clubs.  The curriculum is appropriately organised and offers good opportunities for pupils to use literacy skills across subjects and topics. It promotes their cultural, moral and social skills well, but there are fewer opportunities for pupils to develop their spiritual awareness.  Safeguarding arrangements meet requirements and discrimination is not tolerated. The school promotes equality of opportunity and has focused some attention on more-able pupils. Although they have made some headway in raising their attainment, not all groups of pupils make as much progress as they should, particularly in mathematics at Key Stage 2.  Staff are very supportive of the headteacher. They are very positive about their experience at

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The leadership and management requires improvement

the school. Parents who spoke to inspectors were very positive about the school’s work.  The governance of the school: – Governors have improved their understanding of data and the work of the school and how it is performing in relation to other schools. They are ambitious for the school, offering increasing levels of challenge and support, particularly in relation to pupils’ achievement, the way in which the budget (and especially pupil premium funding) is being used and checks on the quality of teaching. They are beginning to have an impact on school improvement. The governing body avails itself of training opportunities and has a clear idea about performance management and salary progression and how under-performance is being tackled in 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 125060 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 402305

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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 204 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mark Johnson Headteacher Daphne Shields Date of previous school inspection 10−11 March 2010 Telephone number 01883 342330 Fax number 01883 348563 Email address info@audley.surrey.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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