Westonzoyland Community Primary SchoolOfsted inspection, 16 Jan 2013

Westonzoyland Community Primary School Cheer Lane, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA7 0EY

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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

 Pupils do not make enough progress in writing and mathematics in Years 4 and 5.  Teachers’ marking does not always tell pupils how they can improve their work.  Although pupils have individual targets for reading, writing and mathematics, they are not yet used well enough and, at times, bear little relation to the work pupils are actually doing.  Although government floor standards are met, too little good teaching over time has produced a legacy of underachievement in reading, writing and mathematics.  Senior leaders have not checked carefully enough on the quality and amount of work that pupils produce in lessons.  The targets set for pupils have not been checked sufficiently well to ensure that they have understood how to accelerate their progress.

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The school has the following strengths

 Since September 2012, progress in reading is good, including in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Teaching seen during the inspection in all classes was good, with outstanding examples. Most pupils are making good progress and it is beginning to improve for those in both classes in Years 4 and 5.  Pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding make good progress.  Behaviour is good and pupils say that they feel safe in school. They are polite, friendly and keen to talk about their learning.  The new senior leadership team in place from 1 January 2013 is very well placed to bring about rapid improvement in teaching and learning and to support the headteacher who has led and managed the school well through a significant period of change.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 11 lessons, including five jointly with the headteacher. In addition, they dropped into classes for short observations. On Day 1 of the inspection, the Years 1/2 class were not in school because they were on an educational visit.  The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders, the Early Years Foundation Stage leader, the special educational needs coordinator, the Chair of the Governing Body, the school council and a group of pupils from Year 6. In addition, the lead inspector held a telephone conversation with the School Improvement Partner.  Inspectors took account of the 54 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View).  They looked at documentation, including policies and procedures for safeguarding pupils, the school improvement plan, the school’s data showing the progress of pupils and notes of visits made by the School Improvement Partner.

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Inspection team

David Curtis, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Mary Usher Clark Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average size primary school.  The Early Years Foundation Stage Unit comprises of the pre-school (for three- to four-year-olds) and children in Reception. The Early Years Foundation Stage leader who is also the subject leader for English joined the school on 1 September 2012.  Pupils from Years 1 to 6 are placed in four mixed-age classes consisting of Years 1/2, Years 2/3, Years 3/4/5 and Years 5/6.  The headteacher joined the school in September 2010. The rest of the senior team and class teachers joined in February 2012, September 2012 or January 2013.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, looked after children and children from service families) is below average.  The proportion of pupils on the school’s register of special educational needs at the level of school action is above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a

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Information about this school

statement of special educational needs is below average.  The school meets the current government floor standards, which set minimum expectations for attainment and progress.  There are no pupils who receive any form of alternative provision.  An experienced full-time teacher for the Years 2/3 class will join the school on 1 April 2013.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good or better by:  ensuring that teachers’ marking tells pupils how they can improve their work  ensuring that pupils’ targets are linked more closely to the work they are actually doing  giving pupils clear guidance as to what they must learn by the end of lessons.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management so that they are good or better by:  ensuring the new leadership team checks-up frequently on the quality of work in pupils’ books, and checks that marking is used to help pupils improve their learning and progress  ensuring that pupils’ targets are relevant to their age and stage of learning and that pupils know and use their targets in reading, writing and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the consistency of pupils’ progress in writing and mathematics in Years 4 and 5 by:  ensuring pupils do enough work in lessons  giving pupils in Years 4 and 5 more time to work on problem-solving activities in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Although improving, most pupils and especially those in Years 4 and 5 have not made sufficient progress in writing and mathematics. In writing, they have not done enough work since September to develop their key skills. In mathematics, there is insufficient recorded work and pupils do not spend enough time on problem-solving activities.  Evidence from the inspection shows that with their new class teachers, pupils in Years 4 and 5 are now making good progress in lessons. In writing, pupils made significant progress in improving the quality of their poetry by using similes and metaphors when, for example, exploring the theme of ‘Red is…’. In mathematics, they made rapid progress in understanding and using numbers to two and three decimal places.  In 2012, the results of the ‘Phonics Screening’ for pupils in Year 1 were below average. An analysis of this weakness by the English subject leader showed that it was mainly because pupils

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

were taught letters and sounds in isolation and not given enough time to use these skills in their other learning.  Evidence from lessons seen during the inspection shows that pupils are now using their knowledge of letters and sounds confidently, especially to help their spelling. This, together with improvements to the teaching of guided reading, contributes to pupils’ good progress in reading and standards that are above average by the end of Year 6.  Pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding make good progress. In the National Curriculum assessments at the end of Year 6 in 2012, these pupils were a year ahead of similar pupils nationally and did better than their peers in school.  The progress of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs requires improvement because it is uneven across the school, especially in Year 4 where these pupils do not make enough progress in reading, writing and mathematics. However, the progress of those pupils

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

with speech and language difficulties is good.  Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage in all areas of learning. They enjoy school and want to learn. Children in the pre-school benefit enormously from learning and playing with the older children in Reception.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because over time it has not led to pupils making consistently good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  A key weakness is that marking over time does not give pupils enough guidance on how they can improve their work. In addition, teachers do not consistently ensure that when pupils are asked to correct work or make an improvement this happens.  While pupils have individual targets for writing and mathematics, the use of these is very limited and has little impact, again, on pupils’ understanding of how to improve their learning. Targets are set but teachers do not follow up on checking that pupils meet them. A number of targets bear little relation to the work that pupils actually do. For example, pupils in Year 6 told an inspector that their targets in mathematics linked to ratio, yet in their books, at least, there was no evidence of any work on ratio.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Particularly in Years 4 and 5, teachers’ expectations have been too low in relation to the amount of work pupils should do in lessons. Not enough guidance has been given to tell pupils how they can be successful learners.  Taking into consideration that all classes are taught by teachers who joined the school in September 2012 or January 2013, there are very encouraging signs that the quality of teaching is improving rapidly, especially in Years 4 and 5. Expectations are much higher and pupils respond very positively to the challenge of producing high-quality work. All lessons seen during the inspection had good or outstanding teaching.  The teaching of reading is good. In the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, the teaching of letters and sounds is good and ensures that children and pupils use these skills in their reading and writing. A very effective catch-up programme is in place to improve the

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

progress of those pupils currently in Year 2 who underperformed in the ‘Phonics Screening’.  Improvements in Years 3 to 6 in the teaching of reading have led to significant improvement in pupils’ key skills in comprehension, deduction and inference.  The teaching of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is good and they benefit from additional one-to-one teaching by an experienced teacher. This is a key factor in their good progress and the gap in their performance compared to other pupils has closed.  Teaching assistants are deployed effectively in most lessons and they contribute successfully to pupils’ good progress in reading.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In lessons and around the school behaviour is good. In a number of lessons it was exemplary. Pupils are polite, friendly and very engaging. They enjoy all that the school has to offer as is shown by the very high take-up of those attending lunchtime and after-school clubs.  In discussion with inspectors, pupils talked confidently about their learning and how much they enjoy working with their new teachers and the greater level of challenge they have in lessons. Pupils were very keen to share their work with inspectors.  Pupils feel safe in school and this is confirmed by the views of parents. Pupils have no concerns about bullying and are very aware of its different forms, including verbal, physical and cyber bullying.  Attendance is above average. There have been no exclusions in the past few years and the school’s behaviour log shows that any negative incidents are rare and that, if they do happen,

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

they are acted upon immediately, including contacting parents.  The school council takes its role seriously and there is a strong focus on pupils giving suggestions as to how their school can be improved. Pupils in Year 6 perform their duties, for example as house captains and monitors, most conscientiously.  Behaviour and safety are not outstanding because a few younger boys tend to be silly and not sufficiently able for their age to work on their own.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Since the previous inspection, senior leaders did not focus sufficiently on pupils’ day-to-day performance in the classroom, especially in relation to the amount and quality of work produced and, as a result, pupils did not make consistently good progress.  In addition, the focus has not been sharp enough on improving the quality of marking and on how well individual targets for pupils were used to help them make their work better. Teachers did not take enough responsibility for the progress of their pupils despite the policies and procedures implemented by the headteacher since his appointment.  Over the last two years, with strong support from the governing body, the headteacher has used the management of teachers’ performance to bring about significant changes to the school. The result is that all classes are taught by teachers who joined the school recently. Evidence from the inspection shows that this has had a beneficial impact on teaching and learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The new senior leadership team, which had been in post for a week at the time of the inspection, is fully supportive of the headteacher’s vision for the school and very well placed to bring about rapid improvement to the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning. In the short time since her appointment, the Early Years Foundation Stage/English leader has worked successfully with the headteacher to improve the teaching of letters and sounds, and guided reading. In addition, they have brought about significant improvement to the quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  The school’s self-evaluation is accurate and based on accurate judgements by the headteacher and governing body as to where the school stands at the moment, bearing in mind the significant changes in staffing and leadership.  Discrimination is not tolerated in the school and equal opportunity for pupils is promoted

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The leadership and management requires improvement

strongly; there is strong evidence that any gaps in pupils’ performance are closing.  The school no longer has any direct support from the local authority so buys in a School Improvement Partner, who previously worked for it. She provides effective support for the headteacher, especially in relation to the changes made in staffing and leadership.  The curriculum meets the needs of learners and there are strengths in the quality and range of clubs at lunchtimes and after school. The school grounds support pupils’ learning very well, including outdoor learning for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The curriculum and outdoor leader support effectively pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The funding for the pupil premium is used well with the result that these pupils make good progress. Most of the money is spent wisely on additional one-to-one teaching, with a further

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The leadership and management requires improvement

sum used so that these pupils can take a full part in all school activities, including residential visits.  The governance of the school:  Since the previous inspection, the governing body has undertaken training and now challenges the school and holds senior leaders to account, including the reasons behind the disappointing outcomes from the ‘Phonics Screening’ in 2012. As most staff are recently in post, few have currently completed a full cycle of performance management, but the governing body ensures that targets are set. The governing body has worked successfully with the headteacher in using the management of teachers’ performance to bring about changes to staffing and improving the quality of teaching as a result. Governors monitor closely the use of the pupil premium funding and its impact on outcomes for this group of pupils. The governing body ensures that the school meets all safeguarding requirements, including those for child

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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 123697 Local authority Somerset Inspection number 406183

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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 167 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julia Taylor Headteacher Jason Eveleigh Date of previous school inspection 11–12 November 2010 Telephone number 01278 691381 Fax number 01278 691115 Email address sch.414@educ.somerset.gov.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, 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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