Woolsery Primary School

Woolsery Primary School Woolsery, Bideford, EX39 5QS

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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 Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils enjoy school, make good progress and achieve well in all subjects. They are rightfully proud of their school, keen to learn and attend regularly.  The quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection, is now consistently good, and has led to securing rapid improvements in pupils’ achievement in their reading, writing and mathematics. This enables them to be well prepared for the next phase in their education.  Lessons are expertly planned to meet the needs of all pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Teachers are well supported in their work by a team of committed teaching assistants.  All pupils, including children in the Early Years Foundation Stage, benefit from learning in creative and stimulating environments, including regular visits to the forest school.  Pupils’ attitudes towards their work are exemplary and they are punctual to lessons.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Their behaviour in lessons and around the school is outstanding. Pupils talk about their school with affection and this is reflected in the strong relationships that exist between teachers and pupils.  The headteacher provides the school with strong and purposeful leadership. This is a school where everyone matters and is treated as an individual.  Governors have supported the school well to secure and sustain improvements, especially in pupils’ achievement. This has been done by successfully challenging teachers to improve the quality of teaching. Governors monitor the performance of the school well.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 When teachers check up on pupils’ progress during lessons, they do not always follow this up and where necessary, adapt the tasks.  Pupils are not always expected to assess their own work to help them understand how well they are doing.  Teachers do not use a common way to mark pupils’ work or give them regular opportunities to review and improve their work following the teachers’ comments.  Teachers sometimes miss opportunities to correct pupils’ use of the basic skills, especially in English, within other subjects.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out with half a day’s notice and took place over two days.  The inspector visited 10 lessons and observed five teachers. The headteacher joined the inspector for a number of observations. In addition, the inspector also observed a number of small group activities led by teaching assistants.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, staff, pupils, governors and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents, including the school improvement plans, priorities for development, achievement data and documents relating to safeguarding children.  The inspector took account of the 35 responses to the on-line Parent View survey and the 24 responses to the staff questionnaire during the inspection. He also spoke to a number of parents at the start of the school day in the playground.

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Inspection team

John Cavill, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Woolsery is a smaller-than-average sized rural primary school.  Early Years Foundation Stage children start school in the Reception Year. They are taught in a class with some Year 1 pupils. All classes at the school contain mixed year groups.  Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds. Very few speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is well below average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and for children in the care of the local authority, is below average. In any particular year group the actual number of pupils may be very low.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress.  A privately managed pre-school is located within the school grounds but is inspected separately. The latest report can be found on the Ofsted website.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to outstanding overall, to increase pupils’ achievement, by:  ensuring teachers take account of their observations of how well individual pupils are doing and where necessary adapt tasks to improve their learning further  making sure teachers use a common format for marking and assessing pupils’ work, with regular opportunities for them to review and improve it  helping pupils to understand how well they are doing by encouraging them to assess their own work more frequently  ensuring teachers check and correct pupils’ use of basic skills, especially in English, across all of their subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children start in the Reception class with skills and abilities that are generally below what would normally be expected for their age, particularly in literacy. For some children this is also the case for their personal, emotional and social development.  All children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and reach broadly expected levels by the time they move into Key Stage 1.  Good progress continues throughout the school for all pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. This is also the case for pupils who speak English as an additional language. Expertly targeted additional support delivered by teaching assistants is ensuring that the needs of these pupils are fully met and promotes equality of opportunity. This has resulted in above average attainment at the end of Year 6.  Achievement in mathematics is stronger than in English following a whole-school focus on

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The achievement of pupils is good

developing pupils’ basic skills in the subject. Progress in English is improving rapidly and the gap between the two subjects continues to close. Current school data show that progress in English is now similar to that in mathematics. However, pupils’ basic skills, especially in English, are not always being checked and corrected in other subjects to ensure that progress in English and mathematics is maintained.  Across the school, pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium make good progress. The attainment of the very small number of pupils in receipt of free school meals was higher than the national average for all pupils in 2012.  The proportion of pupils who make and exceed expected progress compares favourably with national averages and is especially high in mathematics.  Highly effective teaching of the sounds and names of letters is helping pupils to make good progress in reading and writing. They read books fluently and are able to write confidently.

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The achievement of pupils is good

Pupils in a Years 1/2 class were editing their work on Florence Nightingale by correcting their own mistakes and improving the text before presenting the final version in a booklet. Standards in reading are above average at the end of both Key Stages 1 and 2.  Pupils are articulate and able to communicate very well verbally. In a Years 5/6 numeracy lesson, pupils were working in pairs to solve a series of problems related to weights and proportions, and were listening to each other’s opinions before selecting the correct approach to take.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is consistently good, with some that is outstanding. This enables all pupils to make good progress in all subjects.  Teachers have extensive subject knowledge and use this well to plan lessons with precision. This ensures that the tasks are well matched to the abilities of all pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. They have high expectations of the pupils and encourage them to think and learn for themselves.  Good quality questioning in lessons ensures that pupils are continually monitored and asked about their work. Pupils are required to assess their own work and comment about how well they have done but some teachers use this strategy more frequently than others.  In an outstanding Years 2/3 literacy lesson, pupils were developing more interesting sentence starters for their work on Romulus and Remus. The teacher monitored the progress of pupils so

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The quality of teaching is good

accurately that an identified group of pupils, who were not fully challenged, were quickly moved onto more demanding work following some extra input. However, in some lessons pupils occasionally lose focus, as they are not being moved on to more demanding work quickly enough.  Almost all parents who spoke to an inspector or responded to the questionnaire were very happy with the quality of teaching at the school and thought that their children made good progress. Pupils said that they enjoyed their lessons and that their teachers were good.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Creative planning of activities, all linked to a core topic, and making good use of the stimulating environment at the school, provides moments of awe and wonder for the children. The excitement of creating alien faces with icing and cake decorations on buns that they had already baked was evident from the expressions on

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The quality of teaching is good

their faces and in the conversations they were having together.  Topic work is used as a method of ensuring reading, writing, communication and mathematical skills are applied in real contexts. A good example of this was where the Years 2 and 3 pupils making a mosaic tile in design and technology were using their knowledge of lines of symmetry from mathematics to support their design. However, some teachers do not always check and correct pupils’ topic work thoroughly enough, especially for mistakes in spelling and sentence construction.  Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work is of a high quality and provides pupils with praise and ways to improve further. However, teachers do not present this to pupils in the same way and this can be confusing, especially as the pupils progress up through the school. Pupils understand the feedback that they are given on how to improve their work, but are not always given regular

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The quality of teaching is good

opportunities to reflect upon the comments and make the necessary improvements.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils arrive at school ready to learn and organise themselves well. Their behaviour in lessons and attitudes towards their learning are excellent. Pupils are full of enthusiasm, keen to get started and willing to contribute fully. This results in pupils making rapid progress in lessons. Around the school they act in a mature manner, showing a great deal of respect for each other and the adults at the school.  Attendance is above average and pupils are very punctual. The school works hard with parents to impress the importance of high attendance, and is especially focused on improving the attendance of the few pupils for whom it is not as good as it should be.  All parents who were questioned recognised that the pupils are kept very safe. All pupils who spoke to the inspector feel safe and very secure. They also said that they are confident that adults at the school will quickly and effectively deal with any problems that they may have.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

When pupils play or socialise together, they think of each other and keep each other safe.  Pupils are fully aware of what constitutes bullying, including physical, emotional and cyber bullying. They said that bullying of any kind is not tolerated at the school and would be dealt with quickly and effectively. Most parents agreed.  The school has systems to manage behaviour that are well understood by both staff and pupils. Pupils are very able and willing to manage their own behaviour, understanding the difference between right and wrong. The family groups and the introduction of house points have had a positive impact on the pupils and they report that they want to work hard and behave well to earn rewards. The very few pupils who occasionally display some inappropriate behaviour are supported well so that they do not disrupt the learning of the other pupils.  All parents who were asked by an inspector said that behaviour at the school is excellent. They

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

were highly complimentary of the teachers and the way that they manage any behavioural issues. Staff were unreservedly positive about pupils’ behaviour.  Pupils are very keen to take a full part in all activities within the school. The school council provides pupils with an opportunity to become involved in the running of the school and the Years 5 and 6 pupils have added responsibilities as playground friends and ‘huff and puff’ leaders. Visits are enjoyed and extra-curricular clubs are well attended.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides the school with visionary and expertly focused leadership. Along with other committed leaders and governors, he has ensured that there is a clear focus and determination to continually improve the school and has secured rapid improvements in pupils’ achievement since the previous inspection.  Leaders understand the link between high quality teaching and high levels of achievement. They manage the performance of teachers well and ensure there is a good match between how well teachers are paid and how well pupils learn. Staff work together well and share a common belief that they, and the school, can improve still further. Leaders make sure that teachers receive professional training and support which meets their needs and supports the drive for improvement.  Pupils’ progress is assessed regularly and helps teachers plan lessons accurately. Leaders use this information to ensure that challenging targets are set for pupils and school performance is

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The leadership and management are good

monitored effectively. Additional activities are provided to support targeted pupils, including those who are disabled or have special educational needs. These are monitored closely to ensure that the additional provision is effective.  The curriculum is exciting and creatively planned to include regular visits and visitors to school, to enhance pupils’ learning experience and to extend their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. A good example of this was the Years 5/6 visit to Exeter recently. Pupils visited the synagogue and cathedral and had good opportunities to reflect on the different faiths. The regular forest school sessions ensure that pupils understand their local environment and develop their independence and self-confidence, supporting their learning well.  Parents are keen to support the school and leaders use this to good effect. A willingness by many parents to become forest school rangers and reading mentors reflects their high level of

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The leadership and management are good

engagement.  Leaders robustly manage all statutory requirements relating to safeguarding and the local authority provides light touch support to this good school.  The governance of the school:  The governing body works closely with the headteacher and knows how well the school is doing. Governors have supported the headteacher to improve the quality of teaching and to raise pupils’ achievement. They monitor how well pupils are doing at the school. Governors have challenged teachers to improve when they identified they were not performing well enough. Teachers’ performance is reviewed regularly to ensure that salary progression reflects the quality of teaching and leadership responsibilities. Governors understand the school well and planning for improvement is the result of careful evaluation of what has and what has not worked well in the past. This ensures that any changes have a direct impact on improving

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The leadership and management are good

pupils’ achievement. Governors monitor funding to the school effectively and the headteacher is required to justify how the pupil premium funding is spent, and evaluate the benefits. The achievement of pupils in receipt of the pupil premium is checked regularly by monitoring their success following their involvement in any additional activity provided specifically for this group.

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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 113176 Local authority Devon Inspection number 405453

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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 134 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Phil Spittles Headteacher Matt Cole Date of previous school inspection 10–11 February 2011 Telephone number 01237 431307 Fax number 01237 431652 Email address admin@woolsery.devon.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, 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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