Setting

Kevin Bryant St Laurence CofE Primary School Jockeyfield Ludlow SY8 1TP

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Education act 2005 to St Laurence CofE Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 13 December 2012, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Education act 2005 to St Laurence CofE Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in 10 October 2012. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with the headteacher, assistant headteachers, the Vice Chair and members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. The school’s action plan was evaluated. Teachers’ planning was reviewed, together with the minutes of the governing body’s meetings, the impact of performance management and the school’s monitoring activities and pupil tracking information.

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Context

There are no significant changes in context since the last inspection.

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Main findings

The school has acted swiftly to address the issues identified in the previous inspection. It has rewritten its action plan to more effectively cover the key issues. The action plan does not have sufficiently measurable outcomes, particularly in terms of improving pupils’ progress. Serco Inspections Cedar House 21 William Street Edgbaston Birmingham B15 1LH T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0121 683 3260 Direct email :antony.grace@serco.com

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

There is a greater clarity and purpose in the senior leadership’s monitoring. For example, it is regularly monitoring the recently introduced system for tracking pupils’ progress. Teachers are beginning to use the tracking data to help them identify gaps in pupils’ learning. Thus the senior leadership team are better equipped to more rigorously hold teachers to account for pupils’ progress. Information from monitoring is being shared with all staff and forms the basis for future staff development.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

The governing body has increased the frequency of its monitoring of the school’s data and the quality of teaching. Governors demonstrate an increased confidence in questioning the school and holding it to account for pupils’ progress and learning. The committee structure has been reconfigured to focus more clearly on pupils’ attainment and learning. The minutes of meetings although clearly explaining how the governing body is questioning the school, do not clearly show how these questions are followed up.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

 ensure that the school action plan has clearly measurable outcomes which link to pupils’ progress  ensure that the governing body minutes identify the actions they intend to take in order to hold the school to account effectively for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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PROTECT-INSPECTION

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The local authority knows the school well and has regular discussions about the school’s progress. Sensitively tailored support is provided to the school. This has had a beneficial impact on developing the role of the governing body.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Shropshire and the Diocese of Hereford.

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