Iver Village Infant School

Iver Village Infant School Grange Way, Iver, Buckinghamshire, SL0 9NT

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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

 Checks by senior leaders on the quality of teaching have not ensured that there is enough good or better teaching to enable pupils to make good progress.  Pupils’ learning is not always planned in small enough steps and they move on to the next piece of learning before fully understanding the first step.  Pupils do not always have enough practical opportunities to try out new learning, widen their experience and help them to find new words to express themselves.  The teaching of letters and sounds is not always consistent.  Teachers do not always make time for pupils to correct and improve their work.  Expectations of more able pupils are not high enough.  Some of the activities planned for Reception Year children do not always have a clear purpose and opportunities to make the most of children’s learning are sometimes missed.

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The school has the following strengths

 Parents appreciate the warm, caring atmosphere of the school and say that the headteacher and staff are ‘extremely approachable’.  Pupils are very happy, behave well and feel safe and secure. They respect each other, know right from wrong and relate well to others.  There is no inadequate teaching. Staff are proud to be a member of the school and share the headteacher’s keen desire to improve.  Attendance has improved and is now average. Parents appreciate the good relationship with the attendance officer, who is always easy to talk to.  The staff and governing body share the headteacher’s accurate view of the school’s effectiveness.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 17 lessons, taught by seven teachers.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior leaders, members of the governing body, the local authority, staff and groups of pupils.  Joint observations of teaching and learning were conducted with the headteacher.  The inspectors listened to pupils reading.  The inspectors spoke to parents and took account of the 61 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  The inspectors observed the school’s work, scrutinised pupils’ workbooks, and looked at school policies, including those relating to safeguarding and equality, minutes of governing body meetings and planning documents.  The inspector took account of the 13 questionnaires returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Barbara Atcheson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Liz Kissane Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Iver Village Infant School is a smaller-than-average infant school.  The majority of pupils are from a White British background.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for extra funding (known as the pupil premium) is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils with special educational needs supported through school action is average. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  Apart from the headteacher, all of the teaching staff, including a Foundation Stage leader, a literacy leader and a science leader, have been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school runs a before- and after-school club for its pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching to at least good by making sure that all teachers:  plan learning in small steps and check that pupils understand clearly its purpose  plan tasks which are more closely related to pupils’ experience  plan more opportunities for practical work to strengthen and support pupils’ learning  create more opportunities to enrich and broaden pupils’ vocabulary and use of language  follow a consistent way to teach letters and sounds that will help pupils in their writing  make time for pupils to improve their work so that mistakes are not repeated.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage by making sure that all teachers:  plan purposeful tasks to underpin children’s learning  do not miss opportunities to draw out children’s learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve achievement of more able pupils by:  raising teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do  setting appropriately challenging targets that pupils understand and making regular checks against those targets

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by:  making sure that all senior leaders model good practice  broadening the expertise of all senior leaders to keep a rigorous check on the impact of actions to improve teaching and learning.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because too few pupils make enough rapid progress during their time at school.  In 2010 and 2011, pupils reached standards in reading, writing and mathematics, which were two terms behind pupils nationally.  To improve achievement, an extra teacher was employed to help boost reading writing and mathematics in the mornings in Year 2. As a result, the decline was halted and in 2012 all pupils reached average standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2.  However, although pupils in Years 1 and 2 now make the progress they should, too few make good or better progress. More able pupils are not always reaching the standards that they are capable of achieving.  Reception children start school with skills that are below those expected for their age and although they make the progress they should, the majority have not reached the expected goals by the time they reach Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Reception children enjoy the challenge to improve their estimate of time and put their physical skills to the test as they try to beat the clock on an obstacle course outside, but there are some activities where opportunities are missed to help children recognise and use their learning.  The introduction of letters and sounds helps children to make a start in reading and writing but teaching is not always precise. Mistakes are made and routines are not always consistently followed through the school. This means that not all pupils are confident to use letters and sounds independently when they come across a new word, and this slows their progress. Accurate identification of what pupils require and an appropriate range of extra support enable pupils with special educational needs to make the same rate of progress as their peers. A similar level of support ensures that the few pupils learning English as an additional language make the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

same progress as others.  The few pupils known to be eligible for extra funding do not always make similar progress to their peers, but a wide range of extra support such as financial help for trips and one-to-one tuition in reading, writing and mathematics is helping to close the learning gaps between the these pupils and all pupils nationally.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it does not always promote good achievement.  Pupils do not always have clear understanding about the purpose of the lesson. Often the teacher’s explanation is lengthy and complex. It moves too quickly from one piece of new learning to the next before pupils have fully grasped what is meant or had an opportunity to do their own practical work to help them understand.  Many pupils have difficulty in finding the right words to explain what they are doing or describe an unfamiliar object without the benefit of a practical experience to stimulate their thinking. In some lessons, teachers do use resources to demonstrate new learning. However, pupils do not always get to share this practical experience. In other lessons where pupils do get to use objects, these objects are sometimes unfamiliar and pupils do not know what they are.  However, where teaching is good, pupils understand what they are learning, explain how they

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

are doing it and work keenly on their tasks. For example, Year 2 pupils quickly grasped that odd numbers were on their own and even numbers had a partner, when they were asked to line up in pairs. Good use of the right resources and effective support from the teaching assistant meant that all pupils made good progress to successfully apply their newly learned knowledge.  Where activities for Reception children to learn inside and outside of the classroom are well planned, children are interested and they delight in finding out new things. However, some tasks are either less purposeful or opportunities are missed to draw children’s attention to what could be learned, practised or strengthened.  Although teachers mark pupils’ work conscientiously, they do not always allow time for pupils to correct their work. As a result, mistakes are repeated.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour is good, but not always exemplary. Disruption in lessons is uncommon.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning; they like their teachers and want to do well. They have a great pride in their school and talk confidently about it.  Pupils are also proud of the work that they do because it is displayed in a bright colourful way and this reflects the high value teachers place on pupils’ efforts.  The school is a happy community where pupils work successfully as a team. They respect one another, know wrong from right and appreciate different traditions and beliefs.  The school’s strong emphasis on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development ensures that pupils are respectful and courteous to one another.  Although they know about different forms of bullying, pupils are adamant that it does not happen in school. They are confident that if anything did happen, there would always be

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

someone to listen to them and matters would be quickly and fairly resolved.  Pupils not only feel safe and secure but they know how to keep themselves safe.  Now that parents know the attendance officer, communication has improved and parents are clear about the importance of regular attendance. As a result, attendance has improved dramatically and now stands at the national average.  Parents are appreciative of what the school strives to achieve. All of those who responded to ‘Parent View’ said that the school dealt effectively with bullying, and that their children were happy, felt safe, and behaved well. Parents who spoke to inspectors were also highly appreciative of all that the Sunrise and Sunset ‘wrap-around’ care offers to their children.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because neither teaching nor achievement is typically good.  The headteacher has tackled and eradicated inadequate teaching and now has a team of new, hardworking teachers who are proud to be members of her staff.  Together with the governing body, she has appointed three senior subject leaders to broaden the leadership and management team, but they are new to their role and some have yet to show that their own practice is consistently good .  The local authority responded quickly to the school’s call for support to improve further. A good level of support was provided by the local authority, which has undertook a review, helped monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching and provided professional development and specific training. All of this has contributed to settled, stable staff team which is well prepared to implement the school’s appropriate plan for improvement.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 School information shows pupils are now making the progress they should and attainment has risen in line with national standards. Attendance has improved, the number of pupils on roll has increased and parents are highly appreciative of all that the school has achieved so far. All of this goes to show that the school has the capacity to improve.  Teachers’ performance is managed appropriately. School and personal targets are set and the level of support needed to reach those targets is then discussed. Reviews of performance are tackling weaknesses, and improvements in teaching are recognised and rewarded. There is a clear expectation that teachers on the upper pay scale undertake additional responsibilities.  The school ensures equality of opportunity. All teachers are now held to account and pupils’ progress is checked at regular meetings. If any pupil is seen to underperform, extra help is arranged.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The governance of the school:  Good training from the local authority has helped members of the governing body to play a more active part in the strategic direction of the school. They now have an accurate view of the school’s performance, including the quality of teaching, and how pupils’ test results compare to those of other similar schools. Thetraining has also ensured that they are now knowledgeable and well equipped to ask searching questions. They know a lot about the management of teachers’ performance and how it is used to improve the quality of teaching. Governors are fully involved with setting targets for the school and now hold it rigorously to account. They ensure that statutory duties such as safeguarding are met and that financial resources are managed well. They know that pupils known to be eligible for extra funding are beginning to close any learning gaps they may have in attainment because they have seen the

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The leadership and management require improvement

pupils’ work and they check that money allocated for this purpose is used appropriately.

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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 110374 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 401121

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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 Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 164 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stafford Salt Headteacher Samantha Woodcock Date of previous school inspection 3–4 December 2009 Telephone number 01753 655104 Fax number 01753 630840 Email address head@iver-inf.bucks.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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