Sutton-on-Sea Community Primary School

Sutton-on-Sea Community Primary School Station Road, Sutton-on-Sea, Mablethorpe, LN12 2HU

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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 Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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

 Progress and standards in writing are much lower than in reading and mathematics.  In some classes, teaching is not good enough to make sure that all pupils progress as quickly as they should.  Marking in books does not always give pupils clear guidance as to what they need to do to improve, and when it does they are not always given enough time to respond.  Sometimes pupils’ behaviour outside the classroom is too boisterous and results in unnecessary minor accidents.  Pupils’ progress is not checked rigorously or quickly enough to prevent individual pupils falling behind or to tell senior leaders how well actions taken to improve standards are working.

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The school has the following strengths

 Progress in mathematics is good in most classes and more able pupils reach high standards by the end of Key Stage 2.  Pupils generally behave well in lessons and there is very little disruption to learning.  In some classes teaching is good and children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress.  The leaders and managers of the school know where teaching requires improvement and are taking appropriate steps to raise the standard of teaching throughout the school.  Governors have a good understanding of the strengths of the school and know where it needs to improve.  Good social skills are developed through strong links with the local community.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 17 lessons or parts of lessons, five of which were joint observations with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, staff, including senior leaders, two groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body, and a representative of the local authority. Informal discussions were held with parents and carers.  The inspectors took account of 11 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), school parent questionnaires and 16 completed staff questionnaires .  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at: information from the school’s checks on its performance; school improvement plans; analysis and tracking of pupils’ progress; leaders’ records of classroom observations; safeguarding arrangements; and records of governing body meetings. They also sampled pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and checked information on pupils’ attendance.

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Inspection team

Susan Hughes, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Mike Williams Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium, which is additional funding for children known to be eligible for free school meals, in local authority care, or with a parent in the armed services, is above average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below average, as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average, as is the proportion supported at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs.  Pupils in some classes learn in mixed-age classes, with two or three year groups in each class.  No pupils are taught in alternative provision away from the school site.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for attainment and progress.  Most governors joined the governing body within the last two years and the Chair of Governors has been in post for a year.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that it is consistently good and standards, particularly in writing, improve by ensuring:  when planning lessons, all teachers set work that is properly matched to pupils’ abilities, and which encourages them to become fully involved in their learning  teachers’ marking in all subjects includes guidance on the next steps pupils need to take in their learning  pupils are routinely given enough time to respond to teachers’ guidance, both written and oral, and do so  all teachers check pupils’ progress in good time to ensure that anyone in danger of falling behind is quickly identified and helped to catch up.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve behaviour outside the classroom at break and other times by:  ensuring pupils keep to the safety rules applied to the playground  develop pupils’ awareness of the importance of managing their own behaviour when not closely supervised by an adult

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management by ensuring:  leaders’ plans for raising standards contain clear and measurable steps and targets which enable leaders to make regular checks on whether or not the plans are working  leaders make better and more timely use of data on patterns in pupils’ performance to assess the effectiveness of teaching and to identify where further support is needed

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in writing were below average at the end of Key Stage 2 last year. Attainment in reading was just above average so that, overall, pupils reached broadly average standards in English. Attainment in mathematics was above average and a higher proportion of more-able pupils attained higher levels than others nationally.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards at the end of Key Stage 1 last year were below average in reading and writing. They were average in mathematics. The results of the national screening check on how well pupils know the sounds that letters make (phonics) in Year 1 were just below average. However, pupils whom the inspectors heard read, showed secure phonic skills and were able to read unfamiliar words by using the letter sounds.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress in writing is weaker than progress in reading and mathematics. Some pupils make good progress in all subjects, especially in Years 6 and 4, but this is not consistent across all classes. Most pupils make at least expected progress in reading and mathematics, but inconsistencies in teaching means that some do not make as much progress as they need to for their achievement to become really good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In recent months progress overall has improved. Work in books shows that more pupils are now making good progress and that gaps between the attainment of different groups of pupils are beginning to close. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are making similar rates of progress to other pupils because they are generally well supported in small groups or by an adult working on a one-to-one basis.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress and attainment of pupils who are eligible for free school meals and those from minority ethnic backgrounds is also similar other pupils in the school. Pupils who speak English as an additional language make good progress because good support is provided to help them understand and practise speaking English.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding make similar progress to other pupils. The additional funding has been spent on providing additional staff to give support for small groups of pupils. Some of this support is very effective and results of testing indicate that in English and mathematics, some pupils have closed the gap with others in the school. However, the progress of this group of pupils is not consistently good in all classes.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress. They typically start school with some skills below those expected for their age. A good range of opportunities for them to learn both indoors and outdoors means that they usually start in Key Stage 1 with skills at least in line with those expected nationally.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching is not consistently good and, consequently, some pupils do not make enough progress. This is because work is sometimes not well matched to pupils’ abilities and is too easy for them. On occasions pupils sit for too long listening to the teacher instead of being allowed to get on with their work.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Marking in books is completed regularly and pupils understand the marking system. However, while some guidance to the next steps in learning for pupils is clear, other comments are less helpful because they are too general. Even when guidance is provided, pupils are not always given the time they need to respond to it.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ skills in questioning vary across the school. Some teachers ask questions which really help pupils think deeply about their learning. For example, Year 6 pupils were asked to explain why they prioritised certain features in a story. In another class pupils were asked to predict and explain what they thought would happen to their heart-rate at different times during rest and exercise. However, in other classes, teachers’ questions are too easy and pupils’ responses are not always followed up to ensure they really understand the points they are meant to be learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Where teaching is good, pupils are fully engaged in their learning. For example, pupils in Years 3 and 4 were seen solving mathematical problems linked to their Greek topic. While some were calculating how many eyes and ears a group of Cyclops would have, others were using more complex multiplication facts to make estimations and calculate numbers of arrows fired as a target. These pupils make significant gains in their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Opportunities for learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage are exciting and stimulating. There is a good balance between activities led by an adult and those selected by the children themselves. They enjoy both indoor and outdoor learning. For example, during the inspection the use of binoculars to spot birds caused great excitement. The types and numbers of birds seen were then noted down for further discussion.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Homework is set regularly in some classes but this is not consistent across the school. Where it is a regular occurrence, pupils are clear about the expectations and know when it needs handing in to be marked. Most parents who expressed their views through Parent View felt that their children receive appropriate homework for their age.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils behave well in lessons. Occasionally some sit back quietly without getting fully involved, especially if the whole class is listening to the teacher. However, there is very little disruptive behaviour and none which significantly affects the learning of others.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 When not closely supervised by an adult, some pupils occasionally become boisterous and forget their manners. Pupils are aware of the different zones that are designed for safety on the playground, but they do not always keep to them. For example the ‘quiet and reflective’ area was being used for chasing games during the inspection. The school accident book records a number of minor accidents, mainly caused by boisterous play outside.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils have a clear understanding of what bullying is. They can talk about different types of bullying, including name calling and cyber bullying. They say that there are few incidents of bullying in the school and that it is usually dealt with well by the teachers.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils know how to stay safe in different situations. For example, they talked to the inspectors about visits from the coastguard, Fire Service and Police. The school’s Junior Police Community Support Officers help raise awareness of unsafe parking around the school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The school has worked hard to improve attendance over the last few years. From being very low in 2010, attendance has steadily improved and is now in line with the national average. This is because the school is working closely with parents to involve them and ensure that their children are in school as much as possible. Activities such as the regular ‘Share’ sessions where parents join their children in craft lessons have helped bring more parents into school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership requires improvement. Although leaders know where teaching is weak and are taking appropriate steps to address it, their actions are too recent to be fully effective and some teaching is consequently still not good enough.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school leaders have a clear and accurate view of what the school needs to do to improve. Plans are in place to raise standards, particularly in writing. The plans, however, do not always have clear, measurable steps which can be used to check whether actions being taken are being effective quickly enough.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils’ progress is tracked at intervals and the school reviews the data to identify where additional support is needed. However, these reviews are not frequent enough to identify individual pupils who are falling behind quickly enough or to provide timely support to ensure they catch up.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Systems used to check the quality of teaching are improving. Teachers’ performance is now explicitly judged against how much progress their pupils make and how well they fulfil their different roles in the school. A new appraisal system has been put in place so that targets are used appropriately to measure whether promotion up the pay scale is justified by the results achieved.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school places a high value on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Good social skills are developed through strong links with the local community. The school Christmas choir entertained residents of local retirement homes and sang at the local doctor’s surgery. Good links with local churches supports pupils’ spiritual development.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils have a clear understanding of right and wrong and have opportunities to discuss moral dilemmas that occur both in their own lives and on a global level. For example, Year 6 pupils discussed the success of Martin Luther King’s efforts to secure equality of opportunity for all races and peoples.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided good support for the school. It has supported the leadership team in improving teaching and learning, especially in Key Stage 1, and has delivered training sessions for governors.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is relatively inexperienced as most governors have joined in the last two years. However, they have undertaken training and have developed a robust programme for checking how well the school is doing, including looking closely at school data to see how the school compares with others. Governing body minutes show that governors ask challenging questions of the headteacher and senior leaders, holding them to account for school improvement. Regular visits to the school are recorded by individual governors, but the reporting of these visits is not thorough enough to be helpful to other members of the governing body. Governors have an accurate picture of the quality of teaching and know how well pupils are progressing. The school’s finances are well managed and governors check the effectiveness of all, and particularly pupil premium, spending. The Chair of the Governing Body

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The leadership and management requires improvement

was able to discuss with the inspector how much money was spent on small group and individual support and the impact this support was having on the pupils who received it.

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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 120479 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 401940

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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 172 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sara Cooper Headteacher David Pearson Date of previous school inspection 15 March 2010 Telephone number 01507 441319 Fax number 01507 443578 Email address admin@sutton.lincs.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

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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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