Eastover Primary School

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 Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  The strong senior leadership team, together with the commitment and hard work of staff and members of the governing body, has helped the school to improve well since its last inspection.  Achievement is good and attainment is rising. It is average in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils at risk of underachieving, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs and pupils receiving pupil premium funding, also achieve well.  Reception children achieve exceptionally well because of the outstanding teaching and activities provided.  Behaviour is good and relationships throughout the school community are very harmonious.  Good teaching is evident in the well-structured lessons, good demonstrations and discussions, and strong behaviour management seen both from teachers and classroom assistants.  A very regular and rigorous programme for checking how well the school is doing helps

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

ensure that improvement plans target weaker areas and successfully address them.  Senior staff, subject leaders and the governing body monitor teachers’ performance and pupils’ achievement well, ensuring that both aspects are continually improving.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 More could be done to raise attainment by setting pupils more demanding independent reading tasks and mathematical investigations, and increasing the opportunities for extended writing tasks.  Teachers miss opportunities for raising the level of challenge during lessons. Marking does not always help pupils recognise what they have achieved or how to improve. Insufficient use is made of pupils’ individual targets to encourage good progress.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 24 lessons or parts of lessons, including a joint observation with the headteacher. They also heard a sample of pupils read.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of the governing body, a representative of the local authority and staff, including senior and middle managers.  Inspectors took account of the 14 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and spoke to a small number of parents and carers bringing their children to school.  They observed the school’s work and scrutinised a number of documents, including the school’s records on current pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance. They also looked at documents relating to planning and monitoring and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Diane Wilkinson, Lead inspector Additional inspector Elizabeth Thomas Additional inspector David Williams Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 Eastover is a larger than average-sized primary school with two classes in each year group.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported by school action is well above average. The proportion supported by school action plus or a statement of special educational needs is broadly average.  The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language are below average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides funding for children in local authority care, children from service families and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, is well above average.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress, in English and mathematics.  No pupils from the school attend alternative provision.

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Information about this school

 The current headteacher had only been in post for a short while at the time of the inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Build on and extend the strategies in place to raise attainment through:  having higher expectations of pupils’ comprehension skills in independent reading activities  giving pupils more opportunities for extended writing, and for planning and carrying out their own mathematical investigations both in mathematics lessons and a range of other subjects.  Raise the proportion of outstanding teaching by:  ensuring that all teachers continually look for ways to adapt learning throughout lessons in order to get the very best out of pupils  marking pupils’ work so that it consistently identifies what pupils have achieved and what they need to do next  making more use of pupils’ individual targets by regularly assessing and recording their progress and consistently reminding pupils to try and achieve them when undertaking a new piece of work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the Reception class with lower than expected skill levels especially in their personal, social and emotional development and literacy. They make excellent progress and by the end of the year their skills are broadly average.  Pupils across the school make good progress and by Year 6 their attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is average. Pupils in all groups, including those eligible for the pupil premium, attain as well as their classmates as measured by APS (average point scores) in Year 6 assessments.  The sounds letters make in words (phonics) are exceptionally well taught in Reception and Years 1 and 2. Consequently pupils achieve really well in the Year 1 phonics check, and attainment in reading is average by the end of Year 2. By Year 6, pupils’ ability to read new words and comprehend what they are reading is very secure.  Older pupils read widely and with enjoyment although insufficient opportunity is taken to

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The achievement of pupils is good

develop their comprehension skills further in independent reading tasks.  Despite many younger pupils finding writing difficult, their commitment and consistently good teaching result in the majority of Year 2 pupils writing well-presented work with good handwriting and accurate spelling and punctuation.  By Year 6 most pupils write competently in a wide range of formats including diaries, letters and poetry. They use effective adjectives, adverbs, metaphors or similes to enliven their work; for example, when describing the character of a pirate or highwayman.  From Reception, pupils develop strong mathematical place value and calculation skills. Year 2 pupils use these accurately when working with money or time and Year 6 pupils apply these well in a range of problem-solving activities set by their teachers. However, the lack of activities for pupils to plan and carry out their own mathematical investigations, including in other subjects,

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The achievement of pupils is good

limits their achievement.  The strong promotion of equality of opportunity and prevention of discrimination ensures the needs of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, pupils who speak English as an additional language and those in receipt of pupil premium funding are met well. Consequently the gap with their classmates is closing well, and particularly quickly for those receiving pupil premium funding.  Pupils and their parents and carers are very appreciative of the good progress pupils now make.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching has improved well since the last inspection, including in literacy and mathematics. This has pleased parents and carers who are confident that their children are well taught.  Teaching in Reception is excellent, meeting the needs of this age group especially well. Phonics is exceptionally well taught in the younger classes.  Lessons are well structured, with challenging activities planned to support pupils working at different levels. Teachers periodically check pupils’ progress, but only in the very best lessons do they continually adjust activities to challenge pupils even more.  Teaching assistants are very well deployed to support groups or individuals, and make a major contribution to ensuring that all pupils gain important skills, knowledge and understanding well.  Both teachers and assistants are good at questioning pupils or using discussions to help pupils’ understanding. Pupils themselves are good at testing out their own ideas with a partner.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The use of team teachers, funded by the pupil premium, has an exceptionally good impact on the progress of these pupils. In addition it has enabled other staff to concentrate more on accelerating progress for all pupils.  Behaviour management is excellent, with lessons very rarely being interrupted and the vast majority of pupils working hard throughout.  During lessons staff are good at giving oral feedback that corrects misconceptions or helps pupils recognise how to do better. However, marking of their recorded work is not always as helpful, sometimes praising effort, but not making it clear what the pupil needs to do next to improve their work.  Pupils are set challenging improvement targets to promote their progress. However, not all staff record pupils’ progress towards these regularly enough and insufficient reference is made to them during lesson activities to encourage pupils to achieve them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ good behaviour is a testament to the very positive relationships throughout the whole school community, very effective behaviour management in lessons and an effective range of strategies in place to support pupils who find it difficult to behave well.  Pupils report that there is little bullying, citing what is associated with boisterous play that worries them rather than derogatory name calling or other more serious forms. Most pupils are respectful to their peers and adults, and work well together in pairs or groups.  Reception children get off to an excellent start, developing independence and working or playing happily together.  Pupils quickly develop responsibility, self-esteem and the commitment to do well. They are very proud of their school and both they and their parents and carers would highly recommend it to others.  Pupils and their parents and carers fully recognise the strengths in safeguarding. Pupils are

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

confident that staff keep them safe, which is validated by the very secure school site. Pupils’ good safety awareness is seen in the way they courteously move around school, holding doors open for others.  Pupils are very enthusiastic about school and eager to take part in all activities. As a result, there are few poor attenders and attendance levels are broadly average.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership and management structure across the different stages, subjects and classes effectively ensures a coherent approach to improving the quality of education and pupils’ achievement. The new headteacher, ably supported by senior leaders, has quickly gained the confidence of staff.  Continuous checking of the impact of the school’s work on pupils’ achievement keeps staff well focused on identifying improvement areas. Their positive response to regular monitoring of teaching and pupil progress meetings results in teaching being at least good and the curriculum being relevant and motivating.  The management of teachers’ performance is effectively linked to whole-school development priorities and individual teachers’ needs are identified through monitoring. Staff enthusiastically tackle weaknesses, willingly committing to further training identified to increase their expertise.  The special educational needs leader effectively ensures that the special programmes for pupils

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The leadership and management are good

who are at risk of underachieving, including those led by learning support assistants or team teachers, have a positive impact on achievement.  Safeguarding policies and procedures, including those for the vetting of staff and child protection, are very robust. Staff are very vigilant in this area so pupils are consistently well cared for.  Staff are highly regarded by parents and carers who praise the school’s leaders. Attendance at parents’ evenings is very good and their support contributes to their child’s progress. Delete gap  The local authority has provided very regular and effective support over the past few years. This has led to improved teaching quality, resulting from training opportunities and links with outstanding practitioners to help enhance teachers’ expertise, and ensured that school development planning is very well focused on needs.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. A special effort is made

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The leadership and management are good

to ensure that pupils are well prepared for their future life in a multicultural society.  The governance of the school:  Governors’ commitment to training ensures that they understand data well, asking leaders challenging questions about how well the school compares nationally and within its own area. Teamwork with staff is very positive so governors are kept fully up to date regarding improvements in teaching and the strategies in place to enhance the quality further. Governors rigorously link salary increments, recommended through performance management, to positive outcomes in pupils’ achievement for both main scale teachers and those, for example, with a subject responsibility. Decisions regarding the allocation of pupil premium funding and the monitoring of its effectiveness are excellent. Governors are justly proud of the excellent effect of the funding of team teachers, the skilled teaching assistant for

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The leadership and management are good

reading and increased time for the parent and family support adviser, which is helping to swiftly close the gap in the progress between these pupils and other pupils in the school.

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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 123679 Local authority Somerset Inspection number 406180

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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 403 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alison Monteith Headteacher Nicola Darby Date of previous school inspection 1–2 February 2011 Telephone number 01278 422693 Fax number 01278 434883 Email address office@eastover.somerset.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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