Setting

Mr Phil Bateman Headteacher Fritchley CofE (Aided) Primary School Church Street Fritchley Belper DE56 2FQ

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Education act 2005 to Fritchley CofE (Aided) Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 25 March 2013, 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 Fritchley CofE (Aided) Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in December 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 and another other senior leader, the Chair of the Governing Body, and a representative of the local authority. The school improvement plan and the school’s system to track pupils’ progress were evaluated. Minutes of governing body meetings were scrutinised.

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Context

Since the last inspection one part-time teacher has left the school and one new part- time teacher has been appointed. Serco Inspections Colmore Plaza 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T :0121 679 9169 Direct email : elizabeth.rashvand@serco.com

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Main findings

Leaders and managers share a common sense of purpose and an ambition to raise achievement in order to make this a good school. The headteacher, with support from the local authority, has revised the school’s improvement plan. The plan addresses all of the issues raised at the time of the last inspection and includes appropriate arrangements for leaders and governors to check the school’s work. Targets for pupils’ progress are included in the plan but currently these are not challenging enough. I have asked leaders to revise these.

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Main findings

The headteacher has made good progress, since the last inspection, in improving the efficiency of the school’s systems to track the progress made by individual pupils and different groups of pupils. Consequently, the headteacher now has a secure understanding of where progress is slower than it should be. A number of additional learning activities are planned to help pupils who have fallen behind to catch up with their peers. However, there are no clear targets or measures in place, within the improvement plan, for governors to check the impact the activities make on closing the gap between these pupils and others.

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Main findings

The governing body has received suitable training to help it become more effective. Minutes from governing body meetings indicate that governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and are beginning to ask more challenging questions of the school’s leaders.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors have begun to take 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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Main findings

 raise expectations of the progress that pupils should make each term, and include the revised targets in the school improvement plan  include termly targets in the school improvement plan for the proportions of pupils working at or above age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics, to enable governors to check more easily that groups of pupils who have fallen behind are catching up  ensure that the school submit the revised improvement plan to HMI by the end of April 2013.

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Main findings

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

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External support

The local authority adviser has provided timely and appropriate support to the school since the last inspection. Senior leaders have welcomed joint lesson observations of staff with the local authority adviser and have received support in improving the quality of the school’s improvement plan. Further training has been arranged to develop governors’ expertise in interpreting data about pupils’ performance.

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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 Derbyshire local authority.

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