Setting

Mr Chris Gill Shawley Community Primary School Shawley Way Epsom KT18 5PD

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Education act 2005 to Shawley Community Primary School, Surrey

Following my visit to your school on 17 April 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 Shawley Community Primary School, Surrey

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in January 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, I held meetings with you, the deputy headteacher, the Chair of Governors and one other governor, and a representative of the local authority. I evaluated the school’s improvement plan. I also looked at minutes of recent governing body meetings, an outline of the actions leaders have taken since the inspection, and examples of tailored development plans for individual teachers. You showed me around the school and we briefly visited every class.

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Context

One teacher has left the school since the inspection and another has started.

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Main findings

There is a strong ambition amongst staff, leaders and governors for the school to be judged good at its next inspection. As a result, the new school improvement plan addresses all of the areas for improvement arising from the inspection. Actions are Tribal 1–4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5323 Direct email :suzy.smith@triblagroup.com detailed and specific. They show clearly how the school needs to improve to become good, but also that there is much to do. The plan also describes what successful improvement will look like and the headteacher and other leaders are determined to achieve these goals before the next full inspection. There are further improvement plans that fit into this overall one, for example for English, mathematics and the curriculum.

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Main findings

Whilst there are many strengths in these plans, it is not always clear who is leading on actions, or who will be monitoring or evaluating the actions - ideally, these should be three different people. The roles of the governing body and the local authority in supporting, monitoring and evaluating improvement need to be clearer. Also, the dates by which improvements will be achieved need to be set.

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Main findings

The school is able to show what individual leaders have done since the inspection to bring about change. There has been, understandably, quite a lot of planning of improvements in light of the inspection, but there has also been a range of direct actions to raise the quality of teaching and learning. For example, there has been training for teachers on improving teaching and planning, observations of lessons with feedback to teachers, sessions for pupils who need extra support, and work on developing the curriculum across the school. The full impact of these actions on pupils’ learning is yet to be seen.

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Main findings

Some examples of development plans for individual teachers were provided. These show how specific areas for development in their teaching are identified, what they need to do to improve and what help they will get, and the intended outcome. This strategy is a useful way to help improve teaching across the school. These plans now need to be used to help share the best practice in the school.

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Main findings

An important improvement has been the kind of information governors are receiving to help them regularly monitor the progress pupils are making. This information is now very clear, and will be checked at least once a term by governors. This will help them challenge school leaders when pupils’ progress is not good, and it will also help them judge whether the quality of teaching is improving. Governors already visit the school regularly to see for themselves what is happening, but they should focus these visits on the areas for improvement from the inspection as one way of evaluating how well the school is doing. Evidence from governing body minutes suggests that governors are determined to help the school become good. Whilst there are some examples of effective support and challenge at these meetings, these need to continue to develop.

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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, I recommend that further action is taken to:  be clear about who is leading improvements, who is monitoring them and who is evaluating them, including being clear about the roles of the governing body and the local authority  make sure the local authority’s extra support starts as soon as possible to help the school make as rapid progress as possible  use the development plans for individual teachers to share the best practice in the school  carefully track the impact of improvements on pupils’ learning and experiences.

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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 School Improvement Adviser knows the school well and has continued to work with the school since the inspection, for example through helping with the new improvement plan. He recognises that improving the quality of teaching so that it is good overall is the top priority. The school has been promised a significant level of support from the local authority because of the inspection outcome. This has not yet begun and needs to be brokered with the headteacher and governors, focussing carefully on appropriate elements of the improvement plan. As part of this support, the School Improvement Adviser will monitor the progress the school is making every half-term.

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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 Surrey Local Authority and as below.

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