Setting

Katharine Bultitude Wilburton CofE Primary School Carpond Lane Wilburton Ely CB6 3RJ

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Education Act 2005 to Wilburton CofE Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 29 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 Wilburton CofE Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in February 2013.

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Evidence

During the visit, I held meetings with yourself and three representatives of the governing body, including the chair of governors. I spoke to the local authority adviser. I evaluated your school’s operational plan and scrutinised a sample of your lesson observation summaries. We jointly visited classes and spoke to pupils about their work.

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Context

Since the inspection, one teacher has left. A new class teacher and a new deputy headteacher are due to join the school in September 2013.

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Main findings

The school is making steady progress towards becoming a good school. The Local Authority Intervention Group (LAIG) has devised a clear plan to bring about rapid improvement. You are using this strategic plan to evaluate your effectiveness. The school’s termly operational plan is comprehensive but unduly complicated and not 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 9158 Direct email : rachel.dayan@serco.com user-friendly as a tool for improvement. The main actions and their intended impact should stand out more clearly so that teachers, support staff and governors see more readily where they have been successful and where further impetus is required to accelerate pupils’ progress.

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Main findings

With senior staff, you are checking that assessment of pupils’ work is accurate. This is helping staff to spot pupils that are falling behind and take steps to provide extra help. Teachers ensure that there is a better match of work to the needs of more able pupils, but this is not consistent across all classes. Your feedback to staff is not always acted upon with sufficient urgency. The local authority early years adviser is developing staff skills in evaluating standards in the Early Years Foundation Stage to raise expectations at Key Stage 1 are raised.

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Main findings

Following a recent review of governance and bespoke training, governors have agreed a clear plan of action to develop their skills. They have set up a School Improvement Task Group (SITG) to check that the school is moving in the right direction. Governors recognise that they need training in understanding data and, with the help of the local authority, you are investigating an efficient way of collecting data to facilitate this task.

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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:

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Main findings

 simplify the termly operational plan so that it is helpful to all staff  ensure that work in years 1 and 2 builds upon progress made in the Early Years Foundation Stage  ensure that staff observe outstanding practice in other schools to see what it is possible to achieve.

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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 primary adviser checks progress regularly and the intervention group offers rigorous challenge. The Witchford Area Schools’ Partnership (WASP) enable staff to share professional knowledge.

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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 Cambridgeshire.

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