Captain Webb Primary School

Captain Webb Primary School Webb Crescent, Telford, TF4 3DU

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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.  From their different starting points, pupils of all abilities and backgrounds achieve well. This is because teaching is mostly good and some is outstanding.  Senior leaders manage teachers’ performance well. They have successfully improved teaching and learning and secured an upward trend in attainment.  Staff and governors are ambitious for the pupils. They work together well to plan, monitor and evaluate pupils’ progress and are quick to take action to improve it.  Governors support the school well. They also challenge it by questioning data and visiting classes regularly to talk to pupils and staff. They have been instrumental in establishing the initiative to build pupils’ ability to learn.  Pupils behave well and they feel very safe in school. They and the majority of their parents praise the school for how well it teaches them to keep themselves safe in and out of school.  The school has successfully improved pupils’

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

attendance in the past two years so that it is now above average.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The teaching of basic skills in mathematics is not strong enough throughout the school to ensure pupils make best possible progress.  Marking does not always show pupils how to improve their learning.  Insufficient attention is given to ensuring progression in skills when different subjects are brought together in themes.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited 28 lessons. Three of these were observed jointly with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. Inspectors also observed playtimes and lunchtimes.  Discussions were held with pupils, governors, staff and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 39 responses to the online parental survey (Parent View), and of comments made by parents during informal discussions at the start of the day.  The 29 returns completed by staff were also taken into account.  Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documentation including information about pupils’ progress and attendance, the school improvement plan, the school’s self-evaluation document, documents relating to safeguarding and records of visits made by the local authority.  The work in pupils’ books was examined and sessions were sampled where pupils were learning letters and sounds (phonics). Inspectors also listened to pupils read.

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Inspection team

Doris Bell, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Anna Smith Additional Inspector Martin Bertulis Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school. Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives additional funding from the government, known as the pupil premium, is well-above average. This funding is for children in local authority care, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, and children with a parent in the armed forces.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  There have been considerable staff changes in the past twelvemonths, including among the senior leadership team.  The school shares its site with a Children’s Centre, which is inspected separately. It runs its own

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve achievement in mathematics by:  making sure basic mathematical skills are taught well and consolidated from an early age so that there are no gaps in these skills for older pupils  increasing opportunities for pupils to use their mathematical skills in different subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the impact of marking on pupils’ progress by:  achieving consistency in marking throughout the school and extending it to all subjects so that pupils always have good guidance on how to improve  giving pupils time to respond to marking comments.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that, as the review of the way in which different subjects are taught is completed, any new approach includes good guidance for teachers on how to ensure progression in each subject, whether taught separately or through themes.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children start school with skills below those expected for their age, particularly in language, literacy, and aspects of personal development. They learn and develop well in Nursery and Reception but still start Year 1 below where they should be.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The steady upward trend in attainment in Year 2 and Year 6 in recent years took it to above average overall and significantly above in English in 2012. Mathematics improved to reach the national average. School data shows that the upward trend is continuing and that pupils achieve well over time in relation to their starting points.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Published data in 2012 appear to tell a different story of progress, but the school was able to show that inaccurate assessment when the pupils were in Year 2 led to an incorrect view of overall progress by Year 6. This was also confirmed by the local authority.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils read well. They use their phonics skills to help them read new words and to ‘read between the lines’ to gain deeper meaning from a text. For example, a pupil explained that, having read the book ‘Broken Glass’, it became obvious that the title was a metaphor for family break-up.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make excellent progress in writing. They use their writing skills well in different subjects, and are mindful of their writing targets when they do so. They develop good spelling and grammar skills, a good range of vocabulary, and a good understanding of the main grammatical conventions.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Progress is relatively weaker in mathematics than in reading or writing. This is because there are gaps in pupils’ understanding of, and ability to recall quickly, basic number facts. The school is beginning to tackle this issue, as was evident when Year 6 pupils were successfully challenged to find different ways of making 350. These pupils went on to make outstanding progress as they designed, drew out, costed and equipped a theme park, albeit with a limited budget.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils know their targets and the levels they are at and they are clear about what they need to achieve to reach the next level. They readily help each other by assessing their own and each other’s work and discussing how to improve it.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs also make good progress. They are helped by skilled support staff and by specific programmes that are carefully and frequently monitored to ensure they are working.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The gaps between pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium and other pupils are narrower than those found nationally. The pupils are now just over one term behind other pupils in English and two terms behind in mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers use their mostly good subject knowledge to probe pupils’ thinking and spur them on to learn more. They have high expectations of their pupils’ learning and behaviour, and they manage behaviour well, often without reducing the pace of learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The strongly practical approach to learning motivates pupils and aids their progress. For example, as pupils in Year 3 acted out parts of a myth, they made excellent progress in understanding how to write a play script with stage directions and language relevant to the time in which the myth was set. They also learned how to modify their voice and their language to suit purpose and audience.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Questioning is modified well to suit the pupils’ different stages of learning, as is teachers’ planning. Classroom routines are well-established and teaching and highly skilled support staff work together well to get the best from the pupils. Nevertheless, learning opportunities are sometimes missed when support staff are under-used in whole class sessions.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Reading, including phonics, is taught well and pupils are successfully encouraged to use books and the internet to find information to extend their learning. Basic mathematical skills are not taught as consistently well as literacy skills. This has led to gaps in learning for older pupils, which the school is working hard to close.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Although not entirely consistent, marking is at its best in writing, including that done in different subjects. In mathematics and in other subjects, it does not often help pupils see how to improve their learning. When it does, pupils are not always given time to respond.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well in and around school and also in the playground. They are reflective, respect each other and adults, trust the staff to help them at all times and appreciate the well- established systems of rewards and sanctions that help regulate behaviour. They are proud of their school and mostly take pride in their work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Parents’ views of behaviour and bullying vary, but inspectors found nothing to substantiate the negative responses received on the Ofsted Parent View website. All parents spoken to during the inspection were very pleased with what the school does for their children.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school takes a robust stand on bullying. Pupils understand what bullying is, the effect it has on the victim, and what to do should they know of any. They are fully aware of the dangers associated with using modern technology. They very much appreciate the anonymity associated with reporting any incidents, saying the perpetrator ‘cannot get at anyone for telling’.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attitudes to learning are mostly very positive and pupils want to do well. Pupils find learning fun and say it is one of the best things about being at the school because it will help them to get a good job later. However, their books show they do not always transfer these positive approaches to the presentation of their work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils readily accept responsibility, for example, as computer captains, buddy captains and school councillors, who are particularly pleased with the opportunities they have had to help design alterations to the school site.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils talk proudly and knowledgeably about how practising ‘reciprocity, resilience, resourcefulness and reflection’ is helping them to learn faster. This approach has become a powerful and effective tool in the school’s drive to improve standards.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school leadership has high expectations of staff and pupils. Accurate checks on teaching and learning lead to specific areas for improvement that are followed up rigorously with guidance, support and well-targeted professional development.

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The leadership and management are good

 The new leadership team has continued to improve teaching and learning and taken action to raise achievement in mathematics. Assessment procedures have been tightened up to provide an accurate view of pupils’ progress. The outcomes are used to inform planning at all levels.

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The leadership and management are good

 The joined-up thinking between accurate self-evaluation, the school improvement plan and the management of teachers’ performance means the school has an in-depth understanding of where it is at and what it needs to do to improve further. Its capacity to improve is strong.

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The leadership and management are good

 Partnerships with parents, other schools and external agencies are good. The links are used well to ensure assessments are accurate, to involve parents in their children’s learning, to provide harder work for more-able pupils, and to support pupils who find learning difficult.

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The leadership and management are good

 The way different subjects are taught meets pupils’ needs but is under review. Currently, there is not enough guidance for teachers on how to measure progress in different subjects, or how to promote mathematical learning in them. Nevertheless, through different subjects, pupils are prepared well for life in a global society and are proud of the links they have with pupils at home and abroad.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school promotes equality of opportunity well and tackles discrimination effectively. Thus pupils develop a strong sense of fairness. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well.

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The leadership and management are good

 Safeguarding procedures, including for child protection, meet current requirements. All training is up to date and the school is vigilant in caring for and supporting pupils and families whose circumstances might make them vulnerable.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of the provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good, as is the leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority provides ‘light touch’ support for this good school. Nevertheless, the school buys additional support for teaching and learning when necessary and uses the local authority well to check the accuracy of its monitoring of teaching and learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors are frequent visitors to the school. They know the school well, understand how to interpret data about pupils’ performance and support and challenge the school in equal measure. They monitor the effectiveness of teaching and help the headteacher make decisions about pay so that good teaching is rewarded and any underperformance tackled. They check that all spending, including the pupil premium, is securing better progress for the pupils, and they keep up to date with training to help them fulfil their roles effectively. Governors have been particularly instrumental in helping the school to implement the initiative to build pupils’ learning power.

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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 123443 Local authority Telford and Wrekin Inspection number 413180

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 330 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mark Chetwood Headteacher Jessie Gupta Date of previous school inspection 13 January 2010 Telephone number 01952 386770 Fax number 01952 386782 Email address julie.folger@taw.org.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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