Horton CofE VA Primary School

Horton Church of England VA Primary School Horton, Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, BS37 6QP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  Pupils make excellent progress during their time at school and their achievement is well above national averages at the end of Key Stage 2.  Outcomes for pupils have been improving rapidly over a sustained period of time. The school’s own information shows that the progress pupils are now making is excellent across all year groups.  Teaching is outstanding. Pupils of all abilities are supported well to achieve highly. Outstanding teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage enables children in Reception to make good progress and to be well prepared for the start of Key Stage 1.  Teachers use the information they have on pupils extremely well to ensure that work in lessons is not too easy or too hard for them. Support for pupils with special educational needs is very effective.  Systems to monitor pupils’ progress ensure that support is closely matched to the needs of individuals.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils feel happy and safe, and are very proud of their school. Their outstanding behaviour enables them to get the best out of their lessons. Around school, they are very polite and behave in an exemplary manner.  The headteacher is astute and has clear views of how the school must continue to develop. Her ambition is shared by her staff, who provide excellent support and have the skills to lead on different aspects of school improvement.  The curriculum is innovative, providing excellent learning opportunities to enrich and widen the experiences of the pupils.  The progress of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is accelerating because of the additional support.  The governing body is strong and effectively monitors the work of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed seven lessons and a house assembly.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body, senior and middle leaders, and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector listened to pupils read and scrutinised samples of pupils’ workbooks with the headteacher.  A wide range of documentation was examined, including the school’s information on pupils’ recent progress, planning, checks on teaching, and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding arrangements.  The inspector also took account of the 28 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). Two emails and one letter from parents were received during the inspection. The inspector also took account of the views of staff through the 13 staff questionnaires.

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Inspection team

David Hogg, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Horton School is a primary school that is much smaller than average. It draws its pupils, who are all of White British heritage, from the surrounding area and some from wider afield. There are no pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds attending the school.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium (pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children who are looked after by the local authority, and children of service families) is well below the national average. Currently, there are no pupils in the care of the local authority or from service families in the school.  The proportion of disabled pupils or with special educational needs supported at school action is much lower than the national average. The proportion of pupils who are supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is well below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching further by making sure that teachers’ marking tells pupils how to make their work better, and that pupils are given the chance to respond.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The small numbers in each year group make the identification of any patterns in achievement unreliable. However, pupils’ attainment in national tests in Year 6, in both English and mathematics, has improved rapidly over time and is now well above national averages. The rate at which pupils make progress has increased as well and the school’s own information on pupils’ current progress suggests that this trend is continuing.  Children enter Reception with levels of skill and knowledge broadly average for their age, although the range can be wide. Helped by very effective teaching, pupils then make good progress and are well prepared for the move into Year 1.  The progress pupils make is tracked carefully throughout the school and monitoring means that support can be provided to help those making slower progress; similarly, challenge can be offered to stretch the more-able pupils. The pupils’ individual needs are well known to all staff,

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

who collectively review how well pupils are doing. This enables work to be tailored to the needs of each individual and, as a result, pupils achieve very well.  The teaching of reading is very effective and younger pupils demonstrate a good understanding of letters and sounds (phonics), and can use this knowledge to build up unfamiliar words. By the time pupils are in Year 6, they can read confidently with increasing fluency. Pupils’ progress in reading is excellent in the lower school.  Pupils in receipt of additional help, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, make similar progress to other pupils because of well-planned teaching and very effective support from teaching assistants. The school strives to ensure all pupils achieve highly and is committed to promoting equality of opportunity.  Through one-to-one interventions or targeted small-group work with teaching assistants, pupils

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

eligible for the pupil premium are making similar progress to others in their year groups, but are about three terms behind in their attainment in English and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The quality of teaching and support in lessons is outstanding, resulting in much-improved achievement for pupils over time. The information teachers hold about their pupils is used carefully to plan lessons that are not too easy or difficult. Pupils are suitably challenged in their lessons and can select for themselves the entry points to the tasks they are working on. In mathematics, for example, pupils were given options and encouraged to look to the higher levels of the task. At the same time, they knew that they could drop to a slightly easier activity if they were uncertain.  Teachers provide clear guidance on what they want pupils to achieve in a lesson and use targets well so pupils know what they have to do in their work. Teachers review these targets during the lesson and are able to monitor how well the pupils are doing through very good questioning. This allows them to help those who are making slower progress to catch up. Pupils are

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

encouraged to review their own work and that of others using structured guidelines. The feedback they provide is very focused and well thought out. In one class, pupils were asked to teach their partner a key idea to check that they both understood it.  Support for pupils with specific needs by classroom assistants is very well thought out. The planning of activities involves both the class teacher and the support assistant, and ensures that work can be structured to support individual pupils or groups of pupils. Teaching assistants are well trained and are confident to lead small-group sessions within the classroom or in the library.  In Reception, good provision of an outdoor space has enabled the school to provide further opportunities for pupils to choose their own tasks and explore learning activities that they are interested in. Activities are matched to the main tasks in the class. Work with water, measuring

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

volume and capacity, enabled the Reception children to talk in terms of full and half full, while older pupils explored whether the shape of containers of similar volumes was linked to the amount of water they could hold.  The marking of pupils’ work provides some good next-step guidance on how pupils can improve their work. This good practice, however, is not consistently applied in all subjects. Pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to respond to the feedback quickly and improve their work.  Parents and carers are very positive about the progress their children make. Pupils thoroughly enjoy their learning. One pupil described his lesson on a mathematics treasure trail as outstanding and another said that they ‘learn quite a lot in a day’.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils enjoy being at a small school and commented that ‘we are all friends’. They are keen to learn and in lessons they work hard. Their relationships with the adults working with them in class are very positive; pupils said that ‘teachers make the lessons fun so we learn lots more’. Around school, pupils are polite, and their behaviour in class is very good. In lessons, pupils work collaboratively on activities and show great confidence when discussing their work or sharing views on a theme or topic.  Incidents of unkindness are rare and, although pupils may fall out with each other, they do not do so for long, and say that they care for and look after each other. Pupils have a good sense of personal safety and are given the skills to keep themselves safe, for example with cycling proficiency lessons taught by visitors to the school or by lessons on the safe use of computers. Parents and carers hold similar views and feel that their children are very well cared for.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school recognises that some pupils may need additional support to succeed in school and provides mentoring sessions where pupils can talk about their concerns and worries. The school also seeks additional support from outside agencies when necessary to ensure pupils with more complex needs are helped. The school tries hard to meet the needs of each pupil.  Pupils’ attendance is above average. The school stresses the importance of pupils’ good attendance to parents and carers, and works hard with them to ensure that attendance remains high and that pupils miss as little time as possible away from school.  A key theme at Horton is the preparation of the pupils for life beyond school. The school recognises that it is a very small school in a rural community and works to raise pupils’ awareness of the wider world. As well as setting up visits to places of interest, the school also links with other schools in the area to provide enrichment activities, and to challenge and stretch

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

the learning and experience of the pupils. The school is very much part of the local community.  Presentations on local history and social events such as the Strawberry Tea have been very successful in helping the school to reach out and advertise the excellent work that it does. Music is a strength of the school.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school is led very effectively by the headteacher, who has a clear view of how the school should improve and move forwards. Other leadership responsibilities are shared across the school and all staff know they must share in securing school improvement. The school recognises its own uniqueness but reaches out to new ideas and innovations to help it improve further.  The school has used the support from the local authority very well and has secured further help from consultants to raise standards in mathematics and writing. Improvements in the outcomes for pupils and in the quality of teaching indicate that the school has the capacity to develop further.  Horton is active in the local cluster group of schools and the skills within the school are used to support others through the work of lead teachers. The headteacher monitors the quality of teaching closely and through moderation by the local authority ensures her views on the quality

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The leadership and management are outstanding

of teaching and learning are accurate. Performance management procedures are in place and teachers’ salary and promotion are linked to pupils’ outcomes. Staff training is linked to school development and the impact is reviewed carefully.  Staff review the provision together to ensure it is constantly evolving and improving. The creative aspect of the curriculum allows for the development of pupils’ wider skills through, for example, business and enterprise activities. The pupils have an input into the curriculum by investigating what they want to find out, which can lead to some interesting avenues of learning. Collective worship is supported with a range of assemblies during the week, and house assemblies allow older pupils to work with younger ones and provide opportunities for thoughtful discussion and the sharing of ideas and opinions. The curriculum supports the social, moral spiritual and cultural development of the pupils extremely well.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Systems to monitor the progress of individual pupils are robust and allow support to be deployed if necessary.  The school works closely with parents and carers, and they value the work the school does with their children. They rightly believe that this is a very caring school, one in which every child does matter, and that all pupils are encouraged and given the opportunity to thrive.  Safeguarding arrangements are in place and ensure the pupils are well cared for and looked after.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is very active within the school and governors have a clear appreciation of its strengths and weaknesses. Governors review the safeguarding arrangements of the school closely and carefully monitor its financial position. Systems for the performance management of staff are understood and the headteacher shares her overview of the quality of teaching in her reports so that governors can compare this against the notes from the local authority. The

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The leadership and management are outstanding

governors have attended local authority training to raise their awareness of key issues and this has enabled them to monitor the progress pupils make more effectively. Governors are now in a better position to review the progress groups of pupils make, for example those eligible for the pupil premium.

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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 109262 Local authority South Gloucestershire Inspection number 403221

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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 Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 63 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Robert Wiffen Headteacher Jane Leo Date of previous school inspection 12 December 2007 Telephone number 01454 318834

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Fax number

Email address enquiries@hortonprimary.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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Fax number

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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Fax number

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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Fax number

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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Fax number

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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Fax number

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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