Cherry Hinton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Cherry Hinton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School High Street, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, CB1 9HH

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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.  All groups of pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress because, overall, teaching is good.  Children in the Nursery and Reception classes make good progress, especially when using the spacious outdoor areas.  Staff teach phonics (linking letters and sounds) effectively throughout the school.  Pupils’ behaviour is good. They feel safe and enjoy school.  Leadership and management are good. The headteacher job-share arrangements work well and teaching and achievement have improved. Staff regularly check on pupils’ progress. As a result, standards are rising.  The governing body is keen to help the school to improve and governors regular visits mean that they know how well the school is performing.  Staff are proud of their school and parents are equally positive about all aspects.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Some teaching requires improvement. Tasks are not always closely linked to pupils’ different ability levels.  In some lessons, teacher expectations of the amount of work pupils can achieve is not high enough and the pace of learning is too slow. Inspection report: Cherry Hinton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 4–5 July 2013 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 18 lessons taught by seven teachers. Staff with specialist training for supporting pupils who speak English as an additional language or disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs were also observed. Two lessons were seen together with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.  Meetings were held with a group of five Year 4 pupils and the pupil council, the Chair of the Governing Body and a staff governor, the family-liaison worker, the headteacher, deputy headteacher and other senior leaders.  A discussion took place with a representative from the local authority.  There were 23 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) by the end of the inspection. The inspectors took account of these, and also sought the views of parents as they arrived at school with their children.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents, including: the

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Information about this inspection

school’s own information on pupils’ recent and current progress, planning for school improvement, and checks on teaching, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Joseph Peacock, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Lynn Alexander Additional Inspector Inspection report: Cherry Hinton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 4–5 July 2013 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  It is expanding from being an infant school to become a primary school. Currently, it has a Nursery and Reception class, one Year 1 and two Year 2 classes and classes for Year 3 and Year 4 pupils. The two Key Stage 2 classes are only just over half full.  Recent building work has provided the accommodation for the Key Stage 2 classes.  Just over half of the pupils are from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds. Most speak English as an additional language. Twenty one different languages are spoken by these pupils.  The proportion of pupils supported by additional government funding through the pupil premium (pupils eligible for free school meals, looked after by the local authority or with a parent in the armed forces) is broadly average. In this school, the pupil premium almost entirely applies to pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.

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Information about this school

 The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion who are supported at school action plus or have a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The headteacher job shares the role with the deputy headteacher who becomes acting headteacher for two days each week. The deputy headteacher will be acting headteacher during the next academic year in the event of the headteacher’s absence.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make all teaching good or better in order to accelerate even more the progress pupils make by:  ensuring that tasks are challenging and more closely matched to the different abilities of pupils in all parts of lessons, especially in long introductions which lead to loss of concentration and, unnecessarily, delay individual work  raising expectations of learning so that pupils work harder and faster in some lessons  regularly checking the quality of learning in lessons for pupils of different abilities. Inspection report: Cherry Hinton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 4–5 July 2013 4 of 10

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children start in the Nursery with skills and understanding that are below those typical for their age, particularly in communication and language. Many are at the early stages of learning to speak English. Teaching is good and, occasionally, outstanding, helping all to achieve well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Good teaching continues in Reception. Staff in the Nursery and Reception class encourage children to ask and respond to questions, helping to improve their communication skills. Consequently, most make good progress in learning letters and the sounds they make (phonics) because of the effective daily sessions and individual support for those who need it.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Staff carefully assess children’s progress as they tackle activities indoors and outside in the well- resourced learning areas. Tennis was a favourite activity because of Wimbledon, but good links with indoor activities ensure a good progression in learning new skills. One-to-one tuition, seated on the grass in the shade, was a feature of effective learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Staff are continuing to develop the new Early Years Foundation Stage assessment for each curriculum area and this is giving them a clear picture on how well children are doing, and the skills that need to be further developed. As a result, most children attain the levels expected by the time they move into Year 1, but learning English remains a priority for some.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ good progress in reading, writing and mathematics continues in Key Stage 1 and in Years 3 and 4 because teaching is usually effective. Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by Year 2 has, in general, compared well with national results for the past four years and is showing signs of rising further in the school’s 2013 performance data. Attainment is above the level usually found by Year 4 in all areas.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in reading because of the strong emphasis on teaching phonics and the special sessions to advance reading skills, which are successfully encouraging reading. Those who speak English as an additional language make rapid progress because of the opportunities to discuss learning with ‘talk partners’ and the individual help they have from well-trained teaching assistants.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Effective links are made between different subjects and these give pupils good opportunities to practise writing skills. Year 2 used computers to find information about the Ancient Greeks for topic booklets, for example. When pupils work in groups, tasks are not always sufficiently challenging for pupils of different ability levels and long introductions to lessons make it difficult for some pupils to maintain their concentration, especially if they are at the early stages of learning to speak English.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In mathematics, tasks are usually challenging and fun. Nursery children enjoyed cutting mathematical shapes out of their slice of bread and jam and pupils in Year 3 demonstrated secure strategies when solving division problems. A scrutiny of pupils’ books, however, shows that some pupils do not complete their tasks in lessons.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are mostly provided with appropriate tasks and supported closely in lessons by teachers and teaching assistants. ‘Catch- up’ literacy sessions and ‘talk boxes’ effectively promote literacy and skills in speaking and using English. Most achieve as well as other pupils.  The school provides individual help for pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium. School records show that this is helping to improve their attainment in English and mathematics and is closing the gap in learning between them and other pupils. Most, typically, make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is mostly good, but in some lessons, it requires improvement. There was only one example of outstanding teaching, where children were highly motivated to learn.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff manage behaviour consistently well, and normally deal with any rare incidents of inappropriate behaviour immediately and effectively.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the Nursery, adults support children exceptionally well, giving them all the encouragement necessary to learn English and develop new skills. The outdoor area for the Nursery provides children with a wealth of enjoyable opportunities for adventurous play, to practise early writing skills or play in ‘granny’s house’.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In Reception, the emphasis on learning to speak and understand English continues. Children work well together both indoors and out, supported closely by adults who encourage speaking and listening. Children make particularly good progress in phonics and this prepares them well for reading and writing when they move into Year 1.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers accurately assess pupils’ rates of progress in reading, writing and mathematics over time, so any pupils who are falling behind are quickly identified and supported, often individually, by well-trained teaching assistants. This ensures that most make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress because their individual learning needs are recognised and planning ensures that they have tasks relevant to their ability level.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the lessons where teaching requires improvement, some groups of pupils do not make sufficient progress. Tasks are not matched closely to the different ability levels within the class or to different parts of a lesson. Pupils learning English as an additional language sometimes find it hard to keep up and, with others, lose concentration during lengthy introductions to the whole class where learning is not adapted well enough for everyone. Pupils’ progress slows with the slower pace of learning when teachers do not encourage them to work harder or faster on tasks because they have not checked closely enough on the quality of learning that every pupil is experiencing during the lesson.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Reading and writing are taught well, so pupils build effectively on their phonic knowledge to read accurately, spell simple words correctly and punctuate sentences appropriately. In mathematics, teachers plan practical and problem-solving tasks to engage and interest pupils.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well in lessons and around school. Parents commented that, ‘There is a quiet, calm and kind atmosphere at Cherry Hinton.’ In lessons, pupils usually listen attentively and work together well. Some find it hard to concentrate when lesson introductions are long, especially if they are at the early stages of learning to speak English but, even so, do not disrupt the learning of others.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Children settle quickly in the Nursery and effective routines are established from the start. Behaviour is well managed by teachers and teaching assistants in Nursery and Reception, ensuring children are safe to enjoy learning both indoors and out.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 School records show that there have been no exclusions of any kind since the previous inspection. This reflects how well most behave.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that they feel safe and that ‘people are friendly and young leaders look after you’. This correctly reflects the impressive level of care and support that pupils receive.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Most pupils attend regularly because staff and the family-liaison worker do all that is possible to encourage good attendance. There is, currently, very little persistent absence. Parents are encouraged to ensure their children arrive on time and are presented with data that show being 20 minutes late each day loses 12.8 days of schooling each year.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Parents who responded to the inspection questionnaire had, justifiably, very positive views about the school. They fully agreed with almost every question and all said that they would recommend the school to others.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have a good understanding, for their ages, of different types of bullying. They know that name-calling and hitting others are wrong. All were clear about internet safety. School records show that very few incidents of bullying or racist behaviour occur.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher have formed an effective partnership and the school benefits from having two leaders who share the same vision and drive towards improvement. Responsibility for assessing how well pupils are doing and analysing data to measure progress is a team effort with staff and enables support to be targeted effectively on specific pupils or groups of pupils. This is helping to raise standards.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and staff check teaching in termly lesson observations. However, these checks have not succeeded in ensuring all teaching is effective or outstanding. Matching tasks to pupils’ abilities in all parts of lessons and checking the quality of each pupil’s learning are appropriate, current, school priorities for improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of the teaching in the Nursery and Reception classes, and for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good. The school makes excellent use of outside specialists to support disabled pupils and those who are vulnerable.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and the governing body make sure that teachers’ pay rises are closely linked to their performance. National standards are used effectively to judge the quality of teaching, so secure judgements are made on how well teachers are doing their jobs.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority gives the school good support. It is happy with the way standards are being maintained, and is confident that the recent upward trend will continue during the interim headship arrangements. Checks are routinely made at the beginning and end of each year to ensure targets are being met.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum is well planned and generally meets the learning needs and aptitudes of pupils. There is a strong emphasis on developing literacy and numeracy skills. Learning opportunities beyond the normal timetable, such as a book club, film club, gardening and sport contribute well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Learning French, topics about ancient civilizations and links with the Chernobyl Foundation in Belarus help pupils understand different cultures and values, such as tolerance and respect.

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The leadership and management are good

 The welfare and safety of pupils continues to have a high profile. All parents and carers rightly endorse that staff treat every pupil equally, their children are safe and looked after well, and that discrimination is not tolerated in any form.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The regular visits by governors give them a good understanding of the quality of teaching and how well pupils are achieving. They challenge the school on its performance data on progress and attainment for different groups of pupils and are able to compare how well pupils are doing in comparison to others nationally. Governors are beginning to focus much more on helping the school to check how well it is tackling its identified priorities for improvement. The performance of the headteacher and other teachers is reviewed each year to determine pay and promotion. Governors regularly attend training events each year in order to improve their skills. Their personal expertise is used to good effect to support their work. All current national requirements relating to employment and safeguarding are met. Governors manage financial resources well and carefully check the impact of pupil premium funding on the achievement of

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The leadership and management are good

eligible pupils. Inspection report: Cherry Hinton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 4–5 July 2013 8 of 10

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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. Inspection report: Cherry Hinton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 4–5 July 2013 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 110801 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 400196

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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 controlled Age range of pupils 3–9 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 203 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Barry Linney Headteacher Alison Beardon Date of previous school inspection 16 Nov 2010 Telephone number 01223 568834 Fax number 01223 568835 Email address office@cherryhinton.cambs.sch.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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