Orchard Fields Community School

Orchard Fields Community School Edmunds Road, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX16 0QT

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 This inspection: Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Inadequate 4 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that has serious weaknesses.  Behaviour and safety are inadequate because the school has not followed statutory guidance regarding the exclusion of some pupils.  This is the key reason why leadership and management require improvement.  There are too many fixed-term exclusions and recorded incidents of racist behaviour, albeit by a minority of pupils.  Attendance remains below the national average.  The quality of teaching, although improving, is not yet consistently good across the school.  Achievement is better than at the last inspection, but still requires improvement in order to be judged good. Pupils in some year groups are making good progress, but this is not always the case across the school.  Variations in standards between subjects remain. Attainment is below the national average in Year 1 phonics check, reading and writing at Key Stage 1 and mathematics at Key Stage 2.  The governing body has not acted on the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

recommendations from the independent strategic review in 2013 and has unfilled places.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher and senior leaders have correctly identified the school’s strengths and weaknesses.  School leaders have worked hard to address the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection.  Senior leaders and governors have introduced stronger systems to monitor teaching and to eradicate poor practice. Appropriate action has been taken when performance has not been good enough.  Effective extra support is provided to help all pupils to make the same amount of progress in literacy and numeracy.  The setting of performance targets for teachers has been re-established. Teachers now have a stronger understanding of how to improve their practice in lessons.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 14 lessons, a range of part lessons and group work. Four observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. In addition, inspectors looked at pupils’ work during lessons and undertook a scrutiny of pupils’ books in English, mathematics and science.  Inspectors met with two groups of pupils and listened to Key Stage 1 pupils reading. Playtimes and lunch breaks were observed when inspectors talked informally with pupils.  Meetings were held with the Chair of the Governing Body, representatives from the local authority and school staff including senior leaders.  Inspectors scrutinised a number of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, the improvement plan, the local authority statement of action, records relating to behaviour and attendance, safeguarding, governance and records of the school’s lesson observations.  There were no responses by parents to the Ofsted on-line survey, Parent View. Inspectors spoke

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Information about this inspection

informally to groups of parents at the beginning and end of the school day.  Inspectors took account of 44 questionnaires returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Ann Debono, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Anne Bark Additional Inspector Colin Lower Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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Information about this school

 This is a larger-than-average-sized primary school.  At its last inspection the school was judged to require significant improvement. It was given a notice to improve.  Most pupils are of White British heritage. About a quarter of pupils are from minority ethnic groups and the number who speak English as an additional language is lower than average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and children who are looked after by the local authority) is significantly higher than the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those with special needs supported through school action is above the national average, while the proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is in line with the national average.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school offers a breakfast club.  There is a children’s centre on the school site, but this did not form part of the inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that it is always good or better and leads to good and outstanding achievement by ensuring that:  teachers have sufficiently high expectations of what all groups of pupils can achieve  pupils always respond to teachers' written comments in their books  better use is made of assessment information in planning lessons so all groups of pupils have appropriate challenge in their work.  in the Early Years Foundation Stage, assessments and subsequent planning ensure that the deployment of adults and resources meet children’s needs and abilities in the inside and outside areas.  Improve behaviour and safety, and leadership and management by:  ensuring the governing body undertakes a thorough review of how the school formally excludes pupils, so that the correct procedures are always followed  reducing the number of fixed-term exclusions for poor behaviour  eradicating incidents of racist behaviour, including from younger pupils

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 improving attendance so that it is at least in line with the national average for primary schools.  Ensure that the recommendations in the strategic review of governance are acted upon and the remaining vacancies on the governing body are filled.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The achievement of pupils requires improvement because their progress is inconsistent. Not enough pupils are making good or better progress.  Children start school in the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills below those expected for their age. They make good progress to reach broadly average standards by the time they enter Year 1.  The majority of pupils make good progress in Year 1 because teaching is effective. Progress in Year 2 requires improvement. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 in writing and mathematics is broadly in line with the national average, reading is below the national figure.  Daily lessons about the sounds letters make (phonics) are taught effectively throughout the school. Although attainment in the Year 1 phonics tests is still below the national figure, it has improved since 2012.  In Year 6, appropriate additional support has been provided to accelerate pupils’ progress in

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

English and mathematics. Attainment is now broadly average. Provisional results suggest that the government’s floor standard has been met this year; evidence in pupils’ books supports this view.  Some pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 have made good progress in their work since the beginning of the year, but this varies between classes and year groups. A higher number of pupils are making or exceeding expected progress in English than in mathematics.  Disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs, those from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language make similar progress to other groups of pupils. Their achievement is no longer inadequate. They are supported by teachers and teaching assistants through well-planned additional group activities that take place predominantly outside the classroom.  Pupils supported by pupil premium funding make the same progress in English and mathematics

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

as pupils who are not entitled to this extra resource. In Years 2, 3, 5 their attainment is above that of their peers in reading, writing and mathematics, but this not always the case in other classes. Extra help in intervention groups is effective so that the gaps in attainment are closing.  Pupils say that they enjoy reading and that adults hear them read and comment in their diaries. A new colour-coded reading scheme has helped parents and staff to track pupils’ progress in reading. The school has provided workshops to help parents support their children at home.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching requires improvement because it is not yet consistently good in all classes. As a result, not enough pupils make good or better progress in English and mathematics.  Where teaching is good, expectations are high and activities match pupils’ abilities. In a Year 6 mathematics lesson, pupils with widely differing abilities worked in groups with interest to understand how to divide numbers accurately. The appropriate use of adults, different resources and effective questioning allowed pupils of all abilities to be successful.  However, where teaching is not good, activities are not matched to meet all pupils’ needs. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, activities to help children develop early reading, writing and mathematics skills in the indoor or outdoor environments are not planned well enough.  The school is collecting increasingly more detailed information about pupils’ progress. This is

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

used regularly and effectively by teachers and leaders in termly pupil progress meetings, but is not used as well in lesson planning to ensure that the challenge for pupils is high enough.  Pupils’ books are now being marked more regularly. Some pupils take notice of teachers’ comments, but this is not always the case.  Pupils with special educational needs and those in need of additional support benefit from extra help, particularly in group work led by teaching assistants. These pupils make good gains in their literacy and numeracy skills when given this support; however, overall their progress requires improvement.  The teaching of reading has been strengthened due to training for all staff. Progress in reading has improved, but not enough pupils are yet at the levels expected for their age.  Teachers promote some aspects of pupils’ spiritual, social and moral development well. A ‘China Day’ helped pupils to understand life and customs in another country; however, overall, the

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

opportunities for pupils’ wider cultural awareness need a higher profile in school.  Attractive displays show a wide range of visits to theatres, the Ashmolean Museum and to sporting events. Displays also encourage parents to support extra study, such as the Polar Regions Easter holiday homework project.  Visitors to the school have been organised to support the teaching of subject themes and to address school concerns. For example, community police officers have been invited into the school to give talks on bullying and gang culture.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 The school’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach to inappropriate behaviour in lessons and around the school has resulted in an above-average number of temporary exclusions. In nearly all instances, these have been managed properly. However, inspectors discovered that, in two cases, the school had not followed the correct procedures and that parents were asked to find alternative educational arrangements without formal exclusion procedures being taken. As a result, these pupils have missed school without suitable alternative arrangements being made. This is the key reason why behaviour and safety are judged as inadequate.  Despite this concern, pupils and staff say that behaviour in lessons has improved. Behaviour around the school by the majority of pupils is usually good. They are polite and keen to talk to visitors about their school. They say they feel safe and that there is always an adult to talk to if

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

needed.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe. They recognise dangers when using the internet. They understand different types of bullying and they talk about pupils who break the school rules. However, there are still too many incidents of racist name calling, including amongst the youngest children. The school recognises that more work is needed to improve this.  Attendance has improved slightly. Although it is still below the national average, the percentage of pupils who are persistently absent from school has decreased by a third. This is due to first- day calls, multi-agency meetings and support for families of children in need. Furthermore, the number of pupils arriving late to school each week has halved due to extra monitoring and following-up of ‘gate-lates’.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Since the last inspection, the headteacher has shown the drive and commitment to improve expectations for pupils’ achievement and this has had a positive impact; achievement is no longer inadequate.  Most of the areas of weakness identified in the last inspection report have been addressed. The school staff team now works in a united manner to address important priorities. Provisional results suggest that standards are no longer below the government’s floor standard and the majority of pupils make better progress. However, there is still a way to go before achievement and teaching can be considered good.  The headteacher has introduced stronger systems into the work of the school that bring better accountability for improvements. Effective performance management of teachers has been reintroduced.  Regular monitoring of lessons and meetings to discuss pupil’ progress have successfully challenged inadequate teaching. However, observers’ written feedback on lessons does not focus

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The leadership and management requires improvement

enough on the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning.  Staff training is carefully matched to the school’s priorities. The additional support offered for lower attaining pupils and those supported by pupil-premium funding is effective, so that the gap in attainment between these pupils and others is closing more quickly.  Good relationships have been built with parents. Workshops are offered to help parents support their children in literacy and numeracy. Regular newsletters share information about how well the school is doing and respond to parental concerns. Parents who spoke to inspectors at the school gates said they would recommend the school and that it has improved since the new headteacher was appointed.  Support from the local authority to improve teaching and achievement has been comprehensive; regular task groups have monitored the school’s work and progress. Additional expertise has been offered to meet the school’s areas for improvement in mathematics, early years and

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The leadership and management requires improvement

employment processes.  The governance of the school:  Governance of the school requires improvement. The governing body has supported the headteacher in successfully tackling the areas for improvement from the last inspection, particularly in eradicating inadequate teaching. Governors have a broad understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses using information about pupils’ performance and records about the quality of teaching. They receive information about the school’s overall effectiveness from school leaders and the local authority; some governors visit the school independently to assess the rate of improvement. Governors are aware of issues to do with low expectations staff have had in the past and they are supportive of the current headteacher's drive to improve stronger accountability through the performance management for teachers. However, they do not evaluate robustly enough the performance of groups of pupils, the leaders’ self-

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The leadership and management requires improvement

evaluation of the school’s work or the impact of the pupil premium funding to continue to raise standards.  Inspectors were satisfied that the recent failures to follow exclusion procedures were an isolated incident and represented a lapse of judgement on the part of the headteacher. However, a key area for improvement is to ensure that such situations do not happen again by the governing body undertaking a thorough review of the school’s exclusion policy and practice.  The school meets all statutory requirements for keeping pupils safe in school, including making checks on staff, and following up absences.  An independent strategic review of governance in February 2012 proposed two key recommendations to improve the overall effectiveness of the governing body. These have not been acted upon to demonstrate an improvement in the systems of governance. Remaining vacancies on the governing body limit its capacity to challenge and monitor the school’s work.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

As it stands, the governing body is not in a position to drive the school towards a judgement of ‘good’ overall effectiveness.

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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 122994 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 408899

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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 415 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Parsons Headteacher Dawn Shilston Date of previous school inspection 22–23 March 2012 Telephone number 012952 63324 Fax number 012952 20261 Email address office.2055@orchard-fields.oxon.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

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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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