Capel St Mary Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Capel St Mary Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School The Street, Capel St Mary, Ipswich, IP9 2EG

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Not all pupils are making good enough progress, particularly in mathematics in Years 3 to 6. Pupils are not always given tasks that make them work hard enough.  Teachers do not always give pupils the chance to identify the features they need to include in their work in order to be successful. Pupils do not always have the opportunity to assess their own work.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to apply and deepen their mathematical understanding, either in mathematics lessons or in other subjects.  Pupils’ performance targets are not sufficiently demanding, especially for the most able pupils.  Leaders do not use all available evidence to accurately judge the quality of teaching.  Leaders’ plans to improve the school have helped it to move forward, but do not have measurable targets. As a result, they are not able to accurately assess how much progress they have made towards these targets.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress in all areas of their learning because they are taught well.  Pupils in Key Stage 1 also achieve well, especially in mathematics.  Pupils’ attendance is good. They enjoy school, feel safe and have mature attitudes to learning.  The new headteacher has already created a positive ‘can do’ culture. Staff morale is high. 17–18 September 2013 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed the teaching in 21 lessons, four of which were jointly observed with members of the leadership team.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, governors, including the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body, and school staff, including members of the leadership team.  A meeting was held with a local authority representative. During this inspection, inspectors asked additional questions designed to ascertain the school’s view of the impact and effectiveness of local authority services to support school improvement. This information will contribute to work being carried out by Ofsted to assess the use, quality and impact of those services.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a range of other evidence, including data on pupils’ achievement, planning and monitoring documentation used by teachers to check on how well the school is doing, records of behaviour and attendance, and documents relating to

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Information about this inspection

safeguarding. Inspectors also looked at pupils’ work books and heard several pupils reading.  Inspectors considered the 42 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) at the time of the inspection. The results of the most recent survey of parents, undertaken by the school in July 2013, were also analysed. Inspectors also considered responses to questionnaires completed by 26 members of staff.

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Inspection team

Mary Hinds, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Andrew Lyons Additional Inspector Rachel Hobson Additional Inspector 17–18 September 2013 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average primary school.  Most of the pupils are of White British heritage. There are few pupils from other minority ethnic groups, and a very small number of pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs at school action (pupils who need extra support with their learning) is below average. The proportion supported at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium is well below the national average. This funding supports certain groups, including pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and any in the care of the local authority.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.  All pupils are taught in mixed-age classes.

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Information about this school

 There have been changes in staffing since the previous inspection, including one new teacher and a new headteacher who took up post in September 2013.  The registered childcare on the school site is managed separately and subject to a separate inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of the teaching so that pupils make faster progress and reach higher standards, particularly in mathematics in Years 3 to 6, by:  making sure that work builds on what pupils can already do, and moving their learning on to harder tasks more quickly when they are ready  creating more frequent and more demanding opportunities for pupils to use and practise their mathematical skills in interesting contexts  checking teachers’ subject knowledge and providing individualised support where needed  giving pupils more opportunities to identify what they need to include in their work in order to be successful, so they can take responsibility for improving their own work  setting more demanding targets to speed up pupils’ progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the accuracy of leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance by:  taking full account of all available evidence, including evaluating the progress pupils make through regular checks of their work and using pupil progress data when judging the effectiveness of teaching  using the results to draw up more sharply focused priorities for improvement with measurable milestones, so that the impact of the school’s work can be precisely evaluated. 17–18 September 2013 4 of 10

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because there are too many inconsistencies between key stages. The quality of teaching is improving but varies too much to support good progress, particularly in mathematics in Key Stage 2.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children join the school with knowledge and skills that are broadly in line with the levels expected for their age. Teaching in the nursery and reception is consistently good and sometimes outstanding. This ensures that they make good and often rapid progress. Adults plan activities that are well matched to the needs, abilities and interests of the children. Children enjoy being independent learners and confidently select their own activities. Well-focused teaching builds up key skills, such as the sounds that letters make and how to count accurately.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils start Year 1 with well-developed skills, particularly in reading and writing and in their personal development. This positive start is built on especially in mathematics, where pupils make good progress. As a result, by the end of Year 2 standards are rising and in 2013 attainment was above average in all three subjects.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The 2013 Year 6 test results show that from broadly average starting points at the end of Year 2, pupils had made nationally expected progress across Key Stage 2 to reach average attainment levels in both English and mathematics. Pupils’ current progress in mathematics is not as fast as it is in reading and writing. Although most pupils now make the progress expected, too few make rapid progress in this subject and to a lesser degree in English. Furthermore, fewer pupils than average achieve the higher levels in mathematics because the work set is not always demanding enough.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Good teaching of the sounds that letters make ensures that the youngest children and Year 1 pupils are able to tackle unfamiliar words confidently and accurately. Older pupils read regularly and the school successfully fosters a love of reading. Pupils talk knowledgably and enthusiastically about their favourite authors.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 There are no marked differences in the progress made by different groups of pupils. In 2013, the very small numbers of pupils who were supported by the pupil premium left the school on average roughly one year behind their classmates in English and mathematics. However, eligible pupils in the current Year 6 are attaining as well as all other pupils in both English and mathematics. In all year groups, they are making the same progress as their classmates.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make at least the progress expected of them and some individuals often do better. They benefit from good support, either on a one-to-one basis or in small groups. This intensive help and guidance means that many develop the ability to learn on their own, or with their classmates, without extra help from adults.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although teaching has improved recently, and an increasing proportion is now good or better, gaps in pupils’ learning because of previous weak teaching in Key Stage 2 mean that pupils are not yet making consistently good progress over time.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In lessons where teaching still requires improvement, teachers do not always set work to meet 17–18 September 2013 5 of 10

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

the wide range of abilities in their class. This means that for some pupils the work is too easy and for others too hard. Pupils who find work easy often have to start at the same level as other pupils at the beginning of lessons, wasting valuable learning time.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the better lessons teachers skilfully match different tasks to different pupils’ abilities. In a literacy lesson pupils worked collaboratively to produce a class non-fiction book about dinosaurs. They confidently and accurately assessed each other’s progress because they had specific features to check against. In this lesson pupils were totally absorbed in their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In other lessons, pupils do not always have the chance to identify the features that make a good or better piece of work, or to use this to assess their own progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In Key Stage 1 pupils develop their mathematical skills well within a wide range of problem- solving situations. However, these real-life activities are not a key aspect in lessons for older pupils. Also, pupils do not have enough opportunities to deepen their mathematical understanding in other subjects.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Work in pupils’ mathematics books shows that teachers do not always assess pupils’ level of understanding in lessons. As a result, pupils spend too much time completing work that they can already do, instead of being given more demanding work.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of literacy, particularly writing, has improved significantly. A greater proportion of pupils achieved the higher levels in their tests at the end of Year 6 in 2013. Teachers have had some effective training, although leaders have not yet undertaken a full analysis of teachers’ subject knowledge in literacy and mathematics in order to tailor training to their individual needs.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers have worked hard to improve the quality of marking. They usually provide effective guidance for pupils on how they can improve their work further.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching assistants are well trained, and provide good support and guidance. For example, when helping a pupil to read, the teaching assistant carefully sounded out and blended the correct sounds to read an unfamiliar word, enabling the pupil to hear and rehearse the sounds accurately.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Children develop good attitudes to learning in the nursery and reception classes. They quickly become independent learners. They listen carefully to adults. They diligently follow adult instructions, take turns to listen to each other and are cooperative.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 These positive attitudes are developed throughout the school. Pupils are courteous, respectful and mature, both in lessons and around the school. Pupils are motivated to do as well as they can and thoroughly enjoy school, as their good attendance demonstrates.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils concentrate well in lessons. When they are given the opportunity they work exceptionally well together or on their own. When lessons are matched to pupils’ interests and abilities, they are resilient learners. Sometimes, however, pupils are distracted when teaching does not engage them well enough in their learning. 17–18 September 2013 6 of 10

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted very well. Pupils reflect quietly in assembly, and observe the prayers, and sing with great enthusiasm.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils all feel very safe in school, and their parents agree they are safe. Bullying is extremely rare. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, especially when using the internet.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although this is a rapidly improving school, leaders have yet to secure good or better achievement, particularly in mathematics, or consistently good or better teaching in all year groups.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The new headteacher has a proven track record of school improvement. She demonstrates high expectations for both the pupils and staff. She has quickly secured the commitment and support of all staff and governors in order to realise her pursuit of excellence.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 With a real sense of urgency, the headteacher has reviewed the roles and responsibilities of all leaders, so that all are clear about how they will secure improvement. Together, they have begun to plan for improvement. Leaders have identified the right priorities and strategies to improve the school’s effectiveness. However, improvement planning does not yet have measurable targets to help leaders, including governors are able to assess the impact of their work.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher has immediately set more challenging targets to further improve the quality of teaching through the teacher appraisal cycle. However, the targets are not always as demanding as they need to be to ensure that more pupils make good progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Before the headteachers’ appointment, teaching was routinely checked by leaders. However, insufficient emphasis given to the progress pupils make over time has led to overgenerous evaluations of key aspects of the school’s work, including the quality of teaching. Likewise, although subject leaders undertook checks on pupils’ work, the resulting evidence and data on pupils’ progress were not used to substantiate lesson observation judgements.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Nevertheless, leaders, including governors, have managed the performance of staff well. They have made sure that there is a clear link between performance and pay, only rewarding those teachers who have performed well. They have also eradicated inadequate teaching.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The teaching of subjects through topics is good. Pupils enjoy a wide range of activities, including cultural and religious experiences. Nevertheless, there are too few instances when pupils can solve problems in mathematics or in other subjects. Leaders have good-quality plans to ensure that sport and physical education are enhanced further under the new funding that the school will receive in the near future.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school works closely with parents and carers. The headteacher meets and greets pupils and their parents both before and after school. There are frequent newsletters and workshops to support parents and carers with their child’s learning. The results of a recent questionnaire sent out by the school to parents and carers were very positive.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has in the past provided some effective support, the impact of which can be seen in the improving standards in literacy. More recently, the school has not received specific 17–18 September 2013 7 of 10

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The leadership and management requires improvement

targeted support. The local authority has had some awareness of the school’s performance, including the underachievement in mathematics, and carried out a review earlier this year following a request from the school to support the acting headteacher. It has provided support to the governing body following a period of staff restructuring, as well as advising governors on the new headteacher appointment. Although the local authority offers a wide range of training and programmes of support and challenge, the governors have preferred to arrange their own training from external consultants, including on data analysis.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. They ask leaders searching questions about the school’s effectiveness.  Their understanding is based on: an analysis of documentation provided by the school; regular checks when they are in school, including observation of the termly pupil progress meetings; and up-to-date training to understand data and the progress made by different groups, including the school ‘data dashboard’. However, they currently do not have the full range of information available to gain an accurate picture of the quality of teaching.  Governors check that systems to review the performance of the headteacher are suitable and are fully aware of the management of teachers’ performance and how that is linked to the quality of teaching. Finances are managed effectively.  The governors know that the pupil premium money is spent on small group work or one-to-

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The leadership and management requires improvement

one support for eligible pupils. They are clear about how much impact the funding is having on pupils’ progress, as the Vice Chair monitors this closely.  Governors make sure the school meets national requirements for safeguarding and has all statutory policies in place. 17–18 September 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. 17–18 September 2013 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 124749 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 425301

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 252 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Val Cresswell Headteacher Wendy Kelway Date of previous school inspection 13 September 2011 Telephone number 01473 310386 Fax number 01473 312297 Email address ad.capelstmary.p@talk21.com 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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