St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Hadleigh

St Mary’s CofE VA Primary School, Hadleigh Stonehouse Road, Hadleigh, Ipswich, IP7 5BH

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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

 Pupils’ progress is not consistently good between classes and subjects.  The school has focused successfully on improving achievement in English, but this has been at the expense of achievement in mathematics. As a result there is a marked gap in achievement between the two subjects.  The work in pupils’ books is not of a consistently good standard, particularly in terms of presentation.  Leaders have not done enough to iron out the inconsistencies in teaching, so it is not yet good.  The most able pupils are not always given challenging work, particularly in mathematics. Those who struggle with their mathematical understanding do not always get the help they need.  Leaders have not checked pupils’ written work rigorously enough to show where improvements are needed.  The quality of marking varies too much, and teachers’ comments not always show pupils what they need to do to reach the next level.  Teachers do not always check to make sure all

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

pupils are making good progress during lessons.

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The school has the following strengths

 Leaders, including subject leaders, and the governors have improved teaching and learning since the last inspection.  Behaviour has improved considerably and is now good. Pupils enjoy learning and feel safe in school.  Relationships are very positive throughout the school community, particularly with parents.  The school is good at including all its pupils in different aspects of school life.  Pupils are keen readers and have good literacy skills, and benefit from good extra help in English if they need it.  Children get off to a good start to their schooling in the Reception and Nursery classes. 18–19 September 2013 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed substantial parts of 12 lessons, four of which were seen together with the headteacher. They also spent shorter periods of time in other lessons to look at particular aspects of pupils’ learning, such as their understanding of phonics (how the sounds in words are represented by different letter combinations).  Data were examined about the progress of different pupils. Inspectors also checked other documentation, including that relating to keeping pupils safe.  Samples of pupils’ written work in their books were analysed.  Formal meetings were held with pupils from Years 2, 3, 4 and 5, and inspectors chatted informally with a range of other pupils around the school. Discussions were also held with a group of governors, with staff and with a representative of the local authority.  The team took account of the views of 21 parents on the online questionnaire, Parent View, as

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Information about this inspection

well as those expressed in the school’s own surveys of opinion. An inspector also spoke informally to several parents in the playground at the start of the day. Sixteen replies to a questionnaire for staff were analysed.  During this inspection, inspectors asked additional questions designed to ascertain the school’s view of the impact and effectiveness of the 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 these services.

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Inspection team

Steven Hill, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Philip Scull Additional Inspector 18–19 September 2013 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 The school is a little below average in size for a primary school. As well as a full-time Reception class, there is a part-time Nursery class where children attend in the mornings and share both accommodation and staff with the Reception children.  Most pupils are White British, with a few from a range of other ethnic heritages. Very few speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported at school action is average. The proportion supported at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs is above average. Many of these pupils have particular social, emotional or behavioural problems when they start at the school.  The school meets current government floor standards, which are the minimum expectations set for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives pupil premium funding is greater than in

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Information about this school

most schools. The pupil premium is extra funding to support pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, those who are looked-after by the local authority, and some other groups.  More pupils than average start or leave partway through their primary school education.  At the time of the inspection, the Year 6 class, along with their teacher (the deputy headteacher) and several other members of staff, were not in school because they were on a residential visit.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make more teaching consistently good or better in order to raise achievement, especially in mathematics, by:  ensuring that tasks for the more-able pupils challenge them throughout each lesson  insisting on a high standard of quality and presentation in pupils’ written work in all subjects  marking pupils’ work more regularly, consistently giving them clear advice about how they can improve it, and ensuring that they always have the time to respond to this advice  checking systematically the ongoing progress of different groups of pupils during lessons, so they can quickly be given help if they need it.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, particularly by:  ensuring that extra help is available for any pupils who need it in mathematics, drawing on the existing good practice in supporting pupils in English  involving all leaders in rigorously and frequently checking the work in pupils’ books, and taking action to help teachers improve both the quality and presentation. 18–19 September 2013 4 of 10

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ progress varies too much between classes, and the achievement of current pupils in mathematics often falls well short of that in English. The work in pupils’ books shows inconsistencies in progress, and often weak presentation skills.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The 2012 Year 6 test results showed that pupils had made better progress in mathematics than in English, but in 2013 the situation reversed and mathematics fell behind. In particular, the progress of more-able pupils requires improvement in mathematics. The 2013 results show that while most make the expected progress during Key Stage 2, too few exceed this compared to national averages.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Following a successful whole-school focus all groups of pupils, including the more able, are now making good progress in English. This is particularly the case in reading. They become fluent and enthusiastic readers, building on firm foundations established in the younger classes.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with knowledge and skills that are broadly typical for their age. They make good progress in the Nursery and Reception classes because adults’ regular and frequent assessments of their achievement enable activities to be matched closely to children’s abilities and interests.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs generally make good progress overall. In class, they often receive a good balance of support and challenge from extra adults, and a variety of extra ‘interventions’, which are tailored to their needs, support their progress in reading and writing. Much less extra help is available to support their work in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who have emotional, social or behavioural difficulties do well. A wide range of support both in and beyond the classroom contributes to improvements in their behaviour, with consequent improvements in their achievement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who are supported by the pupil premium make similar progress to their classmates, with progress best in reading and weakest in mathematics. The attainment of the group who left Year 6 last year was on average behind that of their classmates by about a term in mathematics, and two terms in English. This is smaller than the gap seen nationally, and most of the pupils involved had joined this school during the previous two years.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who join the school after Reception or during the year are fully involved in all aspects of school life, and receive carefully judged extra help so that their progress accelerates to be similar to that of their classmates.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although much good teaching and some occasional outstanding teaching was observed during the inspection, the school’s own records show that quality has been too inconsistent to support good achievement overall. Some aspects of teaching are strengths in many lessons but weaknesses in others. The quality of work in pupils’ books reflects this mixed picture.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers often prepare different work for pupils of different ability groups, to ensure that tasks are manageable but suitably challenging. However, this is not the case in all lessons. In 18–19 September 2013 5 of 10

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

particular, more-able pupils sometimes have to do the same work as the rest of the class, so the activities are too easy to challenge them, even if they are later given harder work when they have finished the initial task. This is a particular issue in mathematics.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ expectations of the presentation of pupils’ written work are not always high enough. This contrasts strongly with their high expectations of effort and behaviour during lessons, and pupils’ extremely positive response to practical and oral tasks.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The marking of pupils’ written work is too variable. Pupils are not often enough given clear pointers to improvement, or extra tasks that help them learn from their mistakes or extend their skills. Marking is better in English than in mathematics.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Lessons vary in the extent to which adults monitor the progress of different individuals and groups, to address any problems, or to urge pupils to improve what they are doing. This practice is good in many lessons. It is a particular strength in Reception and Nursery, where adults’ interventions in children’s play are very effective in developing their vocabulary and extending their thinking. However, in Key Stages 1 and 2, sometimes the adults focus on too closely on particular groups and do not check on the progress of others in a timely enough way to pick up misconceptions and address them quickly.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of literacy is a strength. The structured teaching of phonics in the youngest classes provides a firm basis for the love of books and stories that teachers in older classes develop in the pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers make very good use of discussion and teamwork in lessons. This is very effective in involving all the pupils, and developing their thinking and their speaking and listening skills. It also helps foster the very good relationships they have with each other.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers work closely with the skilled support staff to help involve all pupils in lessons. This is particularly effective in supporting those who find academic work difficult, so they are helped to concentrate, given extra help if they need it, and encouraged to try hard to refine their work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well, enjoy learning and work hard. This is a major improvement since the last inspection, when behaviour was satisfactory.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils listen attentively in class and settle enthusiastically to tasks. They concentrate well. They particularly enjoy the many opportunities they get to work in pairs, and develop very effective collaborative skills.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils themselves are very positive about behaviour. They rightly say it is usually good, and explain that whenever someone misbehaves, the teacher or the headteacher always ‘sort them out’.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 They get on well with each other, and boys and girls from different backgrounds play and work together cheerfully. Pupils show appreciation of each other’s abilities, as exemplified when one boy, talking about the violin playing of one of the girls in the class, explained, ‘She’s very talented.’

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe in school and can explain why. They generally know how to keep themselves 18–19 September 2013 6 of 10

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

safe, although some younger pupils are a bit vague about internet safety.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have learned about bullying and can explain how it differs from other inappropriate behaviour. Pupils in Year 5 were unanimous that bullying is rare, and that it has reduced in recent years. They said that adults must always be told if there is an issue, and were confident that the adults would deal with any problems well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Although keen to do well, and often proud of what they accomplish, too many pupils do not take enough pride in the presentation of their written work, or take enough care with this.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school admits a relatively high proportion of pupils who initially struggle to conform to expected behaviour, and some arrive from other schools having experienced difficulties with their behaviour. Most of these pupils improve their behaviour significantly over time, with help from staff and a variety of external organisations whose expertise the school draws on.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although leaders have made steady improvements in both teaching and learning in the last two years, they have not yet made teaching good enough for achievement to be securely good, particularly in mathematics.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The monitoring of pupils’ written work has not been systematic or rigorous enough to identify and address the variability in quality, or the weaknesses in teachers’ marking. Leaders have not worked closely enough together in checking work to set agreed high expectations.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The way pupils who need extra help in mathematics are supported is weak compared to the good provision organised in English.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Regular monitoring of lessons has been successful in improving teaching and learning, as shown by the examples of good teaching that were observed in every class over the course of the inspection. The school’s records of teaching quality over time, however, show that it is still too variable.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Good promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development has supported the improvements in behaviour and attitudes since the last inspection. Collective worship makes a strong contribution to this. The school is currently working with other local schools to decide how the new primary school sports funding can be used to maximise the value in raising pupils’ involvement and achievement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s commitment to equal opportunities is effective in ensuring that pupils from different backgrounds make similar levels of progress and are fully included in different activities. This is exemplified by the use of the pupil premium to provide extra academic, as well as social, behavioural and emotional support to eligible pupils. As a result, they are fully involved in all aspects of school, and make the same overall progress as others.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher gives a clear lead to colleagues and has established a committed team who work together well to address issues in pupils’ achievement. A focus on improving progress in English during the last year has been successful in raising achievement, particularly in reading. The school has rightly identified improving achievement in mathematics as a priority for the coming year. 18–19 September 2013 7 of 10

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Subject leaders have taken a fuller role in managing the school and helping their colleagues to drive improvements. They have contributed well to the improvements made, helped by effective staff training.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Excellent relationships with parents, identified at the previous inspection, have been maintained. Parents of pupils who have special educational needs particularly praised the support given to their children.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has a good understanding of the school and provides good support and challenge. The school acknowledges the positive impact of the help provided to raise achievement through improving teaching. The local authority has been particularly effective in providing expertise to help the school to improve behaviour, especially in providing support for pupils who have particular social or emotional difficulties.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors have good systems to monitor the school’s work and to hold it to account. They understand performance data and use the results appropriately to check pupils’ achievement. Their systems to check on teachers’ performance are well established, and have been used to tackle underperformance. These systems are currently being linked more tightly to teachers’ pay, so that good performance can be appropriately rewarded. Resources are spent effectively, including the pupil premium. In conjunction with staff, the governing body ensures that safeguarding procedures meet national requirements. Governors are well informed about most aspects of school. They are positive about the help provided by the local authority. 18–19 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. 18–19 September 2013 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 124760 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 425303

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 179 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Claire Woods Headteacher Andrew Frolish Date of previous school inspection 10 November 2011 Telephone number 01473 823268 Fax number 01473 822777 Email address admin@stmaryshad.co.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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