Setting

Mr A Yates Headteacher The Tynings School Eastleigh Close Staple Hill Bristol BS16 4SG

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Requires improvement: monitoring inspection visit to The Tynings School

Following my visit to your school on 17 September 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Requires improvement: monitoring inspection visit to The Tynings School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in June 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Requires improvement: monitoring inspection visit to The Tynings School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. The school should take further action to:

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Requires improvement: monitoring inspection visit to The Tynings School

 strengthen the school’s improvement plan by naming individuals to lead and evaluate each action and recording precise dates for the implementation and completion of each priority. In addition, clarify when the monitoring activities will take place and how progress will be reported to those individuals charged with evaluating improvement

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Requires improvement: monitoring inspection visit to The Tynings School

 align the headteacher’s reports and the agenda for each governing body meeting more closely to the school improvement priorities

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Requires improvement: monitoring inspection visit to The Tynings School

 improve communications so that there are clear lines of accountability with all staff understanding their roles and responsibilities. Tribal 1–4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5323 Direct email :suzy.smith@tribalgroup.com  ensure that all members of the school’s leadership team are supported and enabled to contribute fully to the improvement priorities

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Requires improvement: monitoring inspection visit to The Tynings School

 update the school’s website so that it provides users with clear and current information about the school and its work, including accurate information about the deployment and impact of the pupil premium funding

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Requires improvement: monitoring inspection visit to The Tynings School

 develop an action plan to show how the additional funding for physical education and sport will be allocated and its impact on increasing pupils’ engagement with sport evaluated

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Requires improvement: monitoring inspection visit to The Tynings School

 review and strengthen the contribution made by the teaching assistants to support and improve pupils’ progress and attainment.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with you and other school leaders, teaching and support staff, the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative from the local authority to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. The school action plan was evaluated and an analysis of current pupil tracking data was discussed.

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Context

Since the June inspection, a number of changes to teaching staff have taken place, including the appointment of a new leader for the Early Years Foundation Stage. In addition, the governing body has been reconstituted, which led to the decision to reduce the number of school governors.

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Context

During the summer holiday, the school was closed for major building work to renew the electrics and plumbing. The school reopened this term with ten classes, which is an increase of one on the previous year, brought about as a result of the increasing numbers of pupils attending.

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Main findings

 The headteacher, staff and governing body are fully aware of the challenges the school faces to become at least good. The school improvement plan has been written with challenging targets and milestones that show a clear determination to strengthen the quality of education provided.

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Main findings

 Morale within the school is strong and relationships are good. As a result, there is an urgency and desire to bring about the improvement needed for the school to be judged good.

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Main findings

 The senior leaders are focused on using their data analysis to identify those groups of pupils that need further support. The school has introduced regular and systematic opportunities to evaluate pupils’ progress and thereby monitor more closely how well pupils are performing.

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Main findings

 The Chair of the Governing Body is clear about how the governing body can contribute to the school’s improvement journey. Appropriate action has been taken to monitor the school’s performance by delegating the responsibilities to the various committees.

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Main findings

 The school’s headteacher is leading the school well and managing its growth as it sees an increasing number of pupils on roll.

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Main findings

 The school’s leadership team is making good progress to develop the skills needed to play a key role implementing the improvement plan. The English and mathematics subject leaders are increasing their involvement in strengthening the quality of teaching in their respective curriculum areas. The appointment of an Early Years Foundation Stage leader has also strengthened the leadership team.

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Main findings

 There is a strong and appropriate focus on monitoring the quality of teaching across the school. Observations of teaching are conducted by the school’s senior leaders with evaluations based increasingly on the assessment of individual pupil’s progress and the overall progress made by specific groups of pupils.

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Main findings

 The increased expectation on the quality of teaching has resulted in the school setting challenging targets for the proportion of pupils achieving and exceeding the expected levels of progress.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The school has received good quality support from the local authority. This includes taking action to commission a consultant headteacher to work with and support the headteacher and appointing a new school improvement partner who possesses a wealth of relevant expertise and skill to challenge the school further. The headteacher and the Chair of the Governing Body value the support being received and recognise that it is helping to galvanise the improvement programme.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for South Gloucestershire.

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