East Wold Church of England Primary School

East Wold Church of England Primary School Station Road, Legbourne, Louth, LN11 8LD

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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.  Pupils get a good start in the Reception class where they make good progress.  Progress throughout the school is good and standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Key Stage 2 are rising each year.  Both boys and girls make particularly good progress in reading.  Teaching is good because lessons are lively and interesting. Teachers ask searching questions which make pupils think deeply about their learning.  The subjects pupils learn are interesting and exciting. They include plenty of opportunities for pupils to take part in activities which encourage their physical wellbeing.  Pupils behave well and are polite to adults and each other. They feel safe in school and know how to stay safe in different situations. Attendance is above and improving.  Leadership is good. Pupils’ progress is checked regularly and any in danger of falling behind are quickly identified and helped to catch up.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and how it can improve. They challenge senior leaders appropriately, holding them accountable for ensuring all pupils make good progress.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is particularly good. Close links with the church help to develop pupils’ spirituality and set the tone for their positive attitudes to learning and good achievement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Occasionally, the pace of the lessons slows. Pupils then lose concentration and time is wasted in refocusing them on their tasks.  Marking is not consistently informative across the school or in all subjects and pupils are not always given the opportunity to respond.  While the headteacher regularly checks the quality of teaching, her judgements and observations are not always recorded clearly. This means that governors do not consistently receive the information they require to know how well teachers are doing.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector watched 11 lessons or parts of lessons, all of which were jointly observed with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, staff, a group of pupils, the Chair and five other members of the governing body, and a representative of the local authority.  Informal discussions were held with parents and carers.  The inspector took account of the 49 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), the school’s own parental questionnaires and 11 completed staff questionnaires.  The inspector observed the school’s work and scrutinised a range of documentation including the school’s checks on its performance, its analysis and tracking of pupils’ progress, records of behaviour and safety, school improvement plans, leaders’ records of classroom observations, the management of staff performance, safeguarding arrangements and records of governing body meetings.  She also looked at pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and checked information on pupils’

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Inspection team

Susan Hughes, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below average and there are no pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium, additional funding which in this school applies to pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, is below average and only a very small number is supported by the pupil premium.  The proportions of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action, school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs, are all above average.  The headteacher has recently also taken on the leadership of a neighbouring primary school and both schools work in close collaboration.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that more is outstanding by ensuring that:  a brisk pace is maintained throughout all lessons, particularly when pupils are being organised into different groups and at ‘changeover’ times between activities and lessons  when marking their books, teachers give pupils clear guidance as to how they can improve and routinely give them the opportunity to respond in all subjects.  Strengthen leadership and management by ensuring that the quality of teaching is more formally recorded and fully reported to governors.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement is good because pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics throughout the school. Standards are average by the end of Key Stage 2 and are improving year on year. The school’s more able pupils do well, with above average proportions exceeding expectations for both progress and attainment.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children typically start school with skills slightly lower than those expected for their age, with literacy skills less developed than other skills. They settle quickly into the Reception class and make good progress, and consequently start Key Stage 1 with skills much closer to those expected. However, some pupils’ literacy skills are still not as well developed as their skills in other subjects. Children happily work and play together in the classroom and outside. This is because activities in both areas are equally well-planned to develop skills in an exciting and enjoyable way.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Progress in Key Stage 1 has improved. Standards in reading, writing and mathematics last year were considerably higher than in 2012 and inspectors saw evidence that this improvement is being maintained by pupils currently in the school. This is because the school has introduced new ways of teaching literacy and mathematics which have accelerated the progress pupils make.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils now make particularly good progress in reading. The results of last year’s national screening check on how well they know the sounds that letters make (phonics) in Year 1 were above average. During the inspection pupils showed that they could use their phonic skills to read challenging texts and unfamiliar words. For example, a girl in Year 2 sounded out the word ‘clouds’. Another confidently read more complex words such as ‘emergency’ while also enjoying the humour in her book.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress and achieve well because the school quickly identifies the type of support each pupil requires. Additional adults in the classroom are well-briefed and receive good training, enabling them to give high quality support to the pupils in their care and helping them work with confidence and enthusiasm at the tasks they are given.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school has used the pupil premium funding to provide small group or individual support in lessons and to ensure all pupils can take part in other activities such as clubs and residential visits. There are too few such pupils in the school and in specific classes to comment on their attainment in English and mathematics because of the risk that they might be identified.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In all years teachers encourage pupils to work with enthusiasm and interest. For example, in Years 3 and 4, pupils cheered when challenged to include similes in their writing. Children in the Reception class excitedly told the inspector that they had discovered a rhombus on their ‘shape hunt’ outside and were keen to use the different shapes to make pictures.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good because the lessons are lively and interesting. Work is well-matched to different abilities and teaching assistants are used very effectively to support all pupils, including the most able, and help all groups to make good progress.  Teachers ask questions to check understanding and develop learning. For example, in Years 4 and 5 teachers would not accept simple terms for properties of shapes, but insisted on pupils using the correct mathematical vocabulary.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the Reception class, skills are developed well in a calm, purposeful environment. Questions such as ‘How do we know that?’ and ‘How could we find out?’ develop positive and enquiring attitudes to learning from an early age.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are all well supported. The school has used its funding to provide them with a good balance of small group and whole class teaching where the tasks are well matched to their specific needs. Additional adults work closely with the class teachers to provide sensitive and skilled support both within and outside the classroom.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils are enthusiastic about the different subjects they are taught. Some said that they enjoyed technology where they are currently designing sandwiches and others were enthusiastic about the opportunities they have for sport and dance. Visits related to the topics being studied help bring pupils’ learning to life and generate excited discussion.

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The quality of teaching is good

 When teaching is outstanding, the pace of the lesson is brisk. Pupils are engrossed in their work and no time is wasted. Occasionally, however, the organisation of groups or change-over from one part of the lesson to another is not as well-managed as it needs to be; this interrupts the flow of learning and pupils lose concentration and focus.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Marking in some English books gives pupils guidance to the next steps in their learning. However, this is not consistent across all classes and guidance as to how to improve in other subjects is less helpful. Where good guidance is provided, opportunities for pupils to act on the advice are not routinely planned into lessons.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well in and around school. They are polite to adults and each other. During the inspection, pupils could be overheard politely requesting equipment and thanking each other. Pupils of all ages play together on the playground and older pupils see it as their responsibility to look out for the younger ones.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have a very good understanding of what bullying is and the different forms it can take such as physical, emotional and cyber bullying. They say that bullying is rare, but any incidents are well dealt with. One pupil said he felt that all the staff were well-trained in dealing promptly and effectively with anything reported to them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school provides pupils with good guidance on how to stay safe in different situations. Pupils mentioned visits by the police and Royal National Lifeboat Institution representatives who taught them how to stay safe on the road and when playing by the sea. Older pupils spoke about the dangers of using social media sites, showing an understanding of both the terminology and potential hazards.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have a very positive attitude to school and lessons are rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. Any pupils who find behaving well difficult respond positively to clear expectations of staff and the good role models of other pupils in the class.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say they enjoy coming to school and all the parents who completed Parent View agreed that their children were happy in school. This is reflected in the above average attendance of pupils which continues to improve each year.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school is well led by the headteacher and senior staff. Pupils’ progress is carefully tracked to check that no individuals or groups of pupils are falling behind. Other staff with leadership responsibilities are well supported and lead their areas well. Improvements in the way English and mathematics are taught have helped increase progress, especially in Key Stage 1.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher checks on the quality of teaching by observing lessons and looking at work in books. She gives teachers good advice on how to improve and provides opportunities for staff to develop their skills through training and other support. However, she does not always clearly record her judgements about the lessons so improvements in teaching cannot be easily tracked.

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The leadership and management are good

 The system for checking the performance of teachers introduced last year contributes to the good teaching. Leaders’ judgements about teachers’ performance are based directly on how much progress their pupils make and how well they fulfil their different roles in the school. Individual targets are used by senior leaders and the governing body to measure whether promotion up the pay scale is justified by results.

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The leadership and management are good

 The different subjects are well planned to meet the needs of all pupils, including those who are disabled or have special educational needs and the most able. The school rigorously promotes equality of opportunity and tackles discrimination. Lessons and activities fully involve all, regardless of need, and ensure all groups of pupils are able to make good progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 Sport is a strength of the school and pupils have opportunities to take part in competitions such as swimming galas, football and cricket tournaments. The school is using some of the new primary sports funding to extend this further to employ specialist sports coaches to develop pupils’ and teachers’ skills. Close collaboration with neighbouring schools gives pupils and staff wider opportunities to work together and share skills and expertise.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ moral, social and cultural education is good. Spirituality is developed through close links with the church and teachers’ drive to make learning exciting and fascinating. Pupils described the harvest festival as ‘lovely’ and said they enjoyed opportunities to visit the church.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teachers encourage discussion about moral issues and do not shy away from challenging subjects. For example Year 6 pupils discussed why people go on strike and looked at different view points so that they could learn about the complexity of some situations.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority provides good support. It has worked with the school to support governors, develop the Early Years Foundation Stage and introduce of new teaching methods in literacy and mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors are very supportive of the school and are dedicated to improving their skills and the way they work to the benefit of the school. They have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and how it can improve. Governors challenge the headteacher to show that all pupils are making good progress and that teaching is improving so that more is outstanding. They have ensured that a system for checking the performance of teachers is in place and understand how this impacts on the quality of teaching, although they do not receive sufficiently detailed information from the headteacher on how far improvements have been made. Regular visits mean that governors see for themselves how well pupils are doing. They are improving the way they record these visits so that all governors are kept fully informed. The finances are managed well and governors are very clear about how the pupil premium

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The leadership and management are good

and primary sports funding are supporting pupils’ learning and well-being. Governors make sure that national requirements for safeguarding and child protection are fully met.

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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 120597 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 425086

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 115 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mel French Headteacher Lesley Thornes Date of previous school inspection 24 November 2008 Telephone number 01507 610060 Fax number 01507 602854 Email address enquiries@east-wold.lincs.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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