The Gerrards Cross CofE School

St Mary’s Farnham Royal CE Primary School Church Road, Farnham Royal, Slough, SL2 3AW

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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 Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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

 Pupils do not make consistently good progress. Their progress is slower in some year groups and subjects than in others.  Teachers do not always expect enough from pupils in lessons, especially from more-able pupils.  Teachers’ questions do not always make pupils think hard enough.  Work is not always interesting enough or set at the right level to make sure that all pupils can concentrate and stay motivated when they are working without help from an adult.  Not all children quickly gain the skills needed to learn to read and write at an early age. This means some have to catch up later in their school career.  In the past, school leaders have not checked in enough detail the progress made by different groups of pupils, so that help can be given if any fall behind.  The school’s plans to improve do not contain measures of success which are linked closely to pupils’ achievement, or which can easily be used to check whether these plans are

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

working.  Many school leaders and members of the governing body are new to their roles, and need further training and support. There has not been enough time to judge the effectiveness of recent actions they have taken to improve the school.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils’ standards are rising steadily. Results at the end of Key Stage 2 are improving, and are broadly average.  Pupils enjoy school and feel safe. Most pupils behave well around the school and in lessons.  Pupils’ attendance is improving and is now at national average levels.  The newly-appointed headteacher has taken strong action to help staff to understand what they need to do improve their teaching. This has successfully raised the quality of teaching in the school. Much teaching seen during the inspection was good.  Parents and carers are very supportive of the school and its leaders.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 21 lessons, three of which were jointly observed with school leaders. All classes and full-time teachers were seen. Inspectors also attended an assembly, listened to pupils read and looked at pupils’ work.  Meetings were held with pupils, staff, school leaders, the Chair of Governors and with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors spoke to a small number of parents and carers at the start of the school day. They looked at the 26 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also considered 16 staff questionnaires.  Inspectors looked at documents including the school’s own self-evaluation, its plans for improvement, records of the quality of teaching, school information on the progress of pupils and at nationally published results. They also looked at records of pupils’ behaviour and attendance and at how the school keeps pupils safe.

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Inspection team

Mike Phipps, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Julie Quarrell Additional Inspector Paula Protherough Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is lower than average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also lower than average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is broadly average. The pupil premium is the additional funding provided for children in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals. All supported children in this school are those known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is much higher than average. The largest group is pupils of Pakistani heritage.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than average.  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.  Following a period when an Interim Executive Board was in place, the governing body was reconstituted in January 2013.  The headteacher was appointed in February 2013. A number of other key leaders in school have only recently been appointed.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that more is good or outstanding by making sure that:  teachers always have the same high expectations of what all pupils can do and achieve, especially the more-able pupils  teachers’ questions make pupils think hard about the topics they are studying  pupils are encouraged to concentrate and stay motivated when they are working without adult help.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise pupils’ achievement by:  making sure that all children are effectively taught at an early age the skills needed to learn to read and write successfully  regularly checking the progress made by all groups of pupils, so that help can be given promptly if any groups fall behind.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management at all levels by making sure that:  plans to improve the school have measures of success that are linked to pupils’ achievement, and that can be used by school leaders and governors to check that these plans are working  teachers who are new to leadership roles and new governors receive training and support so they can effectively help the school to improve.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils do not make consistently good progress across the school. Their progress is slower in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in the upper years of Key Stage 2 than in other years. They make less progress in mathematics than in English.  Children join the school with skills below those expected for their age. They make the progress expected of them in the Nursery and Reception years, but by the time they go into Year 1 their skills are still below those typical for their age.  Not all children quickly gain the skills needed to learn to read and write at an early age. Their knowledge of phonics (the sounds that letter make) is below average, so some pupils find it difficult to work out unfamiliar words. This means that these pupils have some catching up to do later in the school.  Pupils generally make good progress in Key Stage 1. By the end of Year 2 their standards are in line with national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In Key Stage 2 pupils’ progress is not consistently good. Pupils’ progress is slower in the upper years of Key Stage 2, especially in mathematics. This is because in the past teachers did not always have consistently high expectations of what pupils could achieve. Pupils’ rates of progress in mathematics are now improving, however, and are now almost at national average levels.  The progress of the school’s more-able pupils requires improvement, as the proportion reaching the highest levels at the end of each key stage is below average. These pupils are not given sufficient challenge to make the progress they could.  Pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium make similar progress to other pupils. Eligible pupils were around one term behind other pupils both in English and in mathematics in 2012. Pupil premium funds have been spent appropriately on additional teaching assistants, school

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

meals for pupils and on supporting pupils’ participation in clubs and school trips.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are supported by teaching assistants and make similar progress to other pupils. In the past the impact of extra help given to these pupils was not evaluated carefully to check it was working. This has now been improved, but it is too early to be clear about the impact of the support on the achievement of these pupils.  Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and those who speak English as an additional language make similar progress to other pupils.  Pupils generally learn to write accurately. This is because the school has made sure they have chances to practise their skills and write at length across a range of subjects.  Pupils develop their mathematical skills reasonably well. Pupils have the chance to practise their mathematical skills in several subjects.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ standards by the end of Key Stage 2 are improving steadily, and in 2013 were almost at national average levels in English and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching requires improvement because teaching typically has not been consistently strong enough to produce good pupil achievement in all year groups and subjects.  Teachers do not always have high enough expectations about what pupils can achieve, especially more-able pupils. This limits their progress. For example, in an information and communications technology lesson all Key Stage 2 pupils carried out the same series of undemanding tasks. In a mathematics lesson, more-able pupils did not move on quickly to challenging tasks better suited to their ability.  Teachers’ questions do not always make pupils think hard enough. For instance, Reception-aged children gave simple one-word answers to questions posed by the teacher, instead of being encouraged to develop their language and thinking skills by answering at greater length.  Teachers do not always motivate pupils by setting them tasks which interest them at the right

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

level of challenge. This means that some pupils find it hard to be engaged when they are working without the help of an adult.  In the better lessons teachers expect a lot from pupils of all abilities. For example, in a mathematics lesson Year 3 pupils made good progress because there was a good level of challenge for different pupils including the more able, the teacher used excellent resources, and the teaching assistant gave effective support to less-able pupils.  Teachers’ marking is frequent and detailed, and gives pupils clear guidance on how to improve their work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Behaviour requires improvement because at times the quality of teaching is not good enough to engage their interest, or to provide them with sufficiently challenging work. As a consequence some lessons are interrupted by minor misbehaviour.  Most pupils understand the importance of good behaviour and attitudes. Pupils told inspectors that they find it frustrating when their learning is interrupted by the low-level misbehaviour of a small number of other pupils.  Pupils understand different types of bullying. They say bullying is rare, though not all pupils were confident that it would be effectively dealt with if they told an adult. Racist incidents are also rare.  Pupils enjoy school and feel safe. They behave well around the school, at break time and at lunchtime. There is a calm and orderly atmosphere in school.  Pupils have good social skills. Most are confident speakers and are polite and courteous to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

visitors.  Pupils’ attendance is improving and is now at national average levels. School leaders have not until now analysed patterns of absence closely enough to check the attendance of different groups of pupils.  Parents and carers say that pupils behave well at school, are well looked after and feel safe. Staff also feel that pupils’ behaviour is managed consistently and well.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership is not good because pupils’ achievement and teaching require improvement. As a number of school leaders are new to their roles there has not been time to judge the effectiveness of their recent plans and actions to improve the school.  In the past, leaders, managers and governors did not check in enough detail the progress made by different groups of pupils. This meant that leaders could not know whether the extra help that was given was working. More effective systems are beginning to measure this.  The school’s view of itself is increasingly accurate. School plans for improvement focus on the right areas, but do not contain measures of success which are linked closely to pupils’ achievement, or which can easily be used by senior leaders or governors to check their plans are working.  The school’s curriculum provides pupils with interesting topics but leaders have not planned how pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding will be developed across all subjects. A number of

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The leadership and management requires improvement

visits, special events, clubs and activities help to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The headteacher has taken swift action to improve teaching. She regularly checks the quality of teaching, and teachers know what they need to do to improve. This has successfully raised the quality of teaching in the school. Much teaching seen during the inspection was good.  Systems to manage teachers’ performance have recently been strengthened. Judgements are now based on pupils’ progress, and are linked to teachers’ salary levels. There are good opportunities for teachers to undertake further training.  The school plans to spend the extra primary sport funding on external sports coaches and training school staff. It has plans to evaluate the impact of this funding.  The school has good relationships with parents and carers, who are supportive of the school and its leaders.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s arrangements to keep its pupils safe meet legal requirements.  The determination to ensure that all pupils achieve well shows the school’s commitment to equality of opportunity and that discrimination is not tolerated.  The school has received valuable support from the local authority during a period of considerable change in recent years, and since the appointment of the new headteacher.  Actions taken by the school’s new leadership team, its accurate view of itself and recent improvements in the quality of teaching and pupil achievement, show that school leaders have the capacity to improve the school further.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is ambitious to see the school improve. Governors are increasingly aware of what goes on in school through a programme of visits. They have a clear idea of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Governors know they now need to help to identify

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The leadership and management requires improvement

priorities for improvement. Governors know about the quality of teaching, and how the school’s performance management systems help to improve the quality of teaching. They know what the school is doing to tackle any underperformance. Governors understand what pupil performance data tells them about how well the school is doing compared to other schools nationally. They are aware that the school needs to track more closely the progress of different groups of pupils. They systematically question the headteacher on pupils’ results, and challenge the school to improve them further. They oversee the budget well, and know how extra funds, for example from the pupil premium, are spent, but are less clear on the impact of such spending. They are aware that many of them are relatively inexperienced, and have undertaken further training to improve their skills.

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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 110436 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 426431

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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 342 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Elizabeth King Headteacher Vania Williams Date of previous school inspection 31 January – 1 February 2012 Telephone number 01753 644471 Fax number 01753 644518 Email address office@stmarysfarnhamroyal.org 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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