St Faiths CofE Primary School

St Faith's CofE Primary School 25 Manor Road, Horsham St Faith, Norwich, NR10 3LF

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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

 Teaching requires improvement to ensure that the younger pupils in particular achieve as well as possible.  Younger pupils who find reading difficult do not have the right sort of reading material or help to make sure they make good progress.  Children in Reception and Years 1 and 2, especially the more able, are not making rapid progress in learning and using letter sounds to help them read and spell.  Children in Reception are not making sufficient progress in early numeracy skills.  Teachers’ marking does not always provide pupils with clear comments on how to improve their work.  Teachers’ planning does not routinely make sure activities are planned precisely to suit the abilities of all pupils.  Checks by the headteacher and subsequent follow-up actions have not been sufficiently rigorous to bring about improvements at a good rate.

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The school has the following strengths

 In Years 5 and 6, pupils’ progress increases rapidly as a result of outstanding teaching.  From their start in Reception, children quickly develop very positive attitudes to learning. Children’s behaviour is excellent.  Throughout the school, relationships between adults and pupils are outstanding.  Over time, pupils’ progress and attainment are improving steadily in Years 4 to 6.  In 2013, Year 6 pupils’ attainment and progress in writing were above average.  Teaching assistants provide good support for individuals and groups of pupils.  Governors hold the school to account well.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed nine lessons, as well as small groups or individual pupils working with teaching assistants. Over half the observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher.  The inspector looked closely at pupils’ work and heard some pupils from Year 1 read.  The inspector held meetings with staff, the Chair and members of the Governing Body, a representative of the local authority and pupils from Year 6. She spoke informally with many pupils during lessons and at break times.  The inspector looked carefully at safeguarding documentation, information about pupils’ progress, self-evaluation documents, the report after the recent review of the school by the local authority and development plans.  The views of the 45 parents who completed a questionnaire sent home on the eve of the inspection were taken into consideration. The school is aware that several families do not have access to computers and wished to make sure all could share their views. The questionnaire was

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Information about this inspection

a copy of the on-line questionnaire on Parent View. The views of parents and carers who spoke with the inspector were also taken into consideration.  The inspector also considered the views expressed in a questionnaire returned by 14 members of staff.

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Inspection team

Cheryl Thompson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average school. It serves the local community.  There are three mixed-age classes plus a class for the Reception children.  For the past two years there have been more boys than girls on the school roll.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is below average. This extra funding is for looked-after children and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  Since the previous inspection, there has been a change of half of the teaching staff which includes the senior teacher.  The headteacher had a long-term absence in the summer term 2013.  There were too few Year 6 pupils in the 2012 group to comment on floor standards.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching by making sure that:  the work teachers plan is based on precise assessment of what pupils already know and what they need to learn next  all marking is of the same quality as the best examples in the school and that teachers regularly remind pupils about their targets for improvement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate the progress pupils make in acquiring early literacy and numeracy skills in Reception and Years 1 and 2 by:  grouping pupils according to their levels of skills and understanding and providing well- planned lessons and appropriate deployment of teaching assistants to ensure pupils of all abilities make good progress  making sure struggling readers have appropriate reading material that they can read easily in order to enjoy reading and practise and refine their skills making sure struggling readers have guidance as to their choice of book so that they build up their skills in easy steps and read more than once per week to an adult who knows the skills they need to practise.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the leadership and management of the school by ensuring that:  the headteacher increases rigour when checking the work of the school and makes sure that identified weaknesses are dealt with promptly  staff with leadership responsibilities play a full role in monitoring and improving the quality of teaching.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because not enough pupils make rapid progress in developing early literacy and numeracy skills throughout the Reception class and Key Stage 1.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics is improving year- on-year in Key Stage 2. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 has not improved at the same rate.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 When children start school in Reception, their level of skills and personal development can be wide ranging. The starting point of the current Reception children is broadly typical of the age group, with a small number above that.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s records show that pupils in Key Stage 1 generally make typical progress in reading, writing and mathematics but few make better than expected progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Inspection evidence shows that children in Reception have made a strong start on learning the sounds that letters make and blending them together to make and read words (phonics). However, many of the class, especially the more able, are capable of learning at a faster rate and are held back by the organisation for teaching. In this class there is a similar picture with the rate at which children are developing their early numeracy skills.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In Year 1, pupils who find learning to read a struggle are not making enough progress. When working on a specific programme of phonic work with a teaching assistant, they make good progress. However, insufficient thought has gone into making sure they have the right type and level of books to read and enough opportunities per week to practise reading. As a consequence, they do not use their letter sound skills to practise and improve their reading often enough.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In Years 3 and 4, pupils’ rate of progress picks up although, over time, it is not yet consistently good. When pupils start in Year 5 their progress increases considerably and continues at this good rate in Year 6. More-able pupils in Years 5 and 6 make good or outstanding progress. Pupils’ progress in writing in 2013 was considerably better than in most schools.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The achievement of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is similar to that of their classmates. Where teaching is good or better, these pupils make good progress but this is not consistent across the school. The school is particularly successful in the pastoral support it provides for pupils and their families. Parents speak well of the support for their children.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In each year group there are not enough pupils eligible for the pupil premium to comment on their attainment and progress without identifying them. The school’s recent data on pupils’ progress shows that pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium do as well or, in some year groups, better than their peers.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils enjoy taking part in sporting activities and the school teams do well in competitive sporting events such as tag rugby. Older pupils have a good understanding of how sport contributes to a healthy life-style. The school has very recently received notice of the amount of extra school sport funding it will receive. Pupils have been consulted as to the best use of the funding to be able to provide an even wider range of sports activities on the school grounds.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because pupils do not make consistently good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of phonics for Reception children and Years 1 and 2 requires improvement. Teachers have a secure understanding of the correct way of teaching these skills. The reason that their teaching is not having a more beneficial impact is because pupils are not grouped according to their stage of learning. More-able pupils, while making expected progress, are held back from making good progress. Pupils who struggle do not have enough time to practise skills and therefore this slows their progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In Reception, the teaching of early numeracy skills requires improvement. The reason that children, especially the more able, are not making rapid progress is because teaching is too often to the whole class rather than to groups who are at different stages of developing their skills.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Recent systems for setting targets for pupils in literacy and mathematics are very helpful for pupils and their parents to know where they are aiming. For the older pupils, targets set for the more able are challenging. Where teaching is outstanding, teachers refer to these targets when they plan and mark pupils’ work. Where teaching requires improvement, pupils’ targets are not always referred to and it is not always clear in planning what it is different groups of pupils are expected to have learned by the end of the lesson.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are examples of good and outstanding teaching that the school can build on. Where teaching is most effective, teachers set high expectations and are clear about what they expect pupils of different abilities to achieve in the lesson. Teachers check to see that pupils understand and are confident in the tasks set and make adjustments to their teaching accordingly. As a result, pupils make at least good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching in areas such as developing children’s independence, how to work together and considering others’ feelings in the Reception class is outstanding.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are inconsistencies in teachers’ marking. All pupils’ work is marked but teachers do not routinely make sure pupils know how to improve their work or presentation. Where teaching is outstanding, teachers’ marking tells pupils exactly what they need to do to improve and praises them for their efforts.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is most effective when pupils are working with teaching assistants. The special educational needs coordinator makes sure the planning of pupils’ special work is linked closely to the skills they need to develop. Where teaching requires improvement for these pupils it is in the planning of their class work to make sure that they can achieve as well as possible.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching assistants have a good impact on pupils’ learning and self-confidence when they work with pupils needing extra help with their learning. They are not always deployed to best effect in class phonic sessions.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Relationships are outstanding. All adults and pupils treat each other with respect and kindness. This contributes considerably to the way Reception children settle so quickly into school and to more able pupils’ confidence in their teachers’ judgement of how well they can achieve and their motivation to do this.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 All pupils are positive about learning. Reception children have already developed very good habits for learning. When asked, they quickly stop what they are doing and listen carefully to their teacher and try very hard to do all that is asked of them. They take great care of resources and tidy up responsibly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Older pupils respond very well to their teachers’ very high expectations for hard work and behaviour. Pupils are polite and well-mannered. They also have a good sense of humour but know exactly where the boundaries are. Their work shows that they take note of their teachers’ marking. For example, one pupil responded ‘Wow, I didn’t think I could do this well. I’m going to do all my work as good as this’.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Where teaching requires improvement, pupils remain well behaved but do not always apply themselves wholeheartedly to the tasks they are set. This is why behaviour is not outstanding.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The excellent relationships throughout the school contribute well to pupils’ spiritual, social, moral and cultural development. Pupils have a strong sense of fairness. They show high levels of respect for each other’s talents and achievements and recognise the need to help those less fortunate than themselves. On one day of the inspection pupils dressed in pyjamas to raise funds for ‘Children in Need’; they behaved impeccably in their celebration assembly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are clear that there is no bullying in their school. They have confidence in the school’s system of ‘posting’ worries or compliments in the designated box. They know that any concerns they raise will be dealt with and that compliments will be shared in celebration assemblies.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attendance is above average. They say they feel safe in school which is a view shared by parents and staff. They are taught to evaluate risk in situations they might face and how to stay safe when using the internet.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because leaders, managers and governors have not ensured the school has improved enough so that it is good.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Improvement has been slowed by changes in staff and the headteacher’s long-term absence. Self-evaluation is comprehensive but over-generous. The majority of checks are undertaken by the headteacher. These have not been rigorous enough to note exactly what needs to be improved to increase pupils’ progress, especially in acquiring phonic skills. When weaknesses have been identified they have not been dealt with promptly and effectively to bring about improvement at a good rate.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has established appropriate arrangements, linked to the national Teachers’ Standards, for managing the performance of teachers. Teachers have targets to meet related to the school’s priorities for improvement and for their own performance. Teachers agree that the senior teacher provides good coaching for them to help them improve their performance. Many staff and parents stated that the school was run well by the senior teacher in the headteacher’s absence.  The senior teacher, as leader of literacy, has brought about considerable improvements in the attainment and progress of the older pupils, particularly in writing. The teacher responsible for mathematics is very new to the role so has not had time to check how well pupils are doing across the school apart from analysing school data.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school curriculum has a weakness in the way that early literacy and numeracy skills are taught. There are, however, areas such as the links between subjects which make learning highly motivating and which also contribute significantly to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, older pupils have completed thought-provoking work when they considered the need to conserve the Amazon rain forest but also that the native people need to be able to make a livelihood from the forest.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has supported the school well with, for example, termly visits, helping subject leaders and governors to develop their roles. The local authority representative has helped set up an ‘improvement group’ for the school involving representatives of the diocese, local authority advisers, governors, those responsible for finance and senior leaders as well as staff. The aim of the group is to bring a wide range of views and skills to help the school improve further. The group has met three times and it is planned to meet once per half term.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Under the dynamic leadership of the Chair and with training from the local authority, governors have developed their role of holding the school to account very well in the past year. Minutes of meetings show a good level of challenge to leaders and managers, for example, to provide information about the progress of certain groups of pupils and for this to be provided within a time scale. Governors visit the school and carry out a range of checks so that they know what is going on and that it is safe for pupils. Safeguarding arrangements meet requirements. Governors are well aware of the amount of extra funding provided to support pupils eligible for the pupil premium and check that it is used to have maximum impact.  Governors have completed a skills audit and are undertaking training in identified areas. They know how good teaching is and where improvement is needed. They consider rigorously the

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The leadership and management requires improvement

targets teachers must meet before they can move up salary scales and know what the school is doing to tackle any underperformance.

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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 121082 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 425279

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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 86 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alison Hall Headteacher Katherine Thompson Date of previous school inspection 1 December 2011 Telephone number 01603 898353 Email address office@stfaithsprimary.norfolk.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

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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