Chillerton and Rookley Primary School

Chillerton and Rookley Primary School Main Rd, Chillerton, PO30 3EP

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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 make good progress in all subjects because they are taught well.  Effective questioning by teachers and teaching assistants helps all pupils to successfully develop their ideas and understanding during lessons.  Pupils work extremely well together. All, including the youngest pupils in Reception, show high levels of concentration during lessons.  Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and behave well. The consistent application of the behaviour policy has been successful in improving behaviour for all pupils.  Pupils say they feel very safe in school and have a great deal of confidence in the adults who look after them.  Children get off to a good start in their schooling because activities are carefully planned to match their varying needs within the mixed-age class.  The good leadership of the headteacher has ensured that teaching has continued to improve since the previous inspection.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The governing body and the federation offer a high level of challenge and good support to enable the school to thrive and improve.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not enough teaching is outstanding. The new marking and feedback system is not consistently used by all teachers.  Standards in writing are not as high as those in reading and mathematics.  Opportunities for pupils to write at length across different subjects, or to write for pleasure, are not frequent enough.  Outstanding practice is not shared widely enough within the school.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out in response to a complaint made to Ofsted which raised serious concerns. The complaint was deemed to be a qualifying complaint and Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector decided an announced inspection of the school should take place, to follow up the whole-school issues that were raised. The inspector sought to establish: - whether safeguarding procedures are adequate, including the response to pupils presenting challenging behaviour - whether suitable adjustments are made to behaviour management procedures according to pupils’ needs and disabilities, and whether staff are suitably trained and able to seek advice and support as required - whether leaders and the governing body are effective in monitoring and evaluating policy and practice for behaviour management within the school.  The inspector observed six lessons, three of which were observed jointly with the headteacher.

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Information about this inspection

She heard some pupils from Year 2 read and observed the teaching of phonics, the linking of letters to sounds. She also made some short visits to classrooms to see how teaching and the curriculum were supporting pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development.  She observed an assembly, spoke formally and informally to pupils and spent some time in the playground and dining hall to observe behaviour around the school.  The inspector spoke to the headteacher, leaders of English and mathematics and members of the governing body, including the Chair, and a group of pupils from each class. A telephone call was made to the advisor for the school, from Hampshire local authority, which has responsibility for education on the Isle of Wight.  The inspector examined a number of documents, including the school’s own information on pupils’ progress and standards, documents relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance,

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Information about this inspection

samples of minutes from governing body meetings and reports from external advisors. The inspector also examined a selection of writing books from pupils across the classes as well as looking at a range of books during lessons.  The inspector took account of the 17 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and spoke to several parents as they came to watch an assembly. She also took account of the 11 questionnaires returned by members of staff.

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Inspection team

Penny Spencer, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. The number of pupils in each year group is very small.  There are three mixed-age classes which can change from year to year as group sizes vary. This year the make-up is: Reception and Year 1, Years 2 and 3, and Years 4, 5 and 6.  The school is part of the Stenbury Federation. This consists of three schools, Godshill Primary, Wroxall Primary and Chillerton and Rookley Primary. Each school has its own headteacher and there is one governing body with overall responsibility.  There is a pre-school setting, breakfast club and after-school provision on the same site, none of which formed part of this inspection.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well below average, as is the proportion who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those with special educational needs supported at school

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Information about this school

action is similar to other schools. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is higher than average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for additional funding through the pupil premium varies from year to year but is well below average. This funding is for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, who are looked after by the local authority or whose parents are in the armed forces. There are currently no looked-after pupils or pupils from service families attending the school.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The headteacher teaches for half of the week in the Reception and Year 1 class

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching so that pupils make rapid and sustained progress, by making sure that all teachers:  consistently use the recently introduced system of giving feedback to pupils and marking books during lessons  give pupils enough time to respond to feedback and so improve their work  share the good practice seen in the school more widely to improve the overall quality of teaching.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve standards in writing so that these are at least in line with reading and mathematics, by increasing the opportunities for pupils to write at length for pleasure and across a wide variety of subjects, and so increase their confidence when undertaking formal writing assessments.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter school with skills and understanding that are broadly typical for their age, although this varies from year to year with the very small cohorts. They make good progress during the Reception year and most children move into Year 1 with a good level of development.  Standards at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 fluctuate from high to average because of the different needs and abilities of pupils in the very small year groups.  Achievement is not outstanding because standards in writing are not consistently as high as those in reading and mathematics, and because pupils do not always make rapid and sustained progress from their individual starting points.  Over the past three years, standards at the end of Year 2 have been rising in all subjects. This is reflected in the current assessment information for pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5, which shows that progress has continued to be good and that standards are above average in all subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils enjoy reading and standards are high. Opportunities for pupils to read independently to an adult in school and at home are frequent and regular. Pupils use phonics effectively to help them work out unfamiliar words and the pupils who read to the inspector were keen to talk about the stories they were reading.  Older pupils read widely, choosing books independently from the school’s extensive library or bringing their own from home. They use non-fiction books well to research information for their topic work.  The proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in the national Year 1 phonics check has been above average for the past two years.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are very closely monitored and support is carefully targeted to individual need. As a result, pupils make good progress from their different starting points.  Achievement for the very small numbers of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is in line with

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The achievement of pupils is good

other pupils in the school and they attain at a similar level. Funds are spent on ensuring that individual support is available when necessary and that these pupils are fully included in all activities.  Careful tracking of each individual child shows there is little difference between pupils from different groups as they move through the school and progress is at least good in all classes. This demonstrates the school’s success in promoting equality of opportunity and its commitment to ensuring there is no discrimination.  Good use is made of the extensive outside area to promote physical activities of all sorts, including gardening, walking and organised sporting activities such as football. The school is using some of its sports funding to employ coaches to provide specialist sports teaching to supplement the expertise of teachers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is consistently good across the school and some is outstanding. Consequently, pupils make good progress.  Children in the mixed Reception and Year 1 class make good progress because work is carefully adapted to their needs. There is a good mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities and an increasing expectation for Year 1 pupils to undertake more sustained periods of learning.  Careful planning for the different abilities within each class means pupils work in a variety of ways both together or individually. When pupils work together they collaborate well. During an outstanding mathematics lesson, pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 were accurately converting measurements in weight and capacity in order to follow a recipe to make a fruit salad or fruit punch. More-able pupils were tackling a further challenge to convert measurements from imperial to metric before converting them further to follow the recipe. Every pupil was fully

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The quality of teaching is good

engrossed in the task and the behaviour for learning was excellent.  Teaching assistants are used very effectively and are an integral part of the teaching team. Further support from volunteers adds an extra dimension to the team. This was observed in the Reception and Year 1 class where pupils were planting bulbs with a volunteer who was adept at engaging them in conversation about the task and the bulbs they were planting.  The way teachers give feedback to pupils through marking in books has recently been reviewed and teachers now mark and give advice more frequently to pupils during lessons rather than afterwards. This was observed being used to good effect during some lessons, but how this advice is then followed up by teachers in subsequent lessons is less consistent. Pupils are not always given enough opportunities to respond to teachers’ feedback and not all are sure how the marking helps them to improve over time.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Opportunities for writing at length, other than during assessments, are not frequent enough. As a result, some pupils are not confident writers and spend too much time over correcting their work and not completing it. The introduction of writing journals for pupils to write independently about anything they like is having a positive effect but has yet to have an impact on raising standards in writing further.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have very good attitudes to their work. Behaviour in lessons is calm and purposeful and relationships between pupils and staff are strong. As a result, disruption to learning is rare.  Pupils are motivated, engaged and keen to learn. This was observed in all classes during the inspection.  The unwavering consistency with which the behaviour policy is understood and followed by staff and pupils alike is the reason why behaviour has improved over time. As one pupil remarked, ‘Everyone has matured and now everyone behaves really well.’ Virtually every parent who responded to the Parent View questionnaire agreed that behaviour was good.  Special areas within the classroom with cushions and blankets are available for pupils to use if they need a chance to calm down or reflect. These were not seen being used during the inspection because everyone was so involved with their learning and behaviour was consistently

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

good.  There is a friendly but purposeful atmosphere in and around the school and the playground. Older pupils who are prefects actively support the younger ones in the playground and the small number of pupils means everybody knows everyone else. Pupils were observed on a number of occasions playing energetically but sensibly together during breaks.  There is well-documented evidence of incidents and weaker behaviour from a small minority of pupils during a recent period of turbulence. Records show how such incidents have reduced over the past year. There have been no recorded incidents or exclusions this term. Behaviour and safety are not outstanding because, while behaviour has improved and is now securely good, it has not yet been sustained over time.  Pupils were adamant that bullying does not happen and they were confident that any issues that might arise would be dealt with quickly and fairly by the headteacher. They are aware that

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

bullying can take a variety of forms and were keen to talk about some of the lessons they had been doing as part of anti-bullying week.  Pupils feel safe in school and their parents agree with this view. They know how to keep safe in a variety of situations such as on the road and when riding bicycles. They were very confident in how to keep safe on the internet and could explain elements of the school’s policy on e-safety.  Policies for behaviour and bullying have recently been reviewed and are common to all schools in the federation. Behaviour is a standard item for governors to review at every meeting.  Attendance is above average.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, staff and governing body are ambitious for continued success. They have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and action plans focus clearly on the right priorities. The headteacher manages her teaching commitment and leadership role skilfully. There is a strong sense of shared understanding and teamwork amongst staff.  The federation provides good support for senior leaders and recent opportunities for the headteachers to observe joint lessons have enabled judgements to be checked and agreed. Opportunities for the leaders of subjects to take a more active role in driving improvements are developing but have not been in place long enough to impact fully on standards. Senior leaders rightly recognise the need to ensure good teaching practice is shared across the school.  The checking of teaching and learning is regular and all teachers are fully accountable for the

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The leadership and management are good

progress their pupils make. This, combined with the extra responsibilities all teachers have as part of such a small team, is reflected in the way teachers progress along the pay scales.  Safeguarding systems are rigorous. All members of staff are trained in child protection procedures and all training is up to date. Risk assessments for the way behaviour is managed to match the individual needs of pupils are clear and precise. Any incidents are well documented and communication with parents is clear. The governing body monitors these procedures regularly and all members of the school community take their responsibilities very seriously.  The curriculum is interesting and relevant. Pupils enjoy the frequent opportunities to visit places of interest connected to their topics. Art and music are promoted strongly and pupils enjoy these aspects of their work very much. Finished work, much of which is of a high standard, is

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The leadership and management are good

displayed with pride in classrooms and corridors. This fully supports pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development.  Funding to support sport and healthy lifestyles has been welcomed. Numbers are too small for pupils to form competitive teams, so some funding has been used to enable staff to drive the federation minibuses so that pupils can form a single team, train together and enter local competitions.  The school is firmly at the heart of the village. The school hall is used regularly by village groups and the gardening club works two allotments on the site in conjunction with pupils. Parents support the school in many ways, either through volunteering or in taking an active role in fundraising  Partnerships with local schools other than those in the federation are also strong. More-able pupils in the current Year 5 are already taking part in events leading towards work at the highest

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The leadership and management are good

National Curriculum levels for primary-age pupils.  Support from the local authority has been of variable quality in the past. Support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including assessments for specific learning difficulties, has been difficult to arrange and very slow in being actioned. The school’s new improvement partner from Hampshire has held initial meetings and support to improve the quality of writing has been swiftly organised.  The governance of the school:  Governance is good. The governing body has many strengths. By promoting the federation governors have secured the future for the schools. Financial savings through joint procurement of resources has freed up money to support pupils. Governors offer a high level of challenge for continued improvement. Questions, seen by the inspector and asked of senior staff in response to reports on progress of pupils, were insightful and demanded highly

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The leadership and management are good

detailed answers and evidence. Governors are involved in the performance management of the headteacher and have a good understanding of the performance management of teachers in relation to the Teachers’ Standards and progression up the salary scale. They understand how the pupil premium is used and its impact on the few pupils who are eligible for support. The safety of all pupils is paramount and governors are diligent in their monitoring of all safeguarding procedures. All statutory requirements are 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 118155 Local authority Isle of Wight Inspection number 429920

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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 Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 61 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alison Child Headteacher Teresa Tillbrook Date of previous school inspection 6–7 July 2010 Telephone number 01983 721207 Fax number 01983 721298 Email address admin@chillerton.lineone.net 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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