West Oxford Community Primary School

School report West Oxford Community Primary School Ferry Hinksey Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 0BY

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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.  Standards at the end of Year 6 are above the national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. The proportions of pupils making expected progress is high in all areas and the proportions making more than expected progress in mathematics is much higher than the national average.  Teaching is good and leads to pupils making good achievement. Most teachers know the stage that the pupils are at in their learning and what they need to do next to improve.  The recently appointed headteacher works closely with the local authority consultant and the school’s governing body in making positive changes and driving rapid improvement.  Governors are very well informed and knowledgeable about all aspects of the school. They make sure that the headteacher is held to account for pupils’ progress.  Parents and carers agree that the pupils feel happy and safe in school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 A small minority of pupils in Key Stage 1 are not making the same accelerated progress as the rest. This is because some teaching is not effective in setting work that moves these pupils on to the next stage of their learning quickly enough.  Marking is not always constructive enough to show what the pupils need to do next in their work.  There has not yet been sufficient time for the newly appointed senior managers and person responsible for special educational needs to impact fully on pupils’ progress.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 16 lessons, seven of which were joint observations with the headteacher and two of which were joint observations with the assistant headteacher. They also listened to pupils read, observed them during break time, during an assembly and around the school.  A range of documentation was looked at including the school’s improvement plan, the school’s own assessment data, records of lesson observations and the school’s safeguarding information. A wide range of pupils’ books were also examined.  The inspectors held meetings with the Chair of the Governing Body and the chairs of the two sub committees, spoke with the school’s local authority consultant, senior members of staff and a group of pupils.  Inspectors took account of 86 responses to the online Parent View survey, a number of parent letters and eight staff questionnaires, and met with some parents and carers informally at the

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Inspection team

Graeme Burgess, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Gill Walley Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is smaller than the average-sized primary school and has doubled in size over recent years.  West Oxford Community Primary School is part of a cluster of local primary schools, which includes one secondary school.  Since the last inspection, there has been a number of staff changes including a new headteacher, a new assistant headteacher, two senior managers and a person responsible for pupils who have special educational needs.  The school is fully inclusive and supports children with specific educational needs. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is in line with the national average. The percentage of pupils supported at school action plus and those supported with a statement of special educational needs is lower than the national average.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding, which is additional funding

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Information about this school

for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, looked after children or children of service families, is well below the national average.  The proportion of pupils who have English as a second language is slightly higher than the national average.  The school meets the government’s floor standards which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Enhance the quality of teaching so that more pupils make better than expected progress by the end of Year 2 by ensuring that:  pupils who are not yet doing better than expected are identified at an early stage and that work set for these pupils is matched closely to their needs and accelerates their learning  marking in books tells pupils what they have done well and what they need to do next in order to improve.  Increase the impact of the newly appointed senior managers and person responsible for special educational needs on pupil standards by providing appropriate support and training.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils are making good, and sometimes outstanding, progress by the end of Year 6 from their typically average starting points. Standards are above average by the end of Key Stage 2. Pupils achieve well because of good teaching and this reflects the school’s strong commitment to ensuring that all pupils succeed.  Pupils in Nursery and Reception classes make good progress and phonics is taught particularly well in Year 1 where the teacher’s strong subject knowledge accelerates pupils’ progress in linking sounds to letters. For example, in response to the teacher’s question ‘What is this?’, a pupil replied, ‘It is a split grapheme.’ The above average standards reached by the pupils in the phonics screening check in Year 1 reflect this high quality teaching and understanding.  The curriculum successfully focuses on ensuring that the pupils’ learning is made real and this engages their interest and high level motivation. For example, in Year 6, pupils are encouraged

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The achievement of pupils is good

to hold genuine Second World War artefacts and ask questions of the visiting expert in the style of newspaper reporters.  However, a few pupils are not yet making as rapid progress by the end of Key Stage 1. This is because work that is set for them is not always at the right level of challenge. Teachers’ increasingly effective use of the school’s data tracking system to pinpoint pupils next steps in learning is accelerating learning, but it is not yet outstanding.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are successfully meeting the targets set for them and make good progress. Pupils with specific needs are fully integrated into the school and the level of provision for them ensures that their particular needs are met effectively. This level of care is a particular strength of the school.  The majority of pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium funding, and who

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The achievement of pupils is good

do not have special educational needs, make progress that is often better than expected given their starting points. The school uses its funding to provide these pupils with extra support in lessons by appointing additional members of staff to work with them individually and in small groups.  The overwhelming majority of parents and carers who responded to the online questionnaire are very positive about the progress their children are making at the school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Good, and sometimes outstanding, teaching in most subjects, including English and mathematics, is leading to most pupils making rapid progress and achieving successfully. Teachers have high expectations, plan interesting lessons and use questioning very skilfully to move learning forward.  The way in which teachers set clear lesson objectives and the pace with which they move pupils on to their next stage of learning are securing good, and sometimes exceptional, progress, especially in Year 6.  There is a positive climate for learning within the majority of classes as a result of the highly effective way in which staff manage behaviour. For example, ‘partner talk’ is a key feature in classes where pupils are given the opportunity to discuss and solve problems posed by the teacher. As a result, pupils listen carefully and are keen to engage with their tasks and make good progress as a result.  Additional adults are used effectively in classes and with small groups to support pupils’ learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

These pupils benefit from staff expertise and sensitive guidance, for example in early morning focused groups aimed at developing complex sentences. They are able confidently to access tasks and, as a result, enjoy success in their learning.  Occasionally however, in some lessons, teachers do not identify specific pupils’ needs early enough to provide tasks which are challenging, particularly in reading and mathematics. As a result, a few pupils are not making as much progress by the end of Year 2 in these areas as they should.  Changes introduced by the new headteacher to the way in which teachers mark pupils’ work is typically encouraging but varies in its usefulness. For example, the best marking celebrates what the pupils have done well, points to the next steps to be taken in order to improve their work and encourages pupils to respond to these comments. However, not all marking across the school provides such helpful feedback, so opportunities to accelerate progress are missed.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school is good and this has a positive impact on the progress pupils make and the standards they achieve.  Pupils are polite and respectful to each other and respond well to support and guidance given by adults. They are keen to talk to visitors about their work and to find out what those visitors think of them and their school.  Little time is wasted in the majority of lessons as a result of appropriately paced teaching. Pupils say that they think behaviour is ‘very good’ and that they usually enjoy lessons because there is plenty of group work and paired work and that they feel challenged.  They believe that incidents of bullying or poor behaviour are very rare in school and that, if they do occur, adults always ‘sort it out, but that it hardly ever happens’. They also think that assemblies help them to understand better how to keep safe.  The vast majority of parents who met with inspectors and who completed the online

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

questionnaire, Parent View, agree that their children are safe and well looked after in school. The views of the school staff are also overwhelmingly positive.  Attendance is in line with the national average and the school actively promotes high standards of attendance and punctuality. Contact is routinely made with parents if pupils arrive late or if their attendance falls below a certain level. This demonstrates the strong commitment of both the school and the parents to the pupils’ education.

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The leadership and management are good

 The recently appointed headteacher provides decisive leadership, with a clear emphasis given to teaching quality, learning and achievement. A clear focus on checking progress is driving good improvement. The staff questionnaires show that all of the staff share this vision for taking the school forwards.  The headteacher has worked successfully with the local authority and the governing body to bring about change, which is impacting positively on the quality of teaching and on pupil progress. For example, the system used to track pupil progress has been made available to all teachers. As a result, they can now access accurate information about pupils’ starting points and pupils are making good, and sometimes outstanding, progress in most year groups, which means that standards in the school are improving at a rapid rate.  There is effective monitoring of teaching and its impact on learning. The headteacher conducts

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The leadership and management are good

regular lesson observations and feedback focuses on further raising the standard of teaching. Paired observations with the inspectors found that the judgements on lesson quality of both the headteacher and the assistant headteacher are accurate and that well-focused feedback is improving quality and securing consistently good teaching. All teachers now meet termly with the headteacher to check the progress that pupils are making.  Professional development for all staff is organised well by the school. In-house training focuses on improving lesson quality and the use of data to ensure that lessons are delivered which are appropriate to pupils’ needs. In addition, the newly appointed literacy coordinator has been inspired by recent training and is clear about how to raise standards in English across the whole school.  The governors have appointed senior managers to lead on learning in both Key Stages 1 and 2

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The leadership and management are good

and also appointed a new manager responsible for special educational needs. However, there has not yet been sufficient time for these members of staff to access the same quality training as the literacy coordinator and thus have a positive impact on pupil progress.  Performance management arrangements are robust. Performance targets for teachers are linked to the progress of pupils they teach and decisions about pay are closely linked to how successfully teachers meet their targets.  Pupil premium funding is used highly effectively to help pupils at risk of underachieving to succeed. In fact, the majority of the pupils identified for this additional support are making progress which is exceeding expectation. This is because the funding has been used to provide additional support for small-group work and individual tuition.  The school has clear plans in place, in collaboration with the other schools within the cluster, to

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The leadership and management are good

use its primary sport funding to impact on pupils’ health and well-being. For example, the cluster schools have put their sport funding together to appoint a cluster sport coordinator who is responsible for leading staff training in order to raise knowledge of sporting skills. This means that the pupils will benefit over a sustained period of time from the use of this funding.  The school promotes the pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural, development exceptionally well. A range of before- and after-school clubs and activities meets the interests of the pupils and the school orchestra regularly performs to a variety of audiences.  The governance of the school:  The headteacher keeps the governing body well informed regarding the progress of the pupils in school and, as a result, governors have an accurate understanding of what needs to be done next in order to improve standards. The governors know about the quality of teaching

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The leadership and management are good

and are fully aware of their responsibilities regarding teachers’ pay and the systems for setting performance management targets. They have accessed training which has given them a clearer understanding of their strategic role and work closely with the headteacher to prioritise areas for school improvement. They have responded to the rapid growth in pupil numbers by appointing key managers to support the headteacher in her drive to ensure that all pupils achieve the highest standards possible. They ensure that the school’s funds are used effectively to help pupils achieve well, including those eligible for the pupil premium, and ensure that procedures for keeping pupils safe meet requirements.

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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 123050 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 246607

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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 3−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 232 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dr Claire Maxwell Headteacher Ms Clare Bladen Date of previous school inspection 16 September 2008 Telephone number 01865 248862 Fax number 01865 203555 Email address head.2533@west-oxford.oxon.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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