Woodstone Community Primary School

Woodstone Community Primary School Heather Lane, Ravenstone, Coalville, LE67 2AH

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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 in English and mathematics in Key Stages 1 and 2.  Support for pupils who need extra help with their learning does not always ensure they make faster progress.  Teachers do not all show high expectations for how much pupils could learn in lessons.  On occasions, work is too hard for less-able pupils.  Teachers do not use marking effectively to help pupils improve their work, or encourage them to deepen their learning through probing questions which make them think hard.  When teaching is weaker, some pupils lose focus and their attitudes to learning are not consistently positive.  Leaders, managers and governors have not done enough to ensure that good standards of teaching and achievement have been maintained.  Subject leaders are not fully involved in checking on and improving teaching and pupils’ progress.  Leaders’ lesson observations are not always focused on the impact teaching has on the

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The school has the following strengths

 Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  The new Chair of the Governing Body has strengthened governance, so governors are now more rigorous in holding senior leaders to account for improving the school.  Pupils feel safe in the school and the vast majority of parents who responded to the online survey agree.  Attendance is above average.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed 15 lessons or part lessons including three jointly with the headteacher. The headteacher was observed feeding back to staff on pupils’ learning and progress in lessons.  Inspectors spoke to pupils about their views of the school, listened to them read, attended an assembly and looked at their work in books.  Meetings were held with staff and the Chair of the Governing Body, and a telephone conversation was held with a local authority representative.  An inspector met with parents when they collected their children from school and account was taken of correspondence from parents and the 81 responses to the online survey, Parent View.  A range of documents were scrutinised, including those relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance, minutes of meetings of the governing body, the school’s evaluation of its own effectiveness and plans for the future, checks on the quality of teaching and information about

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Inspection team

Susan Williams, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Lynda Townsend Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The vast majority of pupils are White British.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium is below average. In this school this additional funding supports pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  A new Chair of the Governing Body took up her post in November 2012.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that it is consistently good or better by:  demonstrating expectations that pupils will work hard in lessons and make faster progress  improving pupils’ attitudes to learning by ensuring that work is not too hard  informing pupils through marking what to do next to improve their work, and following up this guidance to ensure it makes a difference  helping pupils to understand and deepen their learning through asking them more probing questions.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  fully involving subject leaders in checking on and improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress  ensuring that extra help given to pupils enables them to make faster progress  focusing observations of teaching on the progress different groups of pupils make in lessons.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils do not make consistently good progress in Key Stages 1 and 2. Expectations of the amount of progress pupils could make in lessons are not always high enough to promote faster rates of progress in all year groups. This also means that pupils’ attitudes to learning are not always positive across the school, and do not always support them in making faster progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards at the end of Key Stage 1 have remained broadly average since the previous inspection. This does not represent good progress, given their average starting points on entry into Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in English at the end of Key Stage 2 have been broadly average overall since the previous inspection, although they were below average in mathematics in 2011 and 2012. Standards rose and were above average in mathematics, reading and English grammar, punctuation and spelling in 2013, but still did not reflect good progress for these pupils. Less- able pupils and groups who receive additional support with their learning made less progress than expected.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium receive additional help in lessons, in small groups and sometimes on a one-to-one basis. The school also supports these pupils in accessing other opportunities in school such as trips and music tuition. The very small number of eligible pupils in Year 6 in 2013 means that it is not possible to comment on their attainment without potentially identifying individuals. However, their progress varies across subjects and year groups. Some make good progress but others make slower progress than their classmates.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive extra help in lessons and specialised work in groups outside lessons. In the past, too many have not made enough progress. The school’s most recent data show that changes to the support being provided and more careful checking are leading to faster progress. However, it is not yet consistently strong enough across the school, and work is not always set at the right level of difficulty.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 More-able pupils did well in the national Year 6 tests in 2013. The school gained its best results ever, with more pupils reaching the higher Level 5 in all subjects than in schools nationally.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school has focused on improving the development of early reading and the proportion of pupils in Year 1 who reached the expected standard in the phonics screening check in 2013 improved and was above average. Pupils are able to read fluently and use strategies they have learnt to sound out different words. They read a range of books and these are well matched to their ability levels. Pupils say that they enjoy reading.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children’s skills and knowledge on entry to the Early Years Foundation Stage are below those typical for their age. Well-planned sessions and strong support from adults help children to make good gains in learning, so they catch up with others nationally by the time they start Year 1.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching, including in English and mathematics, is not consistently good. It is stronger in Years 5 and 6 than in other year groups.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers do not all have high enough expectations of how much progress pupils could make in lessons. On occasions, work is too hard for less-able pupils and those who receive additional support, so they spend too long working out what to do and this slows their progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although books are marked regularly and many have encouraging comments, they rarely show pupils how to improve their work. In addition, teachers do not check closely enough to make sure pupils are making the required improvements.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are examples of teachers using questioning well to deepen pupils’ understanding, such as in Year 6. However, skilful questioning is not used widely across the school to help pupils learn more by probing their understanding and making them think harder.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the best teaching, teachers plan work carefully so it challenges all pupils, including the more able. For example, in a Year 5 mathematics lesson where pupils were learning about different problems containing the equals sign, more-able pupils worked on activities while the teacher explained the work to the class. Pupils broke off to work on activities at different stages and were well supported by the teaching assistant to start their work. The teacher helped groups of pupils in turn so all had support, aiding their good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Strengths of teaching across the school include the positive relationships between staff and pupils and the way routines have been established over time so pupils respond well to instructions. However, limited expectations of pupils’ work rate and some work being too hard mean that pupils’ attitudes to learning are not always as positive as they could be.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage, adults know children well and activities support them well in developing their learning. For example, in a Reception lesson, children enjoyed a range of activities including making things with papier maché and taking part in role play. They had good opportunities to develop their language skills, with staff intervening at appropriate times to ask questions that moved children’s learning forward. This supported their good progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are not always positive enough to support good progress. Their attitudes are stronger in areas where progress is faster, such as in Years 5 and 6, but less strong in other years.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils occasionally lose interest a little if expectations of them are not high enough and they are not kept busy. On occasions, work is a little hard for some pupils and they lose some focus. In such cases, pupils are not encouraged to consider how they will improve their work in lessons.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Behaviour at lunchtimes and at playtimes, including during the inspection in wet weather, is generally good. Moving around the school, pupils behave well and they are polite to each other and to adults. Pupils themselves think behaviour is good around the school and the vast majority of parents who responded to the online survey agree with this view.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The behaviour logs show that there have been a limited number of behavioural incidents and indicate that these are dealt with well. The school is successful in promoting equality of opportunity, good relationships and ensuring there is no discrimination.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say that they feel safe and most parents agree. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe online and when playing games. They are also aware of how to keep themselves safe around the school site, and know not to use the play equipment when it is wet or no members of staff are present.  Pupils say that there is very little bullying, and they know about different types including homophobic and cyber-bullying. Pupils say that they can tell staff if there is a problem.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils are routinely punctual to school and attendance is above average.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders and managers have not ensured that teaching and achievement are good. Subject leaders are not fully involved in checking on and improving the quality of teaching or pupils’ progress in their areas of responsibility. Leaders do not always check to make sure that the extra support given to pupils helps them to make faster progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders’ observations of teaching are not always focused on the impact it has on the progress groups of pupils make in lessons. As a result, teachers do not necessarily receive clear enough guidance on how to improve their teaching so pupils make good progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders use a clear system for the management of staff performance. Targets are set, based on pupils’ progress and areas of development for the whole school, and clearly linked to pay rises and promotion. Where performance has been less strong, pay increases have not been awarded and support has been provided to improve practice.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has adapted its day to devote more time to the teaching of literacy and numeracy, with longer lessons in both subjects in the mornings. Other subjects are taught through topic lessons, which are used to support the development of writing around the given themes. Music is a strength with a large number of pupils accessing instrumental tuition including piano, clarinet, saxophone, violin and pupils in Year 4 learning brass instruments.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school enriches pupils’ experience with a range of activities and trips including a Year 6 residential trip to France and outward bound trips. Pupils have ‘inspiration days’ at the start of topics. For example, Year 2 visited a local castle and Year 3 visited the wild weather centre. Year 5 pupils were enthusiastic about their recent fashion show, which inspired them in writing about the event. These and other activities support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has used its new sports funding to support the development of pupils’ well-being and healthy lifestyles through purchasing activities from the local sports partnership, including access to coaches who work with all year groups through specialist teaching and supporting staff to develop their skills. More pupils are now attending after-school clubs, although it is too early to comment on the impact of this funding on pupils’ health and performance.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided limited support to the school due to its good judgement at the previous inspection. It makes an annual visit to review data with the headteacher.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governance has been developed since the appointment of a new Chair of the Governing Body. She has high expectations of the role of governors and has sought to strengthen governance with the recruitment of new governors with particular areas of expertise. Governors know about the published data on the school and ask searching questions where progress is less strong, such as with mathematics in 2011 and 2012, and more recently for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Governors receive updates on pupils’ progress, including that of pupils eligible for the pupil premium, and have discussed possible changes to the type of support provided so that pupils make faster progress. Governors know about the management of staff performance and the quality of teaching. They support the headteacher in making pay awards where performance is strong, and are aware of where support has been

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The leadership and management requires improvement

provided to improve teaching. Governors receive training regularly, including the Chair attending a national Chair of the Governing Body course. Governors ensure statutory responsibilities are met, including those related to safeguarding.

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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 119916 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 440555

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 216 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jane Newton Headteacher Patrick Mullins Date of previous school inspection 9 June 2011 Telephone number 01530 519473 Fax number 01530 837714 Email address wpsoffice1@woodstone.leics.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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