Stocks Green Primary School

Stocks Green Primary School Leigh Road, Hildenborough, Kent, TN11 9AE

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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.  Teaching is good overall, and some is outstanding. Teachers expect a lot of the pupils and they rise to this, working hard and producing work of a high standard.  The school has maintained high standards in reading, writing and mathematics over many years. Pupils currently in the school are making good progress.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make at least good progress, and some make rapid progress because the support they are given is very well tailored to what they need to learn.  Pupils behave well, have very positive attitudes towards their learning and willingly get on with whatever they are asked to do.  Pupils are very proud of their school and enjoy the many opportunities they have to take on responsibilities. They feel very safe, because they know the adults care a great deal about their well-being.  The headteacher has managed the changes in staffing well and has developed a strong team

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

which is bringing about the improvements needed, including in teaching.  Governors and senior leaders work closely together to identify quickly any issues facing the school, and check that plans to tackle these are effective. Governors make sure that all requirements to keep pupils safe are met, and that the necessary policies and procedures are in place.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not enough teaching is outstanding. In a few classes teachers are not explicit enough about what pupils need to do to improve, and pupils do not get to consistently act upon advice given or make necessary improvements in their work, which slows their progress.  In some classes pupils are given work to do which does not challenge them enough, particularly the most-able pupils.  Pupils do not always take enough responsibility for deciding what they need to do next; their progress sometimes stalls while they wait for the teacher to tell them what to do.

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Information about this inspection

 Two inspectors observed 16 lessons taught by eight teachers, as well as small groups of pupils taught by teaching assistants. About half of these observations were undertaken with the school’s senior leaders.  The inspectors held meetings with senior leaders, middle leaders, pupils and governors, and spoke to pupils informally during their break times. They looked at the work pupils had done in their books, and considered how this compared with teachers’ records about pupils’ performance. They reviewed a wide range of documents provided by the school, including plans to bring about improvements, checks on the quality of teaching, and minutes of meetings, including those of the governing body.  Inspectors considered the 95 responses to Parent View, the online survey for Ofsted, and spoke to parents informally before school about their views of the school. Inspectors also considered the 14 responses to a staff survey, alongside informal discussions.

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Information about this inspection

 During the inspection, Years 5 and 6 classes were out of school for one afternoon to go swimming. Also, the computer systems of the school were being extensively upgraded, which meant that some resources were not available to teachers during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Andrew Saunders, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Barbara Saltmarsh Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is slightly smaller than the average primary school, with one class in each year group.  Almost all pupils are White British.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported at school action is below average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also below average.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is low. Pupil premium funding supports pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and the children of parents who serve in the armed forces. It is also intended to support children looked after by the local authority but at the time of the inspection there were no pupils in this category in the school.  The school runs a breakfast club and there is an independently-run after-school club.  There have been considerable changes in the staffing since the last inspection. The headteacher

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Information about this school

has been at the school for 18 months. The deputy headteacher was appointed to the role 18 months ago. Some of the middle leaders are new to their roles with some appointed very recently.  The school meets the government’s current 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?

 Make sure that more teaching is outstanding across the school, by:  checking that all pupils are given the opportunity to act upon advice about how to improve their work  identifying and disseminating the very best ways to make learning exciting and effective so that pupils are challenged and inspired.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the rate of progress of the most-able pupils so that they fulfil their potential, by:  giving these pupils more opportunities to work at higher levels  developing pupils’ responsibility for checking their own work and deciding quickly what they need to do next.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils consistently reach standards which are well above average because they make good progress across the school. Their progress is exceptional in reading, and is speeding up in writing and mathematics.  A consistent approach to teaching pupils phonics (letters and the sounds they make), helped by the extra support of volunteers, means that reading is a great strength of the school. Pupils are also confident using these skills to help them spell ambitious words. In the Year 1 phonics screening check, more pupils than usual met the standard.  Children join Reception with levels of skills and knowledge which are at least in line with those typical for their age, although many have levels which are higher than expected, particularly in communicating and their physical development. The well-planned activities and available resources mean that children develop great curiosity and have good opportunities to ask

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The achievement of pupils is good

pertinent questions and practise their skills. From their starting points, they make good progress.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are very well supported by strategies which are closely tailored to their specific needs. Consequently, they make good progress in writing and mathematics, and excellent progress in reading.  Pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium have access to additional support from teachers and other adults. As a result, they make good progress and the gap in performance between them and all other pupils in the school is less than three months.  While more pupils than usual reach the higher standards, still more are capable of doing so. The most-able pupils do not always get enough chance to work at the highest levels early enough and this means that some lack confidence when faced with the demands of higher-level work.  At times some pupils rely too much on the teachers to check their work, or decide when they are

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The achievement of pupils is good

ready to move on to the next level of challenge, and this slows their progress.  Boys and girls, and other groups of pupils make similarly good progress because the school tracks their performance carefully and ensures that any issues are attended to.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Inspectors’ observations, the school’s records and the work pupils have done in their books show that teaching is consistently good, and occasionally outstanding. Adults have high expectations of the pupils, particularly of the quality of their writing, whatever subject they are working in.  There is a strong emphasis on teaching reading, and reading is developed in all the topics pupils study. Pupils also show a great deal of pleasure in reading because of the excellent resources available and the example the adults set.  Teachers also take the opportunity to develop pupils’ writing. For example, pupils in a Year 2 class were stimulated by a dramatic presentation to write exciting diary entries about the great fire of London. They used very ambitious words and worked very hard to produce extensive pieces in the time available; their progress was excellent.  Occasionally, pupils are not sufficiently challenged by the tasks they are set. Sometimes they are

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The quality of teaching is good

expected to complete lots of examples of work they can already do, so that they do not have enough time to tackle more challenging work and so ensure they make rapid progress consistently.  Pupils know what they are expected to do because teachers set out clearly the aims for their learning.  Teachers are good at asking questions which test out whether the pupils have understood what they are doing and help them to plan what to teach next.  Teachers have worked with the school’s leadership team to develop an agreed approach to marking pupils’ work. In many cases, this agreed approach has helped pupils to make better progress. However, there remain occasions where the comments teachers make recognise what pupils have done, but miss the chance to show pupils what they need to do next. Sometimes teachers do not check whether pupils have acted on their feedback and, as a consequence, their work does not improve as quickly as it could.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants are well informed and support different groups of pupils effectively so that pupils learn well and, as far as possible, do the work they are set by themselves.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They work hard, and take pride in their work. They are immensely polite towards adults, and thoughtful and caring towards one another. Occasionally, when the work they are given to do does not challenge them enough, a few pupils become restless and need to be reminded about the expectations of the school, particularly some younger pupils.  Pupils are very proud to be part of the school and feel they get lots of opportunities to learn interesting things and take part in sports and clubs. They enjoy taking on responsibilities. Parents agree that their children enjoy going to school. Attendance is well above average.  Pupils are well informed about what sort of behaviour might be bullying, but they said that it is very rare and would be dealt with quickly. They said that anyone who was picked on would be helped by other pupils.  The values of the school ensure that racism and discrimination are not tolerated. All pupils have

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

an equal chance to be involved in all the activities offered by the school, including games, and to succeed.  The good relationships between the younger and older pupils are reinforced through the opportunities for older pupils to help their younger ‘buddies’ with reading. This also builds very positive attitudes towards reading from a young age.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils feel very safe at school and know how they can help keep themselves safe, including when cycling, around water, or when using the internet.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has developed an effective, extended leadership team whose members increasingly take responsibility for improving their aspects of the school. They are working together to develop new plans for the framework of subjects, with a focus on the skills pupils are expected to have developed at each stage.  There are good systems to keep track of the progress each pupil is making, and these are used well to identify any pupils whose progress is slowing. Putting support in place quickly means no pupil is stuck for long.  The headteacher and her senior leadership team regularly check the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning. As a result, they have successfully tackled the weakest teaching and made sure each teacher knows what they need to do to improve.  There remain some weaknesses in marking and the teaching of the most-able pupils and the good and outstanding practice which exists in the school is not yet widely enough disseminated.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school makes sure that pupils have the chance to learn about cultures other than their own, and they get opportunities to reflect on spiritual and moral aspects of the world. The many clubs and visits help pupils to develop their social skills.  Teachers have benefited from additional training in the teaching of physical education because of the new primary school sport funding. This, together with the provision of additional resources, has improved the quality of physical education in the school and increased the opportunities for pupils to take part in sports and gymnastics, particularly competitions against other schools, which pupils enjoy. Dance is a major emphasis of the school and pupils take part in several contests.  Senior leaders and governors make sure that any decisions about teachers’ pay awards take into account the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ progress, so that the best teaching is

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The leadership and management are good

appropriately rewarded.  The local authority has provided the school with a sound level of support over the past two years, helping the headteacher to deal with the turbulence in staffing. This support is now diminishing as the school’s middle leaders become more confident and successful in identifying and tackling the key issues. The school works closely with a number of schools in the area to develop new ideas, promote pupils’ learning, develop teachers’ skills and provide sporting opportunities.  The governance of the school:  Governors are regularly given plenty of information about the performance of pupils and the quality of teaching. They check that this information makes sense in the light of their own observations when they visit the school. Governors work closely with senior leaders to make sure that the school is well focused on improving pupils’ learning. They make sure that all the statutory requirements are in place and reviewed in a timely manner, including those about

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The leadership and management are good

keeping pupils safe and checking that the adults working with pupils are safe to do so. Their training and good grasp of the school and the local community mean that they are able to challenge the school as well as support it. Governors keep a close check on the finances of the school and ensure that these are used wisely, not least the funds to support pupils eligible for the pupil premium.

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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 118501 Local authority Kent Inspection number 431419

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 4 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 214 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Helen Girvan Headteacher Pauline Crowhurst Date of previous school inspection 28 April 2009 Telephone number 01732 832758 Fax number 01732 834083 Email address office@stocks-green.kent.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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