Claverdon Primary School

Claverdon Primary School Breach Lane, Claverdon, Warwick, CV35 8QA

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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 through the school and leave with results that are above average in reading, writing and mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress as a result of additional support and resources.  Children in Reception are making very rapid progress as a result of teaching that enthrals them and encourages them to give reasons for their answers.  Teaching encourages creative thinking and approaches to learning that are enjoyed by pupils, such as writing and performing aspects of ‘Macbeth’ or ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.  Teachers give regular verbal feedback to encourage pupils to improve their learning.  Pupils behave well around the school and in class. They enjoy coming to school and have attendance rates that are above average.  Pupils feel safe in school and know how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

for example as a result of the school’s work to raise awareness of the potential risks of social media.  Leaders and governors, led by the highly effective headteacher and deputy headteacher, know their school well, and are successfully leading the school’s drive to constantly improve teaching and learning.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There are some occasions where teachers’ expectations of how quickly pupils can learn are not high enough, and some work set is too easy.  Pupils are not always given the time they need to respond to teachers’ written comments on their work, to show they understand what the teacher is saying about how to improve their work.  There are times when pupils are not fully focused on their work and this can mean that learning time is lost.  Teachers do not routinely observe aspects of outstanding teaching in order to develop their own skills.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 16 lessons, of which four were jointly observed with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. In addition, inspectors made several other short visits to lessons and listened to some pupils read.  Discussions were held with senior and subject leaders, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body, and with a representative from the local authority.  Documents relating to the school’s work were looked at, including those relating to safeguarding, attendance, pupils’ achievement, and the school’s own evaluation of its performance and its plans to improve.  The views of parents were taken into account through the 65 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and through discussions with parents at the school gate.  Conversations were held with pupils.

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Inspection team

Clare Saunders, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Claire McKeown Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average sized primary school, where the majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who are supported through school action is below average. The proportion of these pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is well below average. The pupil premium provides additional funding for those pupils who are eligible for free school meals, are in local authority care, or whose parents or guardians are in the armed forces.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress and attainment.  There is a before- and after-school club, the Clover Club, which operates on the school site. This is not run by the Governing Body and was not part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of teaching that is outstanding, so that all pupils achieve very well across all subjects by:  raising teachers’ expectations of how quickly pupils can acquire and apply new skills and knowledge, for example through questioning  ensuring all pupils are fully focused on their work at all times  allowing time for pupils to respond to their teachers’ written comments so they can demonstrate they understand how to improve their work  making the most of opportunities for all staff to observe aspects of outstanding teaching.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children join the school with skills, knowledge and understanding that are typical for their age. They typically make good progress as they move through year groups, consistently achieving above average levels of attainment in Key Stage 1 and leave with standards that are above average in Key Stage 2.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most-able pupils typically make good progress, although there was a slight dip in 2013. These pupils have achieved increasing proportions of the higher Level 5 in mathematics, writing and reading, with above the national average achieving Level 6 in mathematics. This trend looks set to continue with the current Year 6.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children in Reception last year did not make as much progress as they could have. However children currently in Reception are making outstanding progress, as a result of highly effective systems for tracking how well children achieve, and skilled teachers adapting their teaching to extend children’s thinking. There are some children in Reception who are already working at national curriculum levels.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make consistently good progress in mathematics and writing. This has been better than seen in reading on occasions in the past, but pupils currently in the school are also making consistently good progress in reading. This is supported by teachers reinforcing high standards of literacy and numeracy across all subjects and topics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils use their knowledge of phonics (the sounds that letters make) to read confidently and competently.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress as a result of additional support from teachers and teaching assistants and resources that are tailored to develop their literacy and numeracy skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In this school, the pupil-premium funding is used very well to support individual pupils by providing additional support and resources that are highly tailored to the individual concerned.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The primary sports funding is used by the school to provide specialised coaching and teaching for all pupils one day a week, and additional sporting opportunities such as yoga for Years 5 and 6. The coach is highly effective in encouraging a high level of participation and performance in lessons and in additional clubs; for example, the school won a football tournament during the inspection.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is consistently good across the school with some that is outstanding. Pupils are proud of their work and apply the school’s approach to learning, such as being curious and thinking creatively, to their learning in different subjects.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly, using a pink dot to indicate where work is good, and a green dot to show a comment where it can be improved. Pupils generally respond to these comments by initialling them to show they have read them, but do not routinely demonstrate they fully understand their teachers’ comments about how to improve their work for next time.  Pupils enjoy the range of learning activities that they encounter at school. For example, during the inspection Years 1 to 6 took part in learning about Shakespeare. This included recreating a corner of the classroom in Year 2 as the Globe Theatre, writing playscripts to perform aspects of ‘Macbeth’, and using electronic devices to create a movie of their performance. It culminated in dressing up as a character from a Shakespeare play for a day. This captured the pupils’ imagination and they were eager to be involved, although some pupils lost concentration as they

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The quality of teaching is good

moved from task to task if an adult was not always with them telling them what to do.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Children currently in Reception learn exceptionally well. For example, children were recalling the planets and their order in the solar system. The teacher’s skill in questioning the children led them to think about a range of facts associated with each planet, and they confidently added their own opinions about them. The teacher swiftly adapted the learning to encourage this, and also included opportunities for children to apply their numeracy skills, so much so that as the children were sitting ready for home time, some spontaneously began to count backwards to ‘lift off’.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers and teaching assistants generally use their questioning skills well, however there are some occasions when questions do not encourage full answers to explore pupils’ understanding of their learning. In these instances, pupils do not learn quickly enough as adults’ expectations of them are too low.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy coming to school, as reflected in their above average attendance. They respond well to the rewards for good attendance that the school provides.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of the pupils is good. Their conduct around the school is courteous, calm and considerate of others. They respect others’ opinions and can explain their own point of view clearly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour in class is good. They are keen to learn, and develop their listening skills from Reception and throughout the school. However, there are a few pupils who take the opportunity to have a little chat about things other than their work as they move from one activity to another, for example, when moving from the carpet listening to their teacher, to moving to work in small groups or on their own. This is quickly noticed by the teachers, who encourage pupils to focus on their work again.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are keenly aware of the consistent use of the ‘zone board’ in each classroom, where good behaviour and attitudes are rewarded and any areas of concern relating to behaviour are noted.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. They have a clear understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, and for example, the school is active in informing parents and pupils of how to keep themselves safe using the internet and social media.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that bullying incidents are rare and that there is always someone to turn to for help if needed. Pupils in Year 6 ‘buddy’ up with a child from Reception, to help them settle in and to the enjoyment of all involved.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The pupils demonstrate their spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness in a variety of ways. For example, in assembly they were encouraged to create a garden design which led to quiet reflection as to the purpose of their garden area. Links with a school in an inner city enable pupils, staff and governors to understand the similarities and differences that exist.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and managers, led by the highly effective headteacher and deputy headteacher, have an accurate understanding of the strengths of the school and where it needs to improve next. The deputy headteacher has re-organised the frequency and rigour with which assessment takes place for all pupils and has developed accurate and informative systems to track individual pupils’ progress. This is shared regularly with staff, parents and governors so that all have up-to- date information on how quickly pupils are learning in the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Subject leaders are developing their understanding of this information and using it to plan and adapt aspects of their subject areas. They actively seek to develop their skills, for example by visiting other schools to look at examples of good practice and to check on their judgements about the quality of work.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum is designed to engage pupils, with opportunities for additional clubs, trips and half termly ‘marvellous maths’ days (which encourage pupils to develop a range of strategies to tackle mathematical problems). The primary sport funding is used well to encourage healthy lifestyles and physical well-being.

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The leadership and management are good

 School leaders and teachers ensure that all pupils have equal opportunities to participate in activities and that none are discriminated against.

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The leadership and management are good

 School leaders and governors check the quality of teaching closely, and provide training to develop specific skills when required. Underperformance is not tolerated, and effective systems ensure that the performance of teachers is closely managed. However, teachers do not routinely share aspects of outstanding teaching on a regular basis.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority provides only minor support to this school, recognising the strengths in leadership.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors regularly visit the school and hold detailed discussions with subject and senior leaders regularly. By these means, governors have a detailed knowledge of how well the pupils are learning and the school’s performance in comparison with other schools. They analyse how additional funding such as the pupil premium is spent and allocate financial resources to give pupils the best chance of success. They use the management of staff performance to monitor closely the quality of teaching and the impact on pupils’ achievement, and reward good teaching. They ensure safeguarding 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 125507 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 431531

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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 206 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gary Knight Headteacher Catharine Gover Date of previous school inspection 25 February 2009 Telephone number 01926 842403 Fax number 01926 843387 Email address admin2017@welearn365.com 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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