Long Sutton Church of England Primary School

Long Sutton Church of England Primary School Hyde Road, Long Sutton, Hook, RG29 1ST

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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 attain above average standards by the end of Year 6 and make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics across the school.  Good teaching, through well-planned and organised lessons, helps pupils understand their learning and makes sure that they achieve well.  Strong teaching in Years 4 to 6 ensures pupils learn extremely well.  Effective provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage means that children make a good start to their education.  Well-informed, conscientious teaching assistants make a strong contribution to the effective learning of small groups and individuals.  Excellent relationships and a very caring, supportive learning community ensure pupils feel very safe and behave well.  Effective, supportive leadership by the headteacher, who is well supported by the deputy headteacher and governors, has enabled the school to maintain good teaching and achievement from the previous inspection.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 Occasionally teachers do not make work hard enough for pupils or help pupils to understand ideas more fully with their questions.  Pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to work to improve their skills in investigating and solving problems in mathematics.  Staff who lead subjects or aspects are not yet all sufficiently involved in driving improvement by checking what is happening in classrooms.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 15 lessons or part lessons, of which five were joint observation with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with a group of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and two other governors, the headteacher and other senior staff. Additionally, a meeting was held with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector took account of the 53 responses to the online Parent View survey. She also spoke to several parents and carers when they brought their children to school. The inspector took account of the 17 staff questionnaires.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s own information on pupils’ current progress, planning and checks on the quality of teaching, records relating to behaviour and attendance, the sports premium action plan and documents relating to safeguarding.  The inspector listened to pupils from Year 2 and Year 6 read.

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Inspection team

Janet Sinclair, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Long Sutton is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who need additional help and have special educational needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium, which is additional funding for pupils from armed forces families, those in care, or those known to be eligible for free school meals, is well below the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  Pupils are taught in four mixed-age classes and one single-age class: Reception; Year 1 and Year 2; Year 2 and Year 3; Year 4 and Year 5; and Year 5 and Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise teaching and pupils’ achievement to outstanding levels across the school by:  increasing expectations for what pupils can achieve through setting pupils harder work  providing work in mathematics that enables pupils to develop their skills in investigating and solving problems  extending pupils’ knowledge and understanding by getting them to think more deeply.  Build the capacity of leadership and management to drive improvement by: further developing subject and aspect leaders so that they are more involved in checking the quality of classroom teaching.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment has been above average at the end of Year 6 for many years. It is above typical expectations for their age in reading, writing and mathematics for pupils currently in Year 6. Their progress is good and sometimes very good given their starting points.  Progress across the school is strong and in Years 4 to 6 it is very good. Regular checks on pupils’ progress ensures the school can quickly identify those not doing well enough and make sure they get enough support to help them catch up. This helps to ensure equality of opportunity and discourages any discrimination.  Children start in the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills and abilities that are mainly above the levels expected for their age. They make good progress due to strong relationships and an effective learning environment. Consequently, almost all meet or exceed the early learning goals on entry to Year 1.  Pupils who have special educational needs are catered for well and make good progress. This is

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The achievement of pupils is good

because they are quickly identified and given specific support for their needs, for example, spelling programmes for dyslexic pupils.  Pupils supported through the pupil premium funding perform well due to well-planned provision that improves their rates of progress in English and mathematics and addresses their personal and emotional needs where necessary. Their attainment in national tests at the end of Key Stage 2, including their average points score (a method of measuring attainment), is mainly above the national average. Their attainment is similar to that of others in the school and the school is successfully narrowing the gap. In 2013, their attainment and progress were better than the national average for their group in reading and writing, but broadly in line in mathematics. Pupils currently in the school are achieving well.  Pupils achieve well in reading due to well-planned, daily guided reading sessions that focus on

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The achievement of pupils is good

the development of key skills and through the good support of parents and carers. Pupils’ performance in the Year 1 phonics (letters and sounds) screening check is above the national average.  Pupils’ writing skills are developed well. Pupils are clearly told what they are expected to learn in lessons so they know what they have to do to learn well. Additionally, they receive regular feedback that helps them to improve. Teachers use topic work well to extend the range of writing opportunities, for example, writing a diary as a Second World War evacuee.  Pupils make good progress in mathematics. There has been an increased emphasis on improving calculation skills which has been effective. However, although some good examples were seen, there is not yet enough emphasis on pupils improving their skills in investigating and solving mathematical problems across the school.  There is targeted support for more-able pupils who are on track to attain Level 6 in

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The achievement of pupils is good

mathematics, reading and writing, which is the expected level for 15-year-olds.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good, and occasionally outstanding. Excellent relationships, well-organised lessons and interesting activities stimulate and engage pupils well.  Teachers provide effectively for more-able pupils by providing work that is pitched at the correct level for their needs. For example, a group of Years 4 and 5 pupils made very good progress due to clear explanations and helpful examples that extended their knowledge and understanding, enabling them to use their punctuation skills effectively.  Effective teaching assistants provide good support and demanding work for pupils, including those who have special educational needs and those known to be eligible for the pupil premium. For example, some pupils in Years 5 and 6 pupils were well supported in developing their writing skills by the teaching assistant who used questions to help them think about their writing and gave them examples to help them improve it.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Regular teaching of sounds and letters (phonics) in Reception and Key Stage 1 helps pupils to achieve well. For example, children in Reception enjoyed making words with the ‘ea’ sound in them.  Marking of pupils’ work, with a clear focus on what pupils have done well and what they need to do to improve, is a strong feature of teaching. Good use of targets and regular use of self- assessment helps pupils to know how well they are doing and this contributes well to their good achievement.  Sometimes pupils are not helped to think about their learning more deeply when teachers ask them questions, for example, in a carousel of activities in a history lesson. Also expectations are not always high enough and teachers do not always ensure work is hard enough, such as in a mathematics lesson related to division, and this hinders pupils’ progress.  Good focused teaching of key skills and a broad range of activities to encourage play ensure that

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The quality of teaching is good

children in the Early Years Foundation Stage enjoy exploring their environment and learn well.  Homework is used well to support pupils’ learning in school, with a good focus on developing reading and mathematical skills.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Where teaching is outstanding, pupils’ behaviour is exemplary and in most lessons pupils are fully engaged with their learning which supports their good progress. Behaviour is not outstanding as occasionally, when lessons do not fully engage them, pupils lose a little interest and become restless.  The school is effective in promoting pupils’ positive relationships. Pupils like to behave well as they do not want to miss ‘Golden Time’ which they enjoy.  Pupils have good attitudes to their learning and are keen to do well. The good presentation of their work and the way they apply themselves in lessons reflect this.  Pupils enjoy the responsibility of being school councillors, house captains and junior road safety officers.  Pupils say that there is very little bullying, but where it does occur, it is very swiftly dealt with by

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

the school. The school carefully records any incidents of bullying or racism and follow-up procedures are fully in place.  Lunchtimes are well organised with appropriate staffing levels. School meals are nutritious and parents and carers make healthy packed lunches, which their children enjoy. This combined with, ‘walk to school week’ and the ‘Green Rangers autumn walk’, contributes well to pupils’ behaviour and well-being.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say they feel very safe in school and are confident that there is always someone they can go to if they have any concerns.  The school provides a safe environment for its pupils. Pupils learn about how to stay safe through, for example, ‘bikeability’ training, rules for school trips and the work of the junior road safety officers. Policies and procedures for behaviour and safeguarding are fully in place.  Attendance is above average. The school is conscientious in following up any absence to ensure

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

pupils attend regularly  Most parents and carers who responded to the online Parent View survey agree that their children are safe in school and that behaviour is good. School staff also agree. Inspection evidence confirms that their views are accurate.

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The leadership and management are good

 Effective leadership by the headteacher has ensured an effective staff team who are keen to provide a good quality education for pupils. The school has maintained its good provision from the previous inspection, progress across the school is mainly good and occasionally outstanding and teaching is effective. Visits to other schools are also widening the school’s horizons in terms of extending and improving provision. This indicates that there is capacity for further improvement.  Subject and aspect leaders are also keen to promote continuing improvement through, for example, the development of a calculation policy in mathematics and enhancing the range of books read by pupils in upper Key Stage 2. However, they are not yet sufficiently involved in checking direct teaching or pupils’ progress and this limits their overall impact.  Self-evaluation is detailed and there is good whole-school involvement in school improvement

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The leadership and management are good

planning. The plan clearly sets out the key areas to be tackled by staff. Governors are involved in checking progress and all staff have targets linked to it.  Checks on the quality of teaching and learning are mainly undertaken by the headteacher and deputy headteacher. They include work sampling and learning walks as well as detailed lesson observations. This ensures that the headteacher has an informed view of the effectiveness of teaching and what needs to be done to improve it further.  The school’s process for setting individual and whole-school targets for all staff, appropriate to their level of responsibility, is fully in place. It is linked well to pupils’ progress and staff responsibilities. It ensures that training of staff is matched to their needs and that they are held to account for how well their pupils achieve.  The curriculum provides good opportunities for pupils to develop their skills through detailed

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The leadership and management are good

plans for English and mathematics and interesting topics. Pupils enjoy: visits, such as the trip to the Aldershot Military Museum and their residential visit to the Isle of Wight; visitors such as the Indian dance group; and after-school clubs, such as football, that enrich the curriculum well.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils are kind and caring, work well together and engage well in sporting and cultural events. Assemblies provide good opportunities for reflection as do regular visits to the church to celebrate special occasions.  The school is using the extra sports funding to provide dance and gymnastics coaches to improve teaching across the school, and additional sporting opportunities. This will mean that its impact can be sustained.  There are good links with parents and carers, who are very pleased with the education their children receive. They are well informed through, for example, comprehensive reports on their

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The leadership and management are good

children’s progress.  The school receives a formal visit annually from a local authority representative, as well as on- going informal support which they very much appreciate.  The governance of the school:  Strong governance provides effective challenge to the school. Governors are knowledgeable and fully involved in securing the school’s continuing improvement. They fulfil their statutory duties well and know how effective teaching and learning are because the headteacher keeps them informed through her termly reports, they have meetings with subject leaders and they make visits to classes themselves. They make sure that all safeguarding policies and procedures are in place and carry out regular safeguarding audits, including improved provision, where necessary, so that pupils and staff are kept safe. The finance officer keeps them well informed of the state of the school’s finances which they carefully check, including the pupil premium funding and how

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The leadership and management are good

it is spent. They know how well pupils in the school are doing due to a good understanding of the data and regular updates from the headteacher. The Chair of the Governing Body ensures all governors undertake appropriate training so that they develop their knowledge and skills. Additionally, they are well informed by governor services of local and national initiatives. They are involved in setting targets for the management of the headteacher’s performance and know there is a similar process in place for staff and how this rewards good teaching. They are also aware of where underperformance has been tackled in the past.

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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 116298 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 431401

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 138 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Clare Rowe Jones Headteacher Angie Harding Date of previous school inspection 18−19 March 2009 Telephone number 01256 862238 Fax number 01256 862238 Email address adminoffice@longsutton.hants.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

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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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