Setting

Ms S Jeffries Headteacher West Green Primary School West Green Drive Crawley West Sussex RH11 7EL

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in January 2014. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. I am not making any specific further recommendations.

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Evidence

During the visit, I met with you, representatives of the governing body and of the local authority. I evaluated key documents: in particular the school development plan, governing body minutes, local authority reports about the school and the data showing how well pupils are doing. Together we made a tour of the school, briefly visiting each class at work and looking at samples of pupils’ work.

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Context

A new Chair of Governors took up office, as expected, soon after the inspection. Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5359 Direct F 0117 315 0430 Email : christina.bannerman@tribalgroup.com

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Main findings

The January inspection noted that you showed clear leadership and were taking many effective actions to improve the school. You have continued to do so since then, carefully involving other staff and the governors. The school development plan is well constructed. Firm actions have been taken to deal with any underperformance. You are doing the right things with imagination, resilience and commitment. This is the reason, much your credit, why I have made no additional recommendations. However, this report does contain some further pointers for consideration as the school moves forward.

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Main findings

One of your main objectives has been to change the culture in the school, raising expectations of what pupils, and staff, should achieve. Key to this is improving the quality of teaching. With useful, well-focused, support from the local authority, you have introduced effective individual coaching plans for teaching staff, linked suitably to their performance management. These are helpfully informed by new, comprehensive ‘360 degree’ profiles using a range of evidence about the work of teachers in each class. You are rightly seeking to ensure that all the assessments teachers make about pupils’ work are consistent and accurate. You also correctly insist that the pupils with special educational needs should have those needs met mainly within class lessons. It is good to note that teaching assistants, like teachers, have targets for pupils’ progress as part of their performance management.

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Main findings

Overall, while there is much still to do, our short visits to lessons, and your records, indicate a pattern of improvement in teaching. As we went round the school, pupils in all classes were concentrating well on their work and seemed clear about what was expected of them. In the Reception class, the outdoor area was being used appropriately. Indeed, it is good to see the wider commitment to learning outside the classroom across the school.

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Main findings

Pupils’ progress also shows some improvement and you expect that the national assessment results at the end of each key stage this year will be reasonably good. Pupils’ writing in the books we looked at together showed interest and improving use of grammar. Clearly, the school has worked to improve pupil’s presentation of work which was generally neat; however, there is too wide an inconsistency in pupils’ handwriting and the way they form letters. Pupils entitled to the support of the pupil premium generally do as well as their peers and the support provided to them is well targeted. We discussed usefully how, over time, it may be possible to expand the range of activities funded by pupil premium in order to raise further the aspirations and range of experiences of the pupils.

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Main findings

You have introduced a system where staff work together to plan and develop the curriculum plans in teams. English and mathematics both have specific leaders, as does each key stage. Pupils enjoy a curriculum which is generally broad and imaginatively thought out. We discussed how important it is to ensure that each subject has its own specific place within the topics planned, so that the pupils’ skills and knowledge in each subject develop progressively. This may require some adjustment of the leadership structure as the school moves forward, so that, in some way, every subject has an advocate or leader. It was good to hear of involvement with the local music hub, through whole class guitar teaching. Do make use of any broader advice the hub may be able to provide.

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Main findings

The governing body continues its improvement. The new chair, along with some other governors, brings very valuable educational experience. Other governors have useful expertise in other fields. Governors now ask more searching questions of the school. They are increasingly ensuring that their visits to the school are to look at matters of importance within the school development plan. This ongoing improvement in governance both challenges you and provides protection for you and the school, during the work ahead.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection. I will keep in touch with the school and have arranged with you to visit the school again, and meet with staff, in the autumn.

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External support

It is good to hear of links you have made with other schools, including a local teaching school. You are rightly alert to the benefits of seeking advice or ideas when needed. Advice from the local authority is very useful. Its officers know the school, and its needs, well and have been successful in supporting you to bring much needed improvement.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for West Sussex.

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