Mrs Mary King's CofE (Controlled) Primary School

Mrs Mary King's CofE (Controlled) Primary School Moor Lane, Martin, Lincoln, LN4 3RB

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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.  The school knows its pupils well, and carefully tracks the progress they make. If pupils fall behind, the school works effectively to help them to catch up.  Teaching is consistently good and pupils achieve well. Teachers know the abilities of their pupils. They carefully plan activities for each ability group that deepen pupils’ learning.  Teachers mark books well, and give pupils time to make corrections and learn how to further improve their work.  Lessons motivate and engage pupils. Information technology is effectively used to enrich activities and stimulate pupils’ interest.  Behaviour is consistently good in lessons, and around the school. Pupils take pride in their school.  The school is well led and managed. The headteacher has ensured that the school has developed strong management through its federation with another local primary school.  There is a strong sense of teamwork in this

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

school. Teaching assistants are very effective in supporting the work of the class teacher, and helping children when they need extra help.  Provision for pupils’ spiritual, social, moral and cultural development is strong.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils do not make as much progress in mathematics as in reading and writing, including the more able pupils.  Planning for children in the Reception class, to make good progress when they are working on their own, is not fully effective.  Reception children do not always have the right help when they need it, to develop their language skills.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching in nine lessons or parts of lessons. All the observations of teaching were conducted jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, members of the governing body, senior leaders, staff, and groups of pupils.  The inspector spoke by telephone with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector observed, with the headteacher, how the school teaches phonics (letters and the sounds they represent). Pupils were heard reading.  The inspector scrutinised pupils’ workbooks and looked at the school’s most recent records of how well pupils are doing.  A number of relevant documents were looked at, including the school’s self-evaluation, planning, and documents relating to the behaviour, attendance and the safeguarding of pupils. Joint documents, from the school’s federation with its partner school, were also scrutinised.  The inspector took account of 18 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). She also

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Information about this inspection

spoke to some parents and carers at the start of the school day, and during the inspection

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Inspection team

Teresa Kiely, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This village school is much smaller than the average sized primary school.  Almost all the pupils come from a White British background.  Only a very small proportion of pupils are supported by the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils eligible for free school meals, in local authority care, or those who have a parent in the armed forces).  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who are supported through school action is slightly below the national average. The proportion of pupils supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  Staff sickness and maternity leave meant that some pupils have had less consistent teaching since the previous inspection.  A new headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection. He is also the headteacher of another local small school, Walcott Primary School. Since October 2013, a formal partnership

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Information about this school

has been in place between the schools; it now has one joint governing body. There is also shared school management such as subject coordination, and joint training and events.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ achievement in mathematics by:  providing pupils across the school with activities that get the best out of them and help them to find new ways of solving problems  ensuring that more able pupils make accelerated progress

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teachers’ planning in the Reception class by ensuring that:  children have more activities that enable them to learn well when they are working on their own, without the support of an adult  children have more activities that help them to develop their early communication and language skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Starting points vary but almost all pupils make good progress and achieve well. Standards at the end of Year 6 are usually just above average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The national check of Year 1 pupils’ knowledge of phonics shows the same variation in results. The school’s results for 2013 were lower than average. The school has now successfully put in place a new way of teaching phonics, and pupils are now doing well in reading. Even the youngest children are fully involved in learning about the sounds that letters make.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Over time, pupils in Key Stage 1 do as well as, and often better than average in reading, writing and mathematics. The 2013 results show that more-able pupils are not yet reaching the higher standards in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Current pupils throughout the school are making good progress. However, the school’s records and work in pupils’ books show that pupils achieve better in English than mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make excellent progress in writing in response to the excellent teaching in this subject. Teachers work with others from the partner school to make sure that their judgements of how well pupils are writing are correct. They use this information to provide pupils with activities that will help them to write even better.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In this school, the pupil premium funding is used well to support individual pupils. It has been used to develop early reading by helping pupils to improve their phonic skills. It also provides specific help for those who find learning more difficult. The very small numbers of pupils in Year 6 eligible for the pupil premium mean it is not possible to make comparisons between standards for this group of pupils and others without potentially identifying them.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress. The school uses its resources well to provide additional help for these pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Although more able pupils in Key Stage 2 benefit from activities that help them to learn quickly, and make good progress., overall, especially in mathematics, this group of pupils do not all achieve their full potential.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In the Reception class children settle quickly and make good progress because teachers pay careful attention to the development of early reading, writing and mathematical skills in the adult-led sessions. Children make less progress in activities they choose for themselves because these are not always planned well to encourage them to work on their own. Communication skills are also less well developed at this age, for the same reason.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers carefully plan lessons that deepen pupils’ knowledge, especially in Key Stage 1 and 2. They have good relationships with their pupils. Pupils respond well to activities, and work hard to finish their work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers know well how to prepare activities that motivate and interest pupils. In writing, pupils are encouraged to use electronic tablets to ‘blog’ with their partner school. They benefit from writing tasks that are designed to stimulate their senses. Photography, paintings and drawings are carefully chosen to develop pupils’ imaginative writing skills, yet also help them to write grammatically correct sentences.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The school has developed the way in which it marks pupils’ work in books so that it is of greater benefit to pupil’s learning. Teachers regularly mark pupils work to help them to improve their learning. They set pupils challenges, and also give them time to correct their mistakes.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ subject knowledge is good and this helps pupils learn. In a very successful science lesson, pupils were taught to observe and then to record the results of an experiment. They were encouraged to use scientific language to discuss their findings, extending their subject vocabulary considerably.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants very effectively support the work of the class teacher. They know how to give pupils the right amount of support to help them to succeed with what they are learning. This was seen during a phonics session when highly skilled teaching from the teaching assistant helped less able pupils to make strides in their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers regularly assess the progress that pupils are making. They are accurate in their assessments. They usually prepare work for the different abilities in their class that help pupils to make good progress in their learning. However, work for the more able does not always get the best from them because it is sometimes too easy.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Some teachers are cautious when teaching mathematics, and present pupils with mathematical activities that do not stretch them or help them to think deeply about what they are learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the Reception class, children benefit from a range of carefully planned activities. They make cakes for celebrations, and talk confidently about the ingredients they have used. When adults are working with groups of children, other children sometimes learn less. These are often children with poorer language and literacy skills. They choose activities that do not help them to learn quickly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are welcoming and friendly. They talk confidently about all that is good in the school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. This helps them to learn well. They pay attention during lessons and show, from the quality of their work books, that they want to succeed. Their behaviour around the school, when they are not in lessons, is polite and courteous. They play well together at lunch and playtime.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s works to keep pupils safe and secure is good. There are regular e-safety newsletters, for parents and pupils, on the school’s website. Pupils say they know how to stay safe when using the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are aware of all forms of bullying, and know how to get help if this should happen. Parents, pupils and the school’s own records show that bullying is rare. Pupils’ mention the success of the last anti-bullying week held by the school. The school actively meets the diverse needs of its pupils.  The school follows up all recorded incidents of poor behaviour. Pupils say they feel safe at the school. Attendance is above average.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school is well led and managed. The headteacher has successfully led the school through a period of turbulence. He has worked hard to develop a strong and effective management through its federation with Walcott Primary School.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has an accurate knowledge of the school’s strengths. The sections applying to this school in the joint federated development plan are sharply focused. The headteacher monitors the quality of teaching, and correctly knows the strengths of his teachers. The performance of teachers is measured against pupils’ progress, and training plans reflect how the school will further improve teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school leaders regularly monitor the quality of pupils’ work, and carefully track the progress of its pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teachers in the school share the headteacher’s vision. They want the school to do well and support his leadership. Those leaders who share a management role across the two schools demonstrate drive and enthusiasm. They regularly check the quality of their improvements.

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The leadership and management are good

 Subject leadership in English, including developments in the way that the school teaches reading, has improved standards for pupils. Some improvements have already been made to the way that mathematics is taught in the school, but there are still some weaknesses.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school makes good use of the primary sports funding. This has been used to provide cover for teachers so that they can work directly with a sports expert to develop their skills in order for them to make a lasting impact on pupils’ development of healthy lifestyles. Pupils enjoy a range of sports during the school day and after school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The range of subjects taught is broad, well balanced, and has an appropriate emphasis on the development of literacy and numeracy. It is also designed to catch and hold the interest of pupils. All the pupils are involved in writing shared ‘blogs’ with the partner school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Provision for spiritual, social, moral and cultural development is strong. Pupils learn from planned visits to local areas of historic interest and places of worship.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority knows the school well, and is aware of its strengths and areas for development. The newly formed joint governing body of the federated schools has been developed through planned training provided by the local authority.

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The leadership and management are good

 Statutory safeguarding requirements are fully met. Since the headteacher took over the school, the school’s security arrangements have been updated, and the premises are fully protected.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The joint federated governing body for the school and its partner school, Walcott Primary School, is now firmly established.  Governors play an active role in the life of the school. They provide support and challenge to the school’s leadership. They ask challenging questions. They regularly visit the school and discuss improvements with subject leaders. They know about the quality of teaching in the school and how their performance is managed and rewarded. They understand how the school tracks the progress of its pupils, and use data well to judge the school’s effectiveness. They have a good knowledge of how the pupil premium funding is being spent. They carry out their statutory duties well, including safeguarding pupils. They take training to further improve their governance of the school.

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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 120530 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 431217

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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 97 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jo Slesser Headteacher Andrew Sewell Date of previous school inspection 24 June 2009 Telephone number 01526 378330 Fax number 01526 378330 Email address enquiries@mrsmarykings.lincs.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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