Setting

Mrs Sarah Albery Headteacher Cranleigh Church of England Primary School Parsonage Road Guildford GU6 7AN

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England Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 31 March 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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England Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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England Primary School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection.

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Evidence

During the visit, I met with you and the deputy headteacher, and a representative of the local authority, to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. Prior to the visit, I also held telephone discussions with the Chair of the Governing Body and with a diocesan school improvement partner. I evaluated the school improvement plan and read a range of other documents related to school improvement, including minutes of governing body meetings. I visited all classrooms on both school sites, accompanied by you, to observe learning, look at evidence of pupils’ work and teachers’ marking, and to talk with pupils about their work. 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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Context

Since the inspection, you and the deputy headteacher, both formerly in acting roles, have been permanently appointed. A part-time teacher has been employed to provide catch-up support, mainly in Year 6. A new teacher has been appointed to lead the specialist provision for children with speech, language and communication needs. A supply teacher is covering a long-term absence in a Year 5/6 class.

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Main findings

The inspection report of November 2013 recognised that you and the deputy headteacher had, in a short space of time, ‘worked to develop a clear vision and ambitious aims’ for the school; thanks to your determination, enthusiasm and uncompromising attitude you are now making real headway in realising that vision. You check regularly and thoroughly on how well pupils are achieving and how well teachers are teaching. You ask challenging questions of teachers whose pupils are not making good progress and you check on the quality of work in books and in classroom displays continually. Furthermore, you expect this level and quality of checking from all school leaders. You model how you expect other leaders in school to behave and, as a result, they are making a better contribution to the work of the school.

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Main findings

You have tackled pupils’ lack of understanding of how well they are doing, or how to improve, head-on. The ‘Targets for Success’ initiative is visible and effective in every classroom. Pupils of all ages can explain what they are trying to achieve in their learning and can assess for themselves how well they are doing against clear targets. They were proud to show me their work and of being able to point to their successes. Your analysis of pupil progress across the school now shows the majority of groups on track to make at least the progress that could be expected, in both English and mathematics. This is a more reliable picture of achievement than has been possible before, because you now work with other schools to compare and check the accuracy of teachers’ assessment. You are not complacent; you know that pupils whose teaching over time has been weak or suffered repeated changes have a lot of catching up to do. This includes some Year 6 groups, who are making better,

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Main findings

The Chair of the Governing Body provides strong support, while at the same holding you to account for the school’s rapid improvement. Governors show a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and they use the improvement plan effectively to monitor how well different groups of pupils are achieving. They know where teaching still needs to improve and support your expectation of consistently good practice in all classrooms. The school improvement plan reflects the sense of urgency to become a good school; it has clear targets for pupil achievement and a short initial timescale. Improvements are, quite rightly, evaluated in relation to their impact on pupil progress. This is measured in the plan in terms of attainment scores and levels of progress. There is scope to complement this by specifying more clearly what success will look like in terms of pupils’ learning. There is good work already underway in

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Main findings

comparing practice here with that in other schools, although relatively few opportunities for teachers to learn from ambitious and exciting teaching elsewhere.

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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.

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External support

The local authority provides a good balance of support and challenge, as does your highly experienced diocesan school improvement partner. Review meetings provide an opportunity for all parties to share their evaluation of what is working well and to suggest next steps. Records of these meeting show that effective collaboration amongst governors, the local authority, the diocese and school leaders is helping to drive improvement.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Surrey and the Diocese of Guildford.

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