Oldswinford C of E Primary School

Oldswinford CofE Primary School Field Lane, Oldswinford, Stourbridge, DY8 2JQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils make outstanding progress in reading and good progress in writing and mathematics.  Teachers plan exciting lessons and inspire pupils to become enthusiastic readers and writers.  Day-to-day support for pupils who need extra help with their learning makes a strong contribution to their academic achievement and personal development.  Pupils’ behaviour inside and outside the classroom is outstanding and they feel very safe at school.  Staff are very committed to identifying and trying out new practices and this is driving up standards.  Outstanding leadership, supported by the governing body, is successfully focusing on the right actions to improve teaching and achievement in order to make the school outstanding.  Children in the Reception Year are helped to develop their literacy and numeracy skills swiftly and make an outstanding start to their education.  The school is a very caring and welcoming

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

community and parents feel strongly that their children are happy and safe at school.  Pupils enjoy many activities and experiences that develop their skills and understanding in a wide range of spiritual, moral, social and cultural contexts.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ progress in mathematics, although good, is not yet as rapid and sustained as in English.  The work set in lessons does not always challenge pupils to achieve their very best.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 18 lessons, 15 of which were jointly observed with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. A number of small group activities were also observed jointly with the senior leadership team.  The inspectors talked to pupils, looked at work in their books and listened to them read.  During the inspection, meetings were held with senior leaders, phase leaders and the special educational needs coordinator. The lead inspector also had meetings with the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Governing Body and had a phone conversation with a local authority representative.  The inspectors took account of the 24 responses on the online questionnaire, Parent View, and one letter from a parent.  The inspectors observed the school at work and looked at a range of documentation, including its development plans, information on pupils’ progress and attainment, and evaluation of its own performance. They looked at reports produced by diocesan advisers and the local authority.

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Information about this inspection

 They also looked at information on staff performance and records relating to attendance and behaviour, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

Alan Giles, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Kay Leach Additional Inspector Edgar Hastings Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Oldswinford is much larger than the average primary school.  Pupils are taught in two classes in each year group, from Reception to Year 6.  The vast majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds, and there are very few who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is very low. The proportion supported through school action plus or a statement of special educational needs is average.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is well below average. This funding is to support pupils in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve achievement in mathematics by:  giving pupils work that consistently builds up their understanding  ensuring that all teachers show high expectations by setting ambitious targets for pupils, especially at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2  improving marking to at least the quality shown in English books.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching by:  making full use of the information on what pupils know and can do to set work that is consistently challenging  making sure that pupils respond to marking, to demonstrate that they know what to do to improve their work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement has improved considerably this year. Attainment levels in English and mathematics are rising, and are on course to match or exceed the significantly above-average levels seen in 2012 by the end of the year. Far more Year 2 and Year 6 pupils are on course to meet and exceed nationally expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics than in 2013.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The majority of children enter the Reception class with language and numeracy skills below those expected for their age. They make outstanding progress in all areas of development and are very well prepared for the next stages in their learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils are inspired to read extensively at school and this a major reason for a substantial trend of outstanding achievement in this subject. Newly introduced guided reading strategies are enabling more pupils to read from a wider range of texts to further broaden their skills and understanding.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement in writing is improving because of strategies to extend writing using themes and inspiration from other subjects. The Year 4 work on the Rain Forests is an example where pupils show exceptional motivation and literacy skills to write more extensively.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 A number of pupils make slower progress in mathematics compared to their work in English, and this is especially evident with the most able pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Accelerating the progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs has been a successful recent school priority. Working in small groups successfully boosts their confidence and skill levels. As a result there is no attainment gap between them and their peers.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The very small number of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium make the same progress and achieve as well as their classmates. In 2013 there were too few eligible pupils in Year 6 to comment on their attainment without risk of identifying individual pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school’s information shows that pupils who left in 2013 had made good progress in their last two years at the school. A higher than usual number of pupils who needed additional help with their learning also made good progress, as did those who had behavioural difficulties.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Some more-able Year 2 and Year 6 pupils could achieve even better in writing and mathematics, and the school is setting more challenging targets for these pupils in order to achieve its aim of outstanding progress and achievement in both subjects.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Children are taught very well in stimulating Reception classroom areas. They make outstanding progress in developing early language and numeracy skills by eagerly participating in a wide range of well-resourced activities.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Initiatives to improve the tracking and recording of pupils’ progress have been an important feature of recent developments in teaching. When this information is used well, pupils at risk of falling behind are quickly identified, and receive good support in what the school calls ‘feedback’ groups to get them back on track.  These tracking strategies are also enabling some more-able pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 to be better challenged to achieve their full potential. This is rectifying previous concerns that pupils did not make appropriate progress after their outstanding start in the Reception class.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants are deployed very effectively to work with all pupils, either in small groups or on a one-to-one basis, and pupils benefit greatly from this targeted support.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils work very well together and show maturity when working on their own, in response to recent school improvement strategies. They are confident and resilient in their learning, solving problems and taking initiatives across a range of subjects.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Measures to improve literacy teaching across the school are proving successful. Teachers plan interesting and exciting lessons to make sure that pupils write in a range of different styles and learn key literacy skills. Year 2 and Year 4 pupils used creative and imaginative vocabulary when writing about mythical ‘magical medicines’ in their Rain Forest topics and research on blue whales.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is improving in mathematics and pupils produce extensive work in a wide range of numeracy topics. Sometimes tasks given in lessons are too easy or repetitive, and pupils’ targets are not always as challenging as in English.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Marking in English consistently praises pupils’ work and describes their achievement well, and often gives them instructions on how to achieve the next steps in their learning. In mathematics, marking is often limited to phrases like ‘well done’, with too few suggestions for improvement.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils’ books in all subjects show that teachers rarely check to make sure pupils are responding to their advice, and show little expectation for them to record their understanding. Too many pupils are unclear as to what their targets are and whether they have achieved them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. The school successfully fulfils its strong desire to provide an environment where everyone cares for each other. The behaviour of pupils at all times is calm, well-mannered and polite. Pupils are friendly towards one another, very welcoming to visitors and keen to tell them how happy they are.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ consistently very good response to opportunities to plan and share their work in lessons and act as ‘buddies’ during play are strong features of their moral and social development. Their enthusiasm and successes in a wide of range of musical, sporting and artistic activities are an important factor in their personal development.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Throughout the school, pupils respond willingly and enthusiastically to the work teachers set for them. On the rare occasions when pupils are less enthusiastic, it is because they find their work too easy and complete it too quickly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The vast majority of parents who talked to the inspectors or expressed an opinion through Parent View believe their children feel safe at school and behave well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Arrangements for safeguarding and child protection fully meet statutory requirements. Pupils overwhelmingly say they feel safe and are well cared for. They have a good understanding of the different forms of bullying and what to do if it occurs. There are few recorded incidents of any serious conflicts between pupils.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The present very high attendance figures reflect pupils’ enthusiasm for learning. The school has worked effectively to improve communication with parents and outside agencies, and has recently adopted a firmer stance on requests for holidays in term time to improve attendance figures further.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher and governors rigorously evaluate how well things are going in the school. A high number of joint observations with the inspectors demonstrated that the headteacher and deputy headteacher have an accurate view of teaching quality. They have used this very successfully in well-thought-out initiatives to improve teaching and achievement, as demonstrated in the rapid improvements since 2013.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The very effective ‘phase leaders’ responsible for different year groups are driving up standards. They have full responsibility for checking how well their pupils are doing. They evaluate day-to- day teaching and lead initiatives to improve pupils’ progress and achievements when necessary.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The arrangements for managing staff performance are rigorous. Teachers’ individual targets are linked closely to the school improvement plan, pupils’ progress and training needs. They appropriately reflect teachers’ responsibilities and pay awards.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Staff morale is high because school improvement initiatives are jointly developed and tested out, with a clear objective to improve pupils’ achievement. Staff are highly committed to researching and applying best teaching practices, as seen in the recent improvement in the teaching of writing and mathematics.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Initiatives to improve the way the school collects information on pupils’ progress have proved successful. They are generally used well to further accelerate the progress of pupils who need extra help, or further challenges, in their learning. They are not yet used consistently to stretch all pupils to achieve their full potential.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders have promoted equal opportunities very successfully through their own consistent and inclusive ‘primary values’ programme. This has ensured there is no discrimination within the school.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Pupils have a very positive interest in healthy lifestyles and many are actively involved in sporting activities. The school is spending its sport funding on additional resources to further improve access to swimming lessons and after-school activities. The new arrangements are increasing pupils’ participation in a wide range of sporting activities. Plans for spending future funding include sharing teaching and coaching resources across the learning partnership in Stourbridge.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The redesigned curriculum has successfully improved pupils’ understanding and appreciation of different social, ethnic and religious differences in their community and around the world. They do this through, for example, international school and church links, charitable fundraising, global awareness, and fair trade and economic awareness.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  The governing body felt it was necessary to review its own performance since the last inspection, and has considerably improved its understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, including the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement. Led by a new Chair, it now collaborates very effectively with the senior leadership team to initiate school improvement strategies.  Clear improvements in the information provided by the headteacher are helping the governors to effectively hold the school to account for its performance.  The governors use their skills and expertise well to oversee the financial and business planning of the school and to review the performance of teachers.  The governing body rigorously oversees and monitors the impact of the spending of the pupil premium and sports funding.

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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 103839 Local authority Dudley Inspection number 444279

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 414 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stanley Williams Headteacher Ross Workman Date of previous school inspection 20 May 2010 Telephone number 01384 818790 Fax number 01384 818791 Email address info@oldswinford.dudley.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 and 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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