Setting

Mark Allen Broadwas CofE Aided Primary School Broadwas-on-Teme Worcester WR6 5NE

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Aided Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 8 September 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. 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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Aided Primary School

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

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Aided Primary School

Senior leaders are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. The school should take further action to:

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Aided Primary School

 ensure governors urgently improve their knowledge of up-to-date roles and responsibilities so they fulfil their duties with sufficient knowledge, skill, and ability to support and challenge where necessary.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher, the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative of the local authority to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. The school improvement plan was evaluated. Other documents including the marking policy, records of pupils’ progress, lesson observations, work scrutiny, pupil progress meetings and staff meetings were taken into consideration. The planned support from a National Leader for Education was also evaluated.

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Main findings

Serco Inspections Colmore Plaza 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T : 01216 799164 Direct email : tim.ogbourn@serco.com You have begun a determined, incremental journey to bring about the school’s improvement. You ensured all staff had a shared understanding of your expectations for marking pupils’ work. Recent checks have shown an increased consistency in the quality of feedback given to pupils in their books and more opportunities for pupils to respond to the teachers’ comments. Staff have received training on identifying and sharing the learning focus in any lesson. This additional clarity is helping to sharpen teachers’ feedback to pupils when marking their work.

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Main findings

You have introduced detailed tracking systems to record pupils’ progress over time. As a consequence, the rates of progress for groups of pupils can more easily be identified and compared term by term. The system has enabled a more precise analysis of pupils’ progress although you are rightly aware that such systems depend on teachers’ regular and accurate assessments of pupils’ achievements. Teachers have checked each other’s assessments and further checks have been conducted by teachers within the local cluster of schools. Pupils’ weaknesses are more quickly identified so that teachers plan and provide appropriate action and intervention.

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Main findings

Governors remain committed to the school but they have been too slow to take up the challenge of up-to-date roles and responsibilities by speedily developing their own skills and knowledge. As a consequence, their contribution to school leadership is currently weak. The local authority conducted a review of governance and left the school with a clear set of areas for improvement. Governors drew up their own action plan identifying their training needs but it has not been updated. Governors frequently visit the school but they have not determined the means by which they will evaluate what they find or disseminate to other governors. They are not able to challenge the school with sufficient rigour.

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Main findings

The coordinator for pupils’ special educational needs accessed up-to-date training promptly and achieved the recently introduced accredited qualification. Further staff training has helped teachers to identify individual pupils’ specific needs and plan the necessary steps towards their speedy development. The higher level teaching assistant has helped to disseminate such practice more widely to other teaching assistants.

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Main findings

You have developed a range of frequent monitoring strategies to help you make informed evaluations. You have made suitable links between the quality of teaching and the rates of progress pupils make. Such information will rightly contribute to more accurate decisions regarding teachers’ performance management and pay scales. Nevertheless, the National Leader for Education has rightly advised you to set specific and measurable targets for teachers related to pupils’ progress. This important step has still to be implemented but would help to engage all staff in the ambitious challenges ahead. While focusing appropriately on increased rates of pupils’ progress you have been careful to engage pupils in their learning by encouraging imaginative approaches involving the immediate environment and high quality texts. You are in the process of distributing leadership responsibilities more widely through the school. You are sensitive to teachers’ other responsibilities within the setting of a

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Main findings

small school. The National Leader for Education has been able to identify appropriate and suitably balanced opportunities for leadership dissemination. These additional areas of responsibility need to speedily follow planned training events. Coordinators and subject leaders have not had the opportunities to develop their own monitoring skills although these are planned for the near future. Wider leadership and management skills are urgently necessary so that the drive, determination, ambition and accountability for improvement are shared. Specific targets for performance management have still to be set.

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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 school improvement advisor has an accurate knowledge of the school’s historic context and current strengths and areas for development. She is aware of the school’s need to develop leadership beyond that of the headteacher. The local authority promptly conducted a review of governance as a result of findings in the previous section 5 inspection. The report provided governors with precise information on which to plan their necessary development. The local authority has commissioned a National Leader for Education to support current school leadership to raise expectations and help eradicate aspects of weaker teaching. The local authority’s project board, led by the area school’s manager, will monitor regularly the school’s progress against the school improvement plan.

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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 Worcestershire and as below.

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