Whitewater Church of England Primary School

Whitewater Church of England Primary School The Street, Rotherwick, Hook RG27 9BG

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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This is a good school

 Senior leaders have skilfully led the school through a period of rapid improvement in the last year. The new headteacher has high expectations and is inspiring ambition in staff.  School leaders, governors and staff share a clear focus on raising standards for all pupils. The leadership of teaching is good and staff are keen to improve their practice.  Teaching is good and improving. Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to provide pupils with interesting activities and good-quality resources.  Pupils’ achievement is good and standards are rising. Their attainment is now well above average in reading and mathematics by the time they leave the school.  Good provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage ensures children settle well and make good strides in learning to read.  Literacy and mathematics subject leaders guide improvement well in their subjects and help colleagues to improve their own teaching skills.

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This is a good school

 The curriculum is well planned and pupils have a wide range of stimulating learning opportunities. There is good provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Pupils are polite and well behaved in lessons and around the school. They enjoy learning and understand what they need to do to improve their work.  Pupils are kept safe. They feel safe and secure within the warm and welcoming environment.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not enough is done to reinforce good handwriting and spelling.  Occasionally, there is not enough challenge for the more able.  Children in Reception and Key Stage 1 do not always receive the support they need to form their letters or to write words and sentences.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed nine lessons, all but one of which were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, school staff, the Chair of the Governing Body and two other members, and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector took account of the 50 responses to the online parent questionnaire (Parent View) and the few letters from parents.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents. These included the school’s own information on pupils’ current progress, planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents about safeguarding. The inspector also took account of the 10 responses to the staff questionnaire.  The inspector listened to samples of pupils from Key Stages 1 and 2 reading.

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Inspection team

Eileen Chadwick, Lead inspector Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than most primary schools.  Almost all pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for funding through the pupil premium is low. This is additional government funding which, in this school, supports pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs on the school roll is about 10%. This is similar to that found in most schools.  The school has experienced a complete change of senior leadership in the last three terms. The headteacher took up post in September 2014 while the deputy headteacher started in January 2014. A temporary headteacher led the school during the summer term after the substantive headteacher left at the end of the spring term 2014.  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 pupils’ achievement in writing by:  ensuring pupils’ handwriting is more systematically developed throughout the school  consistently helping pupils to spell better by applying their knowledge of phonics ( letters and the sounds they make).

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure teaching is consistently good or outstanding by:  setting suitably challenging work for the more able in all lessons and outdoor activities in Reception  making sure teachers in Reception and Key Stage 1 demonstrate more clearly to children how to form their letters and give good support for them to write words and sentences.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has a clear determination to ensure the school continues on the road to improved achievement for all of its pupils. She has quickly built upon the work of other senior leaders by directly focusing on improving the standards of teaching across the whole school in order to raise achievement.  The deputy headteacher provides strong support. Her actions, together with those of the temporary headteacher last term, have led to marked improvements in achievement, teaching and in the leadership of others in a relatively short time. Developments in literacy and mathematics are well led by the subject leaders, hence the rapid improvement in pupils’ progress in both subjects.  Middle leadership is shared well between staff in this small school, although not all middle leaders have had recent training. This is now being remedied and there are clear plans and systems to ensure all are able to drive improvements in their subjects.

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The leadership and management are good

 Systems for checking the impact of the school’s work have been strengthened. For example, assessment systems have been improved. Pupil progress meetings are regular and involve all teachers and senior leaders in discussing the progress of specific classes and groups of pupils, the impact of intervention work and the next steps in learning.  Senior leaders’ and governors’ recent actions have led to rapid improvement in systems for managing staff’s performance. Staff understand their accountability, and systems for reviewing teachers’ performance are thorough, including for deciding whether pay increases are to be awarded.  This, combined with leaders’ thorough checks on teaching and the strengthened focus on training, has led to improved teaching. Coaching and mentoring are successfully used to ensure teachers improve . The school began to work more closely with the local authority in the last two terms. Effective engagement

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The leadership and management are good

has helped the school to successfully tackle key areas, including improving mathematics teaching through specialist subject support.  Since the deputy headteacher arrived, the curriculum has been overhauled and the new National Curriculum is now being implemented. Subjects are being linked where possible and writing is promoted effectively across different subjects. Pupils have regular opportunities to tackle problems in mathematics and to deepen their skills by solving real-life issues.  Extra funding to promote sports and physical education is spent effectively. A careful audit identified the areas of most need. Since then, staff have had extra training and have worked alongside sports coaches to improve the quality of their teaching. The school is evaluating the impact of the success of the programme on pupils’ improved involvement, physical fitness and skills.  The provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good and this underpins pupils’ good

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The leadership and management are good

behaviour. Assemblies are well used to promote the values of respect and forgiveness, and the curriculum encourages pupils to learn about cultural differences. Pupils are beginning to understand the importance of democracy. For example, during the inspection, pupils learned about the importance of people using their vote to make decisions about a country’s future, for example during the debate about Scottish independence.  Parents are supportive of school life and most would recommend this school to other parents. A small minority would like more information about their children’s progress. The senior leadership team has recently introduced more regular progress meetings and opportunities for parents to visit the school to look at their children’s work. Senior leaders are currently reviewing the quality of written reports for parents in order to make improvements.  The school is committed to equality of opportunity and works hard to ensure that all pupils do well.

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The leadership and management are good

Effective systems are in place to foster good relationships and tackle discrimination.  The governance of the school:  Members of the governing body are proud of and fully committed to the school and its further improvement. They bring a good range of expertise to school leadership, including from business backgrounds, and ensure finances are used effectively. Governors have high expectations and, as a result of training, understand assessment data. Senior leaders have strengthened the school’s reporting of pupils’ attainment and progress data to governors. This has increased governors’ capacity to challenge senior leaders about school improvement and to set and review the headteacher’s performance management targets. They know how school leaders are using performance management to make improvements. They fully support the headteacher in ensuring pay awards are based on effective teaching and good achievement. They have a secure knowledge of the quality of teaching in

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The leadership and management are good

the school and the extent to which any gaps in achievement are being closed. They closely monitor the spending of additional funding and funds available to improve pupils’ sporting achievement . They ensure that statutory requirements for safeguarding are met.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They greatly enjoy school, try hard with their work and are keen to learn. They listen attentively in class, concentrate well and take a pride in their success. They say that lessons are interesting and talk enthusiastically about their learning, including mathematics lessons and reading as well as interesting art and design activities such as those for their topic on Mexico.  The positive relationships between adults and pupils are key factors in raising achievement. Pupils and staff show respect for each other and the school has a welcoming and happy atmosphere. Pupils take great care of the equipment and behave well in the playground, corridors and dining room. Lunchtimes are very pleasant experiences and the pupils enjoy chatting with friends.  Very little lesson time is wasted on managing behaviour. However, sometimes when work is not tailored to pupils’ interests or abilities, their attention wanders but this does not disrupt the learning of others.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

A few pupils who find it hard to regulate their own behaviour are well supported and show good improvement over time.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Administrative arrangements to ensure children’s safety are thorough. A number of staff hold First Aid qualifications and members of staff and the governing body have undertaken the Safer Recruitment Training. Child Protection is good.  Pupils say they feel safe. They have a good awareness of how to keep themselves from harm, including when using the internet. They are aware of the different forms of bullying, such as name calling, and say this is rare. If anything unkind is said to them or happens to them they know exactly who to go to and what to do.  Most parents who responded to Parent View agree that behaviour is good and feel that their children are kept safe.  Attendance is improving and is now above average. It has improved in the last academic year after falling

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

to average. Improvements stem from the school’s more stringent monitoring of individual pupils’ attendance and closer working with the few families who keep their children away from school without good reason.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Members of staff foster strong relationships with pupils, making the management of behaviour seem effortless. Well-planned, interesting activities motivate pupils to want to learn. Pupils’ learning is well supported by a range of interesting tasks and good-quality resources.  Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics because teaching is good. This is because teachers expect much of pupils, including the more able. For example, in a Year 6 lesson in mathematics on properties of different quadrilaterals, the most able were challenged to use more advanced properties to classify quadrilaterals.  Teaching assistants make a good contribution to pupils’ learning because they are deployed and briefed well by teachers. Those who support individual disabled pupils and those who work with pupils who have special educational needs have a clear understanding of their learning difficulties and are skilled at helping

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The quality of teaching is good

them to learn.  Teachers assess pupils’ progress well and, through training, this has improved in the last year. They have a clear understanding of what pupils need to learn. The sequence of lessons is well planned so lessons usually build well on pupils’ prior learning.  Where teaching is not as strong it is because insufficient attention is given to stretching the most able. This occurs when teachers do not plan enough higher-level work and, consequently, pupils repeat too much of their earlier learning. In Reception, some mathematical activities are too easy for the most able children and adults do not spot this quickly enough and provide more challenge.  Pupils’ work is marked well. Teachers provide guidance to pupils on how to improve their work and pupils respond well to the comments made by teachers.  Teachers enable pupils to apply their knowledge of phonics well when reading but this is less consistent

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The quality of teaching is good

for spelling. Systems for teaching handwriting are not yet thorough across the school.

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is good

 As a result of strengthened leadership and better teaching, most pupils are achieving well. It is clear from pupils’ work that standards are rising in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ good progress is particularly noticeable in Key Stage 2 and Year 6 pupils are now attaining well-above-average standards in reading and mathematics, and above-average standards in writing.  Pupils’ attainment has risen in phonics (the sounds that letters in words represent), with the very large majority of Year 1 pupils passing the phonics screening check. This has contributed well to better standards in Year 2, which are now above average in reading, writing and mathematics.  The proportions reaching average and higher levels in the Year 6 2014 national tests improved considerably compared with previous years. Standards in Year 6 now represent good progress compared with the average standards these pupils attained at the end of Year 2. Improved assessment, tracking

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is good

and staff training underpin pupils’ good progress.  Pupils’ reading skills develop well. Pupils take a real interest in reading and their skills are reinforced by regular reading at home. Those who struggle are well supported and they use their understanding of phonics well to read new words.  Pupils learn to write for different purposes well but handwriting and spelling are weaker aspects for a few in Key Stages 1 and 2. A few children in the Early Years Foundation Stage do not learn to form their letters well enough and this is not sufficiently developed in Key Stage 1. By Key Stage 2 a few pupils still do not join their handwriting or form letters as well as they should.  More-able pupils make good progress overall. This is most evident in mathematics in Key Stage 2, where the proportions reaching standards much higher than expected is rising in Years 4, 5 and 6. However, there are a few instances where more-able pupils’ progress slows in parts of lessons when activities are

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is good

not challenging enough.  The small number of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress. Their needs are carefully assessed and the guidance of outside agencies sought where needed so that programmes of support can be tailored to individuals.  Pupils who are supported by the additional funding make good progress from their starting points, although the number is too small to make valid comparisons between their attainment and others’ in each year group. Additional funding has been used wisely to enhance the learning of these pupils.

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is good

 Children start school with skills and abilities that are in line with those typical for this age. They make good progress and by the end of Reception, their attainment is above average in all areas, although reading and mathematics are stronger than writing.  Very positive relationships and the staff’s strong focus on developing children’s language and personal skills enable them to settle very quickly. Thorough systems for teaching phonics give children a good start in learning to read. By the end of Reception, children of all abilities are interested in reading and successfully use phonics to work out new words. Most children can write simple sentences by the time they leave Reception, but a few children struggle with writing.  Teaching is good. Children settle very happily at the start of the school day as their interest in school is quickly aroused by the stimulating range of activities for them to try, including through imaginative role

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is good

play, creating models with construction kits and counting activities.  Children do not have enough opportunities to practise their writing skills when working on activities. In Reception and Key Stage 1, children do not regularly know what better writing looks like and are not supported to write words and sentences.  The school has improved the outdoor area since the previous inspection and all areas of learning are provided for. However, during outdoor play there is not always enough challenge for more-able children. Adults do not always spend enough time showing children how to form their letters or helping them to apply their phonics when writing words and sentences.  Leadership and management are good overall. Children are kept safe and well cared for. Detailed individual assessments of children’s progress are kept but tracking is now being streamlined to enable staff and school leaders to identify the impact of provision on children’s progress across the areas of

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 116345 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 444141

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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 Foundation Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 129 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ian Carruthers Headteacher Lucy Edwards Date of previous school inspection 15 June 2010 Telephone number 01256 762637 Fax number 01256 762637 Email address adminoffice@whitewater.hants.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

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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