All Saints CofE VC Infants School

School report All Saints Church of England School Fishers Mead, Dulverton, TA22 9EE

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Good 2

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils, particularly boys, do not make as much progress in writing as they do in reading and mathematics. Many of them do not use phonics (the sounds that letters make), punctuation and sentence construction accurately.  The gap between the attainment of pupils supported by the pupil premium and their classmates is not closing rapidly enough.  Some of the most able pupils are not achieving as well as they should.  Improvements in teaching have stalled recently because of the number of recent staff and leadership changes.  Checks on teaching are not regular enough to ensure developments are maintained.  Teachers do not always have a clear understanding of what pupils can and cannot do. As a result, pupils are, at times, given work that is too easy or too hard.  Teachers’ expectations of behaviour are not high enough. The unsatisfactory behaviour in lessons of a small number of pupils is not always dealt with

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

quickly.  Older pupils do not have sufficient knowledge of other faiths and cultures, which restricts their ability to understand life in modern Britain.  The executive headteacher does not always use the systems that are in place to give him a clear picture of the attainment and progress of all groups of pupils.  Governors do not gather their own evidence to provide independent challenge to school leaders.

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The school has the following strengths

 The pupils enjoy being at school and say they feel safe.  Pupils with additional needs are well supported in the ‘Badgers’ nurture group.  The pupils benefit greatly in their spiritual, moral and social development from the highly inclusive nature of the school and its involvement in the local community.  Work with other schools in The Exmoor Federation has helped teachers to develop a new curriculum and learning opportunities around the Exmoor National Park.  The actions of leaders have increased attendance.  Children get a good start in the Reception and Nursery classes and make good progress. Transition into school is well managed and effective.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed ten lessons involving six teachers. Two of the lessons were observed jointly with school leaders.  The inspector held discussions with school leaders, staff, governors and a representative of the local authority.  The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at documentation, including improvement plans, the systems for tracking pupils’ progress, the arrangements for safeguarding pupils and samples of pupils’ work. He heard groups of pupils reading and spoke with pupils about behaviour and safety arrangements at the school.  Account was taken of the 11 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and the views expressed by those parents who spoke with the inspector at the start of the school day or who wrote letters. The inspectors also considered 15 staff questionnaires.  During this inspection, the inspector asked additional questions designed to ascertain the school’s view of

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Information about this inspection

the impact and effectiveness of local authority services to support school improvement for looked-after children, those receiving free school meals and the most able pupils. This information will contribute to work being carried out by Ofsted to assess the use, quality and impact of support services.  At the time of the inspection, the headteacher was absent and the chair of governors had resigned recently. The newly appointed head of learning was the leadership link during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Michael Bartleman, Lead inspector Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized first school.  The school is part of The Exmoor Federation. This is comprised of another first school and a middle school to which all pupils move at the end of Year 4. The federation is overseen by an executive headteacher and a single governing body.  There have been many changes in staff and governors since the previous inspection. The head of learning, who is the senior teacher at the school, was appointed in September 2014.  The vast majority of pupils come from a White British background.  The proportion of pupils eligible for extra government funding, known as the pupil premium, is very low. In this school, this funding is used to support pupils who are eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs on the school roll is similar to that found in most schools. This applies to one pupil in every six.

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Information about this school

 Pupils are taught in six single-age classes. The Early Years Foundation Stage consists of one Reception class and one Nursery class. The Little Owls Nursery class joined the school in September 2014 following the reorganisation of the attached Children’s Centre.  The school is supported by a local leader of education.  The school runs a nurture group known as ‘Badgers’ for pupils with additional needs.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that it is typically good or better by ensuring that:  there are consistently high expectations of pupils’ behaviour in lessons  pupils understand what they have been taught and what they need to do better  work is set that is neither too hard nor too easy so all pupils, including the most able, make rapid progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the attainment in writing, by ensuring that:  the basic skills of spelling, punctuation and sentence construction are reinforced at all times  pupils use their writing skills in all areas of the curriculum  the gap between the attainment of boys and girls is closed.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, including governance, by ensuring that:  senior leaders use well organised and rigorous systems to gather and accurately analyse the achievement of pupils and the performance of the school  teachers are observed on a regular basis and receive the support necessary to help them improve their practice  governors have a clear understanding of the achievement of particular groups of pupils and hold leaders fully to account  subjects and topics taught ensure all pupils develop a good knowledge of other faiths and cultures which help them appreciate life in modern Britain.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Close the gap between the achievement of pupils supported by the pupil premium and their classmates by ensuring that leaders and teachers know the pupils’ targets for improvement in their learning and the progress they are making.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because over time not enough has been done to secure consistently good achievement and teaching across the school.  Leaders’ self-evaluation of aspects of teaching is over generous. They do not focus enough on the impact teaching has on children’s achievement. As a result, teachers are not held to account fully for the progress that pupils make. Despite improvements since the previous inspection, achievement for some pupils is still not good enough.  Several subject leaders and others with leadership responsibilities are new to their roles. They have not yet begun to provide support for teachers on how they can improve the quality of their teaching.  Systems for analysing how well the school is improving lack detail and are not applied fully. Agreed strategies for teaching and managing behaviour are not applied consistently across the school. These

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The leadership and management require improvement

weaknesses are slowing progress in raising pupils’ achievement in writing.  The management of teachers’ performance is well structured, but it is not always firmly linked to pupils’ achievement. There are occasions when leaders’ expectations are not high enough to improve teaching as quickly as is needed.  Leaders have good links with local schools, particularly the federation schools. This provides training and helps teachers to develop the new curriculum.  Subjects and topics covered by the school are broad and balanced. They are enriched, for example, through the use of the school’s local area and of the natural environment. The school also provides a good range of extra-curricular activities and clubs.  The provision for pupils’ social, moral and spiritual development is good. Pupils show good cooperation and respect when learning together. However, older pupils reveal a lack of knowledge about other faiths

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The leadership and management require improvement

and cultures.  Senior leaders have yet to secure the full confidence of a small number of parents and carers following the recent consultation into reorganisation. Most parents and carers who completed the online questionnaire or spoke to the inspector were supportive of the school. However, a few parents feel that they are not kept informed about changes to the school, including the staff and curriculum, and that their concerns are not addressed quickly enough. The inspector did not find evidence to support their concerns.  Leaders work well with professionals from health and specialist education services to meet the needs of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs.  The additional funding the school receives for sport is used to promote wider participation in a range of activities and to train staff. School information shows that there has been increased participation in sporting activity since the start of the funding.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Although the pupil premium funding is allocated effectively, leaders do not analyse the impact in sufficient detail or share the information with parents or governors.  Leaders and governors make sure that arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet current requirements. Effective arrangements are in place to ensure pupils who travel to school by bus are safe.  The local authority has kept the performance of the school under review and has supported leaders and governors. The local leader of education attached to the school since the previous inspection has supported leaders in developing teachers’ skills. Leaders and teachers do not believe that the local authority has challenged the school to improve the performance of pupils supported by the pupil premium and the most able at a fast enough rate.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is in a state of transition. It is supportive and takes great interest in the activities of the school. Governors have had some training from the local authority, but are not always confident about their own analysis of information showing how well the school is performing. Although they are regularly informed about pupils’ progress and teachers’ work through detailed reports from the executive headteacher, they do not challenge these reports robustly. They do not have sufficiently rigorous systems in place to check the accuracy of the reports and of the impact on pupils supported by the pupil premium. Governors have a good grasp of the budget and monitor most of the school’s budget carefully. They are yet to monitor the impact of primary sports funding.  The governing body has helped to improve links with the community. Governors are increasingly taking

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The leadership and management require improvement

an active part in all the school’s extra-curricular activities and have a good knowledge of the new federation curriculum. However, they rely too much on the headteacher to tell them about the reasons for differences in pupils’ progress and teachers’ performance. They do not have enough information of their own to ask challenging questions. They do not understand their responsibilities with respect to rewarding teachers for good work. Arrangements for safeguarding pupils are robust.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  The behaviour of a few pupils is not as focused and quiet as it needs to be to help them make the best possible progress. Pupils talk about times when noise and ‘shouting out’ during lessons makes it difficult for them to do their work. This is because not all teachers have sufficiently high expectations of the pupils’ behaviour to stop minor types of inappropriate behaviour quickly.  Senior leaders do not always make sure that all instances of bad behaviour and bullying are recorded and analysed in detail. Pupils and parents give a mixed view on how quickly instances of bad behaviour are dealt with by teachers and leaders.  Not all the teachers implement the school’s agreed behaviour management systems with the same vigour.  The behaviour of pupils as they move in and around school is calm and orderly. They are polite and caring towards one another. They can talk about one another’s achievements. The school’s inclusive nature

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

means that pupils recognise and celebrate one another’s strengths and differences. Year 4 pupils are enjoying their recently adopted roles of play leaders, which are having a good impact on their personal development.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. All statutory arrangements for safeguarding are met. Pupils learn how to keep safe, for example, when using the internet, travelling by bus or when near roads. Discussions with pupils showed they understand about different types of bullying, including cyber bullying. They said that there was some bullying in the school, but that it is usually sorted quickly and effectively by staff.  Pupils say that they feel safe and happy at school. They are eager to talk to visitors about the many things that they love about All Saints School, how the teachers ‘care about us’ and the extensive visits beyond the school. Parents recognise that care for their children and the involvement in the local community and

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The behaviour and safety of pupils require improvement

the Exmoor environment are strengths of the school.  Attendance is broadly average and is improving. This reflects the progress which the school has made in making sure that parents understand the importance of pupils having 100% attendance. There have been no exclusions since the previous inspection.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching does not ensure that all pupils make good progress in their learning. Pupils sometimes find the work too easy because it lacks challenge and sometimes they find their work is too difficult .  There are no uniform expectations of what the pupils can achieve in writing or about how they present their work. Too many pupils do not have a good grasp of spelling, punctuation and sentence construction. There are times when pupils lose concentration because they have not understood what they have been taught. This is because teachers’ questions do not always clarify pupils’ ideas or help them to think hard about what they are learning.  The improvements in teaching have stalled recently because of changes to subject and leadership roles which have resulted in less frequent monitoring. Agreed school policies and procedures are not being implemented consistently.  Pupils’ achievement in mathematics has improved recently because pupils understand what they have to

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

do to improve their work. However, scrutiny of work in books shows that the guidance teachers provide to improve work in other subjects is not as clear so pupils do not always make the corrections necessary.  Pupils achieve well when their work is linked in a lively, imaginative way to Exmoor, the school environment or the local town.  Relationships are warm and respectful. Most pupils relish their learning. They frequently work cooperatively. As a result, they learn from each other as well as their teacher .  Phonics (the sounds that letters make) is taught well across the school and most pupils enjoy their reading. The school’s investment in training for teaching assistants is beginning to pay off and the quality of the teaching of reading is rising.  Teaching assistants help pupils to learn well when they work with them in small groups or individually. They make the most contribution to pupils’ learning when they are directed by the teachers to focus on

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

specific aspects of learning. They often question pupils well to assess what they understand and have learned .

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requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because pupils do not make good enough progress. While there has been an improvement in Key Stage 1 tests for reading, writing and mathematics to national levels in 2013, it is not enough to enable gaps in attainment between groups of pupils to close. Some pupils do not reach high enough standards in writing by the time they leave the school in Year 4. The school’s own analysis of results for 2014 shows a continued improvement in Year 2 national tests.  Pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics from Year 1 to Year 4 is inconsistent because of unevenness in the quality of teaching.  The most able pupils do not always achieve well enough. At times they are given work that is too easy, so they do not make the progress they should. The proportion achieving the highest levels has been below national levels for some years. School information for 2014 indicates that the trend has not changed.

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requires improvement

 Actions to improve achievement in writing have had some impact, for example, using a wide range of texts to stimulate writing. However, the results, particularly for boys, continue to be lower than in reading and mathematics.  Pupils learn the sounds that letters make (phonics) quickly and use this knowledge when reading unfamiliar words. In the national phonics screening check in 2013, a greater proportion of pupils than that seen nationally reached the expected level. School results for 2014 show that the recent improvements have been continued.  Pupils for whom the school receives pupil premium funding make inconsistent progress. In 2013, eligible pupils in Year 2 were around five terms behind their classmates in mathematics, and around three terms behind them in reading and writing. Currently in Year 4, the gap is at similar levels. This shows that the gap between these pupils and their classmates is not closing quickly enough.

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requires improvement

 Pupils with special educational needs make similar progress to other pupils in the school. Sometimes, because the work they are given is too difficult, they lose concentration and their learning slows as a result. Pupils who attend the ‘Badgers’ nurture group make good progress in their personal and social skills.  Standards in mathematics are higher than in reading and writing. Although standards of reading were below the national average at Year 2 in 2013, less able readers are now making better progress because they are using their phonics knowledge well to read unfamiliar words. Recent changes to how pupils choose their reading books are encouraging more pupils to read at home.  The breakfast club provides good opportunities for pupils to play and learn together, and this helps to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. For example, the games they play enable them to develop good social skills by taking turns and listening to each other.

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is good

 The quality of teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good.  Children enter the school in the Reception and Nursery classes with skills that are below the levels typical of their age. They make good progress because adults provide a rich array of experiences which are finely tuned to their needs to reach the levels expected for their age at the end of Reception.  As a result, all children, including those who are most able, those who are disabled and those with special educational needs, enjoy their learning and are eager and confident to tackle new tasks. The teaching is also helping to prepare them well for moving into Key Stage 1.  Children settle very quickly into the routines of daily education in the Nursery and Reception classes because all staff are welcoming and give good levels of care and attention to each and every child. Parents and carers are successfully encouraged to work with the staff to improve their children’s

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is good

development. One parent commented, ‘All staff are approachable and give us useful tips.’ Assessments using electronic devices are increasingly involving parents and carers in recording the progress of their children. Phonics is taught well, which gives the children confidence when they learn to read.  A good ratio of adults to children means that staff have the time to show children how to improve their skills. Staff show children how to use sentences correctly in speech. Children enjoy making their own choice of activities and learn from having a go themselves. Staff set up a wide range of interesting activities, inside and outside, to develop skills in all areas of learning. All children get on very well together. Behaviour is good. All welfare and safeguarding requirements are met.  Staff are particularly adept at checking each child’s progress and ensuring progress is smooth across the Early Years Foundation Stage, although they do not include the children as much as they could in

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is good

reviewing what they have done and what they would like to do next.  Class teachers have a good understanding of what is going well and what needs improving because they work well with teachers from other federation schools. Leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage is in transition and the recently appointed head of learning has not yet started to support teachers with how the provision may be further improved.

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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 123754 Local authority Somerset Inspection number 431676

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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 First School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–9 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 117 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair vacant Headteachers Executive headteacher: Jeremy Weedon Head of learning: Carly Hatch Date of previous school inspection 13–14 September 2012 Telephone number 01398 323231 Fax number 01398 323231 Email address office@dulvertonallsaints.somerset.gov.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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