Tasburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Preston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Henry Preston Road, Tasburgh, Norwich, NR15 1NU

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 School leaders and governors provide clear and determined leadership. As a result, pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching are good and improving.  All parents responding to Parent View (the online questionnaire) say that they would recommend the school to a friend. Parents like that the fact that a school leader greets them and their children each day.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They have a strong work ethic and thirst for knowledge.  Pupils say they feel safe and very well cared for in school. This view is fully supported by their parents.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. Values such as respect and tolerance permeate every aspect of school life and are practised by adults and pupils alike.  Teachers and teaching assistants know their pupils well and generally get the best out of them.  While appropriate emphasis is given to academic achievement, the school also prides itself on

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

producing confident young people fully prepared for the next stage of their learning.  Reception children settle quickly and make good progress because they are inquisitive and taught well.  Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, make at least the progress expected of them in reading, writing and mathematics, and many do better than this in reading and writing. As a result, their attainment at the end of Year 6 is above average.  Pupils with special educational needs make good progress, although often from lower starting points.  Reading standards are particularly high because the school sees this subject as underpinning all others and, consequently, gives particular emphasis to it.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In Years 3 to 6 a few pupils do not make the rapid progress they should in mathematics. Although pupils make good progress in writing, currently some activities do not provide the pupils in Years 1 and 2 with an appropriate level of challenge.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed parts of eight lessons, all with the headteacher.  The inspector also looked at pupils’ workbooks and listened to pupils reading.  Discussions were held with pupils, the headteacher, other staff, governors and a representative of the local authority.  The inspector took account of the 34 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and associated text comments and other parental views. The responses to 17 staff questionnaires were also considered.  The inspector looked at a number of documents including: the school’s own information on pupils’ progress; planning and monitoring documentation; the school’s view of its own performance; records of how the school uses its funding, especially how the money from the pupil premium is spent; records relating to behaviour and attendance; minutes of governing body meetings; and documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Robert Greatrex, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Reception children and those in Year 1 start the day together. At various times during the day, Year 1 pupils are taught with Year 2. Pupils in Years 3 and 4 are taught together, as are those in Years 5 and 6.  For the first half of the autumn term, parents can, and some do, choose to take their Reception children home at the end of the morning.  The vast majority of pupils are White British.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are receiving school support is below average. The proportion of those who have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is also below average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for the pupil premium (the extra government funding for pupils looked after by the local authority and those known to be eligible for free school meals) is very low.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make sure that pupils, in Years 3 to 6, capable of making rapid progress in mathematics do so by:  matching activities more closely to the prior learning of pupils so they are consistently challenged  providing well designed opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that pupils in Years 1 and 2, particularly boys, make rapid progress in writing by setting work that more accurately builds on what they already know and can do.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is ambitious for what can be provided for pupils so that the school’s intention, to produce young people confident and ready for the next stage of their education, is met. She forms a very effective team with the assistant headteacher.

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The leadership and management are good

 School leaders and governors have a very accurate understanding of the school’s many strengths and few areas for improvement. Parents describe the school as continuously improving.

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The leadership and management are good

 Middle leaders have a clear understanding about what is going well and what needs to improve. Those responsible know what needs to be done to improve mathematics and writing.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior leaders regularly check the quality of teaching and have clear procedures whereby teachers’ effectiveness is rewarded and underperformance tackled. However, leaders have yet to make the changes necessary to improve writing and mathematics because this round of appraisal is just beginning.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils are assessed regularly and accurately. Information is used particularly to focus on pupils not doing as well as expected, and determine the areas that need changing to put this right. Although assessment information is accurate, sometimes it is not used effectively to organise groups within class. As a result, pupils expected to make faster progress in mathematics do not always do so.

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The leadership and management are good

 The small amount of pupil premium funding is used effectively; for example, to widen the opportunities available to these pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils say that they like the way subjects are linked together, and that it helps them to learn. Knowing the science and technology of a particular time period, for example, helps them to understand the decisions made by people of that time. Carefully chosen visits and visitors enrich and enliven lessons and often form the basis of later learning. Skills are taught well; for example, how to research efficiently using tablet computers.

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The leadership and management are good

 Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fundamental to everything the school does. Pupils are very curious to learn anything new and show interest in, and respect for, the views of others.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. Events such as ‘Parliament Week’ give them a good insight into democracy in action. Pupils understand they are part of a community in which everyone is equal. They know that rights come with responsibilities. They know any unfairness will be tackled, and why that should be so.

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The leadership and management are good

 Additional sports funding is used very effectively. Staff training means that pupils receive better quality teaching in a wider variety of activities, in lessons, at lunchtime and after school. A wider range of activities, including sports such as fencing, is much appreciated by pupils who participate enthusiastically and in greater numbers. Pupils have a clear understanding of the importance of exercise to their physical well-being.

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The leadership and management are good

 School staff contribute to, and benefit from, sharing expertise and resources among the local cluster of schools. The headteacher has played a pivotal role; for example, in special educational needs. Useful dialogue with these partner schools is the basis of the clear and cohesive plans to implement new assessment arrangements in response to the changes being introduced nationally.

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The leadership and management are good

 School leaders feel they are already benefiting from the new partnership with the local authority’s ‘challenge partner’. The school also shares a productive relationship with the diocese.

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The leadership and management are good

 The relationship with parents is excellent. Parents are full of praise, particularly for the way their children achieve well in key subjects while developing a very broad general knowledge and understanding of how societies work.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils are effective.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors are active in the school and are confident in challenging leaders about performance and results. They understand changes to the curriculum and know how much is done to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. They have a thorough understanding of data and the planned changes to assessment. They also have an accurate understanding of the quality of teaching and set the headteacher challenging targets focused on school improvement.  Financial resources are managed efficiently so that the school is generously staffed and equipped. Governors know how additional funding is used and the impact it has on the quality of teaching and the achievement of eligible pupils. They are fully aware of the links between salary progression and teachers’ performance, and they ensure the school meets statutory requirements, including those for safeguarding. They regularly canvas, and take account of, parents’ views.

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors have put together a comprehensive plan for their own further development. Outside expertise has been used well to encourage and inform discussion. Governors have not shied away from open and honest debate to enable them to improve their work and make most efficient use of their time and skills. They have clear plans for the school’s future.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding because pupils fully understand the reasons for rules in order for their community to work effectively.   Attitudes to learning are excellent. Pupils are taught what they are expected to bring to their own learning. As a result, they arrive each day ready and eager to attack the day’s learning.

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Behaviour

 The school maintains a strong focus on attitudes to learning. They are regularly discussed and celebrated in assemblies and letters home. Pupils know to focus on these attributes.

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Behaviour

 Pupils take pride in their school. They respond enthusiastically when staff involve them in decision making. They know that their views will be listened to and considered.

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Behaviour

 Staff are effective in helping pupils to understand the world in which they live and how they can become active and responsible citizens. Pupils enjoy taking responsibility. For example they recently designed and organised a sponsored event, including inviting a bank employee to explain how ‘gift aid’ could be used to increase the value of contributions.

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Behaviour

 Just as older pupils appreciate staff asking their views, so they will say, ‘What do the little ones think?’ Older pupils enjoy helping those younger than themselves. Each morning, they rush down to the Reception class to listen to children reading.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have a clear understanding of equality of opportunity because staff explain to them how, for example, two pupils will have different experiences to give them both the same life chances.

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Behaviour

 The very small numbers of pupils who struggle to manage their own behaviour are catered for very well. Exclusions are a last resort and given for appropriate reasons. In such cases, the school works closely with parents to avoid repetition.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. All risks are fully assessed; school leaders and governors follow specialist advice; for example, in how visitors enter and leave the site.  Pupils are involved in decision making so that they understand how relative risk should be assessed.

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Safety

 Pupils have an excellent understanding of how to keep themselves safe, especially when using the internet. They know about the potential dangers and what to do if a situation seems unsafe.

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Safety

 Bullying is very rare because staff are vigilant and pupils are given regular reminders of what to do if they feel they are being bullied. Pupils are confident that appropriate action would be taken should any bullying occur.

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Safety

 Teaching assistants play a crucial part in pupils’ well-being. They are trained in pastoral care and pupils know they can approach them if they have any anxiety.

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Safety

 Attendance is above average and pupils are punctual to school because they and their parents appreciate all it has to offer.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Strong positive relationships between pupils and staff underpin the good learning at this school. All staff know each individual pupil well, so they know how to get the best out of them. Classes are a hive of activity, with pupils’ thirst for knowledge feeding off the interesting activities provided for them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Because relationships are so strong, pupils work very well together to provide one another with helpful suggestions about work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Effective marking in books and verbal feedback in lessons is fundamental to pupils’ progress. Pupils know and understand what they have achieved and what they need to focus on next. Pupils’ evaluative skills are carefully developed and they often evaluate the work of their class-mates, listing what has been done well and what they consider would be the author’s next steps in learning. As a result, they have learnt how to evaluate their own writing more effectively.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils bring a very strong work ethic to their learning and do not look for the ‘easy option.’ Investigating a three-dimensional shape, for example, they insisted one edge was 2.9cm when they could easily have taken it to be 3cm and given themselves much simpler calculations.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The skilled and knowledgeable teaching assistants are used well. Whether supporting individuals or groups, they are well prepared and effective. As a result, the pupils they help do well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff enable older pupils to help those younger than themselves. For example, recognising a reluctance by younger boys to write, older pupils were encouraged to work with them and provide positive role models.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils say they enjoy homework, particularly the online mathematics activities that give them immediate feedback and opportunities to practise areas of relative weakness. Opportunities to study and research to greater depth also inspire them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Some activities planned as mathematical investigations are not well designed. During the inspection, one about area and perimeter, for example, just provided pupils with a series of more difficult calculations and no real opportunity to use and apply mathematical understanding.

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The quality of teaching is good

 A few pupils the school has identified as potentially able to make rapid progress in mathematics are sometimes placed in a group that has work that is too easy. As a result, their progress is not as fast as it should be.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Occasionally, writing tasks for pupils currently in Years 1 and 2 do not have an appropriate level of challenge because they are either too easy or too difficult. As a result, although the pupils’ excellent attitudes mean they persevere and do the best they can, they make less progress than they should.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, attainment was above average by the end of Year 6. All pupils reached at least the expected level in reading, writing and mathematics, and the proportion exceeding this was higher than the previous year’s national average in all three subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment is also above average in reading, writing and mathematics when national comparisons are made at the end of Year 2.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Similarly good results occur in most years, although, as year groups at Preston are relatively small, results can vary greatly from year to year. Results were lower in 2013 because that group included several pupils with special educational needs whose good progress was from lower starting points.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ outstanding attitudes to learning are fundamental to their success. Pupils have very high expectations of themselves, and staff create a culture in which their academic skills and personal attributes are fostered.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most-able pupils generally do well. When appropriate, these pupils work with an older class so they are challenged by work that is neither too easy nor too hard. However, their progress slows when they are grouped with less-able pupils and given work that is too easy for them.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 While the vast majority of pupils make the expected progress in Years 3 to 6, the proportion making faster progress varies. In reading and writing, it is above the national average, but, in mathematics, fewer pupils make better than expected progress to reach higher levels of attainment.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Reading is a strength of the school because the school places great emphasis on the teaching and practising of reading skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils develop a good understanding of the way letters link to the sounds they make (phonics) because this early reading skill is taught well and learning is organised effectively. Teachers and well-trained teaching assistants teach key skills, such as mouth shape and pronunciation, to pupils in small groups of similar ability. As a result of effective teaching, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected level in the Year 1 national screening check is above the national average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The small number of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress from their different starting points. Fundamental to this is that the school carefully tailors the curriculum and the support provided to meet these pupils’ specific learning needs.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupil premium funding is used effectively. Disadvantaged pupils make the same good progress as their classmates. The number of eligible pupils is too small to comment in detail on their attainment in English and mathematics without risk of identifying individual pupils.

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The early years provision is good

 Children start in the Reception class with skills and experiences which, overall, are similar to those typically seen at this age. An exception is in early writing skills, which are often less well developed.

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The early years provision is good

 Children settle quickly. They want to learn, and they come to class inquisitive to find out what each new day offers. They behave well.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is good. Staff form an effective team and are very aware of when to make a helpful suggestion and when to leave children to try to work things out for themselves.

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The early years provision is good

 Tasks are very varied, always interesting and invariably offer children plenty of scope for exploration and to pursue their interests. Since the previous inspection, the outdoor area has been improved and provides a stimulating and safe environment in which to learn and play.  The importance of writing is regularly emphasised. Nearly all activities include opportunities to ‘write’ in one form or another. For example children were recently enthused to write about their imaginary island and everything that occurs there.

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The early years provision is good

 Older pupils play an important part. They regularly read with, and to, their younger partners, providing good role models. These positive relationships continue when they meet in the playground and they contribute to children’s emotional health, safety and well-being.

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The early years provision is good

 Staff regularly and routinely discuss children’s progress and use this information well to plan activities, whether to give them extra adult guidance if they struggled, give them more opportunities to practise if they are beginning to understand, or move on if they have mastered the skill or learning.

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The early years provision is good

 Children achieve well. Over the last two years, about two-thirds reached a good level of development. In 2014, the children did particularly well in mathematics, communication and personal, social and emotional development.

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The early years provision is good

 Parents say they are fully involved and receive the advice and information they need, before and during their children’s time in the Reception class.

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The early years provision is good

 Leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage are good. Each child’s individual learning needs are quickly identified and catered for well.

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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 121061 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 449172

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 94 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Neil Bridgstock Headteacher Lesley Payne Date of previous school inspection 17 January 2011 Telephone number 01508 470454 Fax number 01508 470731 Email address office@tasburgh.norfolk.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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