St Anne's Church of England Primary School, Grantham

St Anne's Church of England Primary School, Grantham Harrowby Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 9ED

p.1

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

p.1

This is a good school

 Senior leaders have high aspirations for pupils’ achievement which are shared with all staff, pupils and parents. This has led to improvements since the previous inspection.  Governors have helped and supported the improvements. They check the work of the school thoroughly and offer good support.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strengthened through well- established community links and vibrant work in religious education, art, music and sport.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding, in lessons and around the school. This helps them draw fully from their learning activities.  Pupils say they feel safe at school. Most parents agree and would recommend the school to others.  The quality of teaching is consistently good. Teachers use questioning particularly well to deepen pupils’ learning.  Pupils make good progress overall and achieve well. In 2014 Year 6 standards in English and

p.1

This is a good school

mathematics were above the national average. A higher proportion of pupils than nationally reached the highest Level 6, the standard of a 14-year-old.  Well-planned activities, supported effectively by teaching assistants, ensure that disabled pupils and those pupils with special educational needs achieve well.  All aspects in the early years have improved since the previous inspection. Children thrive and make good progress in the happy and nurturing environment.

p.1

It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching are not sufficiently sharply focused on pupils’ progress. Consequently, pupils’ progress is a little uneven, being faster in some classes than others.  Teachers’ marking does not always lead to prompt improvements or enable the most able to shine.  The school’s curriculum planning does not yet fully promote the highest standards of literacy or consistently engaging mathematics activities.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 Pupils’ learning was observed in 18 lessons, several of which were joint lesson observations with the headteacher. They made a number of other short visits to lessons and observed small groups of pupils taught by teaching assistants. They listened to pupils reading. An inspector attended two ‘Colllective Worship’ sessions.  The inspectors checked the quality of teaching and learning in pupils’ books in all year groups. Some of this scrutiny was conducted with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of staff and the Chair of the Governing Body. A telephone discussion was held with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors took account of the 23 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) and the contents of parental correspondence. The views of parents noted when they brought their children into school and collected them at the end of the day were considered, along with the responses to the school’s

p.2

Information about this inspection

parental surveys.  The inspectors considered the 28 responses to the staff questionnaire and considered a number of documents in school, including the school’s own data on pupils’ current attainment and progress, the school’s evaluation of its performance, school improvement planning and documentation relating to teachers’ performance.  The inspectors considered carefully the school’s records of complaints and incidents and its policies, procedures and records relating to safeguarding.

p.2

Inspection team

Ruth McFarlane, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 The school is a little smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils, a much higher proportion than average, are White British.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported by school action is smaller than nationally, being about 8%. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs, at about 5%, is also below average.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding provided for disadvantaged pupils entitled to free school meals) is below average. In Year 6 in recent years, there have been very few such pupils.  The early years comprises one Reception class for children aged four to five years who attend full-time.  A breakfast club operates twice a week, and is run by the governing body. It was included in this inspection.  After-school care is not run by the governing body and was not included in this inspection.

p.3

Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Secure outstanding teaching and achievement by:  focusing more sharply on pupils’ progress as an indicator of the quality of teaching, in leaders’ monitoring activities  making pupils’ progress consistently high in all classes  ensuring that teachers’ marking leads to prompt improvements for all and extends learning to the full, especially for the most able  ensuring plans promote high standards of literacy throughout the curriculum and stimulate pupils’ full engagement and challenge in mathematics activities.

p.3

The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and his deputy share their high aims for pupils’ achievement and personal development with the whole school community and this has underpinned improvements. Parents support these aims. Most parents who responded to the online questionnaire would recommend the school to others.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 Improvements are evident, not only in the early years, but also in pupils’ overall standards, their personal skills, attendance and behaviour. They have been achieved because the school knows its strengths and weaknesses well and checks the impact of its work. Development planning identifies what needs to be done and the school deals with it, for instance in raising standards and progress in reading in 2014. The local authority and diocese provide effective support that reflects the school’s good performance.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 All staff with allocated responsibilities contribute well to the school’s work. They have made good progress in devising a new assessment system for introduction next year that ensures coverage of the new curriculum. Systems for checking pupils’ progress are rigorous, well-organised and effective.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The good progress achieved by all pupils’ shows that all have an equal opportunity to succeed. Discrimination is not tolerated or evident. Breakfast club enables all the participants to have an equally positive start to the day.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The pupil premium funding is used effectively to support the pupils for whom it is intended, for example, through the work of the teaching assistants and the learning mentor. The support provided for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is also well-managed and ensures good relations are fostered within school and with other agencies, such as those concerned with pupils’ welfare.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The school’s paperwork and training for safeguarding, including safe recruitment procedures, meet statutory requirements. Concerns are dealt with in accordance with the guidance.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 Close links with the local community, especially with the church, help the school to focus successfully on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Art and music activities are often linked with religious education. For instance, pupils’ enjoyment and skills in singing resonate in the collective worship sessions. Pupils are being prepared adequately for life in modern multi-cultural Britain, for example through work to ensure that they understand and tolerate different beliefs and cultures.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The primary sports funding is effectively managed to bring in professional coaching for pupils and staff. As a result, pupil participation and enthusiasm for sports activities has strengthened; they are more aware of the need for healthy lifestyles, and the skills of staff have improved.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The range of subjects taught is broad and generally matched to the interests capabilities of pupils. The new curriculum planning is well in hand. However, the school agrees that plans do not as yet promote the highest standards of literacy throughout the whole curriculum or do not always stimulate pupils’ full engagement and challenge in mathematics activities.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 Staff are set targets linked to how much progress pupils make and links between pay and performance are clear.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and managers observe lessons regularly, but, in written feedback, there is insufficient focus on the impact of teaching on pupils’ progress, so that teachers are not all clear about how to ensure that pupils’ progress is at its best. As a result, progress is a little uneven from class to class.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is developing effective skills through a range of training attended, and it challenges and supports leaders well. Governors understand how to analyse data and visit school to confirm its quality for themselves. They know how the school compares with schools nationally. Governors know that teaching is good and they are aware of how weaknesses are tackled, and what is done through the performance management processes to reward good teachers. Governors monitor the use and impact of additional funding carefully, for instance, that for disadvantaged pupils. Governors are aware of, and understand, school priorities for improvement. They fulfil an annual review of safeguarding.

p.4

Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils are very proud of their school. They are exceptionally polite and welcoming to visitors and to each other.

p.5

Behaviour

 Pupils are extremely keen to come to school and join in with all it offers. They arrive at school in good time. Numerous successful school strategies have ensured pupils’ attendance rates are securely above the national average. Bright and welcoming classroom and corridor displays stimulate pupils’ engagement and willingness to learn. In the playground, pupils play extremely amicably and happily together.

p.5

Behaviour

 Even the youngest children settle very quickly to work in class and show great perseverance and enthusiasm when tasks are challenging. Pupils are invariably eager to do well and try relentlessly to improve. They extract every ounce of learning from the teaching, even on occasions when tasks are not fully engaging.

p.5

Behaviour

 Pupils readily take on extra responsibilities. For example, they are eager participants in the school council and play a significant role in helping the school raise funds for various national charities.

p.5

Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. The impact of the school’s safeguarding arrangements are evident in pupils’ confidence in approaching their class teacher with any concerns and knowing these would be dealt with. Pupils say they feel safe and well cared for by the adults in the school.

p.5

Safety

 The school ensures that pupils are informed about some of the types of bullying they might meet, including cyber-bullying. Pupils say bullying is very rare and that, should it occur, it is quickly and effectively resolved.

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers in the early years and throughout the school use questions very successfully over the whole curriculum to check pupils’ understanding and to extend pupils’ thinking skills. This underpins the good progress pupils make, whatever their ability.

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers use their good subject knowledge to plan work carefully and often make pupils’ learning interesting and engaging. Among successful examples observed was when Year 6 pupils were developing dictionary skills using a Spanish text, supposedly found in a bottle washed up to the coast. They worked with partners to find clues in the text and referred to dictionaries to decipher meaning.

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants are used effectively to provide the additional support that leads to good progress for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and disadvantaged pupils.

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of reading has improved since standards dipped in 2013. Phonics teaching (the sounds letters make) is effective in the early years and through Key Stage 1. Older pupils are presented with, and read, a good range of stories and information texts during the course of their literacy lessons which enhance their understanding of characters and of different styles of text. This helps promote literacy well. In writing, teaching motivates pupils to make good progress through effective use of lesson time.

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers pay good attention to ensuring pupils’ handwriting develops fluency and that their work is presented neatly. Teachers’ promote a love of writing through a range of interesting stimuli. These range from shopping lists, for Reception-age children to descriptions, and reports of a recent trip to a local historical house, for older pupils. Sharp attention is paid to grammatical accuracy and this has played a part in helping the most able pupils achieve the highest levels in Year 6 in this aspect of English.

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers provide a variety of different work in all subjects to match the capabilities of different groups of pupils, but leaders’ observations of teaching, and school data, show variations in progress.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly and offer written comments. However, this guidance is sometimes not challenging and in these cases there is little evidence that it leads to improvements or enables the most able to think hard.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 A small minority of teachers in mathematics do not plan tasks that provide a sufficient variety of challenge for more able pupils. This results in these pupils occasionally finding the work too easy or lacking in stimulation.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 School leaders are aware that the teaching of literacy and numeracy is often restricted too precisely to English and mathematics lessons, and this limits the fullest possible engagement with these subjects throughout the curriculum.

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

 Children start the school in Reception with skill levels that are usually broadly in line with those typical for their age. Improved attainment at all levels mean that standards in Year 2 and Year 6 reached above average in 2014. This is thoroughly supported by evidence from the work seen in pupils’ books and represents good achievement.

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

 Results for Year 6 in national tests in 2013 were average. This represented good progress for this group of pupils, who had lower starting points. The school reached the top 11% of pupils nationally for progress between Years 3 to 6 overall and was in an even better position for progress in writing.

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment in reading in 2013, while being broadly average, was behind that in mathematics and writing. However, pupils’ progress in reading still put the school in the top half of schools nationally for this measure.

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

 Leaders’ quick response has ensured that this gap in attainment and progress has closed. Phonics teaching has improved and now leads to above-average performance in the Year 1 check. Pupils say they enjoy reading. During the inspection, they took many opportunities to read, for pleasure as well as for research.

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress from their starting points because they get the support they need. For this reason too, disadvantaged pupils, who are supported by the pupil premium, are making good progress. There are too few disadvantaged pupils in the Year 6 cohort to compare their performance with others within school or with other pupils nationally without potentially identifying individuals.

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

 The most able pupils make good progress in all areas. A higher proportion of Year 6 leavers than nationally achieved the highest Level 6 in English and mathematics in 2014. This is about the standard of a 14-year-old. The most able pupils currently in school develop a clear understanding of how to write effectively for different purposes and of mathematical concepts. However, their workbooks show they are not consistently stretched enough to perform even better.

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

 While progress is good overall, and some is outstanding, there are inconsistencies across classes. There is a burst of progress in Year 2, and the highest levels of progress are recorded for Year 6 pupils.

p.6

The early years provision is good

 Leadership of the early years is effective. As in the rest of the school, it provides children with an enjoyable, safe and secure learning environment. Safeguarding and safety procedures are well-publicised and practised.

p.7

The early years provision is good

 Children settle quickly into their daily routines and form good relationships with adults and each other. Assessment of children’s progress is rigorous and the information gained enables good planning for next steps. This is an improvement since the previous inspection and contributes well to children’s achievement, which, as in the rest of the school, is good.

p.7

The early years provision is good

 Children’s behaviour is excellent, as in the rest of the school. The children respond fully to the good teaching and high expectations and greatly enjoy their learning. As a result, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception is above the national average. Children are thoroughly prepared for Year 1.

p.7

The early years provision is good

 Teachers and other adults are skilled at providing stimulating resources that support learning and development and enable children to make good progress from their starting points. This was seen in the outside area where children manning the pretend ‘fruit and veg store’ did a good trade in support of the current ‘Autumn’ theme, practising calculation skills as well as promoting healthy lifestyles.

p.7

The early years provision is good

 Regular teaching of phonics supports children well in developing good foundation stones for reading and writing skills. Disabled children and those who have special educational needs are very well integrated and benefit from good support from skilled teaching assistants.

p.7

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

p.8

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.

p.8

School details

Unique reference number 120522 Local authority Lincolnshire Inspection number 448682

p.9

School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.9

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 205 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Adrian Harvey Headteacher Jonathan Austin Date of previous school inspection 11 May 2010 Telephone number 01476 564505 Fax number 01476 564505 Email address enquiries@st-annes.lincs.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 .

p.9

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.

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

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’.

p.10

School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.10