Sherborne Abbey Church of England Primary School

School report Punnetts Town Community Primary School Battle Road, Punnetts Town, Heathfield, East Sussex, TN21 9DE

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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 good school

 The executive headteacher provides inspirational leadership. She is strongly supported by senior leaders, staff and governors. As a result, teaching and achievement are improving.  Good teaching means that pupils are making good progress. They are achieving well in reading, writing and mathematics.  Teachers make lessons interesting and pupils respond well, showing a real desire to learn.  The youngest children get off to a good start in the Reception class. Children are well supported in their learning and make good progress.  Pupils who have particular individual needs are quickly identified and given good support to help them achieve well.  Pupils enjoy school. Their attendance is above average and they are routinely punctual to school.  Pupils behave well. They are friendly, polite and relate well to each other and to adults. They say that they feel safe in school and their parents overwhelmingly support this view.

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This is good school

 Pupils take part very enthusiastically in a good range of enrichment activities. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good.  Leaders check teaching thoroughly and make sure that staff receive high quality training to help them improve their skills.  The governing body has detailed knowledge of the school, challenging and supporting senior staff effectively.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There is not enough outstanding teaching to ensure that pupils make outstanding progress.  Pupils do not always take enough pride in their written work to make sure that it is accurate and well presented.  Subject leaders are relatively new in post and have not yet had many opportunities to check on and develop the quality of teaching and achievement in their subjects.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed eight lessons, all but one of which were jointly observed with the executive headteacher. The inspector looked at the work in pupils’ books and listened to pupils read in Reception and Years 2, 3 and 6. She also made a number of short visits to classes with the head of school.  Discussions were held with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Governing Body, school leaders and other staff, groups of pupils and a representative of the local authority.  The documents reviewed included the school’s plans for future improvement, minutes from governing body meetings, a range of school policies, records of pupils’ learning and progress, those relating to the quality of teaching and information which shows how the school keeps pupils safe.  The inspector met informally with parents during the inspection and took account of the views of 39 parents who completed the online Parent View survey and the school’s own survey of parents’ views.

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Information about this inspection

Seventeen responses to the staff questionnaire were also considered.

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Inspection team

Grace Marriott, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Punnetts Town is a village school which is much smaller than most primary schools.  Pupils in Years 1 to 6 are taught in mixed-age classes.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is lower than average. This is additional funding provided by the government to support disadvantaged pupils.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is broadly average.  The school has been part of a federation with Broad Oak School since January 2008 and the federation expanded to include a third school in September 2014. The three schools are led and managed by an executive headteacher and each has a head of school.  The joint governing body was re-constituted in September 2014 to take account of the changes to the federation.  Since the previous inspection the school has had two acting headteachers. The current executive

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Information about this school

headteacher took up her post at the start of the Summer Term in 2013.  The independent village pre-school shares the school site. It was not part of this inspection.  The school meets the government floor standards which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage attend school full time. The school has no part-time provision.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding and raise pupils’ achievement by: – ensuring that teachers consistently make the next steps clear to pupils when marking their work and give them time to respond to this – encouraging pupils to take more pride in their work and improve the accuracy and presentation of their written work and their handwriting – giving subject leaders opportunities to develop their skills in checking the quality of teaching and learning in their subjects so that they can help other teachers to improve their skills.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school went through a period of considerable difficulty in leadership and management after the previous inspection and standards started to slip. The executive headteacher, supported by the head of school and senior leaders, has reversed the decline and in some areas, for example in the Early Years Foundation Stage, achievement is better than previously.  The staff are very committed to the school. They overwhelmingly support the leadership team and the direction the school is taking. They support the drive to see that achievement continues to improve without losing the considerable strengths in care and support of pupils. Parents are equally supportive of the school and full of praise for the education it provides for their children.  New systems for collecting and comparing data on pupils’ attainment and progress are providing staff with detailed, reliable information. This is used well to improve teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The careful checking on progress is helping to make sure that pupils who need extra help receive the right support. Parents are very appreciative of this.  The school is creating a team of subject leaders to work with senior staff to improve their subjects. Most of them are new to these roles and have not yet been able to observe the teaching of their subjects.  Teaching is regularly reviewed and teachers know that they are accountable for their pupils’ progress. They know that they will be supported by high quality training. The staff benefit from being able to share opportunities and expertise across the federation.  The school promotes equality of opportunity well. Staff work hard to make sure that relationships are good and that there is no discrimination. All pupils are fully involved in the life of the school and take part in music, drama, sport and other activities. The additional sports funding is being used well to provide

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The leadership and management are good

specialist coaching and opportunities which would not normally be available in such a small school.  The additional funding received through the pupil premium is well targeted to provide good support for these pupils. The impact of the support is carefully monitored and is effective.  The new National Curriculum and assessment are being carefully and systematically implemented. The interesting range of activities planned for different subjects engages pupils well and also enables them to practise and improve their skills in English and mathematics.  Pupils are being well prepared for life in modern Britain. Personal, social and health education and religious education lessons introduce pupils to beliefs and cultures which are not part of the local community and they learn the importance of respect for others. The very clear systems for managing behaviour help them to understand the importance of rules in society and the school council elections

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The leadership and management are good

introduce them to ideas of democracy.  The local authority has provided the school with appropriate support. This increased during the period of instability of leadership and was maintained until it was evident that the school was improving and stable. The support is now more ‘light touch’ which is appropriate to the current position.  The governance of the school: – The governing body is effective and keen to work closely with the staff to ensure that the pupils receive an outstanding education. Governors have made sure that they are well informed about teaching, attainment and progress and other aspects of the school’s work. As a result they ask leaders challenging questions and work with them to bring about improvement in areas which are weaker. They know how effectively the pupil premium and sports funding are being spent. They are well informed about the quality of teaching and oversee the implementation of the pay policy. They are very clear about the

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The leadership and management are good

relationship between pay, performance and promotion. They also know where support has been provided to improve teaching. They have started an ambitious programme of visits to make sure that they keep up to date with what is happening in the school. Governors take their responsibility for safeguarding very seriously and make sure that the school is meeting statutory requirements and that these are effective.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils typically behave well in class and around the school. They understand the well-established routines and know what is expected of them. They understand that their behaviour can affect how well they learn.  Pupils are proud of their school and keen to welcome visitors. They enjoy taking on responsibilities. The school council members are clear about their role and understand that they have been elected to represent their classmates and not just their own views. They are confident that the school leaders would listen to, and if possible act on, sensible suggestions.  Pupils are supportive of one another and play together well in the playground. The playground leaders have considerable responsibility for making sure that younger pupils are looked after and have someone to play with.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning in all classes. They cooperate well and want to learn.

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Behaviour

Occasionally, however, their attention can slip if an activity goes on for too long.  All parents responding to the Parent View online survey say that the school makes sure that the pupils behave well.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils feel safe in school and those spoken to did not express any concerns about bullying. Pupils know about different types of bullying including cyber, physical and repeated verbal bullying. They can distinguish between these and arguments between friends which are quickly settled. The vast majority of parents feel that the school deals well with any issues.  Pupils trust adults to help them sort out any difficulties. School logs show very few incidents. Appropriate action is taken when needed and pupils are encouraged to reflect on their actions.  The school’s work with families is very strong. Staff work very hard with parents and, if necessary, with a range of agencies, to support pupils who may be experiencing difficulties.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Across the school the teaching is good and as a result, most pupils, including disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils, make good progress and achieve well. The most able pupils make good progress overall and are given good opportunities to work at a high level.  Teachers plan interesting work which captures pupils’ interest and develops their literacy skills. For example, in a personal, social and health education lesson on the impact of bullying, the older pupils in Key Stage 2 used their literacy skills very imaginatively to explain how it might feel to be bullied. In a Key Stage 1 numeracy session on sequencing numbers pupils’ vocabulary relating to the calendar and the seasons was developed well.  The teaching of the mixed-age classes is well planned to ensure that work takes account of pupils’ previous level of work and is neither too easy nor too hard for pupils of different ages and abilities.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Relationships between pupils and adults are excellent. Pupils respect the staff and appreciate how much help they are given. Staff clearly value pupils’ ideas and contributions to lessons.  Teaching assistants are effective in whole-class lessons, in group work and when working with individuals who have particular needs. They are well briefed about their role and provide teachers with useful feedback on how well pupils understand the work.  Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly. Some comments provide clear guidance to pupils on how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve. However, these are not consistent enough and are not always acted on by pupils to help them make outstanding progress.  Teachers’ expectations for the presentation of work are not high enough and too much of the pupils’ written work is spoilt by mistakes in spelling and punctuation and by poor handwriting.

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is good

 Lesson observations and work in pupils’ books show that most pupils are making good progress from their different starting points. The very small size of year groups means that year-to-year comparisons with national results are not always reliable because individual circumstances can have a disproportionate effect. Test results and the work in pupils’ books show that attainment and progress are improving over time, with little difference between groups of pupils.  Results in the Year 6 tests in 2014 were in line with the national average in reading, writing and mathematics and pupils had made good progress from Key Stage 1.  In the English grammar, spelling and punctuation test, the outcomes were slightly above the national results at Level 4 and well above at the higher Level 5. This was considerably better than in 2013.  The most able pupils make good progress in all areas and are usually challenged appropriately. For

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is good

example, talented mathematicians from Years 4, 5 and 6 are working at a high level. More able pupils have a good understanding of how to write effectively for different purposes.  Pupils in Years 1 and 2 are acquiring good literacy and numeracy skills and this showed in results in the end of Key Stage 1 teacher assessments in 2014. These were well above average and much improved on previous years. Pupils learn to use their knowledge of phonics (letters and sounds) to read unfamiliar words and most learn to read confidently and with expression. Pupils are able to talk knowledgeably about books and said how much they enjoyed reading.  Pupils write for a variety of purposes in different subjects. The actual content of their written work is usually good but can be spoilt by poor presentation, handwriting and careless mistakes. Too many pupils do not take enough pride in their work.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are well supported in class and through

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is good

effective intervention programmes. As a result they make good progress and in general are achieving at a higher level than disabled pupils or those with special educational needs nationally.  Disadvantaged pupils, who are supported by the pupil premium, make good progress. There is some variation from year to year as cohorts are very small. Therefore, it is not possible to compare their performance in national tests with others without identifying individual pupils.

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is good

 Achievement in the Early Years Foundation Stage is improving rapidly. Children join the Reception class with knowledge, skills and understanding which are broadly typical for their age. In 2014 three quarters of the children reached a good level of development across the different areas of learning. This was well above the national average and a huge improvement on the previous year where outcomes had been well below.  Children currently in Reception enjoy learning and are also making good progress in learning the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics. In a lively phonics session they were reading simple words in sentences. In mathematics, most of them were counting confidently to 20 and the more able could find missing numbers. Some children opted to continue with this when they chose their own activity.  Leadership and management are good. The executive headteacher and senior staff have worked closely

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is good

with staff to improve the management of the Early Years Foundation Stage. They have focused particularly on improving teaching and raising achievement. These actions have been effective. Teaching is good. Regular checks and the careful planning of next steps mean that the activities planned are now more challenging for the children but no less enjoyable.  The introduction of better learning journals help staff to record important evidence of progress, although, as in the rest of the school, in places the comments are not specific enough. The journals also help to keep parents well informed about their children’s progress and achievement.  Staff ensure that children have many opportunities to develop good social skills in a safe environment. Children’s behaviour is good. They learn to follow instructions from staff and are generally able to concentrate on activities, happily sharing toys and other equipment. The work and attitudes of the pupils

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is good

in Year 1 show that they were well prepared for the move to more formal education.  Staff have worked hard to provide interesting indoor and outdoor areas which encourage children to want to learn. They recognise that there is still more needed to make it an outstanding environment and have plans to achieve this.

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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 144414 Local authority East Sussex Inspection number 444128

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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 Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 94 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sarah Hutton Executive headteacher Shirley Frankis Date of previous school inspection 8–9 June 2011 Telephone number 01435 830361 Fax number 01435 830361 Email address office@punnettstown.e-sussex.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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