Corbett VA CofE Primary School

Corbett VA CofE Primary School Six Ashes Road, Bobbington, Stourbridge, DY7 5DU

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher is an inspirational leader who is highly regarded in the community. She is very well supported by governors and staff to achieve significant improvements to the quality of teaching and the achievement of pupils over time.  Governors are highly effective and have high expectations for the school. They have the range of skills and knowledge to hold school leaders to account.  All of leaders and staff aspire for excellence. Together with the headteacher, they have implemented highly effective plans for improvement and are tenacious in ensuring the success of these plans. Staff who are new to the profession are exceptionally well supported.  Teachers show that they have high expectations, and plan lessons that interest and challenge pupils so that they make rapid progress.  Pupils achieve exceptionally well and reach standards that are above average.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary, both in and out of

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

lessons. They are proud to be members of the friendly and welcoming school community and are unfailingly polite and courteous.  Pupils say that there is no bullying and that they feel extremely safe in school. Parents and staff agree with this view.  Teachers’ marking and the feedback provided for pupils throughout the school, both written and verbal, make clear to pupils how to improve their work.  Early years provision is outstanding. In Reception, adults motivate children skilfully and provide a stimulating learning environment so that children develop a love of learning. They make strong progress across a range of skills and are very well prepared for learning in Year 1.  Parents are overwhelmingly positive about all aspects of the school.  The curriculum makes a significant contribution to developing pupils’ very positive attitudes to learning. The wide range of interesting topics in a range of subjects ensures that pupils’ spiritual,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

moral, social and cultural understanding develops well. This helps to prepare pupils exceptionally well for life in modern Britain.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector visited eight lessons and parts of lessons. She observed two lessons jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body.  The inspector also had a telephone conversation with the School Improvement Adviser and the external consultant employed by the school.  The inspector met with a group of pupils from Year 2 to Year 6 and spoke informally to pupils at break and lunchtimes.  The inspector looked at the work pupils were doing in lessons and checked the work they had covered over time in their books. She also listened to pupils of different ages read and talked to them about their enjoyment of reading.  The inspector observed the work of the school and examined a range of documents concerning pupils’ current achievement, school development plans and performance management information. She also looked at records relating to behaviour and attendance, and child protection arrangements.

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Information about this inspection

 Minutes of governing body meetings and the School Improvement Adviser and external consultant’s reports were considered.  The inspector took account of the 34 responses from parents to the online survey, Parent View, and the 15 questionnaires completed by members of staff. She also talked to parents at the start and end of the school day.

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Inspection team

Sarah Somers, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a much smaller than average-sized primary school.  Almost all pupils are White British.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, eligible for support through the pupil premium funding, is less than 10% and is well below the national average. Pupil premium funding is additional funding for pupils in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  Around one in seven of the pupils are identified as having special educational needs. This is a broadly average proportion.  The number of pupils in Year 6 is too small for the government’s floor standards to be applicable. These set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Since the previous inspection, there have been changes in staffing and two members of staff joined the school in September 2014.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 To make learning even better, ensure that:  every pupil always follows the advice they are given through marking to improve their work  all pupils produce neat, well-formed handwriting.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school is extremely well led by a very determined and highly effective headteacher, and is very ably supported by staff and the governing body. The staff are a cohesive team and work exceptionally well together.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher has relentlessly focused on improving teaching and learning. She is highly committed to staff development and training. This is evident in the way she has managed recent changes to teaching staff. Teachers’ performance is carefully monitored. Staff, including those who are new to the profession, receive high-quality training and this has helped them to improve their skills rapidly.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher has provided strong support and guidance for subject leaders and this has led to improvements in the quality of teaching over time. Subject leaders check pupils’ books as well as pupils’ attitudes to work, and they provide constructive feedback to colleagues. They use information from their assessments of pupils’ work to identify any aspects of the subject that pupils are finding hard. The strong staff team are united in wanting the very best for their pupils and they provide each other with much informal help and support.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Governors and leaders base their actions on a deep and accurate understanding of the school’s performance. The highly successful actions taken by leaders since the last inspection to raise standards, improve the outcomes in the early years and in the attendance of pupils shows the school’s capacity for sustained improvement . Leaders have identified work still to be done to improve all pupils’ handwriting by the end of Year 6.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders are highly rigorous in how they track pupils’ progress towards their challenging targets and they analyse the results of tests and assessments so that pupils who are not doing as well as they could, can be given precisely the extra support they need. This attention to pupils’ individual learning needs is effective and is greatly appreciated by parents.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school has begun to refine its approach to assessment so that it reflects the requirements of the new National Curriculum. It is working purposefully in collaboration with other local schools to do this.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The curriculum is supplemented by a rich variety of sporting clubs and cultural activities, including educational visits and residential trips. Exceptionally well-planned learning experiences support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very effectively. For example, assemblies help to promote tolerance and respect for individuals, including towards those with different beliefs and cultural practices. This helps to promote British values and inculcate a strong sense of right and wrong among pupils.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 There is excellent use of additional funding to promote pupils’ physical development and extend sporting activities. Specialist teaching is provided for pupils. Teachers are given support to enhance their skills in teaching a range of different sports, to provide additional sporting activities, and to enable pupils to participate in sporting competitions. The school provides opportunities for pupils to meet and compete with pupils from other schools, and the school has gained a good deal of success in these competitions. This shows the positive impact that the additional sports funding is having.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Parents’ views of the school are universally positive. They greatly appreciate the work that the school does with their children. One parent told the inspector, ‘The school represents all of the values and everything that I would want to see in a school. If I was asked to make the perfect school it would be this.’ Parents are warm in their praise of the approachability and dedication of the headteacher and staff, the good communications, and the family atmosphere the school provides for their children. The individual attention to their children’s needs was highlighted by many who spoke to the inspector.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school is regarded by the local authority as being led by a highly effective headteacher. It provides appropriate support to check the accuracy of teachers’ assessments and of the school’s self-evaluation.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Equality of opportunity is promoted exceptionally well. All groups of pupils are kept free from any kind of discrimination or bullying.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  Governors are highly effective in supporting and challenging school leaders. They play a strong part in leading the school forward. Governors receive a range of information, are well informed about all aspects of school life and have an excellent understanding of the performance of the school. Governors bring a range of skills and expertise which they use to great effect. They monitor the school’s performance thoroughly, and ask leaders challenging questions in order to hold the school to account.  Governors ensure that teachers’ salary progression is linked to their performance. Governors oversee the spending of pupil premium funding and the primary school sport funding highly effectively. They are aware of the positive impact such spending is having on pupils’ achievement and their physical well- being.  Governors provide strong support as well as challenge, acting to strengthen and maintain the aspects of

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The leadership and management are outstanding

school that make it an important part of community life. Governors place high importance on safeguarding and pay close attention to safeguarding matters. They ensure that safeguarding requirements are met through their diligent scrutiny and highly effective systems and procedures.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils show a deep interest in their learning and their exemplary behaviour in lessons reflects this.

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Behaviour

 Attitudes to learning are outstanding. Pupils approach their work with enthusiasm and live up to the high expectations of their teachers. The school has developed approaches to learning that encourage pupils to persist in the face of difficulties, to be independent but also to help each other. As a result, pupils tackle individual and group tasks with confidence and have developed strong learning habits that are preparing them extremely well for the next stage in their education.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are polite, courteous and caring towards each other, both in classrooms and on the playground. Pupils readily engage in conversation about their work and take time to be welcoming to visitors. From Reception onwards, they treat each other with courtesy.

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Behaviour

 There is a whole-school approach to behaviour management that pupils understand. However, due to the exceptionally high levels of responsibility that pupils take for their behaviour, sanctions are rarely needed. One pupil commented, ‘Learning and school is fun. We get on so well and bullying does not happen.’

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Behaviour

 Pupils appreciate and value the wide range of opportunities they have for taking responsibility within school. Activities, such as a visit to the Houses of Parliament, help them to develop a good understanding of the democratic systems that operate within Britain.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ enjoyment of school is demonstrated by their excellent levels of attendance and their punctuality. The school has worked successfully to improve attendance since the last inspection, and attendance is now high.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. There are strong procedures in place to help keep the pupils safe when they are in school, including robust safeguarding arrangements.

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Safety

 Pupils say that they feel extremely safe within school and feel confident about talking to any of the staff if they have any concerns.

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Safety

 Pupils have a very good understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a wide range of situations, including road safety and when using the internet.  Pupils fully understand different types of bullying and say that bullying incidents are rare in the school. They are confident that, if incidents did occur, they would be dealt with effectively and quickly by staff.

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Safety

 Children in Reception are developing a very good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They demonstrate a high level of respect for others.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers use information from assessment exceptionally well to plan lessons that build on what individuals already know, understand and can do. Over time, this leads to pupils of all abilities and backgrounds making sustained progress and achieving outstandingly well.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers create a calm, welcoming environment which fosters good relationships and promotes high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and achievement. Teachers have excellent relationships with pupils and know their classes well.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Pupils gain from exciting lessons which give them the opportunity to work in pairs and groups to learn from each other. Excellent learning habits are acquired from the start of the Reception Year, where children are already making choices and taking responsibility for their learning. Children worked very effectively in a session teaching phonics (letters and sounds), and they discussed their learning together with their partners.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers’ questioning of pupils is highly effective. It is targeted to ensure that all pupils remain involved in lessons, and helps to consolidate learning by encouraging pupils to explain their reasoning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Pupils are given frequent opportunities to read. Pupils read widely and often. They make good use of the well-stocked library.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Mathematics is taught imaginatively and pupils readily respond to the challenges and investigations presented to them. In a Year 5 and 6 class, for example, the topic of the First World War was linked to the teaching of area and building trenches. This stimulated the imagination of pupils and they responded exceptionally well as a result.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to pupils’ learning. They know the pupils well, work closely with the class teachers and are effectively deployed to ensure that they meet the specific learning needs of individual pupils.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers are highly committed and convey enthusiasm for the different subjects that they teach. This helps to motivate the pupils and keep them fully engaged. Teachers spend time and effort planning activities and preparing resources that will capture the pupils’ interest. For example, in one lesson, pupils went into a ‘time machine’ to learn about their First World War topic. This enthralled the pupils and they were fully engaged throughout the lesson.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Homework is used well to support learning and pupils respond positively to this and understand how this supports their learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The many colourful displays in classrooms and throughout the interior of the school reflect the range of the curriculum and the genuine pride that adults and pupils clearly take in their school.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Pupils are given effective feedback on how to improve their work. In small groups, this is often verbal during the lesson and, as a consequence, pupils act upon their teachers’ comments and make improvements as they are working. Written feedback is regular and pupils are given very precise and clear guidance to improve. Most pupils respond to the comments made when teachers mark their work and this helps pupils to improve their work. However, occasionally, pupils do not always respond to, or act on the advice and guidance set out in teachers’ comments about their written work.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils start in Reception with skills and abilities that are generally in line with or slightly above those typical for their age. They make outstanding progress and, in 2014, nearly all children achieved and many exceeded a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year. Pupils are very well prepared for entry to Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils acquire knowledge, understanding and skills quickly. They use and accurately apply phonics skills to their reading and writing. The proportion of pupils who met and exceeded the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check has been above average for the past two years.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Progress in Key Stage 1 is consistently strong. In 2014, pupils made outstanding progress in reading, writing and mathematics, and the standards they reached were well above the national average. They were the equivalent of almost a year ahead of pupils nationally. The standards in Key Stage 1 have been well above average in each of the last three years. This represents significant improvement since the last inspection.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 With small numbers in each year group, there is some fluctuation in pupils’ attainment. Nevertheless, the excellent progress continues in Key Stage 2 so that, by the end of Year 6, pupils reach standards that are consistently above the national average. In 2014, pupils in Year 6 were two terms ahead of pupils nationally. They did especially well in writing, where they were around 18 months ahead of pupils nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The work in pupils’ books show that, over time, pupils are sustaining outstanding rates of progress in each key stage. This is further supported by the school’s own data on pupils’ progress.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Records show that in Year 6 in 2014, there were too few pupils eligible for additional pupil premium funding to report their attainment without identifying individuals. This additional funding is used well to support the small number of eligible individuals throughout the school, who progress quickly and achieve at least as well as their classmates in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The small number of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs in the school also make excellent progress from their individual starting points. This is due to well-directed help from all adults, including teaching assistants, which provides effectively for all individuals. The school has been awarded a ‘Dyslexia friendly’ award in recognition of the provision and outcomes for pupils with special educational needs.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The most-able pupils achieve very well overall and are challenged to work hard and consistently achieve their full potential. The most recent national results show that in 2014, the proportion of pupils achieving the higher levels was above average at both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Art, music and sport are strengths of the school and achievement in these subjects is high. All pupils in Key Stage 2 have the opportunity to play a musical instrument and many reach a high standard.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children of all abilities make sustained progress because of the high quality of provision and the attention given to individual children’s learning needs. The environment is very stimulating, and both indoor and outdoor activities are exceptionally well planned. Pupils are taught highly effectively in a very small group and they make rapid gains in their learning.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Nearly all children completing their Reception Year in 2014 reached a good level of development and many exceeded this. Children are extremely well prepared for the work that they will meet in Key Stage 1.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The school makes excellent arrangements to introduce children and their parents into Reception and this is greatly appreciated by parents. There are many opportunities provided for parents to contribute to their child’s learning records by adding information about new developments. There are strong links with the pre-school provider that shares the school site. As a result, children settle in quickly and are happy, secure and ready to learn.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children have an excellent sense of right and wrong, and their behaviour is outstanding. They are given clear routines to follow in their first weeks of Reception. This enables them to settle quickly into school life, and they show excellent levels of co-operation with adults and other children.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The headteacher and Reception teacher have jointly led the leadership and management of the early years. Their plans for improvement since the last inspection have been very effective. As a result of strong leadership, there have been sustained and improved outcomes that show a well above average proportion of children make exceptional progress by the end of the Reception Year.

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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 124464 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 448570

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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 aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 88 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Tim Owen Headteacher Margaret Southall Date of previous school inspection 19 May 2010 Telephone number 01384 221260 Fax number 01384 221013 Email address headteacher@corbett.staffs.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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