Chiseldon Primary & Nursery School

Chiseldon Primary School Castle View Road, Swindon, SN4 0NS

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leadership and management are good because the school leaders have worked effectively together to overcome previous weaknesses. As a result, the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement has improved significantly since the last inspection.  The inspirational leadership of the headteacher, supported by staff and an effective governing body, is at the heart of the school’s determined drive to improve.  Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics and so are well prepared for the next stage in their education.  The school’s positive values and beliefs are reflected in pupils’ good behaviour and attendance.  Effective safeguarding procedures ensure that pupils are safe and well cared for.  The subjects that pupils learn are very well planned to meet their individual needs and generate an enthusiasm for learning.  Teaching is good throughout the school because it is effective in helping pupils to learn. As a result, all

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

pupils, including those with special educational needs and from disadvantaged backgrounds, make good progress.  The school effectively promotes British values and pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children are well taught and teachers have created a warm and welcoming classroom where all are keen to learn. As a result, children make a good start to their schooling.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 At times, pupils’ lose concentration and teachers do not always respond quickly enough to this.  The outside area of the Early Years Foundation Stage is not fully developed to support learning effectively.  The most able pupils do not always have high enough expectations as to what they can achieve in writing and mathematics.  Some pupils’ work is untidy, not enough pupils are fluent using pens, and some older pupils do not hold their pens or pencils correctly.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors saw learning in every class and observed in 15 lessons. Some were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Inspectors met with a group of pupils, heard some of them read, and talked informally to pupils in the playground and around the school. Meetings were also held with the headteacher and senior staff, two governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body, and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation including plans for the school’s improvement, information about how well pupils are doing, records of governors’ meetings and records relating to pupils’ behaviour, safety and welfare. Inspectors also looked at pupils’ books to see how pupils were doing.  The views of parents were taken into account through the scrutiny of the 44 responses to the online Parent View survey. Inspectors also held a discussion with a representative group of parents.

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Information about this inspection

 Staff views were taken into consideration by discussions with staff and by scrutinising questionnaires completed by 16 staff members.

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Inspection team

Chris Nye, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. There is one full-time Reception class in the Early Years Foundation Stage and one class in each other year group.  The school receives pupil premium funding for around 16% of the pupils. This proportion is lower than the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for disadvantaged pupils.  Last year the proportion of pupils with special educational needs was well above the national average. However, this has been considerably reduced and is now similar to other schools nationally.  The very large majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations of pupils’ attainment and progress.  A pre-school provision shares the school site, but this is not managed by the governing body and so was not inspected as part of this inspection.

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Information about this school

 The school was part of a federation of schools, but this was disbanded last year. As a result, the governing body has only been in place for nine months. The headteacher, who was supporting the previous headteacher following the last inspection, was appointed to the post of permanent headteacher in May 2014.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the quality of teaching by developing:  teachers’ skills in identifying when pupils’ learning needs to be re-focused  the Early Years Foundation Stage outdoor area so that it more closely reflects the high quality of learning opportunities in the Reception classroom.  Accelerate pupils’ progress and raise attainment by:  ensuring that more able pupils have raised expectations about what they can achieve in writing and mathematics so that their attainment improves more rapidly  improving pupils’ letter formation and the presentation of their work.

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The leadership and management are good

 The energy, enthusiasm and commitment of the headteacher are the key reasons for the school’s rapid improvement. Leadership and management are not outstanding because such improvements are recent and have not yet had time to be embedded further. However, the headteacher has provided inspirational leadership which, in a comparatively short period of time, has successfully united the staff team. The headteacher’s high expectations and ambition and the determination of staff have resulted in all the weaknesses identified in the last inspection being resolved, so that previous underachievement is being addressed and standards are improving. Consequently, the school has a good capacity to improve still further in the future.  Leaders at all levels accurately check the quality of teaching and learning and take swift action to address any weaknesses. For example, checking mathematics teaching and learning identified that pupils’

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The leadership and management are good

understanding of fractions was not good enough. This led to well-planned support for teachers. Follow-up checks showed that this aspect of mathematics is becoming an area of strength.  Detailed analysis of information on pupils’ achievement and the outcomes of the checks on teaching and learning are closely linked to the management of teachers’ performance. These then provide the focus for staff training and the identification of suitable improvement priorities.  Improvement plans clearly identify appropriate areas for development. They indicate what actions will be taken, when and how they will be evaluated. Suitable criteria for measuring the success and impact of such actions are identified. As a result, improvement plans are helping to raise standards in teaching and learning.  The role of middle leaders has been developed and they are having a much greater impact on the school’s improvement as a result. They are now fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses in their areas of

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The leadership and management are good

responsibility. A particular strength is the way in which they work together with the headteacher as a cohesive team. This is having a positive impact on improving the quality of teaching across the school.  The planning of the subjects that pupils learn is a significant strength and makes the best use of new national requirements to meet the needs of pupils. These plans are shared with parents on the school’s very effective website, and provide a clear structure of how a very wide range of subjects is taught in each class. The plans show how literacy and numeracy skills are at the centre of teaching in every subject. Music and physical education are strengths, and there is a strong emphasis on how pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is encouraged. Specific topics, such as one centred on a visit to the Houses of Parliament, are proactively promoting pupils’ understanding of British values. As a result, pupils

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The leadership and management are good

are very well prepared for life in modern Britain and for the next stage in their education.  The school works well with parents and the local community. Although a small minority of parents who responded to the Parent View survey expressed concerns about how well the school communicates with them, inspectors found no evidence to justify such concerns. The small group of parents who met with an inspector welcomed the improvements that have been made.  The school actively promotes an atmosphere where all are valued and in which equality of opportunity, high standards of behaviour and an intolerance of all forms of discrimination are the norm.  Support for pupils with special educational needs is very effectively managed. A recent review of how pupils’ needs are supported has rightly streamlined provision so that the best use is made of resources. As a result, the quality of support has improved and almost all pupils who have special educational needs

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The leadership and management are good

make rapid progress compared with other pupils nationally and in the school.  Additional funding for primary physical education (PE) and sports is exceptionally well planned and used to improve pupils’ healthy lifestyles. For example, the employment of a specialist PE teacher and the increase in clubs and activities have raised pupils’ enthusiasm for sports, such as curling. The result of this is that more pupils are now involved in a range of activities.  Additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils has been used to fund additional staffing to raise their achievement. As a result, there is no significant gap between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and others nationally and in the school.  The local authority has provided good quality support, which has focused on those areas of weakness identified in the last inspection. Support and training for middle and senior leaders and governors have

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The leadership and management are good

had a particularly positive impact on driving rapid improvement.  All safeguarding procedures are securely in place, meet statutory requirements and are rigorously applied.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Although the governing body is newly established, it is already starting to have a significant impact on driving the school’s improvement. Governors are well led and trained. They have a good understanding of achievement data, which they use effectively to hold leaders to account. For example, they identified where there were weaker outcomes last year and supported the headteacher in making staffing changes to successfully resolve this. They have established systems to check the effectiveness of the school which complement the school’s own, and they have a clear understanding of how teachers’ performance is managed. Their roles and responsibilities are clearly defined.  Governors understand that, although a good start has been made and systems are fully in place to enable them to fulfil their roles and responsibilities, time is now needed to embed such strategies.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. It is not yet outstanding because, although pupils are generally enthusiastic learners in all the subjects that they study, in some lessons, pupils’ lose concentration and do not work as hard as they should.  Pupils are very polite and friendly and, during lunch and break times they play well with each other. Relationships across the school are good and effective behaviour management systems and policies are consistently applied.  Pupils enjoy coming to school and this is reflected in the high attendance figures, which are well above those found in other schools nationally.  Pupils are actively encouraged to care for their school and each other, and they take their responsibilities seriously. Their views are listened to and valued by adults. For example, plans to develop playtime equipment and raise funds at a barn dance to establish a school farm included the school council.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say that they feel safe in school and safeguarding systems are effective.  Pupils have a good understanding of the different types of bullying, including racism and cyber bullying. Although bullying is rare, pupils know how to respond if they encounter it. Meticulous records of unacceptable behaviour are kept and all incidents are suitably responded to and resolved.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching has improved considerably since the last inspection because weaker teaching has been eliminated. Throughout the school, the quality of teaching is now consistently good. The impact of this is reflected in the good progress that pupils make in reading, writing and mathematics, especially since the start of the current academic year. Teaching is not yet outstanding because these improvements are still recent and need to be embedded further to secure the improving trends in pupils’ achievement.  Phonics (the sounds that letters make) is well taught and this is helping to raise standards in reading and writing.  A strength is the way that reading is taught across the school and how pupils are encouraged to read widely and often. As a result, pupils demonstrate positive attitudes towards reading, make very good use of the school library and are eager to talk about their favourite authors and books.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Because teachers have high expectations and know their pupils well, lessons are well planned and structured to meet the range of pupils’ needs in each class. Imaginative tasks, such as the use of well- chosen video clips to encourage descriptive writing, encourage pupils’ writing and enthusiasm for learning.  Pupils make rapid gains in their learning when teachers use questioning very effectively to challenge pupils and check their progress and understanding. For example, incisive questioning by a teacher encouraged pupils to work out which was the most appropriate mathematics operation to use to solve a very complex word problem. However, at times, pupils lose concentration and teachers do not always see where this happens quickly enough, so the pace of pupils’ learning slackens.  Teachers have good knowledge of the subjects that they are teaching and provide clear explanations which support pupils’ learning well. Good quality resources and classroom displays are used well to

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The quality of teaching is good

motivate learning.  There is an appropriate homework policy which is consistently applied across the school and which appropriately enhances pupils’ learning.  Teaching assistants are well trained and effectively support teaching and pupils’ learning. They work closely with teachers to provide good support for pupils with special educational needs through well- planned small-group and class activities. As a result, such pupils make accelerated progress.  In their books, pupils’ work is accurately and consistently marked against clear criteria which pupils understand. A strength is the detailed written guidance that teachers give on how to improve, and the way in which pupils consistently respond to this feedback. This is having a significant impact on accelerating their learning.  Pupils say that they enjoy their learning. The very large majority of parents who responded to the online Parent View survey indicated that they feel that their child is well taught. Inspection evidence supports

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children start in Reception with skills and understanding that are typical for their age. In previous years progress had been too slow in the Early Years Foundation Stage, so attainment at the end of the year had not been high enough. However, staff changes have fully addressed any underachievement and progress is now rapid and secure.  In Key Stage 1, pupils’ achievement in phonics is a strength. Last year 80% attained the expected standard, which was well above that found in other schools nationally.  Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 last year was below the national average in reading and writing, but similar to this in mathematics. The school recognises that this was because of weaker teaching, which has now been resolved, and because not enough more able pupils were attaining the higher levels.  In Key Stage 2 there has been an improving trend in pupils’ achievement over the last three years. The

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The achievement of pupils is good

most recent end of key stage attainment information shows that pupils are doing better than the national average in reading, writing, grammar, punctuation and spelling. In mathematics they are only slightly below the national average. It also also shows that the percentage of Year 6 pupils making or exceeding the expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics was similar to, or better than, that found in other schools nationally.  The school checks and follows pupils’ progress in each year group. Last year, in most classes, over 90% of pupils made the expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Inspection evidence suggests that these checks are accurate and that this good progress has been maintained and further improved since September.  Although there is an improving trend in pupils’ achievement, some more able pupils have low expectations about what they can achieve. As a result, they do not always attain high enough standards, especially in

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The achievement of pupils is good

writing and mathematics.  A particular strength is the progress made by disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs. There is no gap between the progress that they and other pupils make, both in the school and nationally. Similarly, all those pupils with special educational needs in Year 6, last year, achieved well and made or exceeded the expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ achievement across the school has improved at a faster rate since September due to improvements in the quality of teaching and the way subjects are taught. This is illustrated by the good quality teaching and work seen by inspectors in pupils’ writing and mathematics books.  The presentation of some pupils’ work is not of a high enough standard because letters are not always formed correctly. Some struggle to write fluently and clearly as a result of not being consistently encouraged to use their pens when writing. Presentation of work suffers for some pupils in older classes

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The achievement of pupils is good

because they do not hold pens or pencils correctly.

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The early years provision is good

 The early years provision is good, with all areas of learning well catered for within the Reception classroom. However, because the outdoor area is under developed and not as well organised, it does not support children’s active learning, playing, exploring and physical development as well as the good quality provision inside the building.  The quality of teaching is good and this is resulting in children making good progress, especially in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Phonics is very well taught and children’s writing is of a high standard. Children are already writing in sentences and using capital letters and full stops accurately. Adults support the learning effectively and there is a good balance between adult-led activities and those children have chosen themselves.  All safeguarding arrangements meet legal requirements.  Children’s social skills are developing well. Children behave well, enjoy coming to school, have good

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The early years provision is good

attitudes towards their learning and cooperate well with each other.  The recently appointed early years leader clearly understands her role and has high expectations. In a short time she has transformed the early years and has coherent plans to improve it still further. Adults work well as a team and there are good links with parents, who are actively encouraged to contribute to their child’s learning.

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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 126183 Local authority Swindon Inspection number 453471

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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 All-through School category Community Age range of pupils 4−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 150 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Theresa Smith Headteacher Spencer Allen Date of previous school inspection 20−21 February 2013 Telephone number 01793 740349 Fax number 01793 740349 Email address admin@chiseldon.swindon.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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