Fritchley CofE (Aided) Primary & Nursery School

Fritchley CofE (Aided) Primary School Church Street, Fritchley, Belper, DE56 2FQ

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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 Outstanding 1

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This is a good school

 Provision for children in the early years and Year 1 is outstanding because activities are imaginative and stimulating. This ensures that all children become enthusiastic young investigators who want to improve their skills in all areas.  The headteacher has brought about significant improvement in pupils’ rates of progress by raising the quality of teaching, particularly in Key Stage 2. Leadership and management are now strengths of the school.  Pupils of all ages and abilities make good overall progress and achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ behaviour is good and they have positive attitudes to their learning. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe.  Work in pupils’ books shows that teaching is good across the school. Staff have positive relationships with pupils and mark their work carefully so that they know what to do to improve.  The teaching of letters and the sounds they make

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This is a good school

(phonics) is very effective and is improving pupils’ reading.  Staff with additional responsibilities, including for the early years, carry out their roles effectively and provide strong support for the headteacher in leading school improvement.  Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school and helps them to become caring young citizens.  Governors support and challenge the school in an increasingly effective manner. They are ambitious for further improvement and have ensured that the needs of the pupils are put first in making strategic decisions.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Some boys achieve less well than girls with their writing because they do not spell and punctuate their work carefully enough.  A few girls lack confidence in solving mathematical problems and do not use what they already know to work out what to do next.  Teaching does not consistently challenge the more- able pupils to achieve at the highest levels.  Staff do not regularly prompt the quieter pupils to contribute their ideas in discussions. Therefore some do not develop their speaking skills well enough.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed parts of six lessons and other school activities. Most of the lesson observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher. The inspector also looked in detail at the work in pupils’ books and heard several pupils read.  Planned and informal discussions were held with pupils throughout the inspection.  There were discussions with the headteacher, including in her role as special educational needs coordinator. Discussions were held with the senior teacher in her role as leader of the early years and of English.  The inspector spoke to members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  There were 16 responses to the parent questionnaire (Parent View). The inspector spoke to several parents at the start of the inspection. She also took account of six responses to the staff questionnaire.  The inspector scrutinised a number of documents, including the school’s own information about pupils’

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Information about this inspection

learning and progress. She also took account of documents and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Sue Hall, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a much smaller than average-sized primary school.  At 13%, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for the pupil premium is about half the national average. The pupil premium provides additional funding for those who are known to be eligible for free school meals.  Last year no pupils were recorded as being from minority ethnic groups. No pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is 6% overall and slightly below the national average.  There are currently three mixed-aged classes in school. Reception children attend on a full-time basis. From September there will be provision for children from the age of three in an on-site Nursery and Early Years unit.  The headteacher took up her role in January 2014, following a term when the school was led by an acting headteacher. Since January, all staff teaching pupils in Key Stage 2 have changed and the Early Years

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Information about this school

teacher has taken on the role as senior teacher.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate pupils’ progress and ensure that groups of pupils achieve equally well by;  checking that all pupils, and particularly the boys, spell and punctuate their writing accurately and develop the skills and determination to write at greater length and depth  ensuring that all pupils, and particularly the girls, develop the confidence to solve mathematical problems speedily and accurately.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the proportion of teaching that is very effective by:  checking that activities contain a high level of challenge for those of different abilities and especially the more-able  making sure that staff encourage the less confident pupils to take part in discussions to increase their skills in speaking to others and to widen their vocabulary.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides calm but strong and determined leadership. This is clearly focused on improving the achievement of pupils while maintaining the long-standing pastoral strengths of the school. Leadership has created a culture where teaching and good behaviour flourish.

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The leadership and management are good

 A strong emphasis on improving the quality of teaching, particularly for the older pupils, has been pivotal in tackling past under-achievement. Joint lesson observations with the headteacher show that she has a very accurate grasp of what works well and what remains to be improved.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is well supported by the senior teacher, whose responsibilities include the early years and English. Successful leadership is demonstrated in the modelling of excellent teaching and in working with other staff to develop activities that meet the needs of mixed-aged and ability groups.

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The leadership and management are good

 The new senior team has been able to build on improvements made since the previous inspection, which identified weaknesses in school leadership and in teaching in Key Stage 2. The local authority designated the school as ‘causing concern’ and provided a good programme of additional support to school leaders and governors, focused upon improving teaching and learning. This included work with external advisors and other schools.

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The leadership and management are good

 Improvements included the development of a rigorous programme of monitoring the work of the school. There are now careful and regular checks of pupils’ progress across the school that serve to identify what is working well and where improvement or additional support may be needed. This illustrates the school’s good capacity to continue to improve.

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The leadership and management are good

 Systems for monitoring teachers’ performance are now good and have been key drivers in school improvement. Where weak teaching was identified, a structured programme of support was quickly put into place which led to changes. Teaching is now consistently good across the school and often outstanding for the younger pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school curriculum is broad and balanced, and meets the needs of pupils as well as statutory requirements. This helps prepare pupils well for the next stage of their education and for life in modern Britain. A notable feature is that pupils do some high quality work in computer programming. The school has reviewed its approach to assessment in the light of recent changes to the National Curriculum.

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The leadership and management are good

 The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils is a central principle upon which the life and work of the school is founded. Celebration assemblies show that both academic success and effort are recognised. The school prioritises the development of British values, including a current focus on respect and tolerance for the opinions and experiences of others.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school ensures that procedures to safeguard the pupils meet current requirements. Leaders are diligent in ensuring that checks are made of the suitability of adults to work with the children. Staff carefully supervise pupils as they move around the school. Leaders have identified that the storage of equipment needs to be improved and are addressing this, demonstrating their robust approach to health and safety matters.

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The leadership and management are good

 Provision for pupils entitled to support from the pupil premium is good. Their individual needs are recognised and a tailored range of activities is provided for individuals or small groups of pupils of all abilities. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are also well supported in school on the basis of clear diagnosis and well-targeted action.

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The leadership and management are good

 School leaders promote equality of opportunity and tackle discrimination well. For example there is now careful monitoring of the different rates of progress of boys and girls in writing and mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 The primary school physical education and sport funding is used effectively. The school has commissioned a range of sports coaches to improve the skills of staff in teaching a range of sports, including gymnastics and multi-skills, and to work directly with pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The large majority of parents and carers are satisfied with the quality of education and care provided for their children and several note with pleasure the recent improvements and better organisation of activities. A small number would like more information about the child’s progress; evidence from the inspection was that the range of ways in which the school shares information with parents is wider than in many schools.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is good and has improved since the previous inspection. A review of governance has been undertaken and governors have worked with the local authority to improve their effectiveness. Governors have responded to these challenges well and take their responsibilities seriously. They have taken considered and decisive action to address previous shortcomings in leadership and teaching. Through training, there is now a much greater understanding of what data tell them about pupils’ progress. Governors also ensure they are informed about the quality of teaching. This enables them to make decisions about teachers’ pay progression based on pupils’ performance.  Governors are now effective not only in supporting the school but also in holding leaders to account for the progress that pupils make. Records of meetings show that governors now question and challenge school leaders’ decisions. Governors are forward-looking and keen to develop a programme of focused

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The leadership and management are good

visits to classrooms to ensure they are well informed at first hand. They are enthusiastic in their support of the development of a new nursery and are carefully considering the implications of this. They ensure that checks are made to safeguard everyone and that risk assessments are regular and detailed.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are friendly to each other, and older and younger ones get on well together. This is seen both in the playground and the dining hall, where those of different ages sit together, ensuring that everyone gets to know pupils from other year groups. Behaviour in assemblies is often excellent, with only ‘light touch’ supervision from staff. Attendance is above average and pupils clearly enjoy school.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good overall. When teaching is excellent, pupils show very high levels of engagement in what they are doing. This was shown in Years 2 and 3 when using computers, where pupils’ enthusiasm was outstanding. Similarly, in Reception children showed great determination in correctly counting and labelling the presents they wrapped for Santa’s sack.

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Behaviour

 Lesson observations and pupils’ books show that the large majority have positive attitudes to their work and most try hard to improve. Many pupils readily discuss their ideas with others, but a few do not make much effort to do this and wait for others to offer their ideas.

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Behaviour

 Occasionally some pupils, especially girls, do not have confidence in mathematics and a few boys do not try their best when writing. The development of resilience and determination to try hard is not seen as a priority by some pupils.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils have a clear understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe. They recognise their behaviour can have an impact on others, including at playtimes.

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Safety

 Although pupils say there is no bullying in school, they understand that it involves repeated and deliberate action that could include physical bullying or name calling. They know that this would not be tolerated in school and are confident that staff would immediately respond should they have any concerns. Older pupils readily explain what cyber-bullying is and recognise their responsibilities in using social media.

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Safety

 A small number of parents who responded to the inspection questionnaire have concerns about behaviour and bullying, but all of those spoken to recognise that the school makes clear that this would never be acceptable.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Work in pupils’ books, data and lesson observations show that teaching is now consistently good across the school. This has improved during the last year, particularly in Key Stage 2.

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The quality of teaching is good

 All teaching and support staff have strong working relationships with pupils. Staff encourage and praise the pupils’ efforts. This is particularly successful in the early years in developing the children’s interest in finding things out and doing things for themselves. Here staff enthusiastically join in with the children, for example making a Christmas sleigh from plastic crates. This approach has a very positive impact on children’s confidence and enthusiasm to learn to write and count.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff explain things well to the pupils, as seen in a particularly successful lesson in Years 2 and 3 where pupils learned how to make codes for computer programs. Pupils had enjoyed creating their fairy-tale character, then listened and followed instructions very carefully to create a code to make their character move around the screen.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark pupils’ work very carefully and identify not only what they have done well but also what could be improved. A strength is that pupils then have to respond to the marking and this in turn is noted by staff. This process ensures that corrections are done and misunderstandings are addressed.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The organisation and management of activities is good overall. Work is often set at different levels to provide appropriately for pupils in the mixed-aged and ability classes. However, the sample of pupils’ books across the school indicate that sometimes tasks are very similar for all groups and do not offer sufficient challenge to more-able pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff generally use questions well to check pupils’ understanding and encourage further thought. Occasionally, staff do not ensure that quieter pupils are fully engaged in discussions, so missing the opportunity to build their self-confidence or widen their vocabulary.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants are effective in working within class, supporting groups of pupils or working with individuals. For example, Year 4 pupils are sometimes taught separately from their classmates in Years 5 and 6 in order to provide more tailored tasks.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Disadvantaged pupils entitled to support from the pupil premium are well supported in individual or small group activities. So too are disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Records show that this support has made a clear impact this year on accelerating pupils’ progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the school with a wide range of early learning experiences which are broadly typical for their age. Records indicate that their initial skills in reading and writing are sometimes below those in other areas of learning. The sample of work seen by inspectors and the school’s data show that children in the Reception group make very rapid progress and enter Key Stage 1 with skills that are often above that typically seen in several areas of learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In the Year 1 national checks in 2014, pupils’ phonics skills were better than the national average. This is because staff have good subject knowledge and phonics are well taught. This provides a firm foundation for pupils to develop their reading skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disadvantaged pupils entitled to pupil premium funding achieve well from their different starting points. So, too, do disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. With the very small number of these pupils in some cohorts, it is not statistically valid to compare their achievements with their classmates or other pupils nationally.  In the last three years, pupils’ attainment in the end of Key Stage 1 national tests has been good. They did particularly well in 2014, being significantly above the national average. Attainment in reading was very good because pupils have been well supported through work in phonics and in reading regularly in school and at home. Pupils also attained well in writing. Boys’ attainment in mathematics was also good, but the girls less did well. Currently some girls do not enjoy mathematics because they do not have the confidence to apply new learning to principles that they already know.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2012 and 2103, the attainment of pupils in Key Stage 2 was lower than seen nationally. School records and samples of pupils’ previous work show that, from the start of 2014, rates of progress improved considerably in all areas and are now good across the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, while there was a significant improvement in Year 6 writing, girls’ attainment was better than that of boys, with a wider gap than seen nationally. Discussions with staff and samples of work indicate that some boys have not taken much care with their writing. They have not checked their grammar, punctuation and spelling carefully or developed their writing in greater depth and length. In the last year, the school has identified what to do to make writing tasks more appealing to boys, but some elements of this work are at an early stage of development.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, Year 6 boys’ attainment in mathematics was better than that of girls, with a wider gap than seen nationally. Observations show that some girls lack confidence in using what they already know to solve problems. When finding work challenging, a few girls automatically assume they cannot do the task. As a mathematician, the headteacher is keen to ensure that girls develop more confidence in mathematics and staff are now very carefully tracking the progress of different groups of pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 No pupils achieved the higher Level 6 in the 2014 national tests or are currently identified as most able with this target. As with all other groups, the school is now monitoring the progress of those pupils identified as more-able and they are receiving additional support in order to achieve all they are capable of.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils develop healthy lifestyles through a range of physical education activities, including those supported through funding for primary school physical education and sport. The school has recently worked with six different sports coaches to improve teaching skills and increase pupils’ interest in particular areas. This has led to greater uptake of activities and participation in competitions and events with other small schools.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Provision for children in the Reception group has been a long-standing strength of the school. Excellent leadership and teaching have been recognised by the local authority in their designation of staff at the school as lead practitioners in supporting other schools. Key to the very successful teaching is that children are strongly encouraged to become very keen explorers and investigators by finding out how to solve problems; this included, for example, checking that Santa has the right amount of gifts in his sack. Children have a huge amount of fun because staff join in activities with gusto which makes activities exciting for everyone.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children enter the Reception group with skills that are broadly typical for their age. There is a very good focus on developing early reading and writing skills which, on entry to school, are lower than their social and physical development. Children in Reception work alongside their classmates in Year 1, sometimes on similar activities but often on separate tasks that meet their different needs very well. Very good use is made of the relatively small outdoor learning environment, as seen when children had to count how many mud pies they had put in their baking trays.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children settle quickly and make rapid progress that enables them to achieve very well. Children from all backgrounds and of all abilities really enjoy their time in the early years, grow in confidence, and become very enthusiastic learners. They know how to keep themselves and their friends safe. Their behaviour is excellent and they really enjoy working together and sharing their ideas and resources.

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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 112880 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 449080

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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 66 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Di Fretwell Headteacher Karin Baker Date of previous school inspection 4-5 December 2012 Telephone number 01773 852216

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Fax number

Email address headteacher@fritchley.derbyshire.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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Fax number

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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Fax number

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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Fax number

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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Fax number

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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Fax number

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

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