Southwick Church of England Primary School

School report Southwick Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Hollis Way, Southwick, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 9PH

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Good 2

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Since the previous inspection, teaching across the school has not enabled all pupils to make sufficient year-on-year progress in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, the progress pupils make has not been good enough.  The presentation of pupils’ work in writing and mathematics in Year 1 and Year 2 is often untidy.  Teachers do not use the information they have on their pupils well enough to plan work that always challenges pupils, especially in Year 1 and Year 2.  The good skills teachers have are not shared sufficiently to improve the quality of teaching across the school.  High staff turnover has hampered the determined efforts of the headteacher to raise the quality of teaching. Consequently, standards across the school have not improved quickly enough.  The school does not have a middle leadership team to check the progress that the pupils make.  The governing body does not review the progress

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

different groups of pupils make rigorously enough. The governors are not skilled in analysing how well pupils achieve in school compared to national averages. Consequently, they do not hold the school sufficiently to account.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children make good progress in the Reception class and they are well prepared for their next stage in their learning.  The gaps in the attainment of disadvantaged pupils compared to other pupils are closing.  The quality of teaching and learning is improving, especially in the upper years, with activities better targeted to the abilities of the pupils.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good. Pupils behave well in school. They say they feel safe in school and that they are well looked after.  The social, moral, spiritual and cultural understanding of the pupils is well developed. Intolerance and discrimination are not accepted in the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed learning in 14 lessons, two of which were jointly observed with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. In addition, an assembly was observed.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils and senior leaders. The lead inspector held a meeting with members of the governing body and a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.  They listened to pupils from Year 2 and Year 6 read and scrutinised samples of pupils’ work.  A wide range of documents was examined, including the school’s information on pupils’ recent progress. The inspectors also looked at planning and documentation about checks on teaching and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding arrangements.  Inspectors took into account 22 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and talked with parents dropping their children off at school. The views of staff were considered through the 14 staff

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Inspection team

David Hogg, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average primary school. All pupils attend full time.  Most pupils are from a White British background.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported on the school roll is over 20% of those who attend. This is much higher than the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is just under 20%. This is much lower than that found in most schools. This is funding provided to give extra support to those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and to children who are looked after.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The headteacher has led the school since September 2013, previously having been the deputy headteacher for a number of years. The deputy headteacher joined in September 2014.

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Information about this school

 The school has undergone a significant period of staff turnover since the previous inspection, especially in the last two years.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, especially in Key Stage 1, by ensuring that teachers:  take greater responsibility for analysing the progress their pupils make and use this information to provide greater challenge to accelerate pupils’ progress  always expect that pupils take care in the presentation of their work  work more closely together to share good practice to improve the quality of teaching.  Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:  the school develops a middle leadership team and provides the members with the time to make rigorous checks on pupils’ progress so that they are able to raise achievement across the school  governors more closely check information on how much progress different groups of pupils are making in the school and how this compares with national averages.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Over time, the school leaders have not improved the quality of teaching sufficiently to enable all pupils to make good progress from their individual staring points.  The new headteacher has clear aims to develop teaching, but the rate improvement has been slow. This is in part due to the relatively high changes in staff over the last two years. The headteacher has identified weak teaching and the senior leaders have provided support when necessary to improve the skills of the teachers. She has had to take hard decisions to eradicate ineffective teaching from the school. Recent improvements to teaching have been made but have not yet been reflected fully in pupils’ results.  The senior leadership team has taken on most of the responsibilities in reviewing the progress the pupils make and the quality of teaching in the school. The headteacher is now developing a middle leadership team to take on these responsibilities. The school is providing support to key members of staff to move

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The leadership and management requires improvement

into these roles. Some subject leaders are checking the quality of teaching in their particular areas, but the middle leaders have yet to begin to check the progress different groups of pupils make across the school.  Reviews by the local authority have not identified that the progress made by pupils across the school is not consistently good. The local authority has provided better support to the headteacher through a mentoring programme as a new school leader. The governing body has accessed a range of training to help develop its skills and understanding of the role it has in school.  Opportunities for salary improvement or opportunities for promotion of teachers link closely to the achievement of the pupils they teach.  The school monitors the impact of the additional help for disadvantaged pupils as well as disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. It checks to ensure the resources are used to the best effect.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

The school works hard to enable all pupils to have an equal opportunity to succeed and achieve. Discrimination is challenged and is not tolerated.  The programme of learning activities is broad and balanced. In the classroom, learning is supported with visits to places of significance or with visitors to the school. Themed weeks allow pupils to focus on one specific area of learning. For example, pupils across the school worked on aspects of the First World War. Younger pupils made poppies to wear, whilst others explored poems from the war and went on to write their own versions of trench poetry.  Themed weeks also provide pupils with opportunities to explore the beliefs and customs of other faiths. The school’s values and beliefs encourage pupils to develop and foster understanding, tolerance and good relations within school and with others who may be different to them. Teachers or members of the local

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The leadership and management requires improvement

church lead assemblies. These allow pupils to ponder and reflect on moral issues and key messages about how they should care for others. The school prepares pupils well for life in modern democratic Britain and nurtures pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development well.  The school makes very good use of the primary sport premium. Through this funding, the school has been able to train staff in specific areas of physical education. By working alongside professional coaches, staff are more confident in teaching sports such as gymnastics. The school has been able to offer a wider range of sporting clubs and opportunities for the pupils to participate in tournaments and competitions.  Parents are very positive about the school. The parents who met with an inspector or expressed a view through Parent View said the school was welcoming and that their children were well looked after and kept safe. They felt their children were making good progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Child protection and safeguarding arrangements are robust and meet statutory requirements.  The governance of the school:  The governing body relies on the headteacher for the analysis of how well different groups of pupils are doing. The governors lack the skills to compare the school’s performance against national measures. As a result, they do not hold the school sufficiently to account for the achievement of pupils across the school. They are more adept in other aspects of their role. For example, they provide good support in reviewing the financial position of the school and additional sources of revenue, such as the primary sport funding. The governors check the effectiveness of the safeguarding procedures in school to make sure they meet the required standards. Governors visit the school regularly and take time to talk to staff and pupils. They understand the areas the school is working upon to improve. They understand how

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The leadership and management requires improvement

the school leaders are working to improve the quality of teaching and tackle underperformance in school. The governors link well the information they receive from the headteacher, the local authority representative and external consultants to gain a view of the quality of teaching in the school. They understand how teachers’ salary improvement and promotion opportunities are linked to the pupils’ achievement.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils understand how poor behaviour in class can slow down their learning. Their positive attitudes are a feature of many lessons. Older pupils show a real determination to achieve in their work. However, pupils’ behaviour is not outstanding as some of the younger pupils can become passive and less enthusiastic when tasks are more routine.  The presentation in pupils’ books shows wide variations in quality. Pupils are not always encouraged to take a pride in their work, especially in Years 1 and 2 where it is often untidy and poorly presented. This is not a feature of the books of older pupils.  Pupils have access to a wide range of sporting and other activities after school and at lunchtime. Pupils enjoy singing in assemblies and recently took part in the carol service at the local church. During the inspection, younger pupils were fully involved in singing and acting out the Christmas story in rehearsals

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils feel very safe in school and believe that the adults around them take care and look after them well.  Through activities in school and by working with outside groups, pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe near roads and when riding a bicycle. They understand and can go on to illustrate why they need to be careful about sharing personal information when playing games or using social media sites.  Pupils are very aware of the type of unkind behaviour that constitutes bullying. They say that there is very little bullying in school; although pupils do fall out, they quickly make friends again.  Pupils’ attendance is above the national average. The school works hard to support families and to reduce absence and lateness as much as possible.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching over time has not been effective enough. As a result, pupils have not made good progress in each year group.  Teachers’ expectations for pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 have not been high enough and pupils have not been sufficiently challenged. Teachers do not always use the information they have about the pupils as well as they could. Consequently, activities in the class are too easy for some pupils and too difficult for others, and the progress made by pupils slows. For example, when pupils are learning the links between letters and sounds (phonics), pupils of different abilities tackle the same activities.  The presentation of pupils’ work is inconsistent across the school and pupils’ work in Years 1 and 2 is untidy. Teachers do not insist that pupils present their work neatly and this becomes a barrier to pupils making good progress.  In other year groups, teaching has improved and is more effective. Pupils are able to choose their own

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

level of challenge for activities. Teachers are on hand to push pupils to a higher level if they think they are able to cope with tasks that are more difficult. This is helping to increase pupils’ progress.  Pupils’ work is well marked, especially in Key Stage 2. This provides pupils with clear guidance on how they can improve their work. Pupils then go on to make the necessary alterations promptly in Reflect to Perfect time. In mathematics, they check for themselves how well they are doing and their target sheets tell them what they have to do to improve their work.  The school has recognised the need to continue to develop pupils’ mathematical understanding. Analysis of national assessment tests has suggested that pupils’ understanding of the meaning of longer written questions was a concern. The school has worked to develop these skills and results have shown signs of improvement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Over time, pupils in each year group have not made enough progress to achieve well. They generally made expected progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. Through better teaching, especially in Year 6, pupils are beginning to make more rapid progress in all subjects. However, the same level of progress has yet to be seen in other year groups.  In 2014, the attainment of pupils in mathematics and reading at the end of Year 6 was broadly in line with national averages. Attainment in writing was a little higher.  Pupils enjoy reading. Younger pupils say they enjoy reading because they ‘can find out lots of things’. By the time pupils get into Year 6, they are reading with accuracy and developing expression and enjoying books by a wide range of authors.  The school targets its use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils effectively. The gaps in attainment between these pupils and other pupils are generally closing across the school. In 2014, the gap

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

in mathematical understanding of disadvantaged pupils was three terms behind compared with other pupils in school, just over two terms in reading and five terms in writing. When compared with pupils who are not disadvantaged nationally, they were just under three terms behind in mathematics and reading and just over three and a half terms behind in writing.  Focused support and guidance for the most able Year 6 pupils in 2014, particularly in mathematics, resulted in these pupils reaching the higher levels, and two pupils attaining the level expected for 14-year- olds. Across the school, however, the most able pupils make only slightly better progress than other pupils.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make expected progress. This is the same as other pupils in each year group. Targeted support is monitored carefully. However, the impact of the support from teaching assistants has not so far closed the gaps in these pupils’ skills compared to the

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The early years provision is good

 Children join the school with skills that are generally typical for their age. For some of the children their literacy skills and understanding of numbers are much weaker than their classmates. Through good teaching, they catch up quickly. By the end of the Reception Year, in 2014, over two thirds of the children had reached a good level of development.  Adults work together to plan activities that stimulate the curiosity of the children. In the run up to Christmas, the main activities children could choose to explore were Santa’s workshop and making things for a Christmas party. The children demonstrated good imagination in role playing scenes and developing ideas for a meal. When Santa arrived, the children practised their counting skills in adding and subtracting cakes.  The children have lots of opportunities for social interaction. They are thoughtful and caring of each other. For example, without prompting, a child quickly said sorry when they accidently bumped into another one.

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The early years provision is good

The children learn about significant religious festivals and the stories behind them. The children took part in the rehearsals for the nativity production and concentrated on getting their roles as stars just right.  The school works closely with parents, sharing information about how well their children are developing. Parents commented that there was good communication with the adults in the Reception class.  The adults in the class check the progress the children make carefully. This information is used to plan activities that develop and extend their learning further. Children of different abilities are then targeted to either support them in their work or to move those higher ability children on more quickly, for example in phonics sessions.  The leadership of the early years stage is good. The headteacher provides good support to the early years leader who is new to the role. The work of the teaching assistants is well managed.

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The early years provision is good

 Carefully planned activities ensure that the children will engage with the tasks and that they are able to develop their individual skills. In order to enable more children to achieve a good level of development, the school continues to strive to provide outstanding learning opportunities to children consistently.  The staff make sure that the children are well cared for and safe. The school ensures the safeguarding procedures linked to the early years provision are in place and monitored carefully.

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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 126359 Local authority Wiltshire Inspection number 444211

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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 controlled Age range of pupils 4−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 185 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Margaret Almond Headteacher Lesley Shellard Date of previous school inspection 9–10 December 2009 Telephone number 01225 763325 Fax number 01225 710750 Email address admin@southwick.wilts.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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