Carrington Infant School

Carrington Infant School 2 Chapel Road, Flackwell Heath, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP10 9AA

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school is well led by the headteacher and the governors.  Leaders have ensured there is a calm and purposeful atmosphere for the children to learn in.  The governors use the school’s information to find out about the progress pupils make. They have a clear idea of the school’s strengths and areas that need developing.  Pupils achieve well and standards in reading, writing and mathematics have improved over the last three years.  Parents and staff are very supportive of the school.  Pupils’ behaviour around the school is good. In lessons, they are eager to learn, attentive and quick to follow instructions.  The overall quality of teaching is good. The dedicated team of teachers plan interesting lessons, with a variety of tasks that maintain the pupils’ interest in learning. As a result, pupils behave well and make good progress in their lessons.  The pupils enjoy learning because of the good- quality teaching. The wide variety of activities keeps

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

them engaged in their learning.  The quality of the early years provision is good. In the Reception class, the accurate assessment, good teaching and range of tasks make the children want to learn.  Attendance has improved since the previous inspection due to actions taken by the school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 When teachers check pupils’ work, they do not always clearly tell them how to improve. Teachers do not always make sure pupils use their comments to improve their work.  Teachers do not always have high expectations about what the pupils should be able to do. In some lessons, the work is not challenging enough for the most-able pupils.  Subject leaders do not have enough opportunities to check the quality of teaching in their areas.  When pupils are taught phonics (the sounds letters make), they are not always given enough chances to practise the new sounds they are learning.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 15 lessons or part-lessons. Three lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher.  The inspection included observations of playtime and lunchtime.  The inspectors looked at pupils’ work and heard some pupils read.  Meetings were held with the Chair of the Governing Body and four other governors, and with senior staff.  The inspectors held a meeting with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors took account of the 43 responses to the online Ofsted questionnaire, Parent View.  The inspectors took account of the 34 responses to the staff questionnaire and a letter from a member of staff.  The school’s work was observed and a number of documents considered, including: the school’s data on pupils’ progress, planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to pupils’ behaviour, attendance, safeguarding and the management of the performance of teachers.

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Inspection team

John Taylor, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Inspection team

Clementina Olufunke Aina Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage, with a few from a range of other ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding to support children in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals) is below average.  The early years provision consists of two full-time Reception classes.  There is an additional resourced provision for seven pupils on the autistic spectrum. All these pupils have statements of special educational needs.  There is a breakfast club, after school club, a pre-school and a nursery on site, all of which are privately run. These were not part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the overall quality of teaching from good to outstanding so that even more pupils attain the highest standards, by ensuring that:  teachers make clear to pupils how their work can be improved and that they follow up on this advice  work for the most-able pupils is more challenging, so they make faster progress in their learning  subject leaders are given more time to monitor the quality of teaching in their area  when teaching phonics, staff give the pupils more chances to practise the new sounds they are learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has high expectations of the staff and pupils. The leaders in the school are enthusiastic, have a strong sense of purpose and know the areas to improve. They create a calm and purposeful atmosphere in the school in which there is good teaching, achievement and behaviour.  Middle leaders are not yet fully involved in checking the quality of teaching and learning within their areas of responsibility. They make good contributions to discussions about individual pupils, but do not always have a detailed picture of the progress being made by different groups of pupils in their area.  The headteacher is accurate in her observations of teaching, mainly focusing on the pupils’ learning. However, teachers are not always sure that the feedback given helps them improve their teaching.  There is a robust system of managing teachers’ performance. The targets are closely linked to improving

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The leadership and management are good

pupils’ progress  The new National Curriculum is being introduced systematically in the school. The curriculum offers pupils a broad and balanced range of activities which promote their personal development. There is a good range of clubs and activities, including a photography club, which the pupils enjoy.  The school provides well for the moral, social and cultural development of pupils. For example, pupils looked at how Christmas was celebrated in differing cultures. As a result, pupils get on well together and are willing to help each other.  The school ensures equality of opportunity for all and discrimination is not tolerated. Pupils who attend the additional resourced provision are well integrated into school life and mix well with the other pupils. Pupils gain an understanding of each other, showing fairness and tolerance, and are prepared for life in modern Britain.  Frequent tracking of the pupils’ progress is being used to identify where pupils are in danger of

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The leadership and management are good

underachieving. Meetings are held to discuss how individual pupils’ needs can be addressed, and longer- term actions are planned.  The pupil premium is targeted to provide support for the disadvantaged pupils. The impact of this support is tracked, but this information is not always used quickly enough to guide the way the support is provided. Recent school information shows that the gap is narrowing between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and others.  The primary school sport funding is used well. It successfully raises the awareness of, and opportunities for pupils to take part in, a range of sporting activities. It is also used to train teachers. It has resulted in a larger number of pupils becoming interested in sporting events.  The local authority is rightly confident in the good leadership in the school. It provided appropriate support through the Buckinghamshire Learning Trust.

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The leadership and management are good

 The vast majority of staff and parents are strongly supportive of the school. Almost all parents would recommend it to others.  Safeguarding meets statutory requirements and arrangements are effective.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors have an accurate record of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They thoroughly interrogate the information on how well the pupils are achieving, and use this to make sure the school is addressing any underachievement.  Governors are aware how the pupil premium funding is spent and its impact on narrowing the performance gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.  Governors have an oversight of the management of teachers’ performance and are aware that this is linked to pay. They know where the good teaching is, and that that teachers’ targets are linked to pupils’ achievement.  Governors have undertaken an assessment of their training needs and are using this to inform the training they receive.  They rigorously and frequently check the school’s finances.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Almost all parents who completed the Parent View questionnaire agree.  Around the school the pupils are well behaved, get on well together, and respect each other. They are polite and know how to talk to adults. At lunchtime, they form an orderly queue to be served, have good eating manners and sensibly dispose of any uneaten food.  In lessons, they are eager to learn and enjoy their work. They cooperate with each other and work well in groups and individually. For example, in a Reception class, the children were persevering, collaborating well to build a train station. However, on some occasions, a few do not always maintain concentration on their work unless they are closely supervised by an adult.  Behaviour of the pupils, in the alternative resource provision, is effectively managed. The use of positive reinforcement strategies and visual prompts tells pupils about their work and the expectations of their

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Behaviour

behaviour.  Pupils’ work is neatly presented; this shows they are proud of their work and enjoy learning. This contributes to the good progress they make at school.  Attendance has steadily improved over the last three years due to the school’s effective actions.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Staff are checked prior to appointment and access to the school building is closely controlled.  Good support for vulnerable pupils is shown in the case studies about individuals, which inspectors looked at. As a result of this support, vulnerable pupils remain safe and make good progress, despite the challenges they experience outside school.  Bullying is rare, and the school takes decisive action on the very few occasions it occurs.  Pupils say they feel safe in school, and staff and parents agree. Almost all the results from the Parent View survey confirm this.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers plan well and use a wide variety of engaging tasks in their lessons. Pupils move purposefully from one task to another and maintain concentration, enjoy their learning and produce a good quantity of work. As a result, pupils make good progress.  Teachers give clear instructions on what they want the pupils to do; this helps the pupils quickly settle down to work and start learning. Teachers’ encouraging comments and timely interventions keep learning progressing at a good pace.  There is some good use of questioning to check the pupils’ understanding, although this good practice is not yet consistent across the school.  Teachers have very good relationships with the pupils; they encourage them to learn, and are aware of their individual needs. Pupils are appreciative of this.  The work set is not always challenging enough for the most able and teachers do not always have sufficiently high expectations about what these pupils could achieve in their lessons. Consequently, the

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The quality of teaching is good

progress of the most-able pupils is not always as rapid as it could be.  Teaching assistants are good at managing pupils’ behaviour and most teaching assistants are effective at helping pupils to make good progress. However, they do not consistently help the pupils to learn quickly by checking understanding and guiding their learning.  Teachers check pupils’ work regularly and give them encouraging feedback. The teachers’ comments do not always clearly tell the pupils how to improve. Not all teachers check that the pupils are following their suggestions, so they do not make faster progress in their learning.  The teaching of phonics is usually good and leads to pupils making progress in developing their reading skills. On a few occasions, however, pupils are not given enough chances to practise the new sounds they are learning.

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is good

 Pupils’ achievement is good. All groups of pupils, including White British pupils and those from all ethnic groups, are making good progress from their different starting points. By the time they leave the school, they are well prepared for the next stage of their education.  Children enter the Reception classes at levels generally below those typical for their age. By the end of Year 2, the pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is significantly above average, and has risen over the last three years.  The school’s information shows that pupils are continuing to make good progress across the school. In Key Stage 1, progress in reading and mathematics remains quicker than in writing. In the Reception class, progress is slower in reading than in other areas, but overall achievement across the school is good.  From their different starting points, pupils who attend the additionally resourced provision make similar

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is good

good progress to the other pupils in the school. This is due to the well-focused support and the way they are integrated into the whole school.  The most-able pupils achieve well overall but do not always make the rapid progress that they are capable of because the work they are given is sometimes not sufficiently challenging.  Disadvantaged pupils achieve well because of the good-quality additional support they are given. Their progress in learning is similar to other pupils. In 2014, disadvantaged pupils’ achievement was at a similar level to other pupils in reading, writing and mathematics.  School information suggests that disadvantaged pupils are now making quicker progress compared to previous years; this is supported by inspectors' observations in lessons and looking at the work of these pupils.

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is good

 Children make good progress in the Reception classes, particularly in developing their writing skills.  Good teaching with a wide variety of well-planned learning opportunities makes the children want to learn. However, in some activities, it is not always clear what the children are to do and learn. This results in some teaching assistants not directing the learning in a way that supports the other adult-led activities.  Parents are actively encouraged to contribute to the assessment of the children and this supports their learning well.  The strong leadership in the early years provision, based on accurate knowledge of the strengths and areas requiring improvement, has resulted in the children making good progress.  Detailed assessment information, including the tracking of the children’s progress, enables the staff to accurately identify the next steps in learning for individual children. This ensures that all children achieve

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is good

well and are ready to learn in Year1.  The outdoor area is not always used effectively. At times, it is not used as well as it could be to support the learning that is going on in other areas. Occasionally, this slows children’s progress.  In the teaching of phonics, the adults model the sounds accurately, but the children do not always have enough opportunity to talk about the meaning of the new words. As a result progress in reading is sometimes not as rapid as other areas.  Children’s behaviour is good; they cooperate, work and play well together. They know how to talk to adults.  Safeguarding procedures are implemented and reviewed appropriately.

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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 110283 Local authority Buckinghamshire Inspection number 449740

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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 Infant School category Maintained Age range of pupils 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 187 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dr Lindsey Reynolds Headteacher Gill Brookling Date of previous school inspection 2–3 February 2010 Telephone number 01628 523356 Fax number 01628 532466 Email address office@carrington-inf.bucks.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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