Teversham CofE VA Primary School

Teversham CofE VA Primary School Church Road, Teversham, Cambridge, CB1 9AZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Good 2 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

 In 2014 standards in writing were well below average by the end of Year 6. Too few of the most able pupils reached the higher levels of attainment in writing.  Teaching is inconsistent in Key Stage 1, largely due to staff sickness and other changes. Teachers do not always have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. The work set in the Year 2 and Year 3 mixed-age class is sometimes not pitched at the right level of difficulty.  Marking does not consistently show pupils how to improve their work in Key Stage 1.  Pupils supported by the pupil premium, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs do not consistently make good enough progress.  At times, pupils in Key Stage 1 do not think sufficiently deeply about their learning or take sufficient pride in their work, and this results in work that is not good enough.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to write at length in a range of different subjects.

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

 Pupils are often unclear about what they need to do to improve their work in writing.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher is relentless in driving improvement and is supported very well by other leaders and governors. As a result, teaching has improved and achievement has risen across the school since her appointment.  Provision in the early years is good and has improved considerably since the previous inspection.  Teaching is now consistently good in Key Stage 2 and the great majority of pupils are making good progress.  Standards were above average by the end of Year 6 in reading in 2014, and many pupils made outstanding progress from their different starting points.  Pupils behave well in class and around the school. They have positive attitudes to learning and feel safe in school.  The Chair of the Governing Body provides very strong leadership and ensures governors have a very positive impact on improving the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed learning in 10 lessons or parts of lessons, all jointly with the headteacher. The inspector also attended two assemblies.  The inspector heard pupils read and, with the headteacher, looked closely at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector looked at a wide range of school documents, including development plans, policies, self- evaluation reports and safeguarding records. He considered evidence of the school’s partnership work and the information provided for families.  A meeting was held with a group of pupils chosen at random. Discussions were held with senior leaders, subject leaders, teachers and other staff. The inspector talked to the Chair of the Governing Body and another governor, and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector took account of the 51 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. He also spoke informally to parents. He reviewed the school’s own survey of parents and read a letter from parents.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector considered the 12 staff questionnaires that were completed.

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Inspection team

Nick Butt, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. There is a Reception class and four other mixed-age classes.  Early years provision is full time in the Reception class.  Most pupils are White British.  Just over one tenth of pupils are supported by the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals). This is below average.  Less than one tenth of pupils are identified as disabled or as having special educational needs. This is below average.  The school meets the current government floor standards, which set minimum expectations for progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics.  The school runs a breakfast club.  The assistant headteacher was appointed in September 2014 following the promotion of the previous post holder to the headship of another primary school.  There have been several changes of teacher in one class in Key Stage 1 this year due to staff sickness and

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make teaching consistently good in Key Stage 1 by making sure that:  all staff have high expectations of the pupils and set work which is of the right level of difficulty and challenge, particularly in the shared Year 2/3 class  all pupils receive the support they need to make good progress, including those who are eligible for the pupil premium and disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs  pupils think deeply about their learning and take a pride in their work  marking clearly shows pupils how to improve their work.  Raise standards in writing by:  giving pupils more opportunities for extended writing in other subjects, not just in literacy lessons  making clear to pupils what they need to do to improve their work in writing.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has been successful in driving improvement since the previous inspection. Areas identified as weaknesses then, such as the early years and mathematics, are now strengths. She has been determined in her efforts to improve teaching and makes clear her high expectations to all staff.

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The leadership and management are good

 Strong leadership of teaching has meant that difficult decisions have been taken and are still being taken to ensure that pupils receive the best possible provision. The arrangements to manage teachers’ performance are very effective. The headteacher has created a culture where all pupils are valued as individuals and behave well, and her vision for excellence is embraced by all staff.

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The leadership and management are good

 Parents have noticed the improvements made by the headteacher. For example, in a letter to the inspector, some parents stated, ‘in the relatively short time she has been at the helm of the school, her strong leadership skills and deep commitment to education have been apparent and a much-needed change for the school.’

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The leadership and management are good

 The pupil premium is used appropriately to support individuals and give eligible pupils access to all school activities including visits, clubs and music lessons. These boost their confidence and increase their enjoyment of school. While individual pupils benefit from the help they receive, particularly in Key Stage 2, the impact of this support overall is sometimes reduced because of weaknesses in class teaching in Key Stage 1 since September 2014.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school promotes equality well. Leaders recognise the need to ensure that the opportunities and experiences offered to Year 3 pupils in different classes are the same and are taking action to resolve any inconsistencies in provision. The school fosters good relations with parents and outside agencies. Discrimination is not tolerated.

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The leadership and management are good

 Middle leaders have had a positive impact on their areas and have a good knowledge of what is working well and what can be improved further. In particular, the leader of mathematics has done much to equip staff with the skills and insights needed to accelerate pupils’ progress and raise standards.

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The leadership and management are good

 The different subjects and topics pupils are taught generally hold their interest well and are especially effective in promoting their learning in Key Stage 2. The school’s music is a strong feature. Almost a third of pupils learn musical instruments.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils know the school’s deeply held values, ‘inspire, believe, achieve’ well. The school promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding effectively. They learn about and respect different cultures and religions and the older pupils spend time in France visiting battlefields and memorials. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 There are close links with the local community through, for example, a neighbouring airport, the church and local businesses. A local community group supports pupils with gardening. Pupils met a lady who flew Spitfires during the Second World War when she came to open their pavilion. This brought their history topic to life. They are often to be found serving tea and cakes to visitors.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s safeguarding arrangements meet requirements and are effective. All checks are carried out thoroughly on any new members of staff.

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The leadership and management are good

 The primary physical education and sport premium is spent effectively on supporting the local sports’ partnership. This enables pupils to take part in a wide range of tournaments. They also benefit from additional clubs, such as fencing and street-dancing. A sports coach runs games for the pupils at lunchtime. Staff receive training in gymnastics. This has had a positive impact in getting more pupils involved in sport and increasing teachers’ confidence in teaching it.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has provided good support to the school, especially in developing provision in the early years and in promoting mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is very effective. The Chair of the Governing Body has compiled a useful and comprehensive handbook for governors, which is invaluable for new governors and a helpful source of reference for the others. The school benefits from his expertise in statistics as he produces charts based on the school’s data and compares how pupils are doing with other similar schools. This information is easily accessible to the lay reader. Through their many visits in pairs, governors know the school well and understand about the quality of teaching, how good teaching is rewarded and how underperformance is tackled. Since the previous inspection they have had plenty of experience of the latter, and have not shied away from taking difficult decisions in the interests of the pupils. Governors know how teachers’ performance is managed and the targets that are set for the headteacher and other

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They are polite and friendly and support one another well. Pupils say they enjoy coming to school because ‘everyone knows everyone.’ They have positive attitudes to learning and are keen to take part in lessons.

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Behaviour

 Teachers manage behaviour well, especially of those pupils facing particular difficulties. Innovative approaches to gathering and reporting on all aspects of pupils’ behaviour keep parents well informed. They also show staff what areas could be improved for individual pupils.

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Behaviour

 Pupils take responsibility carrying out jobs around the school in the office, the lunch hall and the library. Pupils raise money for a variety of national and local charities.

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Behaviour

 In Key Stage 1, at times, pupils become distracted when the work is not engaging them and do not always take sufficient pride in their work.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say that bullying is not a problem. They know about different types of bullying such as cyber bullying. Pupils say they feel safe in school and parents agree.

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Safety

 Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe, including when using the internet. The school council has talked about safe areas in school, and whether there are any places where pupils do not feel so safe.

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Safety

 Pupils are involved in assessing risks, for example when participating in adventurous activities during their residential visit to Grafham Water. They have a good awareness of what to look out for and how to avoid placing themselves in potentially dangerous situations.

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Safety

 Attendance is above average and pupils are punctual to school. This is aided by the popular breakfast club, which gets pupils in early, and offers then a safe and sociable start to the school day.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching is not consistently good. There are currently weaknesses in Key Stage 1. This is partly due to staff sickness and several changes of teacher. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 and a few pupils in Year 3 are not always being given work at the right level for them. This means it is sometimes too easy and sometimes too difficult.  Pupils in Key Stage 1 do not always think deeply about their work. Sometimes teachers’ expectations are not high enough and their questioning does not extend pupils’ thinking. The work pupils produce is often not their best. Marking too readily accepts mediocre work that is not well presented. These pupils are not given enough guidance about how to improve and the advice they do receive is not always helpful in moving their learning forwards.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In contrast, the teaching in Key Stage 2 is now consistently good. Pupils take a real pride in their work and topic books in particular are full of good quality pieces that are beautifully presented. For example, pupils studying the Second World War included research into the life of a child in wartime London and wrote reasons for and against evacuating children to the countryside.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In Key Stage 2 classes, regular and helpful marking shows pupils how to improve their work. They act upon the guidance and their resulting good progress is clear. Across the school, teachers make accurate assessments of pupils’ attainment and hold regular meetings with senior leaders to discuss how pupils are getting on.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 While the impact of teaching on achievement in reading is good, the impact on writing is less consistent. In Years 1 and 2, pupils do not write enough at length and do not develop sufficient stamina for good extended writing.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching in mathematics has been improving across the school. As a result of high quality training, teachers are more confident in helping pupils apply their knowledge and skills to a range of problems.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching in the early years is good because teaching staff focus on developing children’s reading, literacy and number skills, and provide purposeful activities that motivate them to learn quickly.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils are not making good progress in Key Stage 1 so far this year because of inconsistencies in teaching. Standards in writing across the school are not as good as they are in reading and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children join the Reception class with skills that are broadly typical for their age, but are often below in writing and number. They make good progress in the Reception class because they take part in well- planned and interesting activities that stimulate their imagination and curiosity.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children develop early reading skills well and continue to read well as they move through the school. In the Year 1 phonics check (the sounds that letters make) an above average proportion of pupils reached the required standard in 2014.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In 2014, Year 2 standards were above average in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of the year. This continued a rising trend over time.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress of pupils in Key Stage 2 last year varied. Year 6 pupils made outstanding progress in reading and good progress in mathematics. Standards in reading were above average and in mathematics were average. Attainment in mathematics has been rising rapidly since the previous inspection when it was well below average. This is because leaders have focused very effectively on improving mathematics, identifying and closing gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in writing in 2014 fell to below average for Year 6 pupils. Leaders identified that teaching was not as strong in writing as in reading and mathematics and put in place measures to bring about improvement. These included giving writing more of a purpose and writing in different subjects. As a result, the teaching of writing is much stronger in Key Stage 2 this year. It is not yet good enough in Key Stage 1 this year.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The small size of each year’s cohort of pupils means that performance information has to be treated with caution. There were too few pupils supported by the pupil premium in Year 6 in 2014 to comment on their achievement without identifying them. Across the school, the progress of eligible pupils varies in line with the quality of the support they receive. It is not yet consistently good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 While some disabled pupils and those with special educational needs achieve well, most have not made good progress this year in Key Stage 1. Through regular observations, leaders have identified strengths and weaknesses in the support these pupils receive in class. At present, the education provided by the school meets their needs in some but not all respects. Leaders are working with the relevant teaching staff to improve provision so that it is consistently good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 A good proportion of the most able pupils attained the higher levels in reading and mathematics in Year 2 and in reading in Year 6 in 2014. Too few of the most able pupils reached the higher levels of attainment in writing. This was because expectations of what they could achieve were not high enough. Changes in staffing and other improvements mean that teachers now have much higher expectations of almost all pupils in Key Stage 2, and this is reflected in current pupils’ good quality writing. A small number of Year 3 pupils in the mixed-age class with Year 2 are not being challenged enough, however.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Reading is a strength of the school. In 2014, two thirds of the Year 6 pupils made three National Curriculum levels of progress from the end of Key Stage 1 to the end of Key Stage 2. Pupils become confident readers from an early age and talk with enthusiasm about their favourite books.

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The early years provision is good

 From their different starting points, children achieve well in the early years. Good leadership and management mean that teaching staff know the children very well as individuals and tailor the activities around their interests and needs. This motivates children and feeds their hunger for learning.

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The early years provision is good

 Children make very good use of the opportunities they are given to explore and find things out, for example in the extensive ‘mud kitchen’ outside. Children enjoyed investigating what was in the soil and making mud pies with it.

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The early years provision is good

 The good teaching means that children acquire skills and knowledge quickly, especially in phonics, and they are well prepared to start Year 1. Similarly, as part of their support for children’s early writing, adults have begun to introduce them to techniques for writing for different purposes, and this is extending their skills well.

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The early years provision is good

 The calm and purposeful atmosphere in the early years fosters children’s personal skills well and contributes to their good behaviour.

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The early years provision is good

 The teaching staff’s careful assessments of children’s progress builds up a comprehensive record of their achievements, which parents appreciate.

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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 110834 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 453730

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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 141 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Tony Sharpe Headteacher Louisa Kenzie Date of previous school inspection 21 February 2013 Telephone number 01223 293357 Fax number 01223 294722 Email address office@teversham.cambs.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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