St Mary's Church of England (Aided) Primary School, Chipping Norton

School report St Mary's Church of England (Aided) Primary School, Chipping Norton The Green, Chipping Norton, OX7 5DH

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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 Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The determined leadership of the headteacher has led to improvements in teaching and raised pupils’ achievement in this improving school.  Leadership and management are good. The headteacher is well supported by school leaders at all levels and by a committed and effective governing body.  The whole staff work together with a tireless determination to improve the quality of education for pupils. Teaching is good.  Children get off to a very strong start in the school’s outstanding early years provision.  All groups of pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics during their time in the school.  The library is at the heart of the school and promotes pupils’ enjoyment of reading.  Standards are rising in reading, writing and mathematics, including for the most able. Pupils’ attainment in Key Stages 1 and 2 is at least in line with that found nationally.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. They show highly

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

positive attitudes to their learning and make a significant contribution to the life of the school.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. This is a caring and nurturing place for all pupils. Every effort is made to overcome any barriers to pupils’ well-being and achievement.  The school has been successful in markedly narrowing the gap in achievement between disadvantaged pupils and others.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are exceptionally well supported and make good progress.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because:

 The attainment of pupils in English grammar, punctuation and particularly spelling is below the national average.  Regular homework in Key Stage 2 does not always reinforce pupils’ learning, particularly their spelling.  The checking of pupils’ progress is not yet as rigorous in other subjects as it is in reading, writing and mathematics. 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 17 lessons, including in the early years. Five of these were observed jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors also looked at pupils’ work in their books.  Discussions were held with two groups of pupils about the quality of their educational experience and the standard of behaviour in the school. Inspectors also talked to pupils in lessons and during break and lunchtime.  Inspectors held meetings with school leaders, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 26 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, and considered the 32 responses to a staff questionnaire. Inspectors also considered the results of the school’s own questionnaires of parents, carers and pupils.  Inspectors examined: the school’s information on pupils’ progress; its evaluation of how well it is doing; its records of the monitoring of the quality of teaching and those relating to behaviour and attendance; and

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Inspection team

Richard Boswell, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Inspection team

Lynne Kauffman Additional Inspector 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 St Mary’s is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The very large majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds. This proportion is above the national average.  Over a fifth of pupils are supported by the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for pupils in the care of the local authority and those known to be eligible for free school meals. This is below the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, at around a fifth, is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school runs a breakfast club which is managed by the governing body. The after-school club is privately run.  Pupils attending the school’s early years provision do so full time.  The school is a member of the Chipping Norton Partnership, a group of local primary and secondary

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Information about this school

schools.  In the last 18 months, the school has received support from a Local Leader of Education at Steeple Aston Primary School, Oxfordshire.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of the teaching of spelling and the level of pupils’ attainment in English grammar, punctuation and spelling in Key Stage 2 by ensuring that teachers reinforce pupils’ learning in homework as well as in class.  Ensure pupils’ progress is checked in all subjects. 4 of 10

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher’s determination and ambitions have driven improvements since the previous inspection. She is well supported by senior leaders and the governing body. They have improved the quality of teaching and raised pupils’ achievement.  Leaders check the school’s effectiveness rigorously and accurately and identify appropriate priorities for improvement. Detailed plans include ambitious targets such as further narrowing the gap between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and others in the school and nationally.  The headteacher has boldly taken the initiative to introduce new systems for checking the progress of pupils. The school has led the way in implementing this new programme of assessment and is giving guidance to other schools locally. This helps to ensure that any pupil at risk of falling behind is spotted quickly and supported to improve and that equal opportunities are promoted very well for all pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The roles of all school leaders have developed considerably since the last inspection. Subject and key stage leaders and the leader responsible for vulnerable pupils have all had a strong impact on improving teaching and raising achievement. The outstanding leadership of the early years has meant that children enter a vibrant and stimulating environment and make rapid progress.  The school’s management of teachers’ performance is robust. Good use is made of staff expertise within the school along with carefully chosen external training to improve the quality of teaching. There is a clear link between teachers’ performance and their salary progression.  The well-planned curriculum promotes pupils’ interests and their love of learning. The school makes good use of its increasingly diverse mix of ethnicity and languages to teach pupils about the need for tolerance and respect of difference in modern British society, so tackling discrimination effect. Curriculum plans

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The leadership and management are good

include appropriate emphasis on promoting fundamental British values such as: democracy (through the school council); the rule of law (through explaining the need for class rules); and respect and tolerance (through the school’s Christian values).  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. This is done through subjects such as art, personal and social education and religious education as well as a linked programme of assemblies and visitors to the school.  Parents and carers are kept well informed about how well their children are doing in reading, writing and mathematics. However, the school has yet to fully develop its assessment of pupils’ progress in other subjects. Parents’ and carers’ views of the school are largely very positive.  Pupils’ outstanding behaviour is supported by their positive attitudes to highly successful competitive sport and their enthusiasm for developing their physical well-being. The school uses the additional sports

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The leadership and management are good

funding very effectively to provide professional coaching and to ensure that sports opportunities are available to everyone. A school-run breakfast club provides a calm and focused start to the school day.  The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils are highly effective, fully meet requirements and contribute to the school’s outstanding work to keep pupils safe. Staff are very well trained and are alert to any signs that might cause concern.  Teamwork is evident throughout the school and is demonstrated well by parents and carers, staff and pupils’ work to create a new school library. Having helped to raise the money themselves, pupils show great pride in their library. Pupils’ love of books further strengthens their outstanding attitudes to learning.  The school’s participation in the Chipping Norton Partnership of schools has been mutually beneficial. The local authority and diocese have both made strong contributions to the school’s improvement since the

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The leadership and management are good

previous inspection. The local authority’s support using a Local Leader of Education, who is a headteacher at a local school, has also helped to ensure rapid improvement.  The governance of the school:  Governors have a good understanding of the school’s performance and share senior leaders’ ambition to improve further. Since the previous inspection, as a result of training, they have been able to offer greater challenge and support to senior leaders. Governors visit the school frequently. They know its strengths and areas for improvement. Governors have supported good improvements to teaching by holding teachers rigorously to account for the progress their pupils make, only rewarding those teachers who fully meet their targets. They understand the analysis of the school’s performance information. They play their part in checking that school funding is used to achieve the best outcomes for pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

Finances are managed well so that there are good levels of staffing and resources to support pupils’ learning. This includes use of the pupil premium and the additional sports and physical education 5 of 10

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Their love of learning helps them to make improved progress.  Every opportunity is taken to give pupils responsibilities in the school. For example, pupils run their own ‘Healthy Tuck Shop’ during the school day and Year 5 pupils run their own ‘Charities Week’. They learn to be responsible for electing a committee, costing the event and running a profit and loss account.  Adults listen to pupils’ voices. Vulnerable pupils have regular one-to-one sessions with staff and this ensures their concerns are heard. Pupils evaluate staff assemblies using criteria such as ‘tranquillity’, ‘prayerfulness’ and ‘engagement’. In these ways pupils grow in confidence as they make significant contributions to the life of the school.  Pupils learn to have a strong ‘moral compass’. This is because the school promotes pupils’ moral development very well through frequent classroom debate of right and wrong from Reception to Year 6.

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Behaviour

Pupils show this in the highly respectful way they interact with each other and adults both in the classroom and around the school.  The school works particularly hard to ensure that all groups of pupils are included in the full life of the school. This includes some pupils who find it challenging to be at school. Very well-trained and hugely patient support staff run highly effective programmes to boost pupils’ self-esteem and build their confidence. This leads to significant improvements in behaviour over time.  Pupils enjoy coming to school and attendance is above the national average for all groups of pupils. Exclusions from school are extremely rare and only occur after all other options have been thoroughly explored. Any low-level disruption in class is extremely rare and pupils say it is quickly dealt with.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils from Reception to Year 6 learn how to be safe and how to take care of others.  Security systems are well established to ensure pupils are safe. All staff are thoroughly familiar with drills and protocols.  Pupils feel very safe at school. They rightly trust teachers and support staff to help them if they have any concerns. Those who spoke to inspectors were clear that bullying is very rare and is dealt with swiftly and effectively. Pupils know about different types of bullying, including on the internet or mobile phones, and what to do if they encounter it.  Pupils learn very well how to stay safe outside school through talks given by visitors, including the police.  The school’s record keeping of any incidents and the follow-up with parents, carers and external agencies are thorough and meticulous. The school very carefully monitors the arrival and departure of pupils,

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Safety

ensuring that every pupil is traced and accounted for.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations for their pupils’ progress and pupils respond with extremely positive attitudes to learning. This is particularly evident in pupils’ enthusiasm for reading.  Improvements in the quality of teaching are evident in the work seen in pupils’ books and in the increasingly strong progress that pupils make in their reading, writing and mathematics in each year group. There is greater emphasis on the teaching of spelling throughout the school but this has yet to show significant improvement.  Support staff play a key role in helping pupils to achieve good progress. They are deployed well in class and when taking small groups, including sessions that very effectively boost pupils’ self-esteem and confidence in learning. All adults are well trained and very skilful in getting the best from their groups.  Improvements in the teaching of mathematics have included one-to-one sessions with a specialist teacher.

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The quality of teaching is good

This approach has been particularly successful in supporting a wide range of pupils. The skills of the specialist teacher have been effectively shared with classroom teachers.  Teachers use good questioning to encourage pupils, and particularly the most able, to think harder about complex ideas and issues. This leads to debates in class and pupils’ improved communication skills. 6 of 10

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is adapted well to pupils’ abilities. Pupils know how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve in their reading, writing and mathematics. This is as a result of a consistent and well- implemented marking policy. Pupils are not always so clear about how well they are doing in other subjects.  Parents and carers are pleased with the progress that their children are making in lessons. However, not all teachers in Key Stage 2 regularly take the opportunity to reinforce learning, particularly spelling, with appropriate homework.

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is good

 Children usually start in Reception with skills and understanding at levels below those typical for their age, particularly in their language development. However, they are given the strongest of foundations in the early years and then go on to reach standards at the end of Key Stage 2 that are in line with or ahead of those found nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. This represents good progress.  The achievement of pupils in national tests immediately following the previous inspection still required improvement because the school’s actions had not had sufficient time to make a strong impact. By the end of the last school year however, these actions resulted in marked improvements in reading, writing and mathematics. Attainment in these subjects at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 is at least in line with that found nationally. As a result of excellent teaching that begins in Reception, pupils’ attainment in the

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is good

national screening check for their understanding of letters and the sounds they make (phonics) has been above the national average for the last two school years.  In 2014, as a result of improved teaching and strong attitudes to learning, almost every pupil left Key Stage 2 having made the nationally expected rate of progress in reading, writing and mathematics. The proportion making more than the expected progress in reading and mathematics was in line with that found nationally, while it was above in writing.  The attainment of Year 6 pupils in English grammar, punctuation and spelling, however, was below the national average. The school’s careful analysis of these results shows that they were due specifically to pupils’ weaknesses in spelling. The school has put strategies in place to address this issue and while evidence from pupils’ books shows that there has been some improvement, this remains an area for

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is good

further development.  Pupils’ continuing eagerness to learn has resulted in sustained improvement since the start of the new school year. The current pupils are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics throughout the school. While pupils’ books and the work seen in lessons confirm this pattern, pupils’ progress in other subjects is not always as rigorously checked as it is in reading, writing and mathematics.  As a result of work that challenges and stretches them, the attainment of the most able pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 improved significantly in 2014. An increasing number are achieving the highest standards. The proportion of the most able pupils in Key Stage 1 attaining the highest level is consistently in line with or above that found nationally.  The gap between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in reading, writing and mathematics and others nationally and in school has markedly narrowed year on year. In 2014 the gap reduced to one and a half

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is good

terms in mathematics, a term in reading and a term in writing. The progress of disadvantaged pupils throughout the school has accelerated and compares very favourably with that of other pupils nationally. This is because of the use of the additional funding to provide a high level of one-to-one and small-group support. This leads to highly positive attitudes to learning that have a direct impact on improving pupils’ achievement.  The achievement of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good and current pupils are making good progress. This is a result of the quick and accurate identification of needs and work being well tailored to match abilities and interests.

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is outstanding

 A team of completely committed and highly expert teachers and support staff work harmoniously to the great benefit of the children in their care. This is as a result of outstanding leadership of the early years provision. The team are in constant communication with parents and carers. Children’s work is taken home and weekly newsletters are sent out. An introductory booklet helps to answer questions and settle children as quickly as possible. The environment, both inside and out, is stimulating and innovative. 7 of 10

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is outstanding

 The quality of teaching is outstanding. The well-organised, highly reflective team constantly review the provision. Thorough and very well-targeted planning makes excellent use of the setting and yet remains flexible, responding to the needs of the children. The teaching of phonics begins as soon as children arrive in Reception and they quickly develop a love of books. Children enter Year 1 ready to learn and with the skills they need.  Many children start with skills and understanding at levels well below those typical for their age, particularly in language development. The staff work hard to help the children build the initial social and personal skills that then allow them to make rapid progress in their learning. Outstanding provision ensures that children make exceptional progress from a low starting point to leave Reception with knowledge, skills and understanding at levels above those expected for their age.

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is outstanding

 Behaviour is outstanding. Children quickly learn to work very well with each other. They learn to take turns, to share and to concentrate on their own for increasingly long periods of time. Children know that unkind words can be hurtful and there is a celebration of difference in cultures and lifestyles.  Safety is outstanding in the early years provision because very carefully considered and regularly reviewed procedures are in place. Children learn to assess risks and to look after themselves and each other, particularly through their participation in Forest School. They swiftly develop confidence and independence and learn from the role models of older pupils who are frequent visitors to the early years provision. 8 of 10

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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. 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 123227 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 453546

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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 245 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dr Martyn Chambers Headteacher Yvonne Barnes Date of previous school inspection 20–21 February 2013 Telephone number 01608 642673 Fax number 01608 641568 Email address office.3858@st-marys-chipping.oxon.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

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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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