Clifton-upon-Dunsmore CofE Primary School

Clifton-upon-Dunsmore CofE Primary School Station Road, Clifton-upon-Dunsmore, Rugby, CV23 0BT

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Early years provision Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Children get an excellent start to school life in the Reception class. They rapidly develop a wide range of skills through imaginative activites which build on what they already know.  Pupils make exceptionally good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Standards by the end of Key Stage 2 are well above average.  Teachers have extremely high expectations of what pupils can achieve. They make sure that work is exciting and challenging so that pupils of all abilities enjoy their learning and try their hardest.  Additional adults in the classroom are well trained and sensitively support pupils who benefit from additional help. Some are starting to make accurate assessments of how well pupils are progressing.  Pupils are taught to reflect on their learning from very early in the school. They develop skills to check how well they are doing and appreciate when they need more practise.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They are polite

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

and helpful around school and have highly positive attitudes to learning. They readily support each other in lessons and on the playground.  Pupils have a very good understanding of how to stay safe in different situations. They understand what to do if they feel uncomfortable about any situation outside school.  Leaders rigorously check that teaching is of a high standard and pupils are achieving as well as they can. Any pupil in danger of falling behind is immediately helped to keep up. All groups of pupils make very rapid progress and more able pupils achieve exceptionally well.  Governors are very supportive and effective. They ask leaders challenging questions to make sure that the quality of teaching and learning is outstanding. Governors visit regularly to check pupils’ progress and talk to them about their views of the school.  Pupils talk maturely about valuing their religious beliefs while respecting the beliefs of others. The

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

atmosphere created by staff around school supports their especially strong spiritual, social, moral and cultural development. Pupils are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Music and drama are used extremely effectively to help pupils understand and appreciate British and other world cultures. Theatre trips and school performances help widen pupils’ experiences and enable them to bring new ideas to their own work.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 13 lessons, 10 of which were seen together with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and other staff, two group of pupils, four members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Informal discussions were held with parents and pupils.  The inspectors took account of the 45 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and the school’s own parental and pupil questionnaires.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and reviewed a range of documentation, including: the school’s checks on its performance; its analysis and tracking of pupils’ progress; records of behaviour and safety; school improvement plans; records relating to classroom observations and the management of staff performance; safeguarding arrangements; and records of meetings of the governing body.  The inspectors also looked at pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and checked information on attendance.

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Inspection team

Susan Hughes, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Children in the early years start in a full-time Reception class at the beginning of the year in which they are five years old.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below average. Most pupils are White British. The percentage of pupils who speak English as an additional language is also below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is one in fifteen and below average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils (those supported by the pupil premium, which is additional funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority) is one in twenty and below average.  The deputy headteacher is currently nearing the end of her maternity leave and returns to school after the Easter break. She took part in the inspection.

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Information about this school

 The headteacher is a National Leader of Education and the literacy and numeracy leaders are Subject Leaders of Education. The school works closely with the Lawrence Sherrif Teaching School to support other schools in the area.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop the skills of additional adults in the classroom so that all can accurately judge how well pupils are doing, in order to support teachers’ assessments of pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Under the inspirational leadership of the headteacher, the school has developed a highly effective and nurturing environment in which pupils thrive and develop a love for learning. Every nook and cranny of the school is used to inspire, encourage and celebrate pupils’ learning. For example, a tiny courtyard between buildings has been turned into a prayer garden; photographs of drama productions and pupils’ work are interspersed between inspirational sayings, challenges and artefacts such as the sweet jar into which pupils whispered their ideas of what makes a good friend.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher has developed a strong team of senior and subject leaders. They rigorously check how well pupils are doing and make sure that teaching and achievement are outstanding for all groups of pupils. Subject leaders support their colleagues when introducing new ideas, as well as supporting teachers in other schools who benefit from their high level of expertise. The headteacher supports local headteachers to develop their leadership skills.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The appraisal system, which rewards teachers only when the pupils in their class achieve well, has contributed to the outstanding teaching. Teachers are very clear of the school’s high expectations. Good training and development opportunities support staff in meeting their challenging targets for pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Strong partnership with other schools give staff opportunities to share expertise and develop their skills. Other training opportunities come through the local sports partnership, which is funded by the primary sports premium. Specialist sports coaches work alongside teachers to help them develop their teaching techniques, while providing high quality coaching for pupils. The coaches also run clubs and work with the ‘playmakers’, which is a group of pupils from Years 5 and 6, to organise playground activities. As a result, pupils are enthusiastic about sport, their skills are developing well and an increasing number of pupils take part in competitions. The school currently holds the county champion award for basketball.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The pupil premium is spent particularly effectively to benefit disadvantaged pupils. Additional adults are employed in the classrooms to enable teachers to give extra attention to pupils who need it. While most pupils are supported within the classroom, a few are occasionally given help separately if the school has identified this as the best way to make sure they keep up with their classmates.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school has recently introduced a new way of assessing how well pupils are doing. Teachers check their progress and attainment against what is expected for their age. Other adults in the classroom have not yet developed the skills to make judgements which would support the teacher’s assessments.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of pupils permeates all the school does. Through the wide and varied curriculum, they learn about other faiths and cultures. While prayer corners in each classroom are thoughtful and reflective, displays of other religions such as Sikhism are equally highly valued and appreciated. Through a strong focus on British and world music and drama, regular visits to theatres and museums, assembly themes and messages on walls around school and in the classroom, pupils from a young age develop respect and appreciation for others.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school promotes equality of opportunities and tackles discrimination through its religious background and the excellent role models of adults. Pupils talk confidently about respecting the beliefs of others and accepting people for who they are, not what they look like. Active links with a charity which helps educate pupils from poor areas of New Delhi includes pupils’ video conferencing with Indian pupils and give insight into the way others live.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Pupils know that school values such as respect, hope, determination and love are relevant to their everyday life. To help pupils appreciate the important democracy and the rule of law, a local Justice of the Peace recently set up a magistrate’s court in school to demonstrate how this works. Each year, the democratically elected school council visits the council offices for a meeting with the mayor. The school develops pupils’ confidence in themselves and consideration for each other, which prepares them extremely well for life in modern Britain.  Safeguarding arrangements in school are rigorous and effective. Leaders make sure that the school is safe and secure and that policies and procedures are used consistently. All school policies are regularly reviewed to keep them up-to-date and effective. Leaders ensure that the school’s arrangements for safeguarding meet national requirements and that all staff are well trained on safeguarding issues.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority has accurately recognised the high quality of leadership and teaching in the school. It is used as a good model for other schools through links with the Lawrence Sherrif Teaching School.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  Governors are very supportive and appreciate the many strengths of the school. Nevertheless, they are highly aspirational for the school to maintain the high standards of education and drive even further improvements. Governors have made sure that potential disruptions to the school, such as the recent building project, were well managed and did not interrupt pupils’ learning. Governors all keep personal logs of their work and report their school visits to the rest of the governing body to make sure everybody is well-informed.  Governors ask leaders challenging questions to make sure that all groups of pupils achieve as well as they can. They use school data effectively to check that the pupil premium is being used to help disadvantaged pupils keep up with other pupils. Governors know that primary sports funding is helping pupils be more active at playtimes and develop stronger sporting skills.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Governors carefully check that appraisal system only rewards teachers with a pay increase when their pupils achieve well. They feel that it has helped maintain the high quality of teaching because staff are very clear about what is expected of them.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. They are pleasant, polite and always ready to help adults or each other in lesson and around school. Pupils told inspectors that pupils generally behave very well and all parents who responded to Parent View agree.

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Behaviour

 Pupils enthusiastically take on roles of responsibility. The ‘Worship Team’ helps to set an appropriate atmosphere for assemblies and lead Friday worship. In assemblies, house captains from Year 6 encourage good attendance through regular presentations to the school on how well each class is doing in keeping attendance above average.

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Behaviour

 House captains also organise competitions and events which necessitate pupils from all ages working together, creating cohesive teams across the school. The captains encourage their team mates to work hard and not let the team down. Pupils as young as those in the Reception class and Year 1 told inspectors they like to try hard for their team.

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Behaviour

 ‘Playmakers’ from Year 5 and Year 6 work with younger pupils at playtimes. They encourage them to co- operate in games and make sure no-one is left on their own. They act as good role models for any pupils who find co-operating difficult and help them enjoy socialising and active play.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are extremely enthusiastic about their learning. They told inspectors that lessons are interesting and they enjoy being challenged with increasingly demanding work. They are proud of their school and this is reflected in their well-presented work, respect for their learning environment and eagerness to talk about how much they enjoy different aspects of school life.

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Behaviour

 In lessons, pupils know the importance of fully understanding something before moving on to learn new skills. While always keen to extend their learning, pupils are not afraid to ask for more opportunities to practise the skills being developed. From a young age, teachers encouraged them to reflect on their learning and, as they move through the school, pupils become increasingly perceptive about when they need more practise and when they are ready to move on.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils feel extremely safe in school all parents who completed Parent View agree that the school is a safe and happy place.

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Safety

 Pupils understand the need to be watchful for each other, and older pupils take looking after the younger ones seriously. For example, each Year 6 pupil has the charge of a Reception child when walking to the church. They show them how to be safe on the roads and act as good role models. The house system is used extremely effectively to develop a feeling of belonging and inclusion.

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Safety

 Pupils are taught how to identify when a situation is unsafe, especially in relation to feeling uncomfortable in someone’s company. They learn how to express their discomfort appropriately and what to do to avoid, or deal with, such situations. They also learn to ride their bicycles safely on the road and what to do in case of fire.

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Safety

 Pupils are very clear about how to stay safe when using the internet. They know what precautions to take, and understand why this is necessary. Regular reminders from the school help pupils, and their parents, keep up to date with potential hazards for children and young people.

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Safety

 Pupils told the inspectors that there is hardly any bullying in the school. While they acknowledge that children sometimes fall out, they are very clear that this is not bullying. Pupils know that bullying can take different forms, such as physical, emotional, cyber or racist bullying. They told inspectors that there is very little use of inappropriate language and name calling. When it has been used, mainly in previous years, it was dealt with swiftly and effectively.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and make sure that learning systematically builds on what pupils already know. For example, pupils in Year 4 looking at using frontal adverbial phrases in their writing were able to draw on previous learning about prepositional phrases and explain how these could be moved around in a sentence.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Lessons are interesting and exciting which means that pupils are fully engrossed in their learning. During the inspection, pupils in Year 2 were writing about an imaginary island. One pupil animatedly explained that they had ‘visited’ the island in their imagination through sitting under a dark blanket and ‘living in their mind’ what it would be like. It was so realistic to him that he acted out the heat and cold on his island, which inspired him to find the best vocabulary for his writing.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Writing is taught very well because teachers make purposeful links between different subjects and pupils’ skills are developed well in all areas of learning. For example, Year 1 pupils involved in role play about Christopher Columbus were able to describe his journey, show it on a world map and discuss useful ways to make their writing about it as good as possible.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Mathematic is taught extremely well because pupils have opportunities to use their mathematical skills in practical activites and to solve problems. In daily lessons teachers encourage pupils’ interest imaginatively. For example, during the inspection Year 5 pupils learnt how to read timetables by using the Hogwarts Express timetable, linked to their topic on films; Year 3 pupils worked on their own and in pairs around the school collecting accurate site measurements. Regular problem-solving activities help pupils reflect on different ways of tackling mathematical challenges.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The teaching of reading is of equally high quality. Phonics (the sounds represented by letters in words) are taught well in the early years and Key Stage 1. The results of the most recent screening on how well pupils understand phonics was above average. These skills are developed as pupils move through the school and enable pupils to read fluently and with good expression and understanding. Pupils are very enthusiastic about the recent opening of the new library.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are helped to make very good progress from their different starting points. Their needs are accurately identified at an early stage and appropriate support provided to help them achieve well. Their progress and support is meticulously tracked to make sure the help is effective, adapting it when necessary. Meetings with parent make sure they understand how their children are being helped and feel involved in their education.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Well-trained and skilled additional adults work alongside teachers to support disadvantaged pupils. Sometimes, the adults work with the rest of the class to allow teachers to help individuals, on other occasions they support the pupils themselves. Teachers make sure the additional adults are clear about the planned learning and, as a result of this highly effective team work, disadvantaged pupils achieve as least as well as their classmates.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Most able pupils make particularly outstanding progress. This is because the high expectations of teachers, interesting ways of presenting subjects and high level of challenge in lessons motivates the pupils to add their own challenge to tasks and push themselves to achieve especially high standards. For example, when learning about adding mixed numbers and fractions, some more able Year 6 pupils animatedly discussed alternative strategies for solving similar problems.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils start in the early years with skills broadly typical for their age. They make exceptionally good progress and in 2014 an above average proportion of children achieved a good level of development. Rapid progress continues through Key Stage 1 and Year 2 pupils in 2014 attained above average standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Consistently good progress throughout Key Stage 2 results in exceptionally high attainment by the end of the key stage. In 2014 standards in reading. Writing and mathematics were well above average and progress since Key Stage 1 was significantly better than other pupils nationally, especially in writing.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The most able pupils make even better progress than other pupils. This means that a high proportion of pupils are working well above the level expected for their age and achieving exceptionally high standards. Teachers’ encouragement of pupils’ love of learning means that more able pupils especially push themselves to achieve the best they can.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make equally good progress from their different starting points. Carefully planned learning and high quality support in lessons means that they are helped to work successfully alongside their classmates.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disadvantaged pupils are equally well supported. In 2014, disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 attained almost as well as other pupils in reading and were two and a half terms behind in writing and mathematics. In relation to other pupils nationally, they attained similarly well in mathematics, were two terms ahead on reading and just over a term ahead in writing. School data show that disadvantaged pupils throughout the school make at least as much progress as other pupils, and in some cases, better progress. This narrows, or removes, any gaps between their attainment and that of other pupils nationally.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The Reception class provides children with a safe, vibrant and happy learning environment in which to develop their skills. It is led extremely well and the leader ensures that children’s’ progress is meticulously checked. Activites are planned to build daily on what pupils have recently learnt and what they already know. This means that every day they make leaps in learning and understanding.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The outstanding teaching provides opportunities for children to practise skills learnt while working with an adult, in their play. Adults develop learning by asking questions and encouraging children to talk about what they are doing, without stifling their sense of enquiry and experimentation. For example, although children building a ball run did not use the equipment to its best advantage, they succeeded in what they were doing and, apart from offering safety hints, the adult allowed them to work unaided to achieve their goal.  Children behave extremely well. They concentrate on tasks, share equipment and work diligently either on their own or with other children. During the inspection, some children wore large imitation magnifying glasses to show that they were being word detectives, looking for rhyming words around the room. They wrote the words using well-formed letters and concentrating carefully to make sure they were spelling

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children develop exceptionally positive attitudes to learning in the Reception class. This, along with their highly developed skills by the time they start in Key Stage 1, equip them extremely well for Year 1 work.

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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 125670 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 453224

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 226 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julia Bower Headteacher David Briggs Date of previous school inspection 9 November 2010 Telephone number 01788 542027 Fax number 01788 541351 Email address admin3177@welearn365.com 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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