Charmouth Primary School

Charmouth Primary School Lower Sea Lane, Charmouth, Bridport, Dorset, DT6 6LR

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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 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

 Pupils achieve well at Charmouth Primary School. They are well prepared for their next stage in education, with almost all achieving the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics. An above average proportion of pupils are currently achieving the higher Level 5 in reading and writing at the end of Year 6.  Teaching over time is consistently good in all classes and makes sure that skills in all subjects build well as pupils move up through the school.  Pupils become articulate, creative and imaginative and have good opportunities for music and performance. They demonstrate excellent singing abilities as a whole school.  Friendship, responsibility, perseverance, respect and trust are the five values of the school that the whole school community has decided together. They are fully apparent in the high quality relationships throughout the school and the way in which the school deals with any difficulties.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 This is an inclusive school, making sure that there is equality of opportunity for all.  Pupils are safe and behaviour in lessons is good. The headteacher has successfully built a strong team of leaders so that the school can make more rapid progress.  Children in the early years provision make good progress. The local environment is used well in making sure that they develop a wide range of skills so that they all reach a good level of development before they enter Year 1.  Governors are effective in providing a balance of support and challenge to the school. They carry out their statutory responsibilities well.  Leaders and managers, including governors, have made sure that the quality of teaching and the resulting achievement of pupils, especially in reading and writing, have improved since the previous inspection.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The most-able pupils are not always given sufficient opportunity to apply their skills to complex problem-solving activities, particularly in mathematics.  The planned topics for different subjects do not yet give pupils a wide enough experience of a range of cultures or prepare them sufficiently well for life in modern Britain.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 11 lessons, all of which were jointly observed with the headteacher. In addition, short visits were made to classrooms and the inspector listened to a sample of pupils in Year 1 read. The inspector reviewed samples of pupils’ work in books to check their progress.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, middle leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and two other members, and a group of pupils. There were informal discussions with parents. The inspector held a telephone conversation with a member of the local authority.  The inspector took account of the 38 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), the report of a telephone call from a parent, and a recent questionnaire conducted by the school. She analysed the results of the staff questionnaire, to which there were 15 responses, and a letter received during the inspection.  The inspector looked at school documents, including information relating to checks on pupils’ progress,

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Information about this inspection

plans for school improvement, records of the monitoring of teaching and learning, records relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance, the minutes of the governing body and safeguarding documents.

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Inspection team

Janet Dinsmore, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Charmouth is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Over two thirds of the teaching staff have changed since the previous inspection.  The early years provision is full time in the Reception class and there is a two-hour session each week in term time, the Barnacles group, for pre-school children.  The school runs a breakfast club from 8.00am each morning.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are eligible for pupil premium (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or in the care of the local authority) is much lower than average and there are very few in each year group, including Year 6.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching, so that a greater proportion is outstanding, by making sure that the most-able pupils have increased opportunities to demonstrate and apply a wide range of skills, particularly in mathematics.  Increase the breadth of topics studied so that pupils have a wider experience of different cultures that more effectively prepares them for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, with the leadership team and governors, work well together as a team and share ambition to make the school the best it can be. All the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection have been addressed, demonstrating the school’s capacity for continued improvement.  Middle leaders with responsibility for the early years, special educational needs, literacy and numeracy check pupils’ work in all classes regularly and contribute well to making sure that teaching and pupils’ progress are continually improving. This is a substantial improvement to the quality of middle leaders found at the previous inspection.  Leaders and managers have improved the quality of teaching since the previous inspection. Pupils’ attainment and progress have improved and are now above national averages. Inadequate teaching has been eradicated.  Performance of teachers is managed well. They are rewarded appropriately for their contribution to the

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The leadership and management are good

leadership of the school and held fully to account for the progress of the pupils in their classes.  Leaders use information on pupils’ progress well to evaluate the school and the resulting improvement plans are clearly focused on the areas that need improvement. These have resulted in improvements in the teaching of mathematics, in line with the new national curriculum. Improvements in the teaching of writing and phonics (letters and sounds) are evident in how well all the pupils in the school are doing. Staff have received good training and development opportunities in order to be able to do this.  The additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used very effectively for individual and small group teaching in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils catch up quickly and the gap between them and their peers at this school is closing rapidly.  Safeguarding requirements are met. The school has made sure that induction procedures for new staff are

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The leadership and management are good

effective and that all staff have up-to-date training. The headteacher checks all the requirements for effective safeguarding and continually updates these, working closely with the governing body.  The school uses the primary school physical education and sport funding to extend pupils’ experience of different sports continually and train staff to deliver these. Pupils say they really enjoy these opportunities; recent ones have been archery and cricket.  The local authority has provided effective support, particularly in improving the quality of teaching and learning. It is now aware that the school has improved and this support will now decrease.  The curriculum is broad and balanced and makes sure that the school makes excellent use of its proximity to the beach, through ‘beach school’. The local environment, its history and artistic and creative work are used particularly effectively to widen pupils’ understanding, experience and spiritual awareness. The aims

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The leadership and management are good

of the school help pupils understand the British values such as respect and responsibility. However, the curriculum does not yet provide wide enough knowledge of other cultures to prepare pupils fully for life in modern Britain.  Equality of opportunity, no discrimination and the fostering of good relations are particularly evident in the way that the whole-school community, pupils, parents, staff and governors contributed to the aims and vision of the school. Every child is supported, challenged, valued and able to share their talents; this is particularly evident in the whole school’s ability to sing cohesively and use instruments in preparation for a recording.  The governance of the school:  Governors have made sure that they have an effective range of skills from business and education to carry out their role. They are trained well for their responsibilities and have organised their work to

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The leadership and management are good

make sure that they fully hold the school to account for the progress of the pupils. They record this well in their minutes. They visit the school frequently, providing support and challenge and to check the work of the school for themselves.  Governors know that the quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection and that under- performance has been eradicated; governors manage the performance of the headteacher well and make sure that teachers are appropriately rewarded for their performance in the classroom.  Governors know how pupil premium is spent and check the progress of all the groups of pupils with the headteacher, and so have accurate knowledge of how the school compares with all schools nationally. They have introduced a robust system to improve pupils’ attendance, which is proving successful.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are motivated to learn and apply themselves diligently to tasks set in lessons. They respond quickly to instruction and work very well in pairs, particularly when they are talking together to compare their answers to adults’ questions.  Older pupils say that behaviour at the school has improved since the arrival of the headteacher. Everyone understands the yellow and red card system, and that this is effective in making sure that pupils behave well. There are almost no minor disruptions to learning in lessons.  Pupils say that any minor fallings out, which are rare, are dealt with well by adults. Pupils understand about different forms of bullying, including cyber and homophobic bullying. They say that is does not occur at school because they all get along well together. Pupils’ moral and social development is good.  The school is successfully working with the parents of the very small group of pupils whose attendance

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Behaviour

restricts the school’s profile to below average. As a result, the proportions of pupils who are persistently absent or late have been reduced.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  Pupils play sensibly at play time; they manage risk well when on the playground equipment, playing football games and at ‘beach school’.  Pupils know that they are safe and say that they can express any concerns that they have in a worry box and then adults deal with this sensitively. Any problems are resolved quickly.  Pupils know how to stay safe when using the internet, both at school and at home.  Breakfast club provides a good start to the day for the pupils who attend. Pupils are safe, behave well and enjoy the good range of creative and well supervised activities available.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers use assessment accurately to plan work for the next day’s lessons that will make sure that pupils make good progress with learning. They use time well in lessons so that pupils have good opportunities to practise their skills, but also adapt tasks quickly if pupils understand their work and can move forward.  Teaching is consistent across the school. Pupils have a clear understanding of what they will learn in lessons and teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and what they can achieve. In some classes progress is rapid, especially in reading, because teachers explain vocabulary and grammar succinctly, and pupils pick this up and use it well.  Teachers mark pupils’ work carefully so that pupils know exactly what they need to do to improve. Pupils say, and their books show, that they have time to correct their mistakes and know what the next steps are. This is particularly evident in writing and mathematics. Pupils are becoming skilled at checking their

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The quality of teaching is good

own and their partner’s work. They say that this process is an important part of their learning.  Teaching assistants are trained well and make a strong contribution to learning in lessons. There is strong teamwork between all adults in the class. Teaching is adjusted and organised so that any slight slowing of progress is quickly identified and pupils receive the support that they need to catch up with their learning.  All staff use questions well to check pupils’ understanding and make sure that pupils can explain their learning. They also use questions effectively to adjust tasks quickly in lessons to make progress more rapid. Occasionally, the most-able pupils are not given enough opportunities to apply a wide range of skills, particularly to solve problems in mathematics. This sometimes slows the progress these pupils can make and the possibility of attaining even higher levels.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Current Year 6 pupils are achieving at higher levels than the 2014 cohort, demonstrating the raising of achievement that is evident across the school. They have made good progress from Key Stage 1 and the proportion exceeding expected progress is higher than average.  In 2014, a higher than average proportion achieved the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics, and this is continuing to improve. Pupils throughout the school are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  The most-able pupils achieve well at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, with increasing proportions achieving at the higher Levels 3 and 5 each year, particularly in writing. This is now exceeding national averages.  Disadvantaged pupils sometimes are achieving better than others in the school. They consistently make progress better than that of other pupils nationally in writing and mathematics at Key Stage 1, and in

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The achievement of pupils is good

reading and writing at Key Stage 2. The numbers in each cohort are too small to compare attainment.  Pupils at the end of Key Stage 1 have demonstrated significant improvement in the last two years. Achievement has risen rapidly and pupils are now achieving above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. This shows good progress through Key Stage 1, building well on the skills that pupils have when they leave the Reception class.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are making good progress alongside their peers. They receive specific support, depending on their need, and this fills the gaps in their learning or gives them more practice so that they can catch up.  Pupils learn to read well. They quickly learn letters and sounds and use these well in Year 1 to read unfamiliar words; a higher than average proportion achieves the expected standard in the phonic check.

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The achievement of pupils is good

Pupils continue to make good progress with reading. When they are choosing and reading books independently, they talk knowledgeably about a wide range of authors and why they enjoy the books.  Pupils communicate well; they show understanding and sensitivity to others’ feelings and are polite and courteous. They listen well, both to each other and adults.  Pupils are skilled writers by the time they leave school. They use their knowledge of grammar and wide vocabulary well to write imaginatively, both in stories and writing persuasive letters. These skills build steadily throughout the school. Pupils say they enjoy writing in their ‘Big Write’ books each week.  Pupils achieve well in mathematics. The proportion achieving at the higher Level 5 at the end of Year 6 matches the national average, and the proportion achieving at the higher Level 3 at the end of Year 2 is above the national average. The school is beginning to support pupils to attain at even higher levels.

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The achievement of pupils is good

Pupils apply their knowledge of place value well. In Year 1 pupils are beginning to work confidently with three-digit numbers; in Year 5 they are developing their skills in multiplying using powers of 10; and in Year 6, pupils confidently working out more complex calculations with a range of different operations.

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The early years provision is good

 Children make good progress in the Reception class. The Barnacles pre-school group provides good opportunities each week for children to begin to work together and develop their creative skills. Parents say that this is a good opportunity for their children to begin to become familiar with the school.  Each intake has a different and varying profile of skills. The majority of children have skills that are broadly typical for their age but personal and social, and some physical, reading and writing skills are often less well developed.  Children make good progress. On leaving Reception in 2014, all had reached a good level of development and were fully prepared for their education to continue in Year 1.  The early years class makes good use of the beach most weeks. For example, they built reservoirs as part of their investigations with water and could describe the most effective way of doing this. Parents help

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The early years provision is good

with these weekly trips. They say how well their children are doing, how much they enjoy the work in the class, and the excellent relationships they build with the teacher. Any concerns, which are rare, are quickly dealt with.  Good teaching makes sure that children have experiences that will build skills that are less well developed, for example learning letters and sounds for reading and developing fine motor skills for writing. This is checked carefully and continually so that children make good progress in all areas of learning and development.  Adults work well with individuals and small groups, questioning children carefully so that they can develop their understanding and learn to express themselves well. Children can explain what they are doing, for example making a termite mound in the sand and deciding actions that will prevent its collapse.  Children behave well. They understand the routines and expectations, and relate well when playing

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The early years provision is good

together, discussing what they are doing. They all understand the importance of wearing hats and suncream in the sun, for example, and how to stay safe when working on the beach.  The early years provision is not outstanding because sometimes the structured parts of the day and adults’ planned activities restrict the opportunities for children to develop their learning and exploration even further.

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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 113662 Local authority Dorset Inspection number 462483

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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 Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 159 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Adrian Ragbourne Headteacher Gillian Morris Date of previous school inspection 16−17 May 2013 Telephone number 01297 560591 Fax number 01297 560591 Email address admin@charmouth.dorset.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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