Setting

Mrs A Appleyard Interim Executive Headteacher All Saints Church of England School Fishers Mead Dulverton TA22 9EN

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School

Following my visit to your school on 9 January 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in September 2014. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. The school should take further action to ensure that:  the planned reviews of governance and the school’s use of pupil premium funding takes place. Any actions recommended following the review must be rapidly implemented  a summary improvement plan is generated so that the governing body can more readily hold the school leaders to account  the pupil attainment and progress summary already provided to the governing body contains specific detail relating to the more able pupils  the school’s website meets statutory requirements. Tribal Kings Orchard One Queen Street Bristol BS2 0HQ T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5323 Email : suzy.smith@tribalgroup.com

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the executive headteacher, the leader for teaching and learning, the local leader for education who has been working with the school over the last two years, two members of the governing body, including the Chair, to discuss the action taken since the last inspection. The school’s Strategic Development Plan was evaluated. A selection of pupils writing books, the school’s current information about pupils’ achievement, and school policies were inspected. Twenty-seven parental responses to the school’s own questionnaire were taken into account.

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Context

The executive headteacher of the three schools in the federation remains absent due to illness. The interim executive headteacher was appointed in November 2014, two months after the section 5 inspection. A part-time teacher has left the school. A new temporary, full-time teacher and a learning support assistant have joined the school. There is a new Chair of the Governing Body and a new manager in the Nursery.

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Main findings

Although she had only been in post since September 2014, the leader for teaching and learning effectively managed the work of the school until the interim executive head teacher was appointed.

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Main findings

A development plan has been drawn up that focusses on what needs to be done in the right order. It makes clear who is responsible for planned actions and is a good reference document for the school to use day-to-day. However, it is too broad and long for the governing body to use easily in its meetings to help them check the progress that the school is making in ‘getting to good’.

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Main findings

The interim executive headteacher has been able to build upon the work already started by the leader for teaching and learning. Most notably in September she established what each pupil knew, understood and could do. As a result, school leaders are using this robust initial benchmark to better measure pupils’ achievements. This information is presented in an easily accessible format for the governing body to understand. It contains summary overviews for each class and is also broken down into different pupil groups, with the exception of the more able pupils which is missing. School leaders now monitor the quality of teaching more frequently and in greater depth. It has enabled them to develop better quality support and training for classroom staff. As a result the complexity, amount and quality of pupils’ writing has improved. It has taken too long for the school to organise the external review of governance

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Main findings

and the school’s use of the pupil premium funding. They are planned to take place over the next few weeks. The delay has reduced the capacity of the governing body to ensure that the school fulfils its statutory duties. As a result, t he school’s website does not meet current government requirements. For example, the required details about the content of the curriculum the school follows in each academic year for every subject are not on it. The published information about the spending of the pupil premium and sports funding grant are insufficient. There is no indication of the impact on the achievement and increased health and wellbeing of the pupils supported by this additional funding.

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Main findings

Parents have more information provided to them by the school and feel that they are listened to in return. There are now regular parent forum meetings and bi-weekly newsletters. The parental responses from the school’s own questionnaire were largely positive about the improvements made since the inspection in September 2014. Most reported that they and their children believe that behaviour is better. The new class ‘Dojo’ system to reward positive behaviour is a particular strength, although a few parents would like more immediate information when their child receives a ‘red Dojo’. A common theme of parental concern was about the amount of homework their children were given. Several of those with the youngest children wanted more to be set. School leaders have rightly focussed on providing specific homework to help improve pupils’ ability to spell words correctly and increase the amount of reading that pupils do at home.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The school has received support from a Local Leader of Education to help improve the quality of teaching. The local authority is helping to fund the interim executive headteacher, but this role is only on a temporary basis.

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External support

The school is working well with the local rector who joined the community in the autumn term. Together they have devised a better way of helping pupils to learn and appreciate other faiths and cultures, whilst celebrating and appreciating their own. The current school leaders have some very exciting ideas to develop this work in other areas of the curriculum so that pupils can fully extend their understanding of life in other areas of Britain compared with Dulverton.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Somerset and the Diocese of Bath and Wells.

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