Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School

School report Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School Adelaide Road, Eythorne, Kent, CT15 4AN

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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 school has improved rapidly under the strong leadership of the executive headteacher, ably supported by the head of school, the governing body and a local authority adviser. This has secured good teaching and achievement.  The roles of middle leaders have been extended so that they now have a greater impact on the quality of provision and achievement in the areas they cover.  From starting points that are below those typical for their age, pupils make good progress to reach standards that are broadly average by the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics.  The quality of teaching is good overall, with some that is outstanding. Teachers and other adults create a positive environment for learning so pupils enjoy coming to school and are interested and engaged in their lessons.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding in lessons, at play times and around the school. They are kind and courteous towards one another.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils say that they feel very safe in school, a view supported by all parents who responded to the online questionnaire. Pupils report that there is no bullying in the school.  The provision for pupils in the small early years class is outstanding. Children thrive because they enjoy a wide range of stimulating experiences that are carefully tailored to meet their individual needs.  All groups of pupils make good progress. The school meets the needs of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs well.  The attainment of disadvantaged pupils by the end of Years 2 and 6 is higher than that of their peers in school and others nationally.  Governors are highly skilled and effective in supporting and challenging school leaders.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching in lower Key Stage 2 is sometimes less effective so pupils do not make the same rates of progress as they do in other classes in the school, especially in writing.  Pupils are not taught overtly about all aspects of British citizenship so they are not thoroughly well prepared for their future lives in modern Britain.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector visited seven lessons, four of which were observed jointly with the executive headteacher or head of school.  The behaviour and attitudes of pupils were observed during lessons, in breakfast club, at break times, lunchtime and in an assembly.  Pupils’ work in reading, writing and mathematics and in some other subjects was scrutinised.  The inspector spoke to pupils, including a group from Year 6, and heard pupils in Years 2 and 6 read.  Meetings were held with leaders and managers, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector met parents at the end of an assembly and considered 19 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, together with an email received from a parent. She also considered responses to the nine questionnaires completed by staff.  Documents reviewed included the school’s checks on its performance and plans for improvement;

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Information about this inspection

arrangements for safeguarding pupils; behaviour and attendance records; and governing body minutes.

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Inspection team

Angela Konarzewski, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School is a much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  In January 2012, it entered into a federation with Sibertswold Church of England Primary School. The headteacher is executive headteacher of both schools and there is a single governing body overseeing the work of both. There have been some staffing changes in this school since the last inspection.  The vast majority of pupils in the school are from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is much lower than average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional funding provided for children looked after by the local authority and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals) is well above average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is well above average.

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Information about this school

 Children attend the early years provision in the Reception class full time from September each year.  A higher than average proportion of pupils join and leave this school at times other than the start of the year.  There is a daily breakfast club that is managed by the governing body.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching in lower Key Stage 2 to match the best in the school by ensuring that teachers:  have opportunities to learn from the excellent practice that already exists elsewhere in the school  have consistently high expectations of what pupils of all abilities can achieve, including in presentation and handwriting  mark pupils’ work consistently in line with the school’s policy and ensure that marking and feedback help pupils to improve their work, especially in writing.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Incorporate all aspects of British citizenship into the curriculum, in order to ensure that pupils are well prepared for their future lives in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The executive headteacher and head of school have worked effectively together with the governing body to secure improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ behaviour. Leaders now rigorously and regularly check on the quality of teaching and manage the performance of all staff well, ensuring that they know what is expected of them.  The local authority has also provided high quality support that has had a positive impact on the improvement journey the school has made over the past two years.  Middle leaders have secured improvements in English and mathematics. The head of school and support leader have also been effective in improving the provision and outcomes for pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs, and for pupils who are disadvantaged.  The new National Curriculum is being delivered well through interesting topics such as ‘Digging Deep’ in Years 1 and 2, where pupils are exploring local history in relation to the colliery, visible from the school,

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The leadership and management are good

that was closed in the 1980s. Achievement in the new curriculum is assessed through a detailed new system that senior leaders have devised and implemented effectively across the school.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well, including equality of opportunity and good relations, and it tackles the rare cases of discrimination well. This contributes to pupils’ excellent behaviour and attitudes.  Pupils learn about the democratic process through their school council elections, but an understanding of how democracy and the law work in Britain, in contrast to other forms of government in other countries, is not thoroughly covered in the curriculum. Pupils’ experience of life and society outside the predominantly White British village community is limited.  The pupil premium funding is spent wisely. It is used to fund an additional teacher, ensuring that disadvantaged pupils make the most progress of which they are capable. As a result, their progress is

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The leadership and management are good

often better than that of others. Their attainment was above that of their peers in school and others nationally in 2014 and in 2015, at the end of both key stages.  The primary physical education and sports funding is also spent effectively and has led to an increased participation in a wide range of sports by many pupils, who are now able to attend an expanding range of clubs run by staff. Some funding is also used to support the swimming programme.  The school communicates well with parents, including through its website. All who responded on Parent View said they would recommend the school to others. One parent said, ‘My children come to school happy and they go home happy.’  The breakfast club provides a calm and nurturing start to the school day. Pupils eat a healthy breakfast, develop their social skills and are involved in activities and games.  The school’s safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements and are effective.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The experienced Chair leads a highly skilled and effective governing body that holds senior leaders to account for the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement. Governors scrutinise information about pupils’ progress regularly and in detail. They check that performance management arrangements are used effectively to support and reward staff, and they understand how underperformance is tackled. Governors are aware of weaknesses in the school and have been proactive in addressing them since the last inspection.  Governors compare their performance against national and local benchmarks, and are conscious of the need to provide value for money.  The governor with responsibility for safeguarding has undertaken extensive training, including in safer recruitment and child protection. Governors ensure that pupils are properly safeguarded and respond quickly when any concerns are raised.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  They concentrate well in lessons and all try their hardest to do their best. They listen carefully and ask and answer questions with confidence. This excellent behaviour for learning has a very positive impact on pupils’ achievement.  Pupils are polite and courteous towards one another and towards adults and visitors. They greet everyone with bright smiles and hold open doors. Consequently, the atmosphere in the school is happy and harmonious.  In a whole-school assembly about the Second World War, led by lower Key Stage 2, pupils’ behaviour was impeccable in front of an audience of parents. Pupils enjoyed receiving certificates that celebrated their achievements, including 100% attendance, and all joined in reverently with reciting The Lord’s Prayer.  Pupils observed at breakfast club, at lunchtime and on the playground engaged in polite conversation with

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Behaviour

each other and played together happily, sharing and taking turns without argument.  Behaviour logs maintained by the head of school indicate that behaviour over time is outstanding and that all behaviour is well managed by staff, who have consistently high expectations. Pupils and parents spoken to also confirmed this.  Pupils treat the school environment with respect and take a pride in the appearance of their classrooms and school grounds. There is no litter.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  Pupils say there is no bullying and that racism and homophobic name-calling do not occur. They know that they should report it if it does occur, and that adults would deal promptly and appropriately with it.  Pupils are knowledgeable about how to stay safe when using computers and the internet.  All staff, parents and pupils agree that the school is a safe and happy place to be.  Attendance has improved and is now above average.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching over time has strongly improved since the last inspection and it is now consistently good and sometimes outstanding. Weak teaching has been addressed and additional training has been completed through local authority support and links with the federated school. As a result, pupils’ achievement in reading, writing and mathematics has improved.  Teachers work well with other adults to make sure pupils learn in positive classroom environments. This ensures that pupils work hard and are interested and engaged in their learning.  While most teachers challenge pupils of all abilities to do their best in all lessons, in lower Key Stage 2 where teaching is less strong, pupils, including the most able, are not consistently challenged. This is especially so in their skills for writing.  Phonics (linking letters to the sounds they make) is exceptionally well taught from the start in Reception. Teaching assistants as well as teachers reinforce the accurate application of phonics skills, so that by the

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The quality of teaching is good

end of Year 2 attainment in reading and writing is above the national average.  Most teachers have high expectations of presentation, including handwriting, and they mark pupils’ workbooks thoroughly. Useful feedback enables pupils to know what they need to do to improve their work and pupils are given opportunities to read and respond to comments. However, the workbooks of some pupils in Years 3 and 4 show teachers’ expectations of handwriting and presentation are not always high enough. Basic errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation sometimes remain uncorrected. As a result, the progress of these pupils, especially in writing, slows. Marking in mathematics in this class, on the other hand, is more effective, and pupils’ workbooks indicate good progress over time.  Mathematics is well taught. Leaders identified that pupils had gaps in their knowledge of times tables and there is now a concerted drive to ensure that all pupils develop their knowledge of tables. This is helping

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The quality of teaching is good

them with their calculations.  Skilled teaching assistants are deployed well to teach and support pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and disadvantaged pupils, so these pupils make good progress in all classes and subjects across the school.  Pupils in Year 6 spoke enthusiastically about their homework projects. They expressed gratitude to the school for providing a homework club, as some of them do not have a quiet place at home in which to complete work outside school time.  All parents who responded on Parent View believe their child is well taught, and pupils who were asked about the quality of teaching in the school agree.

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is good

 Pupils’ achievement has improved overall since the time of the last inspection because of improvements in the quality of teaching. Pupils currently in the school are making good and sometimes rapid progress in all subjects.  School data and evidence from pupils’ work show that pupils in Key Stage 1 are on track to attain test results that are above the 2014 national average in reading, writing and mathematics this year, with a number of pupils reaching the higher levels.  All pupils in Year 6 are on track to make at least expected progress with a number making better than expected progress, especially in writing, where the teacher’s excellent subject knowledge has promoted pupils’ English grammar skills very effectively.  The most able pupils are challenged exceptionally well in Key Stage 1 and in Years 5 and 6. However, this is not consistently the case for all pupils in Years 3 and 4 and so their progress slows.

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is good

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs benefit from being taught in small classes or working in small groups or one to one supported by skilled teaching assistants. This ensures that they are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. The carefully tailored provision meets their needs well.  The school receives a large amount of funding for its high proportion of disadvantaged pupils. Some of this money has been used wisely to fund a fifth class in order that year groups in Key Stage 1 can be taught separately. As a result, the achievement of disadvantaged pupils has improved significantly in Key Stage 1. In 2014, their attainment was in line with others nationally in reading, above in writing by five months and in mathematics by eight months. In 2015, their attainment is already above the 2014 national average in reading as well as in writing and mathematics, showing further improvement.

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is good

 Additional support provided for disadvantaged pupils in Key Stage 2 has also resulted in their improved achievement. Between 2013 and 2014 the gap between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and others nationally closed significantly and their attainment was above that of others nationally by 12 months in reading, 16 months in writing and eight months in mathematics. Their attainment in reading was four months behind that of their peers in school, it was in line with that of their peers in writing and behind by 10 months in mathematics. The progress of disadvantaged pupils by the end of Key Stage 2 accelerated and was faster than that of others nationally in 2014 and this has been sustained in 2015. Currently, disadvantaged pupils are attaining more highly than their peers in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils develop their handwriting skills early in Key Stage 1 and most are able to write in neat, joined

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is good

handwriting by the end of Year 2. This also improves their spelling. However, pupils sometimes revert to using print in Years 3 and 4, and this further impedes their progress in writing.

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is outstanding

 Children start in Reception with skills that are below those typical for their age. Outstanding teaching by an expert early years practitioner, who also leads the setting, ensures that these children make exceptional progress. Most of them achieve at least in line with age-related expectations by the time they enter Year 1, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs. This means that they are well prepared for Key Stage 1.  Leadership is outstanding. Children make especially good progress in their communication, language and literacy skills because the teacher prioritises these areas based on her accurate assessment of children’s needs, together with personal, social and emotional development.  The teacher makes concerted efforts to ensure that teaching is highly engaging and motivating for the children. For example, in a literacy lesson, she used a range of devices to create sound effects to

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is outstanding

accompany the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. This included the use of a hair dryer to simulate the ‘huffing and puffing’ of the wolf, which the children found highly amusing.  The indoor and outdoor areas in which children learn and play are extremely well organised to promote learning across the seven areas. The rich variety of resources is neatly stored in labelled containers and kept in very good condition. As a result, children are able to access resources independently and so they develop self-confidence in this safe and calm environment.  Individual needs are very well met by the adults in this very small class. For example, the teacher had identified that one child enjoys collecting and carrying things and so she had brought in some child-sized shopping baskets in which the child was now enjoying transporting toy animals to a little house she had made using bricks and twigs.  Children’s behaviour is exceptionally well managed and this means that children behave exceptionally well.

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is outstanding

The safety and well-being of the children are a top priority for all staff and this ensures that children are safe. Children are also developing an increasing awareness of how to keep themselves safe. One child who was blowing paint carefully on to a piece of paper through a straw to create a picture explained that she would have to throw the straw away because, ‘If anyone else sucks it after me they might catch germs.’

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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 118399 Local authority Kent Inspection number 462399

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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 5–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 87 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Richard Webster Headteacher Liz Bird (Executive Headteacher) Date of previous school inspection 20–21 June 2013 Telephone number 01304 830376 Fax number 01304 831784 Email address headteacher@eythorne-elvington.kent.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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