Fetcham Village Infant School

School report Fetcham Village Infant School

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School Lane, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9JU

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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

 Fetcham Village Infant School is an exceptional school.  The headteacher has built a vibrant and inspiring culture. She is relentless in ensuring all pupils do as well as they can.  Leaders and governors have successfully created an ethos where all pupils are expected to achieve their very best. Parents, staff and pupils are exceptionally proud of the school and pupils embody the leaders’ ambitious vision and values.  Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is exceptional. Pupils are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. They fully understand and follow the school’s values. They are exceptionally welcoming and polite to their peers, staff and visitors. The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding  Pupils across the school make rapid progress due to excellent teaching and the high expectations of all staff.  Pupils’ achievement is consistently outstanding

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

over a number of years. Pupils in the school are making exceptional progress.  Governors and leaders strive to ensure all pupils fulfil their potential. They have made sure that high levels of attainment have been sustained.  Early years provision is a strength of the school. Children’s progress is carefully recorded and any gaps in their learning are identified and efficiently dealt with.  Pupils are highly motivated and always do their best. Teachers possess and effectively communicate very good subject knowledge.  Leaders have made a very positive start to embedding the new National Curriculum. They have successfully focused on the new expectations for reading and writing and are now improving the school’s approach to teaching number.  The school’s curriculum provides rich and meaningful learning experiences for pupils. It promotes a love of learning which is reflected in pupils achieving high standards.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders pay very close attention to the school’s work and take immediate action where necessary to ensure teaching is always of the best quality and achievement remains outstanding.  Governors know the school extremely well. They provide an excellent balance of challenge and support to ensure leaders continue to drive improvements in the school’s work.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs do exceptionally well due to timely support and well-tailored interventions. This ensures that pupils make the same excellent progress as their peers.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was conducted after an earlier inspection was found to be potentially insecure following Ofsted’s investigation of a complaint. Inspectors returned to the school under section 8 of the Education Act to ensure previous judgements were accurate. When on site, inspectors decided that the previous judgements were not secure so deemed this visit a full section 5 inspection. This report is a result of the new inspection.  Inspectors observed 15 lessons or part of lessons taught by six teachers. The headteacher joined an inspector on two learning walks.  Inspectors also observed pupils’ activities during an after school club, break and lunch times, a wake and shake exercise activity as well as an assembly.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, representatives of the governing body and school and subject leaders. A meeting took place between an inspector and a representative of the local authority.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team took account of the 74 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as informal discussions with parents and three letters submitted during the inspection. The views of staff were taken into account through meetings.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and discussed their choices of reading books.  The school’s own attainment records for the previous and current academic years were considered in addition to published information on pupils’ achievement.  Records relating to pupils’ safety and welfare, including security checks on staff, were scrutinised.  Inspectors examined a wide range of documentation including information about attendance, the work of governors and the school’s policies and plans.

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Inspection team

Sir Robin Bosher, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Michael Sheridan Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 Fetcham Village Infant School is an average-sized infant school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils who receive support through the pupil premium is well below the national average. This is extra money provided by the government for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after.  A large majority of pupils in the school are of White British heritage. The remainder are of other White or Asian heritage. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well below the national average and none are at an early stage of learning English.  Early years provision consists of two reception classes which children attend full time.  The school is a member of the Effingham Learning Partnership, a group of 11 schools that cooperate on staff development and assessment. The partnership includes Oakfield Junior School, where most pupils

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Information about this school

proceed after Year 2.  A second deputy head teacher is new to her role this academic year.  The school hosts a daily breakfast clubs and after school clubs.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to embed the new mathematics curriculum and ensure it is resourced well so that the teachers have support to teach number consistently well across the school.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is an outstanding leader. She has built a vibrant and inspiring learning community using determined and tenacious leadership and has ensured all aspects of the school’s work are outstanding.  A strong ethos encompasses all of the school’s work. Important values are depicted all around the school. Pupils can recall what these values are and what they mean, creating a tangible sense of community.  Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Almost all parents who responded to the online Parent View survey would recommend the school to other parents. Parents who spoke to inspectors were complimentary about the school’s ethos and the impact this has on their children.  Leaders have ensured that pupils make excellent academic progress because of consistently good and outstanding teaching, effective marking and astute assessment.  Subject leaders have an in-depth understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in their areas of

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The leadership and management are outstanding

responsibility. They check standards and intervene quickly if action is needed. They are diligent and check pupils’ books regularly.  Leaders sensibly focus on a limited number of improvement areas at a time and the new curriculum for reading and writing has been very well developed this year. The mathematics curriculum is next to be developed. While teachers have raised their expectations to meet the needs of the new curriculum, the school’s plans to develop and resource a common approach to teaching number has not yet been established.  Leaders have introduced a scheme for pupils to act upon teachers’ marking across a wide range of subjects and this helps pupils understand how to improve their performance. This initiative has been a priority for staff training across the school.  The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is a significant strength of the school. Pupils develop spiritual understanding from their religious education programme, which includes visits to

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The leadership and management are outstanding

churches and other places of worship. A synagogue was visited during the inspection and, following the visit, classwork reflected a very good understanding of key facts. Visitors from other faiths, such as Hinduism, come into the school to explain Diwali celebrations.  The curriculum has the school’s values running through it and this contributes strongly to the fostering of respect for others, including respect for different religions and races. Daily assemblies successfully consider how the school’s values apply to everyday living. These help pupils to apply positive values to their daily lives and help to ensure pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The curriculum is outstanding; it promotes a love of learning. This is reflected in pupils achieving high standards in reading, writing and mathematics. The school has used the additional sports funding effectively. A specialist coach is helping class teachers to improve their skills in teaching physical education

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The leadership and management are outstanding

and games. Pupils of all ages now experience a better quality of physical education. There are good quality after-school sports clubs and these provide opportunities for pupils to try new sports and learn about competition.  Funding is used extremely well to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and there is no gap between their attainment and that of their peers. Funding has been used for one-to-one teaching, specialist resources, small group intervention, staff training and to fund extra-curricular activities for individual pupils.  Safeguarding systems meet current requirements and policies are applied consistently. Consequently, pupils are safe and well cared for. Leaders promote equal opportunities well and do not tolerate any discrimination.  The local authority provides light touch support and usefully helps the headteacher and other school leaders to moderate their judgements about the quality of teaching. The headteacher works in partnership

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The leadership and management are outstanding

with the pre-school and also with the local junior school. This supports the excellent transition arrangements.  The governance of the school: - The highly effective governing body knows the school well. Governors have an accurate understanding of pupils’ achievement and compare this to national expectations. They visit the school regularly to check on policy and practice. This knowledge helps them to hold leaders to account and provide constructive challenge about the effectiveness of the school’s work. Their visits and discussions are recorded in the well-kept governing body minutes. With the headteacher, governors have established the vision and values of the school and are active in their promotion. - Governors are closely involved in the management of the headteacher’s performance; they understand the link between teachers’ pay increases and pupils’ progress and they are applying this principle to pay

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The leadership and management are outstanding

awards. They are made fully aware, by school leaders, of progress with the school improvement plan. - Governors check the spending of the pupil premium funds and they receive useful reports from the headteacher about the impact of expenditure on pupils’ performance. The budget is carefully managed to effectively support school improvement.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils are extremely polite and friendly. Their attitudes are very positive and they act considerately towards each other in and outside of class.  The values system permeates all aspects of the school and particularly the way children behave. They can talk knowledgeably about how they use these values in and out of the classroom.  There is a positive learning atmosphere throughout the school. Pupils concentrate well and take a pride in their work and the school. Pupils in Year 2 said that they use their assigned partners to discuss their work especially if they need help. Pupils work cooperatively with adults and each other in lessons.  Pupils’ behaviour outside of lessons is excellent. The playground and lunch hall are harmonious places for pupils to play and socialise together. Pupils are respectful towards their friends, other adults and visitors. These findings are shared by almost all parents who shared their views with inspectors. One parent said

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Behaviour

that not only does her child reflect the school’s values in school but also at home.  Teachers treat all pupils with respect. Lessons are conducted in a friendly and happy manner. This contributes to highly effective learning relationships.  Pupils take a pride in their school and the extensive grounds. The displays in the classrooms and corridors are treated with respect.  Attendance rates are above the national average. The school rigorously follows up lateness and absence and this impacts very positively. There have been no exclusions.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  All checks on adults wishing to work or volunteer in the school are carried out thoroughly and robustly.  Pupils say they could confide in adults if they had any concerns and were very positive that they would do something.  Pupils say that bullying is exceptionally rare and that any minor incidents are dealt with quickly and fairly.  Pupils have a full understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They have a strong awareness of personal safety, including when using the internet. One pupil explained that if something was happening on the playground she would always go to an adult and she knew they would listen to her.  Policies and procedures are in place and permeate all aspects of the school’s work with pupils. Staff understand the procedures they need to follow when they have concerns and how to report them as they arise.  Effective links with other agencies help the school to keep pupils safe. The senior staff who have

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Safety

responsibility for keeping pupils safe seek appropriate support from specialist sevices when required.  The large number of parents who responded to Parent View are unanimously happy that their children are safe in school and that the school provides a safe and caring atmosphere.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and match work to the needs of the pupils. Teachers use questioning techniques particularly well. In a Reception class writing group, for example, the teacher’s questioning skilfully allowed a beginner writer to make excellent progress.  Teachers use assessment very effectively. They are skilful at identifying misunderstandings and rectifying them immediately. This ensures that any gaps in learning are dealt with swiftly and effectively. In a Year 2 geography lesson, one pupil struggled to understand the purpose of a key. The teacher intervened quickly and therefore no time was lost in getting the pupil back on track.  Teachers mark pupils’ work well. They identify the strengths and weaknesses of the work and use relevant questions to ask pupils to reflect.  A feature of the high quality teaching is the warm, working relationships that are established between all

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

adults and pupils in the classroom. Pupils are encouraged to take risks and this allows them to contribute to the lesson without fear of getting something wrong.  Teaching assistants are skilful and give support to children so that they make the best possible progress. In a Reception class, for example, the teaching assistant, whilst riding on a play bus in the home corner, was skilfully developing children’s use of language.  Pupils are keen and enthusiastic about reading and read often at school and home. Parents contribute strongly to the home/school reading partnership and an effective dialogue is created charting their child’s reading journey. Pupils make very good progress in their ability to read, through the effective teaching of phonics (the sounds letters make). As a consequence, reading for many groups of pupils is significantly above national expectations in the Year 1 phonics screening check and also by the end of Year 2.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers are adept at planning to meet the needs of the full ability range. In a Reception class number activity, children were doubling and the most able were using larger numbers and applying their knowledge to problems.  Parents who responded to Parent View were overwhelmingly in agreement that homework tasks were helpful for their children.

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is outstanding

 By the end of Year 2, in 2014, pupils’ attainment was well above average in reading, writing and mathematics. This has been the case for the last three years. In addition, the school’s own assessments show that rates of progress in Key Stage 1 are high.  The most able pupils achieve well at the end of Key Stage 1. In 2014, the proportion of pupils achieving the highest levels in reading, writing and mathematics were double the national average. The school’s records reflect similar achievement this year.  Effective strategies are in place to identify pupils who are at risk of falling behind. Strategies to support pupils include immediate help in the classroom, marking which clearly identifies misunderstandings and intervention groups. Very few pupils fall behind to any degree.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make the same progress as their classmates. Pupils from different ethnic groups also make at least as good progress as their peers.

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is outstanding

 Additional government funding is used effectively to support disadvantaged pupils and as a result they make similar progress to their classmates. In 2014, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in Year 2 was a term ahead in reading and marginally ahead of other pupils nationally in writing and mathematics. This year, according to the school’s assessment records, disadvantaged pupils have not only exceeded national expectations but have also caught up with their year group.

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is outstanding

 Children joining the school in Reception usually have skills and levels of understanding typical of their age. As a result of excellent teaching, attainment by the end of the Reception year is well above that found in schools nationally.  Staff work very well as a team in the Reception classes. The curriculum is well planned and provides a balanced range of activities that rapidly develop children’s learning. In a writing activity, for example, children were given the right support so that all children could make the very best progress.  Both indoor classrooms and the outdoor area provide an exceptionally stimulating learning environment. Children are enthusiastic and well motivated learners.  Children’s behaviour is very good as a result of secure relationships with staff. Classroom routines are understood well and children thrive in a safe and secure environment. Home/school links are extremely

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is outstanding

well established. Parents are fully involved and are expected to engage with their child’s education and this is contributing well to the children’s academic progress and social development.  Staff plan lessons carefully to help children make very good progress through a wide range of activities. Assessments of children’s achievement are carefully recorded in a manageable and useful system. Leaders make sure that any children who may need additional help receive timely and appropriate support.  The early years is led and managed very well. Self-evaluation is accurate and leaders have an accurate understanding of the quality of provision.

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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 124983 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 465114

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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 Infant School category Community School Age range of pupils 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 180 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Cath Garel Headteacher Sharon Harrison Date of previous school inspection 19–20 March 2015 Telephone number 01372 373502 Fax number 01372 361045 Email address info@fetcham.surrey.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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