Weeley St Andrew's CofE Primary School

School report Weeley St Andrew's CofE Primary School Main Road, Weeley, Clacton-on-Sea, CO16 9DH

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected as an academy 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

 The leadership and management of the school are effective. The executive headteacher, along with the head of the school and other leaders has made significant improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Pupils’ achievement is good. They have made rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics over the past two years and their attainment is rising.  Teaching is good and is improving because leaders check on teachers’ performance rigorously and provide good opportunities for training.  Children in the Reception classes benefit from the exciting and well-planned learning environment in the early years and make good progress.  Adults support pupils with behavioural, social and emotional needs well in their learning and development. This enables them to settle quickly into school routines and to make good progress.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. It promotes British

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

values through the curriculum and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.  The governors and the members of the multi- academy trust are focused on raising the achievement of all pupils. They use their expertise and skills well to support and challenge the leaders and to improve all aspects of the school further.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Occasionally, teachers do not always set work that is suitably challenging for all groups of pupils, including the most able. As a result, their progress slows slightly.  The progress made by disadvantaged pupils in Key Stage 1 is not as fast as it is in Key Stage 2. This is because tasks are not always sufficiently demanding for these pupils.  Marking is not always effective in giving pupils guidance about how to improve. Teachers do not consistently ensure that pupils act on the advice given and learn from their mistakes.  Pupils’ handwriting and presentation skills are not always as good as they could be.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 12 lessons, two of which were seen jointly with the executive headteacher and three with the head of the school. They made a number of short visits to lessons and observed small groups of pupils taught by teachers and teaching assistants. The inspectors also listened to the reading of pupils in Years 3 and 6.  Inspectors held meetings with groups of pupils, members of staff, and with the Chairperson of the Multi- academy Trust and four governors of the local governing body. A meeting was also held with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors took account of the 73 responses to the online Ofsted questionnaire (Parent View). They talked to parents in the morning when they accompanied their children to school. Inspectors also considered the 12 responses to the staff questionnaire.  The inspectors looked at pupils’ books and at a number of documents, including: the school’s own data on

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Information about this inspection

pupils’ current attainment and progress; the school’s evaluation of its performance; school improvement planning; documentation relating to teachers’ performance over time; and records relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Tusha Chakraborti, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school converted to become an academy on 1 November 2013. When its predecessor school of the same name was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to require special measures.  The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. Children in the early years are taught full- time in the Reception class.  Most pupils come from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for disadvantaged pupils in the care of the local authority and for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, is below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average.  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.  There have been significant changes in staffing over the past two years, including in the leadership team.

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Information about this school

Staffing is now stable.  The school operates under the Diocese of Chelmsford Sower Schools Trust and works closely with other schools within the trust. The trust board, known as the ‘Multi-academy Trust’ oversees the school’s work in collaboration with the school’s governing body, called the ‘Local Governing Body’.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to accelerate pupils’ progress and raise achievement further by ensuring that all teachers consistently:  set tasks that are suitably challenging for all groups of pupils, including the most-able pupils and disadvantaged pupils in Key Stage 1, to extend their knowledge and skills and to deepen their understanding  make sure that pupils act on the guidance they are given in marking and learn from their mistakes  ensure that pupils’ handwriting and presentation skills are well developed across the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The executive headteacher, supported by other leaders and managers, has driven up the quality of teaching and achievement over the past two years. Together, they have established a harmonious and positive learning climate where pupils behave well and grow up as mature learners. Leaders have an accurate view of the school’s successes and know where further improvements need to be made.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders manage the performance of staff well. They monitor the quality of teaching effectively. They set challenging individual annual performance targets for staff and hold them accountable for the progress of pupils in their classes. They ensure these targets relate directly to teachers’ professional development so that they enhance teachers’ expertise in the various subjects they teach.

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The leadership and management are good

 Staff are keen to improve their practice and this is contributing to rising standards. Middle leaders, including the inclusion coordinator and the early year’s leader, work well together to improve all aspects of the school’s work. They are effective in supporting teachers in planning and teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school provides a broad range of topics and themes that interest pupils but which also strongly support the development of their literacy and numeracy skills. An increasing number of clubs and additional activities, including music tuition and visits to museums and art galleries, make pupils’ learning meaningful. Pupils are given many opportunities to develop their understanding of wider British values and institutions, as well as those of their own community, and are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They learn how a democratic government works and the importance of a fair election process. Year 6 pupils interviewed the local Member of Parliament to know how the election system works. Pupils are taught to respect the values of others and that any form of discrimination is wrong.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through assemblies, religious studies, art, music and sporting activities. Pupils learn to value the diversity of cultures represented in their community and in the school and develop a good understanding of different religions. They reflect on teachings of different religions and explain that ‘A lot of these faiths share the same beliefs, like pilgrimage’.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school uses the primary sport funding to support several initiatives that have increased pupils’ involvement in physical activity and sport. These include working with a sports specialist from the local secondary school to improve pupils’ and teachers’ skills in physical education lessons. The funds have also been used to extend the opportunities for competitive sports for all pupils. As a result, pupils’ participation in competitive sport is now high and pupils enjoy inter-school competitions.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school ensures that its arrangements for safeguarding pupils are effective and fully meet statutory requirements. All staff work diligently to ensure pupils enjoy the same good opportunities to succeed. The school ensures that there is no discrimination, whatever pupils’ background or ability. All pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, benefit from good adult care and relationships.

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The leadership and management are good

 The pupil premium funding is used effectively to support the pupils for whom it is intended, particularly in Key Stage 2. As a result, gaps in the performance of disadvantaged pupils are closing by the end of Year 6.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has received good support from the local authority, as well as from the multi–academy trust and the local governing body. They have helped it to establish a systematic and effective programme for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning and have also provided appropriate training for staff. The leaders work effectively with other external agencies and the other schools within the trust to extend the expertise of staff and to share and develop good practice.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has a good partnership with parents. Most parents spoken to during the inspection were very positive about the school and pleased with all that it is doing for their children.  The governance of the school:  Members of the multi-academy trust and the local governing body have a good knowledge of the school’s strengths and improvement priorities. The Chairperson of the Multi-academy Trust has ensured that governors have enhanced their skills by taking part in training and this helps them to meet their statutory duties in full. Governors are well informed about the quality of teaching and pupils’ performance through their own monitoring visits and reports from the headteacher and the local authority adviser. They understand data about pupils’ achievement and know how the school’s results compare with other schools nationally. Governors have a clear understanding of the school’s performance management system and hold the headteacher to account for ensuring that teachers only

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The leadership and management are good

receive salary increases if their performance is at least good. Governors ensure that the resources available through pupil premium and primary sport funding are spent effectively to support pupils’ achievement and that the school budget is efficiently managed. The governing body ensures that the procedures for safeguarding pupils are robust and meet statutory requirements.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Overall, pupils demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning and want to do well. They listen to adults and each other and work with each other well during lessons. This contributes well to their good achievement.

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Behaviour

 Teachers apply the school’s procedures for managing behaviour fairly and consistently. This has a positive impact on pupils’ behaviour, including those with high social and emotional difficulties. As a result, pupils are confident that teachers deal with any minor disruption in lessons quickly and effectively to restore a positive learning environment in classrooms.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are keen to take on responsibilities, such as being members of the school council and raising funds for national and international charities. Pupils recently took part in the ‘Flag Project 2015’ to design a flag for the local constituency, at the invitation of the local Member of Parliament.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say they feel extremely safe and they receive good-quality care and support from all the adults in the school. Most parents who responded to the questionnaire said that their children are kept safe at school.

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Safety

 Pupils have a mature understanding of the different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying, that they may encounter and know what to do about them if they did. They say that bullying rarely happens in school and are confident that adults will deal with any incidents of bullying fairly and effectively, should they occur.

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Safety

 Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe because teachers regularly discuss topics relating to safety issues in lessons and assemblies. They are well aware of the dangers of the misuse of the internet and social networking sites and of how to stay safe when near fire or roads.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good and promotes pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics well. Staff create a purposeful learning environment in all classes, and throughout the school there are good relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils are interested in their learning and kept busy in lessons, and know that teachers are keen to hear their views and ideas. As a result, they want to do well and respond readily to tasks with enthusiasm.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have good subject knowledge. They use questioning effectively to check pupils’ understanding, challenge them to think more deeply about issues and to build on what they already know. For example in a Year 6 science lesson, pupils were well engaged in investigating the effect of force and gravity and accurately concluded that ‘In water, weight is different because of water resistance but mass remains the same’.  The teaching of reading is good. Group reading sessions are used effectively to deepen pupils’ understanding of different types of texts, to analyse events and characters and extend their use of new words.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers often encourage pupils to write their own descriptive accounts using the vocabulary they learn from different stories and poems. In a Year 2 literacy lesson, pupils were keen to write their own poems on what they wanted to put in their ‘magic box’. They came up with interesting ideas such ‘the roar of a lion from the African plains’. However, teachers do not ensure that pupils’ handwriting and presentation skills are consistently well developed across the school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching in mathematics is good. Most pupils make good progress because teachers plan work carefully to meet their learning needs. There are often good opportunities for pupils to develop their ability to solve mathematical problems and to apply and refine their skills in other subjects.

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The quality of teaching is good

 With just a few exceptions, teachers pitch the work they set at just the right level for all groups of pupils. Joint planning between teachers and the learning support assistants enables the latter to offer good support for the targeted pupils. However, in some classes, teachers do not always set tasks that are challenging enough to stretch all groups of pupils sufficiently, including the most able and, in Key Stage 1, disadvantaged pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The learning support assistants provide skilled additional support for disadvantaged pupils in Key Stage 2. However, support for these pupils in Key Stage 1 has not been sufficiently effective to ensure faster progress for these pupils in Years 1 and 2. The support for the disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is effective. This contributes well to their good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly, explaining what pupils do well but do not always provide clear guidance about how pupils can move forward to the next stage in their learning quickly. Teachers do not check that pupils have acted on their teacher’s guidance and that they are avoiding making the same errors in future.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ achievement has improved significantly since 2014. From their various starting points, most pupils now make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. The 2015 national tests show that the proportion of pupils attaining the higher Level 5 and above, as well as the proportion exceeding expected progress in Year 6, is above the latest published average (for 2014) in all subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, at the end of Year 6, pupils attained standards that were significantly above the national average in reading and mathematics and above the national average in writing but their progress was average. The school has acted decisively and introduced effective strategies to improve progress in all subjects. This has resulted in most pupils making much faster progress in the current year in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 An increasing number of the most-able pupils make good progress in all subjects. They read a range of stories and information texts and understand how to write effectively for different purposes and analyse different styles of writing by a range of well-known and popular authors. In mathematics, they use calculation skills well to solve problems. However, this is not the case in all classes (or year groups) and sometimes most able pupils are not sufficiently challenged to reach the standards of which they are capable.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils in Year 1 apply their knowledge of phonics (letters and sounds) accurately to their reading and writing. In 2015, they attained standards in the Year 1 phonics screening check that are above the 2014 national average. However, disadvantaged pupils do not make as good progress in their reading, writing and mathematics as others in Key Stage 1. This is because these pupils are not challenged sufficiently in Years 1 and 2.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are given effective support that is matched to their individual learning needs. As a result, these pupils are currently achieving well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The achievement of disadvantaged pupils in Key Stage 2 is good. The school has employed a range of effective interventions to help pupils on an individual basis. Consequently, their progress in reading, writing and mathematics is accelerating, and this is narrowing the gap in attainment between themselves and their classmates. In 2014, these pupils were approximately one term behind their classmates in reading and two and half terms behind in writing and mathematics. Nationally, they were close to others in reading and mathematics and approximately one and half terms behind in writing. The gaps have narrowed in the current year. The unvalidated results for 2015 show that disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 have achieved in line with their classmates in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The early years provision is good

 Leadership of the early years is good. The leader ensures teachers provide children with an enjoyable, safe and secure learning environment and that their welfare and safety are given the highest priority. Supported by other staff, she has established good relationships and close contact with parents through the school’s effective induction system. Most parents consulted during the inspection at the start of the day stated that their contributions to children’s learning are valued by the school and that they are very happy with the school’s work with their children.

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The early years provision is good

 Children start in the Reception Year with skills that are below those typical for their age in language and number skills. They make good progress because they are provided with stimulating learning resources and well planned learning activities. The proportion of children who achieve a good level of development by the end of the Reception has risen significantly since last year and is now above the 2014 national average. Children grow up as confident learners and are well prepared for their entry into Key Stage 1.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is good. Regular teaching of phonics supports children well in rapidly developing their reading and writing skills. Children show a great deal of interest in writing and are able to write short sentences and to narrate stories that they read. Staff provide a range of engaging activities, either that teachers lead or which children choose for themselves, in both the indoors and outdoors settings. Staff assess children’s progress consistently and effectively to move them quickly on to the next stage.

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The early years provision is good

 Behaviour is good. Children settle quickly into the school’s routines, are attentive in class and try their best at all times. They are supported well by the caring relationship they have with their teachers and learning support assistants. They are confident in speaking to the adults, sharing concerns and explain their work proudly. They listen carefully, support one another and are starting to take on simple responsibilities, such as tidying up their classroom.

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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 140181 Local authority Essex Inspection number 450203

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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 Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 211 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Chris Townsend Headteacher John Crane (Executive Headteacher), Lisa Finch (Head of School) Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected as an academy Telephone number 01255 830234 Fax number 01255 831061 Email address admin@st-andrews-weeley.essex.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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