Caddington Village School

Caddington Village School Caddington, Luton, Bedfordshire LU1 4JD

p.1

Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

p.1

Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

p.1

Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

p.1

Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

p.1

This is a good school

 The headteacher and other school leaders have high aspirations: they ensure that pupils are taught well and achieve well. Assessment of pupils’ progress is accurate and shapes teachers’ planning.  School leaders have worked vigorously to improve teaching, learning and assessment since the previous inspection. This improvement continues.  Pupils are keen to learn and they behave well.  School leaders ensure that the school is a tolerant and cohesive community. Pupils are attentive to the school’s expectations and respectful of each other. Their personal development is carefully nurtured.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. Pupils are given an effective introduction to the values for life in modern Britain.  The school ensures that pupils are kept safe and promotes their welfare well. Pupils feel safe and well cared for in school.  Children in the early years receive a thorough

p.1

This is a good school

grounding in essential learning and social skills. They are given a sound preparation for Year 1.  Pupils make good progress through the school and attain standards that are above average by the end of Year 6.  Pupils in Year 8 continue to make good progress and are well prepared for the transition they will make to the senior school at the end of the year.  Governors check carefully on the work of the school. They hold leaders fully to account for the progress that pupils are making.

p.1

It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The level of challenge to pupils is not always exactly judged and they do not always progress as quickly as they might, particularly the most able.  Pupils’ extended writing is not always fluent or confident.  Teachers’ questioning does not always lead pupils to deepen their understanding and extend their thinking.  Sometimes, teachers’ marking of pupils’ work does not produce sufficiently prompt improvement in its quality.

p.1

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise pupils’ attainment further by improving teaching through: ensuring that the level of challenge is well judged and consistently stretches pupils’ abilities developing pupils’ extended writing at a faster rate by offering more opportunities to practise it ensuring that questioning better prompts pupils to reflect more deeply on their learning and to extend their knowledge improving marking further so that a more active response is required from pupils and they improve their work more rapidly.

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 School leaders, with the active support of the governing body, embarked on a vigorous action plan after the previous inspection. Areas for improvement were accurately prioritised and systematically addressed.  The headteacher and governors have encouraged the development of other leaders. The headteacher, deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher form a strong and cohesive team. This is an important factor in the school having ample capacity for further improvement.  School leaders have fostered an aspirational ethos in the school. This has been successfully communicated to members of staff, parents and pupils, which all are keen to confirm. In the surveys and interviews conducted during the inspection, there was a strong consensus that this is an improving school.  School leaders have a good grasp of the performance of their school. Detailed information about pupils’ progress is efficiently analysed so that school leaders know how well each pupil is doing from their

p.4

Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

starting point. Middle leaders are efficient in ensuring, in their subject areas, that teachers pay full attention to the progress information in shaping their teaching. Leaders are aware of a historical gap in performance between boys and girls; a range of initiatives has led to improved boys’ progress. There are examples, as for writing in Year 4 in 2015, of the boys catching up entirely despite the sustained trend of improvement by girls.  Teaching is managed well. Teachers are held fully to account for the progress of their pupils and any progression they make on the salary scale is closely linked to this. Teachers have access to good-quality training that helps them to improve. Good practice in teaching is methodically shared.  Teaching assistants are fully involved in teachers’ planning and have good skills. They are able to lead in many small-group activities and make a significant contribution to pupils’ progress.

p.4

Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The curriculum has been thoroughly audited and revised, and is broad, balanced and relevant. Literacy and mathematics have the necessary prominence to ensure that pupils gain essential skills at a good rate while other subjects all carry due weight.  Procedures for keeping pupils safe are effective. All members of staff receive the necessary training to ensure this. Those holding more significant roles in safeguarding undertake the appropriate higher levels of training.  The headteacher’s strong ambition to further improve outcomes for pupils informs all aspects of the work of the school. Parents confirmed that the school has improved since the last inspection and have confidence in its continuing to do so.  School leaders effectively foster harmonious relationships in their school. Equality of opportunity is successfully pursued and embodied in the way in which adults in the school interact with each other and

p.4

Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

with pupils. Every effort is made to broaden pupils’ experience of the world and to ensure that they appreciate differing beliefs and lifestyles. This contributes to pupils being well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Pupil premium funding is used effectively and has raised standards for disadvantaged pupils.  The primary physical education and sport grant is deployed suitably. It has led to increased participation in sport and to pupils sampling new activities.  The school currently receives no Year 7 catch-up funding as there are no Year 7 pupils in school. With only a few students in the current Year 8, numbers are too low to evaluate the impact of the use of previous funding.  The school works closely with parents and has fostered productive relationships with them. Parents spoke warmly of the extent to which they consider the school to have an ’open door’ policy and the ease with which they can approach members of staff to discuss their children’s progress. They feel that they receive

p.4

Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

good-quality, regular information from the school about how well their children are doing.  The local authority has a good understanding of the school’s performance. It has provided appropriate support since the school’s last inspection to assist it in its improvement.  The governance of the school Governors fully implemented the recommendations arising from the independent review of governance which they commissioned after the previous inspection. Additionally, they were reconstituted to become the overall governing body of a federation with another local school. Governors successfully utilised this period of review and change to sharpen their focus. They took care to ensure that they had a committed membership and made deliberate decisions about identifying, and then recruiting, members with the skills that they had identified would give them the most authoritative body. Pupils’ progress is now the central agenda item at every full governing body meeting and the challenge to

p.4

Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

senior leaders is well informed and regular. Governors keep suitably abreast of the spending of pupil premium funding and the primary physical education and sports grant, and check that they are well used. Governors have a firm grip on the key strategic issues of the school. The phasing-out of Key Stage 3 within the school, which will conclude at the end of this academic year, has been conducted sensitively. Respecting parental wishes, the governors allowed any pupils entering Year 8 in September to continue in the school although no Year 7 pupils were admitted. The implications of a reduced school roll have been carefully weighed by governors with suitably prudent financial planning in conjunction with the local authority. Governors maintain a close watching brief over safeguarding.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.5

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teaching is mostly well planned and effective in ensuring that pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Teachers take full advantage of pupils’ keenness to learn and they create a friendly but hard-working atmosphere in their classrooms. Teachers consistently implement the school’s policy that requires pupils to signal a need for assistance in their work by displaying a ‘traffic light’ colour from their planner. Pupils are encouraged to continue working while they wait for assistance with a consequent gain to their learning time.  Support to pupils is typically well judged and given in a timely manner. Teaching assistants are knowledgeable and skilled and contribute to pupils’ good learning.  Teachers adhere closely to the school’s requirement that key skills be securely acquired. In mathematics, pupils build their skills in calculation steadily and securely because teachers pinpoint gaps in knowledge

p.5

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

and skills accurately and insist on rigorous practice until any gaps are remedied. However, pupils able to move on more quickly are occasionally held back by repeating a procedure they have already mastered or waiting for other pupils to catch up. This leads to a lack of challenge being offered, particularly to the most-able pupils.  Teachers’ subject knowledge is secure and most questioning of pupils reflects this. However, there are examples of questioning that fail to encourage pupils to think deeply about their answers.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are taught well because teachers and teaching assistants have been trained to enable them to meet a full range of needs. Specialist support is well planned.  Phonics skills (the sounds that letters make) are generally taught well and give pupils a secure foundation.  Pupils practise their writing in various contexts and for different purposes in different subjects. The

p.5

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

concept of adapting writing style to fit the purpose of a piece is taught well. However, opportunities for extended writing remain relatively limited and pupils are less secure in expressing themselves at length.  Teachers’ marking is mostly helpful in giving guidance and advice to pupils for the improvement of their work. Occasionally, it is not sufficiently precise to provide the most challenge to pupils. Pupils’ books show that increasingly they give a written response to teachers’ comments but this is not yet fully developed. Even for older pupils, it often takes the form of a simple acknowledgement of the marking rather than making clear what the pupil understands and has done in response.

p.5

Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils are coached effectively in being successful learners. Even younger pupils understand the value of being persistent in their work. They know that it is important to try their best. When Year 5 and Year 6 pupils were questioned, they spoke of enjoying lessons and homework in which the tasks were hard ‘in a good way’ and understood the value of an assignment being challenging. Even on the few occasions when pupils were clearly in some doubt about what they were being asked to do in a lesson, they showed a determination to understand the task.  The school is a cheerful and harmonious place. Year 8 pupils are explicit that they see themselves as the senior members of a cohesive community, and younger pupils agree. Pupils discussed their school and their work fluently with inspectors.  Pupils elected to the pupil council were very clear that their role was to represent all pupils in improving

p.5

Personal development and welfare

the school and they took this responsibility very seriously.  Asked about their confidence in grasping something of the risks in modern life, pupils showed a good understanding, appropriate to their age, of such things as the potential dangers as well as the benefits of online communication. Pupils spoke enthusiastically about, and were able to recount, key points that they had learned from a hazards simulation day that is a visit regularly made by the school. These included understanding the essentials of fire safety and of being alert to hazards on the street.  Although pupils interviewed said they had no experience of bullying, they have a clear understanding of its forms and show a complete confidence in the approachability of adults in school and of how quickly they will resolve any problems.  Pupils’ physical development is promoted well. Physical education lessons are complemented by after-

p.6

Personal development and welfare

school sports clubs of which pupils take full advantage. Habits of healthy eating are evident: pupils are keen to collect a piece of fruit at break time as a preferred snack.

p.6

Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They conduct themselves impeccably at all times of the school day. They are welcoming to visitors and only too pleased to share their work and to talk about it.  Pupils arrive at lessons ready and willing to learn. Any lapses in concentration and distraction in lessons are directly attributable to a dip in the quality of teaching. There is no disruption of lessons by poor behaviour.  Pupils take pride in the bright, stimulating environment in which they learn. They enthusiastically pointed to the different learning areas in classrooms and could articulate their purpose.  Attendance has improved and is now in line with the average for primary schools. The school has begun to take robust action in respect of persistent absence and its incidence is falling. Members of the school’s staff work closely to support families to achieve the best attendance for their children.

p.6

Outcomes for pupils are good

 Overall, pupils make good progress across the school. In the 2015 summer tests, Key Stage 1 pupils attained standards above the national average in all subjects. This represented an improvement over 2014. The improved progress has been sustained in the work seen during the inspection.  In 2015, Year 6 pupils attained standards above the national average in all subjects. The proportion of pupils achieving the higher levels was above average for mathematics, in line for writing and a little below in reading. The proportions of pupils making more than expected progress was a little below the national average.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress.  In the Year 1 phonics check, the proportion of pupils attaining the expected standards was broadly in line with the national average. Given the fact that a higher than average proportion of pupils begin Year 1

p.6

Outcomes for pupils are good

having attained a good level of development in the early years, this is less that might be expected but progress accelerates subsequently and deficits are made good by the end of Year 2.  Disadvantaged pupils make good progress. In reading, in the 2015 national tests at the end of Year 6, they were about two and a half terms behind other pupils nationally and a little more behind other pupils in the school. In writing, they were a term behind other pupils nationally and a little under two terms behind other pupils in the school. In mathematics, they were about one and a half terms behind other pupils nationally, and two and a half terms behind other pupils in the school. Disadvantaged pupils continue to make good progress. Any gaps between their performance and that of other pupils nationally are closing rapidly.  All pupils questioned were enthusiastic about their reading. Many make ambitious choices for their books,

p.6

Outcomes for pupils are good

including pupils who are weaker readers but nonetheless have sufficient confidence not to be deterred by having to pause and decode words. In doing so, they demonstrate secure phonics skills.

p.6

Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils learn to write competently in styles appropriate to different audiences and for different purposes. They attempt extended writing less frequently and are not as proficient or confident when they do so.  Pupils develop competence in calculation and mathematical operations at a good rate. They are less secure in problem solving and reasoning.  Progress across other subjects is good overall. In science, pupils build their knowledge of experimentation securely although opportunities for the most-able pupils to progress at the optimum rate are occasionally restricted.

p.7

Early years provision is good

 The early years provision is well led. Close liaison with children’s parents ensures that full weight is given to information about a child’s prior achievement. Assessment is well organised and integral to all planning. Learning at home is always taken into account, recorded and celebrated. Annotated children’s workbooks give a clear account of what they can do already and what they are expected to attempt next. Parents are appreciative of the ease with which they can see the progress their children are making.  Typically, children arrive in the Nursery class with knowledge and skills at the level expected for their age. They make good progress and a proportion larger than average attain a good level of development by the time they reach the end of the Reception Year. They are well prepared to begin Year 1 in their ability to persist in tasks, to cooperate with others and to follow adults’ instructions.

p.7

Early years provision is good

 There are too few disadvantaged children for any statistical generalisation to be made. However, inspectors looked at children’s’ work on an individual basis and progress from starting points is good without exception.  Children are taught well. There is a good balance between adult-directed activities and those initiated by children themselves. During construction activities using linking blocks, children create complex structures including space vehicles and buildings, and tell the story they imagine for each one. Adults prompt skilfully so that measuring, comparing and counting skills are repeatedly practised during the activities. Where there is a need for individual support in terms of children’s behaviour, the intervention is well planned and skilfully delivered by teaching assistants.  Children’s emergent writing is fostered with careful attention to how they grip their pencil and form their

p.7

Early years provision is good

letters. Their attempts at writing are supported by an environment that is stimulating and gives numerous reminders for key words.  Children’s personal development is fostered effectively by learning that embeds literacy and numeracy in teaching about the wider world. For example, children play and learn in a variety of simulated environments, including an Indian restaurant in which they encounter varied concepts in culture as well as a demanding new language.  Procedures to care for children and to keep them safe are good. In a safe and secure environment, they develop an understanding of school expectations at a good pace. They develop the confidence to try new things and to explore the environment around them.

p.7

School details

Unique reference number 109664 Local authority Central Bedfordshire Inspection number 10008049 This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.8

School details

Type of school Middle deemed primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–13 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 397 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Helen Houldcroft Headteacher Susan Teague Telephone number 01582 726058 Website http://caddingtonschool.net Email address office@caddintonschool.net Date of previous inspection 25 June 2014

p.8

Information about this school

 The school was federated with Slip End School in October 2014 to form the Caddington and Slip End Area Alliance. There is an executive headteacher responsible for both schools (who was previously headteacher at Caddington Village School).  As part of its reorganisation, the school will become a primary school in September 2016. No Year 7 pupils were admitted in the current academic year. A very small group of Year 8 pupils remain in the school.  Caddington Village School is larger than the average-size primary school.  The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average.  The proportion of pupils from ethnic minorities is average.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.

p.8

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in 26 lessons, most jointly with members of the school leadership team. Inspectors also observed small-group activities.  Inspectors held meetings with members of staff holding key responsibilities, including for special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils as well as talking to them informally. Inspectors took the opportunity to speak with parents as well as considering written comments and the 52 survey submissions to Parent View.  Inspectors met with two governors including the Chair of the Governing Body.  Inspectors considered the views of members of staff expressed through the confidential Ofsted questionnaire.  Inspectors examined school records covering many aspects of its work including documents recording pupils’ progress and safeguarding practice.

p.9

Inspection team

Paul Copping, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Susan Pryor Ofsted Inspector Janet Lewis Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-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 .

p.9

Inspection team

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.

p.10

Inspection team

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

p.10

Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

p.10

Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.10