Setting

Mrs Verena Powell Headteacher Warninglid Primary School Slaugham Lane Hayward’s Heath West Sussex RH17 5TJ

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School

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

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in April 2015. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. At its section 5 inspection before the one that took place in April 2015, the school was also judged to require improvement.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are not taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement, identified at the last section 5 inspection, in order to become a good school.

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Evidence

During the inspection, I met with you, other leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative of the local authority. I visited classrooms, spoke to pupils, scrutinised work in pupils’ books alongside leaders in the school and evaluated the school improvement plan.

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Context

Since the inspection in April 2015, one teacher has been redeployed to teach in Years 3 and 4. The deputy headteacher of a local outstanding school has joined the Ofsted

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Context

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk senior leadership team for one day a week. You will be leaving the school at the end of December 2015. Governors have advertised for a substantive headteacher.

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Main findings

You have not taken effective action to ensure that the areas identified in your last inspection are addressed. The school’s action plan does not detail specific or rapid enough timescales, and this has meant key tasks to strengthen leadership and management have not been completed. Although the plan sets out appropriate actions to improve teaching in mathematics and writing, you have not set targets for the expected impact of these actions on pupils’ progress. The collection, presentation and checking of information about pupils’ progress is not understood clearly by all leaders. Subject leaders are not yet involved sufficiently in checking the quality of teaching or pupils’ progress in their subjects. These weaknesses in strategic planning and oversight limit the effectiveness of leaders’ actions and governors’ ability to hold leaders to account.

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Main findings

Governors have focused on the immediate issues of recruiting a new headteacher. However, they have neglected other statutory duties. Most serious is the failure to ensure all staff receive updated safeguarding training. A newly adopted model safeguarding policy, which references new legislation, does not set out the school’s own procedures for addressing safeguarding concerns if and when they arise. Governors were unable to confirm that the required review of governance had been commissioned. As a result, there is no action plan in place to improve governance. The external review of the use of the pupil premium that was recommended at the section 5 inspection has been commissioned and is currently taking place. A report is due at the beginning of November 2015.

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Main findings

Despite these shortcomings, teachers are working hard to improve. Teachers expect more from pupils now. Pupils’ stamina to write at length has been strengthened because pupils have regular extended writing opportunities. Calculation skills and mental flexibility are stronger as a result of a daily structured mental maths programme. Most-able pupils are offered more regular challenge in lessons and are beginning to meet these higher expectations. More of these pupils secured Level 5 in reading, writing and mathematics in their end of Key Stage 2 assessments in 2015 than in 2014. Teachers’ use of assessment to plan children’s subsequent learning has not improved quickly enough in the early years, however. Records of ongoing assessments are not yet in place for all children in Reception Year.

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Main findings

As a result of completing individual action plans, some middle leaders are beginning to take the right action. For example, in mathematics and writing, leaders check the accuracy of teachers’ assessments more regularly and have revised key policy documents. The teacher with responsibility for pupils with special educational needs has begun checks on the impact of the extra support pupils receive. However, plans do not set out the expected improvements in pupils’ progress because leaders do not have a clear view of information about pupils’ current achievement. Ofsted may carry out further monitoring inspections and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The school has received support from the local authority for some time. Since the inspection in April 2015, the local authority has appropriately reshaped support to provide additional challenge for leaders. Additional leadership, brokered through a partnership arrangement, has added capacity. The local authority has set clear timescales for improvement and has communicated to leaders appropriate next steps should these fail to be met. However, an unhelpful delay in securing a prompt review of governance has slowed the pace of change.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for West Sussex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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