Wroxton Church of England Primary School

Wroxton Church of England Primary School Lampitts Green, Wroxton, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX15 6QJ

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 Senior leaders and governors have secured significant improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement since the last inspection.  Pupils make good progress from their starting points, including disadvantaged pupils, those with special educational needs and the most able.  Standards have improved in reading and writing, including English grammar, punctuation and spelling, and in mathematics. Test results and assessments were above average by the end of Year 6, in summer 2015.  The good teaching of phonics skills (the sounds that letters make) in Reception and Key Stage 1 enables pupils to reach above-average standards in reading.  Teaching in Key Stage 2 is consistently good or better.  The school cares very well for its pupils. They all feel safe and included and so they thrive. Pupils in Year 6 assert that there is no bullying of any kind.  Pupils’ behaviour is good. Their improved attendance is evidence that they enjoy coming to

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This is a good school

school.  The wider curriculum is inspiring for staff and pupils who take part in a variety of interesting visits and activities to enrich the topics studied.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strongly promoted. Pupils leave the school well prepared to become active citizens in modern Britain.  Provision in the Reception class is good for children of all abilities and backgrounds.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching in Key Stage 1 is not as good as it is in the rest of the school, especially in writing and mathematics.  Marking and feedback in Key Stage 1 workbooks are not consistently clear or legible for pupils.  Boys’ attainment tends not to be as high as girls’ in mathematics and English by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that all teaching in Key Stage 1 is as good as that in the rest of the school, by: – planning teaching in lessons that matches pupils’ learning needs appropriately – giving pupils tasks that challenge them and enable them to make good progress, especially in writing and mathematics – marking work in pupils’ workbooks thoroughly and legibly, and giving pupils feedback that gives them good guidance as to how they can improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensuring that the achievement of boys in reading, writing and mathematics more closely matches that of girls consistently across the school.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The headteacher and her assistant headteacher, who was appointed after the last inspection, have driven rapid improvements across the school. It now provides a friendly, welcoming environment where pupils thrive, behave well and make good progress.  Leaders at all levels, including governors, know the school well and have an accurate picture of its performance. Strong leadership of English and mathematics, through accurate monitoring and evaluation of teaching and achievement, has secured improvements in these subjects.  The school’s procedures to check on the quality of teaching are thorough. Checks on the performance of all staff lead to high quality support and training, where required. This develops their practice and leads to improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Pay progression is linked to performance against the teachers’ standards.  The curriculum beyond the basics is arranged into interesting cross-curricular topics. These inspire and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

motivate pupils to develop their knowledge and skills across the arts, humanities and sciences, and give them opportunities to apply their skills taught in English and mathematics.  The rich curriculum contributes well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils have a wide range of opportunities, for example through visits to the Houses of Parliament and VE Day celebrations, to learn about British life and culture. Their good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is underpinned by the school’s motto, ‘Care, share, learn and worship together’. In addition, pupils benefit from celebrating the diversity of ethnicities and faiths represented in the school, so that all feel included regardless of their background.  Leaders actively promote equality of opportunity and good relations, and pupils report that there is no racism in the school. Vulnerable groups of pupils achieve well, although leaders acknowledge that there is

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

more to do to further promote the higher achievement of boys.  Leaders make effective use of the pupil premium to deploy additional classroom support and ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve their best.  The primary physical education and sport premium funding is used effectively to give pupils access to a wider range of sporting activities through participation in the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership. The partnership also offers staff training and support so that the quality of physical education teaching has improved.  The diocese and the local authority have provided valuable support that has contributed to the school’s rapid improvement. Partnership arrangements that the school shares with a group of other local schools have also been particularly beneficial. For example, leaders have been able to introduce a locally-agreed system for assessing pupils’ progress in the core subjects without national curriculum levels. They are in the process of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

developing systems for monitoring the progress of pupils in other subjects.  Congenial, respectful relationships between staff, who gave unanimous support for the school in their responses to the inspection questionnaire, and between staff and pupils ensure that the atmosphere is happy and supportive.  Parents interviewed at the Friends of Wroxton meeting asserted, ‘Progress in the last two years has been amazing.’ Most parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, also expressed positive views about the school and almost all said they would recommend it to other parents.  Leaders have a robust action plan in place to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in Key Stage 1, but this has yet to show the positive impact seen in the rest of the school.  The governance of the school: Governors bring a wide range of experience and professional expertise to the school and they have

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

responded well to the actions proposed at their last review. They are now fully effective in their role. They use information on teaching and pupils’ achievement provided by the school to question and challenge leaders and give support, where required. They are aware that there are gaps where boys do not achieve as well as girls. Governors set ambitious targets at the headteacher’s performance review which is carried out before that of the other teachers. Her targets are then threaded through the targets set for teachers as a thread of consistency in ambition, vision and direction for the school. Governors know that the quality of teaching has improved as a result of actions taken by senior leaders, and that staff pay and progression is dependent upon the quality of teaching. Governors know how the pupil premium is spent and the impact that the allocation of this funding has had on vulnerable pupils. They also know about the allocation of the primary physical education and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

sport premium funding. They ensure that financial management is robust and that the school bursar is able to secure value for money for the school. Governors have undertaken significant safeguarding training, including the Prevent training, to recognise signs of radicalisation and extremism. This is now included in their safeguarding policy.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 In the Reception class and Key Stage 2, teaching is consistently good and it is sometimes outstanding. In these classes, teachers have consistently high expectations of what each pupil can achieve, including the most able, disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs.  In Key Stage 1, good teaching of phonics enables pupils to develop their skills for reading well. The teacher and the teaching assistant correct pupils’ mispronunciation of the sounds accurately. This forms a secure basis for the above average reading standards observed across the rest of the school.  Where teaching is good, teachers use their broad subject knowledge to plan learning that engages pupils’ interest and challenges their thinking. For example, in a lower Key Stage 2 lesson, the teacher was teaching pupils about the underwater explorations of Jacques Cousteau. Her enthusiasm for the subject was conveyed to the pupils so both boys and girls found the topic highly engaging. They went on to write good-

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

quality biographies, at length. To enhance the learning, a governor visited and donned his scuba-diving outfit, which delighted the pupils.  In most lessons, teachers use skilful questioning to probe pupils’ responses. For example, during the introduction to an investigation involving dice in upper Key Stage 2, the teacher asked pupils to find the total of the numbers on a dice. One boy replied especially quickly, so the teacher asked him how he had worked it out. He said that he knew that opposite numbers added up to seven and so he multiplied seven by three as there are three pairs of numbers on a dice. This reinforced the value of knowing multiplication tables with instant recall for the rest of the class.  In this topic-based curriculum, reading, writing and communication skills and, where appropriate, mathematical skills are developed well, within and across other subjects. Good attention is given to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

developing pupils’ grammar, punctuation and spelling whenever they are writing.  Teachers usually set appropriate homework that consolidates learning. Pupils often enjoy completing homework and sometimes do more than they have been asked to do.  The school gives parents accurate information about how well their children are progressing and what they need to do to improve. The new system for assessing without levels gives this information through targets and ‘I can’ statements, so it is much clearer what children can do and what they need to do to reach or exceed age-related expectations.  Marking and feedback in workbooks in Key Stage 2 are thorough and inform pupils appropriately about what they need to do to improve their work. Pupils read and respond to these comments and so good progress is achieved. In Key Stage 1, this is not consistently the case. Marking and feedback are not always sufficiently

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

clear to help pupils know what they need to do next. Where the teacher has made written comments, these are often difficult for pupils to read and so they cannot respond to them.  Teaching in Key Stage 1 is not yet good enough because teaching does not always match pupils’ learning needs appropriately. Tasks set are often not sufficiently challenging to enable pupils to make good progress, especially in writing and mathematics. Marking and feedback in workbooks in these subjects does not give pupils enough clear guidance as to how they can improve their work and is sometimes difficult to read.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils are caring and confident learners. Year 6 pupils were articulate and full of praise for the quality of their education. They were able to discuss issues, such as what they want to do when they leave school, in a considered way, showing respect for each other’s ideas. These ranged from a disc-jockey to Prime Minister!  Pupils take great pride in their work, reinforced by teachers’ high expectations. One Year 3 girl showed some writing she had completed at home ‘in my best writing’. Another Year 4 boy proudly demonstrated the progress he had made in his writing skills by showing the first page in his workbook, completed five weeks ago, and comparing it with the most recent. The differences in quality and quantity were remarkable.  Pupils are taught about healthy lifestyles, including healthy eating. The increase in sports participation as a

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Personal development and welfare

result of the physical education and sport premium funding is also contributing effectively to the physical health and well-being of pupils. The school’s extensive, well-maintained grounds provide many opportunities for outdoor activities in the fresh air, overlooking breathtaking Oxfordshire countryside.  Pupils in Year 6 assert that there is no bullying of any kind in the school. They are aware of different types of bullying, including racism, homophobia and cyber-bullying, but say they have not experienced or witnessed it personally.  The supportive culture of the school promotes all aspects of pupils’ welfare. Pupils say they feel safe, the site is secure and they are taught how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. Most parents agree that the school keeps their children safe.  The personal development and welfare of pupils is strong across most of the school. However, it is not as

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Personal development and welfare

good for pupils in Key Stage 1. This is because of inconsistencies in the way pupils are managed when they become restless during lessons where they are not appropriately challenged.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils typically conduct themselves well during lessons and there is little low-level disruption. They also behave very well at playtimes and at lunchtime, showing good manners towards one another. Older pupils enjoy having responsibility for younger ones; distinguished by their red caps, play leaders do an excellent job occupying and supporting younger pupils.  Pupils with specific behaviour problems are well supported and so they do not disrupt the learning of other pupils. Over time, the behaviour of these pupils improves as the school works closely with parents and outside agencies to secure the required support.  Attendance and punctuality have improved, demonstrating that pupils enjoy coming to school. Attendance is currently high.  All staff and most parents agree that behaviour is well managed in the school.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Across Key Stage 2, standards have improved. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils, made at least expected progress last year. Half of the pupils made more than expected progress in writing and mathematics, and more than half made more than expected progress in reading. By the end of Year 6, their attainment was above average in all subjects, showing an improvement on previous years. These improvements are currently on track to be sustained this year.  Standards in Key Stage 1 also improved last year, especially in reading, where almost half of the pupils attained the higher levels. Standards in writing were typically above average and standards were broadly average in mathematics. This represents good progress from their starting points at the end of Reception, especially in reading. Currently, pupils in Key Stage 1 are not on track to achieve as well this year, but

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Outcomes for pupils are good

leaders are acting robustly to address the situation.  The most-able pupils are well challenged in lessons in Key Stage 2 and so they are making good progress again this year.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make just as much good progress from their starting points as other pupils in the school. This is because they receive well-targeted support for their personal, social and emotional needs, as well as for their academic needs.  Over time, disadvantaged pupils typically achieve better than other pupils in the school and other pupils nationally by the end of Year 6. There is a similar picture this year, with disadvantaged pupils continuing to achieve well. This was evidenced in information contained in the school’s new assessment system as well as in pupils’ workbooks in Key Stage 2.  Gender gaps where girls tend to attain better than boys in all subjects persist across Key Stage 2. In Key

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Outcomes for pupils are good

Stage 1 last year, the gap reversed and boys attained better than girls in all subjects, except in the Year 1 phonics screening check.

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Early years provision is good

 Children enter the Reception class with levels of skill and development that are below those typical for their age. By the end of the year, the proportion of children reaching the expected good level of development was average in summer 2015. This represented good progress from starting points and was a significant improvement on the previous year. As a result, children were well prepared to enter Year 1, although typically boys did not attain as highly as girls.  The Reception classroom and outside play area are exceptionally well resourced and organised, and displays are vibrant and informative. Children have good quality opportunities to play and learn across all areas of learning, using equipment and facilities that are of the highest quality.  Teachers plan activities that promote children’s learning well by engaging their interest. For example, teachers developed understanding of mathematical shapes when they made model scarecrows using paper

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Early years provision is good

cut into circles, triangles and rectangles, linked to their Harvest theme.  Children select activities and resources independently, and the calm, secure atmosphere ensures that they feel confident in their selections. These young children settle well for sustained periods at a particular activity, for example making play dough models; using a computer; cycling around the cycle track; or planting pansies. This includes children with special educational needs and those who are disadvantaged.  The newly appointed early years leader is confident in her knowledge about how young children learn best. She has introduced an efficient computerised system for recording children’s achievement in the first six weeks of schooling and tracking their progress from then on.  Learning journals are beautifully presented with photographs and annotations describing children’s achievements. These provide an excellent record of the progress of each individual child for parents and

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Early years provision is good

staff as well as for the children themselves.  Partnerships with parents are strong and one parent reported that she was extremely pleased with the provision and her child’s progress in her first weeks of schooling.

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School details

Unique reference number 123091 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 10002334 This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 93 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Renate Sherwood Headteacher April Guiness Telephone number 01295 730298 Website http://wroxtonceprimaryschool.co.uk/ Email address head.3004@wroxton.oxon.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 19–20 September 2013

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Information about this school

 This school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support from pupil premium funding (additional money provided by the government for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority) is below average.  The proportion of pupils on the school’s register of special educational needs is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching in seven lessons, six of which were joint observations with the headteacher.  The inspector spoke to a number of pupils about their experiences of the school and heard pupils in Years 2 and 6 read.  Meetings were held with six members of the governing body, school leaders, and representatives from the diocese and the local authority.  The inspector considered a wide range of evidence, including the school’s records of the quality of teaching over time and pupils’ current work in books.  The inspector took account of 14 responses to the staff questionnaire and the 20 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. Additionally, the inspector spoke to a group of parents at their Friends of Wroxton meeting.  The inspector observed the overall work of the school and checked various documents and procedures, including the school’s plans for improvement and arrangements for checking pupils’ achievement. She

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Information about this inspection

also examined documents relating to safeguarding and attendance, and looked at the minutes of governing body meetings.

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Inspection team

Angela Konarzewski, lead inspector 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 .

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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.

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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

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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,

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Inspection team

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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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