Setting

Mrs R Schofield and Mrs S Brown Interim Headteachers Guilden Morden Church of England Primary School Pound Green Guilden Morden Royston Hertfordshire SG8 0JZ

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England Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 9 and 10 March 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions that have been taken since the school’s recent section 5 inspection.

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England Primary School

The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection that took place in September 2015.

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England Primary School

Having considered all the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time:

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England Primary School

The school is taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

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England Primary School

The local authority’s statement of action has been amended and is now fit for purpose.

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England Primary School

The school’s improvement plan is fit for purpose.

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England Primary School

The school may appoint one newly qualified teacher in Key Stage 1 before the next monitoring inspection.

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England Primary School

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

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Her Majesty’s Inspector

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took place

 Improve safeguarding, by: ― ensuring that appropriate checks are carried out and recorded on all adults who work regularly with children ― implementing safeguarding procedures meticulously, in line with statutory guidance ― ensuring that governors regularly and carefully monitor the effectiveness of all the school’s safeguarding procedures ― making certain that risk assessments for pupils who use the swimming pool are thorough and recorded.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took place

 Improve leadership and management, by: ― implementing systems and procedures to accurately evaluate the performance of the school ― raising aspirations for the progress made by pupils ― ensuring that pupil performance information is accurate, regularly monitored and used to inform curriculum planning across the school ― finding ways to restore relationships with parents ― implementing rigorous performance management procedures for all staff ― ensuring that governors provide rigorous challenge, and hold leaders and managers robustly to account for the achievement of all pupils ― sharing senior leadership roles and responsibilities for improving the school, so that leaders can effectively challenge each other and address the needs of all pupils.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took place

 Improve teaching and learning, by: ― providing greater stretch and challenge for the most-able pupils so they can excel ― ensuring that pupils of mixed ages and abilities are suitably challenged and remain fully engaged in learning ― adapting learning for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs so they are able to make rapid progress in all areas of the curriculum.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took place

 Improve behaviour, by: ― implementing school uniform policy, consistently ― ensuring the good punctuality and attendance of all pupils ― eradicating low-level disruption in lessons.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took place

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Evidence

I observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and met with you both and other senior leaders, a group of pupils, the chair of the governing body and two other governors. I also met with the local authority’s head of schools’ intervention service, a local authority associate adviser and a representative from the diocese. Together with you, I observed pupils at work in five lessons, and during a learning walk of the school. We also conducted a site walk and a lengthy work scrutiny with core subject leaders.

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Context

Since November 2015, you have been leading the school as interim headteachers. This three days a week job-share position complements the existing and long- standing job-share role you have at a local primary school. Since the last inspection, there have been significant staffing changes at Guilden Morden. Prior to you taking up your positions, an existing part-time teacher had been appointed to an acting assistant headteacher role. You have therefore needed to employ a teacher to cover teachers’ planning, preparation and assessment time, and a temporary teacher to backfill the part-time class teacher vacancy. You have also employed the special educational needs coordinator from your own substantive school for half a day a week to ensure that the school meets statutory requirements. One teaching assistant has also recently joined the school and there have been several changes in the roles of the school’s office staff.

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Context

Following the resignation of the chair and vice chair of the governing body, the local authority brokered a national leader of governance to support the governors. She has now taken up the vacant position as the chair of the governing body. There remains no vice-chair of the governing body. Very recently, the local authority has made an application to the Department for Education to put in place an interim executive board (IEB). This will be in place by 15 March 2016.

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Context

Prior to the previous inspection, leaders and governors decided to make an application to take over management of the Guilden Morden Pre-school. The application was finalised in October 2015. This provision is situated in the village hall from Monday to Thursday and on the school’s site on Friday. In order to integrate the pre-school fully into the early years department of the school, the local authority has agreed to fund a new Portakabin on the school’s site. There has also been considerable change in classroom space since the last inspection. In December 2015, the Reception class children were relocated from a temporary structure on the school’s site. Early years children are now situated in the school building and are in a classroom with Year 1 pupils. The 12 pupils currently in Year 2 are being taught in a small ‘hub’ while modification of this area is planned. Despite all these upheavals, you have not lost the key focus of improving safeguarding and the quality of

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Context

teaching and learning. This is to the credit of your staff and pupils who have been committed to the improvements.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Since your arrival, you have made a prompt start to leading improvements and tackling the issues raised in the last inspection. You are providing staff with clear leadership and have won the confidence of the parents and pupils. Pupils are pleased with the changes that have been made, commenting positively on, for example, the improvements in behaviour since the introduction of the new reward system. They speak confidently about the changes you have introduced to improve provision and enable them to move safely around the school site. They are particularly pleased with the changes to Class 1, making it a ‘much nicer place’ in which to learn.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Your self-evaluation of the school’s strengths and weaknesses is largely accurate. It is clear from my visit that many of the areas for improvement from the previous inspection are being tackled relentlessly. A more forensic approach to charting the impact of your actions will ensure that your plans for improvement, although detailed, link more closely to the expected pupil outcomes. I am pleased that you have found my visit helpful in re-focusing on the areas in which you must continue to have impact. You are now in a much better position to record accurately the school’s progress since the beginning of the academic year. The actions stated in the local authority’s statement of action and action plan are steering improvement and providing the school with a clear strategic direction.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

You have rightly made it a priority to review, evaluate and change, when necessary, procedures regarding safeguarding. Systems and processes have been strengthened considerably. You quickly developed an effective partnership with the acting assistant head, who worked relentlessly in the autumn term to address the concerns raised. A review by the local authority, checks by the chair of the governing body and your own monitoring have ensured that the school’s safeguarding procedures now meet statutory requirements. There are robust systems in place which ensure that pupils are safe, that records are accurate and regularly updated, and that any checks are closely monitored by you. All staff have had up-to-date training, including ‘Prevent’ against radicalisation and extremism. Visitors to the school now sign an agreement to show that they are familiar with, and will adhere to, the recently reviewed safeguarding and child protection policies.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The school grounds are now secure and every reasonable precaution has been made to ensure that pupils are safe. The required number of staff are now routinely on duty on the playground and school field during breaktimes. Staff have walkie-talkies and use these well to communicate with the school office, which is at the front of the school. Risk assessments are routinely carried out and checked by you. There is also a risk assessment of when neither of you are on site. You have been meticulous in ensuring that the present pre-school site is fit for purpose and adheres to all statutory guidance for early years. It is noted that you will be working with the local authority early years team to ensure that when the pre-school joins the main school there is a smooth transition and it continues to meet all statutory requirements. However, during the interim period it is recommended that the checks made by the

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

committee of the village hall are ratified by leaders at the school and records kept on site, for example checks of fire and smoke alarms.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Arrangements are established to manage the performance of staff. This is adding further clarity to teachers’ roles and responsibilities, and linking them closely with pupil performance. There is far greater accountability of your staff. New governors have recently ensured that plans for improvement, effectiveness of support for teachers and the impact that these actions are having on pupil outcomes are regularly checked and challenged. Members of the governing body have readily accepted the support of both the diocese and the local authority and are working closely with both to decide on the strategic direction of the school. In the meantime, support from other leaders that you have deployed from your current substantive school is building staff confidence and expertise at Guilden Morden. Meetings of the local authority implementation group, of which you and your chair of the governing body are members, are helping to ensure that you and your staff make the required

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

You have made changes to the curriculum and introduced a two-year programme which is enabling teachers to have a very clear understanding of what is expected at each age and stage. This is particularly helpful given the mixed-age classes, another of which was added to the school at Christmas. It is evident from books we looked at during my visit that the work that teachers plan is appropriate for pupils’ ages and enabling the majority of pupils to make good progress. However, it is noted that there is less progress of the most able pupils in writing; particularly the older pupils in each mixed age class. This is something you will be focusing on improving in the summer term. Leadership of special educational needs is improving because pupils’ needs are now much more accurately identified. Parents are confident that their children are being well cared for, and given the support and guidance they need.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Provision for pupils who have special educational needs or disability is effective and is enabling them to make good progress. Because you have insisted on teachers taking more responsibility for pupil progress and having higher expectations, lower- attaining pupils in both English and mathematics are making good progress.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Procedures to monitor the quality of teaching and learning are becoming more systematic and routine. A programme of lesson observations is underway, combined with regular scrutiny of pupils’ work and reviews of assessment information. Your records show that staff are given feedback about the strengths and weaknesses seen in lessons, and the impact these have on pupils’ learning and progress. Where this programme has been put in place, it has been effective in ensuring that practice is improving. The majority of pupils, therefore, are making good progress, including the least- and the most-able pupils. Learning observations carried out jointly with you confirmed that teachers are well organised, show good subject knowledge and have good relationships with pupils. Teachers know their pupils very well and deploy their teaching assistants very effectively to support individuals and groups of pupils.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

You have ensured that expectations about behaviour management are consistently adhered to. The result is that pupils of all abilities are working well and responding to adults’ skilful use of questioning to refocus those pupils who need it. Pupils are encouraged to think hard about what they are learning and to see the relevance of the individual targets that are in place for reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils speak freely and confidently about how they have improved and what they know they need to do to get even better. One Year 6 boy said, ‘You wouldn’t recognise my handwriting from Year 4 because I have got so much better’. Another was clear that ‘writing paragraphs has helped me to organise my thoughts better’.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Pupils now benefit from classrooms that consistently display examples of pupils’ good work. During my visit, many pupils used the ‘working walls’ routinely to help them with their learning. They also regularly discussed their work with a partner and supportively challenged each other about what they were learning. However, pupils’ books show that expectations of the quality and quantity of work produced in writing still varies between classes, particularly for the most-able pupils. Opportunities for pupils to write at length and practise regularly their basic English skills are not as frequent as they could be. This is something that you have already begun to address and which will undoubtedly benefit pupils in upper Key Stage 2, in particular.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

You have ensured that parents appreciate the need for regular and punctual attendance. As a result, attendance for all pupils continues to improve. The family support worker has built good relationships with parents and, as a result, attendance of the most vulnerable pupils is also increasing. Pupils recognise the importance of coming to school every day ready to learn. One pupil told me, ‘I eat my breakfast quickly just so I can get to school’. Pupils clearly enjoy their ‘exciting, cosy, safe, special school’.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

During my visit, pupils were nothing but polite and courteous, proudly wearing their school uniforms. Pupils told me that they liked that leaders were ‘stricter about our clothing so that people know that we are proud to be part of this school’. Pupils held doors for others, listened to each other in lessons and were keen to praise their peers for something that they do well. For example, when I asked one pupil what he felt he had become better at since he started in Year 6, he paused and the pupil next to him said, ‘Your handwriting and how much more you write now than you used to’.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Behaviour in lessons, on the playground and in assembly is good. Pupils like the new behaviour policy and the system for rewarding pupils who show that they know and adhere to the code of conduct. Even the very youngest children are able to say what the code is. For example, one certificate was awarded recently for ‘fantastic concentration, focus and perseverance this week. You have been a learning superstar’. Where some pupils’ behaviour can at times be challenging, staff manage these pupils very well. This is because you have introduced ‘risk reduction’ plans for individual pupils to ensure that all staff are consistent in the way they manage particular pupils’ behaviour. The system is clearly working. There is very little low- level disruption and pupils’ learning is rarely interrupted. During my visit I saw two pupils whose behaviour is being managed in this way. Not only were they engaged in their learning, but they were also independently making decisions about how best

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

to learn, under the watchful and supportive eye of well-trained teaching assistants. Pupils say that if there is any poor behaviour, adults deal with it quickly and effectively.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and who to go to if they are worried. They like the fact that they can go to the members of staff who are ‘listening ears’. You have ensured that teachers know how to support pupils and follow closely the ‘TED’ system that was introduced following training. This ensures that any new, temporary staff or visitors are familiar with ‘tell me, explain to me and describe to me’.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

You have worked hard to restore relationships with parents. An unusually large proportion of parents responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. The overwhelming majority of parents feel that their children are well cared for, safe and happy at school. They have confidence in the leadership of the school and know that their concerns are listened to. You have encouraged parents into the school in as many ways as possible and, as result, such projects as improving the library are coming to fruition. Such initiatives are making a difference to how parents view the school. The result is that an overwhelming majority would now recommend the school to other parents, a vast improvement on the views expressed in the previous inspection.

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Outcomes for pupils

Validated outcomes for pupils at the end of the early years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 confirm that attainment was at least in line with the national average in 2015. However, the proportion of pupils who made more than expected progress at the end of Year 6 was below the national average. Pupils at Key Stage 1 made at least expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Outcomes for pupils

The school’s current assessment information confirms what I saw during my visit. Pupils’ outcomes show that the majority are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics from their various starting points. Pupils’ work, particularly in mathematics, is appropriate to their age and shows a good coverage of the new national curriculum. Lessons seen during my visit and pupils’ work in their books show that you provide well for lower-attaining pupils and those pupils who have special educational needs or disability. Teachers ensure that the support that these pupils in particular are given is very well planned. This is enabling the vast majority of pupils to make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics, often from very low starting points. Those pupils for whom there is additional government funding are also making at least expected progress, and many are making good progress, particularly in mathematics. However, your thorough monitoring of pupils’

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Outcomes for pupils

work, teachers’ assessments and learning in lessons shows that there is still improvement needed to provide for the most able, particularly in writing.

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Outcomes for pupils

Since the introduction of the school’s chosen assessment system, you have ensured that you are confident about the assessments that teachers make. Using your own expertise and knowledge from your substantive school and working with your local cluster of schools, you have checked carefully and systematically that assessment information is accurate. This has enabled you to set challenging targets for pupils at the end of Reception, Year 2 and Year 6. Teachers have a good understanding of where there are gaps in pupils’ learning and have high expectations of all pupils in their care. Regular meetings with teachers to ensure that individual pupils’ progress is checked and provision altered, if needs be, is now commonplace. If pupils continue to make the same progress that they have made since September 2015, it is very probable that outcomes in 2016 will exceed those of 2015.

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External support

The local authority was very slow to support leadership of the school after the previous inspection, at the time when it was most needed. The diocese brokered the current interim leadership arrangements from a local, good school. The local authority commissioned a teaching and learning review in October, and reviews of the school’s financial position, safeguarding, and health and safety arrangements. All took place last term. Both the diocese and the local authority continue to support. A local authority associate adviser has been brokered and funded by the local authority, and is working closely with leaders and governors to ensure that the school makes rapid progress. Staff from the interim headteachers' school have been funded via the diocese to support the leadership of English and the implementation of special educational needs at Guilden Morden.

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