Cherry Orchard First School

Cherry Orchard First School Cherry Orchard, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 1ET

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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 Good

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This is a good school

 The school has continued to improve since it was last inspected. Leaders know the school’s strengths and areas for development well.  Good teaching ensures that children’s learning gets off to a good start in the early years. Children are eager try out new experiences and enjoy learning as a result.  Pupils in key stages 1 and 2 are making good progress, including disadvantaged pupils and the most-able pupils. Most pupils who have special educational needs and disability are also doing well in mainstream lessons.  Across the school, outcomes have been rising over time. By the end of Year 4, pupils reach levels above those typically expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. Consequently, they are well prepared for learning in Year 5.  Good teaching in mainstream lessons challenges pupils to do well. Activities are well planned and engaging. Additional support is effective.  Pupils behave well in lessons, around the building

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This is a good school

and in the playground. They are very proud of their school.  Leaders’ and governors’ actions to ensure that pupils are kept safe are effective. Pupils feel safe as a result.  Responses to Parent View show that parents are overwhelmingly positive and supportive of the school and leaders’ aims and ambitions.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching over time for a small minority of pupils who have special educational needs and disability is not challenging enough and does not build effectively on what they can already do.  Leaders have not checked carefully enough the impact of additional support outside of mainstream classes for pupils who have special educational needs and disability.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and disability in order to accelerate their progress by making sure that leaders and governors:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

fulfil all their statutory duties and publish information in a timely way check that additional support outside of mainstream classes is having a positive impact in accelerating pupils’ progress over time monitor that work set for pupils’ additional support outside of mainstream classes is sufficiently challenging and builds on what they can already do review procedures for how pupils are put on, and taken off, the special educational register.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Leaders and governors have an accurate view of the school’s effectiveness, including the school’s strengths and why it is not yet outstanding. They have brought about continued improvements to teaching and outcomes for pupils. They are clear about what steps they need to take to improve further.  Since the previous inspection, middle leaders have enhanced their roles in their areas of responsibility through observing teaching, checking pupils’ books, analysing pupil performance and leading training. This has led to an increased leadership capacity. They identify the best practice in their areas of responsibility and share this widely across the school.  Leaders check the quality of teaching and support in mainstream lessons rigorously and provide detailed feedback for staff. Previous weaknesses identified in teaching have been addressed. Leaders work closely with other schools in a ‘Can-Do’ group in order to improve teaching and learning further.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Teachers are held to account through regular pupil progress meetings where leaders scrutinise individual pupil performance in each class.  Leaders track the progress of all groups of pupils in mainstream lessons so that they can quickly identify any at risk of falling behind. Rigorous monitoring ensures that no group of pupils falls behind.  Additional funding provided through the pupil premium is spent well to make sure disadvantaged pupils are closing the gap with their peers in reading, writing and mathematics by the time they leave at the end of Year 4.  Leaders of the school fully enlist the support of the wider community for their vision and direction. Parents are involved through a series of parental workshops. Parents who responded to the surveys are overwhelmingly positive about the leadership of the school. They receive regular information on how well their children are doing. Almost all who responded to Parent View say they would recommend the school

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

to another parent.  Pupils have access to a broad range of subjects in the well-organised curriculum. Pupils are particularly enthusiastic about the different musical instruments they can learn and opportunities in sport. They are given the opportunity to study religious festivals and to study Pakistan as a contrasting country, but remain less secure in their knowledge of a wider range of faiths other than Christianity.  The curriculum is well enhanced through numerous after-school clubs including art, cookery and ‘wetlands’ where pupils learn to care for the local environment.  The primary school physical education (PE) and sports premium has enabled the school to recruit a sports coordinator to teach PE and organise a wide range of sports clubs and sports competitions. Participation and fitness levels are closely monitored and all pupils, including those who have special educational needs and disability, take an active part in lessons and clubs.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The school promotes British values well. For example, pupils learn about democracy through elections for house team representatives, involving a campaign and ballot papers. Pupils also vote for representatives to be on the school council and eco-committee.  Leaders have been slow to ensure that they meet all the statutory requirements for the leadership of special educational needs. They have not sufficiently checked whether additional support outside of mainstream classes is challenging enough to ensure that pupils make the rapid progress they need to make in order to catch up with their peers. The proportion of pupils on the special educational needs register is very high. Procedures for placing pupils on or off the register have led to too many pupils placed on the register to ensure support can be targeted effectively enough.  The governance of the school Governors have an accurate view of the school. They bring a wealth of expertise and experience to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

the governing body. Their achievement committee is linked with another school to ensure a consistent approach to scrutinising pupil performance information. They know accurately how each year group is doing against the school’s new assessment criteria. Governors are well trained and knowledgeable to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities. They know how additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is spent and the impact it has on pupils. They have ensured that appropriate performance management arrangements are in place. Governors contribute to the wider life of the school, for example by taking assemblies. They have not sufficiently checked whether the school has met all its statutory requirements, including to publish information in a timely manner regarding pupils who have special educational needs and disability.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All designated leaders ensure that they and all staff

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

receive suitable and up-to-date training. The culture is one of alertness, where staff will discuss any concern they may have. Arrangements with outside agencies are well established.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teachers in mainstream lessons consistently plan work that is well pitched to pupils’ different starting points. They have high expectations for pupils’ learning and behaviour.  Activities such as the study of rock formations engage pupils’ interest and enthusiasm. Real-life problem- solving tasks in mathematics provide a reason for their learning.  Teachers ensure that there is a purposeful environment for learning through their calm manner and positive relationships with pupils.  Teachers use questioning effectively to check pupils’ understanding. This also provides pupils with the opportunity to express their opinions and to respond to the views of others.  Teachers provide older pupils with a wide range of opportunities to develop their writing skills including fairy stories, persuasive writing and dialogues.  The most-able pupils are challenged in their learning. Where tasks are open-ended pupils are able to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

demonstrate the extent of the knowledge they have gained and are able to stretch themselves further.  Teachers set homework appropriately for pupils to practise their skills at home.  Reading and phonics (letters and the sounds that they make) are taught well. In small, focused groups, teachers encourage a love of reading through the choice of texts and themes linked to their interest, for example volcanoes, and by getting pupils to predict what will happen next to engender excitement and anticipation. Pupils develop de-coding skills which they apply to their reading to tackle unfamiliar words. They read fluently, accurately and with expression.  Teachers are becoming familiar with the school’s new assessment system to record and track the progress pupils are making. They check pupils’ spelling and grammar across a range of subjects, including science, and give detailed feedback so pupils know how to improve.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 All parents who expressed an opinion on Parent View say their children are taught well.  Additional adults support pupils well in mainstream lessons and in small group settings, especially for pupils who need to catch up and those with special educational needs and disability. Teaching for a small minority of pupils with special educational needs and disability is not challenging enough and does not take sufficient account of what pupils can already do.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  The school effectively promotes its core values that every child deserves to be successful and fulfil their true potential.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted effectively. Pupils participate in a number of different fund-raising campaigns chosen by themselves through the school council. They know about the importance of protecting the environment, for example through switching off unnecessary lights. Pupils are proud of the Green Flag award the school received in 2015. They have also conducted a recent healthy eating debate.  In assemblies, pupils participate keenly helping to tell bible stories such as the wise and foolish men; they join in enthusiastically with singing and depart in an orderly and quiet fashion.  Pupils report that bullying is very rare. They know about the different forms it can take and to whom they

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Personal development and welfare

should report any incidents.  Pupils say they feel safe in school. Their access to computers is closely supervised and they are taught in lessons about the risks of the internet and social media. Pupils know what to do in potentially unsafe situations.  All parents who responded to Parent View say their children are happy and feel safe in school.  A small minority of pupils lack confidence to work things out for themselves unless they are working with an adult or another pupil.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are friendly and welcoming towards visitors and are proud to show off aspects of the school and their work.  In lessons, pupils are enthusiastic learners and respond excitedly to the tasks they are given. Incidents of low-level disruption are very rare.  Pupils work well with each other and with additional adults. They are supportive towards each other and listen with respect to different ideas and views.  Pupils confirm that behaviour seen by inspectors in lessons and in the playground is typical. The large majority of pupils say that behaviour is good.  There are very few reported misbehaviour incidents. Pupils are confident that if they reported an incident it would be dealt with effectively. They also confirm that sanctions are effective.  The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has continued to fall over the last three years and is now below average. Attendance has improved since the previous inspection and there has been a marked

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Behaviour

improvement in punctuality. Early morning activities such as breakfast and bingo encourage pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, to arrive early ready to learn at the start of the school day.  All parents who expressed an opinion on Parent View said the school makes sure pupils are well behaved.  Pupils say that they enjoy their learning, especially their literacy, numeracy and physical education lessons.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Work in pupils’ books and information provided by leaders indicates that pupils currently in school are making consistently good progress across a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. Through close tracking of pupils’ performance by group in each class leaders know that different groups of pupils are also making good progress.  Disadvantaged pupils are making rapid progress. The attainment gap with other pupils in the school in reading, writing and mathematics by the time they leave at the end of Year 4 is narrowing. Funding for small-group phonics work has been particularly effective in improving outcomes for these pupils in reading.  The large number of pupils who have special educational needs and disability are making good progress overall. This is especially the case in mainstream lessons where the work is pitched appropriately and support is very effective in engaging pupils with their learning.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 The most-able pupils are doing very well. They have been given challenging targets to achieve mastery in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of each year group. Additional adults also work well with them to raise their expectations.  Pupils achieve well in key stage 1.There has been a rising trend over the last five years in outcomes for pupils who achieve or exceed the expected level for their age by the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. In the most recent assessments in Year 2, all children achieved at least the expected level for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. The proportion exceeding the expected level for their age was high in reading and mathematics but slightly below average in writing.  Pupils in years 3 and 4 make rapid progress from their previous starting points. Their outcomes are usually higher than those expected for their age, particularly in reading and mathematics. Pupils leave the

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Outcomes for pupils are good

school well prepared for learning in Year 5.  All parents who responded to Parent View said their children make good progress in school.  The proportion of pupils who reach the expected standard in phonics in Years 1 and 2 has been consistently above average in recent years. There was a dip in 2015 as a result of some pupils with special educational needs and disability not making enough progress to achieve the standard.  A small proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and disability do not make enough progress from their starting points where the additional teaching outside of mainstream classes is not challenging enough.

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Early years provision is good

 Children in the early years are making good progress from their below typical starting points. The proportion of children who achieved a good level of development by the time they left Reception in 2015 was in line with the national average. Consequently they are well prepared to start Year 1.  Good leadership has led to improved provision for children following close working with other local successful early years settings.  Children are engaged well in their learning through the choice of activities they have inside and outside the classroom. Well-prepared structured activities and tasks pupils can choose for themselves enable children to practise skills developed already and try out new experiences. Activities are linked to recent topic work, for example on dinosaurs, which is popular especially among boys.  Children respond especially well to making cakes and other craft activities. They are enthusiastic in

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Early years provision is good

presenting their work to others and to visitors with pride. They work well with each other in groups and pairs and behave well.  Children are developing early writing skills including writing their name. In structured literacy activities, children record their feelings in writing. They use their developing phonics skills well to form words.  Children’s developments are tracked to their learning journals which contain a range of evidence to show their progress, including examples of their work, photographs and notes of observations from adults. Parental responses in the learning journals are limited, however.  There are too few disadvantaged children in early years to be statistically significant.

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School details

Unique reference number 116717 Local authority Worcestershire Inspection number 10001310 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school First School category Community Age range of pupils 4–9 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 138 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Bob Stanton Headteacher Sarah Bitcon Telephone number 01386 552 515 Website www.cherryorchardfirst.worcs.sch.uk Email address office@cherryorchardfirst.worcs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 24–25 November 2010

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Information about this school

 Cherry Orchard is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and disability is about one in four, which is much higher than the national average. The school has an ‘Integration Base’ for pupils with complex learning difficulties and emotional and developmental needs. Consequently, the proportion with a statement of special educational need or an education, health and care plan is well above average.  Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well below the average nationally. No pupils have been identified whose first language is not English.  The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority) is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils who join or leave the school mid-way through a key stage is above the national

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Information about this school

average.  The headteacher was in post at the time of the last inspection. A new chair of the governing body has been appointed since then.  Breakfast and after-school clubs are provided for pupils by the governing body.  Based on their unvalidated 2015 results, the school meets the government’s 2014 floor standards. These are the minimum standards expected for pupils’ learning and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed five lessons or parts of lessons, of which four were jointly observed with the headteacher. In addition, inspectors made a number of other short visits to lessons and other activities, for example to look at pupils’ books or additional support for pupils.  Inspectors heard pupils read during lessons and also observed phonics sessions.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, other senior leaders including the special educational needs coordinator, other members of staff and a group of pupils. They also held meetings with four members of the governing body including the chair and vice-chair, and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took into account 36 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and 33 Parent View free-text responses.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and scrutinised a number of documents, including the school’s own self-evaluation, improvement plan, school information on pupils’ recent attainment and progress.

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Information about this inspection

They also considered behaviour and attendance information, policies and procedures including special educational needs, pupil premium, sports premium, safeguarding, child protection and behaviour.  Inspectors reviewed the minutes of the recent governing body meetings.

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Inspection team

Mark Sims, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Linda McGill Her Majesty’s 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

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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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