Collingwood Primary School

Collingwood Primary School Collingwood Road, South Woodham Ferrers, Chelmsford CM3 5YJ

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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

 The headteacher, with excellent support from senior leaders and strong support from governors, has successfully driven improvement forward since the last inspection.  The school has greatly improved. Teaching and pupils’ outcomes have moved from requiring improvement to good, and the school continues to improve.  Leaders are very successfully promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and their physical well-being.  Teachers make good use of detailed systems for assessing pupils’ achievement in English and mathematics. Together with leaders, they use the information from their assessments to identify pupils who need extra help and drive their learning forward.  Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ learning in most subjects and they make good use of questioning to deepen pupils’ thinking.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons, in the playground and throughout the school, is good. Sometimes it is

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This is a good school

outstanding. Pupils arrive in school eager to learn and have good attitudes to school.  The school’s provision for the welfare of pupils and the promotion of their well-being and safety is outstanding. As a result, pupils feel extremely safe and happy at school.  Pupils make at least good, and sometimes outstanding, progress in reading and writing. They make good progress in mathematics and in a range of other subjects as they move through the school.  Outstanding leadership of the early years provision has resulted in excellent support for teachers in training and very strong links with parents to promote children’s learning and well- being. There is a significant rise in the proportion of children who are set to reach a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Occasionally, teachers’ expectations for mathematics learning are not high enough.  Teachers sometimes miss opportunities to deepen pupils’ reasoning skills in mathematics.  Teachers with leadership responsibilities are not checking pupils’ books rigorously enough to identify how teaching and learning could be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement and improve teaching in mathematics across the school by ensuring that teachers: use every opportunity to deepen pupils’ mathematical reasoning skills consistently set high expectations for learning in mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership by making sure that teachers with leadership responsibilities rigorously review pupils’ work to identify areas to improve teaching and learning.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The headteacher is very ambitious for the school and, with strong support from senior leaders, is showing a determination to drive improvement forward so that it becomes an outstanding school. The headteacher has set high expectations for staff and pupils alike. Leaders have set the right priorities for development and work continuously together to improve teaching and learning so that pupils make good progress. The school’s evaluation of its work is reasonably accurate and used well to develop clear priorities for improvement. Rigorous systems in place, such as the weekly achievement meetings and regular coaching for trainee teachers, underpin key aspects of the school’s work and have been central to improving the quality of teaching.  The deputy headteacher provides strong leadership of the provision for pupils who have special educational needs or disability, with continuous monitoring of the impact of support on the progress these

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

pupils are making. She works very closely with external agencies and parents to support their children’s learning and liaises with other schools to disseminate best practice.  The early years leader is providing outstanding leadership in forging excellent links with parents and in supporting new trainee teachers to ensure that children in the Reception class are making good progress.  Leadership of teaching is strong, and performance management systems are rigorous. Leaders visit lessons regularly to identify strengths and any weaknesses in teaching and learning. They combine the outcomes of this monitoring with their tracking information about the progress pupils are making, alongside evidence of learning and progress in pupils’ books. Where weaknesses are identified, leaders carefully link objectives to whole-school priorities for raising achievement and improving teaching. Good teaching is recognised and rewarded, and weaknesses in teaching are dealt with effectively. Trainee

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

teachers greatly value the support they are receiving to develop their practice. There are strong links with local schools to develop a wider perspective and to support new teachers in training.  Leaders have greatly improved assessment systems in the school. They are making very good use of the information about pupils’ progress to pinpoint where further improvements could be made and to ensure that all pupils have the same opportunities to succeed. The learning and progress of particular groups, such as disadvantaged pupils, are given high priority.  Leaders have created an environment where pupils flourish. Staff tackle any form of harassment or discrimination well by promoting good relationships throughout the school.  Teachers with leadership responsibilities are developing their roles well, such as in implementing a new programme to speed up the learning of mathematics, and improving reading, writing and phonics, with

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

the introduction of additional sessions. However, they are not monitoring pupils’ work thoroughly enough to identify where teaching and learning could be improved in their individual subjects.  Leaders have taken effective action to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs or disability. They have also developed strong links with local schools to develop a wider perspective and to support new teachers in training.  The curriculum is broad, balanced and relevant to the needs of pupils. There is a good emphasis on developing pupils’ basic skills of literacy and numeracy, and there is a wide range of opportunities to learn other subjects through a good programme of topic work. Pupils also learn French, and there are strong links between subjects, such as art and history. Pupils benefit from a wide range of after-school clubs and activities to support their learning. They participate in school trips, including an outdoor and adventurous

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

residential trip, which they greatly enjoy.  Teachers use the school’s marking policy well to provide good feedback and guidance to pupils. Pupils say how much this guidance is helping them to make better progress.  The promotion of British values and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development have a strong focus in the school. Pupils celebrate different religious festivals and learn about other cultures and religious beliefs in their topic work. Pupils respect the school rules and show respect for the law. Through the work of the school council they learn about democracy. They share their views openly and cooperate well together in lessons. Pupils have very good opportunities in assembly to talk about what British values mean to them. As a result, pupils understand and relate to these values, as seen in their thoughtful discussions and good behaviour.  The local authority is providing good support and challenge to the school, especially in the regular review

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

of its work, in order to raise achievement and improve the quality of teaching.  The school makes good use of pupil premium funding in providing additional support, including specialist teaching, to narrow the gap between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally. As a result, disadvantaged pupils are learning as well as, and sometimes better than, their classmates.  Leaders are using primary sports funding effectively to promote pupils’ physical development and well- being. There is a considerable increase in the number of sports clubs, and more opportunities have been provided for pupils to participate in competitive games with other schools since the last inspection. Staff work alongside qualified sports coaches to enhance their teaching skills.  The governance of the school Governors hold the school to account for its work and are challenging leaders effectively, especially on the use of additional funding provided by the pupil premium and primary sports premium, in order to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

achieve value for money. They visit the school frequently and look at the safeguarding records to check that they comply with requirements. They ensure that all policies are up to date. Governors have a clear understanding of data. They use this well to form an accurate view of teaching and set clear priorities for improvement. They ensure that arrangements for managing the performance of staff, including the headteacher, are firmly based on whole-school priorities for development. They reward good teaching and ensure that the school tackles any weaknesses effectively. Governors actively promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, including fundamental British values. They are currently booked on the Prevent duty training programme.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The school works closely with parents to establish a safe culture for pupils. Pupils’ safety is of the utmost importance to the school, and procedures are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

rigorous, with appropriate and timely actions taken to safeguard pupils.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has greatly improved since the last inspection when it was found to require improvement. The rapid increase in pupils’ rates of progress, the work in their books and the school’s own records of teaching show that teaching is now good.  Teachers display pupils’ work and often provide pupils with helpful information to extend their learning. Pupils respond well to the various challenges they are set on the ‘Prove-It’ boards displayed in each classroom. Lessons are well planned to build on pupils’ previous learning. Teachers usually set high expectations which lead to positive attitudes in learning and to good behaviour. In a recorder lesson, for example, pupils were challenged to play a number of tunes and, where further challenged to compare features of recorders with a saxophone, they did so with enthusiasm.  Teachers give clear guidance to pupils on how to improve their work and they respond well to this. This

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

was clearly seen in Year 4 workbooks and in Year 6, where timely recognition of pupils’ misconceptions and clarification of these enabled them to make rapid progress.  Pupils are fully involved in assessing their own learning and clearly indicate which pieces of work they are most proud of and which pieces they find challenging. They frequently respond to teachers’ feedback and guidance on how to improve their work.  Teachers use probing questions to develop pupils’ thinking. For example, in Year 6 when doubling coordinates, pupils were engaged in discussing the task and considering possibilities, deepening their understanding through responding enthusiastically to their teacher’s carefully chosen questions.  The teaching of basic skills is good. It is stronger in literacy than in mathematics. There were many examples seen of teachers setting challenging tasks in literacy, enabling pupils to explore different texts

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

and writing styles, and providing them with stimulating activities to develop their literacy skills across different subjects. This is less well developed in mathematics, where occasionally teachers do not set high enough expectations for pupils’ learning, or miss the opportunity to deepen pupils’ reasoning skills.  Teachers make sure that pupils are developing their skills in non-core subjects throughout the school. Pupils’ topic work shows how well teachers are promoting learning through providing imaginative work and making sure that homework builds effectively on the work pupils have completed in class.  Teaching assistants provide good support for pupils who have special educational needs or disability, disadvantaged pupils, those who need to catch up quickly and the few who speak English as an additional language. They carefully explain the tasks and clarify any misunderstandings. In Year 4, pupils using digit

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

cards to make decimals were encouraged to explain their answers to deepen their understanding. The additional teacher provided good support for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs or disability by ensuring that tasks were relevant to the pupils’ own experiences.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. The school does all it can to keep pupils safe at all times. Pupils are happy and confident in school. The school works very closely with families and parents, and pupils say that they feel safe at all times. Pupils are supported to keep healthy through sports activities and a choice of healthy foods.  Pupils know what they need to do to become successful learners. Two pupils from each class are learning ambassadors and proudly show off pupils’ achievements to visitors. Pupils are reflective and provide thoughtful answers to teachers’ questions in order to explain their thinking.  Staff focus strongly on British values, and the pupils’ extremely good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development equips them to be caring, considerate and thoughtful towards others. Pupils speak highly of how the school is supporting their personal development. The school’s values, such as cooperation and

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Personal development and welfare

respect, are on display in every classroom. Pupils are very knowledgeable about the rule of law, democracy, mutual respect and tolerance. They speak sensitively about different religions and cultures and show great respect for these traditions.  Excellent pastoral support, including close liaison with other agencies, very successfully promotes pupils’ emotional and physical well-being. This was confirmed in discussion with parents.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. It is good in lessons and around the school and contributes to the orderly and harmonious community within the school. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and respond well to the management of their behaviour.  Pupils usually abide by the school rules, but not always. Pupils sometimes fail to follow instructions, they can be unduly noisy during lunch in the dining hall, and occasionally pupils switch off learning during lessons.  The school is rigorous in tackling persistent absence so that it is reducing. As a result, attendance has significantly improved since the last inspection and is above average.  Parents, pupils and staff agree that behaviour is good.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils’ outcomes are good because the school is successfully raising standards.  Information from lessons, in pupils’ books and the tracking of pupils’ progress shows that they are making rapid progress in a range of subjects, including English and mathematics.  Children enter the Reception class with skills, knowledge and understanding that are broadly typical for their ages, although they are slightly lower in literacy and mathematical development. Children make good progress from these starting points, with girls doing slightly better than boys. The proportion of children who achieved a good level of development improved significantly in 2015, showing that they had made at least the expected amount of progress in all areas of learning. The proportions of children currently expected to reach a good level of development is set to rise again this year. Far more children are working at least in line with the expected levels for their age across the areas of learning.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 The school’s improved methods for teaching reading, writing and phonics, with an additional phonics session each day, have led to considerable improvements in phonics, reading and writing in the Reception Year and in key stage 1. The school’s results in the Year 1 screening of pupils’ knowledge of phonics improved in 2015 and was above average. Pupils in Year 1 are on course to reach well above-average standards in this year’s phonics screening check.  The school’s results at the end of Year 6 in 2015 showed a clear improvement in standards since the last inspection. Attainment was above average in reading and writing and was broadly average in English grammar, spelling and punctuation, and mathematics. The value that the school added to pupils’ learning was similar to that of other schools in reading and writing but dipped in mathematics. The school has set ambitious targets for all pupils, and the half-termly checks on progress are showing that those who did

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Outcomes for pupils are good

less well last year are making faster progress now. More pupils in Year 6 are on course to reach the attainment expected for their ages.  In 2015, there were too few disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 to compare their attainment with that of others nationally. Nevertheless, the school has been steadily closing the gap between these pupils and their peers since the last inspection. Disadvantaged pupils are currently making good progress in response to carefully targeted support.  Pupils’ books show that the most-able pupils are usually making at least expected progress, although sometimes in lessons, especially in mathematics, they are not challenged as well as they could be. At times, they do not have the opportunity to move quickly on to deeper work once they have grasped a new mathematical concept, and when this occurs it slows their progress. Some of these pupils said that the mathematics tasks that they were given were occasionally too easy.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils who have special educational needs or disability are making good progress. The few pupils who are at an early stage of learning English and those who need to catch up quickly are also making good progress. Pupils are making good progress across all year groups, particularly in English, from their starting points.

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Early years provision is good

 There has been a complete change of staff this year in the Reception class. The early years leader is now teaching in Year 1 and two new trainee teachers have been appointed in the Reception class. The early years leader is providing outstanding support and guidance to ensure that teaching is good, and children are continuing to make good progress. Children are greatly exceeding predictions for a good level of development, with ambitious targets set for the current academic year. There are examples of some consistently high rates of progress.  Support and challenge for the early years staff are exemplary and as a result, children’s outcomes and the quality of teaching are good and the school’s provision for children’s safety and welfare is outstanding.  Excellent links have been established with parents to support their children’s learning and well-being. Parents speak highly of the partnership between home and school and consider that their children are

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Early years provision is good

very safe, happy and making good progress. They are involved effectively in supporting their children’s learning at home. Leaders use highly effective strategies to engage parents through their open-door policy, regular home visits and development days to promote aspects of learning such as how to use the online assessment system to support learning at home. Parents and carers value the stimulating experiences their children enjoy.  The early years leader has developed very good assessment systems, which involve parents and have greatly improved since the last inspection. The information is used consistently well to track and record the progress children are making from their different starting points in each area of learning.  Teachers’ planning is good, and activities are well thought out to stimulate children’s enjoyment of learning. In a number of lessons, teachers made good use of mathematical language to promote

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Early years provision is good

understanding of, for example, ‘more’, ‘less’, ‘one more’ and ‘one less’. This enabled children to match numbers quickly and add one more. All the children were encouraged to check answers and all made good progress from their various starting points in adding numbers.  Strong teamwork between teachers and teaching assistants ensures that children are fully engaged in learning. Staff make good use of the outdoor and indoor learning environments, with well-chosen resources to motivate children’s learning.  Children make particularly good progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, including British values. They learn about the rule of law by following the rules and knowing that their actions have consequences. They learn about democracy when they work together sharing decisions and taking turns. They learn about different faiths and beliefs as they hear stories from different cultures.

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Early years provision is good

 Children behave well. They make excellent progress in their personal development, and respond well to the stimulating environment.

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School details

Unique reference number 115305 Local authority Essex Inspection number 10011784

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Foundation Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 212 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Kevin Renton Headteacher Amanda Buckland-Garnett Telephone number 01245 322258 Website www.collingwoodschool.net Email address admin@collingwood.essex.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 6–7 February 2014

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage and the proportion who speak English as an additional language is well below that found in most schools.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is lower than in most schools. The pupil premium is additional funding provided by the government to support pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is broadly average, and the proportion with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is twice as high as in most schools.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The school is a recognised centre for the initial training of teachers.

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, the school received a monitoring visit by Ofsted to determine how much progress it was making in meeting its areas of improvement. A new chair of the governing body is in post and there have been no other significant changes since the last inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited a variety of lessons and activities, including two assemblies. Most of these visits were undertaken with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.  Inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ work across the school and heard a few pupils read.  They looked at data and the school’s tracking system, to determine the progress pupils are making across the school, including children in the early years.  Inspectors examined 67 parents’ responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and held informal discussions with parents who accompanied their children to school. They also considered the written responses from parents and the online questionnaire responses from staff.  Inspectors held meetings with five members of the governing body, school leaders and the two new teachers in the early years. They also met the local authority representative and two groups of pupils.  They looked at a range of documentation including: the school’s self-evaluation document; the school

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Information about this inspection

development plan; records of governors’ visits to the school; safeguarding policies and procedures; and external reviews of the school’s performance.

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Inspection team

Declan McCarthy, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Lynn Alexander 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

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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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