West Haddon Endowed Church of England Primary School

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

p.1

Mr David Rosevear Headteacher West Haddon Endowed Church of England Primary School The Green West Haddon Northampton Northamptonshire NN6 7AN

p.1

School

Following my visit to the school on 12 May 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in January 2012.

p.1

School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

p.1

School

Children enjoy being pupils at your school. They told me that learning was interesting because teachers make it fun. Pupils know it is important that they make good progress at school and explained to me how the different challenge colours and their target sheets help them to learn effectively. They said that they really appreciate the freedom they are given, for example, by choosing which level of challenge to tackle first in lessons. Pupils also told me that one of the best things about your school is the curriculum days because of the variety of learning they do.

p.1

School

Leaders and governors have worked effectively to raise the attainment of boys in reading by the end of key stage 1. As a result, boys have attained above the national average for the past three years. Similarly, the proportion of boys achieving the expected standard in the national screening check for phonics (the sounds that letters represent) has also been above the national average for the past three years. All current Year 2 pupils are on track to achieve the age-related expectations in reading. The impact of the improvements you have made to boys’ reading at key stage 1 has also improved their outcomes at key stage 2, resulting in standards significantly above the national average in 2015. You and governors have achieved these improvements by successfully implementing a range of effective strategies, including:

p.1

School

 good-quality training and support for teachers and support assistants  the implementation of a more systematic approach to teaching phonics  the regular and detailed tracking of pupils’ progress, so that teachers can intervene to support those pupils who are at risk of falling behind  the recording of additional support provided to pupils and checks to ensure it has worked  ensuring that the governors’ standards committee holds leaders to account for the progress of pupils and the effectiveness of additional interventions.

p.2

School

Leaders and governors also worked effectively to raise attainment in writing at key stage 2. As a result, pupils have made good progress and attained significantly above the national average in writing for the past three years and the very large majority of current Year 6 pupils are on track currently to achieve age-related expectations at the end of this year. You have revised the curriculum to provide pupils with additional opportunities to write and have given teachers additional training and resources. You have identified that there is more work to be done to make the best use of computers to support pupils’ writing.

p.2

School

You agreed that the school is not yet outstanding because too few pupils make more than expected progress and that improvements to progress will be supported by the consistent implementation of the school’s marking and feedback policy. Further, you acknowledge that more needs to be done to ensure that leaders and governors systematically evaluate the performance of pupil groups, no matter how small. In addition, leaders and governors must ensure that they fulfil their statutory duties with regard to information on the school’s website about the pupil premium grant, PE and sports funding and the school accessibility plan.

p.2

School

You, the designated leads for safeguarding and the governor with responsibility for safeguarding have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are kept secure. You have ensured that staff have received appropriate safeguarding training, such as training for safeguarding leads and the training of staff on the ‘Prevent’ guidance on combating extremism. You have also ensured that a member of staff and a governor have received safer-recruitment training. In addition, governors have undertaken safeguarding training and links between the safeguarding governor and safeguarding leaders are strong. As a result, staff know what to do and what to look out for and governors hold leaders to account effectively. You and your staff have ensured that the appropriate checks have been made on staff and volunteers, in order to protect pupils from risk. The single central record meets requirements and the safeguarding policy is up to date.

p.2

School

Pupils I met during my visit also told me that they feel safe at West Haddon. They shared with me all the ways that school staff keep them safe and teach them how to be safe. Pupils recognise that teachers help them to know about the risks they face and how to protect themselves from dangers through lessons on topics such as cyber-safety. They also described how they have learned about road safety and how to keep themselves safe from strangers through talks given by visitors. Pupils told me how much they enjoyed learning to swim and to ride their bikes safely. The pupils’ views are shared by the overwhelming majority of parents and carers I met. Those parents who indicated a response to the Ofsted questionnaire, Parent View, said that their children all felt safe and happy at school.

p.3

Inspection findings

 Leadership and governance are strong. Leaders and governors have secured a clear shared vision for the school. As a result, pupils, parents, staff and governors are all very proud of the school.  Leaders and governors know the school well. They know the school’s strengths and where they need to bring about further improvements.  They use published performance information to check on how well pupils at the school are doing, compared to other pupils nationally, and to identify where pupils’ progress needs to improve.  The school improvement plan takes the priorities identified in the school’s self-evaluation and sets out clearly the actions that you will undertake to achieve your objectives and the deadlines you will meet. You report to governors regularly about the progress of the plan. Currently, however, there is too much focus on the completion of actions and too little evaluation of the difference these actions have had on improving the quality of teaching and

p.3

Inspection findings

outcomes for pupils.  Leaders and governors track the progress of pupils rigorously and have a detailed understanding of how well individual pupils are learning over time. This enables them to ensure that pupils receive the extra support they need to make good progress. They do not, however, evaluate the performance of different groups of pupils, such as those supported through the pupil premium, or evaluate well enough the impact of particular funding sources, such as the additional physical education and sport funding.  Leaders and governors have not ensured that all aspects of the school’s website meet requirements. For example, the website does not include the school accessibility plan or an evaluation of the impact of the pupil premium grant or the physical education and sport funding.  Pupils’ outcomes are good. Children achieve well in the early years and increased proportions have attained a good level of development year on

p.3

Inspection findings

year, for the past three years. Currently, more of the children in the early years are on track to achieve a good level of development than previously.  The attainment of pupils by the end of key stage 1 was above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics in 2015 and school performance information indicates that most of the pupils currently in Year 2 are on track to attain well.  Standards have also been strong at key stage 2 for the past three years, with pupils attaining above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. You acknowledge, however, that in 2015, too few pupils made more than the expected progress. You are beginning to address this using a range of appropriate strategies. School performance information indicates that a very large majority of pupils currently in Year 6 are on track to attain well.  There are too few disadvantaged pupils at the school to report on their

p.3

Inspection findings

progress and attainment at each key stage without identifying individuals. I noted during the inspection, however, that most of the disadvantaged pupils currently on roll are making at least the progress expected from their starting points.  Teaching is strong at West Haddon and it results in strong outcomes for pupils. During the inspection, we visited each class for a short time and observed a variety of lessons. Behaviour was very good in each of the classes we visited. Pupils were all engaged in their learning and were working very hard.  Teachers had clear expectations of the children and communicated clearly to them what they were expected to achieve in the lesson. Adults used questioning to good effect to check on pupils’ learning and to challenge them to think more deeply.  Teachers use assessment information to plan the pupils’ learning and this is supported by target cards and target sheets; however, the implementation of

p.4

Inspection findings

this strategy is inconsistent.  Similarly, the school’s marking and feedback policy is applied inconsistently. Consequently, you recognise that it is time to review both policies to ensure consistent implementation. At the same time, you are going to consider the practice individual teachers are developing, such as the individual pupil conferences in Year 6, as part of a new and improved approach.  Outside lessons, pupils are well behaved. The pupils I spoke with were articulate, confident and polite. They were keen to tell me about their learning and to explain to me what it is like to be a pupil at the school. They are very proud of the school and clearly enjoy and appreciate the provision you and your staff make for them.  Leaders have fully adopted the new national curriculum and have implemented an effective assessment process that enables teachers, leaders and governors to track the progress pupils make. Leaders have ensured that

p.4

Inspection findings

their judgements are reliable by moderating pupils’ work with other schools in the cluster.

p.4

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.5

Next steps for the school

 the school’s website is complete and fulfils statutory requirements, including the evaluation of the pupil premium and sports funding and the accessibility plan  self-evaluation is supported by analysis of the impact of teaching, learning and assessment on different groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, and that this is reported regularly to governors  leaders and teachers continue to improve the proportion of pupils making more than expected progress  the marking and feedback policy, including the use of the school’s target sheets, is implemented consistently.

p.5

Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Peterborough, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Northamptonshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.5

Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, the acting deputy headteacher, who is also the English leader, the mathematics leader, the business manager, the pastoral leader, and three governors, including the vice-chair of the governing body. I met with staff and took account of the responses to the staff survey. I reviewed your current school self-evaluation and your improvement plan. You and I visited classrooms and learning areas to observe teaching, talk to pupils and look at their work. I evaluated information about pupils’ progress, attendance and exclusions. I observed and talked with pupils in their classes and met with nine pupils. I met with the designated safeguarding lead and reviewed your systems, processes and records relating to safeguarding. We undertook a scrutiny of work from a sample of pupils. I met with a number of parents at the beginning of the school day and considered their views, alongside the responses from Parent View. I spoke with a

p.5

Information about the inspection

representative of the local authority. I reviewed the school’s website and how effectively the pupil premium grant and physical education and sport funding are used.

p.5