Send CofE First School

Send Church of England First School Send Barns Lane, Send, Woking GU23 7BS

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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 Inadequate

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This is a good school

 The executive headteacher leads the school exceptionally well. Her uncompromising approach has ensured rapid improvement.  Senior leaders act as a collegiate team. Together, they are a resilient yet dynamic force for school improvement.  Partnerships are strong. The support of the local authority and diocese board have ensured that this school has improved rapidly.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is now consistently good, ensuring most pupils make the progress they are capable of.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning are strong. They enjoy school and want to learn. They support each other in their learning very well.  Governors know the school very well and have a clear focus on its strategic priorities.  Pupils are safe in this school due to the vigilance of staff and well-managed routines and procedures.  Outcomes for pupils are improving quickly. This is especially the case in the early years where nearly

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This is a good school

all pupils make very good progress and are well prepared for their move to Year 1.  Because of the high expectations of staff, the conduct of pupils is good. A consistent approach to managing behaviour ensures that disruptions in classrooms are rare.  Children in the early years benefit from good provision due to the work of knowledgeable and dedicated staff. Their needs are well met in both Nursery and Reception classes.  The few pupils who have special educational needs or disability do well, as do pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.  The pastoral care and social and emotional needs of pupils are given high priority. The school’s Christian values support these aspects of pupils’ personal development well.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The impact middle leaders have on improving teaching and learning is not yet strong enough to ensure outstanding outcomes for pupils.  Progress of the most able pupils is inconsistent in different subjects and year groups.

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Full report

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 which gives Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills (HMCI) the power to cause any school to be inspected. The inspection was deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Full report

When Send Church of England First School was inspected in February 2015, it was judged to require special measures. Subsequently, the school was inspected on three occasions. At the previous monitoring inspection, leaders and managers were judged to be taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure the development of the strengths of middle leaders continues, so that their impact on improving the quality of education enables pupils to make the accelerated progress required for the school to become outstanding.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that: teachers make more of the opportunities to increase challenge during lessons, especially for the most able, so that pupils make even more progress pupils are encouraged to become independent learners so that they take increasing responsibility for their own learning.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The executive headteacher leads the school with energy and a great sense of purpose. She is not afraid to meet problems head on and displays the tenacity required to improve the school further. Her drive and determination to succeed ensure that weaknesses are quickly addressed and strengths are built on.  Senior leaders know the school well and are an effective force for school improvement. Communication is strong. Self-evaluation and development planning is very effective and ensures that the school’s priorities for improvement are addressed with urgency.  Leaders at all levels understand the importance of ensuring the quality of teaching is of the highest standard. Monitoring of teachers’ performance is robust and informs the school’s appraisal process well. The professional development of all staff is closely linked to the school’s priorities for improvement.  The school has a values-based culture which underpins every aspect of school life, pervading the school’s

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

curriculum and manifesting itself in and outside the classroom. The mission statement of ‘Hearts, minds and bodies, caring and achieving together’ is evident in the day-to-day life of the school.  Leaders and managers have ensured that the curriculum, including a wide range of extra-curricular activities, suits the needs of pupils well. Breadth and balance have been maintained. Teaching of the French language by a specialist teacher, despite the recent pressures to rapidly improve outcomes in English and mathematics, is one example of this.  Pastoral care and the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education of pupils are a strength of the school. Much of this aspect is supported through the broader curriculum, including the study of key figures in history or teaching about the major faiths of the world.  Pupils’ understanding of the concept of fundamental British values and living in modern Britain is developed

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

in a number of ways, including special themed assemblies, or curriculum topics that include learning about inequalities, or the monarchy, including celebrating Her Majesty the Queen’s birthday. Ensuring pupils understand the school’s playground rules is another simple example of this.  School leaders have ensured that additional government funding to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds is spent effectively. The impact of interventions and any extra support given to disadvantaged pupils is monitored well by school leaders, ensuring outcomes for this group are good.  The school also makes good use of the extra funding it receives to promote physical education and sport. This includes purchasing extra resources and equipment, release time for staff to attend or deliver specialist training and enrichment activities such as the school’s health and fitness theme week.  Partnerships are a strength. The continuing support of the local authority in ensuring rapid improvement in

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

the quality of education offered by the school has been significant. Support for the executive headteacher in improving the quality of teaching has had very good impact, leading to much improved outcomes for pupils. Governors have also benefited from training and guidance on their collectives roles and responsibilities.  The diocesan board also plays its part in the leadership and management of the school. Although not directly involved in school improvement, leaders continue to benefit from strong pastoral support, advice and guidance, including for the management of the impending merger with the federated partner school.  Middle leaders are beginning to have more impact on the quality of teaching and learning, although this aspect of leadership is not yet as developed as it might be. Senior leaders are aware of this and realise that this is an area to develop in the school’s journey to become outstanding.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The governance of the school Governors maintain a clear focus on their strategic overview of the school. They are effective at holding school leaders to account and offer the executive headteacher the correct balance of support and challenge in order for the school to improve. Governors are very clear that they aspire for this school to become outstanding. Governors know the school well and are clear about their role in ensuring the school’s priorities for improvement are addressed. They know the value of validating progress and performance information in a number of ways and do not take what they are presented with at face value, challenging school leaders and other professionals when they are unclear or not satisfied with what they are being told. The federation governing body as a whole carries out its statutory duties well. This includes ensuring that school leaders and teachers are only rewarded for good performance. Its overview of the forthcoming

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

merger of the two federated schools to become one primary school, at the same time as a major building project and ensuring the school improves rapidly, is admirable.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Children are safe in this school because staff take their responsibilities seriously and afford the safety of children a high priority. Procedures and day-to-day routines, including the safe recruitment of staff and the management of the school site while a major building project is under way, are sound. Parents told the inspector they feel their children are safe in school. Children told the inspector they know staff ‘look out’ for them and know when they are unhappy.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Senior leaders ensure that teachers and support staff continually reflect on their practice in order to provide the best possible learning opportunities for pupils.  Teachers and support staff are constantly assessing the progress pupils are making. They check pupils’ understanding in a variety of ways and respond quickly to intervene when they detect gaps or misconceptions during lessons.  Most pupils in most classes understand very well what they are learning and why. Teachers make it very clear to pupils what is expected of them. As a result, most pupils engage with learning very well and make good or better progress during lessons and over time.  Across all classes, including in the early years, the quality of teachers’ questioning is very strong. Pupils are challenged to think more deeply about their work, in order for them to make connections with prior learning

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

and to better understand how to improve.  Typically, teachers plan learning opportunities that engage and excite pupils. During the inspection, the inspector was impressed with the level of engagement in classrooms. Pupils are motivated and want to learn. Staff are confident and knowledgeable and provide the support and encouragement that pupils need in order to become successful learners.  Pupils would benefit from being more independent in their approach to learning. The school is working to ensure that all pupils are confident in their own ability and that they have a range of strategies to use when they are unclear about what they are expected to do, as well as increasing their responsibility for their own learning.  School leaders are aware that there are occasions when teachers miss opportunities to deepen or extend pupils’ knowledge during lessons. This is particularly the case with most-able pupils, who would benefit from

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

extra challenge in order for them to make the accelerated progress required to achieve at higher levels. Leaders have already identified this aspect of teaching as a priority for improvement.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils’ social and emotional needs are met well due to the high degree of care given to them by staff and the values-based culture that school leaders have promoted.  A strong sense of community and unity was also apparent to the inspector during the inspection. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are very well developed. They are supportive of each other and happy to work together to solve problems or discuss ways in which to improve their work.  Pupils are confident and display positive attitudes. They are not afraid to have fun or display a sense of humour. Pupils from Year 2 were very serious when they told the inspector how excited they were about moving up to Year 3 in the new ‘junior school’ building, although dissolved into fits of laughter when they pointed out that this was only because they would be able to use the lift to get to their classrooms.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils’ understanding of how to stay safe is developed in a number of ways, including through specialist assemblies or themed weeks. Pupils were clear about the dangers of the internet or what to do if the fire alarm sounds. They told the inspector they feel safe in school and that bullying doesn’t happen. They were also very clear about the potential dangers of the construction site within the school grounds.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Staff have high expectations and their consistent approach across the school ensures that pupils are clear about what is expected of them.  Behaviour in classrooms is very good, although pupils told the inspector that they had experienced disruptions to their learning in the past. During the inspection, pupils were completely absorbed in their learning and no off-task behaviour or disruption to learning was seen.  Attendance is good and improving because pupils enjoy coming to school. The attendance of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds is no longer a cause for concern, having improved very significantly in the last year due to improved communication and support from the school.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Children make good progress in the early years, both in the Nursery and Reception year. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the time they leave the Reception year has doubled since last year. Consequently, most pupils are well prepared for Year 1.  Phonics (letters and the sound they make) provision is a strength and is improving. The percentage of pupils reaching the expected standard by the end of Year 1 was above national levels last year. The school’s own assessment information shows that its phonics outcomes will be better this year. By the end of Year 2, the great majority of pupils have reached the expected standard in phonics.  Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics improved to become broadly average when compared to other schools nationally by the end of key stage 1 in 2015. This was a welcome development after the previous year’s results placed the school significantly behind other schools nationally in all three subjects.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 The attainment of pupils in the school continues to improve. Direct comparisons with previous years are difficult to make due to national changes to an assessment system without curriculum levels, but it is clear that the proportion of pupils achieving at expected levels is increasing, especially in Year 2.  The progress pupils make is also improving, although in different subjects in different year groups, not all of the school’s most-able pupils are making the progress they are capable of.  In Year 2, the proportion of pupils exceeding the progress expected of them is higher in reading and writing than it is in mathematics. In Year 1, the proportion of pupils exceeding the progress expected of them is higher in reading and mathematics than in writing.  Because of the quality of provision and close monitoring by school leaders, outcomes for the very few pupils who have special educational needs or disabilities are good.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Most pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds make good progress and their attainment now more closely matches those of other pupils in the school. All disadvantaged pupils in key stage 1 are currently working at or above expected levels for their age in reading, writing and mathematics.  The performance of disadvantaged pupils cannot be meaningfully compared to other pupils nationally due to the low numbers in each cohort. This was also the case in the past. However, school leaders and governors closely track the progress made by this vulnerable group and the outcomes of individual pupils are monitored closely, so that appropriate support can be put in place where required.

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Early years provision is good

 Strong, focused leadership has ensured that the quality of provision in the Nursery and Reception year is good. Rapid improvements have been made recently to all aspects of the early years, where children thrive and make good progress from their different starting points.  The quality of teaching is very good. Staff know the children well and are constantly assessing their individual needs. Because of this, appropriate learning opportunities are planned and implemented, leading to children making the progress they are capable of.  The proportion of pupils achieving a good level of development by the time they finish in Reception has doubled this year. Most children are well prepared for the move up to Year 1.  The few pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds do well because of focused support. Their progress is tracked well. All children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Reception are on track to achieve a good level

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Early years provision is good

of development this year.  The quality of provision is equally as strong in the Nursery class as in the Reception classes. Staff are reflective and dedicated. Communication is good. Professional development is given a high priority by school leaders. The impact of this is clear and the capacity for further improvement is very strong.  Because of well-established routines and the high expectations of staff, behaviour is good. Children are keen to cooperate and offer each other help when needed. During a classroom visit, the inspector was made aware of one girl volunteering to help another to make a ‘mini beast’ after things had not quite gone to plan with the first attempt. Being kind to each other is the norm.  Parents appreciate the care and support their children receive from staff in the early years. They told the inspector their children were very happy to come to school and were very clear that they thought that the

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School details

Unique reference number 125285 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 10012705

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School details

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 Foundation Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 192 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Martin Digby Executive Headteacher Sue Sayers Telephone number 01483 223464 Website www.sendfirstschool.co.uk Email address secretary@send.surrey.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 12–13 February 2015

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Information about this school

 Send Church of England First School is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  The large majority of pupils at the school come from White British backgrounds.  The school has a much smaller than average proportion of pupils who come from minority ethnic groups or who have English as an additional language.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium (additional government funding) is much lower than the national average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is much lower than the national average.  The school is part of a federation with St Bede’s Church of England Aided Junior School. The headteacher is the executive headteacher of both schools.  Both federated schools will merge in September 2016 to form one school, which will be known as Send Church of England Primary School.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector conducted two learning walks to observe the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, during which he visited every classroom and year group, some more than once. For some of these classroom visits he was accompanied by senior leaders. He also observed a French lesson at the request of the executive headteacher.  Meetings were held with pupils, parents, the executive headteacher, senior leaders, middle leaders and the chair of the governing body accompanied by three other governors.  Telephone conversations were held with representatives of the local authority and diocesan board.  The inspector looked at pupils’ work, heard pupils read and observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school.  The inspector also considered the views of parents, taking into account 23 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.  A range of documents were scrutinised, including those to do with safeguarding, attendance, minutes of

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Information about this inspection

meetings of the governing body, information about pupils’ outcomes provided by the school, the school’s self-evaluation of its own performance and the school’s development planning.  Records of monitoring visits and support provided by the local authority were also considered.

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Inspection team

Clive Close, lead inspector 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

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