Old Fletton Primary School

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

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Mrs Sarah Levy Headteacher Old Fletton Primary School London Road Old Fletton Peterborough Cambridgeshire PE2 9DR

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 22 June 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 Old Fletton Primary School was judged to be good in November 2011.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

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

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

Leaders, staff and governors have successfully continued to promote the inclusive, welcoming nature of the school. You have all continued to develop teaching, the curriculum and the physical environment since the previous inspection. You have shown a determination to improve further and share this with all those involved with the school. All leaders, staff and governors are uncompromising in their dedication towards this vision.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

A crucial aspect in the school’s continued success is the strength, vision and ambition of its senior leadership. You put the well-being and achievement of pupils at the heart of the school’s aims and actions, and make sure that everyone does their best. The school values known as ‘CARE’ are known, owned and ‘lived out’ on a day-to-day basis by all. The school’s ‘pupil champion’ wrote to the inspection team, reporting that: ‘The CARE values are the most important things that make up Old Fletton. They set a high standard for everyone to follow and they ensure everyone is treated equally. They encourage everyone to be the best they can be.’ A parent also commented on this aspect saying, ‘the school's culture, (‘CARE’), and the children’s behaviour towards each other and adults are fantastic and the envy of friends with children at other local schools’. Together with the deputy headteacher, you provide clear direction and set high

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

expectations. You have established consistent routines and deployed staff carefully so that everyone’s expertise is used to best effect. You have built a capable senior leadership team with a wide range of skills that serve the staff and pupils well. Senior leaders have a good overview of teaching and learning in the school, gathered through the different checks completed on classroom practice and pupils’ work. The leadership and management at the school are well organised and effective.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

Since the previous inspection, leaders have developed a highly effective assessment system, most notably for reading, writing and mathematics. Your staff, led by the deputy headteacher, record pupils’ achievement well and measure their progress with precision across the whole school. You have organised effective training and support to ensure that teachers’ assessments of pupils’ achievements are accurate. You recognise the need for this to evolve in line with national changes and maintain the monitoring of the progress of different groups of pupils.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

In line with the national changes to the curriculum, leaders and governors made the strategic decision to appoint a curriculum leader to oversee and plan the new curriculum at Old Fletton Primary School. The work on specific subjects includes specialist expertise input in physical education, religious education and French. This has provided a good foundation on which to base the teaching of all the subject areas. While this is very clearly evident in pupils’ books, and in current displays reflecting the topic-based learning, you have rightly identified the need to implement rigorous assessment systems in all subject areas, particularly science, to ensure that pupils’ achievement is checked as thoroughly as it currently is in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

Leaders have made further enhancements to the early years dedicated teaching and learning areas. This re-organisation enables all Reception children to continue learning in their own classroom space, in addition to being able to freely access other areas. This gives them more choice and opportunity to follow their own ideas and personal inquisitiveness.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to involve pupils in discussing and improving their work. Teachers provide interesting activities which stimulate pupils’ curiosity and capture their imagination so that they pursue their own lines of enquiry and, as a result, make rapid progress from their starting points. For example, children in the Reception classes ‘plan, do, review’. This system allows them to plan what they want to learn. Consequently, children’s level of interest and eagerness to take part increases, and this deepens their learning experiences and leads to better progress being made.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

The school provides well for pupils’ personal, social and moral education. For example, they produce a ‘celebration magazine’ which summarises pupils’ achievements and the many chances for them to excel and participate in activities that enrich their personal experiences. These opportunities include a range of day visits, visitors to the school and residential trips, curriculum subject focus days and being able to contribute in a purposeful, meaningful way to the local community through fund raising and doing activities for a good cause.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

Parents are pleased with the school’s work. They report that their children are happy and make good progress. One commented that: ‘on occasions such as sports day where older children are present to help the younger ones in their races, there is a lovely sense of the whole school coming together and being a real community. My children love the staff who appear to be happy in their roles; testament to good leadership’.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

You have ensured that the safeguarding policy is up to date with the latest statutory requirements and that it is reviewed annually. Procedures to ensure that all staff receive relevant training are in place, as are the systems and practice for effective record-keeping. School records show that staff take a proactive approach to safeguarding. All the required checks on the suitability of adults to work with children are carried out and recorded efficiently. You are quick to address any concerns and you communicate and work closely with other agencies to ensure that concerns are dealt with promptly.

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Short inspection of Old Fletton Primary School

Pupils are very respectful of each other and of all members of staff. Pupils say there is no bullying and any rare friendship disagreements are resolved quickly. Pupils’ behaviour and conduct are good both in the classroom and around school. Pupils value the inspiring school environment you provide and respect it by taking care of the resources and areas that have been created. Pupils say they feel safe in school and parents and staff agree. The pupils learn how to keep themselves safe from harm, including when using the internet and social media. Parents value the positive relationships that they, and their children, have with the staff, and they would recommend the school to others.

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Inspection findings

 You and the governing body have ensured that the educational provision at the school has continued to develop. You have not stood still and the areas for improvement from the previous inspection have been successfully addressed.  Governors have a very detailed and accurate view of the school. They provide strong support and challenge. They work closely with you and your leadership team and continue to be highly aspirational for the school. They visit the school on a regular basis to carry out their own checks on teaching and learning through the headteacher’s system of ‘sprint and scrum’. This is where the school priorities are broken down into specific target areas for them to focus upon. This has proven successful in ensuring they are well informed about the progress being made towards achieving the aims of the school improvement priorities and as a result they are able to skilfully ask incisive questions at governor meetings.

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Inspection findings

 Children get off to a strong start in the early years and the proportion that reach a good level at the end of the Reception Year is above the national average. This is because teachers and teaching assistants observe, assess and record the progress of individuals well and adapt the provision to meet the different learning needs effectively. Thorough records of achievement provide a very valuable, accurate chronicle of children’s work. This ensures that adults have a very good knowledge of the children’s starting points and leads to all adults being able to plan children’s next steps of learning, making sure they make good or better progress.  There has been a huge focus on promoting the enjoyment of reading. This is reflected in the vibrant environment including some spectacular classroom reading areas, and corridors being transformed into forests. This is, along with focused author and classic book studies, increasing pupils’ interest in

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Inspection findings

reading. There is an eagerness among pupils to complete quizzes that will ensure their name appears on the ‘reading champion’ display board.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) in the early years and key stage 1 is supporting pupils in developing their skills in blending and sounding letters. This means they can attempt to read and spell unfamiliar words they come across in their work. Consequently, year- on-year, many pupils reach the standard expected in the Year 1 phonics screening check.  Pupils’ books show good examples of the teaching of writing where pupils learn to use new skills in grammar, punctuation and spelling. They apply their learning to their writing and are keen to perfect it to be in their ‘golden book’. As a result of the opportunities to practise their writing, pupils learn from their mistakes and consequently make good progress from their initial starting points.

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Inspection findings

 Teachers show a sound knowledge and understanding of the raised expectations of the mathematics curriculum. Pupils’ books show that teaching builds on pupils’ grasp of and reasoning in number so they are able to use these skills competently when given mathematical problems to solve. Consequently, more pupils across the whole school are working at levels typical for their age group.  Teachers’ assessments are accurate. In addition to working with local schools to check accuracy, early years and the Year 2 pupil achievement outcomes were also validated by the local authority in 2016.  You have introduced a marking policy to support teachers’ use of assessment and pupils’ learning. In many cases, teachers provide ‘next step’ pointers to show pupils how to improve their work further. Pupils respond to these comments and self-check their work. At the same time they are often given a challenge that consolidates their learning from the previous session

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Inspection findings

leading them onto their next lesson. These opportunities support the pupils well to check their own learning and take responsibility for improving their own work.  Pupils are engaged in purposeful learning activities throughout the school and developing highly relevant skills appropriate for their age. For example, inspectors saw children in the Reception class developing early skills in estimation, as well as older pupils using their knowledge of ‘The highwayman’ to create character narratives.  The progress of disadvantaged pupils is tracked carefully on an individual pupil basis and additional help is planned astutely to meet their needs. As a result, these pupils achieve well. At the end of Year 6 in 2015, gaps between disadvantaged pupils’ attainment compared to their peers in school and nationally had narrowed in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good

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Inspection findings

progress from their starting points. Well-defined systems are in place to identify specific needs and additional precise support, according to the need, is provided effectively by staff.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language achieve well and attain similar levels to their classmates by the time they leave in Year 6. This is due to the quality of provision and the focus given to these pupils. The English as an additional language coordinator monitors the bespoke, well- planned support that pupils receive. A cycle of review ensures that their progress is checked thoroughly and access to the curriculum is made easier so that language barriers are minimised.  Pupils enter the school in the early years with lower skills than is typical nationally. From these low starting points, pupils make good progress, most notably in key stage 2. This is especially true for the most able. They are given targeted support to make better, more rapid progress to ensure that

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Inspection findings

they achieve their full potential. Teachers do this by identifying the pupils’ starting points accurately and ensuring that the challenges they provide are targeted to extend their thinking and deepen their knowledge and understanding in lessons.  The classrooms are bright, colourful and stimulating places to learn. The walls and corridors are decorated with interesting displays related to the curriculum topic areas. Pupils are proud of their environment. They talked to inspectors about the new gym in the outside area, and about the many good resources that support their learning.  Curriculum provision at Fletton is good. Its creative content opens up many opportunities for pupils to apply their basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders have identified that pupils need more chance to develop their investigative learning skills, especially in science.  The school works successfully to develop positive working relationships with

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Inspection findings

parents and advise them about how they can support their children at home. For example, many parents commented favourably about, ‘CLOOS – creative learning out of school’. This is project-based and consolidates the work that pupils complete in school. The school’s website includes all statutory information required and ensures parents are well-informed about the school.  Attendance continues to fluctuate between being just below and being at the national average. Leaders, including governors, are aware of this and it is monitored closely. Action has been taken to encourage consistently good attendance levels through certificates and rewards and sharing this aspect of the school’s work with parents in newsletters and other communication.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 they implement effective, rigorous assessment practices in all curriculum areas, especially science, so that they are as good as those being used in reading, writing and mathematics  they increase the opportunities for investigative learning in science  they continue to use effective strategies to improve attendance for all pupils so that it is consistently at least at the national average.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the director of children’s services for Peterborough. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, school leaders, the chair of the governing body and other governors. I discussed the work of the school with you and we visited classes together. I spoke with many pupils during lessons and scrutinised the quality of their work. I also held a telephone conversation with the school’s former local authority representative to provide additional information. I took account of 24 responses to the staff questionnaire and 89 parental responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I also noted the 56 responses to the Parent View free text service. I looked at a wide range of evidence relating to leaders’ own evaluation of the school’s work, the school development plan, safeguarding, attendance, monitoring of teaching and learning and pupil progress, attainment and assessment information. I checked the statutory requirements of the school’s website.

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