Chipping Warden Primary Academy

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

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Mr Robert Hazelgrove Executive Headteacher Chipping Warden Primary Academy Byfield Road Chipping Warden Banbury Oxfordshire OX17 1LD

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Short inspection of Chipping Warden Primary Academy

Following my visit to the school on 24 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 your predecessor school was judged to be good in July 2011.

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Short inspection of Chipping Warden Primary Academy

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You took up post in September 2013 and have made some notable improvements since then, including managing a significant increase in the number of pupils attending your school, from 59 in September 2013 to 98 now. You managed these changes and related pressures effectively. The school is now oversubscribed and pupil numbers and finances are stabilising. You recognise the need to strengthen the provision you make for the new arrivals to the school, particularly for those pupils with a history of underachievement, so that they can make rapid progress as soon as possible and attain as well as other pupils.

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Short inspection of Chipping Warden Primary Academy

Chipping Warden Primary Academy is a happy and vibrant school. Pupils I spoke with were very proud of the way they care for each other. This can be, for example, as pupil play leaders organising games for other pupils at breaktimes, or on the friendship bench, which helps to ensure everyone has someone to play with. Pupils were also very clear about how adults help them to learn and do well in their schoolwork. Parents I spoke with variously described the school as lovely, fabulous, nurturing, inclusive, excellent and very happy. In addition, several parents of pupils who have attended other schools told me how happy they are with the way their children have been welcomed into school and with the progress their children are making. You and your staff have provided a colourful and stimulating learning environment. Classrooms are attractive and interesting. Cross-curricular displays, including of pupils’ work, such as on the Vikings, play an important part in stimulating pupils’

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Short inspection of Chipping Warden Primary Academy

During your tenure as executive headteacher, the governors have supported you well. With the help of consultants employed by the multi-academy trust and the trust board, governors have held you to account for the performance of the school to ensure that pupils are making good progress. However, governors and the multi- academy trust board make insufficient use of published data to benchmark the performance of the school and of groups of pupils against the standards achieved by other pupils nationally.

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Short inspection of Chipping Warden Primary Academy

The academy has effective arrangements for keeping pupils safe. You and the office manager have ensured that the single central record of the checks and vetting of all staff working with pupils is complete and up to date.

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Short inspection of Chipping Warden Primary Academy

You are the designated lead for safeguarding and you have ensured that you and the staff have received appropriate training, including training on the ‘Prevent’ duty to combat extremism. The lead governor for safeguarding has ensured that governors have completed local authority safeguarding training. In addition, you and two governors have undertaken the safer recruitment training.

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Short inspection of Chipping Warden Primary Academy

All the parents I met with, and those that completed Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, agreed that their children feel safe and happy at school. This view was shared by the pupils I spoke with. They explained to me all the ways that staff keep them safe and teach them how to stay safe. Pupils recognise that teachers also help them to know about the risks they face and how to protect themselves from dangers through lessons on topics such as e-safety and courses such as ‘bikeability’. You monitor attendance, make sure you know the reasons why any pupil is not attending school and take appropriate actions to support pupils to attend school; consequently, attendance is good.

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Inspection findings

 Overall, leaders and governors know the school well. The school self- evaluation is comprehensive and detailed and identifies appropriate areas for improvement. Your school improvement plan is equally detailed and sets out the actions that you intend to take to secure improvements. Governors rigorously hold you to account for improving the school and this has contributed to the high standards of teaching and strong progress of pupils. However, the targets and success criteria contained within the plan are not specific enough about the impact you expect the actions to have on pupils’ outcomes or on the standards of teaching. As a result, your reports to governors focus on the implementation of actions rather than the effect they have had.  Leaders and teachers have effectively implemented the new national curriculum and, with the multi-academy trust, have developed an assessment and tracking system that enables teachers and leaders to evaluate the

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Inspection findings

progress pupils make and intervene with support if pupils are at risk of falling behind. Subject leaders also use this information to evaluate the progress of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Inspection findings

 You recognise that you need to more closely monitor the progress of pupils who have recently joined the school to ensure that those at risk of falling behind are supported, so they can make good progress.

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Inspection findings

 You have worked well with colleagues from the multi-academy trust and St Loys Church of England Primary Academy – where you are also executive headteacher – to moderate teacher assessments to ensure they are accurate and reliable. This enables governors and members of the multi-academy trust board to hold you to account regularly for pupils’ progress. However, leaders, governors and the trust do not currently use published performance information to check how well groups of pupils are achieving against other pupils nationally.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders and governors have ensured that pupils have more opportunities to apply their mathematical skills and understanding by providing them with extra opportunities to undertake investigations and word problems. You have done this by revising the curriculum and raising teachers’ expectations. As a result, pupils are making good progress.

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Inspection findings

 Outcomes for pupils over the last three years are in line with or above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 1. In key stage 2, pupils have attained above the national average in all subjects. Overall, pupils made good progress; however, more pupils need to make better than expected progress in reading and mathematics.

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Inspection findings

 The school’s performance information and the small sample of pupils’ work I scrutinised during the inspection show that, overall, pupils are currently making strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, most pupils in key stage 1 and key stage 2 are on track to achieve at least age- related expectations.

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Inspection findings

 In 2015, the proportion of pupils achieving a good level of development at the end of the early years was below the national average. However, you have identified the reasons for this, taken effective action to address them and provided support for pupils to catch up. Currently, the proportion of pupils in the Reception class on track to achieve a good level of development is broadly in line with the 2015 national average.

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Inspection findings

 In 2015, the proportion of pupils achieving the national standard in phonics was also below the national average. You have identified the reasons for this and taken effective actions to address it. Currently, the proportion of pupils in Year 1 on track to achieve the national standard remains below the 2015 national average. You have effective support in place for those pupils who are not on track in order for them to catch up.  Teachers provide pupils with attractive learning environments, which clearly demonstrate the value they place on pupils’ learning and the work pupils produce. Teachers employ a cross-curricular thematic approach to good effect. It interests the pupils and contributes to high levels of engagement in learning. Teachers and support assistants build on this engagement with clear explanations and effective questioning, helping pupils to understand the next steps in their learning.

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Inspection findings

 Behaviour in lessons and around the school is good. Pupils clearly understand the school approach to managing behaviour and told me that behaviour is mostly good and that if a pupil misbehaves adults deal with it promptly.

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Inspection findings

 This is a very caring school and this is evident in the way that teachers, leaders and governors have developed the responsibilities that are undertaken by the pupils. Of particular note is the buddying of Reception children with Year 6 children. This is carefully considered and, as a result, it has quickly become a strength of the school. This was exemplified by a very proud and happy Year 6 pupil who explained buddying to me. She concluded by saying that she doesn’t play with her buddy very often now as her buddy has made new friends of her own age and ‘that’s how it should be. I’ve done my job.’ Then she smiled a beaming smile and skipped across the playground.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  they identify more rapidly how best to secure good progress for pupils who join the school part way through the academic year  self-evaluation is supported by analysis of the impact that teaching, learning and assessment has on the outcomes of year groups and groups of pupils, and is checked against national published performance information.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, the English leader, the Year 5/6 teacher, the office manager and two governors, including the 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 to look at pupils’ work. I evaluated information about pupils’ progress, attendance and exclusions. I observed and talked with pupils in their classes and met with 12 pupils. We reviewed 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 representative of the multi-academy trust.

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