Cranmere Primary School

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

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Mrs Kathie Daniels Headteacher Cranmere Primary School Arran Way Esher Surrey KT10 8BE

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Short inspection of Cranmere Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 30 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 the school was judged to be good in November 2011.

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Short inspection of Cranmere Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The quality of leadership has been much enhanced since your appointment with effect from 1 January 2016. You have been aided in strengthening the effectiveness of the school by the recent move into the school’s brand new premises at Easter 2016. These two events have inspired the already effective staff to perform at an even higher level. This is seen most clearly in the sample of work that teachers provided for me to look at. Standards in pupils’ books have risen markedly since January. Your ambition and enthusiasm have influenced the team. Staff commented in the survey how much they enjoy coming to work. They are proud of the contribution that they are making to a consistently improving school.

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Short inspection of Cranmere Primary School

Aspects of the school’s work are extremely strong, such as its organisation of everything around the 6Rs: ‘Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Resilience, Reflective and Reasoning’. Your knowledge of so many of the pupils is extraordinary, given the short length of time that you have been in post. However, this is a strong feature of the whole staff, who know the pupils well, their needs and aspirations, and who care for them endlessly.

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Short inspection of Cranmere Primary School

We agreed that there is some more work to be done to raise the standards that pupils achieve in mathematics. This is especially so if pupils are disadvantaged and have special educational needs and/or disabilities or have joined the school recently. The school has a very high proportion of pupils who join in the middle of a year or during a key stage. Many leave to go other schools, too. This means that leaders have to examine very closely each pupil’s performance, taking into account a wider than average set of indicators. The impact of pupils joining or leaving the school is hard to assess. However, it is clear that the school sometimes does not have enough time with pupils to offset any impact of weaker teaching for any who have made inadequate progress elsewhere.

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Short inspection of Cranmere Primary School

The school’s work in this crucial area is exemplary. No visitors are allowed into the building until their identity has been confirmed and checked. Unusually, but appropriately, visitors are required to sign the acceptable use policy if they intend to use any of the school’s information technology infrastructure. The checks that leaders make on any adults wishing to work in the school or volunteers are carried out securely, in partnership with the local authority’s human resources department. Similarly, rigorous checks are made on any supply or agency staff. Leaders and governors have taken great care to work with building contractors to ensure that all health and safety requirements are met. The pupils are kept safe at all times and the last remaining building works are carried out at an appropriate distance or at times when pupils are off site. This is commendable.

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Short inspection of Cranmere Primary School

Leaders also ensure that any safeguarding training for staff is up to date. Leaders and governors have been trained, as required, in safer recruitment processes. The school’s work to ensure that pupils stay safe online is thorough and prepares them well for the next stage of their life.

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Inspection findings

 You have set high expectations for all members of the community. You have overseen the successful move from the old site into the new premises, despite only taking up your post in January.  You are successfully developing all other leaders so that they, too, can operate with the same levels of energy and enthusiasm.  All leaders share a common sense of purpose. They all want the pupils to achieve to the very best of their ability. Leaders have created an admirable framework for all the school’s work, based around the 6Rs. On several occasions during the inspection, teachers were heard or seen to be using one or other of the Rs to encourage good learning or behaviour.  Teachers are making good use of the wonderful new learning environment. There is a clear sense of excitement about the opportunities that the new building affords. Teachers have taken pride in enhancing the quality of their individual classrooms. Many are decorated already with pupils’ work or with

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Inspection findings

good-quality displays of words or other stimuli to help the pupils learn independently.  Leaders have recently changed the way in which they check teachers’ work. This has already begun to influence positively the quality of teachers’ practice. Teachers are now clear about how well they are doing. They also know what else they need to do in service of the pupils. A few staff need more help to understand why training and development activities are currently being carried out in this way.  Most teachers provide pupils with good-quality feedback both in lessons and in their books. In some cases, teachers’ advice to pupils has an immediate impact so that pupils improve their work straight away.  Teachers are increasingly providing pupils with work that matches their needs closely. Teachers are able to do this because the school’s new assessment system is settling in well. As a result, teachers know better what

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Inspection findings

each pupil needs to do to improve in the core subjects and developing a good understanding of the additional skills that each pupil needs to acquire.  Parents have very high expectations for their children. Nearly all are delighted with the school, and praise the work of the headteacher and individual class teachers. Leaders are constantly looking for ways in which they can improve the means by which they communicate information to parents about the progress of their children and other matters relating to the operation of the school.  Pupils enjoy learning. They like being able to explore words and texts. In Year 3, pupils were exploring the various emotions that Shakespeare wrote about in ‘A midsummer night's dream’. They acted them out with style and accuracy.  In Reception, pupils explored shapes and numbers while creating and using pirate treasure maps in the outdoor area. Inside, other pupils were building

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Inspection findings

their counting skills using a wide range of structured play activities.  In Year 6 and in Year 4, pupils were developing their writing skills by reviewing and editing texts from different genres of literature. They were encouraged to, and did successfully, use accurate terminology and the correct parts of speech such as adverbs and fronted adverbials.  Teachers are generally well supported by teaching assistants. Leaders are rightly looking at ways to ensure that pupils benefit even more from high- quality support in lessons.  Teachers are able to use a wide range of techniques for managing behaviour in lessons. They are required to do so rarely.  A small and decreasing number of pupils sometimes behave less well than they should. These behaviours are challenged skilfully and appropriately by teachers and leaders. Only rarely does the school have to resort to exclusion as a means of maintaining the calm and orderly environment. The records

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Inspection findings

of such events are well maintained and show that the correct course of action was taken at the time.  The attendance of the vast majority of pupils is extremely good. A small minority of pupils who are disadvantaged or have special educational needs and/or disabilities are more frequently absent. Leaders do all that they can to minimise any negative impact of this less good attendance on their performance.  Pupils make good progress in Reception. Over time, an increasingly high proportion of pupils have gone on to attain a good level of development by the time they enter Year 1. The level that they attain is now consistently above the national average.  The performance of pupils, as seen in publicly held data, dipped in 2014. Outcomes improved again in 2015 in most subjects, although the proportion of pupils making the expected amount of progress in mathematics was smaller than the national average. Leaders have taken decisive action to

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Inspection findings

ensure that all pupils in the current Year 6 achieve the standards expected, given the starting points that they had on entry to the school.  The performance of the small number of disadvantaged pupils varies from subject to subject and year to year. Sometimes they attain higher standards than their classmates, sometimes not. On other occasions they perform at a higher standard than similar pupils nationally, on others, not. Leaders keep a watchful eye on each of these pupils and aim to ensure that they do as well as possible.  Most-able pupils generally attain high standards. However, in mathematics in 2015, not all of those in Year 6 achieved as highly as they could have done. Leaders increased the support available to the present Year 6 to ensure that they had the best possible chance of success in this summer’s tests.  The progress of pupils currently on roll has increased since January. This is

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Inspection findings

seen clearly in workbooks in all years. It is also evident in the impressive array of data that leaders have collected from the new assessment system. Governors have supported leaders in the development of this system. They also oversee each set of results so that they are able to comment accurately on the school’s performance.  All work is checked carefully against that of pupils of similar age and type in other schools locally. Leaders have also worked with local authority officers to check teachers’ assessments. As a result, leaders are secure that judgements that teachers make on pupils’ work are accurate, consistent and reliable.  Governors visit the school regularly. As a result, they are well informed about all aspects of the school’s work, not just pupils’ achievements. Governors have a good understanding of the school’s finances. They are clear that every effort must be made to recruit more pupils. Governors are

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Inspection findings

overseeing the relaunch of a more accessible and informative website and the timely publication of a new prospectus.  Over the course of the inspection, you took steps to show me all the information that you are required to publish on the website and that it was uploaded. Leaders and governors are seeking now to ensure that parents and prospective parents can access essential information even more easily.  Leaders have benefited from rigorous challenge and helpful support from the local authority. Surrey County Council officers have enabled leaders to reconsider the school’s evaluation of its own performance. It is now accurate and presented succinctly.  Leaders have also created a constantly developing action plan. This is helping them to make appropriate changes in an organised and considered manner.  You have in place a team that has the potential to lead the school strongly through the next stage of its development. You also have a clear vision for

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Inspection findings

how the school is to progress. The whole community is behind this ambition.

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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

 existing efforts are maintained to raise outcomes for all groups of pupils in mathematics  the school’s website contains accurate, timely and easily accessible information for parents, prospective parents and others wishing to find out about the school.

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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 Surrey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act, 2005. The inspector worked closely with the headteacher throughout the day. He met with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher to discuss the school’s evaluation of its own performance. The lead inspector conducted a lengthy tour of the school, visiting nearly every class. He looked at a sample of pupils’ work in English, mathematics and science. The inspector examined records of aspects of the school’s work, including the checks that it makes on anyone wishing to work or volunteer in the school. The inspector met with members of the governing body. He conducted a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority. The inspector spoke informally to as many members of staff as was possible and considered 29 responses to Ofsted’s new, confidential, online staff survey. He spoke to several pupils and considered 185 responses to Ofsted’s new, confidential, online pupil

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Information about the inspection

survey. The inspector spoke to 11 parents at the school gate and considered 152 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s confidential survey.

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