Engaines Primary School and Nursery

Engaines Primary School St Osyth Road East, Little Clacton, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex CO16 9PH

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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 Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 Leaders and governors have tackled the requirements of the previous inspection report vigorously and effectively. This is an improved and improving school.  The headteacher has a clear and aspirational vision for the school. This is shared by an able leadership team and by governors who know their school well and are committed to improvement.  The management of teaching, learning and assessment has raised standards. Pupils enjoy and learn well in lessons that are typically well-planned and stimulating.  Pupils’ progress and outcomes are improving at a good pace, particularly in reading and writing. There is a trend of improvement across all subjects.  Early years provision is good. Children are taught well. Standards attained by the end of the Reception year have risen markedly over the past two years.  The curriculum is broad and encourages academic success. It is further extended by after-school activities. Pupils learn to cooperate in different

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This is a good school

situations and this contributes to their good personal and social development. Pupils feel safe and are well cared for.  Pupils are keen to learn. They are proud of their school and behave well.  The school provides very well for disadvantaged students. They attain high standards.  Parents rate the work of the school highly and feel very involved in their children’s education.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ spelling is not always secure and they do not consistently improve it by applying the strategies they have learned.  Pupils do not always deepen their knowledge in mathematics through applying their knowledge and skills in a range of different contexts.  Sometimes pupils are limited in what they write because they are given support that is more extensive and detailed than they require.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 School leaders should continue the improvement in outcomes by further developing teaching, learning and assessment so that it ensures that: pupils consistently use their knowledge of phonics and other literacy skills to improve their spelling pupils have more opportunities to deepen their thinking in mathematics and to see the ways in which their knowledge and skills can solve problems and have a wider application pupils who have good levels of fluency and independence in writing are not slowed in their further progress by excessive preparation and support to tasks.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Leaders and governors have striven wholeheartedly for improvement since the last inspection. Aspirations for the further improvement of the school are high and all staff share the headteacher’s vision. The responses to the staff questionnaire during the inspection showed an impressive unity of purpose.  Leaders audit all aspects of provision in the school regularly and have arrived at a clear understanding of necessary priorities for development. Actions taken as a consequence of the school’s self-assessment are implemented promptly.  The headteacher and governors have made changes to the school’s management structure to improve the impact of leaders at all levels on pupil achievement. Key stage leaders closely supervise the progress made by pupils in each subject. They meet on a weekly basis to monitor success across all subjects. Any pupils not doing as well as they should do are quickly identified and effective action is taken to provide

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

additional support.  The performance management of teaching is increasingly effective. Targets for teachers are clear and their progress against them is checked regularly. Where action in respect of weaker teaching has been necessary, it has been taken decisively. Support to teachers to improve their practice is comprehensive. This is enhanced by the headteacher’s leading role in the local grouping of schools that share training and best practice.  The curriculum is broad and balanced, with mathematics and English given due prominence. In topic books, pupils work on a wide range of subjects and the important connections between them are emphasised. Pupils benefit from the ‘forest schools’ teaching outdoors that makes good use of the school’s extensive and diverse grounds.  The school makes very effective use of the specific government funding to support the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. One initiative impacting positively on standards is the subsidy for places in the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

school’s before- and after-school clubs, providing extra support to pupils and families. In these clubs, which offer time to read and to complete homework, educational games are prominent. The school has a strong tradition in chess and has enjoyed local competitive success.  The additional funding to promote physical education and sporting activities ensures that in sports, such as cricket, boys and girls have the benefit of professional coaching. Other good-quality coaching contributes to a school tradition of significant participation in athletics and success in track and field competitions.  Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is woven throughout the curriculum and promoted successfully. Implications for participating successfully in life in modern Britain are fully explored in ways appropriate to the ages of pupils.  Parents overwhelmingly endorse the school as successful and improving. Many offered specific examples

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

of the motivation and support given to their children. Virtually all parents unreservedly recommend the school.  Essex County Council has provided a range of advisory support that has been a valuable resource to the school as it has developed its plans for improvement.  The governance of the school Governance has improved since the last inspection. Governors play a full role in shaping the strategy of the school. They have high expectations for its continued improvement and are clear about the methods necessary to achieve this. Governors have a sound working knowledge of school performance information and are able to analyse it independently. They receive detailed, accurate information from the headteacher. As a result, they are able to hold school leaders to account for the progress that pupils are making. Governors exercise oversight of the performance management of teaching and have provided efficient

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

support to the headteacher when decisive action has been required in order to improve standards. They have been instrumental in supporting the headteacher to achieve a healthy position in recruitment and retention of a strong staff team. Due diligence is exercised in the scrutiny of the school’s spending of pupil premium and sports funding. (The pupil premium is additional government funding to support pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.) They consider detailed information about the impact of extra spending and check intended outcomes against what was actually achieved.  Arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Policies are regularly reviewed and checked and all staff are trained to the appropriate level.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Relationships between staff and pupils are good and encourage productive learning. Classrooms are well organised. They are bright and stimulating, with displays that help to underline key messages in pupils’ learning, and they celebrate pupils’ success. The outside areas of the school contain a wide variety of distinct spaces that are used to support different aspects of learning. The school’s large pond, for example, was well used as a resource during science teaching when it gave real variety to a search for ‘mini-beasts’.  The fundamentals of mathematics are taught effectively from when pupils begin in the school. Pupils become secure in efficient methods of calculation on the basis of a sound grasp of number facts. However, they are not always offered opportunities to deepen and extend their understanding by tackling problem-solving tasks that require them to think how best to apply their knowledge and skills.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Phonics is well taught in the Reception year and this grounding gives pupils of all abilities the confidence to tackle new words in their reading. However, further up the school, spelling is sometimes variable in accuracy. Pupils know the strategies that will help them, such as phonics and dictionary use, but do not systematically employ them routinely.  In writing, in English and across the curriculum, teachers are diligent in providing support for writing tasks. A majority of pupils benefit from the very careful way in which stories and other kinds of writing are planned for, for example through extended discussion and introductory exercises. However, pupils who are already relatively confident and competent writers do not always require the same detailed preparation, as this slows their rates of progress.  Teaching assistants are fully integrated into teachers’ planning and make a good contribution to learning.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Where they have specialist roles, such as supporting pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, teaching assistants provide skilled and well-judged support.  The school has clear policies for the way in which teachers should provide feedback to pupils about the quality of their work and offer suggestions for how it may be improved. Advice to pupils is typically well- judged and older pupils are keen to let their teacher know how they have responded to suggestions for improvement.  In teaching, full account is taken of any special educational needs and/or disabilities that pupils may have. All pupils make good progress from their starting points. As a support to learning, pupils maintain an eBook record of their achievement that allows different media, including video clips, to be brought together as a record and celebration of achievement.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  The atmosphere in the school is calm. Pupils see adults treating their colleagues and pupils with respect and they emulate this style of behaviour.  Pupils enjoy their learning and talk confidently to adults about what they are doing. They take pride in their work and present it well.  Parents express a high degree of confidence in the school’s work to promote the personal development of their children.  Bullying to any degree is extremely rare. Pupils were certain that the adults in school would quickly resolve any problems. Pupils’ confidence in how they are looked after at school was clearly expressed in their response to the online Ofsted survey of their opinions.  Pupils have an understanding of keeping themselves safe appropriate to their age. They appreciate that alongside the immense value of using the internet, they need to be sensible in managing potential risks.

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Personal development and welfare

Pupils speak of receiving valuable guidance in this area.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered well. The school’s broad range of after- school clubs gives pupils the chance to appreciate the importance of sporting and cultural activities and also to see the value of teamwork and sharing.  Charitable fund-raising following the Nepalese earthquake gave pupils an insight into the problems of people in challenging circumstances. The school council increases pupils’ understanding of the basics of democracy, something reinforced by the popular twice-yearly visits to the House of Commons, where pupils must present their case for joining. This enables pupils to gain an appreciation of aspects of citizenship in modern Britain.  Pupils make the most of opportunities to take on responsibilities. For example, Year 6 prefects are diligent in helping younger pupils to resolve playground problems.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  The way pupils conducted themselves during the inspection was of a consistently good standard. Pupils were welcoming to the inspectors and keen to discuss their school. School records and the views of both parents and teachers confirmed that this was typical behaviour for pupils.  Incidents of poor behaviour are rare and reducing. The school has clear policies for the management of classroom behaviour.  Lunchtime is an orderly social occasion. Pupils take turns well and enjoy the wide range of equipment and activities on offer.  Attendance is above average. Persistent absence is low. Breakfast club attendance, facilitated for those in need of additional support, helps to improve these pupils’ attendance.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Standards have risen overall since the last inspection. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their education, socially and academically.  The school’s detailed assessment information judges the progress of all groups of pupils as good from their different starting points across the full range of subjects. This assessment was confirmed by inspectors’ own scrutiny of pupils’ work.  In the Year 1 phonics screening check in 2015, 85% of children attained the expected standard (boys did particularly well). This was above the national average and represents a sharp increase from 2014. In the 2016 check, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard was broadly the same as for last year.  Key stage 1 attainment in 2016 shows the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard to be above the national average in each of reading, writing and mathematics. In the 2015 tests, key stage 1

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Outcomes for pupils are good

pupils were, overall, broadly in line with the national average, which is a distinct improvement from 2014.  In the recent Year 6 tests, the provisional results show 70% of pupils as having attained the expected standard in reading; this was above the national average. In writing, the proportion was 83%, which was well above the national average. In mathematics, the proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard was below average. The test results for English spelling, grammar and punctuation were broadly in line with the national average. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standards in aggregated results for mathematics, reading and writing was in line with the national average. Pupils supported by the pupil premium did particularly well. In all subjects, these pupils achieved above the national average for other pupils.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting

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Outcomes for pupils are good

points.  The most able pupils make good progress. In the national tests in 2015, the proportion attaining the higher levels was below average. Current school information shows the proportion working at a level indicating greater depth of understanding has increased and is continuing to improve.  Pupils from minority ethnic groups or with English as an additional language make good progress. There is no difference between their achievement and that of other pupils.  Parents endorse the view that their children are making good progress and many say that their children are developing a real enjoyment in their learning.

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Early years provision is good

 The early years provision is well led. Improvement since the last inspection is strong. This is because activities are well planned and build on children’s previous learning experiences. Leaders take information from parents and from other providers that children have attended prior to joining the Reception class fully into account from the start. A well-judged balance is maintained between adult guidance and children’s self-directed learning and play. Reminders about daily routines and the celebrations of achievement are threaded through the day, without curbing the children’s enthusiasm.  Progress is good. Most children are below the expected level of development when joining the Reception class, most markedly so in writing. Just over half the children cannot write their name on entry. The recent figures show 25% of the cohort is now exceeding the expected standard for writing. Most children

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Early years provision is good

form their letters correctly and have confidence in using their phonics skills when they write. Many children are beginning to use connectives in their sentences. Children’s writing diaries show that the most capable children are able to create half a page of writing, with good attempts to spell common words. Stories often begin in play. Children begin by acting out their story using a range of resources – toy figures, for example – and then begin their writing with a clear idea of what they want to say. This improves their fluency.  The overall figure for the proportion of children achieving a good level of development is 72.5%; this is above the national average. In 2015, it was 72.0%, also above the national average, which was a significant improvement from 2014, when it was 52% and below average. Pupil premium funding is used well to boost these children’s learning. In the current year, all disadvantaged children have attained the

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Early years provision is good

expected standard.  The curriculum is broad and flexible. Children held a competition between paper aeroplanes they had made to see which flew best. They measured distance travelled and modified their designs in an activity that introduced them to the idea of a scientific ‘fair test’.  Good use is made of the outside environment, which is well resourced and features, for example, a bandstand, a puppet theatre and a beach hut. All are well used for learning and play but a lack of labelling of objects limits some learning of new words.  Extra achievement by children is celebrated by the nomination of ‘expert learners’. These are children who have made such good progress in a skill that they are able to demonstrate it to others, in the process gaining the benefit of practising what they have learned.  Children’s personal development is promoted well. Children interact productively with one another.

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Early years provision is good

Classroom learning routines are well established. Children take turns happily and willingly, as they did, for example, when sharing the milk crates that are used for building. However engaged they are in their activities, children appreciate the value of courtesy and thinking of others. Children are being well prepared for their entry to Year 1.  Parents say that they are well informed about their child’s progress and consider a strong start is being made to their school life.  Children’s safety is assured to the same good standard as it is in the rest of the school.

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School details

Unique reference number 115314 Local authority Essex Inspection number 10011828

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Foundation Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 279 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Collin Steele Headteacher Jackie Irwin Telephone number 01255 860210 Website www.engainesprimaryschool.co.uk Email address head@engaines.essex.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 13–14 July 2016

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Information about this school

 Engaines Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium is average. The pupil premium is additional government funding to support pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.  There is a below-average proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well above average.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed teaching and learning in all classes. The headteacher and other senior leaders joined in observing with members of the inspection team and the large majority of classroom observations were conducted in this way.  Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders. Other meetings were held with governors, including both the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and with a representative of the local authority.  The 53 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were considered. A proportion of parents responding also chose to make a written statement with the ‘free text’ online facility; these were also taken into account. Additionally, there were informal discussions with parents at the school gate. Twenty-five members of staff completed the Ofsted survey of their opinion, which was also considered during the inspection. Inspectors also consulted Ofsted’s online survey of pupil opinion, to which there

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Information about this inspection

were 33 responses.  Inspectors considered a broad range of school documentation. This included school records for current and past progress and attainment, attendance and behaviour records, minutes of governing body meetings and information about safeguarding and pupils’ welfare.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ workbooks and spoke to them about their learning. There were also meetings with groups of pupils. Inspectors observed pupils at lunch, at play, arriving at school and moving about the building.

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Inspection team

Paul Copping, Lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Lynda Beale Ofsted Inspector Patricia Maclachlan Ofsted 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

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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