Faldingworth Community Primary School

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

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Mrs Kerri Grummell Headteacher Faldingworth Community Primary School High Street Faldingworth Market Rasen Lincolnshire LN8 3SF

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Short inspection of Faldingworth Community Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 6 October 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 September 2011.

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Short inspection of Faldingworth Community Primary School

You and the staff team have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have all built upon the strengths noted at the previous inspection, particularly the good levels of care, guidance and support provided to pupils, which create an inclusive, nurturing ethos. Pupils continue to be tolerant and caring individuals who are able to give of their best within a safe and encouraging learning environment. You and I agree that the school is not yet outstanding because not enough pupils make the very best progress they could in English, mathematics and wider subjects.

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Short inspection of Faldingworth Community Primary School

The overwhelming majority of parents continue to praise your successful school. When I looked at the comments provided to me on Parent View, I was delighted to read so many positive statements. Typical comments were: ‘Absolutely amazing school. My son loves it, they know him so well and are wonderful with him. He shows progress every week and I love how the school incorporates so many different things into the curriculum’ and ‘This is an excellent school. It is well run and has superb links with the local community. Communication between staff and families is excellent.’

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Short inspection of Faldingworth Community Primary School

The staff team are exceptionally proud of their school. All of the staff who responded to the survey stated that they enjoyed working at the school and that it is well led and managed. All of these staff believe that the school has improved since the last inspection, and I agree with their view.

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Short inspection of Faldingworth Community Primary School

All the pupils I spoke with during the inspection, and those who completed the survey, were incredibly positive about their school experience. They enjoy coming to school and feel valued. One pupil comment, which was typical of many, was, ‘my teacher is with me all the way’. There are excellent relationships between staff and pupils. On occasion, some of the most able pupils do not feel as challenged in their work as they could. You recognise that this is an area the school can quickly improve.

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Short inspection of Faldingworth Community Primary School

You are the designated safeguarding leader and you are well supported by a diligent staff team. Following a recent visit from the governor responsible for safeguarding, you have improved the way in which pupils’ records are stored. This has improved an already good system which now allows you to ensure that any issues are quickly followed up. As a result of staff training, the team understand what to do if they have a concern about a pupil. They report these concerns quickly and have confidence in you to follow up with necessary actions. Your records indicate that you demonstrate tenacity in making sure pupils are safe.

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Short inspection of Faldingworth Community Primary School

The pupils I spoke with all said that they feel safe at the school. They spoke with confidence about being able to talk to any member of staff if they have concerns. You have ensured that pupils gather a good understanding about how to keep themselves safe on the internet and on mobile phones.

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Inspection findings

 The last inspection highlighted that target setting for pupils needed to be improved. You have ensured that the school now has an electronic assessment and tracking system which enables teachers to better plan for pupils’ progress. You have also introduced a new marking and feedback policy to support target setting. Pupils demonstrate a good understanding about how to improve their work because targets are reviewed by pupils and staff at six points throughout the year. The systems you have in place have a focus upon English and mathematics. You recognise that pupils would benefit from improved target setting in wider subjects. This would allow pupils to make better progress.  The last inspection suggested that the school should build upon its good work with the youngest pupils. You have developed a mixed-age early years and key stage 1 class which helps the youngest pupils prepare for Year 1. You have created an incredible outdoor learning space in which the

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Inspection findings

youngest children thrive. This area is full of interesting equipment, such as a rock pool and an ice cream shop. During the inspection, I observed children and pupils being completely immersed in their activities and learning well as a result.  The governing body fulfils its statutory duties. Governors are passionate about the work of the school and take an active interest in all aspects of school life. As a result of attending numerous governor training events, they are able to support and challenge the headteacher appropriately. Due to the monitoring of pupils’ absence by the governors, the school benefits from excellent attendance. The friends of Faldingworth school group also contribute a considerable amount to the positive culture of the school. Their regular fundraising events help to support the cost of exciting opportunities for pupils.  The school uses the pupil premium funding to ensure that it has the

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Inspection findings

necessary impact on the progress of disadvantaged pupils. A governor responsible for this aspect of the school’s work oversees an action plan, which details the allocation of funding and the intended impact. The result of this work is that there are no significant gaps between the achievement of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding and those who are not. This is evident across all aspects of English and mathematics. The publically available information about the progress of groups of pupils at the school is sometimes misleading due to the very small number of pupils in each year group. The school website does not contain the necessary information about the spending of the pupil premium funding for this academic year.  The latest information about the progress that the oldest pupils made up to summer 2016 suggests that pupils’ writing skills are not as good as their reading skills. I looked at pupils’ books and spoke with them about the

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Inspection findings

opportunities they have to write across a range of curriculum subjects. I found evidence of opportunities for pupils to write extended pieces of work in subjects such as science and history. You recognise that developing these opportunities further will benefit pupils and help them to achieve the highest possible standards.  Staff are very confident that the school prepares pupils well for the next stage of their education. Key members of staff work well with secondary schools to ensure that pupils have a good understanding about their future education. I spoke with numerous pupils about their thoughts of transferring from a very small primary school to a much larger secondary school. All of the pupils I spoke with were confident that your school prepares them well for this big move.  Teaching across the school continues to be of a good quality. Teachers and teaching assistants work seamlessly together across the whole school. This

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Inspection findings

is particularly evident in relation to the support that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive. I observed both teachers and teaching assistants working sensitively with individual pupils who require support. I particularly noted how these staff did not try to do the work for the pupils but instead guided their understanding so that they could complete the work themselves.  Teachers effectively use regular assessment, moderation of pupils’ work and homework to promote learning. After a period of staff changes since the previous inspection, there is now a settled staff team. You have been successful in setting clear expectations about the quality of work expected from staff. A comprehensive programme of staff training and checks on the work everyone does is improving the quality of teaching; however, it is not yet outstanding because not all pupils make the progress that they could.

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Inspection findings

 You provide pupils with a good range of opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding across subject areas. Pupils speak with enthusiasm about visits to places of interest outside of school. These visits, and exciting lessons, help to motivate pupils to do their best. Parents and pupils do not receive enough information about the curriculum because the school website does not contain enough information about what pupils are going to be learning about and when.

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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

 pupils make even better progress, particularly the most able pupils, by further improving the quality of teaching  pupils’ progress in wider subjects is regularly checked  the school website contains information about how the pupil premium funding is to be spent this academic year  the school website contains information about the curriculum for each academic year and each subject.

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, members of staff and governors, including the chair of the governing body. I spoke with pupils throughout the day and listened to a selection of them reading. You and I visited all classes and examined pupils’ workbooks. In addition, I scrutinised the school’s safeguarding records, including the checks made about the suitability of staff. I evaluated documentation in relation to pupils’ progress, improvement planning, attendance, minutes of governing body meetings and records about monitoring the school’s work. I took account of 25 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, 10 responses to the pupil survey and nine responses to the staff survey. The short inspection focused on:

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Information about the inspection

 the safety of pupils  whether the progress of disadvantaged pupils was different from others in mathematics  whether pupils in key stage 2 had enough opportunities to develop their writing skills  whether the setting of pupils’ targets had improved since the last inspection  whether the curriculum prepares pupils well for the next stage of their education.

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