Cliddesden Primary School

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

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Kenneth Davies Headteacher Cliddesden Primary School Cliddesden Basingstoke Hampshire RG25 2QU

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Short inspection of Cliddesden Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 9 November 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 Cliddesden 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 Cliddesden Primary School

Since you joined the school in January 2014, you have established a highly inclusive ethos, where staff support each other in getting better at what they do for the benefit of the pupils. You want to make the school even better than it already is, and to provide every pupil with the opportunity to achieve their absolute best. Your ambition is embraced by your team of staff, who thrive amidst a supportive culture which challenges everyone to improve.

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Short inspection of Cliddesden Primary School

Pupils achieve well across the school because teachers know their needs and strive to meet them. Pupils are polite and enjoy their learning. They are full of praise for their school, describing it as ‘inclusive’, ‘respectful’ and ‘friendly’. They relish the opportunities to contribute to the life of the school, through leadership roles such as playground monitors, peer mediators, student council representatives and being members of the junior leadership team. Pupils work hard in lessons, enjoying the challenge but also confident that their teachers will help them if they get stuck.

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Short inspection of Cliddesden Primary School

You and your team have taken action to address the areas for improvement from the previous inspection. In lessons, teachers use a range of strategies successfully to help pupils improve their spelling, grammar and handwriting, and to become more independent in doing so. Teachers use a consistent approach to showing pupils how to improve their work, and pupils respond to this feedback as a matter of routine, especially in English. Sometimes this feedback is not precise or challenging enough to bring about rapid improvement, particularly at key stage 1. Pupils take pride in their work, presenting it neatly and carefully across their subjects. Teachers encourage pupils to think mathematically and apply their knowledge to solve problems.

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Short inspection of Cliddesden Primary School

Your accurate evaluation identifies that there is work to do to make the school even better, and you are determined to continue the journey of improvement. Governors are effective in their role but recognise that broadening their understanding of the information they receive about the school’s performance would help them to hold school leaders to account more rigorously. Although pupils achieve well, you recognise that some pupils could make even greater progress from their typically high but increasingly diverse starting points by the end of key stage 2. While you understand the reasons why achievement in writing was lower than in reading and mathematics in 2016, you recognise that making use of opportunities to write more frequently across the wider curriculum would strengthen further pupils’ progress in this area.

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Short inspection of Cliddesden Primary School

The culture of safeguarding is evident across every aspect of the school’s work. You and your staff know each pupil well, and provide high levels of nurture and support that make them feel confident, happy and safe. Parents speak positively about how well their children are looked after, and how promptly staff respond to any concerns that they raise. Pupils of all ages have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, and look after each other in the playground.

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Short inspection of Cliddesden Primary School

You make sure that there are effective systems in place to keep children safe. Expertise from within the governing body and the local authority supports the school in ensuring that policies meet statutory requirements. Staff and governors are well trained and know what to do if they have concerns about a child. Records of staff recruitment checks and child protection concerns are detailed and support leaders in taking action where necessary. The school site is secure and staff are particularly vigilant when outside with pupils, including at the start and end of the day.

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Inspection findings

 You lead your staff well in evaluating accurately the strengths and weaknesses of the school. This engages leaders at all levels in bringing about further improvement to a school which already has many strengths.  Leaders understand their statutory obligations and fulfil them with vigour. You seek actively support from beyond the school to check that systems are fit for purpose and working well, acting on any areas for improvement that are identified.  Clear and detailed tracking systems enable leaders to monitor carefully the impact of all aspects of the school’s work. As a result, concerns about individual pupils are identified and addressed quickly. Systematic monitoring means that leaders revisit promptly any actions that do not make a big enough difference to pupils’ welfare or learning.  Governors are proud to support the school, and keen to use their expertise to help it become even better. They value the honest way in which you and your

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Inspection findings

leaders keep them abreast of the school’s work. They increasingly seek opportunities to experience the work of the school at first hand, so that they can sharpen their understanding of the information you share with them.  You and your team have embraced the opportunity to work in partnership to develop the wider curriculum. This is strengthening leadership as well as the range of subjects that pupils learn. You are clear about the need to carry out further work to consolidate the changes that have been made already.  Learning is good across the school because of the consistently good teaching that pupils experience. Teachers know their pupils well and plan lessons which stretch and challenge them. This helps them to make strong progress from their different starting points.  Teachers and teaching assistants work together effectively to support individuals and groups of pupils. Adults work creatively within the mixed year group classes

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Inspection findings

to move learning on for pupils of different ages.  Pupils love reading, which they do with fluency appropriate to their age. Less- able readers understand what they read and are confident to tackle tricky words, using their decoding skills to sound them out. The most able readers show a high level of comprehension and enjoy fiction and non-fiction texts.  Pupils’ writing skills develop well over time, showing good fluidity, sophistication and technical accuracy by the end of Year 6. Younger pupils writing does not develop as rapidly as for older pupils because they do not write as frequently as they could during key stage 1 and the early part of key stage 2. Helpfully, teachers dedicate time each day in class to working on grammar and spellings to help pupils improve these skills.  Pupils use feedback to help them improve specific aspects of their work as a matter of routine, which helps them to make good progress. Sometimes this

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Inspection findings

feedback is not as specific or challenging as it could be, so does not make as much difference as it could, for example for topic work. Consequently, pupils do not always develop their technical accuracy quickly as a result of acting on this feedback.  Pupils in all year groups currently make good progress across reading, writing and mathematics, especially in Year 3 and Year 5. Those who are disadvantaged or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive effective support that ensures that their progress is at least in line with other pupils in the school. Almost all pupils are on track to achieve at least the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of the relevant phase, and many are on course to exceed expectations.  You monitor pupils’ attendance closely and act promptly where concerns arise. Good relationships and communication between your staff and pupils’ parents

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Inspection findings

and carers help to address any difficulties, working in partnership for the benefit of the pupil. Consequently, attendance is very good and no pupils are persistently absent.

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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, particularly in key stage 1 and lower key stage 2, have more opportunities to practise writing, so that they improve their spelling and grammar skills quickly  the wider curriculum continues to be strengthened, with feedback from teachers helping pupils to develop their writing rapidly across a range of topics.

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

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Information about the inspection

Along with you and your inclusion manager, I visited all classrooms to observe learning, speak to pupils and look at their work. I met with you and your inclusion manager, your administration officer, governors and a representative from the local authority. I met pupils from your school council and junior leadership team. I spoke to parents in the playground at the start of the day and to pupils at break time. I considered 39 responses to the Parent View online questionnaire, including 39 free- text responses. I also reviewed 87 responses to the pupil survey and 15 responses from staff. In addition, I looked at a wide range of information provided by the school, including leaders’ self-evaluation and school development plan, pupil progress information, the school’s website and various policies. I considered evidence about safeguarding arrangements, which included the school’s record of recruitment checks, safeguarding and child protection policies, child protection case

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, my work focused on how effectively leaders fulfil their statutory responsibilities and monitor the impact of their actions. I also reviewed how the quality of teaching meets the needs of individuals with different starting points, particularly with respect to writing, and how this is helping pupils to make consistently good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. I also considered how pupils are kept safe and how leaders ensure that pupils attend school regularly.

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