Spratton Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs Michelle Pye Headteacher Spratton Church of England Primary School School Road Spratton Northampton NN6 8HY

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Short inspection of Spratton Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 14 March 2017, 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 April 2013.

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Short inspection of Spratton Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since that inspection, there have been significant changes to the leadership of the school, including your appointment at the beginning of March 2017. You have worked closely with governors and the previous acting headteacher to gain a quick and accurate understanding of what is needed to bring about further improvement.

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Short inspection of Spratton Church of England Primary School

Parents hold the school and its staff in high esteem. Parents and pupils value the welcoming, family atmosphere that is prevalent at the school. The pupils enjoy coming to school and are rarely absent. Pupils are kind, considerate and respectful of diversity. As one pupil said, ‘We are all different fish swimming in the same direction’.

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Short inspection of Spratton Church of England Primary School

Leaders have addressed the areas for improvement identified at the time of the last inspection. They have ensured that pupils have lots of well-planned and meaningful opportunities to practise their problem-solving and reasoning skills in mathematics. Consequently, pupils have a clear understanding of how to tackle and solve problems independently.

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Short inspection of Spratton Church of England Primary School

You acknowledge that there has been a decline in children’s attainment in the early years. Leaders have identified that this was because children’s writing skills were underdeveloped and have revised the provision in the early years to address this. Leaders have ensured that both indoor and outdoor activities include a writing task for children to complete and have given children ‘first writing’ books to record their progress. Current school assessment information indicates that the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development in the early years will improve significantly this year. However, evidence in pupils’ books in Year 1 shows that they are not always given sufficient challenge to develop their writing skills independently. This slows their progress and means that they have to do more to catch up in Year 2.

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Short inspection of Spratton Church of England Primary School

Leaders rightly identified that the teaching of phonics was inconsistent. To address this, they introduced a new whole-school phonics system in September 2016 and ensured that all staff received training. Leaders also provided an information evening for parents on the new approach so that parents could support their child’s reading at home. Pupils now practise their phonics skills daily. Leaders have also ensured that pupils who need it get continued support with their phonics in Year 2. However, children in the early years do not have enough regular opportunities to apply their phonics to their writing to secure their understanding.

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Short inspection of Spratton Church of England Primary School

You are the designated safeguarding leader and you are supported in this role by a team of staff. You are all suitably trained and keep your knowledge current through regular online updates. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. Leaders and the governing body complete annual audits to check that safeguarding arrangements continue to be robust. A recent review of the school’s procedures and practices has resulted in further improvements to the care and protection of pupils.

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Short inspection of Spratton Church of England Primary School

All statutory checks on staff are carried out and recorded carefully. All staff receive regular and appropriate training and have a good understanding of their responsibilities to ensure children’s safety and well-being. Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe. Leaders have provided opportunities for them to learn about issues such as e-safety. Pupils say that bullying is extremely rare but, if it does happen, they have complete confidence in staff to deal with it quickly and effectively.

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Inspection findings

 You were appointed in March 2017 to take on the leadership of the school. You are also headteacher at another local school and currently spend two days a week at Spratton Primary School. On the days when you are not at school, a senior teacher supports with the leadership at Spratton. Prior to that, an acting headteacher supported the school from September 2016 to February 2017 on a part-time basis.  The governing body provides leaders with effective support and challenge. Governors make sure that additional government funding is used to improve pupils’ outcomes. Governors are aspirational for pupils and committed to the continued improvement of the school.  Leaders have focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning across all classes and provide additional support and training when needed. For example, all staff have had training on the new phonics system.  Leaders have ensured that there is an effective assessment and tracking system

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Inspection findings

in place that provides you with a clear analysis of the progress and attainment of each pupil. Teachers have worked with other local schools to ensure that their assessments are accurate. Leaders hold teachers to account for the progress of each pupil and ensure that targets are met.  Since the last inspection, pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 1 and progress at key stage 2 have been consistently at least in line with national expectations. In 2016, pupils achieved above the national expectation in reading, writing and mathematics at the higher standard.  Pupils who I spoke with enjoy reading, most have a favourite book and regularly recommend books to their friends. Leaders have provided pupils with a well- resourced and inviting library. Pupils’ reading journals demonstrate that they read most days, both in school and at home.

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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

 children in the early years are given regular opportunities to apply their phonics skills in their writing  teachers raise their expectations of what pupils in Year 1 can achieve, so that pupils’ progress is further accelerated in writing.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Peterborough, 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 and shared my key lines of enquiry. I also met with representatives from the governing body, including the vice-chair of governors. I spoke with parents before school and met with a group of pupils in Year 6 to talk about their school experience. You and I visited all classes and examined pupils’ workbooks, as well as talking to pupils, to evaluate the quality of their learning. We also looked at a sample of pupils’ writing books from different year groups. In addition, I scrutinised the school’s safeguarding arrangements and records, including the school’s record of safeguarding recruitment checks on staff. I evaluated the school’s documentation in relation to pupils’ attainment and progress and reviewed the school’s own evaluation of its work, improvement plans and minutes of the governing body. I took account of the nine responses to the Ofsted free text service and the three responses to the online pupil survey. There

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Information about the inspection

were no responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey and too few responses to Parent View to take into consideration.

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