Cheddar Grove Primary School

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

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Mr Paul Jeffery Cheddar Grove Primary School Cheddar Grove Bristol BS13 7EN

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Short inspection of Cheddar Grove Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 23 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 February 2013.

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Short inspection of Cheddar Grove Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your leaders have an accurate and in-depth understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for further development. Together with effective and strong support from your deputy headteacher, inclusion leader and governors, you have taken the actions needed to ensure that pupils, and especially disadvantaged pupils, make faster progress. Since the previous inspection, you have built a leadership and staff team with the skills and ambition needed to drive further improvement. Consequently, the school’s capacity for continued success is strong.

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Short inspection of Cheddar Grove Primary School

The previous inspection identified the need to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Together with your senior leaders, you focus relentlessly on checking that the quality of teaching is supporting pupils to learn effectively and make good progress. You specifically check that pupils act on and respond to teachers’ comments in their work. In addition, teachers plan work to encourage pupils to be independent learners. This work starts in the Nursery class. During the inspection, children worked happily together in small groups, constructing buildings and having a go at writing activities. Older pupils discussed their learning in pairs and responded to teachers’ questioning to extend their thinking and understanding. As a result, pupils are keen to learn and told me that they ‘love school and get a really good education here’.

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Short inspection of Cheddar Grove Primary School

Teachers routinely observe each other to develop their skills and knowledge. Your deputy headteacher, in particular, is highly successful in coaching and mentoring staff, especially those who are new to teaching. This approach is pivotal to the improvements you have made to the quality of teaching. The school’s records demonstrate that teachers are reflective and keen to learn. This work is having a significant impact on improving teaching and raising standards across the school.

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Short inspection of Cheddar Grove Primary School

Parents are supportive of the school. They appreciate the care and support your staff give to their children and to their families. You place a high priority on developing pupils’ well-being to ensure that pupils thrive. This school is at the heart of the community. It is inclusive and welcoming. As a result, parents say, ‘my child absolutely loves it here. I recommend this school to my friends’.

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Short inspection of Cheddar Grove Primary School

You and your leaders place the highest priority on keeping pupils safe. There is a strong culture of safeguarding at the school. You ensure that all staff and governors receive the training they need to be able to identify and act on signs of risk or harm. The inclusion leader works closely with outside agencies to support families to help their child achieve well at school. This support is highly valued by parents and is having a positive impact on improving attendance and outcomes for pupils.

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Short inspection of Cheddar Grove Primary School

Pupils told me that they feel safe and secure at this school. Parents who completed the online questionnaire agree. Parents say the staff are very approachable and they feel able to discuss any concerns with them. This gives them confidence that their children are well looked after and cared for. ‘The teachers are brilliant and I can ask any member of staff for support’ were typical of comments from parents. Pupils say that behaviour is good and that any bullying is dealt with swiftly. They are very clear about how to stay safe when using the internet or a mobile phone. They trust their teachers and know what to do if a problem occurs. Pupils demonstrate respect for their teachers and each other. The school is a calm and well-ordered learning environment.

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Short inspection of Cheddar Grove Primary School

Governors are vigilant in their work to keep pupils safe. They ensure that recruitment checks are carried out appropriately and training is up to date. This includes training to recognise the dangers of extremism and radicalisation. Governors visit the school regularly to ensure that staff implement the school’s policies and procedures effectively.

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we discussed and agreed on the key lines of enquiry to be sure that the school remains good. Firstly, we evaluated the improvements leaders have made since the previous inspection. We then discussed whether these improvements have had an impact on better outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, especially in reading.  You and your leaders were not satisfied with the outcomes achieved by disadvantaged pupils in 2016, especially in reading. As a result, you have taken bold decisions to change your approaches to supporting these pupils to ensure that their individual needs are met effectively. This has been challenging at times. Nonetheless, the inclusion leader has worked tirelessly since taking up her appointment in September 2016 to ensure that the pupil premium funding is targeted for those that need it most. As a result, intervention programmes are precisely planned to address identified gaps in learning. The inclusion leader then

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Inspection findings

carefully evaluates the progress pupils make. She checks the effectiveness of this work to help pupils catch up, especially with their reading and writing. During the inspection, the inspector observed pupils successfully building their knowledge of letters and sounds. Younger pupils who read to the inspector used this knowledge to work out unknown words and read them correctly. Older pupils read fluently and with expression, and were able to discuss the text, confirming their understanding of the story. The school’s information demonstrates that disadvantaged pupils are now making faster progress as a result of this greatly increased rigour and focus. However, leaders and governors are not complacent. Minutes of governors’ recent meetings confirm the challenge they bring to the school for continued improvement for all pupils but especially for disadvantaged pupils and also those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Inspection findings

 We then evaluated the effectiveness of the school’s work in early years and Year 1 to ensure that pupils achieve well at the end of Year 2. During the visits to the Nursery and Reception classes with the deputy headteacher, I observed children working independently on a range of exciting and well-planned activities. This work is supporting them effectively to extend their knowledge and understanding across all the areas of learning. The classrooms are well-resourced and vibrant, and excite children to want to learn. Children make good progress from their starting points. The early years leader has identified the need to encourage boys to be more engaged in choosing writing activities. As a result of exciting and creative activities set up to entice the boys to write, a higher proportion, including those who are disadvantaged, are on track to achieve the early learning goal. These outcomes now match the high standards achieved in reading.

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Inspection findings

 The teaching of phonics in Year 1 is well organised and structured to ensure that pupils build their knowledge of letters and sounds successfully. Pupils use this knowledge to develop their writing skills. Work in their books in Year 2 confirms they learn to write increasingly more detailed pieces, building their knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar over time. This approach is helping pupils, including the disadvantaged and the most able, reach the standards they are capable of and to make good progress from their starting points.  Next, we evaluated the school’s capacity to further improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. The deputy headteacher has introduced a relentless approach to the assessment of pupils’ learning. This approach is now consistently implemented across the school. The increased rigour of this work enables leaders, governors and staff to frequently check pupils’ learning and

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Inspection findings

progress. Teachers plan work which carefully builds on what pupils know, understand and can do. In addition, they plan work to help pupils catch up swiftly. Subject leaders are working closely with senior leaders to take a greater responsibility for raising standards in their subjects. As a result of their work, staff now implement the school’s calculation policy to systematically build pupils’ skills in fluency and reasoning in number. In addition, the English subject leaders have strengthened the school’s approaches to the teaching of reading and spelling, punctuation and grammar. High-quality displays in classrooms and around the school encourage pupils to read. For example, one display in the corridor, ‘Get caught reading’, celebrates their efforts to read regularly. Work in pupils’ books and the school’s records of pupils’ assessments confirm that a higher proportion are on track to reach the standards expected for their age at

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Inspection findings

the end of Year 6. However, some subject leaders are new to their roles. Consequently, not all approaches to the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics are yet fully embedded across the school.  Finally, we discussed the actions leaders are taking to improve attendance, particularly for the most vulnerable pupils. The learning mentor works tirelessly with families to support them to understand the importance of daily attendance for their child’s learning. Leaders know that attendance for some pupils is not good enough, particularly for those who are disadvantaged. Governors frequently check the impact of actions taken to improve the attendance of these pupils. The rigorous focus on following up all absences and providing personalised support for families is helping to improve rates of attendance. Nonetheless, despite this highly targeted support and the learning mentor’s strenuous efforts, leaders are

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Inspection findings

not complacent. They continue to focus relentlessly on this aspect of their work to improve attendance further.

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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

 approaches to teaching reading, writing and mathematics, recently introduced by leaders, are firmly embedded across the school  subject leaders take a greater responsibility for improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in their subjects to raise standards further, especially in reading and for groups of pupils such as those who are disadvantaged  leaders continue to improve attendance, especially for the disadvantaged and most vulnerable pupils, by continuing to implement the school’s rigorous approaches to help families ensure that their children attend school every day.

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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 Bristol City Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, your senior leaders and leaders responsible for improving standards in English and mathematics and the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. I discussed your self-evaluation and the improvements you have made to the school’s performance since the previous inspection. I spoke to pupils in lessons and at break and lunchtime. I asked some children to read to me and we looked at a range of pupils’ work in all year groups. Together with the deputy headteacher, I visited all classes to observe pupils’ learning. In addition, I spoke to the local authority adviser with responsibility for the school by telephone.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I analysed a range of documentation, including plans, school policies and safeguarding procedures. I evaluated the attainment and progress of pupils with you and your senior leaders. I met with the early years leader and other staff during the inspection. In addition, I took account of 76 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and text messages received from parents during the inspection. I also analysed 12 pupil questionnaires and 11 submitted online by staff.

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