Dorrington CofE (Aided) Primary School

Dorrington CofE (Aided) Primary School Church Road, Dorrington, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY5 7JL

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Teaching is inadequate across the school. Teachers do not know how to assess pupils’ learning and, therefore, do not plan lessons to meet their learning needs in any subject.  Pupils of all ages and all abilities are making very little or no progress in reading, writing and mathematics. In many cases, pupils are going backwards in their learning.  Currently, the vast majority of pupils are working below the standards expected of them in all year groups and in all subjects.  Pupils’ reading and writing skills are significantly underdeveloped, including their phonic, spelling, grammar and punctuation skills. The teaching of mathematics is inadequate and pupils do not have enough opportunities to develop their problem-solving and reasoning skills.  The curriculum is inadequate and does not meet pupils’ needs. Pupils show little understanding of British values.  As a result of poor teaching, pupils do not work

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

as hard as they should in lessons.  Provision in the early years is inadequate. There is no leadership and staff have little understanding of how to teach the early years curriculum.  Leadership has been weak over a sustained period of time. Apart from the acting executive headteacher, there are no other leaders in the school. Currently, there is only one permanent teacher in school.  The school has no assessment information about pupils’ progress prior to December 2016. Published historical assessment information is unreliable. There have been no appraisal systems to hold teachers to account.  It is unclear how additional funding for special educational needs and the pupil premium funding is used. No reliable information is available.  The sport premium funding is not used appropriately.  Governors have not held leaders to account for the school’s performance over a sustained period of time.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The acting executive headteacher is providing exceptional support to the school.  Pupils are happy and respectful. They know how to keep themselves safe.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 As a matter of urgency, leaders and governors must: – develop a suitable leadership structure to ensure that school improvement is rapid – swiftly eradicate the deeply inadequate teaching and learning across the school – ensure that the school has high-quality, permanent members of staff who will provide good teaching, continuity and stability to pupils’ learning and development – further develop appraisal systems to hold teachers to account – immediately use the newly implemented assessment systems to assess accurately what pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is, ascertain where pupils have fallen behind and then develop provision to help them catch up rapidly – ensure that a special educational needs coordinator develops effective provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities – use the additional funding received for pupils who have special educational needs

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils effectively to improve outcomes for these pupils – use the sport premium funding effectively to develop sports provision – provide a curriculum which develops pupils’ knowledge and skills progressively across a range of subjects, and includes opportunities to develop pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values – develop the website so it is compliant.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by: – training all teachers to assess reading, writing and mathematics accurately in order to provide pupils with high-quality work that is correctly matched to their age and ability, builds on prior learning and engages their interest – making sure teachers insist pupils work to the best of their ability, including the presentation of their work – providing pupils with opportunities to write at length, and in a range of different styles, to enable them to develop their writing skills

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– urgently addressing basic errors that pupils frequently make in spelling, grammar and punctuation – planning opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills in problem solving and reasoning – teaching a high-quality, daily phonics lesson, including in the early years, to support pupils’ progress in reading – ensuring that reading books are appropriately matched to pupils’ abilities – planning work to develop pupils’ knowledge and skills across a range of subjects.  Improve the quality of the early years by: – urgently developing the leadership of the early years – training staff so that they understand the early years curriculum and how to teach it – ensuring that the information on children’s learning and the progress they make is detailed and accurate – planning effective continuous provision across the early years to enable children to make progress, based on the use of accurate assessment information.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The acting executive headteacher began working in the school in the capacity of headteacher in November 2016. Prior to this time, she had been working with the school in an advisory capacity from September 2016. Her drive and determination to swiftly address very serious weaknesses within the school has been exceptional. Significant progress has been made in some areas in a very short amount of time. For example, safeguarding is now effective and behaviour is well managed.  Nevertheless, leadership and management remains inadequate. Previously, leaders took no effective action to address the rapid decline in the school’s performance. Few checks were made on the quality of teaching and learning. Following the checks, no training or professional development was provided for teachers or teaching assistants.  Apart from the acting executive headteacher, there are no other leaders within the school. There is no special educational needs coordinator and no early years leader.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

The school has one permanent teacher. All other teachers are temporary. Some pupils have been taught by a series of different teachers, which has further contributed to their poor progress.  There were no assessment systems in place to track pupils’ progress prior to December 2016. Consequently, leaders did not identify or address the lack of pupils’ progress. Based on pupils’ current attainment and progress, previous published information is unreliable.  Prior to December 2016, no support plans were in place for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and no targets were set for them. Teachers did not know which pupils were on the special educational needs register. There is no information about how the additional funding was spent to support these pupils. Support plans are now in place, and the acting executive headteacher is ensuring that teachers have detailed information about pupils’ needs. However, this is an area which

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

leaders need to further address urgently.  Information on the original school website about how the additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used, is unreliable. There is no clear picture of how the funding was spent, or what impact it had. Leaders now use the funding appropriately to support disadvantaged pupils, but any impact is yet to be seen.  Sport premium funding has not been used appropriately. Leaders employed a company to provide cover for teachers during physical education lessons. Staff received no professional development and leaders took no actions to ensure that the use of the money was sustainable. The acting executive headteacher has now purchased new schemes of work to help improve the quality of teaching in physical education (PE), but these are yet to be implemented.  The curriculum is inadequate and does not meet pupils’ needs. The correct national curriculum was introduced in December 2016 by the acting executive headteacher, two

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

years after it should have been. There are low expectations of what pupils can achieve, and little or no understanding of the expectations in each year group. There are significant gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills in all subjects taught.  There are limited opportunities for pupils to engage in wider curriculum opportunities. Breakfast and after-school clubs provide pupils with effective care and support. There are football and guitar clubs. Pupils participate in some trips and a residential visit. However, pupils are unclear about when trips and visits will happen, or if they will happen.  Since December 2016, pupils have begun to develop their awareness of spiritual, moral, social and cultural education and fundamental British values. They now understand the importance of respect and tolerance and learn about these in class assemblies. Pupils show some awareness and understanding of other faiths and learn

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

about them in religious education lessons. However, pupils’ knowledge of other British values is limited. They have few opportunities to learn about democracy, the rule of law or individual liberty.  As a result of poor progress and the limitations of the curriculum, pupils are not well prepared for the next stages of their education, or life in modern Britain.  The local authority has carried out a number of audits and reviews of the school but the earlier of these failed to identify most of the considerable issues that existed and still exist. In February 2016, the local authority reported that the school was classified as ‘low risk’. A subsequent financial audit that term found the school’s financial systems to be unsatisfactory. The school has effectively addressed the issues found to be inadequate in the financial audit.  By the end of the summer term 2016, the local authority had further concerns about

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

the school’s performance. The local authority undertook a review of the school in September 2016. This included a review of safeguarding, which was deemed to be ineffective at this point. Serious concerns were raised about the school’s performance, including the leadership. The local authority served the governors with a pre-warning notice in October 2016.  At the request of the governing body, the local authority brokered the services of the current acting executive headteacher to address the weaknesses identified. This arrangement became formal at the end of November 2016. School leaders are yet to receive formal feedback from the local authority about the effectiveness of the improvement planning now in place.  The local authority completed an audit of special educational needs in December 2016. However, the outcomes of this audit were not sent to the school until March 2017.

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Governance of the school

 A new governing body was formed in September 2015. From this point onwards, governors recognised issues with the school’s performance and challenged leaders. The governors worked with the local authority and eventually held leaders to account. This resulted in the appointment of the acting executive headteacher in November 2016. Prior to this, the governors did not hold the school’s leaders to account for the decline in the school’s standards for a sustained period of time.  The governors do not know how the additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used. Similarly, they are unaware of how the additional sport premium funding is used. No reliable information was available to them.  Governors do not have any information about the current outcomes for pupils. No assessment information was available prior to December 2016.  Prior to September 2015, no records of governance can be found. All meetings are now

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Governance of the school

appropriately recorded.  The current website does not meet statutory requirements. Governors are aware of this. The website is in the process of being redesigned due to the inadequacies of the previous one, and the unreliable information contained on it.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The acting executive headteacher took immediate action to ensure that all safeguarding policies and procedures were updated and implemented to secure pupils’ safety. Staff have received updated training and fully understand their responsibilities to protect pupils. All staff know what to do and who to speak to if they have concerns about a pupil.  Appropriate checks are made on people who work within the school to protect pupils from harm. Procedures are in place to ensure that people recruited to the school do not pose a risk to pupils. Risk assessments are in place where needed and the school site is secure.  Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations. For example, they learn about crossing the road safely and undertake bicycle training. E-safety lessons are provided and pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe

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Safeguarding

online. Pupils say they feel safe in school and know there is someone they can talk to if they have any concerns.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 The quality of teaching and learning is deeply inadequate. Consequently, many pupils are going backwards in their learning in reading, writing and mathematics. Virtually no pupils are making progress in these subjects. Where there are examples of pupils making progress, it is very limited. Many pupils who were previously assessed as achieving the standards expected of them at the end of key stage 1 are now unable to meet these same standards.  Teachers do not match work to the individual needs of pupils. No regard is paid to the expectations of different age groups or to prior learning. Pupils are given the same work to complete in English and mathematics regardless of their needs. As a result, many pupils have significant gaps in their learning. For example, in a class containing Year 1 to Year 3 pupils, everyone was given a mathematical problem involving money and decimals. Many of these pupils were not able to add numbers to 20.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 The teaching of phonics is not consistent across the school. Pupils do not have a secure understanding of phonics to help them make progress in their reading. Reading books are not matched well enough to the abilities of the pupils. Many books are too hard or too easy. As a result, pupils are making poor progress in reading.  The expectations that teachers have of pupils’ writing are far too low. On many occasions pupils are just asked to draw pictures in their English books. The development of writing skills is extremely poor and there are very limited opportunities to write in a range of different styles. For example, Year 4, 5 and 6 pupils were asked to write simple instructions repeatedly over a period of time, even though they had demonstrated they could complete this work with ease. There are very few opportunities for pupils to develop their writing skills in longer pieces of writing. Basic

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

grammar and punctuation is not taught well enough and is not routinely corrected. Pupils repeat mistakes many times. Consequently, their work shows no improvement, or it goes backwards.  Spelling across the school is weak. The teaching of spelling is ineffective. Pupils are asked to rewrite words many times, with no attempt to teach pupils strategies to help them learn the words.  Teachers do not develop pupils’ mathematical skills progressively. Pupils are asked to complete work without the understanding of basic concepts. For example, some Year 4 pupils were asked to solve algebraic formulas without basic number bonds being securely understood. A number of pupils used their fingers to help them count on. Opportunities to apply mathematical skills in problem-solving and reasoning are limited, and, where they are used, are not matched appropriately to pupils’ abilities.  Teachers do not challenge unacceptable work and poor presentation. There are too

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

many examples of teachers praising work which is of an unacceptable standard. As a result, pupils do not try as hard as they should and progress is further limited.  There are unacceptably low standards of teaching across the wider curriculum. Expectations of what pupils can achieve are very low and teachers do not understand what pupils of different ages should be achieving. For example, in geography Year 6 pupils are often asked to colour maps in. There is no evidence that their geographical knowledge and skills are being appropriately developed.  Prior to December 2016, teachers had no knowledge of which pupils had been identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities. There are no records of these pupils, or what their particular needs are. The acting executive headteacher has addressed this and teachers are now fully informed about pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, teachers do not plan effectively to meet

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

the needs of these pupils.  Some teaching assistants contribute effectively to pupils’ learning, but this is not consistent across the school.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development requires improvement.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils are happy and confident individuals. In class they have jobs as monitors such as handing books out. However, pupils have limited other opportunities show responsibility and develop their leadership skills. For example, there is no school council or equivalent way for pupils to express their views or contribute to school life.  Pupils have good relationships with all adults in school and are well cared for. Effective support is in place for pupils who have social and emotional difficulties.  Pupils’ understanding of bullying is well developed. They say bullying is rare in school, but know to speak to an adult if it does happen. Pupils learn about cyber bullying and know what to do if it happens.  The acting executive headteacher has ensured that there is a now a strong focus on developing pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural understanding. For example, assemblies provide opportunities for pupils to reflect on respect and tolerance of

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.

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Behaviour

 The acting executive headteacher introduced a new behaviour system in December 2016. Pupils understand this system and look forward to receiving awards in assembly for collecting ‘green cards’. The green cards celebrate positive behaviours.

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Behaviour

 As a result of the new behaviour system, the school now has a calm atmosphere, with few examples of poor behaviour. Pupils play positively together at playtimes and move around the school in an orderly way. Records of behaviour incidents are now kept appropriately. Prior to December 2016, no records are available.

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Behaviour

 While behaviour in classes and around school has improved, pupils’ behaviour in lessons is not as positive as it should be. Pupils become bored or confused by the poor teaching, which leads to them not trying as hard as they should. Pupils lack pride in their work, which is often poorly presented. Many books show a significant decline in presentation and care with which work is completed. Teachers do not address this.  Attendance remains below national averages. However, where issues with low attendance persist, leaders take all available actions to address the problems. An education welfare officer provides support to the school to further tackle attendance issues with individual families.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 The national curriculum introduced in September 2014 for the majority of pupils was not implemented until December 2016. Pupils have not been taught the correct curriculum for some considerable time. As a result, the majority of pupils are not achieving the required standards for their ages as set out in the curriculum.  Currently, pupils’ work clearly demonstrates that nearly all pupils are making little or no progress in reading, writing and mathematics. There are many examples of pupils going backwards in their learning from their starting points. For example, many pupils who achieved the required standard in the phonics screening check in Year 1 are now unable to sound out simple words and show little understanding of basic letter sounds.  There were no assessment systems in place prior to December 2016. Therefore, no information about current pupils’ progress and attainment in any subject exists prior to

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

this date. The acting executive headteacher has implemented new assessment systems. However, teachers are yet to use these systems effectively and still do not understand how to assess pupils accurately in reading, writing and mathematics. Therefore, the information provided at the time of the inspection is unreliable.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Due to a lack of understanding of how to assess pupils’ learning, teachers do not plan effectively to meet their needs. No regard is paid to pupils’ prior learning or the expectations of different age groups. All pupils in the class are given the same work to complete. For example, the same mathematics worksheet about parallel lines was used for pupils in every year group from Year 1 to Year 6. Consequently, many pupils have significant gaps in their learning in reading, writing and mathematics.  There is no accurate information about the progress of disadvantaged pupils or those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, almost all of these pupils are working below the expected standards for their ages in reading, writing and mathematics.  There was no evidence during the inspection of any pupils in the school working at a higher level of performance in reading, writing or mathematics.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 In 2016, progress at the end of key stage 2 in reading and writing was broadly in line with national averages. Progress in mathematics was significantly below national averages.  The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading at the end of key stage 1 in 2016 was well below national averages. The proportions achieving the expected standards in writing and mathematics was broadly in line with national averages. However, currently, the majority of these pupils are working well below the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics.  The proportion of pupils achieving the required standard in the phonics screening check dropped significantly in 2016, and was well below national averages. In 2015, published information shows that 100% of pupils achieved the required standard in the phonics check. However, the majority of these pupils are now working significantly below expectations in reading.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 There is no information about pupils’ progress in any subjects other than reading, writing or mathematics. However, work in books currently shows the majority of pupils are working below the expected standards for their ages in all subjects.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 There is currently no leader of early years provision. No evaluation of the early years provision or action planning to develop the provision has been in place for some considerable time. There has been no training for staff until December 2016. No monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning has taken place. As a result, early years provision has not been developed and is inadequate.  The acting executive headteacher has accurately identified the inadequacies of the provision and is moving quickly to try and address them. Staff are receiving training. The acting executive headteacher was instrumental in completely redeveloping the early years learning environment to provide appropriate resources to support the children’s learning. An additional teacher, with early years training, has been employed recently.  Despite current training, early years teaching remains inadequate. Staff lack knowledge

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Early years provision Inadequate

of the early years curriculum and how to teach it. Staff do not provide children with appropriate learning activities to develop their skills across the early years curriculum. Children do not have enough opportunities to explore their learning through play-based activities.  Staff do not use their knowledge of what children can do to plan learning activities to take their learning forward. Frequently, staff direct all children to complete the same task, using the same resources, regardless of their ability and learning needs. Consequently, children are not able to develop their learning in a variety of ways using their own imaginations.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 The early years staff are unclear about the progress children are making, or what progress they should be making. Progress of different groups is not tracked in detail. Although assessments of what children could do were made at the beginning of the year, it is unclear how much progress they have made to date, or how many children will achieve a good level of development by the end of the year. Assessment information in the early years is not moderated and is unreliable, including published information.  Children are confident and happy. However, opportunities to develop their independence are limited. Pupils are not well prepared for key stage 1.  There is no information about how the additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used, or if it is used at all, in the early years.  Phonics is not taught effectively. There is a very slow pace of learning and expectations of what children can achieve are too low. As a result, children are not developing their

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Early years provision Inadequate

phonic skills as well as they should.  The majority of children join the school from the on-site nursery. Staff make some formal visits to this nursery, and other providers from which children join the school, prior to the children joining the school. Children visit the school before starting and a lunch is held with the parents and children. No evaluation has taken place to see how effective the transition processes are.  The staff have no knowledge of any work with other agencies to support the development of early years. Staff do not find out about parents’ views of the early years provision.  Safeguarding is effective. The acting executive headteacher took swift action to ensure that all policies and procedures were updated and in place to safeguard the children. Staff have received updated training and understand the policies and procedures. Paediatric first aiders are trained and appropriate staffing levels are in place. Risk

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Early years provision Inadequate

assessments are carried out where needed, and the site is safe and secure.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Acting executive headteacher Mrs K Lewis

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School details

Website www.dorringtonprimaryschool.co.uk/

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School details

Email address head@dorringtonprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9–10 February 2012

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the use of the pupil premium, the use of the sport premium and assessment results on its website.  Dorrington C of E primary school is a smaller-than-average sized primary school.  The majority of pupils are of White British heritage and most speak English as their first language.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is above average.  The proportion of pupils identified who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.  There are three classes in the school, including two mixed-age classes.  The school runs a breakfast and after-school club.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics for pupils by the end of Year 6.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching and learning in all classes. Some of the observations were carried out jointly with the acting executive headteacher.  The inspector met with pupils, heard a selection of pupils read and observed pupils at breaktimes and lunchtimes.  The inspector met with the acting executive headteacher members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  A range of pupils’ books from all year groups and a range of subjects were looked at.  A number of documents were considered including the school’s self-evaluation and development plans. The inspector also considered information about pupils’ progress, behaviour, attendance and safety.  The inspector took account of 13 responses on the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View. The inspector spoke to a number of parents before school.  There were no responses to the pupil or staff questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Ann Pritchard, lead inspector Her Majesty’s 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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 .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

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

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