Fourlanesend Community Primary School

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

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Mrs Rebecca Norton Headteacher Fourlanesend Community Primary School Fourlanesend Cawsand Torpoint Cornwall PL10 1LR

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Short inspection of Fourlanesend Community Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 28 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 October 2012.

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Short inspection of Fourlanesend Community Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. You expect the highest quality of teaching from staff and firmly believe that every pupil has the potential to excel at school. Your ability to identify the right priorities and provide appropriate support and challenge has raised standards.

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Short inspection of Fourlanesend Community Primary School

Governors whom I spoke to were knowledgeable, well informed and displayed a steadfast dedication and passion for the school. They have a precise and accurate understanding of the school’s performance. Leaders and governors use assessment information effectively to plan, monitor and refine their actions to improve key aspects of the school’s work. This is evident in the swift action taken to improve pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar skills.

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Short inspection of Fourlanesend Community Primary School

Your vision and school values lie at the heart of your approach and underpin the actions of those who work and learn at Fourlanesend Community Primary. Throughout my visit, pupils displayed positive attitudes to their learning. They were fully engaged and enthusiastic about their work and spoke to me with confidence and self-assurance.

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Short inspection of Fourlanesend Community Primary School

Pupils take great pride in the presentation of their work and readily engage in purposeful and productive conversations with their classmates about their learning. They listen attentively, showing consideration and respect for the views of others. Our scrutiny of topic books showed that pupils have a range of opportunities to write for different purposes across the curriculum. This was identified as an area for improvement at the previous inspection and your work is having a positive impact on raising standards.

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Short inspection of Fourlanesend Community Primary School

Leaders are uncompromising in their commitment to keeping pupils safe. They ensure that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that action is taken to safeguard pupils. Leaders ensure that the appropriate checks are carried out on an individual’s suitability prior to starting to work at the school. All staff are trained so that they can quickly identify pupils who may be at risk of harm. My conversations with staff revealed a secure approach to safeguarding and a thorough awareness of their responsibilities and school safeguarding systems.

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Short inspection of Fourlanesend Community Primary School

Staff across the school have a detailed and thorough knowledge of the needs of vulnerable pupils. They are alert to any changes in pupils’ behaviour, appearance and attendance that may suggest they are at risk. When concerns arise, clear procedures are in place to ensure that information is recorded and passed on appropriately. Staff with specific responsibilities for safeguarding seek timely support from external agencies and clear actions are put in place to keep pupils safe. These are reviewed regularly to ensure that support is having the desired effect. Record-keeping is precise and well maintained.

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Short inspection of Fourlanesend Community Primary School

Pupils say that they feel safe and happy at the school. They have a trusted adult whom they can go to if they have a worry or a concern. My discussions with pupils in Year 4 demonstrated their good awareness of how to stay safe online. They spoke knowledgeably about the school’s rules for using the internet and if they see anything inappropriate on the internet that they should tell an adult immediately.

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Short inspection of Fourlanesend Community Primary School

Parents’ views on the school’s work in keeping pupils safe are overwhelmingly positive. Almost all parents who responded to the parent survey agreed that their child feels safe in school and is well looked after. A typical comment written by a parent was, ‘Children clearly feel safe and secure when they are at school.’ Another wrote, ‘The teachers know every child well, and the care and compassion that goes into their daily work is incredible.’

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Inspection findings

 My first line of enquiry related to leaders’ actions in raising pupils’ achievement in mathematics in key stage 2. This was an area for improvement noted in the previous inspection report. A detailed review undertaken by leaders identified gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding, as well as limited opportunities for challenge. Consequently, a new programme for mathematics has been introduced across the school. As a result of this, evidence in pupils’ books shows that they are now making better progress. Pupils are successfully applying their skills in a wide range of problem-solving tasks. My discussions with pupils highlighted their ability to articulate their mathematical reasoning with confidence. For example, most-able pupils can explain how to solve a complex problem. Evidence in books shows that disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make strong progress. They

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Inspection findings

acquire skills that are appropriate for their different stages of development. This is because teachers deploy support staff effectively and ensure that misconceptions are addressed quickly. However, pupils do not regularly apply their mathematical skills in other subject areas.  My next line of enquiry focused on leaders’ actions to improve pupils’ writing skills. Leaders have been resolute in setting high expectations for handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar. They have worked closely with staff to implement a whole-school approach to handwriting. Evidence in books shows that pupils are applying a varied range of age-appropriate skills to engage the reader. For example, pupils in Years 5 and 6 make effective use of a wide range of punctuation marks. They use parenthesis, brackets, colons and direct speech successfully to heighten the meaning of their work.  The most able pupils in key stage 2 can expand on their ideas through the

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Inspection findings

effective use of complex sentences. They show a secure command of the use of different grammatical structures and can select appropriate verb forms for meaning and effect. My analysis of writing undertaken by disadvantaged pupils showed that they too are making strong progress. For example, evidence of writing in key stage 1 showed pupils’ ability to use apostrophes for missing letters and develop their ideas through expanded noun phrases. For example, one most- able disadvantaged pupil in Year 2 wrote: ‘The colossal, giant beanstalk’.  My next line of enquiry focused on leaders’ actions in enabling pupils in Years 1 to 3 to achieve the higher levels in reading. Leaders ensure that pupils who can achieve at greater depth are identified early and appropriate support and challenge are put in place. Pupils who read to me did so with a high degree of fluency and accuracy. They made good use of punctuation marks to inform their

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Inspection findings

use of expression. Pupils confidently talked about their books and could apply their skills of inference and deduction to predict what might happen next. My discussion with pupils highlighted their enjoyment and fascination with books. One pupil said, ‘I enjoy reading because it paints a picture in your mind and makes you feel that you are there.’ However, I found that the books read by the most able readers at school do not routinely provide them with sufficient challenge.  My final line of enquiry was about attendance. The most recent published information shows that overall absence is higher than the national average for pupils who are entitled to free school meals and for those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. You have put in place a robust system to monitor pupils’ attendance. You also work closely with the education welfare officer and parents to tackle poor attendance. This is proving to be

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Inspection findings

successful, as overall attendance for pupils in these significant groups is now above the national average.

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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 have a range of opportunities to develop their mathematical knowledge, understanding and skills across the curriculum  the most able pupils have access to books that provide an appropriate level of challenge.

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

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I spoke to you, staff, pupils and three members of the governing body. I made visits to lessons to observe pupils’ learning and to scrutinise their work. I also heard individual pupils read in Years 1, 2 and 3.

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Information about the inspection

I considered a range of documentary evidence, which included the school’s development plans, attendance, monitoring records and safeguarding documentation.

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Information about the inspection

In addition, I took account of 28 responses to the Parent View online survey; 32 responses to the pupil questionnaire; and 11 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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