Cadland Primary School

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

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Mrs Claire Aston Headteacher Cadland Primary School Whitefield Road Holbury Hampshire SO45 2HW

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Short inspection of Cadland Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 20 June 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 January 2013.

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Short inspection of Cadland 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 Cadland Primary School

Since becoming headteacher in April 2016, you have worked tirelessly and quickly to make improvements to the education and welfare of all pupils. The impact of your leadership is evident in the better outcomes and more rapid progress of pupils currently in your school. Good-quality provision in the early years ensures that most children are ready for the Year 1 curriculum. Year 1 outcomes in the phonics screening check are consistently good. Pupils currently in Year 6 have made good progress since the end of key stage 1 and are well placed to achieve better outcomes when compared to 2016 key stage 2 results.

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Short inspection of Cadland Primary School

You are extremely well supported by senior leaders who are very ambitious and have high expectations of all staff and pupils. You and your senior leaders have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and work very effectively to increase the rates of progress for all pupils. You have not been afraid to tackle any weak performance of teachers and have taken some difficult decisions to be sure that all pupils are getting the very best opportunities at your school. Your clearly articulated vision is shared by all staff, governors and pupils. Your desire to enable all staff to improve the aspirations of the whole school community is strongly evident. Pupils want to do their best and enjoy being identified as ‘Super Star’ learners.

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Short inspection of Cadland Primary School

After the previous inspection, leaders were asked to improve the outcomes of all pupils in writing. You have rightly focused on improving pupils’ writing by developing teachers’ subject knowledge and ensuring that pupils have many more meaningful opportunities to write for a purpose. Children in Reception have written many of the signs and labels welcoming visitors to their classrooms. During my visit, Year 1 pupils wrote thank-you letters following their exciting visit, the previous day, to a lifeboat station. The teaching of writing has clearly improved and pupils’ progress is accelerating. However, you know that pupils will only increase their rate of progress if they are fully stretched and challenged in lessons, so leaders are providing teachers with effective training and support to achieve this.

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Short inspection of Cadland Primary School

A significant change since the last inspection has been the role played by governors in monitoring the effectiveness and impact of leaders’ actions. Governors have worked with you to develop a schedule for this monitoring and now have a very clear understanding of how to be effective in carrying out their responsibilities. They have undergone training which they found useful, particularly in helping them to ask the right questions of leaders. They challenge you and other leaders appropriately. By providing their questions ahead of meetings, they ensure that you can provide them with full answers backed up with evidence. Governors are justifiably delighted with your appointment and recognise your achievements in taking the school forward rapidly.

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Short inspection of Cadland Primary School

Your passion and drive to improve learning for all pupils have inspired staff and governors to make important improvements to raise outcomes for all pupils. Your evaluation of the school’s effectiveness is honest and accurate. For example, you have identified that more work needs to be done to develop the teaching of mathematics, so that pupils make faster progress.

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Short inspection of Cadland Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding systems are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. All staff are expected to read and understand the school’s policies and protocols for keeping pupils safe. Staff follow this guidance meticulously and, if they have any concerns for a pupil’s safety, these are addressed swiftly. A very helpful sheet is provided for visitors which they receive as they sign in. This covers all key points succinctly. Your inclusion leader works actively with families and other agencies to ensure that any safeguarding issues are given the correct priority and attention. Leaders are not afraid to challenge decisions made by external professionals, and make strong representation on behalf of pupils.

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Short inspection of Cadland Primary School

Governors review safeguarding processes regularly and effectively. They take this responsibility very seriously and are passionate about ensuring the safety and well- being of everyone. All governors receive appropriate safeguarding training as part of their induction.

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Short inspection of Cadland Primary School

Pupils enjoy school, feel safe and know who to go to if they have any concerns. Pupils have a great respect for staff and know that they will listen to them.

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Short inspection of Cadland Primary School

You have worked hard with pupils to keep them safe and they are very clear about how they should stay safe online. They also understand what constitutes bullying and say that it is rare in school. You are fully aware that you need to continue to work with the wider community on developing their knowledge and understanding of both of these areas.

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Inspection findings

 During this inspection I looked at: the steps leaders are taking to reverse the three-year coasting trend; how aspirational staff are for all pupils and what evidence there is of pupils working at the higher standard in reading and in mathematics; what impact teaching is having on the progress made by pupils in key stage 1; and the impact of leaders’ actions on reducing the persistent absence of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  You are rightly focusing on securing consistent high-quality teaching across the school. Working in partnership with the local authority and other schools, you have provided good training for staff to improve the teaching of writing. Pupils are making rapid progress in their writing and the progress made by disadvantaged pupils is improving in relation to other pupils nationally. These improvements mean you are rightly confident that the school will soon no longer be deemed as

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Inspection findings

coasting.  You are reflecting on the effectiveness of the recently purchased mathematics scheme. You know that some teachers are over-reliant on the scheme and are not effectively challenging all pupils, including the most able pupils. Where pupils are achieving well in mathematics, teachers have used the scheme flexibly, adapting it and adding appropriate additional tasks to both reinforce and extend learning. This ensures that pupils thoroughly understand the mathematics skills they are employing and so develop their reasoning skills.  You and senior leaders have been relentless in challenging and changing the school’s culture of lower aspirations. Teachers are determined that pupils will achieve well. Current data and work in books indicate that pupils are expected to work at the higher standards in most classes. You know where the few remaining relative weaknesses are and have plans to address them.

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Inspection findings

 High-quality coaching from your deputy headteachers has made a real difference to the quality of teaching. For example, Year 2 pupils are using secondary sources to research habitats. Their learning is developed through the skilful modelling and questioning of teachers and pupils record their results effectively and share them eloquently.  Pupils who read to me were able to use their phonics skills to sound out and read unfamiliar words accurately. They read with expression and talked excitedly about the story. Your support for the teaching of phonics has ensured that a significant number of pupils achieve the phonics standard at the end of Year 1.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has significantly improved this year. Pupils in Year 2 have made strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics since the start of the year, with an increased number of pupils working at greater depth than in previous years. These improved Year 2 outcomes

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Inspection findings

have been externally checked and judged to be accurate.  Governors challenge senior leaders effectively. They have developed a rigorous system for checking the accuracy of information provided by leaders. They have made good use of their training to question underperformance, and are now clear about where the school needs to improve.  Attendance levels have improved, but this year you and your leaders have been aware of more parents taking their children on holiday during term time. You know why and work effectively with families to discourage this practice. The school has issued a number of penalty notices. Leaders are in the process of rewriting the attendance policy, sharpening expectations to improve attendance. Pupils who have significant medical needs represent a high proportion of those who have been 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

 there is consistent, high-quality mathematics teaching across the school that challenges all pupils to make stronger progress, particularly the most able  they continue to work with the whole school community to raise aspirations for every pupil.

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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

The school meets the Department for Education’s definition of a coasting school based on key stage 2 academic performance results in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you and senior leaders to review your evaluation of the school’s effectiveness. I accompanied leaders into a number of classrooms across the school. I heard key stage 1 pupils read and spoke to pupils as I moved around the school. I had a meeting with 13 pupils and took into account 49 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey. Together, we evaluated a range of work in pupils’ mathematics books alongside your assessment information. I met with your leader of mathematics. I checked the effectiveness of your safeguarding arrangements including those related to child protection and staff recruitment. I checked the perimeter of the school to ensure it was secure. I met with the deputy headteacher and analysed attendance data. I met with four governors and a representative from the local authority. I looked at 31 responses to the staff survey. I spoke to 16 parents in the playground at the start of the day and considered their responses alongside 40 responses to the

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Information about the inspection

online questionnaire, Parent View, together with 36 online comments and one hand- delivered letter.

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