Corringham CofE VC Primary School

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

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Mrs Esther Watt-Jones Headteacher Corringham CofE VC Primary School Middle Street Corringham Gainsborough Lincolnshire DN21 5QS

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 23 November 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 Corringham CofE VC Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Children make good progress in the early years and the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development is consistently higher than the national average. Pupils make good progress in key stage 1 and the outcomes at the expected levels for reading, writing and mathematics are broadly in line with the national average. The proportion of pupils who achieved highly in these subjects was higher than seen nationally in 2017.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

Through key stage 2, pupils make broadly average progress. In 2017, the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in reading, mathematics, English grammar, spelling, punctuation and science was above the national average. The proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in writing was just below the national average. Scrutiny of current pupils’ written work shows that they are making good progress.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

The school provides a very caring and happy environment for pupils to thrive. The curriculum is broad and balanced and provides opportunities for pupils to develop their knowledge and skills covering a wide range of subjects. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 have been studying ‘A midsummer night’s dream’ by William Shakespeare. This has inspired the pupils to write very good poems based on Athenian woods from the play. One pupil wrote, ‘See the autumn weather terminate the brittle orange leaves.’ Pupils were motivated by studying the play and asked if they could act it out in front of their parents. Pupils are very motivated to learn and have excellent attitudes to their learning. Pupils’ attendance is high.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

You and your staff plan the curriculum well to enable the pupils to be well prepared for life in modern Britain. British values are taught and understood very well by pupils. They are tolerant of people who may have different lifestyles to their own. You recently planned a multi-faith day which had a big impact on the pupils. They thoroughly enjoyed their pilgrimage to the River Ganges, learning about the Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela. In addition, pupils learned a lot about Judaism and Islam. Pupils have a good knowledge of different cultures and faiths, as well as a good knowledge of their own.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

Parents are highly appreciative of the school. All parents who answered the Parent View questionnaire, and all parents who spoke to the inspector, said that their children were happy at the school and making good progress. They like the family atmosphere that the school provides and how older pupils look after the younger ones. One parent wrote, ‘All the staff are fantastic, they are approachable and they listen to the children.’ All parents who responded to Parent View would recommend the school to other parents.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

At the last inspection, the inspector asked you to improve the quality of teaching and ensure that the most able pupils attain higher levels in English and mathematics. The proportion of pupils who achieved highly in writing at the end of key stage 2 in 2017 was above the national average. In reading, pupils’ outcomes at the higher standard have been in line with the national average for the past two years. However, the proportion of pupils who achieved highly in mathematics, in both 2016 and 2017, has been just below the national average. I have asked you to provide more opportunities for pupils to reason mathematically in Years 5 and 6 to increase the proportion of pupils who achieve highly at the end of key stage 2.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

The inspector also asked you to allow pupils to write longer pieces of work in all subjects. Pupils are being asked to write in all subjects, although the longer pieces are still mostly in their English work.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

You lead on safeguarding well. You take prompt and effective action if a concern arises. You work well with parents and outside agencies in the best interests of children. Record-keeping is detailed and records are securely stored.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

Pupils have a good understanding of how to stay safe. A recent visitor came to school to teach pupils about road safety. Pupils learned that lorries can have blind spots and the drivers may not see you if you are too close. In addition, pupils have a good understanding of e-safety and know not to share personal details online.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

Pupils have listened to staff from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and know there is always someone at school they can trust if they have a problem. Pupils say that bullying is rare at the school and would always be dealt with very quickly. Pupils are very positive about the behaviour of other pupils in the school. At playtime pupils cooperate very well. The school’s behaviour record shows very few incidents of poor behaviour.

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Short inspection of Corringham CofE VC Primary School

The training for staff for safeguarding is comprehensive. Staff receive regular updates about safeguarding and have a good knowledge and understanding of safeguarding matters. The governing body checks on safeguarding at its meetings. Safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

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Inspection findings

 You lead the school well. The staff work well together as a team and the school is a harmonious environment for everyone. Pupils’ work is celebrated through high-quality displays. Pupils present their work neatly. Pupils have also been inspired to work hard, and as a team, through listening and working with visiting Olympians and Paralympians.  The school improvement plan identifies areas to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Leaders have rightly identified the need to improve the level of challenge for the most able pupils even more and to further develop the teaching of mathematics. However, the success criteria by which these actions can be measured are not clear. Therefore, it makes it more difficult for governors to judge if actions taken have been successful or not.  You and your staff regularly review the progress that the pupils are making. Subject leaders monitor pupils’ work through the school to check pupils are

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Inspection findings

making good progress. If pupils are at risk of not making expected progress, specific interventions are put in place to accelerate their progress. Consequently, evidence from your last pupil progress review shows that most pupils are making good progress.  The teaching of mathematics has improved over the last two terms. Subject leaders recognised that previously, teachers were not covering all aspects of the national curriculum well enough. You brought in an external consultant to help train staff and improve the quality of teaching for mathematics. Evidence from pupils’ work shows pupils are developing a deep understanding of mathematics up to Year 4. Pupils’ reasoning skills are being developed well. For example, pupils in Year 2 had to explain why the answer for seven multiplied by five pence equals 35 pence, using pictures or arrays. Younger pupils are making good progress.  However, in Years 5 and 6 the opportunities for pupils to develop their reasoning

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Inspection findings

skills are less frequent. The most able are not challenged well enough to develop a deep understanding of mathematical concepts and answer more challenging questions.  Pupils learn phonics skills well to help them to read and write. In the early years, the teaching excites the children. They are highly motivated to find words that have been placed in the outdoor area, bring them back to the teacher and learn to read the words. The teacher skilfully supports the children to say the sounds. Children are encouraged to repeat the sounds and blend the letters to read the words independently. They are genuinely pleased with themselves after they have successfully read the word and want to read more.  In Years 1 and 2, pupils continue to be enthusiastic about learning how to read. Pupils make very good progress in their reading because the books are pitched at the right level of difficulty and pupils use their phonic knowledge well to read

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Inspection findings

new words and become more fluent readers. The proportion of pupils who achieve the required standard in the phonics screening check has risen rapidly in the last three years and is now well above the national average.  Pupils are developing good writing skills. Pupils’ punctuation and use of grammar is increasingly accurate. Pupils are becoming more confident and using more ambitious vocabulary in their writing. In the Year 3 and 4 class, one pupil wrote, ‘I could hear the deafening sound of people laughing excitedly.’  Pupils who have special educational needs and or/disabilities make good progress. The school has a range of strategies to support pupils’ learning. The special educational needs coordinator is highly knowledgeable and liaises well with outside agencies to ensure that the school provides the most appropriate support for pupils.

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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

 the school improvement plan has measureable success criteria by which governors can judge if actions taken to improve the school have been successful  pupils in Years 5 and 6 are provided with more opportunities to reason mathematically to enable more pupils to attain highly by the end of key stage 2.

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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 Lincoln, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Lincolnshire. 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 all the teachers. I spoke with parents and observed pupils at breaktime. I visited all the classrooms and looked at pupils’ work. I met with the chair of the governing body and with a group of pupils. You and I reviewed records about attendance, behaviour and keeping children safe. I studied your school improvement plan, your self-evaluation and minutes of the governing body’s meetings. I looked at your documents relating to performance management. I considered the three responses to the Ofsted free-text service, the 65 responses to Parent View and the nine responses to the staff survey.

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