Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

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

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Jeffrey Day Headteacher Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School High Street Swinderby Lincoln Lincolnshire LN6 9LU

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 6 December 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 Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are passionate and determined to get the best possible outcomes for pupils.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

You have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and what needs to be improved. Areas for improvement are reflected accurately in the school’s plans. You recognise, however, that these plans are not yet strong enough. Currently, the improvement targets are not measurable and are not routinely used by the governing body to hold leaders to account.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The quality of teaching has been maintained since the last inspection. Along with other senior leaders, you have a good understanding of where teaching is strong and where it needs to improve. This is because you have a systematic way of making checks and a detailed programme of training. This work is thorough and well organised.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The teaching of early reading skills is effective. Pupils quickly learn the skills that they need to recognise letters and the sounds that different combinations make. Leaders have made sure that this teaching is structured well and matched to pupils’ needs.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Pupils’ achievement remains strong. The proportion of pupils reaching the standards expected of them by the end of key stage 2 is above that found nationally. Progress matches that of all pupils nationally in reading and writing, but is slightly slower in mathematics. You recognised the dip in the number of pupils in Year 6 reaching the higher standards in writing and mathematics in 2017 and have put actions in place to tackle this.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Pupils are rightly proud of their school and enjoy being there. They are extremely polite and well mannered. They described the school as inclusive and said that behaviour is good. They told me that, on the rare occasions when behaviour is not good enough, it is quickly dealt with. They spoke highly of the wide range of activities available to them and value the musical opportunities that the school orchestra and guitar lessons provide.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Children play well together on the playground and make the most of the wide variety of different areas available to them. One group of children were eager to show me how well they could travel across the monkey bars and another group explained the purpose the peace garden.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The parents that I spoke with were positive about the school, describing staff as approachable and responsive to concerns. One parent told me, ‘I came here. My children come here. We love it.’ Another parent spoke highly of the communication received from school. She explained how it helps her to support her children’s learning at home. The responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, were mainly positive. Parents raised a small number of concerns, however, about the effectiveness of communication.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The governing body is committed to securing the best outcomes for pupils. Governors have a good understanding of the schools’ strengths and areas for improvement. The chair of the governing body regularly visits the school to see the work that leaders are doing and to check on progress.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Children know how to stay safe in school, online and on the roads. They explained to me the work that the school’s junior road safety officers and junior police cadet officers do to help keep them safe. They were also eager to tell me about their work with the NSPCC and were able to recite from memory a telephone number that they can use if they have concerns. However, they told me that they were confident that school would support them with any concerns in the first instance.

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Short inspection of Swinderby All Saints Church of England Primary School

All staff have a good understanding of their safeguarding roles and responsibilities because a comprehensive programme of training is in place. Governors check that safeguarding policies are understood and followed.

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Inspection findings

 You have correctly identified the need to increase the progress that pupils make in mathematics in key stage 2. You have put in place a new system to identify which pupils are not making enough progress. These pupils have individual plans to make sure that they catch up. You have strengthened the way that you assess pupils’ attainment and check their progress. You recognise, however, that the governing body does not have clear enough information about the proportion of pupils who are making the progress that you expect and those who are doing better.  Leaders have set up a group to make sure that more-able children in key stage 2 experience more challenging work in mathematics. This is enabling them to solve more- complex mathematical problems and to give reasons for their answers. In lessons, however, the more able children are not always given work that challenges them enough.  You have identified that standards in writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 1

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Inspection findings

were lower than usual in 2017. You have now strengthened the way that you set targets and track the progress that pupils are making. You quickly identify children who are not making enough progress and put support in place. This is regularly reviewed to make sure that actions are being effective.  Pupils in key stage 1 are able to recognise letters and know the sounds that their combinations make. They use this in their reading to work out unfamiliar words and to help their understanding of texts. Leaders have ensured that the teaching of early reading skills is structured well and matched to the needs of pupils. Those that do not reach the expected standard in the phonics screening check in Year 1 receive bespoke support to make sure that they reach the standard in Year 2. Because of this, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard by the end of Year 2 has been above that found nationally for the last two years.

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Inspection findings

 Teachers make sure that children are engaged in learning. They make sure that pupils receive work that is right for their age. Relationships between adults and children are positive and the support given to pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities makes sure that they make good progress.  You have been successful in reducing rates of absence. In 2016 pupils’ attendance was lower than that found nationally. Disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities had very low rates of attendance. You have raised awareness of this and have worked with other agencies to support families who need help. As a result, the attendance of all groups of pupils now matches that found nationally.

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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

 teachers set more challenging work for the more able pupils to increase the proportion of pupils who reach the higher standard in mathematics  they include clear, measurable targets in the school’s plans for improvement so that the governing body can use them to hold leaders to account  leaders provide the governing body with more detailed and regular information about pupils’ progress.

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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 the chair of the governing body. We shared the school’s self-evaluation and my key lines of enquiry. We also met to talk about absence, safeguarding, mathematics and the leadership of teaching. I had discussions with pupils and heard them read. I spoke with parents at the start of the school day, attended collective worship and observed playtime. I considered the responses of parents to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and the views of staff and pupils. We visited all classes in the school together, spending a short time in each. We looked at a sample of pupils’ work together. I viewed a range of documents, including the school’s improvement plan, the school’s record of recruitment checks, documentation about governance and behaviour logs.

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