Clutton Primary School

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

p.1

Miss Elizabeth Ennew Headteacher Clutton Primary School Station Road Clutton Bristol Somerset BS39 5RA

p.1

Short inspection of Clutton Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 10 January 2018, 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 your predecessor school was judged to be good in January 2014.

p.1

Short inspection of Clutton Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. While there have been a number of staff changes you have remained firmly focused on improving the quality of teaching and raising standards for all pupils. Your work in this regard is effective. Standards are rising across the school. You and your governors have taken swift and effective action to remedy dips in pupils’ achievement and address weaknesses in teaching and learning. For example, in September 2016, you correctly identified that pupils’ achievement in mathematics was not good enough. Leaders’ actions have led to improvements in teaching and learning in mathematics across the school. As a result, standards in mathematics at the end of Year 6 in 2017 were much higher than in the previous year.

p.1

Short inspection of Clutton Primary School

Leadership at all levels in the school is effective. Governors provide strong support and challenge to ensure that the school continues to improve. They have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas to improve. Middle leaders’ actions are effective at improving teaching and learning across the school. The Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership Trust is highly effective at supporting leaders at every level to bring about improvements. The impact is evident in rising standards and rapidly improving teaching.

p.1

Short inspection of Clutton Primary School

The views of parents and carers are mixed. Parents I spoke to during the inspection were generally positive about the school. However, a large proportion of respondents to the online questionnaire ‘Parent View’ raised concerns about poor communication, leadership and management, and the progress that their children make. Inspection evidence confirms that the school is improving quickly after a dip in its performance in the recent past. Leaders, governors and members of the trust acknowledge that improving communication is a priority.

p.1

Short inspection of Clutton Primary School

The many pupils I spoke to during the inspection said that bullying is rare and they know what to do if it does occur. They also think that behaviour is good in and around school. Pupils act kindly towards each other and are very polite to adults. They are very proud of their school and in particular the fundraising they have undertaken. Pupils enjoy their learning and show positive attitudes to learning in lessons. A typical comment made by a pupil was that teachers ‘encourage us to keep going and persevere’.

p.2

Short inspection of Clutton Primary School

The leadership team ensures that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You manage the arrangements for making pupils safe very well. The arrangements for checking the suitability of staff meet statutory requirements. Leaders carry out robust employment checks for staff who wish to work at the school. You make sure that all staff are trained well in all aspects of safeguarding. This enables staff to identify concerns quickly and take brisk action with confidence. Regular opportunities for leaders to discuss safeguarding with governors ensure that it is always at the forefront of people’s minds.

p.2

Short inspection of Clutton Primary School

Pupils say that they feel safe in school and know that they can speak to a teacher if they have a concern. Pupils’ online safety is a key priority for you and pupils know what to do to keep safe when using the internet. Older pupils spoke of how to keep safe when using a mobile phone.

p.2

Short inspection of Clutton Primary School

Staff carry out detailed risk assessments and regular checks to ensure that the school remains a safe place.

p.2

Inspection findings

 During the inspection, I met with you to discuss key lines of enquiry to ensure that the school remains good. We agreed that I would focus on what actions leaders have taken to improve pupils’ outcomes in key stage 1. I also looked at the effectiveness of teaching reading, especially for middle-prior-attaining pupils. In addition, I explored the work that leaders have undertaken to ensure that vulnerable pupils achieve well. Finally, I considered the actions leaders have taken to improve pupils’ attendance.  Since your appointment, you and your leadership team have rapidly improved the quality of teaching in key stage 1. Teaching is now accurately matched to pupils’ needs. Most teachers set high expectations for pupils. Teachers and teaching assistants use effective questioning to challenge pupils and really make them think. Standards are on the rise. Work in books now closely matches the standards expected for key stage 1. In addition, you monitor pupils’ progress

p.2

Inspection findings

closely to ensure that they make the progress they are capable of. Additional support is targeted for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils so they can make the progress expected. More pupils in key stage 1 are now meeting their age-related expectations than in the previous two years. However, there are still some pupils in Year 2 and Year 3 who need to make accelerated progress as they have gaps in their skills, knowledge and understanding, especially in mathematics.  In 2017, the progress pupils made across key stage 2 dipped for Year 6 pupils in reading. In particular, the proportion of middle-prior-attaining pupils who met age-related expectations was below the national average. Leaders quickly responded to this and set about putting in place measures to improve reading across the school. For example, middle leaders introduced a different way to

p.2

Inspection findings

teach reading that focused on key reading skills more effectively than before. Teachers set high expectations for all pupils and use good-quality texts to teach key comprehension and vocabulary skills. Although this change is recent, older pupils spoke highly of this new approach. Evidence from the inspection demonstrates that pupils’ reading is now improving rapidly, although you recognise that continuing to raise standards in reading will remain a priority for the school.  Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress. The leader with responsibility for SEN and/or disabilities is highly effective. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are accurately identified and the right support is put in place. Leaders monitor the targeted support well to ensure that it is helping pupils learn. Teachers and teaching assistants provide support in the classroom, as well as additional intervention, which helps pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities

p.3

Inspection findings

achieve well.  Staff provide disadvantaged pupils with additional pastoral and academic support. The measures put in place are making a positive difference. Evidence from looking at pupils’ books and from other information collected during the inspection shows that most disadvantaged pupils are catching up or doing better than their peers.  You identified that pupils’ attendance was too low last year. You put in place rewards for good attendance and carefully monitor pupils’ absence. This enables you to keep a close eye on pupils whose attendance dips so that you can act before absence becomes persistent. Pupils particularly enjoy celebrating good attendance in assembly and said that they enjoy coming to school. As a result, attendance is rapidly improving and is currently above the national average.

p.3

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.3

Next steps for the school

 pupils in Year 2 and Year 3 continue to make better progress so that more of them achieve or exceed their age-related expectations, especially in mathematics  pupils’ progress in reading continues to accelerate, especially for middle-prior- attaining pupils  leaders communicate with parents more effectively to ensure that parents are well informed about their child’s progress and receive timely information to help them to support their children’s learning.

p.3

Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the chief executive officer, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bath and North East Somerset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.4

Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I met with you, your senior leaders, the chief executive officer of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership Trust, the school improvement partner, governors, staff and pupils. We visited lessons jointly to observe pupils’ learning. We looked at pupils’ workbooks together and I observed senior leaders scrutinising pupils’ work. I heard pupils read and observed teaching assistants hearing pupils read. We considered documentary evidence relating to the impact of the school’s work, including safeguarding, attendance, the use of additional funding, the school development plan, reports to governors and other school documents. I took into account 78 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, and spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day. There were no responses to the pupil survey. However, I spoke to many pupils from across the school during the day in classrooms, at lunchtime and during breaktimes. I took into account five responses

p.4