Urchfont Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs Carol Talbot Headteacher Urchfont Church of England Primary School Cuckoo Corner Urchfont Devizes Wiltshire SN10 4RA

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Short inspection of Urchfont Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 23 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 the school was judged to be good in June 2014.

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Short inspection of Urchfont Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are well supported by the governing body. You and your leaders provide a vibrant and engaging education for the pupils. You have made sure that they experience a range of extra-curricular activities which broaden their perspectives. Equally, strong teaching takes place which provides pupils with a very good start before transitioning to secondary school.

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Short inspection of Urchfont Church of England Primary School

You are a member of the Emmanuel Collaboration with four other schools. This formal collaboration provides you and your colleagues with opportunities for shared professional learning and moderation of pupils’ work. This outward-looking approach is typical of your leadership. Many parents choose to bring their children to your school from neighbouring villages because they value your desire to enrich pupils’ lives.

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Short inspection of Urchfont Church of England Primary School

Since the last inspection, you have helped pupils improve their writing skills. The teaching of phonics is now a strength. Your assistant headteacher is the literacy lead. She has introduced a new spelling programme to improve this aspect further. You are aware of the high number of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities in Year 2 and are supporting them well. Teachers provide more opportunities for extended writing so pupils improve their stamina. Each term a piece of writing is moderated across the federation. This highlights areas for development, such as the application of punctuation and grammar. Improvement continues, as a result, but you know that this must be maintained for more pupils to write at greater depth. Boys and girls spoke enthusiastically about their extended writing and are keen to do their best and follow the guidance provided.

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Short inspection of Urchfont Church of England Primary School

You have raised expectations among staff. You are clear about the need to challenge the most able pupils while supporting others. You know each pupil well and have effective systems to track pupils’ progress. The regular checks make sure each pupil achieves their potential.

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Short inspection of Urchfont Church of England Primary School

You have created a culture where risks are considered and managed well constantly within the school. The school’s policies to ensure that pupils are well protected are in place. The checks undertaken on staff, visitors and recruitment are stringent. Staff know how to keep pupils safe from abuse, sexual exploitation and from the influence of radical or extreme views. You protect pupils well once the school day begins. For example, you have a public right of way that runs through the school grounds. You ensure that this footpath is currently not used when the school is in session. You have CCTV cameras in place to monitor the movement of individuals who approach the front entrance. This has been a sensitive issue to deal with, but you and the governors have undertaken all necessary risk assessments to ensure that pupils are safe. Understandably, you are cautious about when the right of way claim undergoes a public enquiry. At this time, the path will be open to the public at

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Inspection findings

 We discussed the improvements made to the teaching of mathematics. You carried out an analysis of pupils’ answers to the end-of-key-stage tests in 2017. This showed that topics such as ratio and proportion needed to be taught more thoroughly. You have revised the syllabus to ensure this happens. The lead in mathematics is aware that pupils have not been secure in their reasoning and problem-solving. Pupils are working sooner and more often at embedding their times tables. The development of this and other fundamental aspects of mathematics is supporting pupils as they move to work at a higher standard. You are a graduate in mathematics so you have a keen awareness of the skills needed.  Next, we discussed the weaker performance of boys in subjects. You have reorganised the class structure so that boys’ needs can be met more proficiently. For example, boys in Year 3 are in a class with fewer pupils. There are a greater

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Inspection findings

proportion of boys who have SEN and/or disabilities. You are the special educational needs coordinator and have identified that speech, language and communication are particular issues. You have trained specialist staff to work with pupils individually and this is helping them to improve their articulation. In addition, drama has been added to the subject repertoire. You have found this a useful technique to help pupils, especially boys, express their feelings and thinking. Curriculum topics have been changed and this has made a difference for the better. Boys are more engaged in their writing, now. Previously, they struggled to write as well as girls. The school has use of a forest school and the practical aspects have enthused boys in their learning.

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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 are able to develop their mathematical skills in reasoning and problem- solving so more achieve at a higher standard  teachers improve pupils’ writing so more achieve greater depth by checking pupils’ spelling, grammar and punctuation skills more precisely.

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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 Salisbury, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wiltshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, the assistant headteacher, the two vice- chairs and governors, staff and pupils. I had a telephone conversation with a school improvement adviser from the local authority. I visited lessons in all year groups in the school, focusing on mathematics and writing. I looked at the quality of work in pupils’ exercise books. I considered documentary evidence relating to the impact of the school’s work, including safeguarding. I took into account 36 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, and 25 comments written by parents, plus the 39 responses from pupils and nine from staff to the Ofsted online surveys.

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