All Saints Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Great Oakley

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

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Mr Aaron Battersby Headteacher All Saints Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Great Oakley Beaumont Road Great Oakley Harwich Essex CO12 5BA

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School, Great Oakley

Following my visit to the school on 19 June 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 October 2014.

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School, Great Oakley

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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School, Great Oakley

All Saints, Great Oakley is a happy and vibrant school. Parents and carers speak warmly about the care offered to their children and their children’s enjoyment of school. Your staff are viewed as experienced and approachable. Parents praise your school’s inclusive nature. Your pupils are polite and thoughtful, they discuss their learning confidently and believe that their teachers ‘make an extra effort’ for them. They are friendly towards each other and to the adults who work with them. They talk positively about their time in school and the activities they enjoy the most. The sense of community within your school is very strong and your use of volunteers adds to this. You offer a wide range of after-school activities like gardening and chess; pupils have the opportunity to engage with, and learn from, the many members of the village community who donate their time.

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School, Great Oakley

The governing body is well informed and effective. Governors are fully involved in the life of the school; they meet staff regularly and question performance. They make positive recommendations which they follow through carefully such as the introduction of new writing programmes. Governors fulfil their statutory responsibilities and carefully check on issues such as health and safety and pupil premium spending. Your school continues to make progress since your previous inspection. Pupils make strong progress in reading and writing and achieve well by the time they leave school. The regular opportunities pupils have for reading with adults and the attention given to developing reading have resulted in strong progress. However, because of inconsistencies in teachers’ expectations, not all pupils make the progress in writing that they are capable of in the early years and key stage 1.

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School, Great Oakley

You have made sure that all staff understand their responsibilities regarding safeguarding. They are vigilant and proactive. The school has a robust procedure for reporting concerns. These are followed up by you. You work well with other agencies such as the family well-being service to ensure that your children are safe. You have developed strong working relationships with those parents who need additional help and support.

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School, Great Oakley

Governors make careful checks on safeguarding procedures. The school’s record- keeping is careful and detailed. Recruitment processes are secure and all statutory requirements are met.

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School, Great Oakley

The pupils that I spoke to told me that they feel safe in school. The premises are maintained well with health and safety being a priority, and pupils are appropriately supervised at all times. They play happily, and say that bullying is rare. They know about keeping themselves safe and have a good understanding of online safety.

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Inspection findings

 I explored a number of lines of enquiry in this inspection. The first of these was to do with how you are bringing about improvements in writing and mathematics. Generally pupils’ achievement in writing and mathematics did not appear to be as strong as it was in reading. I wanted to see how well your current pupils are doing.  You have rightly focused on developing writing and have introduced initiatives intended to stimulate pupils’ ideas for writing. This project is at an early stage but whole-school themes like ‘that’s so last century’ have captured pupils’ imaginations.  I looked at pupils’ writing in key stage 1 and found that their progress is limited because they do not practise their writing across a range of subjects, for example in their topic work. Also, the most able pupils are not being stretched with their learning because the work is well within their capabilities. As pupils move through key stage 2, they have many more opportunities to write and

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Inspection findings

higher standards are evident. For example, pupils in Year 6 were writing a balanced argument about the use of plastics. They were using conjunctions appropriately, punctuating accurately and writing with well-developed, joined handwriting.  You have identified the need to raise standards in mathematics. Whereas many of your pupils have a good understanding of number and are able to calculate accurately, they fail to make the progress they are capable of because their reasoning and problem-solving skills are not strong. The curriculum is being developed where pupils are taught to master mathematics, by developing their fluency and understanding and solving problems. Your subject leader has plans for its full implementation in the next academic year.  My second line of enquiry was to review the provision for disadvantaged pupils. Published data indicates that progress for this group has been variable

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Inspection findings

throughout the school; however, most attain at the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2. You have a good understanding of how the difficulties your disadvantaged pupils sometimes encounter affect their learning. For example, you have worked successfully to improve the attendance of a few pupils who were previously missing school regularly.  Your school has a much higher than average proportion of disadvantaged pupils. You are using additional funding well to provide more targeted intervention and additional activities for those pupils who need a boost or support to catch up with their learning. This work has increased their self-confidence, improved the attainment for many pupils and promoted stronger relationships between home and school.  I also looked at the school’s provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. Your school makes good provision for pupils who

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Inspection findings

have SEN and/or disabilities. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is knowledgeable and diligent, she checks pupil progress regularly and follows up queries rigorously. Staff are well trained and provide good support for learning and this enables pupils to make good progress. Parents praise the nurturing care given to pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.  My last line of enquiry was to check on progress since your last inspection, particularly on the quality of the school’s self-evaluation and development planning. You have accurately identified the school’s strengths and weaknesses and put in place a well-considered plan for improvement. In implementing this plan you have the full support of the school staff, governing body and the local authority.

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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 in key stage 1 practise their writing skills and write for different purposes across a range of subjects  in mathematics, pupils are given more work to develop their reasoning skills.

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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 Chelmsford, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Essex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely

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Information about the inspection

My inspection activities included meetings with curriculum subject leaders, the SENCo, and members of staff with responsibility for safeguarding and attendance. I held discussions with you about the school’s self-evaluation and development plans. We also discussed the key lines of enquiry for the inspection. I held a meeting with a representative from the local authority and also with four governors.

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Information about the inspection

We carried out joint learning walks in all areas of the school, briefly visiting all classes. I looked at a range of pupils’ work books and listened to some pupils read. I referred to a range of school documents. These included development planning and materials relating to assessment, special educational needs, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding. I spoke to parents in the playground and considered the 28 replies to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as 17 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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