Sandringham School

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

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Mrs Katherine Money Headteacher Sandringham School Sandringham Way Paddock Hill Estate Frimley Surrey GU16 9YF

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

Following my visit to the school on 11 September 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 February 2015.

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

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

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

Since your appointment in 2017, you have ensured that Sandringham School excels with the pastoral care it provides for all pupils. As one parent commented: ‘The school has such a wonderful happy ethos. My son literally skips in, full of excitement for the day ahead.’ You have gained the full support of your staff, who are unanimously proud to work in the school. Staff morale is very high, as shown by the staff survey completed during the inspection. Under your determined and reflective leadership, you have built a strong and ambitious leadership team. Its members are eager to play their part in securing further improvements in the school’s work, and have a secure understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Since the last inspection, Sandringham School has joined The Kite Academy Trust, which provides positive challenge and support to you, governors and the leadership team.

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

Pupils love coming to school, saying that it is a very friendly place. They enjoy learning and work well together. For example, in a Year 2 English lesson, pupils were joining short sentences using a variety of conjunctions to make longer sentences. They listened well to each other’s suggestions and supported each other in spotting punctuation clues. Pupils say that their teachers are kind and help them when they make mistakes. Pupils particularly enjoy the improved school grounds and play equipment, especially the running track funded by the sports premium. They also value the opportunity of becoming a child governor, which enables them to have a strategic input into school improvement.

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

The inspection report for your predecessor school highlighted several strengths, including strong teaching, good opportunities for the promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and high involvement of parents. These aspects continue to be great assets to Sandringham School. At the time of the last inspection, the school was asked to strengthen leadership and management by ensuring that school improvement documents had quantifiable measures of success. You provide clear direction for the school’s future improvements. Current school improvement planning and self-evaluation documents are sharp and succinct, and are focused on the right things.

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

In 2017, pupils’ attainment in reading at the end of key stage 1 was above that seen in other schools nationally. However, pupils’ attainment in writing and mathematics was below the national average. Leaders responded swiftly to these results, and provisional performance information for key stage 1 pupils in 2018 indicates that the performance of pupils in writing and mathematics will be better. However, you are not complacent. School improvement planning shows that leaders have identified the need to improve pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills in mathematics.

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

The rate of progress of disadvantaged pupils and lower-attaining pupils in writing is slower than that of their classmates. We agreed that improving this aspect of the school’s performance should be a key priority for leaders.

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

School leaders and governors have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Records are detailed and of a high quality. You are tenacious in your approach to seeking support for pupils and their families, working effectively with other agencies. You and your staff know pupils very well. You regularly discuss their welfare with staff. As a result, staff are vigilant in following up any concerns they may have about a child. They receive regular safeguarding training and are aware of what to do if they have worries about a pupil. As a team, they understand the specific risks associated with your local area.

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

All parents and carers who responded to Ofsted’s questionnaire think that their children are safe in school, appreciating the recent changes to the security of the site. One parent described how you and your staff ‘go the extra mile’ to support children and families. Another comment, typical of many, stated that the school is ‘a warm and nurturing environment for children to blossom and grow.’

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Short inspection of Sandringham School

Pupils too say that they feel safe in school. They know who to talk to if they have any worries and say that their teachers will always listen to them. They speak confidently about how their school keeps them safe, such as when online or, potentially, in the event of a fire or a lockdown.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders have established a clear strategy to ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve well academically, socially and emotionally. All staff have a thorough understanding of the barriers to learning faced by these pupils. Personalised and targeted provision is used well to ensure that these specific barriers are reducing. You and your team are determined to support vulnerable pupils and their families, and you do this effectively. As a result, pupils and parents hold the school in very high regard. Overall, your use of the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils has a positive impact on their attainment and progress in mathematics and reading. However, leaders are aware that the progress of disadvantaged pupils in writing is slower than all pupils nationally as well as being slower than that of their classmates. Rightly, leaders have identified that more needs to be done to improve outcomes in writing for this group of pupils.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils enjoy their mathematics lessons. Information from assessments is used effectively, enabling staff to provide well-planned, suitable support for pupils. Any additional support is reviewed regularly to ensure that it is having the required impact. As a result, pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, make strong progress in mathematics. My classroom visits, together with scrutiny of pupils’ work, showed that pupils have a deep understanding of calculation, making effective use of practical apparatus to support their learning. You rightly recognise, however, that pupils require more regular opportunities to improve their reasoning and problem-solving skills to accelerate further their rate of progress.  You and your leadership team are accurate and honest in your evaluation of the school. Leaders regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of the quality of teaching on pupils’ progress. This has contributed to an accurate understanding

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Inspection findings

of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. You use this knowledge effectively to drive improvement. Governors know the school well. You provide them with high- quality information about the school’s effectiveness. They verify the information that you provide through their own visits to the school, discussions with staff and reviews from the academy trust.  The impact of your leadership can be seen in the rapid improvement in behaviour of pupils at Sandringham. Pupils say that the behaviour of other children is good. They have a strong understanding of the school’s behaviour policy and adore being awarded ‘a sparkly star’ for living by the school’s values. Pupils are helpful and polite, and show respect for adults and each other. I was impressed with pupils’ good manners and their enthusiasm for learning. Even at this early point in the school year, when pupils had only been in their new classrooms for a few

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Inspection findings

days, pupils followed instructions well, routines were secure and teachers’ expectations were clear.  Scrutiny of pupils’ work showed that high- and middle-attaining pupils make good progress in writing. They show a good degree of stamina for writing in their English lessons, with high standards being transferred to other subjects such as history and science. Pupils know how to improve their work, for example through redrafting. They confidently use their knowledge of sounds in their writing, resulting from secure teaching of phonics. Provisional assessment information suggests that the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check in 2018 is higher than seen nationally. However, assessment information and scrutiny of pupils’ work show that lower-attaining pupils make less progress in their writing than their classmates.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  pupils have more opportunities to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills in mathematics throughout the school, so that they make even better progress and attain highly  the rate of progress that disadvantaged pupils and lower-attaining pupils make in writing is increased.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the chief executive officer of The Kite Academy Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Surrey. 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 your senior leadership team to discuss the school’s effectiveness. You accompanied me on visits to lessons to observe pupils’ learning, talk to pupils and look at their work. Together, we looked at the quality of pupils’ work in books. I considered 94 responses from parents to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and their free-text comments. I spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day and formally spoke to a group of pupils about their school. Responses to the staff and pupil questionnaires were also considered. I met with four governors, including the chair of the local governing body, and also met with two representatives from your multi-academy trust. I evaluated the school’s safeguarding arrangements. A wide range of documents were examined, including the school’s self-evaluation, school improvement planning, pupils’ progress information and various school policies.

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