Collingbourne Church of England Primary School

Collingbourne Church of England Primary School Chicks Lane, Collingbourne Ducis, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 3UH

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders tackle areas for improvement with determination. Their reflective approach to school improvement is paying off.  Leaders manage improvements to teaching, learning and assessment well. Staff enjoy working at the school and respond positively to changes. The quality of teaching is good and continues to improve.  Governors understand the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They have high expectations and work effectively to ensure that the school continues to improve.  Leaders are relentless in keeping safeguarding high on the school’s agenda. As a result, there is a strong culture of safeguarding.  The teaching of reading is now good. High- quality texts shared in lessons motivate pupils to read more. Teachers plan interesting discussions which successfully explore and explain new words and ideas.  Leaders’ actions to improve attendance have worked well. Attendance has steadily improved and is now matching the national average.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Most pupils make increasingly strong progress in phonics, reading, writing and mathematics because of good teaching.  A few pupils, particularly those who need to catch up, do not make the progress they should. Subject leaders do not use assessment information well enough to challenge weaknesses in progress.  High-quality professional development for staff has helped to rapidly improve the quality of teaching in early years and it is now good. However, expectations in writing are still not quite high enough.  A strong sense of respect and values permeates the school. Every opportunity is found to celebrate pupils’ successes. This helps pupils to feel confident and secure and prepares them well for their futures.  Parents speak highly of how happy and safe their children are. The various lines of communication help parents to be involved and informed about the progress their child makes.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by ensuring that subject leaders identify weaknesses in pupils’ progress and provide challenge to ensure it improves.  Improve pupils’ outcomes by ensuring that: – pupils who need to catch up make good progress – there is sufficient challenge in early years so that children reach higher standards, particularly in writing.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The headteacher is determined and resolute in his mission to make the school the best it can possibly be. Priority areas for improvement, such as improving pupils’ skills in reading, have been tackled head on. Leaders seek advice then reflect and act to make improvements. There is a strong team approach and a shared sense of moving forward. The staff survey was strikingly positive. Staff can see the strengths emerging and are proud to work at the school.  Leaders take full advantage of the advice and challenge provided by education advisers. This partnership has led to strong improvement to the quality of teaching and learning.  Parents who gave a view spoke very highly of the impact good leadership has had on the quality of education. All said they would recommend the school to other parents and all agreed that their children were taught well. A typical comment being, ‘Collingbourne has improved drastically over the last 18 months. It is a very special

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

school where every child is valued and encouraged to grow.’  Pupils are prepared well for their futures. They are encouraged to be kind and thoughtful. For example, the ‘gold book’ describes examples of being a good friend. Pupils learn about how people live in other countries and have different beliefs and religions. Interesting visitors and extra events help to broaden pupils’ views and ideas about the world. There is a strong ethos of respect and caring for each other.  Subject leaders check the impact of their work by observing learning and looking at books. At times, weaknesses in pupils’ progress are not identified and acted on with enough urgency. As a result, some pupils do not make the progress they could over time.  Leaders are insightful about the needs of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Additional funding is used well to raise

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

aspirations and remove barriers to learning through extra teaching, support for pupils’ well-being and special trips. As a result, pupils make good progress that helps them to achieve as well as their peers.  Pupils are encouraged to be physically active. The school has strong links with local sport groups, including Collingbourne cricket and hockey clubs. Leaders use the PE and sport premium for primary schools well. Additional equipment enhances pupils’ activity at breaktimes and lunchtimes. Many pupils enjoy and benefit from a wide range of sports after school, including yoga, dance and netball.

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Governance of the school

 As with many aspects of the school, governance has improved. Governors have a wide range of suitable experience and knowledge. They share leaders’ ambitions to continue to make improvements. Through their frequent visits to the school, they share a solid understanding of the strengths and areas to further improve. Assessment information is used effectively to challenge leaders about the progress being made by pupils.  Governors scrutinise how leaders use additional funding and have a good understanding of how activities improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. For example, they explained the impact of a trip to a special event, ‘Dare to be different’, on pupils’ aspirations.  Governors support leaders’ intentions to provide memorable learning experiences for pupils. For example, during the inspection, everyone in the school was involved in a practice and performance of ‘The Tempest’, supported by professionals who worked

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Safeguarding is kept at a high profile. Concerns are followed up quickly and appropriate support is drawn from other agencies. The designated safeguarding leader has a consistent and rigorous approach which is impactful on pupils’ welfare and safety.  Frequent training events for staff support their strong understanding of how to keep pupils safe. Messages from training are kept alive. For example, the ‘question of the week’ posed to staff initiates discussion and thought about different aspects of safeguarding.  Governors are effective in their oversight of safeguarding. They make checks to ensure that policies and procedures are appropriate. They support safeguarding audits and keep a close watch on recruitment arrangements.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Leaders work successfully to raise expectations and to make improvements to the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. A new system to track progress helps leaders to have a solid understanding of pupils’ skills and knowledge. Teachers increasingly use this information well to plan lessons that match the next steps that pupils need to take to make good progress.  Reading has been a focus for improvement this year. The teaching of reading now includes precise strategies to support pupils’ understanding of their reading. Lessons focus on different aspects of reading, such as vocabulary, inference, and prediction. Most teachers skilfully use these aspects to deepen pupils’ understanding of their reading.  Reading has a high profile across the school. Two well-resourced library areas invite pupils to read widely and often. Pupils discuss authors they enjoy and compare different books by authors. Reading volunteers contribute well to the reading culture.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

Teachers take opportunities to encourage pupils to read across the curriculum. In Years 5 and 6, pupils were engrossed in reading newspaper articles about the D-Day landings.  Pupils’ books show an improvement in the teaching of mathematics this year. Pupils are increasingly challenged to use their number knowledge to answer more difficult questions.  Teachers look for ways to make lessons interesting, for example by taking learning outside. Subject leaders have good knowledge of their subjects and ensure that the national curriculum is covered across the school. At times, weaknesses in the teaching and learning in some subjects are not identified and improved with sufficient urgency.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils are proud of their school and say that they ‘love coming to school’. There is a strong sense of belonging. For example, pupils are enthusiastic about a display showing pictures of the history of the school.  Pupils develop strong attitudes to learning that equip them well for their next steps. A recent focus on handwriting across the school has not gone unnoticed by pupils. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 proudly describe how extra help for handwriting has helped them to write neatly and fluently, showing well-presented examples in their writing books.  They are also aware of how to improve the content of their writing by using interesting vocabulary. Pupils described how staff helped them with this by providing ‘word mats’. Improving presentation in pupils’ books remains a focus for the school to ensure that good presentation is seen across subjects and year groups.

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Personal development and welfare

 Learning about how pupils can keep themselves safe and healthy features across the curriculum. This is further enhanced with additional events about aspects of pupils’ welfare such as keeping safe online. There are very few cases of bullying. Pupils explained that they help each other to sort things out but, if needed, they are confident that staff will sort problems out quickly.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils conduct themselves well as they move around the school. They work diligently during lessons. As a result of high expectations and a calm, well-organised learning environment, pupils are confident and self-assured. As an astute Year 6 pupil said, ‘We are ready to move on to our next schools.’  Leaders engage with parents to continue to improve attendance. Their actions have seen steady improvements and overall attendance is now at around the national average.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Outcomes continue to improve, and most pupils achieve well. A strong start in early reading means that outcomes in the phonics screening assessments have been above national averages for the last three years. Most pupils currently in Year 1 demonstrate solid phonics knowledge. For the few who still need to gain some skills, extra daily teaching is in place.  Outcomes by the end of key stage 1, including for the most able, have significantly improved over the past three years. This is because of improvements in the quality of teaching. Pupils’ books show that current pupils in key stage 1 are also achieving well and making good progress.  In key stage 2, some weaker teaching in the past means that some pupils, particularly the most able pupils, have not achieved as well as they should. For the past three years, no pupils achieved higher standards in all subjects of reading, writing and mathematics. Higher expectations and closer checking by senior leaders mean that

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Outcomes for pupils Good

more of the most able pupils now achieve well.  Pupils’ books confirm leaders’ analysis that teachers now provide challenging activities for the most able pupils in mathematics. In addition, improvements to reading are evident in the increasingly mature and interesting vocabulary seen in pupils’ writing.  Pupils learn to use feedback from teachers to improve their work. Time is set aside each day to do this. Pupils’ books show that the attention to individual misconceptions helps pupils’ spelling, punctuation and grammar skills to improve. Pupils often successfully apply this learning when writing in other subjects.  Senior leaders analyse assessment information and ensure that discussions they have with staff about pupils’ progress are challenging. This has contributed to the overall raising of standards across the school in recent years. Subject leaders are developing their skills. They do not make a strong contribution towards identifying and acting on

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Outcomes for pupils Good

weaknesses in pupils’ progress. As a result, a few pupils, particularly those who have gaps in their understanding, do not make the progress they should.

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Early years provision Good

 The early years leader has embraced recent support and advice and made significant improvements to the learning experienced by children. As a result, teaching is good. The learning environment has been decluttered and now provides inviting, well- resourced spaces for learning inside and outside.  Children’s personal development and welfare are attended to well. Children are safe, secure and happy in school. They settle well due to the strong relationships and the successful partnerships formed with parents. Parents praise the quality of communication. They say that the frequent information they receive helps them to understand the small steps that their children make each day.  Most children enter school with skills that are broadly typical for their age and most make good progress throughout early years. Staff have a good understanding of the skills and knowledge that children have and use this to plan purposeful activities to

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Early years provision Good

develop these further.  Children move confidently around the learning activities and many try hard to complete the additional challenges set. Adults encourage and support children well during their learning, asking questions to help direct their thoughts and explaining new words. New initiatives support children to engage positively and develop good attitudes. For example, children use planning books to write down what they intend to learn each day.  This, and other well-planned activities, help children to make good progress in developing their early skills. This prepares children well for learning in Year 1. Even so, some children, particularly those with stronger starting points, do not develop their writing skills as well as they could.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address admin@collingbourne.wilts.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10 October 2013

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Information about this school

 Collingbourne Church of England Primary School is a smaller-than-average sized school and is situated south of Marlborough, close to several military bases.  The headteacher has been in post since September 2017.  The school is a voluntary controlled Church of England school within the Diocese of Salisbury. The most recent section 48 inspection took place in January 2019.  The local authority provides support to the school through regular visits by an education adviser.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching and learning in a range of subjects across classes. All observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher. The inspector also looked at a wide range of pupils’ workbooks.  The inspector spoke to pupils about their learning and the school in meetings and in informal discussions. Behaviour was observed in lessons and at less structured times of the day.  The inspector met regularly with the headteacher. Meetings were also held with other leaders as well as members of the governing body. The inspector spoke by telephone to the two school improvement advisers who support the school.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including leaders’ evaluation of the school’s own performance, school development planning and documents relating to pupils’ behaviour and the quality of teaching and learning. The inspector also reviewed the minutes of meetings of the governing body and information relating to safeguarding

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Information about this inspection

and attendance.  The inspector spoke to parents before school. The 31 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were also considered.  The 13 responses to an online survey for staff were also taken into account.

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Inspection team

Tonwen Empson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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