Frant Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Frant Church of England Primary School Church Lane, Frant, Tunbridge Wells, East Sussex TN3 9DX

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Outcome

Frant Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to Frant Church of England Primary School. They feel happy and cared for here. They know that their teachers only want the best for them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers work hard to engage and challenge their pupils. In this small school community, they focus very much on the individual child. Teachers mostly encourage pupils to stick at learning even when it is challenging. They watch carefully to make sure that pupils stay focused and determined. However, sometimes, teachers could expect more of pupils and provide better support for weaker readers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave very well in class. At breaktimes, pupils play happily with each other. Older children look out for the younger ones. Pupils are very clear that bullying is not a problem in the school. They say that it hardly ever happens. They are confident that teachers would quickly sort out any problem if it were to occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are very happy with what the school provides. One comment typifies how parents and pupils feel: ‘We could not be happier with this school! My boys always skip smiling into school, excited about the day ahead.’

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have made a unified effort to review and improve their curriculum planning across all subjects. They have revised what the content in the curriculum should be. A learning pathway has been set out from Reception through to the end of key stage 2. Currently, this focuses on the opportunities the school offers as well as how pupils develop important skills. Leaders have not yet sufficiently fleshed out the precise knowledge they want pupils to learn in each part of the curriculum.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

That said, teachers have strong subject knowledge and are adept in how they deliver the learning to pupils. They plan together closely and discuss what to teach. Through this process, they do mostly specify and sequence the knowledge they share with pupils. 27 January 2022

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Pupils retain what they learn and build that understanding over time. However, the subject content does not yet fully and precisely identify key knowledge pupils need to learn.

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Teachers use simple but effective checks to see how well pupils are doing. They adapt what they teach to address any gaps. As a result, pupils generally make secure progress in their learning. On occasions, though, teachers’ expectations of older pupils could be higher. This is particularly true in respect of how well pupils develop their extended writing.

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Reading is at the heart of the school. In the atrium area, pupils use the library, and younger children spend time practising their reading. Staff work in a determined and thorough way to ensure that pupils learn to read quickly and successfully. Phonics teaching starts straightaway in Reception. Children soon learn to love books. They listen with rapt attention to their teacher when she reads to them. Pupils across key stage 1 practise and learn letters and their sounds. They are taught phonics in a largely consistent and systematic way so that most pupils read well by the end of key stage 1. However, pupils do not currently read books that match exactly the sounds they know. The very small number of weaker readers receive support, but they are not consistently asked to use their decoding skills. This prevents them from making swifter progress.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn well in the school. Their needs are carefully identified. Teachers then consider how to adapt the learning for them. They use a range of effective strategies that help pupils with SEND to learn well alongside their classmates.

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Pupils behave to a high standard. They have positive attitudes towards each other and to their learning. They understand the rules of the school and happily abide by them. They are socially confident and at ease with adults.

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Leaders have high ambition for pupils’ wider development. They offer a wealth of opportunities for pupils to be able to extend their interests and talents beyond the classroom. Pupils regularly take part in a range of extra-curricular clubs. These include clubs for sports, pottery, guitar, keyboard, choir, judo, debating, drama and many more. Older pupils proudly speak about the many ways in which they can develop their leadership skills.

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Leaders place a strong emphasis on the well-being and professional development of their teachers. Staff feel truly supported and valued. The executive headteacher and governors of the federation offer thoughtful support to leaders at the school. They work well together to bring about improvements.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff and governors receive detailed information and guidance in safeguarding at the beginning of the year. This is refreshed with them at the start of each term and through 27 January 2022

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staff and governor meetings. The head of school delivers all training, ensuring that safeguarding information is up to date and relevant to the school community.

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Throughout the school, everyone has a full and clear understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. Staff are alert to any need. They teach pupils to keep themselves safe. Leaders ensure that they secure the right help for children and their families. Governors check that all recruitment processes are carried out appropriately.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned in some subjects. Some subject planning lacks sufficient focus on the knowledge pupils should acquire and by when. Pupils’ learning is therefore not fully maximised. However, it is clear from leaders’ actions that they are in the process of bringing about the necessary amendments. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied. Leaders should ensure that they identify the exact content teachers need to deliver and how this knowledge will accumulate over time.  While the phonics delivery is largely successful, it needs to be more systematic and thorough for those few pupils who struggle to gain fluency. These pupils do not make the progress they should. Leaders should insist on pupils using their blending and segmenting skills. They must also ensure that pupils practise their reading skills using books that precisely match the sounds they know.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers’ expectations of what older pupils can achieve in their writing are not high enough. As a result, pupils’ writing can sometimes be insufficiently crafted and underdeveloped. Teachers should set clearer expectations for the quality they expect from pupils in terms of their writing.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2017. 27 January 2022

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 27 January 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Date of previous inspection

1 October 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Frant Church of England Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school joined with three other local small schools to form The Weald Federation in September 2019. An executive headteacher oversees all four schools. A head of school runs the school day to day. There is a single governing body across the federation.  The school does not currently use alternative provision.  The school is in the Diocese of Chichester. Its last section 48 inspection took place in March 2018.

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school had received since COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders, and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 27 January 2022

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 Inspectors reviewed the school’s safeguarding arrangements. They looked at the relevant documentation, staff recruitment checks and training. They also considered how well adults in the school act on emerging concerns about pupils’ welfare.  The views of staff and pupils were gathered through informal discussions with the inspectors. Inspectors also considered 44 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, including 33 free-text responses. There were 16 responses to the staff survey and 20 to the pupils’ questionnaire.  Meetings were held with leaders and governors, including the chair of governors.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke to groups of pupils about their learning and looked at samples of their work.

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Inspection team

Yasmin Maskatiya, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Shaun Jarvis Her Majesty’s Inspector 27 January 2022

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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