Stock Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Stock Church of England Primary School Swan Lane, Stock, Ingatestone, Essex CM4 9BQ

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Inspection dates: 27 and 28 September 2022

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Outcome

Stock 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 their time at this school. They feel part of a friendly, safe community. Pupils of all ages play and work together happily. Older and younger pupils pair up to read together and walk to church.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are keen to learn. Children in the early years enthusiastically explore the learning activities set up for them. Older pupils explain ideas clearly to each other. Pupils persevere with challenging new learning. They say they can put up their ‘magic hand’ in lessons and will get the help they need if they get stuck.

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What is it like to attend this school?

From the early years, children learn to take turns. They share their equipment readily. Pupils enjoy games and energetic play at break times. Pupils move around the school safely. They often hold doors open for each other without prompting. In lessons, pupils settle quickly to work. Bullying is rare. They are confident that adults would stop it quickly if it happened.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils care for their school environment. They are proud of the beautiful flowers they have grown. ‘Eco monitors’ encourage everyone to recycle. Pupils feel part of the wider community too. They take part in music festivals, for example, and show off their maypole dancing at local events.

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

Leaders at every level are ambitious for pupils to achieve well. They have clear plans in place to secure this in most subjects. Teachers get the training they need to teach these subjects well.

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

Children start learning to read as soon as they join the school. Lessons follow a well- thought-out order of learning. Carefully chosen books ensure that pupils get plenty of practice. Teachers regularly check how pupils are faring. They put extra help in place for pupils who need it to catch up. Most pupils develop their reading skills quickly. Older 27 and 28 September 2022

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pupils read widely and well. They talk enthusiastically about their favourite authors and books. Pupils tackle challenging texts eagerly in class. Teachers help pupils to understand complicated language and plots. Pupils across the school say they enjoy the daily story time. This is because their teachers bring the stories to life for them.

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Most pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the help they need so they achieve well. Leaders work with pre-school providers to understand any difficulties, so they are prepared well to help children to settle in easily. External professionals’ advice is used to inform support for pupils with the highest level of need. For a few pupils with SEND, the targets set are too broad for them or their families to understand how well they are progressing or what more needs to be done. Support staff have not had enough training to put into place the extra help that leaders have identified to meet some pupils’ needs.

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In most subjects, teachers introduce learning in small steps to help pupils to grasp new ideas quickly. They check understanding regularly in lessons. Teachers spot pupils who need extra help quickly. They provide this help straight away in lessons or in carefully planned extra sessions and interventions. Pupils talk confidently about their learning. In maths, for example, they can explain how they use what they already know to help them to solve new problems. In a few subjects, planning systems are too complicated for teachers to easily identify and teach the most important knowledge. Where this is the case, it is harder for leaders to check how well pupils understand the curriculum content they are taught. In these subjects, pupils learn less well.

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Pupils behave well around the school and in lessons. Adults model respectful relationships. Pupils respond well and are kind and courteous. They start to develop independence from the early years.

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Pupils know the school values. These are reflected in the curriculum. Pupils learn about healthy relationships. They know that forgiveness is important. Pupils have a strong sense of right and wrong but say that everyone should have a fresh start if they apologise.

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Pupils are well prepared for their next steps in life. They learn about democracy by voting for the school council. They develop self-confidence by taking on leadership roles such as house captains.

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Leaders at every level are committed to improvement. Governors know the school well. Staff work effectively as a team. They appreciate recent changes by leaders which take account of their workload. Plans are in place to give middle leaders the time they need to develop and monitor the curriculum and to provide more training for support staff.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders know pupils and their families well. Staff are well trained to look out for any indicators of potential safeguarding concerns. They record these promptly using school 27 and 28 September 2022

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systems. This enables leaders to identify where pupils may be vulnerable and action is required to keep children safe.

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Leaders are persistent in following up concerns. They work well with external agencies such as the police and social services. Extra help is commissioned for pupils, including counselling when required. Leaders seek out additional support for families who need it.

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The required checks are completed on volunteers and new staff. Appropriate safeguarding training is provided.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects the most important learning has not been clearly identified and sequenced to enable pupils to know and remember more over time. In these subjects, pupils are less confident or able to explain what they are learning and how this builds on what they already know. Leaders should ensure that curriculum plans are sufficiently clear and that all adults have the training they need to implement plans as intended so that pupils achieve well.  Individual targets for some pupils with SEND are not always sufficiently precise. As a result, these pupils, and their families, do not know how well pupils are learning or what else needs to be done to help them to move forward. Leaders should ensure that all adults are well trained so that they can identify, implement and evaluate specific, personalised support for pupils with SEND and set well-defined targets to help them to improve.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2012. 27 and 28 September 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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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 and 28 September 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211390 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 8 February 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses off-site alternative provision for one pupil.  As the school is designated as having a religious character, it is inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The last section 48 inspection of this school took place in June 2017.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with senior leaders and teachers, including subject leaders.  The inspector met with representatives from the governing body, including the chair of governors.  The inspector carried out deep dives in three subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at 27 and 28 September 2022

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curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, met with pupils to speak about their learning and looked at samples of their work.  The inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and other staff to discuss safeguarding.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documentation during the inspection, including school development plans, and safeguarding and behaviour records.  The inspector considered 81 responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and 51 free-text comments. She also considered 13 responses to the staff survey and 105 responses to the pupil survey.  The inspector spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences of school life and their learning in lessons to understand what it is like to be a pupil in their school. The inspector also observed the behaviour of pupils at break times and around the school.

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Inspection team

Lynne Williams, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 27 and 28 September 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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