Twineham CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Twineham C of E Primary School Church Lane, Twineham, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH17 5NR

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. Inspectors are recommending the next inspection to be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy being part of this welcoming and happy school. The nurturing environment permeates the school. Pupils are kind to each other and relationships between adults and pupils are warm. Parents appreciate the positivity and friendliness of staff, with one parent summarising, ‘The most special aspect of Twineham school is the sense of community.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s values of nurture, togetherness, resilience and creativity thread through all aspects of the provision. Pupils talk positively about taking part in the numerous clubs, visits and interschool competitions. They particularly enjoy the leadership opportunities to organise sports events for local schools.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff expect pupils to behave well, and they do. Those pupils who need help to manage their feelings and emotions get the help they need. Routines are in place to ensure all pupils are fully integrated into every area of school life. Pupils feel safe. They rightly trust their teachers to sort out any issues quickly, including bullying.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders’ vision ‘that everyone is a gift and everyone is gifted’ is at the heart of everything they do. Although leaders have a high ambition for the curriculum, many subjects are still in development. Therefore, pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

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

In some subjects, such as mathematics, leaders have identified the knowledge that pupils should learn precisely. This has been carefully sequenced, beginning in early years, and means pupils can remember what they have learned over time. Pupils confidently apply their learning to other aspects of mathematics and are achieving well. 17 November 2022

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Many other subjects need further development. Leaders are laser focused on improving the curriculum by systematically redesigning each subject in turn. For subjects such as history and art, leaders have identified the skills and knowledge that pupils should learn and remember. However, they have not considered pupils’ past learning well enough. This means that teachers do not always know if they are teaching the right content. Consequently, pupils are not always able to make links with their learning or embed their knowledge.

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The school is committed to being highly inclusive. Teachers adapt the curriculum delivery skilfully so that every pupil, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can access the full curriculum. Well-considered use of assessment allows teachers to precisely identify where pupils’ learning is secure and where further support is required to address any misconceptions. Leaders work closely with staff to identify pupils who may have SEND. The support for these pupils is impressive.

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The outdoor learning curriculum, affectionately called ‘muddy learning’, is a highlight for pupils. They explore subjects such as science and geography through thoughtfully designed, practical activities in the school’s grounds. Parents value this unique part of the curriculum, with one parent describing it as a ‘fantastic chance for children to learn and explore the nature around them.’

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Pupils have not achieved well enough in reading over time. Leaders recently introduced a new phonics scheme to tackle this. Most staff have now received relevant training to deliver the scheme. Pupils in Reception and key stage 1 now benefit from this new programme. They read books that are engaging and well matched to the sounds that they know. Any pupils falling behind receive additional support designed to help them practise and develop their phonics knowledge.

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However, older pupils have not received the same expert support, so they have not become fluent or confident readers. Although younger pupils enjoy reading, not all pupils share the same positive attitude. The wider reading curriculum is now being redesigned to include high-quality texts by a range of authors, but this work is incomplete.

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Pupils behave well. They listen carefully and engage with their teachers effectively. Pupils have many opportunities to broaden their experiences beyond the academic curriculum. They speak with enthusiasm about the range of special events, visits and charity events, such as the ‘welly walks’ they experience. Pupils talk confidently about what constitutes a healthy relationship. They understand what keeping healthy, including physical health, healthy diet and mental well-being, means.

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Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the changes taking place at the school. They feel supported and say leaders are considerate of their workload and well-being. The headteacher has established a partnership with another school, utilising the shared expertise to develop the school’s curriculum. Governors, supported by the local authority and the diocese, have a clear understanding of what the school does well and what needs to be prioritised. 17 November 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff and governors receive frequent and up-to-date training. This enables staff to identify and support pupils who may be at risk of harm. The caring culture of the school means that pupils feel at ease sharing concerns with staff. Concerns are reported promptly by vigilant staff. Leaders maintain thorough records and work well with other agencies to make sure that pupils are safe.

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Safeguarding

Governors regularly review the school’s procedures. Recruitment processes include appropriate checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with pupils. The curriculum includes teaching pupils about risks in and outside of school, including how to keep themselves safe using the internet.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Early reading has not been taught well enough. This has had an adverse impact on some pupils’ reading fluency and accuracy. Leaders should ensure that pupils who are struggling to read, particularly those in key stage 2, receive appropriate support and regular opportunities to practise reading.  Leaders have not prioritised reading sufficiently. Pupils do not read enough high-quality texts. Leaders should design a well-sequenced reading curriculum that encourages pupils to read and develops their language and literacy skills.  In some subjects, the curriculum is underdeveloped. This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Leaders should ensure that they sequence the crucial knowledge and concepts that pupils need to learn and by when in all subjects.

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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. 17 November 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. 17 November 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211196 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 17 January 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is currently led by an interim headteacher, who has been in place since April 2022. A new acting headteacher has been appointed from January 2023.  Twineham C of E Primary School is part of the Diocese of Chichester. Its most recent section 48 inspection was in 2018, when it was judged to be good.  The school does not currently use any external alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the 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.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the assistant headteacher and the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator.  The lead inspector met with the chair of governors. She also spoke with the school improvement adviser from the local authority and the diocesan school effectiveness officer. 17 November 2022

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 The inspection team carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work. Inspectors also heard some pupils read and talked to pupils across the school about their love of reading.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans for music and art.  Inspectors talked to pupils from different year groups about their learning and experiences at school through both formal and informal discussions.  The views of staff were gathered through discussions and their responses to Ofsted’s confidential staff survey.  Inspectors reviewed 22 responses to the parent survey, including the free-text comments that parents made. Inspectors also spoke to parents at the start of the day.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors spoke with staff and pupils.

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The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding leads to examine records and actions. This included sampling a range of safeguarding documentation. The team inspector reviewed checks on the safer recruitment of adults. Throughout the inspection, inspectors considered and checked the culture of safeguarding within the school.  The inspection team scrutinised a range of documentation provided by the school. This included leaders’ self-evaluation and school development priorities, policies, curriculum documents, published information about pupils’ performance, pupil premium strategy, local authority visit reports, diocesan visit reports and minutes of governors’ meetings.

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Inspection team

Vicky Matthews, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Ginny Rhodes Ofsted Inspector 17 November 2022

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