Compton and Up Marden CofE Primary School

Inspection of Compton and Up Marden CofE Primary School School Lane, Compton, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 9EZ

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Inspection dates: 30 and 31 January 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 30 and 31 January 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very happy at this school, where staff aim to ‘excite, engage and include’ them. Pupils speak with fondness of the school’s values of love, hope, forgiveness, perseverance and respectfulness. They invariably show these values throughout each day. New pupils are always welcomed with open arms. Pupils care for each other and want to include everyone. They all play together as one community in the beautiful grounds. They feel safe and secure because dedicated adults work effectively as a team to look after them. Pupils show high levels of respect for adults, both in class and across the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children benefit from a careful and purposeful start when they join Reception. The school has developed its curriculum effectively. Pupils’ reading and mathematics learning has particularly improved across the school. All staff want every pupil to achieve their best, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides many rich experiences, both within the curriculum and outside normal school hours. The outdoor learning environment is a real asset. It gives all pupils many opportunities to build independence and broaden their experiences. For example, pupils explore the natural world with science kits at playtimes.

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better?

The quality of the school’s curriculum has improved considerably. All subjects now have a clear and sequenced curriculum. This means staff know the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils should learn in every subject. The school is reflective and has ambitions to develop the curriculum offered even further.

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better?

The school prioritises learning to read. Well-trained staff deliver phonics lessons with clarity. The school organises its system of phonics groups to maximise their learning. Staff ensure that pupils have the right level of reading books for their stage of learning. If a pupil does not keep pace with their earning of phonics, teachers ensure they receive effective extra support to help them catch up. Teachers expose pupils of all ages to a wide range of high-quality texts. Pupils learn key comprehension skills from these. The school has a thoughtfully stocked library, which means that all pupils develop their experiences of different texts and authors.

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better?

Pupils’ learning in mathematics and science is secure. Overall, teaching is adapted well to meet the needs of different pupils. Teachers use the resources available effectively to support pupils’ learning. The wider curriculum is also developing well. The curriculum enables pupils to learn effectively in mixed-age classes. This means that pupils are now achieving more. Teachers check how well pupils have learned the full curriculum. However, because the work on the wider curriculum is more recent than in English and mathematics, it is not yet fully developed. As such, pupils do not achieve as well as they could in some subjects. 30 and 31 January 2024

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The school has high ambitions for disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND, who are well cared for. All staff want them to achieve their very best. However, while support is in place for these pupils, this is not always precisely matched to pupils’ needs. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not always achieve as well as they could.

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Pupils’ behaviour is strong. They listen attentively to their teachers and try their best in the work they produce. The quality of work is improving due to improvements to the quality of education. Younger pupils respectfully look up to the oldest pupils. The character and camaraderie demonstrated by older pupils are very strong. The school is taking the right action to improve the attendance of a small group of pupils.

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Pupils have a very good understanding of accepting difference in others. Using the school’s values as the basis, pupils develop their personal spirituality. The school’s offer to develop pupils’ interests includes sports, art and mindfulness. However, the school is keen to develop more cultural aspects, particularly the performing arts.

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The school is aware of its valued place in its community. As a result, everyone associated with the school has committed wholeheartedly to giving the pupils the best education. This includes all staff and those responsible for governance. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. One parent said, which reflected the views of many: ‘I could not wish for my children to go to a better school. All the children know each other, support and look out for each other. The teachers are all fantastic with the children. They are caring, approachable and very supportive.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum in some subjects is still being embedded. In these subjects, pupils have not always studied a curriculum that identifies the ambitious knowledge they need to learn. The school should ensure that pupils’ learning is monitored and that appropriate refinements are made to the curriculum to ensure pupils’ learning is as effective as possible in all subjects.  While the school understands the needs of most pupils with SEND and meets them well, staff have not reached a clear understanding of the precise needs of some pupils. These pupils do not achieve all that they could. The school should ensure that staff are equipped with the tools and expertise to ensure all pupils with SEND have their needs met fully. 30 and 31 January 2024

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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' is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 30 and 31 January 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority Interim executive board

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School details

Website www.dvsf.school/compton-upmarden

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22 November 2022, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is one of three small schools in The Downland Village School Federation. The executive headteacher and executive deputy headteacher lead all three schools.  The federation is currently overseen by an interim executive board. This will be replaced in the very near future by a full governing body.  The school is located in the Diocese of Chichester and Arundel. Its last section 48 inspection took place in March 2022, where it was graded good.  The school currently uses one alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 30 and 31 January 2024

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 Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and computing. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors met with the executive headteacher and deputy executive headteacher and other leaders within the school. The lead inspector also met with members of the interim executive board, including the chair, an education representative from the local authority and a representative from the Diocese of Chichester and Arundel.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and

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considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors reviewed a range of the school’s documentation, including self- evaluation reports, minutes of governing body meetings and behaviour incident logs.  The inspectors considered the views of parents shared through Ofsted Parent View, and inspectors also spoke with parents on both days of the inspection.  The views of staff were gathered through interviews and discussions conducted throughout the inspection, as well as through the staff survey.  Inspectors gathered pupils’ views throughout the inspection, including through classroom visits, group discussions, and at playtimes and lunchtime.

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Inspection team

Chris Parker, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Justin Bartlett Ofsted Inspector 30 and 31 January 2024

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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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