Holmer Green First School and Pre-School

Holmer Green First School

Dates of inspection: 10 –12 January 2000.

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Holmer Green First School

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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Holmer Green First School

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Holmer Green First School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Watchet Lane Holmer Green High Wycombe Bucks. Postcode: HP15 6UG

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs S.Cobbold.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: October 1996 Holmer Green First School - 4

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Team members

Mrs Christine Huard Registered inspector Mrs Libby Dickson Lay inspector Mr Adrian Everix Team inspector

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Team members

Qualitas Education Consultants Ltd Wickham Court Layhams Road West Wickham Kent BR4 9HH.

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Team members

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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Team members

The Registrar Inspection Quality Division

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Team members

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Holmer Green First School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL 10

Standards in reading writing and mathematics. Pupils are taught the skills they need from an early age. Teaching is of good quality overall. The moral and social development of the pupils is very strong. The leadership and management of the school are very good.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Holmer Green First School is an Infant school with 166 girls and boys on roll. The school has been reorganised since the previous inspection and no longer has any Year 3 pupils. There are very few pupils from ethnic minority groups attending the school. There are 16 (9.6%) pupils on the school’s register of pupils with special educational needs and 2 (1.2%) pupils have statements. Both are below the national averages. Few pupils are eligible for free school meals (1.73%); this is well below the national average. Most of the pupils attend the school from the local area and most pupils have previously attended pre-schools in Holmer Green. The attainment of children on entry to the school, using the county baseline assessment, is average. The school is divided into 5 single age group classes and one class has mainly Year 2 with a small group of Year 1 pupils. This was done in order to preserve class sizes below 30. The average class size is 28.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a good school with some very good features. The pupils achieve high standards in literacy and numeracy, and good standards in most other subjects. Teachers maintain pupils’ attention in lessons and aid their learning by focused questioning carefully matched to pupils’ abilities. The overall leadership and management of the school is very good with the headteacher, governors and staff working together to create an interesting and stimulating learning environment. Pupils’ attainments are monitored carefully to ensure that high standards are maintained and improvement is an-going feature. The school provides good value for money.

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What the school does well

• Standards in reading, writing and mathematics are well above the national average. • Pupils are taught the skills they need to learn effectively from an early age, which results in them having very good attitudes towards their work. • Teaching is of an overall good quality and the high standard of sharp, focused questioning has a major impact on the learning of the pupils. • The moral and social development of the pupils is very strong. • The leadership and management of the school are very good and focused clearly on what can be done to improve further.

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What could be improved

• Too little time is spent on science, and its teaching has not been monitored rigorously enough. This means that pupils have too few skills and not enough knowledge and understanding to enable them to achieve higher levels in the standard assessment tasks at the end of the Key Stage. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school was last inspected in October 1996. At that time standards achieved by the pupils were good in reading, writing and mathematics. This has continued with the trend being one of steady improvement in writing, currently at a rate in excess of that nationally. In the other two areas standards are being maintained in line with the trend of national improvement. The quality of education provided by the school was good and this is still the case with teaching in all lessons observed being at least satisfactory and the great majority being good. The management and efficiency of the school was very good and this too has been maintained with the school looking for ways to improve the quality of teaching and learning still further in order to improve standards. An appropriate monitoring and evaluation programme is enabling it to analyse standards more closely and identify areas in need of action. Issues from the previous inspection have been effectively

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

addressed. The school has made particular progress in the development of its curriculum for information technology. It has extended its range of equipment and pupils now have opportunities to learn through whole class teaching, which is reinforced by individual practice in the classroom. Staff competence in this subject Holmer Green First School - 7 has been improved although there are plans to extend this further through National Grid for Learning initiatives. An appropriate system for recording pupils’ progress in information technology is in place.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by 7 year olds based on National Curriculum test results.

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Key

Reading A A* A A well above average above average A B Writing A A A B Average Below average C D Mathematics A A A A well below average E

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Key

The table shows the standards achieved by seven-year-old pupils based on average points scores in the national assessment tasks.

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Key

The majority of children in the reception class are achieving what is normally expected for their age in language, literacy and numeracy as assessed against the county baseline. At seven years of age, standards in reading, writing and mathematics are well above the national average and well above that for similar schools in reading and mathematics. Standards in writing are above those expected in schools of a similar kind. The work pupils were doing during the inspection confirmed these standards although targets set for this year show expectations to be slightly lower reflecting the comparative weaknesses within the present group of Year 2 pupils.

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Key

Standards in science, the other main core subject, are not high enough. Although a high percentage of pupils attained the national level 2, no pupils achieved the higher level 3 last summer and the school achieved standards which were well below those achieved by schools of a similar kind. Inspection findings show that too little time is devoted to the subject to enable pupils to cover the subject in depth, and pupils’ investigative skills fail to develop systematically alongside their knowledge and understanding.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Pupils’ attitudes towards their work and the school are very good. They are very attentive and responsive and show a delight at being in school. They show an eagerness to learn.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Behaviour is generally good overall. In the classroom pupils are polite to their teachers, have good levels of concentration and can be trusted to get on with their work sensibly. Pupils are sometimes allowed to become a little noisy and over exuberant.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Pupils are developing very good learning skills and are encouraged to take responsibility for a number of tasks around the classroom and school. Relationships between pupils and adults are very good.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Attendance is above average. Pupils are eager to attend school. There are Holmer Green First School - 8 very few instances of lateness. School sessions start promptly.

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years

Lessons seen overall Good Good Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years

The quality of teaching overall in all lessons was at least satisfactory. A high percentage of teaching observed was good. The teaching of English and mathematics is particularly successful because teachers have considered what is needed to best assist the learning of pupils in the school and provided for this. The teaching of literacy and numeracy has been very successfully implemented and teachers are confident, enthusiastic and convinced of the benefits that it is bringing to the school. Teachers ensure that all lessons are interesting, varied and challenging to pupils of all abilities. Pupils’ learning is aided by their attitudes, which include listening carefully to the teacher and each other, enthusiasm for the tasks set and the usually good match of tasks to pupils’ individual abilities, particularly during group work.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Planning and implementation of the numeracy and literacy strategies are good. The English curriculum is particularly effective and the increased time devoted to it has had a positive impact, particularly on writing skills. The curriculum is generally broad and balanced although too little time is allocated to science. There is good integration of other subjects within topic areas and planning carefully ensures adequate coverage.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Provision for pupils with special educational needs is good. The school identifies pupils with potential needs early on and makes appropriate provision for them. Individual education plans are developed from Stage 1, are well written and contain specific targets for pupils to work towards. Learning is built on step by step.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Very good overall provision for pupils’ personal development. The staff provide very good role models and social and moral development are both very strong with pupils developing a strong understanding of wider issues beyond their own immediate locality. Good provision is made for pupils’ cultural development. There are opportunities for pupils to appreciate a range of music and art and develop understanding of other cultures through links with a school in India. Sound provision is made for pupils’ spiritual development.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Appropriate child protection procedures are in place with the headteacher as named person. Regular health and safety checks are made in line with the school’s policy by the governor responsible and health and safety co- ordinator. Behaviour and discipline policies are in place and consistently applied by all staff and adults in the school.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The headteacher provides strong leadership and has insight and vision for the future of the school. She is very well supported by her newly appointed deputy. Subject and other area co-ordinators make a major contribution to the smooth running of the school and take responsibility for their subjects by monitoring planning and lessons. All share the commitment to on-going improvement.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Knowledgeable and committed governors support the Headteacher. Their personal expertise in building, finance and teaching is well utilised to the advantage of the school. They know the school well and undertake effective monitoring visits. Objective and very good quality reports and recommendations are made to the rest of the governors.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance School has a mostly effective overall monitoring and evaluation strategy. Pupils’ performance is carefully tracked and monitored on an individual and year group basis. The curriculum is also monitored through termly evaluations by staff, and the implementation of the literacy and numeracy strategies have been well monitored through classroom observations. Needs have been identified and appropriate priorities set. Science has been overlooked recently but has been included in this year’s school development plan.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Very good use is made of all resources – staff, financial and material. All material resources are carefully selected to meet the school’s needs and are allocated where they will be of optimum use. The use of the ‘techno’ room to house the school’s PCs means they can be well utilised during numeracy sessions and used for whole class teaching of information technology during the afternoons. The school is careful to ensure best value and the governing body monitors how resources are used and managed.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• Children make good progress whatever their ability. • The school develops pupils’ independence. • The children have an awareness of wider issues beyond their local community. • Children’s behaviour is orderly and they are taught to respect each other and their teachers. • The teachers are very approachable and deal with any concerns very quickly. • They are very happy with the homework set. • Standards in science. The fact that no children achieved level 3 last summer.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection team agrees with the parents’ positive views. It investigated the concerns about science, found them to be justified and has made appropriate recommendations to the appropriate authority through this report. Holmer Green First School - 10

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

Standards in reading, writing and mathematics are well above the national average.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

1. The school has very effectively implemented the literacy strategy over the last year. The staff have examined the structure of this, discussed it fully at staff meetings and made the decision to adapt the main framework in order to meet the needs of the pupils at Holmer Green. For example, it was decided to extend writing activities further as this had been a main priority in the school. Improvements were already seen to have been made through class work and improved national test results and staff were anxious not to jeopardise the success of this previous initiative. Planning for literacy is of a high quality, it provides for the appropriate extension of skills, knowledge and understanding as pupils move through the school. There is very good consistency in the implementation of the school’s strategy across parallel classes to ensure that all pupils are being taught the same thing. The quality of teaching is uniformly good across the school, with no real

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

weaknesses. This means that all pupils are assured of equal access to the curriculum and equal opportunities to succeed. Work is carefully differentiated within lessons to ensure that all pupils are challenged to achieve within their own ability levels. Where necessary additional tasks are provided for pupils who have specific difficulties. For example, in one literacy session additional material at a simpler level was provided for three pupils in one class but not in the parallel class because of differences in ability. Literacy is effectively implemented into other subject areas which further extends pupils knowledge and understanding. For example, in religious education the story of the Sun and the North wind was told to demonstrate the power of nature but also re-inforced the school’s theme of traditional tales being covered that week.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

2. The successful teaching of reading starts in the reception classes. Here children and teachers share books and stories with joy and enthusiasm. They cover a range of subjects so that, for example, when a teacher is talking about shelters of different kinds, books are available to show pupils often with attractive illustrations, which fascinate and involve them. As pupils progress through the school, the teachers’ own love of stories and literature shows through in the way that texts are shared with pupils. This teaches pupils to appreciate the more subtle nuances and the fact that traditional tales can be told in so many different ways whilst retaining the same basic story line. Pupils learn the structure of books and stories and talk confidently, not only about the author illustrator and blurb, but they also discuss the purpose of the contents and glossary. They use these effectively to discover information for themselves and thus develop effective independent research

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

skills from an early age. When pupils read aloud it is with enjoyment and expression. They show a good understanding of texts read and this is enhanced often by focused questions from the class teacher. They share books within group reading sessions and show a communal enjoyment of what is being read and help each other constructively with any problems over pronunciation and understanding.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

3. Writing is taught very well across the school and pupils are taught from the start to think carefully about what they want to write before they actually commit pen to paper. Work again is well matched to their needs. For example, when writing about the character of Goldilocks pupils were given a prompt sheet. One group was using this as a starting point for their own writing and sticking to the ideas fairly rigidly, however higher attaining pupils told me that they were expected to work more independently –“it’s better if we use our own ideas, this is just to help us if we really need it”. Pupils have many chances to write for a range of purposes and an examination of previous work showed they write stories reports descriptions and reviews amongst other things. The quality of written work is enhanced by the good spelling which was evident across the school. This is arrived at by setting homework consistently at the appropriate level and using words which

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

Holmer Green First School - 11 contain sounds relevant to those being taught in literacy sessions and then practising words learned in a meaningful way within classwork. Pupils are expected to learn their spellings and they do. Sounds are taught systematically and imaginatively, for example, ‘jolly phonics’ is being experimented within the reception classes and has been found to catch the children’s imagination and thus arouse their enthusiasm. Handwriting is taught well. Insistence on correct letter formation is apparent in all classes and there is careful monitoring of this which is built into all areas of the curriculum. Handwriting and presentation are part of the whole school curriculum not separate entities; pupils are encouraged to take a pride in the appearance of their work.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

4. Standards in mathematics are high because the numeracy strategy has been adopted with great enthusiasm by all staff and well implemented to meet the needs of the pupils. There is a very good emphasis on the development of mental arithmetic skills and knowledge and pupils are taught to enjoy playing with numbers and learning strategies to find answers quickly. For example, different coloured tens and units card were used to help pupils when they were learning to add10 and 20 to any number and they realised that the yellow unit cards remained the same and only the red tens cards changed. The effectiveness of the numeracy strategy begins in the reception class where the children have their own version of the ‘numeracy hour’ based loosely around a commercial scheme. The young children enjoy building towers of numbers against the time clock and this encourages speed of thought as well as improving manual dexterity, they are taught conservation of number

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

well and enjoy finding different ways of making 20. The older pupils have numeracy lessons in the 'techno’ room. This is a very appropriate environment for teaching and ensures the availability of very good quality of resources including computers. These ensure that information technology is very successfully integrated into the curriculum and used to extend and re-inforce pupils' knowledge. The way in which the subject is taught considerably assists the progress of pupils. There is brisk, purposeful questioning in mental mathematics activities and pupils respond positively to the challenge of this. All pupils are able to participate effectively as questions are closely matched to pupils abilities and extend their thinking so that all pupils feel they can succeed. Pupils have opportunities to re-inforce what they have just learned in ways which interest and excite them. For example, pupils in Year 1 learned about two-dimensional shapes and were

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

extending this to three-dimensional figures. They understood that the shapes were solid and have edges, faces and corners they were then able to make the figures for themselves from straws demonstrating the knowledge they had previously learned.

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Pupils are taught the skills they need to learn effectively from an early age, which results in them

having very good attitudes towards their work.

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Pupils are taught the skills they need to learn effectively from an early age, which results in them

5 The key to the school’s success in this area is the relevance of the aims of the school. They have been recently reviewed and comprehensively revised to ensure they remain relevant to everyone in the school, parents, pupils, governors and staff.

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Pupils are taught the skills they need to learn effectively from an early age, which results in them

6 The school rules are few in number, easy to understand and consistently applied by all staff from the time pupils first enter the school. Pupils are actively taught kindness, consideration and politeness to others and this leads to co-operation in the classroom being at a high level. When misdemeanours occur pupils are carefully and sympathetically, but firmly, helped to understand why what they have done is wrong. They are asked by the member of staff dealing with the problem “What did you do?” “Was it kind?” “Why wasn’t it?” “So what must you do now?” They are made to appreciate the consequences of anti-social actions and behaviour at an appropriate level for their age.

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Pupils are taught the skills they need to learn effectively from an early age, which results in them

7 The pupils are taught to co-operate from an early age and to realise the value of working together harmoniously. This was illustrated in one reception class. The children had been divided into Holmer Green First School - 12 groups of four to make shelters for given toys. It was possible to watch the level of co-operation develop as the lesson progressed. The children realised that by working together they could use all the materials effectively and that it was quicker to all work together on one shelter than try to make four separate ones with limited materials. They gradually began to talk and share out tasks helped by adults who gave guidance but did not tell them what to do. At the end of the given time all the children could see for themselves that the best shelter had been built by the group which had worked together co-operatively right from the start. This early learning is further re-inforced as

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Pupils are taught the skills they need to learn effectively from an early age, which results in them

pupils move through the school they work together very well in subjects across the curriculum- science, art etc. They share materials well, discuss what they are doing constructively and willingly help each other when difficulties arise.

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Pupils are taught the skills they need to learn effectively from an early age, which results in them

8 Behaviour in and out of the classrooms is good and assists learning. Pupils listen attentively and respond enthusiastically to questions and tasks. They become totally engrossed in the stories they are told, they work very well independently and know where to find information and resources they require without having to disturb a teacher, who may be working with a group of pupils, unnecessarily. The school has monitored developing independence in children as part of the school aims. It has been studied in practical terms how this may be improved to good effect. Pupils participate fully in all lessons. There were no instances of pupils trying to hide at the back of a group to avoid answering questions. They demonstrate a love of learning and an eagerness to learn more.

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Pupils are taught the skills they need to learn effectively from an early age, which results in them

9 Pupils are encouraged to take responsibility. They have jobs in the classroom and around the school and are encouraged to take responsibility for each other in a very real sense. Pupils are taught to respect each other and they already appreciate that everybody has a right to learn.

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Teaching is of good quality overall and the high standards and sharp focus of teachers’

questioning has a major impact on the learning of the pupils.

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Teaching is of good quality overall and the high standards and sharp focus of teachers’

10 All the teachers have a very good understanding of what pupils need to know in order to make progress. Lessons are very lively and made relevant to the pupils which both inspires and challenges them. Humour is frequently used to good effect. For example in mathematics lesson an empty carrier bag was used to demonstrate that double nothing remained nothing which appealed to the pupils but also enabled them to remember. Planning for lessons is very good. Curriculum planning is detailed and very thorough. Joint planning across parallel classes is particularly effective and promotes consistency across each year group. This enables joint monitoring and assessments of pupils’ work to be made. The introduction to all lessons, particularly in literacy and numeracy are of high quality. Teachers’ tell pupils what they are going to learn at the start of the lesson and ensure that by the end they have done just that. The use of pertinent questions provides a

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Teaching is of good quality overall and the high standards and sharp focus of teachers’

useful and effective way of assessing how much pupils have remembered from previous lessons. For example, in a science lesson on electricity, pupils were able to name appliances powered by mains and battery as well as correctly answering questions relating to health and safety issues.

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Teaching is of good quality overall and the high standards and sharp focus of teachers’

11 Teachers use questions to extend knowledge and to provide explanations, for example when explaining an electrical circuit the teacher asked ”What does the word sound like?” - “circle” – “What does a circle look like?” using visual aids as well the pupils were able to understand that in order to be complete a circuit must be joined. Questions used within written tasks are penetrating and provide teachers with good assessment material – “What makes the bulb light?” “Where does the electricity come from?” Questions asked are challenging but always carefully worded and graded to match the ability of the pupils being asked. Thus one pupil may be asked about the characters within the story of Goldilocks and another “does the snow show it is summer or winter?” Quick fire questions are used to good effect within numeracy sessions to assist pupils’ Holmer Green First School - 13 development of mental arithmetic skills. This begins in the reception class with pupils being asked

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Teaching is of good quality overall and the high standards and sharp focus of teachers’

“add 1”, “add another 1”. Resources are used effectively to back up the use of skilful questioning to allow the questions to be asked in a number of ways, for example the use of number fans and digit cards.

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Teaching is of good quality overall and the high standards and sharp focus of teachers’

The moral and social development of pupils is very strong.

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Teaching is of good quality overall and the high standards and sharp focus of teachers’

12 The school has very simple, clear rules which are understood and respected by all pupils. Teachers and all adults in the school set good examples to the pupils and provide very good role models. Adults use calm strategies to establish discipline. For example, when a child in reception threatened a tantrum after attempting unsuccessfully to push in line, he was quietly withdrawn and the reasons why his behaviour was unacceptable were quietly and calmly explained to him at exactly the right level. He was positively taught the acceptable way to behave. There is an atmosphere of trust in the school. There is a quiet and calm working atmosphere, which contributes to the pupils’ clear understanding of right and wrong and their ability to recognise acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and take their responsibilities seriously.

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Teaching is of good quality overall and the high standards and sharp focus of teachers’

13 Social awareness is effectively encouraged in a number of ways. From the time pupils start school they are encouraged to develop independence and this has been monitored and was a specific target within the school development plan last year. Well-established routines and expectations across the school are effective in giving pupils a sense of security and developing their self-confidence. Regular opportunities are provided for them to work together in lessons and teachers encourage pupils to share resources and exchange ideas. Both these the pupils do well. The level of co- operation, friendships and respect amongst its pupils is evidence of the school’s success in developing pupils’ social skills.

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Teaching is of good quality overall and the high standards and sharp focus of teachers’

14 The school allows the pupils the chance to gain an insight into their rights and responsibilities to their own community and further afield as instanced by the link which has been set up with a school in India. This is a genuine link with pupils collecting stationery items for the school which has been fostered by a particular governor. The school also collects and supports s a range of charities. When the decision to support a particular charity has been made, pupils’ awareness is enhanced by assemblies in order that they clearly understand why they are supporting the charity concerned and how their support will help. Further opportunities for social development are provided through the range of responsibilities which pupils are expected to carry out. These include returning registers to the office, and a range of tasks and duties in class and in the dining hall.

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The leadership and management of the school are very good and focused clearly on what can be

15 The overall leadership and management of the school are very good. The headteacher provides very clear educational direction for its work and has an excellent working relationship with the newly appointed deputy headteacher and rest of the staff team. The school has a positive learning atmosphere and a strong sense of community. Effective leadership and management strategies are evident in the successful implementation of the national strategies for both numeracy and literacy. The monitoring of teaching and pupils’ attainment to ensure high quality and the thorough analysis of the school’s performance in order to set targets for the future are also particularly strong.

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The leadership and management of the school are very good and focused clearly on what can be

16 The governors are fully involved in the management of the school and show a very good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They work together very effectively with the headteacher and staff in order to effect on-going improvement. The school aims have recently been Holmer Green First School - 14 reviewed and re-written. It was decided after consultation with staff that they should be simpler, easy to understand and accessible to the whole school community of staff governors, parents and children. Governors and staff worked together on the re-formulation and there is a simple but useful monitoring programme in place to thoroughly review one element in detail each year. The aims are consistently reflected in all the school’s policies and practice and in its rules.

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The leadership and management of the school are very good and focused clearly on what can be

17 The school development plan includes a detailed monitoring and evaluation programme to embrace new initiatives such as literacy and numeracy as well as an on-going review of all policies and schemes of work and the on-going teaching and learning in the classroom. Governors visit the school on a regular basis as part of the monitoring programme. They have evaluated numeracy and literacy and governors have written and presented high quality reports relating to the content and teaching in the lessons as well as the pace, suitability of work differentiation and attitudes and behaviour of the pupils. The reports show a knowledgeable insight in to what is required and provide very good information for other governors.

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The leadership and management of the school are very good and focused clearly on what can be

18 Subject co-ordinators, particularly in literacy and numeracy monitor their subjects through classroom observation, as well as examining and evaluating termly planning. Progress made is evaluated in termly reports and in most subjects these contain a useful appraisal of what has been successful in the classroom and which areas require further development. However reports for science are too often a list of what has been covered and are of limited value because of the lack of evaluative detail.

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The leadership and management of the school are very good and focused clearly on what can be

19 Pupils work is continually assessed. Through this tracking of individuals and cohorts challenging but realistic targets have been set for the future achievement. Good quality recording systems have been developed for all monitoring activities which define who is to carry out the task and when, specific details of what is to be monitored, resources required evaluations and targets are all detailed.

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

Too little time is spent on science and its teaching has not been monitored rigorously enough.

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This means that pupils have too few skills and not enough knowledge and understanding to enable

them to achieve higher levels in the Standard Assessment Tasks at the end of Key Stage 1.

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This means that pupils have too few skills and not enough knowledge and understanding to enable

20 Although nearly all pupils achieved the national average, level 2, in the teacher assessments last summer no pupils attained level 3. From an examination of the recorded work covered so far this year there is little evidence to show that the national average will be achieved satisfactorily as the areas studied have been covered in little depth across the attainment targets. Currently the school aims to spend 5 percent of curriculum time on science. This is well below the national average of 9 percent. An analysis of teachers’ plans and timetables for last term showed that it is likely that considerably less time than 5 percent was actually spent on science.

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This means that pupils have too few skills and not enough knowledge and understanding to enable

21 Too little practical work is being carried out and pupils questioning and investigational skills are underdeveloped. Pupils’ experimental skills are below average. Pupils observe and make comparisons satisfactorily but do not suggest ideas adequately or turn their own ideas into investigations. Although in one lesson observed during the inspection much of the teaching itself was of good quality with pertinent and probing questions being asked, it was the teacher doing the questioning not the pupils. Resources in the shape of a bulb, a small battery with 2 wires protruding from it, were provided for each pair of pupils to discover how to make a circuit. This was inadequate and inappropriate for small hands to manage and gave no opportunities for pupils to experiment and question for themselves. Holmer Green First School - 15 22 Progress in science is partly recorded through a termly evaluation sheet completed by each teacher.

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This means that pupils have too few skills and not enough knowledge and understanding to enable

As an evaluation of work covered these currently have little value as they do little more than provide an overview as to what happens in each lesson. It is not sufficiently detailed to guide plans for improvement in the school’s practice or in teaching and learning. The weakness is essentially one, which requires an improvement in the overall provision as regards time and resources in order to improve the quality of learning rather than in the actual quality of teaching in the subject. The subject is due for review in the current school development plan.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

The governors and staff should take steps to raise standards in science by: • Increasing the amount of time spent on the subject in order that the curriculum can be covered more effectively. • Providing challenging tasks and appropriate resources for pupils which will integrate investigative activities into all areas of the science curriculum, to improve pupils’ scientific skills and questioning techniques and fully extend all pupils particularly those capable of higher attainment. • Monitoring and evaluating work covered more carefully to high light strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning in order to discover the next steps for improvement and modification.

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 6

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 162

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals 2

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 2

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 16 Holmer Green First School - 16 English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 0

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 7

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5

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Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 1999 30 32 62

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 29 28 29 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 29 30 31

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 94 94 97 at NC level 2 or above National 82 83 87

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 28 29 29 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 29 29 29

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 92 94 94 at NC level 2 or above National 82 86 87

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Holmer Green First School - 17

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 1 Black – Caribbean heritage

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage Black – African heritage

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 5 Other minority ethnic groups

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

This table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. This table gives the number of exclusions of pupils of compulsory school age, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 7 Financial year 1998/99 Holmer Green First School - 18 Number of pupils per qualified teacher 23.1

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y2 Total expenditure 281782

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 4 Expenditure per pupil 1629

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 87.5 Balance brought forward from previous year 62499

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance carried forward to next year 46824 Holmer Green First School - 19

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Percentage of responses in each category

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 64 33 2 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 62 31 7 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 48 48 2 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 52 43 5 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 79 19 2 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 76 24 0 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 62 36 2 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 83 12 0 0 5

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 74 24 0 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 38 48 5 0 9

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Other issues raised by parents

At the parents’ meetings the strengths of the school were deemed to be: The high standards achieved by pupils in academic work and in their personal development. Good teaching. The care and support that all the staff at the school show towards the pupils. The way all pupils are valued whatever their abilities.

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