Bledlow Ridge School

BLEDLOW RIDGE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 6 - 7 February 2001

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BLEDLOW RIDGE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Short 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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BLEDLOW RIDGE PRIMARY 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. Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Infant and junior school

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Church Lane Bledlow Ridge High Wycombe Buckinghamshire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs J Dougall

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: December 1996 Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members 17932 John Bald Registered inspector 9115 Terence Clarke Lay inspector 10367 Norma Myers Team inspector

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Open Book Inspections 6 East Point High Street, Seal Sevenoaks Kent TN15 0EG

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

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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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 5

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REPORT CONTENTS

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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PART B: COMMENTARY

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER? 16 - 17

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PART B: COMMENTARY

PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS 18 - 21 Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 6

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Bledlow Ridge Primary School is a small village school with 126 pupils aged four to eleven. The social and economic context of the school is favourable, and very few pupils are entitled to free school meals. Most pupils are white, with 3 per cent black, of African-Caribbean heritage. One pupil, who is not in the early stages of learning English, speaks English as an additional language. The standards reached by pupils joining the school are above average overall, particularly in language and communication, but the school has an average proportion of pupils with special educational needs, including Statements of Special Educational Need. A significant proportion of pupils join or leave the school part-way through their primary education.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Bledlow Ridge is a very happy and effective school. Standards are above average at seven and well above average at eleven, and provision for all pupils’ personal development is very good. Teaching is of good overall quality, with much outstanding teaching for pupils aged seven to eleven. The school is led and managed very well, and gives very good value for money.

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What the school does well

• Eleven-year-olds reach high standards, and do very well in national tests. • Teaching is very good for pupils aged seven to eleven. • Very good management and leadership ensure a strong sense of teamwork among staff. • Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are very good, and they have a strong sense of responsibility. • Pupils who need extra help with learning and behaviour make very good progress. • The school takes excellent care of pupils’ welfare, health and safety. • Parents and the village community are fully involved in the life and work of the school.

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What could be improved

• The planning and organisation of work for pupils up to seven. • The use of information from the assessment of pupils’ work to raise standards even further. • Older pupils’ study skills. 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

When the school was last inspected, in December 1996, it was providing satisfactory education. However, standards were not consistently above average, and higher-attaining pupils were not fully challenged. One lesson in eight was unsatisfactory. Since then, standards at eleven have improved significantly, and no unsatisfactory lessons were seen during the inspection. Increased staffing has been skilfully used by the headteacher and governors to reduce class sizes for lessons in subjects at the heart of the curriculum, and the school has invested in experienced and highly-skilled teachers when appointing new staff. The headteacher’s exceptionally detailed and practical action plan to tackle the weaknesses identified in the inspection report has been almost completely carried out, and the management roles of the deputy headteacher and of co-ordinators have been developed well, although further work is needed in the co-ordination of work for pupils up to seven. The

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

school has developed its strengths in the care of pupils and in relationships with the Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 7 community. Overall, improvement since the last inspection has been very good, and has left the school very well placed to improve further. Teachers were planning ways to address the school’s remaining weaknesses before the inspectors had left the building.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by eleven-year-olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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STANDARDS

Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

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STANDARDS

English A A A* A well above average above average A B mathematics A A A* A* average below average C D science A A A* A* well below average E

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STANDARDS

The comparative grade A* places the school in the top five per cent of schools, both nationally and when compared with schools with similar proportions of pupils entitled to free school meals. Results in national tests for seven-year-olds in 2000 were in the top five per cent of all schools in mathematics, and were well above average in reading and writing. In comparison with similar schools, results were above average in writing, and well above average in mathematics and reading. Children up to five reach above-average standards in all aspects of their work except physical development, where standards are average. Their achievements are satisfactory. Seven-year-olds’ results are broadly in line with those the pupils should be achieving, with good features in reading and mathematics. Eleven-year-olds are achieving very good standards.

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STANDARDS

Standards at eleven have improved at an above-average rate since the last inspection. Standards at seven have improved sharply in mathematics, and have improved at a satisfactory rate in reading and writing. However, targets for further improvement do not reflect the very good rate of learning among the school’s oldest pupils, and are too low.

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STANDARDS

Standards are well above average in art and swimming, and above average in information and communication technology, design and technology and other aspects of physical education. Standards at eleven in history and geography are broadly average, but are limited by weaknesses in older pupils’ study and research skills. Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 8

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attitudes to the school Very good. Pupils are enthusiastic about work and after-school clubs.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Very good and often excellent. Occasional lapses in lessons where younger pupils are not given clear enough direction in their work.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Personal development and relationships Very good. Pupils develop self-confidence, maturity and a sense of responsibility. They concentrate well. Boys and girls work well together

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Pupils with learning and behavioural difficulties, including those whose education has been interrupted, are effectively and sensitively included in the life and work of the school.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years aged 7-11 years

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Lessons seen overall Satisfactory Satisfactory Very 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 AND LEARNING

Teaching was satisfactory or better in all lessons observed, and very good or better in 39 per cent.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching in English is excellent for pupils aged seven to eleven, where it benefits from teachers’ exceptionally good planning and professional knowledge. The teaching of mathematics for these pupils is very good. English teaching is satisfactory overall for those aged five to seven. It has good features in work with six and seven-year-old pupils, but learning suffers from weaknesses in planning for writing. Mathematics teaching for pupils aged five to seven is good, with some very good teaching for pupils working in groups. The overall quality of teaching the skills of literacy and numeracy is good, and outstanding teaching for older pupils leads to the very high standards reached in national tests.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

The school’s teaching meets the long-term needs of all of its pupils well, and they make very good progress between the ages of seven and eleven. Work is carefully adapted to promote good learning among pupils with special educational needs, those from minority ethnic backgrounds, and those who have suffered disruption to their education. Gifted and talented pupils are identified early and given suitably demanding work, for example in mathematics lessons for six and seven-year-olds. Teachers make good use of resources, including historical source materials, computers and the small heated swimming pool. The teaching assistant and parent volunteers make a skilled contribution to learning.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

In a third of lessons, mostly for younger pupils, teaching and learning are satisfactory rather than good. In these lessons, planning is not focused closely enough on the tasks that pupils are given to do, so that they do not have clear enough aims and do not learn as much as the teacher intends. In a small minority of lessons, pupils are allowed to talk while the teacher is talking to the class. Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 9

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The quality and range of the curriculum Good. Contributes to high standards and enables all pupils to learn effectively. There is a good range of visits and after-school clubs.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Very good personal support and adaptation of work. These pupils learn very well and reach standards close to those of other pupils.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Very good. The school expects much of its pupils’ personal development, and builds very effectively on the values most bring from home. Adults in the school set a very good example of consideration for others, hard work and good manners.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

How well the school cares for its pupils The school takes excellent care of pupils’ welfare, health and safety. It has good procedures for assessing and tracking progress, but it does not yet use them consistently to promote high standards in all subjects.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The school has an exceptionally close relationship with parents and the community, and last year’s millennium exhibition has formed the basis of an archive of village life. Teachers know their pupils, and often their families, well. They take pains to ensure that individual needs are met as fully as possible, and ensure that all pupils are included in the school’s life and work.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

Leadership and manage- ment by the headteacher and other key staff Very good. Strong personal leadership and management from the headteacher, with very good planning and personal support for all teachers and pupils. The leadership and management of other key staff are often good, and never less than satisfactory.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Very well. Governors have a strong sense of the school’s mission, and of its importance to the community. They manage finances well.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The school’s evaluation of its performance The school keeps close track of its performance, and takes effective action to improve it. Target setting, however, has not kept pace with the rapid improvement in the school’s standards.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The strategic use of resources Very good overall, with excellent deployment of teachers to ensure small teaching groups in key subjects. Good use of learning resources.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The school is very well provided with qualified and experienced teachers and support staff, and all adults work very well together as a team. It has very good accommodation and good resources for learning, including sufficient modern computers. There is too little large play equipment for children up to five, and their outdoor play area is too small. The school understands the principles of best value clearly, and applies them effectively. Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 10

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved • Standards are high. • Children enjoy school, work hard and behave well. • The teaching is good. • The school is led and managed well. • Homework is adequate, but comes in bursts. • Activities outside lessons. • The quality of information.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

The vast majority of parents are very pleased with the school, and many felt it had made very good to excellent progress since the last inspection. These views were borne out by inspection evidence. Inspectors found evidence to support parents’ concerns about homework, which includes some lengthy projects, but did not agree with concerns about the range of activities outside lessons. Inspectors found that parents receive good information from the school. Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 11

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Eleven-year-olds reach high standards, and do very well in national tests

1. By the time they move on to secondary school, very nearly every pupil has reached the nationally expected standard in English, mathematics and science. Two thirds reach higher standards than expected in all three subjects, and almost nine out of ten do so in science. Pupils’ work during the inspection was consistent with the standards achieved in test results, and shows marked improvement on the standards reached during the last inspection, which were not consistently above average. The oldest pupils in the school have particularly well-developed skills in all areas of the National Curriculum for mathematics, in experimental science and in reading. They write accurately and neatly, using a broad range of vocabulary, and pay good attention to detail in grammar and spelling.

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Eleven-year-olds reach high standards, and do very well in national tests

2. Standards at eleven are well above average in art, and above average in most other subjects. Art work is of high quality throughout the school, involving a very good range of techniques and materials, both in art lessons and in other subjects. Pupils use computers confidently, both for presenting work and to investigate data, and make well-designed and often entertaining working models in design and technology. They develop good skills in physical education, and younger pupils reach very good standards in swimming – some higher-attaining eight-year-olds, for example, can swim a medley of breast-stroke, back-stroke, front crawl and butterfly to a very high standard for their age.

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Eleven-year-olds reach high standards, and do very well in national tests

3. Standards are further enhanced in the long term by the school’s early identification of gifted and talented pupils, who are given extended work that enables some seven- year-olds to reach the standard expected nationally at eleven in mathematics. Standards in art, physical education and music benefit from the school’s good range of learning opportunities outside lessons, which are very well attended. Standards also benefit from pupils’ very good attitudes to work.

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Teaching is very good for pupils aged seven to eleven

4. The teaching of pupils aged seven to eleven is based on high levels of professional understanding and on very detailed planning which matches work very well to the range of learning needs in each class. Planning is particularly effective in designing learning tasks for pupils that make it easy for them to extend their skills into new areas. For example, seven and eight-year-olds studied the techniques used in building a character from small details by analysing Tolkien’s descriptions of a dragon. Pupils aged ten to eleven, studying ‘writers’ tools’, developed this investigative approach further, considering the balance of action and description in designing characters. Teachers followed up these demanding tasks with questions that stretched all pupils in the class, and did not accept vagueness in pupils’ answers. As a result, pupils began to appreciate the importance of compactness and powerful verbs in writing, and

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Teaching is very good for pupils aged seven to eleven

teachers had the professional satisfaction of laying the foundations of high attainment, both at eleven and later. Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 12 5. Teaching in mathematics makes very effective use of the National Numeracy Strategy to hone pupils’ skills in mental calculation and enable them to apply these in solving problems. Analysis of pupils’ written work showed evidence of very good teaching across a broad range of National Curriculum topics in science, with particular emphasis on close detail. The high standards expected in science of younger pupils were shown in a full-sized skeleton, used by seven and eight-year-olds, and labelled with correct anatomical names. Pupils are especially well taught to record their work in science, and pay very good attention to detail in this.

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Teaching is very good for pupils aged seven to eleven

6. Teachers know some subjects in great depth, and have collected resources, from reading and from extensive experience, which enable them to introduce pupils to advanced techniques. For example, seven and eight-year-olds had used the authentic technique of ‘pouncing’, which involves tracing lines from a picture using pins and charcoal, to recreate Tudor portraits, and ten and eleven-year-olds had carefully drawn from reproductions of the Bayeux tapestry, matching original colours, style and proportion in an impressive frieze for their classroom. Excellent teaching of swimming, in the school’s very small pool, was exceptionally well though-out, and enabled all pupils, but especially those capable of high standards, to achieve all that could possibly be asked of them in the circumstances.

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Teaching is very good for pupils aged seven to eleven

7. Teachers ensure that they have a good level of skill and understanding in subjects that are not their main professional interest, and this contributes to good standards in information and communication technology and design and technology. They take great care to match work to the needs of pupils whose education has been disrupted and to those of pupils with special educational needs. This is the key factor in the very good learning and progress of these pupils, and makes an invaluable contribution to their personal development. An experienced and well-qualified teaching assistant, working to the standard expected of an effective, qualified teacher, provides a further dimension to this teaching for lower-attaining pupils. Teaching in this age-range is underpinned by very effective use of the school’s assessment procedures to make clear to pupils what they have achieved, and what they still need to learn. Its overall

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Teaching is very good for pupils aged seven to eleven

effect is to make each school day a source of pleasure and fulfilment for teachers and pupils.

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Management and leadership are very good, and there is a strong sense of teamwork

8. The headteacher and governors prepared an exceptionally detailed and practical plan to deal with all of the weaknesses identified in the last inspection report, and have made very good progress in carrying this out. At the same time, they have built on the strengths of the school, developing further its systems of care for pupils and its relationship with the village community. Additional staffing, allocated to bring class sizes for pupils aged five to seven down to 30, has been used imaginatively and highly effectively through a policy of having mathematics and English taught to pupils in classes containing a single year-group. This has brought the best out of good features in the teaching, and has removed the obstacles to learning caused by teachers having to teach very large classes of pupils from different years. The combination of more manageable classes and the opportunity to focus closely on pupils’ skills in

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Management and leadership are very good, and there is a strong sense of teamwork

mathematics and English has been a key factor in improving standards and the quality of education since the last inspection. The policy has been extended to provision for pupils aged seven to eleven, where it enables the headteacher to teach swimming to younger pupils in small groups, while teachers focus on subjects where pupils require high levels of personal support, such as information and communication technology. For older pupils, the headteacher herself joins the class, so that half can work on Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 13 computers while the other half of the class works on design and technology. This ingenious deployment of staff makes a most important contribution to the quality and range of learning, and is an example of excellent management within a small school.

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Management and leadership are very good, and there is a strong sense of teamwork

9. The governors have very clear perspectives on the educational direction of the school and on its place in the village community. They play a full part in leadership, and many are involved on a day-to-day basis, sometimes offering teaching support to an excellent standard. Their financial planning is astute, and money is used very effectively to support the school’s priorities. For example, they have understood the demands placed on teachers by large, mixed-age classes which are still necessary for some subjects for pupils aged seven to eleven and, with guidance from the headteacher, have invested wisely in experienced and well-qualified teachers who can teach such classes to a high standard. Spending money on this priority has required them to exercise prudence elsewhere, so that computers, for example, have been bought and organised so as to meet the school’s needs, and not simply to increase

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Management and leadership are very good, and there is a strong sense of teamwork

10. The headteacher and governors have together created a strong ethos for learning and sense of teamwork that extends to all of the adults connected with the school. They have combined concern for high standards with an inclusive approach, which allows the school to adapt its work to welcome pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds, those who have special educational needs, and those whose education has, for various reasons, been interrupted. They have also made some progress in addressing the school’s remaining weaknesses, so that, while some teaching is not yet good, it is satisfactory. The school’s very good leadership and management, with the quality of its best teaching, are the main reason for its current success.

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responsibility

11. Pupils have a strong sense of purpose in their learning, listening attentively to the teacher and concentrating well when working independently or in groups. There were examples of excellent attitudes in lessons throughout the school, including group work in mathematics among six and seven-year-olds and swimming for pupils aged seven to eight. Occasional lapses in concentration among younger pupils are due to lack of direction in their work rather than to pupils’ attitudes, and there was very good development of concentration and focus on work among the older pupils, particularly in English and mathematics. All pupils showed very good care in practical work in design and technology and art, when working both with teachers and with volunteers. Pupils with behavioural difficulties, including some who had had interruptions to their education, quickly develop the same attitudes to learning as other pupils. They are

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responsibility

greatly helped in this by teachers’ patience and by the school’s provision for their care and welfare.

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responsibility

12. Pupils take part in learning activities outside lessons with enthusiasm and interest. They work hard and consistently at instrumental music, and art and football clubs are very well-attended. Pupils respond very well to opportunities to take responsibility, both for their own work and within the school community, and complete homework conscientiously. They are polite to visitors and kind to each other. These very good attitudes and behaviour contribute much to the quality of learning and to the happiness of the school community.

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Pupils who need extra help with learning and behaviour make very good progress

Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 14 13. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs is broadly average, and includes a small but significant number of pupils who have considerable difficulties with behaviour. Some of these pupils have had interruptions to their education, either from family circumstances or because they have been unsettled or unhappy in the schools they have previously attended. All pupils with special educational needs learn very well, and reach standards which are in line with, or very close to, nationally expected levels. They learn to read and write accurately, and reach good standards in mathematics. Their talents and aptitudes, for example in art for a pupil with behavioural difficulties, are particularly well developed through close personal support from teachers. Their learning also benefits greatly from the skilled teaching they receive from the teaching assistant and parent volunteers; this work is often

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Pupils who need extra help with learning and behaviour make very good progress

comparable in quality to that of specialist qualified teachers. The very good relationships among all members of the school community provide a framework within which new pupils can develop stability and learn to form constructive working relationships and friendships.

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The school takes excellent care of pupils’ welfare, health and safety

14. All adults working in the school know the pupils and their families well, and combine this knowledge with a high degree of organisation and professional skill. Every care is taken to include pupils whose behaviour is difficult in the school community, and to welcome new pupils. Pupils entitled to free school meals, for example, have their lunch presented in similar lunch boxes to those other pupils bring from home. They receive unobtrusive but effective personal support from the headteacher and teaching assistant at times when they might be likely to misbehave – for example, when they have to wait in the hall for the school bus. Teachers and volunteers adapt work very well to enable younger pupils who have had little previous experience of school to settle and work constructively, and there is a consistently friendly atmosphere. The school’s anti-bullying policy is clear and effective, and it has very effective provision for

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The school takes excellent care of pupils’ welfare, health and safety

first-aid and child protection. Teaching swimming in small groups enables the headteacher to keep a close eye on pupils’ fitness and well-being.

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Parents and the village community are fully involved in the life and work of the school

15. At the time of the last inspection, the school was in the process of developing a good relationship with parents, and it has made very good improvements in all aspects of this work. Parents receive good and regular information on the work their children are doing and on their progress, and feel confident about approaching the school when problems arise. Procedures for ensuring that pupils attend school have been made more systematic, with an imaginative incentive scheme for pupils. These have led to the present very high rates of attendance. Parents are able to play a full part in the life of the school, both through the parent-teacher association and through voluntary work, where any special skills they have are used very effectively. Although some parents have concerns about specific aspects of the school’s work, the vast majority think very highly of the school and of the headteacher. The rate of positive responses on the pre-

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Parents and the village community are fully involved in the life and work of the school

inspection questionnaire for parents and at the parents’ meeting was very high.

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Parents and the village community are fully involved in the life and work of the school

16. The school has built up an excellent relationship with the village community over many years, and plays a key role in village life. A recent example was the millennium exhibition, which assembled contributions including diaries and articles typical of village life, and involved all members of the community. The materials from the exhibition have been retained in the school as an archive for future study.

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The planning and organisation of work for pupils up to seven

17. Teachers of children up to five and of pupils aged five to seven have clear outline plans for their work and clear aims for each lesson that ensure satisfactory learning. There are good, and at times very good features in individual lessons, where these plans include carefully-designed learning tasks for pupils that are closely matched to what they already know, understand and can do. This includes good work for pupils in groups, and good extension work for older, higher-attaining pupils in mathematics. Pupils are given very effective encouragement to read at home, and learn to use computers independently.

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The planning and organisation of work for pupils up to seven

18. However, over half of the lessons have weaknesses in planning and organisation which prevent pupils from learning as much as they could, either for the whole of the lesson or for a significant part of it. The most significant weakness, which affects pupils aged five to seven, lies in learning tasks that do not give pupils clear guidance on what they should be doing. When this happens, pupils’ thinking lacks focus, and they do not make enough progress in this part of the lesson. While the teaching of English for pupils aged five to seven is effective in reading, longer-term planning of the literacy hour is not ensuring a good balance between reading and writing. When teachers talk to the whole class, they sometimes allow pupils to talk while they are talking, and are sometimes prepared to accept inaccurate answers to questions.

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The planning and organisation of work for pupils up to seven

19. Learning in the reception class is satisfactory, with good features, particularly in mathematics and where pupils work directly with the teacher. Assessment, however, is not used consistently to match work to what pupils can already do, so that some pupils spend more time than they should in work that does not enable them to make good progress. The room is rather crowded, and a lack of equipment for pupils to play with outdoors contributes to some over-energetic behaviour in the classroom.

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further

20. The school has suitable procedures for assessing work and tracking progress, but the potential contribution of this work to learning is only partly realised. Throughout the school, assessment is at its most effective when it is used to plan learning tasks for pupils and to set detailed targets for improvement. The benefit is most clearly seen in mathematics for pupils aged five to eleven, where targets are clear and assessment is used to match work to the needs of groups of pupils at different stages of learning, and to identify gifted and talented pupils, who are then given extended work. Targets in English, however, are too often not detailed enough to contribute directly to progress in this way, and pupils are not reminded of their targets often enough in marking to ensure that they address them consistently. The targets the school is obliged to set by law reflect what these pupils have achieved in the past by the age of eight, and have

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further

been by-passed by the rapid improvements in standards achieved by eleven-year-olds.

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further

21. There is little use of targets in other subjects, and assessment is not used to ensure that work is pitched at a consistently demanding level outside English and mathematics. This leaves some aspects of learning to chance, particularly in classes containing pupils from two year groups. The impact of the limited use of assessment on learning is reduced to some extent by teachers’ high expectations of pupils, and their high levels of knowledge and understanding in subjects such as history and science. Nevertheless, it is preventing pupils from gaining the full benefit of these Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 16 advanced skills in all aspects of their work, and is a significant factor in the other two areas of weakness identified in this report.

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Older pupils’ study skills

22. Older pupils working on their own, both in class and in homework, do not consistently use the good skills they have developed in reading, writing and analysis to investigate issues and solve problems. Instead, they often copy out or download material without considering it in the depth and detail of which they are capable. In history, geography and in some aspects of science, this limits the extent to which pupils progress to the higher levels which they often reach in English, mathematics and experimental science. The practice also limits the contribution of these subjects to the development of advanced critical and evaluative skills in reading and writing.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

23. To build further on the school’s achievements, the headteacher and governors should:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) Improve teaching and learning for pupils up to seven, by:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• ensuring that all learning tasks have sufficient structure to enable pupils to learn effectively; • improving the organisation of some classrooms, and opportunities and facilities for outdoor play for children up to five; • improving planning for the teaching of writing; • improving the management of pupils’ speaking and listening in sessions where the teacher is working with the whole class. (Paragraphs 17-19)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(2) Improve the use of information from assessment to raise standards still further, by:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• using information from assessment to plan demanding work for pupils in all subjects; • ensuring that all targets for pupils are specific and manageable; • referring to targets in marking, and reviewing them once they have been reached; Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 17 • refining the school’s setting of statutory targets to reflect the pattern of achievement of higher-attaining pupils. (Paragraphs 20-21)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(3) Improve the study skills of older pupils, by:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• planning for the long-term, staged development of study skills across all relevant subjects; • devising learning tasks, including homework tasks, that help pupils build up their study skills in a structured way; • building up collections of resources and research techniques that can be used for specific investigations. (Paragraph 22) Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 18

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 12

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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) 116

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be 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 1

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 23

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Information about the school’s pupils

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 1

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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 14

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 16

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.2 National comparative data 0.4

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Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 19

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2000 8 9 17

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Total 16 17 17

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 94 (94) 100 (94) 100 (100) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 85 (83) 88 (87)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Total 16 17 17

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 94 (94) 100 (100) 100 (100) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 88 (86) 88 (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. Because of the small number of pupils, boys and girls are not listed separately.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2000 6 10 16

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Total 16 16 16

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 100 (78) 100 (89) 100 (100) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (70) 72 (69) 85 (78)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Total 14 15 15

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 88 (78) 94 (89) 94 (94) at NC level 4 or above National 70 (68) 72 (69) 80 (75)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Because of the small number of pupils, boys and girls are not listed separately. Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 20

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 4 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 2 Other minority ethnic groups 0 0

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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) 6.3 Financial year 1999 - 2000

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 19.3

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total expenditure 258,897

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 2 Expenditure per pupil 2,055

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 45 Balance brought forward from previous year 31,150

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance carried forward to next year 16,064 Bledlow Ridge Primary School - 21

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

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

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 57 37 1 2 2

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 74 26 0 0 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 45 39 9 3 3

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 47 40 9 3 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 66 26 3 4 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 70 25 1 3 1

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 55 34 10 1 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 72 27 0 0 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 71 22 6 1 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 46 28 12 0 3

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