The Ilsleys Primary School

THE ILSLEYS PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 3 rd – 5 th October 2000

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THE ILSLEYS PRIMARY SCHOOL

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 The Ilsleys Primary School - 2 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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THE ILSLEYS 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. The Ilsleys Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Church Hill East Ilsley Newbury Berkshire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mr. G. Tooke

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: February 1997 The Ilsleys Primary School - 4

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

Mr Alan W Perks Registered inspector Mathematics Science Information technology Design and technology Physical education Foundation stage What sort of school is it? The school’s results and achievements. How well are pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? What should the school do to improve further? Mr Keith Ross Lay inspector How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? Dr Arleen Thomas Ramasut Team inspector English Art Geography History Music Religious education Equal opportunities Special educational needs. Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development How good are curricular opportunities offered to pupils?

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

Evenlode Associates Ltd 6 Abbey Close Alcester Warwickshire B49 5QW

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

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 Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

The Registrar Inspection Quality Division

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE The Ilsleys 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

The school’s results and achievements Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

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HOW GOOD ARE THE CURRICULAR AND OTHER

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS? 17

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED? 19

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER? 22

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN

OTHER ISSUES WHICH SHOULD BE CONSIDERED BY THE SCHOOL 22

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PART D: THE STANDARDS AND QUALITY OF TEACHING IN

AREAS OF THE CURRICULUM, SUBJECTS AND COURSES 26 The Ilsleys Primary School - 6

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The Ilsleys is a very small rural community primary school for boys and girls aged 4 to 11. It serves children from the local villages and some who travel from further afield. Statistical information shows that most pupils come from homes that show a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds and, overall, the pupils are advantaged in relation to national average. The school has a much smaller than average pupil population of 50. There are very similar numbers of girls and boys. The school’s baseline assessments show that children entering the school at four years of age have skill levels that, overall, are close to average. One pupil carries a Statement of Special Educational Need (2 per cent), which is slightly above the national average. There are 10 pupils on the school’s special educational needs register (20 per cent), which is slightly above the national average. They have a range of learning difficulties. All pupils are white

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

and there are no travellers or refugees. No pupils have English as an additional language, and approximately 4 per cent are eligible for free-meal entitlement, which is below the national average.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This school provides a mostly satisfactory education for many of its pupils and has some good features. By the end of Key Stage 2, most pupils achieve at least average standards in English, mathematics and science. This is a result of much effective teaching in these subjects, a generally satisfactory level of improvement since the previous inspection and some good elements of leadership and management of these subjects. However, there are areas of curriculum provision, teaching, leadership and management that are in need of attention. Overall, the school continues to give just about satisfactory value for money.

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What the school does well

• Most pupils’ standards in English and art are good at the end of Key Stage 2. • The school successfully builds a strong relationship with parents and other members of the local community. Parents have very good views of the school. • There is a caring, family ethos that successfully promotes good pupil attitudes, good behaviour and relationships that encourage good social development. • There is good use of assessment information in English and mathematics, which provides work for many pupils at both key stages at an appropriate level of challenge.

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What could be improved

• Pupils’ attainment and progress in learning of information technology, geography and religious education at Key Stage 2 are below average. • The provision for children who start the school at the foundation stage does not offer the range of learning opportunities that are recommended. • The planning and teaching in lessons other than English and mathematics do not take sufficient account of pupils’ prior learning. • Leadership and management practices related to the monitoring of teaching and learning are unsatisfactory overall. 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 February 1997 and has made generally satisfactory improvement since then, and about half of the key issues have been satisfactorily dealt with. Most notable improvement is seen with the structuring of working committees of the governing body, so that some members are taking a closer interest in the development of the school. This has helped the headteacher and staff to have a clearer view of future priorities through an improved school development plan, but there are difficulties with its implementation. Additionally, schemes of work that use the national strategies recommended for the teaching on English/ literacy and mathematics/ numeracy have had a most beneficial effect on pupils’ learning.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION:

Other improvements include: The Ilsleys Primary School - 7 • There is an improvement in pupils’ standards of attainment in all aspects of English at the end of Key Stage 2. Good levels are evident in speaking and listening at the end of both key stages. This is a result of improved teaching by using the National Literacy Strategy to advantage. Most pupils’ standards in art are now good at Key Stage 2.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION:

• Almost all pupils’ behaviour is now good or better. This is a result of good implementation of the new behaviour policy that was drawn up by staff, pupils, governors and parents working successfully together.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION:

• Standards in geography were not reported upon at the previous inspection because of lack of evidence. There remains a lack of evidence and standards are unsatisfactory.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION:

• There remains insufficient monitoring by the governing body, headteacher and other staff to confirm and improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning in some subjects, such as information technology, geography and religious education. The unsatisfactory quality of teaching and the lack of opportunity for pupils to use information technology across the curriculum remain issues, but the school is in a sufficiently strong position to improve these weaknesses.

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STANDARDS

• The table showing the standards achieved by 11 year olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests is not included because of the very small number of pupils who took the tests, which presents unreliable data.

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STANDARDS

• Attainment on entry into the reception class at age four is widely variable year on year and is currently close to average overall.

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STANDARDS

• Children at the foundation stage have unsatisfactory provision overall. Most are making satisfactory progress with their personal, social, emotional, linguistic and mathematical development. However, most make insufficient progress towards their early learning goals related to their knowledge and understanding of the world, and their creative and physical development.

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STANDARDS

• Realistic targets based on the very small number taking the tests were agreed with the local education authority in English and mathematics, and agreed levels were exceeded by those few taking the national tests in 1999.

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STANDARDS

• Inspection evidence shows that standards in English are average at the end of Key Stage 1 and above average at the end of Key Stage 2. In mathematics and science, they are close to national average at the end of both key stages.

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STANDARDS

• Overall, standards of attainment in information technology (IT) are unsatisfactory at the end of both key stages. Pupils’ use of information and communication technological (ICT) equipment is inconsistent. Best use is made of these when all Key Stage 2 pupils work as one class. There is insufficient use of control technology and no evidence of database or spreadsheet work across the school.

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STANDARDS

• At the end of Key Stage 1, standards are satisfactory in art and physical education but unsatisfactory in geography. No judgement is made about design and technology, history and music because of lack of evidence supplied by the school. Standards at the end of Key Stage 2 are satisfactory in history and physical education. They are good in art but unsatisfactory in geography. No judgement is made about pupils’ standards in design and technology or music because the school supplied insufficient evidence. Standards in religious education meet the requirements of the locally Agreed Syllabus at the end of Key Stage 1 but not at the end of Key Stage 2.

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STANDARDS

• Most pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress in their learning. The Ilsleys Primary School - 8

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Good. Most pupils arrive promptly in the mornings and sustain good levels of concentration throughout the day. Almost all enjoy their schoolwork because of the caring attitude of the staff and the good relationships between pupils. There is a good level of co-operation between pupils and staff, especially when work is suitably challenging for all levels. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Good. The behaviour of the large majority of pupils is regularly good and this helps them concentrate on their learning. There have been no exclusions. There were no incidences of bullying observed or reported during the inspection, although there is some occasional inappropriate behaviour in all classes. Personal development and relationships Good overall. Pupils’ personal development is satisfactory. Most show trustworthy attitudes to their work but they are still not given sufficient responsibilities or opportunities to show initiative with their learning.

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Aspect Comment

Relationships between pupils are good. They show care and consideration for each other, regardless of gender or difference in age. Attendance Satisfactory. Attendance levels are close to national average when compared to all primary schools, as is the level of authorised absence. The level of unauthorised absence is better than national average.

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

Lessons seen overall Unsatisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory 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 aged 7-11 years

• Overall, the quality of teaching across the school is satisfactory. In the teaching seen, 96 per cent was satisfactory or better, 42 per cent was good or better and 4 per cent was excellent. There was 4 per cent of unsatisfactory teaching seen, although other evidence shows that this proportion would be higher if all subjects had been observed at first hand. Using a wide range of evidence, teaching is frequently good and occasionally better than this in English, mathematics and art. Overall, at both key stages, the skills of literacy and numeracy are taught effectively in the majority of lessons. Most of the teachers have a clear understanding of the needs of individual pupils and pay close attention to their learning of basic skills in these subjects.

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

• In the better lessons, teachers successfully meet the needs of all pupils by making effective use of assessment information, sustaining pupils’ interest through lively teaching and attention to detail so that pupils’ standards match their potential. Weaknesses in teaching are identified when information gained from assessments are not used effectively, when teachers’ expectations of what individuals are capable of achieving in a given time span are not high enough, and where staff have insufficient knowledge and skill to teach the age groups, as at the foundation stage and at the intersection of key stages.

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

• Teaching of children at the foundation stage is unsatisfactory overall. Teaching plans do not take sufficient account of these children’s needs in relation to achieving recommended early learning goals. The Ilsleys Primary School - 9 They follow almost the same teaching plans as those for Key Stage 1. The school is aware of this weakness and has identified the improvement of provision as a priority. The teaching of pupils who have special educational needs is satisfactory, and they make satisfactory progress in their learning. When used effectively, support adults have a very positive effect on these pupils’ rate of learning and the standards they reach.

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

• The overall quality of teaching has been sustained since the previous inspection, and so pupils’ standards of attainment have been maintained in most subjects. They have improved in English and art because of improved teaching, but have fallen in information technology, and in religious education at Key Stage 2. Standards in geography were not reported upon in the previous inspection and now teaching is judged to be unsatisfactory. Although music was identified as a growing strength of the school in 1997, no music lessons were made available to the team to make judgements about the quality of teaching and learning. Similarly, insufficient evidence was made available to judge the quality of teaching in design and technology at both key stages and history at Key Stage 1.

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

• The teaching of lower and higher attaining pupils does not always provide them with appropriate levels of challenge, which reduces their rate of learning and possible levels of achievement. Also, teaching resources such as the school site, the library area and computers are rarely used to best advantage.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory overall. The quality and range of learning opportunities have improved, and now meets all requirements, except those for information technology, geography and religious education at the end of Key Stage 2. There is a generally broad, often interesting curriculum, which satisfies the needs of almost all pupils in the important subjects of English, mathematics and science. There is a satisfactory level of equality of opportunity for pupils, including those with special educational needs. Provision for children in the foundation stage is unsatisfactory. Provision for extra-curricular activities is satisfactory for this size of school. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Satisfactory overall. The provision for pupils on the schools’ special educational needs (SEN) register is satisfactory, enabling them to make satisfactory progress towards their targets. The policy for the additional

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Aspect Comment

teaching of pupils with SEN is good and has clear aims and objectives, but targets in individual education plans are not always considered sufficiently in teachers’ planning for subjects across the curriculum. Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Satisfactory overall. Teachers and other staff promote a firm moral code and are good role models to pupils. Provision for monitoring pupils’ personal development is satisfactory. The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development is satisfactory, and that for their social development is good. How well the school cares for its pupils Satisfactory overall. The school’s procedures for ensuring pupils’ welfare, health and safety are satisfactory. Overall, the school has satisfactory arrangements in place to assess pupils’ academic performance and personal development. Monitoring and improving attendance is satisfactory.

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Aspect Comment

Procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress are mostly satisfactory, but less than satisfactory for children at the foundation stage. There are good practices in English and mathematics but weaknesses in other subjects. How well the school works in partnership with parents Good overall. Most parents’ views of the school are very good. They feel welcome and are very satisfied with what the school provides. There is a mostly satisfactory quality of information distributed to them, and they state that their relationship with the school is open and friendly. Where there is parental involvement, the effect on pupils’ learning is good. The Ilsleys Primary School - 10

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Unsatisfactory overall. Although the headteacher is caring, anxious to please parents and ensures that the school has a high profile in the local community, he does not provide a sufficiently clear educational direction for the school, so that all pupils make appropriate progress with their learning in all subjects. There is a harmonious working relationship with all staff and together they show commitment to raising standards. However, there is insufficient rigour applied to making sure that productive changes are made quickly so that pupils benefit without unnecessary delay. Key staff are very supportive but are often frustrated by the slow rate of change. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Unsatisfactory overall. Some members of the governing body are very active and supportive, showing improved commitment to ensuring that they

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Aspect Comment

have a clear understanding of all school practices and pupils’ progress with their learning. Others rely on the few for information and guidance on how well the school is moving forward. As a group, they have worked successfully to improve their knowledge and understanding of the school’s perceived strengths and areas for development. Not all statutory requirements are met. They have not ensured that there is adequate curriculum provision for children at the foundation stage, and for information technology, geography and religious education at Key Stage 2. There is missing statutory information in their annual report to parents and in the prospectus. Formal risk assessments are not carried out with sufficient regularity. The school’s evaluation of its performance Unsatisfactory overall. There is some, but insufficient evaluation of all school activity. Although the management team of governors and headteacher meet regularly to consider the school’s performance and how

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Aspect Comment

improvements might be made, there is insufficient monitoring of staff and their effects on pupils’ learning to confirm that agreed action takes place within a reasonable time scale. There is some useful review of pupils’ standards of attainment, as with test results, and appropriate action is discussed and agreed. However, this does not adequately include the wide range of subjects or other aspects of school life, and is not applied with sufficient rigour. The adequacy of staffing, accommodation and learning resources. Satisfactory overall. There is a well above average level of staffing. Accommodation is adequate in size and sufficiently maintained, but not always used to best advantage. Learning resources are satisfactory overall, but vary in quantity, quality and range from very good to poor. There are insufficient resources to support children’s learning at the foundation stage. The strategic use of

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Aspect Comment

resources Satisfactory overall. There is effective targeting of resources to bring about agreed improvements, such as increased staffing. The governors and headteacher are aware of, and use, the principles of best value satisfactorily. There is very good financial control. Financial resources, The Ilsleys Primary School - 11 including additional funding for pupils with special educational needs, are used satisfactorily.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• Their children like going to this school. • Most of their children make good progress because of the good teaching. • They are encouraged to play an active part in the school. • They find it easy to approach the school with questions and problems to do with their children. • The staff work hard to support their children. • Most feel that the school is well led and managed. • Some are not satisfied with the work that their children are expected to do at home. • A few feel that school does not always work closely with parents. • A significant minority are concerned about some pupils’ behaviour, the quality of information that they receive and the low level of out of school activities.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

There was a mostly positive reaction from those parents who attended the meeting and from responses to questionnaires. The inspection team firmly supports the majority view about most of the identified strengths of the school, and agrees with parents and the school that there are some shortcomings with communication. The team does not agree that the school is consistently well led and managed. Although a few parents would like larger amounts of homework for their children, the inspection team concludes that the school provides a satisfactory range of homework assignments. The level of out of school activities is judged to be satisfactory for this size of school. The school agrees with parents and the inspection team that a few pupils’ behaviour is not always satisfactory and are working hard to improve this through effective use of the newly developed behavioural policy. The Ilsleys Primary School - 12

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The school’s results and achievements

1. When children enter the reception class, as under fives at the foundation stage, their skill levels are widely varied, and the larger proportion is close to the levels expected for children of their age. Despite this satisfactory baseline of achievement, most children are on line to achieve the nationally recommended levels of the early learning goals in their physical, social, emotional, linguistic, literacy and mathematical development but not their knowledge and understanding of the world, physical or creative development because of the deficiencies in teaching and other provision.

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The school’s results and achievements

2. In each year group, pupils show marked differences in their prior attainment and generalisations on standards are difficult to make. However, realistic targets are set with the local education authority and these were exceeded in 1999 and, although not ratified, also in 2000. In all year groups, there is a wide spread of standards of attainment in English, mathematics and science, with a weighting towards average. Inspection evidence indicates that, by the end of Key Stage 1, most pupils have made good progress in the essential areas of speaking and listening, and satisfactory progress in reading, writing and numeracy, enabling the larger proportion of pupils to attain standards that are close to the national average in English, mathematics and science. This represents maintenance of the standards reported by the previous inspection in all three subjects. At the end of Key Stage 2, pupils’ attainment in mathematics and science is close to the national

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The school’s results and achievements

averages. Standards are above national average in English, which represents an improvement since the previous inspection, and maintenance of standards in mathematics and science. In the previous inspection, pupils’ standards of attainment in religious education at the end of both key stages met the requirements of the locally Agreed Syllabus. This inspection shows that although standards are very similar at the end of Key Stage 1, they have fallen to an unsatisfactory level at the end of Key Stage 2. This is in part due to the school’s increased focus on the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies over the past two years.

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The school’s results and achievements

3. At both key stages, there are a few pupils who attain at a higher level in these subjects. This can be attributed partly to the differences on entry to Key Stage 1 of each year’s pupil group and through improved planning by teachers in English / literacy and mathematics / numeracy. For example, good teaching and increasing resources within the National Literacy Strategy enable most pupils in Key Stage 2 to make good progress and achieve above average levels within these lessons throughout the key stage. The good progress that they make in their learning is directly related to teachers’ clear planning of content, effective use of assessment information and teachers’ improved knowledge and understanding of the subject material.

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The school’s results and achievements

4. Pupils' standards of attainment in information technology (IT) are unsatisfactory at the end of both key stages, and there has been some regression since the previous inspection when standards across the school were judged to be satisfactory. The rate of development has been hindered by the lack of teachers’ planning to meet statutory requirements and the inconsistency with which pupils access computers and other communications equipment. Some pupils speak confidently of accessing the Internet and using e-mail, others know insufficient for their ages.

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The school’s results and achievements

5. Most pupils make satisfactory progress in art, history and physical education. At the end of Key Stage 1, pupils’ attainment in art and physical education are satisfactory but insufficient evidence was produced to confirm standards in history. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils achieve satisfactory standards in history and physical education, and good standards in art. Pupils’ standards in geography are unsatisfactory at the end of both key stages. Standards of attainment in this subject were not reported at the previous inspection. In this inspection, insufficient evidence The Ilsleys Primary School - 13 was provided to confirm standards in design and technology and music at the end of both key stages, although provision for these two subjects is judged to be satisfactory.

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The school’s results and achievements

6. There is no significant difference between the progress of boys and girls. There are no pupils for whom English is an additional language. At both key stages, the progress in learning of pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory, overall, and these pupils make best progress in English and mathematics, especially when supported by additional learning support assistants. The grouping of all pupils into smaller sets for literacy and numeracy in both key stages is helpful to these pupils’ learning especially, because work is more regularly at the correct level. Their good speaking and listening skills promote their success in learning in other subjects. Some pupils, particularly those showing higher aptitude for learning at a faster rate, do not always make the progress of which they are capable in subjects other than English and mathematics. This is evident from the analysis of pupils’ previously completed work and in some lessons, where the priority is

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The school’s results and achievements

frequently to complete the task set for the whole class, rather than moving on from each individual pupil’s levels of skill and understanding.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

7. Pupils’ attitude to school is good, which reflects the positive attitude reported at the previous inspection, and which continues to support their progress with learning. Parents are happy with the values and attitudes that the school promotes and say that their children enjoy coming to school, which they do. Even the youngest children, who have been in school for a very short period, show confidence and enjoyment in a range of activities. Pupils on the school’s special educational needs register show positive attitudes to the additional support that they receive. For example, those with reading difficulties enjoy their weekly lessons with the visiting special educational need support teacher and work very hard to make progress.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

8. Most pupils listen attentively in lessons and are keen to make contributions. This was particularly evident in a Key Stage 1 literacy lesson where pupils were eager to answer questions about the story, and in a Key Stage 2 art lesson when pupils made relevant and interesting contributions about the life and work of the artist Paul Klee. In the majority of lessons, pupils show good concentration, even when the work is inappropriate for their age level or the pace is too slow. They take pride in their written work and presentation is usually good. Pupils respond positively to teachers’ high expectations in some lessons, as in a Key Stage 2 writing lesson, where the teacher had brought in a variety of unusual and stimulating objects. The pupils had high levels of concentration and produced work of a very good standard.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

9. Relationships in the school are good and this has a very positive effect on the way in which pupils approach their learning. Teachers and learning support assistants present friendly, courteous role models and pupils are friendly towards each other and polite and helpful in class. They work co- operatively in pairs and small groups, and are confident to seek help when they need it. Older pupils are caring towards younger ones. Behaviour in school is good. The school behaviour policy was drawn up with the co-operation of the pupils and is very effective. Pupils know their class and whole school rules and most abide by them.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

10. The previous report noted a lack of opportunities for pupils to develop independent learning skills and not enough progress has been made to improve this weakness. Older pupils rarely carry out independent research using the school or local facilities to extend their learning and expectations. For example, there is no school council, although pupils of all ages respond admirably to any opportunities for taking personal responsibility and initiative, such as when taking the register to the office, or representing the school in concerts and outside events. This remains a significant area for development.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

11. Attendance remains satisfactory. The level of authorised absence is close to the national average and that of unauthorised absence is better than average. The Ilsleys Primary School - 14

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

12. Overall, the quality of teaching is satisfactory, but there are good and unsatisfactory features. In the teaching observed, 96 per cent was satisfactory or better, 42 per cent was good or better and 4 per cent was excellent. There was a small amount (4 per cent) of unsatisfactory teaching. Teaching of children at the foundation stage was unsatisfactory overall because tasks were not planned at their level of need for the most part. The school also realises that other provision, such as appropriately large equipment and a designated safe play area to aid their learning, is lacking. Teaching and other provision enables almost all pupils, including those with special educational needs, to maintain satisfactory and sometimes good progress in most subjects as they move through the school, but there are weaknesses. For example, insufficient pace to lessons. Although there was a high percentage of satisfactory or better teaching seen, which coincided with the

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

findings of the previous report, other evidence identified inconsistencies in the use of assessment data, for example, to provide work at suitable levels for all pupils in subjects other than English/ literacy and mathematics/ numeracy. This was identified as an area for improvement at the time of the previous inspection and remains an issue. Most noticeable improvement is shown in the teaching of English at both key stages and art at Key Stage 2.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

13. At both key stages, most teachers make effective use of guidance within the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies to plan programmes of pupils’ work. They regularly collect assessment information in these two subjects and use it appropriately, providing pupils with suitably challenging work. However, in some other subjects, such as science and geography, teachers do not make sufficient assessments of pupils’ attainment and progress to enable them to build on from where pupils have reached in their learning. Initial work is regularly provided for whole groups to attempt, even though teachers appreciate that there is a wide range of prior attainment. This is having detrimental effects on some pupils’ behaviour and progress in learning. Teachers plan their time to give suitable emphasis to literacy and numeracy. Sometimes, this planning does not work out in practice, and so does not show a realistic confirmation of the actual time that pupils spend on their

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

work. There is often an absence of clear learning targets and pupils do not understand what is expected of them in the time allowed. For example, higher attaining pupils are given a starting task that allows them to work at a more leisurely pace and still complete the task before the lesson ends. Conversely, pupils with special educational needs require help almost immediately, indicating that insufficient thought has been put into lesson planning. The school has recognised this weakness but has not set about change with sufficient rigour.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

14. At both key stages, teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the curriculum is satisfactory overall, with some showing good knowledge of subjects such as English and art. The teaching of basic skills associated with literacy and numeracy is satisfactory overall, and some teaching is exceptional, which has a very positive effect on the quality of presentation and the accuracy of pupils’ recorded work at the end of both key stages. However, some staff have insufficient understanding of the content and recommended procedures for the teaching of literacy and numeracy, which is having a negative effect on pupils’ learning. Similarly, insufficient expertise is shown by most in the teaching of information technology and geography, which the previous report found to be deficient. Teaching of children at the foundation stage is unsatisfactory because of insufficient knowledge for teaching the recommended early learning goals for these children.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

15. All members of staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and attitude to work but a few pupils do not meet these expectations. Staff show respect to pupils, providing good role models. They successfully encourage most pupils to behave appropriately, promote good interest and involvement in work, and help pupils maintain productive working relationships with each other, and with adults in the school. This generates good attitudes to work by almost all pupils, despite some being unsettled by tasks they find too difficult or too easy. The most effective teaching regularly produces high levels of interest, concentration and successful development of The Ilsleys Primary School - 15 independence. For example, the use of carefully thought through questions, which are pitched at an individual level of challenge, persuades pupils to predict and speculate on probable answers without fear of being embarrassed or wrong. This was particularly evident in some very effective

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

teaching during the literacy hour. The weakest teaching showed over directed tasks, inappropriate levels of work and low expectations of what pupils can achieve in the lesson. Where teaching is enthusiastic and suitably demanding, pupils’ efforts, interest and work rate increase correspondingly.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

16. The management and control of pupils is good. For example, there is suitably firm and fair management of more challenging pupil behaviours across the school. All staff members have good interaction with pupils, encouraging them to remain on task, which most do. Most teaching staff make satisfactory use of learning support assistants. When used effectively, support adults are satisfactorily briefed about their tasks and role with the pupils. They are sufficiently knowledgeable and enthusiastic to have a positive influence on the learning of pupils in their groups. However, although training is planned for two members in the latter part of this year, there is no trained person for supporting children at the foundation stage or those pupils with special educational needs, which inhibits progress in learning and has negative effects on behaviour. Visiting tutors of music successfully encourage some pupils to play a few musical instruments,

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

17. The teaching of pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory overall, but varies from good to unsatisfactory during whole-class lessons. The co-ordination of special educational needs teaching, although satisfactory overall, is hindered by the part-time nature of the role. Support assistants work in close collaboration with the teachers and pupils’ individual education plans are detailed and informative. In the main, teachers and learning support assistants implement these successfully, particularly in literacy and numeracy lessons. However, lessons and practical sessions in other subjects do not always reflect the content of these plans and pupils’ progress in learning is slowed down. Most tasks in English/ literacy and mathematics/ numeracy are adapted effectively to suit pupils' particular needs, but in other lessons tasks and worksheets are often inadequately matched, resulting in a loss of pupils’ concentration and promotion of inappropriate

p.15

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

18. Teachers make satisfactory use of most teaching resources. The use that most teachers make of information technology and other communications equipment is unsatisfactory, however, and there are too many occasions when opportunities to use computers and audio equipment for pupils’ skill development, recording information or for researching facts to support other subjects are missed. Teaching makes satisfactory use of homework to reinforce and extend what pupils learn in school time, as with reading and spelling. This is not extended enough to support other areas of the curriculum.

p.15

PUPILS?

19. Younger pupils at the foundation stage are not being provided with a suitably wide range of experiences in order to make satisfactory progress towards achieving all of the early learning goals. At both key stages, curricular opportunities are satisfactory, with the exceptions of information technology and geography, where the school is not meeting statutory requirements. The curriculum is generally broad and balanced over time, but the delivery of some subjects lacks continuity and this has a negative effect on standards, for example in geography and religious education. There is now a curriculum map for each key stage in order to monitor coverage of the National Curriculum programmes of study. This represents improvement since the previous inspection, when the absence of a coherent curriculum framework was identified as a key issue. The school now has schemes of work for all subjects, which also represents a positive

p.15

PUPILS?

improvement since the 1997 inspection report. An approved body has published the majority of The Ilsleys Primary School - 16 these schemes of work and, whilst they are appropriate, they have not yet been modified to suit the particular circumstances of the school. The delivery of the curriculum through whole class lessons, to mixed age and mixed key stage classes, means that some pupils are covering topics at a level that are not designed for them, and this has a negative effect on their learning. The necessary changes to the curriculum to accommodate Curriculum 2000 are in process. However, pupils at Key Stage 2 do not attend school for the minimum recommended time, which makes it difficult for the school to fit sufficient allocation of time to all curriculum areas.

p.15

PUPILS?

20. Subject co-ordination remains an unresolved issue since the previous inspection. The small number of staff necessitates each teacher being responsible for the leadership of several subjects. At present, there is a lack of effective co-ordination between the key stages in many subjects. Subject leaders do not monitor pupils’ experiences or teaching across the school. This has a negative effect on some pupils’ learning in a significant number of subjects, and often higher attaining pupils are not stretched to their full potential, as in science. Teachers’ short and medium term lesson planning is satisfactory overall, but does not always pay sufficient attention to the different ages and levels of prior attainment in each class. For example, this was the case in a Key Stage 1 geography lesson that was pitched at a suitable level for pupils in Year 2, but which did not take account of the needs of children at the foundation stage and pupils in Year 1 present

p.16

PUPILS?

21. Permanent members of staff have successfully implemented the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies into their teaching, and these are having a positive effect on standards and pupils’ learning. Insufficient training for the new member of staff in these very important areas of teaching is having a negative effect on pupils’ learning in some lessons.

p.16

PUPILS?

22. The school offers a satisfactory range of extra-curricular activities, which are well supported. This aspect of school life has remained satisfactory since the previous inspection. In music, some pupils learn the recorder at lunchtimes. After- school clubs, such as football and art, are popular. Pupils are keen to take part in out of school activities, such as country-dance demonstrations and concerts, demonstrating a commitment to their school. Pupils’ learning is effectively supported by school visits to theatres and places of historical and local interest. Peripatetic teachers offer violin and guitar lessons.

p.16

PUPILS?

23. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development is satisfactory, and that for their social development good. Provision for pupils’ personal development remains satisfactory overall.

p.16

PUPILS?

24. Provision for pupils’ spiritual development is generally satisfactory. Acts of collective worship conform to statutory requirements. Pupils are given brief moments to think quietly on a topic in assemblies but many find this difficult. Not enough thought has been given to creating a special atmosphere to encourage calm reflection. Some subjects, such as art and literature, occasionally provide pupils with learning experiences that are stimulating and enriching, and their spiritual development benefits.

p.16

PUPILS?

25. Provision for pupils’ moral development is satisfactory with good features. The pupils are successfully taught the difference between right and wrong and were closely involved in the development of the school behaviour policy. They are involved in the creation of class rules and the vast majority abide by them. There are some opportunities in school assemblies for pupils to think about fairness and justice, but there is no planned programme of assemblies for each term, so that any themes are insufficiently developed.

p.16

PUPILS?

26. Provision for pupils’ social development is good. The aim of the school is to provide a caring, family ethos, which it successfully achieves. Staff provide courteous role models and show interest in the pupils, who are kind and friendly to each other, and are polite and helpful to visitors. Older pupils are successfully encouraged to take a special interest in helping the younger ones. As a result of suitable encouragement by staff, pupils are co-operative in class and enjoy taking The Ilsleys Primary School - 17 responsibility, but opportunities for them to develop independence are insufficient, as identified in the previous report.

p.16

PUPILS?

27. Provision for pupils’ cultural development is satisfactory. Concerts and musical plays at the end of term provide good opportunities for pupils of all ages to perform to a large audience, which they thoroughly enjoy, and upper Key Stage 2 pupils have worked with pupils from other schools in a professionally staged production. However, music making and appreciation, drama and poetry readings are not regular features of school life. Pupils take part in country dancing for the local community at fetes and fairs, and have a strong local identity. The contribution of the music and arts of other cultures is under-represented in the work of the school, as is their learning associated with the multi-cultural society in which we live.

p.17

PUPILS?

28. Provision for pupils’ personal development is satisfactory. They are given simple tasks, such as taking the register to the school office and clearing playground play-equipment after breaktimes. However, as reported in the previous report, insufficient opportunities are provided for them to show independence of thought within a teacher controlled environment.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

29. Procedures for ensuring pupils’ welfare are satisfactory overall. This is a similar situation to that found at the time of the previous report. The school is open, friendly and welcoming and pupils are happy and feel secure. Staff are caring and know their pupils well. The majority of parents feel that the school is helping their children to become mature and responsible and believe that the school expects their children to work hard and achieve their best, which many do. The formal procedures for child protection are satisfactory. However, not all staff have received up-to-date training on identifying and reacting to child protection issues. The school is a safe environment and there are effective procedures to report health and safety concerns, and to record any remedial action taken. There is correct recording of the regular checks made of equipment, and fire drills are listed as occurring at appropriate intervals.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

30. Risk assessments, which are a statutory responsibility, have not yet been completed for all areas of the school’s work. However, good procedures are in place to care for pupils who become ill or are hurt whilst at school. Sufficient staff are trained in first aid and injuries are recorded systematically.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

31. Procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress with learning are satisfactory overall. Assessment is satisfactorily accomplished in English, mathematics and science but is underdeveloped in other areas of the curriculum. Individual pupil’s progress is carefully tracked in English and mathematics from entry into the school, which is good practice. The progress of younger pupils is monitored from baseline entry information to end of Key Stage 1. Teachers’ formative assessments during the foundation stage and Key Stage 1 are used effectively to ensure steady progress in the development of the key skills of literacy and numeracy. At Key Stage 2, end of key stage national test results are supplemented by regular reading tests and optional standard attainment tests at the end of each year in these subjects. Individual pupil profiles are used for target setting and to inform teachers’ planning. This represents improvement since the

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

previous report, when assessment was judged to be developing satisfactorily at Key Stage 1, but underused in teachers’ planning at Key Stage 2. The sound practice now established in English and mathematics has yet to be introduced to other subjects, such as science, information technology and geography . Record keeping is good in English and mathematics but mainly states coverage of topics in other areas of the curriculum, which is unsatisfactory. Reporting to parents is satisfactory overall, but there is wide variation in the quality of advice between subjects as to how pupils might improve.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

32. The pupils are successfully supported in their transition from one stage of their education to the next. The induction procedures for children starting in the reception class are good and ensure that The Ilsleys Primary School - 18 they settle quickly and enjoy coming to school. An appropriate programme is in place to ease pupils’ transfer to the next stage of their education.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

33. The procedures for supporting pupils with special educational needs (SEN) are satisfactory overall and statutory requirements are met. The visiting SEN learning support teacher carefully monitors the progress of pupils who receive her specialist help. Class teachers successfully monitor the progress of pupils on the school’s SEN register in English and mathematics, and good practice exists to track progress in other subjects in one class, but this is not carried out in all classes. At present, there is not a whole school approach to the identification and assessment of pupils’ special educational needs. Not all pupils at Key Stage 1 who are experiencing difficulties greater than their classmates are included on the school’s special educational needs register. Pupils in Key Stage 2, who have been identified as having difficulties, are all at stage 3 of the Code of Practice or beyond. The absence of pupils throughout the school at earlier stages of the register indicates a

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

lack of understanding of the purpose and process of identification and placement on the school’s register.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

34. The school’s procedures for monitoring and improving attendance are satisfactory. Records for attendance are properly maintained and comply with statutory requirements. There is an effective partnership with the county’s education welfare officer.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

35. Procedures for monitoring and promoting good behaviour are good. The behaviour policy reflects the school’s positive approach to behaviour management. Staff, pupils and parents working successfully together in order to create a code of conduct and a guide to expected behaviour. All staff and helpers implement this very effectively. As an added incentive, the school makes a special award, “The Marshall Cup”, which is presented once per term in recognition of outstanding work, behaviour or contribution to the life of the school. Recipients take great pride in receiving this recognition. Pupils and their parents are fully aware of the procedures for reporting misbehaviour or bullying and are rightly confident that such incidents would be dealt with swiftly, sensitively and appropriately.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

36. The procedures for monitoring and supporting pupils’ personal development are satisfactory. Pupils have individual profiles, set their own targets for each half term and complete end of year reports on how well they feel they have achieved. However, as reported at the previous inspection, there are many missed opportunities for pupils to show more initiative and self- sufficiency in their schoolwork.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

37. Parents hold the school in very high regard. The inspection confirms their view that it has a very happy atmosphere where their children want to learn. They also sense that children’s behaviour in school is good, which it is, and are comfortable about approaching the school with questions or any problems. The school has continued to build effectively on its good relationship with parents since the previous inspection. The school succeeds in its aim to actively involve parents in their children’s learning through regular personal communication and a willingness to welcome them into school.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

38. Overall, the quality of information provided for parents is satisfactory. The school prospectus is attractively presented, includes coloured illustrations and gives parents a useful insight into school life. The governors’ annual report to parents contains much useful information about the work of the school and the governing body. However, there are significant omissions in both of these important documents. The school has been made aware of these omissions and plans to make the necessary amendments. The Ilsleys Primary School - 19 39. An important feature of the school is the newsletter that is sent to all parents and circulated around two villages. It gives a valuable insight into the life and work of the school and includes many examples of pupils’ work, which raises their self-esteem. Parents also receive a useful outline of the work that their children will be doing in class, a timetable and a list of key dates in

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

40. Meetings are held for parents relating to curriculum initiatives. For example, coinciding with the latest annual parents’ meeting, a video was shown explaining how numeracy works in mixed year group classes. The school provides parents with an appropriate number of opportunities to discuss their children’s progress, which includes annual written reports. These written reports are satisfactory overall and meet statutory requirements. Better quality reports give clear pointers for improvement. They also include children’s own reports on how well they feel they have progressed with their learning.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

41. Parents of pupils with special educational needs are appropriately informed and involved with their children’s education. They are regularly invited to attend reviews of individual education plans and to contribute to target setting. They state very positively about provision for their children. The effect of parents’ involvement in the work of the school and their contribution to their children’s learning both at school and at home is good overall. Parents and governors who are able to support aspects of the school’s work are warmly welcomed into school. They are actively encouraged to help in school and a small number do so regularly. They give time to activities such as listening to readers, helping with football, ‘cycling proficiency and sorting problems with computer hardware. The Ilsleys Parent-Teacher Association is an enthusiastic, hard-working group that organises many fund raising events and makes a substantial contribution to school

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

resources. Recent contributions include lump sums towards new mathematics schemes, library books and the redecoration of a classroom. This support is much appreciated by the school and increases pupils’ learning opportunities.

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

42. The leadership and management of the school have some strengths but are unsatisfactory overall. Relationships amongst staff are very friendly and happy, which supports and gives confidence to members in their endeavours to improve, and creates a pleasant climate for pupils to learn. The school has made good improvements in some areas, such as the creation of appropriate curricular schemes of work, but the rate of improvement has been too slow in others and a number of weaknesses that were identified at the previous inspection have not been addressed satisfactorily. Where there has been a determined effort to improve, progress has been made and pupils have benefited. The governors, headteacher and other staff have shown widely varying levels of commitment to advance pupils’ learning, particularly in standards pupils attain in all subjects of the National Curriculum and religious education. Some pupils are not achieving their potential, which

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

does not reflect the school’s written aims. The leadership claims dedication to the improvement of standards and learning in general, particularly through raising the quality of teaching in the school, and is attempting to extend suitably qualified, permanent staff to achieve this aim, but weaknesses are evident. The school’s planning for children at the foundation stage, for example, is unsatisfactory.

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

43. The leadership of the headteacher is caring, supportive of colleagues and keeps the school as a focus of the community, as recognised by parents, governors and staff. However, there is insufficient clarity on how the necessary changes can come about in relatively short periods of time. Longer-term goals similarly cause difficulties in prioritisation and implementation. Staff are frustrated at the slow pace of change and, although their overall support of the headteacher is not in question, they are eager to be enthusiastically led. Additionally, subject co-ordination remains an issue as there are still insufficient opportunities created to monitor teaching and learning during lesson time. Staff appraisal is too informal. Teachers and non-teaching staff have no regular The Ilsleys Primary School - 20 opportunities to discuss their performance, targets and personal development at a more formal level. Hence, not all have received the appropriate training to cope with school demands.

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

Teachers’ meetings carry no written agendas, minutes are taken to confirm agreed action only when deemed appropriate, and few timescales are met. Non-teaching staff have no opportunity to discuss their work as a group or meet with teachers as a whole school staff. All of these factors do not provide for efficient staff management.

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

44. Teaching staff work effectively with the headteacher, who also has a large teaching commitment, to try to ensure that all pupils are given the support they need. In this, they have been generally successful, but there has been insufficient backing for pupils in parts of Year 2 and Years 3 and 4, especially when new teaching staff are trying to come to terms with the demands of the primary age curriculum. The school has not been successful in enabling staff new to the school to settle quickly into their roles. Monitoring of this induction is insufficiently detailed and supportive, which has had some initial negative effect on pupils’ learning in that age group. At other times in the week, these pupils receive at least satisfactory and often good support from established teachers and other staff.

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

45. Teaching and non-teaching staff are encouraged to attend appropriate in-service training, either sponsored by the school or through their own initiative. For example, as a result of focused training for the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, standards of teachers’ planning and pupils’ learning for other areas of the curriculum have improved. However, not all staff have been trained to support these strategies, as with additional literacy support training. School administrative systems are benefiting through up-dating of software and accompanying data handling training packages for the school’s finance officer / secretary. However, there has been insufficient training of classroom support staff to help with children at the foundation stage.

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

46. The school has an appropriate policy for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and relevant documentation and records are efficiently organised and up to date. Statutory requirements are met. The SEN co-ordinator (SENCO) liases closely with the visiting specialist teacher and consults with her about the setting of targets in pupils’ individual education plans. She makes herself available for consultation with parents, which is highly appreciated. However, the SENCO has little training or expertise and this is reflected in the absence of a whole school approach to identification and assessment of pupils’ learning difficulties. The governor with responsibility for SEN visits the school regularly and is kept informed of procedures and systems, but neither the identified governor nor the SENCO is aware of the budget allocation or how it is deployed. Learning support assistants have good relationships with pupils on the school’s SEN register, but

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

are not always sufficiently directed when working with pupils to make maximum use of the time allocated to them.

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

47. The governing body has not been sufficiently effective in fulfilling its statutory responsibilities but the contribution of governors has improved since the previous inspection. A few governors have established firm working relationships with the headteacher and other members of staff because they visit the school regularly. Through this line of communication, the governing body as a whole has been given a satisfactory overall understanding of the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the school. The term of office for some members has been recently completed and, together with the resignation of others, means that there will be a significant number of changes later this term. Currently there is no governor responsible for numeracy. Although governors have fulfilled many of their statutory responsibilities, they have not yet met their duty to instigate a successful information technology and geography curriculum, there are some omissions in documentation that

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

they send to parents, and they do not carry out a regular risk assessment to confirm the safety of pupils and staff.

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

48. Monitoring and evaluation of the school’s performance is unsatisfactory. The governing body, through the headteacher, is taking insufficient action to improve all pupils’ learning. Children at the The Ilsleys Primary School - 21 foundation stage do not follow an appropriate curriculum and plans for the creation of a suitable activity space is planned for completion many months ahead, without alternative provision being considered as a temporary solution. National and school test results are considered satisfactorily but standards in many subjects are rarely discussed outside of teaching-staff meetings. School development planning has continued to improve since the previous inspection but is insufficiently detailed to identify short-term targets and how they will be achieved. The finance committee has enhanced the longer term strategic planning for the school, in conjunction with the headteacher,

p.20

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

and plans appropriately within the agreed budget head allocations. For example, the school is already planning to retain extra staffing as part of its drive to improve pupils’ standards and opportunities for learning. The recent enthusiasm shown by some governors indicates that the school has generally satisfactory potential to succeed in its plans for improvement.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

49. The governors and headteacher are aware of, and use, the principles of best value satisfactorily. School administration is very efficiently carried out by the school finance officer / secretary, who is highly supportive to the headteacher and other staff, and to governors who visit and attend meetings. Financial control is very good. Support is unobtrusive and enables staff to do their jobs without unnecessary distraction. Financial resources are used satisfactorily, although spending in the school is high when compared to national average. Funds received by the school for special educational needs are efficiently deployed, mainly to provide necessary learning support assistance.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

50. The governing body has worked prudently to extend staffing and to maintain resources at a satisfactory level. The school is staffed to an above average level of teachers and classroom support assistants, and pupils benefit from a little voluntary help that is provided mainly by parents. All teaching staff are appropriately qualified but none specialise in mathematics, science, special educational needs or early years education, and this is an important training issue for the school’s management. Classroom support staff, who contribute much to school life, are managed with varying degrees of success. In some lessons they are constructively used but at other times their input is minimal. The management of these support staff is in need of review to ensure best value and effective use of their time. Additionally, team meetings with the headteacher or governors are very infrequent, so that these staff are not sufficiently informed about their own progress and the

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

ways in which the quality of their support might be improved. Visiting tutors for the teaching of musical instruments are not formally supervised or managed by the school, which does not provide first-hand confirmation of the quality of teaching and learning.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

51. There is overall adequacy of accommodation and facilities place no significant limitations on the curriculum, other than those for children in the foundation stage. The original building, almost 100 years old, provides one classroom for part-time use by Years 2, 3 and 4 pupils, a small hall used for dining, physical education lessons, assemblies and a kitchen. The classroom has been recently decorated with parents’ help and is fit for purpose. A separate, relatively new roll-along building contains two classrooms, a library, reception area, two offices and a staff room. This building is very well maintained and provides a stimulating learning environment. The school is cleaned to a good standard. Externally the hard surfaced play area provides sufficient space for play. There is a grassed area with picnic tables and climbing frames, which encourages social integration and physical development. However, the available space is not always managed to the best advantage.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

For example, some areas of the site need tidying and the grassed area is underdeveloped as a learning resource, as identified in the previous report. The school does not have a secure play area for children at the foundation stage, which inhibits their social and physical development.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

52. At both key stages, there is satisfactory use of most teaching resources. There has been investment into resources to implement literacy and numeracy, and resources are adequate for these two subjects. There are firm plans to expand these so that there is more conformity across the key stages in mathematics. Resources for information technology have expanded and are generally adequate, but there is insufficient equipment to meet requirements in the control element of the curriculum. The resources that are available are conveniently stored in the resource area The Ilsleys Primary School - 22 and are easily accessible. Some resources clutter the buildings and insufficient thought has been put into improving available spaces. Learning resources for children at the foundation stage and for those with special educational needs are also unsatisfactory in quantity and range and not always appropriate. Resources for art have been developed satisfactorily in response to the

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

deficit identified in the previous inspection.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

53. The book library is housed in a dedicated room, which offers a good quality facility with a satisfactory range of reference material, but this area is underused as a facility and as a teaching space. Reference material is appropriately supplemented by loan services and through some effective use of the Internet by pupils at Key Stage 2.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

54. The management and effectiveness of the school’s development has shown generally satisfactory improvement since the previous inspection, and is continuing to progress in some areas, albeit at a slow pace, with governors and staff wishing to contribute to raising standards through increasing the efficiency with which the school is led and managed. When all factors are considered, this inspection shows that the school continues to give just about satisfactory value for money.

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

55. In order to improve the standards of attainment and progress of all pupils, the governors, headteacher and staff should: • Raise pupils’ attainment in information technology (IT) and geography at both key stages, and religious education at Key Stage 2 by: - ensuring that all statutory requirements are met; -improving teachers’ confidence and expertise with carefully focused in-service training; -ensuring that all pupils have sufficient time to access computers and other technological equipment for recording and research purposes; -improving resources that give all pupils appropriate opportunities to develop their knowledge, skill and understanding in all aspects of the each subject’s curriculum; - ensuring that the work builds on pupils’ existing level of achievement.

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

This can be seen in paragraphs: 101-104,108-113 and 121-124

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Increase the provision for children at the foundation stage so that they are adequately supported to make best progress in their learning by: - providing a curriculum that suits their needs; - creating an environment that is suitably stimulating for these children and staff to work in; - working to a shorter timescale for the creation of a secure play area, so that their physical and social skills are not impeded. The Ilsleys Primary School - 23 This can be seen in paragraphs: 48 and 56-63.

p.22

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Improve the teaching for children at the foundation stage and in parts of both key stages by: - providing appropriate in-service training and opportunities to observe good practice; - extending the good use of assessment data seen in English and mathematics; - providing a range of work in each lesson that makes best use of the good knowledge that staff have about individuals in their groups; - agreeing schemes of work that build pupils’ skills in a structured way, so that all pupils are appropriately challenged and fulfil their individual potential in all subjects, as identified in the school aims; - set achievable targets for pupils to aim for so that they know what is expected of them in each lesson.

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

This can be seen in paragraphs: 12-18, 56, 69,70,80,87,99,104,107,111 and 124.

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Improve leadership and management practices of the headteacher and governors by: - effective evaluation of staff skills and expertise; - implementing appropriate in-service training programmes over a much shorter period than presently planned; - formalising systems for the professional development of all staff; and setting achievable, short, medium and long term targets; - establishing and implementing suitable systems for monitoring and evaluating the school’s performance against agreed short-term targets; - involving more governors in the monitoring and evaluation of learning, so that they are better informed about standards when asked to agree future policy;

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

This can be seen in paragraphs: 42-54, 57, 72,99,104, 107, 112, 114, 119 and 124.

p.23

OTHER ISSUES WHICH SHOULD BE CONSIDERED BY THE SCHOOL:

• Improving the quality of documentation that is sent out to parents to ensure that all statutory requirements are met; • Ensuring that regular risk assessments are carried out for all areas of the site to improve the health and safety care; • Raising the amount of teaching time to at least the minimum recommended for Key Stage 2, so that there is more lesson time to improve standards. The Ilsleys Primary School - 24

p.23

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of lessons observed 28 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 23

p.24

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor 4 0 38 54 4 0 0 The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6 Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 50 Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals 2 FTE means full-time equivalent.

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6 Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 1 Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 10

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils Number of pupils with English as an additional language 0

p.24

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 9 Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 4

p.24

Authorised absence Unauthorised absence

% % School data 5.0 School data 0.3 National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. The Ilsleys Primary School - 25

p.24

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage Black – Caribbean heritage Black – African heritage Black – African heritage Black – other Black – other Indian Indian Pakistani Pakistani Bangladeshi Bangladeshi Chinese Chinese White 50 White 0 0 Any other minority ethnic group Other minority ethnic groups 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.

p.25

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 3 Financial year 1999/2000 Number of pupils per qualified teacher 16.7 Average class size 16.7 £ Total income 125 976 Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total expenditure 121 728 Total number of education support staff 5 Expenditure per pupil 2 767 Total aggregate hours worked per week 39 Balance brought forward from previous year 2 965

p.25

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Balance carried forward to next year 7 213

p.25

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) Number of pupils per qualified teacher

p.25

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

Total number of education support staff Total aggregate hours worked per week

p.25

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

Number of pupils per FTE adult The Ilsleys Primary School - 26 FTE means full-time equivalent.

p.25

Percentage of responses in each category

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

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 46 42 4 0 8

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 58 42 0 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 38 46 8 0 8

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 62 19 15 4 0

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 77 23 0 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. 62 34 0 0 4

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 54 27 15 4 0

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 42 50 0 0 8

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 65 31 0 0 4

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 27 42 19 4 8 The Ilsleys Primary School - 27

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN AT THE FOUNDATION STAGE

56. Provision for the education of children at the foundation stage is underdeveloped at present. There is lack of space, resources and staff expertise for children to have the appropriate opportunities and experience to make satisfactory or better progress towards achievement of all early learning goals.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN AT THE FOUNDATION STAGE

57. The teacher who has responsibility for children at the foundation stage is trained as an early years specialist and is aware of the deficiencies in provision. The school has worked hard to develop a scheme of work and provision for those already admitted to the school, but there are weaknesses related to appropriate planning, adequacy of space and other facilities. There is not a suitably qualified nursery nurse to work with these children. The present learning support staff have good relationships with the children and do their best in a difficult situation. The children are frequently taught in the cloakroom area, which is an inappropriately barren environment for both children and staff.

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Personal, social and emotional development:

58. Children are making satisfactory progress in personal, social and emotional development because of the satisfactory teaching, and are set to meet the appropriate early learning goal. During the whole class guided reading session, they show interest in the story and respond enthusiastically to the teacher’s questions. They concentrate well, sometimes for long periods, and in this setting, most listen carefully to the contributions of others and wait their turn to speak. The youngest pupils find this more difficult and call out spontaneously, as for example in assembly when they are keen to show what they know. In other situations, for example when working closely with the classroom support assistant, some younger pupils find it difficult to co-operate and share. They need persuasion to listen to adults and to persevere with tasks. Those reception age children who have been in school longer respond positively to guidance and encouragement, and are

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Personal, social and emotional development:

successfully learning to work with increasing independence. The resources and opportunities to learn to make choices, to share, and to take turns through play are limited by the constraints of the Key Stage 1 curriculum, which the children have to fit into to. When they are given the opportunity for unstructured play, they respond with enthusiasm and enjoyment. For example, their role-play about being in the doctor’s surgery shows confidence, and they organise themselves and their equipment efficiently. In this situation, the youngest children are friendly to each other and co-operative. They exchange roles and dressing-up clothes without direction. Some children who often chose solitary play activities do not always receive sufficient support to encourage them to join the group.

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Communication, language and literacy:

59. Children make satisfactory progress with their communication, language and literacy and are set to attain this early learning goal. All children speak clearly. They enjoy talking to adults and to each other about their activities. They explain what they are doing using a satisfactory range of vocabulary, and some incorporate new and difficult words, such as ‘cylinder’ and ‘sphere’. Several children use complex sentence constructions and express themselves maturely for their age. Teaching is satisfactory. The children respond enthusiastically to teachers’ questions, demonstrating understanding and an eagerness to share their ideas. They enjoy action songs and The Ilsleys Primary School - 28 rhyme, but have insufficient opportunities to participate in this form of learning. They are making good progress in their understanding of the relationship between letters and their sounds, and recognise a suitable range of familiar words based on a structured reading scheme. They are

p.27

Communication, language and literacy:

beginning to ‘read’ their picture books with confidence, making up sentences to describe each page. Additionally, they successfully match names to pictures of characters in these and similar books. All children have made a sound start in learning to write and are all making steady progress. They have satisfactory pencil grasp and control, and can write their own names legibly. Pupils enjoy composing simple sentences, which the classroom support assistant writes down for them, and which they are learning to trace over. Some pupils with good control can overwrite accurately.

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Mathematical development:

60. Children’s mathematical development is satisfactory and they are set to meet this early learning goal. They sort and match objects into sets using colour, size and shape with appropriate confidence. All count up to 5 objects with assurance and some are secure up to 10. Through effective teaching, they are beginning to understand the concepts of adding and taking away single objects to increase or decrease numbers, and are familiar with the concepts of ‘more than’ and ‘less than’. They are developing a mathematical vocabulary to compare and describe objects in terms of size and weight, such as ‘bigger than’ and ‘heavier than’, and they understand and use words and phrases that describe place and position, such as ‘under’, ‘on top of’ and ‘behind’. Children recognise and name different regular shapes and are able to identify certain features of those shapes.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world:

61. Children’s progress with their knowledge and understanding of the world is unsatisfactory. They are not likely to attain this early learning goal because the teaching is set at an inappropriate level for most children. They already know their way around the school and are familiar with the pattern of the school day. They are beginning to understand the idea of time, for the sequence of the day and the days of the week. They know that the food they eat comes from many places and some pupils can name different countries. However, they join pupils at Key Stage 1 for many lessons, such as science and geography, and find the tasks difficult to comprehend. Religious education is taught in the afternoons and so few of these children have the opportunity to learn about different beliefs and life styles. They have insufficient opportunities to develop investigative and problem-solving skills through structured or free play, as their time in school follows the Key

p.28

Knowledge and understanding of the world:

Stage 1 curriculum. The classroom is too small for pupils to have appropriate access to all of the existing equipment and the wet play area is inadequate to facilitate on-going learning.

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Physical development:

62. Provision for physical development is unsatisfactory, which hinders children’s progress in learning, and most are unlikely to attain this early learning goal. At present, there is no enclosed play area with large apparatus and the children do not participate in any form of gymnastics. They have no opportunities to improve their physical control and confidence, mobility or awareness of space. This has been identified as a priority in the school development plan but is unlikely to happen until the end of this academic year. Some opportunities for improving manipulative skills occur within the week, for example in threading beads and cutting shapes, but these are insufficient to meet the children’s needs.

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Creative development:

63. Provision for children’s creative development is unsatisfactory, which hinders their progress in learning, and most are unlikely to attain this early learning goal. They participate in art lessons that are planned for pupils in Key Stage 1, but these are too formal for their age and stage of The Ilsleys Primary School - 29 development. They do not have access to painting as a regular choice of activity in order to express their ideas and emotions, nor do they regularly engage in three-dimensional model making to develop design and making skills. When they are free to choose an activity, they enjoy role-play and show good imagination. They also display good concentration and enjoyment when using construction toys. Music making is limited to a weekly lesson and to occasional action songs, which is insufficient. They join Key Stage 1 pupils for a dance lesson each week, which is useful but not planned for their level of development. Activities such as daily nursery rhymes, poems and

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Creative development:

songs are not sufficiently included in their timetable. Overall, pupils are afforded insufficient opportunities to make satisfactory progress towards this early learning goal.

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ENGLISH

64. On entry to the school, pupils’ attainments in language, literacy and communication are judged to be satisfactory. At the end of Key Stage 1, this level of attainment has been maintained and has improved to good by the end of Key Stage 2. This represents satisfactory progress at Key Stage 1 and good progress at Key Stage 2, which is an improvement since the previous report, when standards at both key stages were found to be satisfactory.

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ENGLISH

65. Speaking skills are good, which is an improvement upon findings of the previous report. Pupils respond to teachers’ questions promptly and most express themselves clearly. At Key Stage 1, pupils speak confidently in small groups and in front of larger audiences. They can explain what they are doing and ask questions to clarify understanding when necessary. At Key Stage 2, many pupils produce extended answers to questions when encouraged by the teacher, but they rarely make sustained contributions without prompting. They use a satisfactory range of vocabulary. Some older pupils express themselves very well; for example, several Year 6 pupils gave detailed and accurate descriptions of unusual objects brought in by the teacher to stimulate creative writing. They articulate clearly and use a varied vocabulary. Pupils of all ages speak very clearly when performing in the end of year drama productions, but there are not enough planned

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ENGLISH

opportunities within the curriculum, such as discussion, debate or role-play, for improving more formal modes of speaking or arguing a case.

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ENGLISH

66. Pupils’ listening skills are good. This represents improvement since the previous inspection when standards were judged to be average. Pupils’ contributions to oral and written work indicate a high level of concentration at the listening stage. Pupils listen politely to the contributions of others and rarely interrupt each other or the teacher, which aids the teaching and learning process. Most follow instructions promptly and settle to work sensibly.

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ENGLISH

67. Pupils make steady progress in learning to read. Standards at the end of Key Stage 1 are satisfactory and are good at the end of Key Stage 2. This represents maintenance of standards since the previous inspection at Key Stage 1 and improvement at Key Stage 2. At Key Stage 1, pupils develop positive attitudes to books and to reading, which are successfully encouraged by the effective use of home / school reading diaries. Standards are satisfactory overall, with a minority of pupils achieving good standards. Pupils understand the role of an author and illustrator and are familiar with the organisation of a book into pages and chapters. By the end of the key stage, pupils have developed a satisfactory sight vocabulary based on the structured reading scheme and most have learned all of the sounds of the alphabet so that they can sound out unfamiliar word correctly. They use a satisfactory range of strategies to infer the meaning of new words, such as

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ENGLISH

looking at the pictures for clues and rereading the text to see which word will fit best. The firm foundations laid at Key Stage 1 are further developed at Key Stage 2, so that by the time pupils reach Year 6, most are reading fluently and with good understanding. They can identify the different features and styles of a text, and understand the effect they have on the reader. In class, pupils tackle suitably challenging texts to extend their understanding. Pupils’ skills in carrying out independent research and to develop the skills of retrieving and collating information are insufficiently developed. The Ilsleys Primary School - 30 68. Standards in writing are in line with national average at the end of Key Stage 1, which is a similar judgement to the previous inspection but have improved to a good level at the end of Key Stage 2. Writing has been targeted for improvement in the school development plan and this focus appears

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ENGLISH

to be having a beneficial effect on standards. At Key Stage 1, pupils write to communicate meaning and they show satisfactory understanding of the structure of simple sentences. Most pupils can read back their own writing accurately. Letter formation and spacing shows developing consistency. By the end of the key stage, the majority write with growing confidence. They understand the importance of capital letters and full stops and most pupils remember to incorporate them into their own writing, although this is not consistent. Spelling of common words is satisfactory and pupils make good use of dictionaries and wordbooks to assist spelling. Many pupils make satisfactory attempts at spelling unfamiliar words, showing good awareness of phonics. Most pupils are beginning to use ‘joined up’ handwriting and to become more confident in expressing themselves. Higher attaining pupils understand the difference between nouns and

p.30

ENGLISH

adjectives and are able to improve their descriptive writing by using adjectives. At Key Stage 2, pupils make good progress, especially in grammar, spelling and handwriting. They write for different purposes and audiences but the range is too narrow. Most use a good range of adjectives and adverbs to add interest and excitement to their writing, as seen in the descriptions of pictures and unfamiliar artefacts, but they have insufficient opportunities for sustained story writing, poetry or play writing in which they could use their imagination and develop their writing. Pupils use thesauruses and dictionaries competently, but make insufficient use of information and communication technology to develop their literary skills.

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ENGLISH

69. The teaching of English is satisfactory at Key Stage 1. The National Literacy Strategy is clearly embedded in the planning and in some of the teaching strategies employed. Where the strategies are being used regularly, for example in daily, guided group reading, there is a positive effect on standards. However, not all the suggested strategies have been introduced, for example, guided group writing, to all class groups. Teachers know their pupils well and relationships are good. This produces confidence in the pupils and a good working environment. Teachers use an appropriate range of questioning techniques to motivate and encourage pupils to participate in all aspects of learning. Individual tasks are set at suitable levels of difficulty to challenge the pupils, whilst encouraging good levels of success. However, where introductions to lessons are overly long and the teacher dominates the lesson, the pace of learning slows and some pupils find it difficult to

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ENGLISH

sustain interest. At the writing stage, learning support assistants provide valuable support for pupil on the special educational needs register.

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ENGLISH

70. At Key Stage 2, the quality of teaching is good overall, with occasional excellent teaching. The best teaching is characterised by a sense of purpose, sound subject knowledge, and clearly explained objectives, which results in effective pupil participation and learning. Where excellent teaching was observed, it was characterised by excellent planning and preparation, very high expectations, a brisk pace, accurate subject knowledge and a radiating enthusiasm that was communicated to the pupils, who responded with high levels of interest and energetic application to the task in hand.

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ENGLISH

71. Pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress at both key stages. Work is set at an appropriate level and pupils are provided with a satisfactory level and quality of support by learning and classroom support assistants. Pupils are fully integrated into all aspects of teaching and learning. Effective use is made of individual education plans.

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ENGLISH

72. Subject co-ordination remains unsatisfactory. The subject is led by the Key Stage 1 co-ordinator, who attends the required meetings and courses and reports back to colleagues. Coverage of the National Curriculum is checked for each year group in the scheme of work, but there is insufficient advice given Key Stage 2 teachers because of time pressures and lack of experience with this age group. The school recognises that there is a lack of knowledge, experience and expertise in delivering the National Literacy Strategy by some staff. However, insufficient time The Ilsleys Primary School - 31 has been provided for the monitoring of teaching, and not enough training for new members of staff before commencing teaching of the strategy.

p.30

ENGLISH

73. Books and other teaching materials are adequate in quantity, quality and range. The school runs book fairs and a book club to encourage reading and uses any profits to support the school book library, which increases pupils’ opportunities to read. The dedicated library area is a useful resource but is not used sufficiently during each day.

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MATHEMATICS

74. The previous inspection report stated that pupils’ attainment at the end of both key stages was broadly average, though slightly weaker at the end of Key Stage 2 than Key Stage 1. Since the previous inspection, evidence shows that standards of attainment have been maintained and that most pupils’ attainment at the end of both key stages is close to the national average.

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MATHEMATICS

75. The introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy has had a beneficial effect on the teaching of skills, particularly mental arithmetic and pupils’ reasoning skills and they make satisfactory progress with their learning. There are some good examples of mathematics supporting other subjects, for instance data collection in science at Key Stage 1. In most cases, the grouping of pupils results in work being appropriately matched to their needs, but tasks for higher attaining pupils offer them insufficient time targets in which to complete well-considered learning targets. Pupils’ speaking and listening skills are good, and teachers use good questioning techniques to develop individual pupils’ mathematical vocabulary. Most are able to articulate their answers with sound reasoning of the mathematics involved.

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MATHEMATICS

76. At Key Stage 1, most pupils count with ease. They count on and back, in sequence, in ones and tens from given start points. Most are able to easily recognise and record their numbers in orderly and mathematically correct fashion. Most know addition and subtraction facts to ten mentally. They show appropriate confidence and understanding of place value and work with numbers up to 100. They have a satisfactory understanding of relationship between addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Higher attaining pupils know that fractional parts are not dependent upon the shape, and recognise that two or more simple fractions can have the same value. Lower attaining pupils need frequent adult support with all of their number work. Most use everyday language with confidence to describe regular shapes and solids. They are successfully developing their understanding of standard units related to length, capacity, mass and time through frequent

p.31

MATHEMATICS

mathematical involvement that closely relates to the recommendations of the National Numeracy Strategy. Practice in sorting and classifying objects takes place in science, as well as in mathematics lessons, and pupils show clear understanding of the transference of data into tables, graphs and lists.

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MATHEMATICS

77. At the end of Key Stage 2, pupils’ standards are close to average with good features. Standards are best when the pupils are given work that promotes their independence through problem-solving activities. Some persevere to find solutions using their own ideas and experiences. However, there is often an over-reliance on adults when solutions are not quickly found and it is difficult to judge whose work is represented. Nevertheless, most pupils offer sound reasoning for their answers and record their work in an organised way. They show satisfactory levels of understanding of the four rules of number and use different symbols and written word to describe the mathematical processes involved. Most can identify number patterns that include whole numbers, fractions and decimals and explain relationships between each. They confidently recognise two-dimensional shapes but there was no evidence of them constructing three-dimensional models. They are able

p.31

MATHEMATICS

to find perimeters of shapes and calculate areas using squared paper, and draw and interpret simple graphs satisfactorily. The few higher attaining pupils exceed these standards when prompted to include growing understanding of formulae and how to crosscheck answers. The Ilsleys Primary School - 32 78. Pupils make satisfactory progress in their learning, mainly because of the teachers’ clear knowledge of individual’s previous level of achievement, and work is set at appropriately challenging levels. The structure of the National Numeracy Strategy, together with the effective grouping arrangements for two-thirds of the week, support pupils’ progress in learning. This is particularly evident in the improvement in pupils’ mental arithmetic skills by the end of Key Stage 2. Teachers’ marking encourages the pupils to improve further. Pupils with special educational needs have appropriate work and make satisfactory progress. However, insufficient thought is

p.31

MATHEMATICS

given to homework projects that might stimulate some pupils to put their newly acquired mathematical skills into productive use and so increase their rate of progress.

p.32

MATHEMATICS

79. Pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics are good overall. In the lessons where the teachers explained the objectives to be learnt and the relationship between teacher and pupils was very good, pupils co-operated and worked purposefully. In these lessons, the pupils were happy and enjoyed working on their mathematical tasks. There were many examples of pupils collaborating to check each other’s answers or to explain ways forward. There was a small amount of unsatisfactory behaviour that had an adverse effect on the whole group. Where time targets are not set, some pupils take advantage and chat about other matters but still manage to satisfy the teacher’s demands. This does not encourage them to work diligently to reach ever-higher standards.

p.32

MATHEMATICS

80. Teaching is satisfactory with some good features. At both key stages, organisation of pupils provides opportunity to work in smaller groups and their individual needs are more closely met. Additionally, pupils’ progress is assessed and monitored with greater accuracy, which benefits teachers’ planning of future lessons and tasks. This is particularly good practice in a school with a wide range of age and prior attainment in each teaching group. There are weaknesses in staff confidence in mathematics and in their own knowledge of the subject. The school does not have a mathematics specialist and relies heavily on published mathematics schemes and commercially printed work sheets, which restricts pupils’ use of mathematics across the curriculum. Inspection evidence shows that there are too few opportunities for pupils to extend their learning beyond teacher planned activities. Insufficient use is made of information technology to support the

p.32

MATHEMATICS

subject, despite improvements in hardware and software.

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MATHEMATICS

81. Co-ordination of the subject is broadly satisfactory, mainly because the teachers plan their work as individuals and then meet to discuss curriculum content. This ensures that statutory requirements are met. However, as stated in the previous report, ineffective monitoring procedures and insufficient monitoring by managers do not confirm improvement of standards or quality of teaching across the school. Testing procedures and the analysis of the results show that standards are improving, mainly because of a more structured approach to the use of assessment data. The National Numeracy Strategy has helped and intensive support for one member of staff, who is finding difficulty with using the strategy, is planned for this academic year. Currently, provision for some pupils in Years 2 and those in Years 3 and 4 has deficiencies. At present there is no link governor for the subject. This is planned to be rectified at the next meeting when new governors

p.32

MATHEMATICS

are expected to be elected. Material resources are adequate and the school is planning to extend these as the continuation of the published scheme becomes available. Insufficient use is made of the local environment to support mathematical activity.

p.32

SCIENCE

82. Evidence from the inspection shows performance at both key stages to be in line with national averages. This is in agreement with teachers’ assessments of pupils’ achievement this year. Most pupils, including those with special educational needs, make satisfactory progress. These standards have been maintained since the previous inspection. However, those considered by the school to be higher attaining pupils only achieve standards that are slightly above average in their class work and their progress is not good enough. The Ilsleys Primary School - 33 83. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils have had a wide range of satisfactory experiences that successfully develop their observational and experimental skill development. Recent work shows carefully written and illustrative work related to seed growth and the effects of sunlight, water and soil conditions that affect plant growth. The pupils describe the main features of fruits and their

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SCIENCE

seed patterns, using a good range of adjectives to describe their visual observations. Earlier work shows a clear initial understanding of their own bodies and the conditions that they need to grow healthily. When using materials, they know subject specific vocabulary such as bending, stretching, strong and weak. They know that the volume of sounds is affected by distance and that their ears might hear differently to those of their friends. By the end of the key stage, pupils know what foods are good for them, which are not, and those that should be eaten as occasional treats. They know what makes a test fair, and collect evidence by observation and measurement with sufficient skill and accuracy to make realistic judgements.

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SCIENCE

84. By the end of Key Stage 2, most pupils show suitable understanding of the use of evidence to establish hypotheses and test their theories. For example, in a lesson seen on investigating the differences in rising and setting times of the sun in relation to the time of year, most pupils were able to appreciate the reasons for this by using a light box in which a ball was suspended as a viable representation of sun and earth in space. They talked knowledgeably about shadow and the effects of earth’s tilting to create the seasons, whilst raising further questions to investigate about the solar system. They know the conditions required for plants to grow productively and the importance of eating healthily to maintain strength in bones and teeth. They recognise differences between solids, liquids and gases. In trials with soil, they are able to describe the changes that occur by mixing and watering. Older pupils speak knowledgeably about the use of simple electrical

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SCIENCE

circuits as part of a design and technology exercise to make moving vehicles. When planning investigations, pupils generally make firm predictions about what they think will happen. For example, when planting seeds in a wide range of different soils, they speculate on probable growth disorders as a result of controlled deprivation of light or water with satisfactory reasoning based on their earlier investigations with plants and other living things.

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SCIENCE

85. They have appropriate opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills through discussion and collaborative group work. They build an adequate subject vocabulary and use it satisfactorily in lessons. There is some evidence of numeracy skills being applied, such calculating daylight hours and measuring plant growth over time. Their scientific work makes a good contribution to moral and spiritual aspects of pupils’ education. For example, they discuss moral issues associated with sex education and with issues related to the use and misuse of drugs. Other spiritual elements are found in their studies about themselves and other life and living processes, which include the wonder of birth and growth in plants and other living things.

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SCIENCE

86. Pupils’ response in science lessons is good at both key stages. Most are interested and involved in activities and some show high levels of curiosity. Behaviour and relationships are generally good and pupils work together successfully when involved in practical tasks. Their personal development remains harnessed as they follow teachers’ planning and rarely set up experiments of their own making or as an extension to school work.

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SCIENCE

87. The quality of teaching is satisfactory at both key stages, and during the inspection some good teaching was seen. Teachers’ knowledge and understanding of science is satisfactory. They are able to explain clearly, so that pupils understand what they are learning and so acquire appropriate skills and knowledge. Effective use is made of subject specific language, and good questioning technique encourages pupils to predict and widen their vocabulary through well-planned discussions. The teaching of basic skills of scientific enquiry is satisfactory and enables pupils to learn how to experiment and observe effectively. Teachers’ planning of content is satisfactory, with due attention being given to the National Curriculum requirements. Skills and knowledge are developed systematically but insufficient attention is given to the different age groups and differing levels of prior attainment, with the whole class being given tasks at the same level. This is

p.33

SCIENCE

The Ilsleys Primary School - 34 because there is insufficient use made of assessment information to match work to pupils’ learning needs. Organisation of group work is satisfactory and pupils are encouraged to make decisions about sharing tasks. Classroom helpers are appropriately briefed and share the support when pupils are in difficulty with the common task. The pace of lessons is generally satisfactory but no targets are set for pupils to achieve in the time. This means that higher attaining pupils are able to work too leisurely a pace whilst still achieving the task. Material resources, such as soils and seeds, are used effectively to enable practical investigation to take place within the classroom.

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SCIENCE

88. Procedures for assessing pupils’ work are unsatisfactory. Records are kept of what pupils do but these lack consistency in determining levels of achievement. Teachers’ records do not show where pupils’ strengths and weaknesses lie and, therefore, do not sufficiently indicate the progress that pupils make, or what should be done for them to improve. The school is not extending the good practices used in English and mathematics, which is having a negative effect on some pupils’ progress.

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SCIENCE

89. There continues to be a satisfactory level of resourcing of consumables and other experimental equipment. Where these are lacking, staff supplement from their own resources, which is commendable but should not be necessary. However, insufficient use is made of homework, the school grounds, the local environment and information and communication technology.

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ART

90. Pupils’ standards in art are satisfactory by the end of Key Stage 1 and good at the end of Key Stage 2. Findings from the previous inspection judged attainment to be in line with national expectations in both key stages but progress was found to be unsatisfactory at Key Stage 2. During the current inspection, progress was judged to be good at Key Stage 2. The school has therefore maintained standards at the same level at Key Stage 1, and has made good progress in improving standards in Key Stage 2.

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ART

91. No lessons were seen at Key Stage 1 but other evidence, such as the observational drawings and paintings of pupils in Years 1 and 2, indicates good pencil and brush control and a satisfactory sense and use of colour. Some pupils have produced good quality work showing detailed observation and a clear ability to reproduce shape and form accurately.

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ART

92. At Key Stage 2, pupils are very enthusiastic and their work shows improvement over a short period of time. They use their sketchbooks satisfactorily to gather ideas and prepare drafts for future work. In the one lesson observed, pupils produced a variety of paintings in the abstract style of Paul Klee, whose work they were able to discuss in an informed manner. They showed confidence in their use of materials, selecting different papers and fabrics and choosing appropriate adhesives, paints and glazes. Pupils used a wide range of techniques, such as blocking colour and building texture, to create paintings that are planned to form a background for an imaginary journey. The work demonstrated concentration and skill and achieved a good standard. Younger pupils work with tangible themes, whilst older pupils express their ideas in more abstract forms. Those with special educational needs in other subjects make satisfactory progress in this

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ART

93. The teaching in Key Stage 2 is good. There is very secure subject knowledge, and enthusiasm is communicated to the pupils, who respond with equal eagerness. The subject is now effectively co- ordinated and extended by the after-school club, which is well attended.

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ART

94. Materials for the teaching of art have been extended to a satisfactory level, as recommended by the previous inspection. The use of the local environment is underused as a source for stimulating pupils’ ideas and artistic skills. The Ilsleys Primary School - 35

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

95. At the previous inspection, the standards pupils achieved in design and technology were satisfactory. A very small amount of teaching of food technology was seen at Key Stage 1 but evidence was insufficient to make firm judgements about the standards that pupils across the school achieve.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

96. From discussions with pupils and from a small amount of photographic evidence it is clear that pupils are following a programme that enables them to improve their skills, knowledge and understanding of many technological aspects of the National Curriculum. At Key Stage 1, pupils practise skills of cutting, folding and joining to make a satisfactory range of items and constructions that are made mainly from card, construction kits, fabrics and discarded household materials. Food technology is developed successfully through activities such as investigating the features of fruits, which links with work in science and art. Some show good skill in identifying less well-known fruits and appreciate the designs made by seed beds within the fruits.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

97. At Key Stage 2, pupils continue to increase their learning of a wider range of simple tools, such as needles, hand-drills, junior hacksaws and bench-hooks. In Years 3 and 4, card folding, scoring, cutting and gluing skills are satisfactorily developed through activities such as creating ‘bouncing eggs’ as part of Easter celebrations. At other times, pupils speak of creating models of Anglo- Saxon homes, of tie-dying and clay work that closely links with art. Pupils speak of evaluating their work but there is insufficient opportunity to improve upon original products. Most use correct terminology when talking about their work, and they are articulate in their descriptions of previous work.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

98. During discussions with pupils, good attitudes towards their work in this subject are indicated. They show interest in each other’s work and making complimentary comments about products others have made. All participants stated that they enjoy working creatively.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

99. The only judgement that is made about the quality of teaching is that pupils are given a suitable range of opportunities to develop an appropriate range of skills through the satisfactory planning. Tasks are planned to relate to topic work, which takes place during alternate terms. Teachers are making appropriate use of the recently published national guidelines in their planning, which identify suitable learning objectives, skills to be developed and assessment opportunities. The school was given numerous opportunities to produce evidence of design and make processes but this was not managed successfully. There is no regular assessment of individual pupil’s progress and existing skill levels are not considered sufficiently when tasks are set. The lack of match of work for some pupils, especially higher attaining pupils, allows them to work at a more leisurely pace or to spend overly long off-task. The use of information technology and homework is

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

100. Overall, materials and other resources to support pupils’ learning are adequate for the current programme of activity. However, despite recent purchases of basic tools, the potential for creating better quality products is hampered by the lack of a wider choice of tools, materials and the opportunity to improve products following evaluation.

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GEOGRAPHY

101. Only one lesson was seen during the present inspection. From discussions with pupils and from inspection of work completed by pupils, standards are judged to be unsatisfactory at both key stages. At the previous inspection, pupils’ experiences of geography were considered to be fragmented, with little evidence to suggest that knowledge, understanding or skills were The Ilsleys Primary School - 36 approaching national expectations. Progress since the previous inspection is therefore judged to be unsatisfactory.

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GEOGRAPHY

102. At Key Stage 1, pupils are aware that the food they eat comes from many different places. They are familiar with the names of some countries and know that they are far away. Higher attaining pupils confidently suggest different types of transport used to bring the food to the United Kingdom, and say which they think would be quicker. Younger pupils are confused by the large map of the world and are uncertain of the concept of distance.

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GEOGRAPHY

103. Key Stage 2 pupils are unable to recall what they have learned in geography or what the subject is about. With prompting, the older pupils could name the six continents and the major oceans. From inspection of pupils’ books, mapping skills are judged to be unsatisfactory and teacher expectations low. There was not enough evidence of progression in the development of knowledge, skills or understanding by the end of the key stage.

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GEOGRAPHY

104. There is unsatisfactory coverage of the National Curriculum scheme of work in both key stages and, in the one lesson seen, the content was suitable for the older pupils only. The subject is led by a part-time teacher, who is also the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO).and art co- ordinator. The issue of providing a member of staff with adequate time to co-ordinate improvement in this subject is crucial.

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HISTORY

105. No lessons were seen during the current inspection and there was insufficient evidence produced by the school to make a judgement on pupils’ standards at Key Stage 1. From discussions with older pupils and inspection of work in pupils’ books, standards at Key Stage 2 are judged to be broadly satisfactory. The previous inspection found standards to be satisfactory at both key stages.

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HISTORY

106. At Key Stage 2, pupils are able to describe some aspects of life under the Romans and to make comparisons with Saxon life styles. Higher attaining pupils are aware that the differences between Saxon and Roman building materials have resulted in more archaeological finds from the Roman period. They understand the concept of invasion and that the Romans brought new ideas and improved practices to Britain, such as road building and hot baths. In a piece of empathetic writing, pupils were able to describe the life of a Roman soldier at the time. In discussion, pupils recalled many facts about the Tudor dynasty. They could name all the monarchs and discuss the significant events that happened during the different reigns. Analysis of pupils’ books shows that they have satisfactory knowledge of the periods in history studied, but that the acquisition of historical skills is not developed sufficiently. Pupils have a satisfactory understanding of

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HISTORY

chronology, but they are uncertain about the ways in which historians find out about the past, and how historical events can have different interpretations. They have insufficient opportunities to carry out independent research.

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HISTORY

107. Subject co-ordination is unsatisfactory. It does not ensure that progress in pupils’ learning is systematically assessed and monitored for standards they achieve. Resources are brought up to sufficiency by use of project collections from local educational sources. Pupils make some educational visits to sites of historical importance, which enrich their understanding.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

108. By the end of both key stages, almost all pupils have not made sufficient progress from their earlier skill levels in all areas of information technology (IT). Overall, pupils’ standards of attainment are lower than the satisfactory level stated in the previous inspection. There have been The Ilsleys Primary School - 37 some recent improvements, especially at times at Key Stage 2, but there has been insufficient opportunity for pupils to attempt data handling and spreadsheet creation, or to improve their standards in control, monitoring and modelling procedures because of insufficient equipment. This subject does not now meet statutory requirements. However, there is a very wide range of pupils’ understanding, knowledge and skill when using computers, and many attain satisfactory standards in word-processing, and are using the Internet with increasing confidence to retrieve information when time is allotted.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

109. There is a wide range of prior skill level on entry to school. Pupils from the foundation stage to Year 6 demonstrate a wide range of initial skill and understanding of computers and other technological equipment. Some are able to rearrange items displayed on the monitor screen by using the ‘mouse’ and keyboard with satisfactory skill and understanding. Others have under- developed skills and are very hesitant in reading menus and controlling the cursor’s movements. By the end of Key Stage 2, the larger proportion of pupils has sufficient keyboard and ‘mouse’ skills to communicate, retrieve and display stored information. They are building on previous achievement by trial and error methods, rather than through planned skill development. Some good use of the Internet as a research and communications tool was seen in art, when a couple of pupils trawled information about a famous artist / musician. Some pupils in both key stages show

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

good attainment in word-processing, but these skills are not extended sufficiently through well- considered work to support other areas of the curriculum. During the inspection, insufficient use was made of all forms of communication equipment to confirm pupils’ standards in the wider use of information and communication technology (ICT).

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

110. Those few pupils observed using the computer showed good behaviour. Pupils speak of enjoying working alone or in small groups at the classroom workstations. They respect the resources and divide the time fairly without argument. They support each other, sharing their own knowledge readily to the benefit of classmates, and this has a helpful effect on learning.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

111. At both key stages, the teaching of IT is unsatisfactory overall, although there is wide variability in both key stages and some of the teaching is satisfactory. Insufficient members of staff have appropriately high levels of personal skill, knowledge and understanding to make effective use of existing equipment. This is not as good as was reported by the previous inspection. Teachers’ planning rarely includes computer usage as an alternative form of recording, handling data or as a measuring tool for example. During the week of inspection, there were numerous occasions when computers were either shut down, or switched on for considerable periods without pupils accessing them. In most classes, pupils are taught how to use the equipment with care and consideration for others. However, use in literacy, numeracy and scientific activity, for example, is not part of regular practice. Some effective use is made of IT, for example, when making labels or

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

other text using word-processing, and when creating computer-generated pictures in art. The school has one floor-robot, but this is not yet in regular use and, in itself, provides insufficient opportunity for pupils across the school to have regular skill development in this part of control technology.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

112. The co-ordination of the subject is unsatisfactory. Resources are managed ineffectively and insufficient thought is put into how equipment might be used to support other subjects of the curriculum. Pupils’ use of equipment is not planned effectively to make sure that there is equality of opportunity for all in the group and actual access time is inconsistent from each year group to another. The assessment of pupils’ attainment and progress is unsatisfactory. There is insufficient information to confirm pupils’ levels of knowledge, skill and understanding to move them on. This hinders their rate of progress and hampers higher achievement.

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

113. There are sufficient computer workstations to allow for one per class, which is a minimum of adequacy. Additionally, there is a laptop but pupils only use this spasmodically. Software has been retained at the good level reported in the previous inspection report but insufficient use is made of it. There is an effective connection to the Internet as part of the National Grid for Learning, a The Ilsleys Primary School - 38 national initiative, and some pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 show suitable understanding of its access, strengths and weaknesses. Some have regular use of home equipment, which helps them to practise their skills. There is sufficient audio and visual equipment, such as television, video and audio centres to increase use and application to a level beyond satisfactory. The school recognises that the improvement of equipment, the development of pupils’ skills and the use of ICT across the

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

curriculum has moved at a slow pace since the previous inspection. However, this subject is an area for improvement identified in this year’s school development plan.

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MUSIC

114. There was insufficient evidence provided by the school, despite frequent requests, to form a judgement on standards at either key stage in this subject. At the previous inspection, standards were satisfactory and sometimes better.

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MUSIC

115. Pupils’ singing in the assemblies is just satisfactory. They are accompanied by a taped recording of a choir and their own singing lacks spontaneity and enthusiasm. Video evidence confirms that performances in end of term concerts were good. The school secretary, who makes a very valuable contribution to the subject, as well as the life and ethos of the school, competently conducts pupils on such occasions. Several pupils receive instrumental tuition from visiting music specialists but, as yet, they are not given enough opportunities to contribute to assemblies. There is no formal management of visiting musicians to ascertain standards of teaching and learning. There is a school recorder group that practices at lunchtime, but these pupils do not regularly participate in music making for others to hear. These are missed opportunities to enhance the cultural life of the school.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

116. Pupils, including those with special educational needs, make suitable progress and attain satisfactory standards at both key stages. This is a continuation of the standard reported at the previous inspection. During this inspection there were only opportunities to see gymnastics and dance. The planning documents and pupil comments show that games lessons are a regular part of school activity, and a concentrated period of swimming for all pupils takes place every two years. Although not ideal, the latter does give pupils several opportunities to learn to swim or develop technique during their school career. However, the programme does not provide opportunity for pupils to develop their skills with regularity.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

117. Standards in Key Stage 1 dance and gymnastic lessons were satisfactory. In dance, pupils were able to respond to instructions given by a taped radiobroadcast and showed expected levels of bodily control when travelling or demonstrating balance positions. Those at Key Stage 2 were able to create satisfactory sequences of controlled movements when travelling along forms / benches and floor mats. Most climb the hall-frame with confidence and show satisfactory levels of inverted balance control when rolling and rocking their bodies as part of moving sequences.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

118. Pupils enjoy physical activities and are often at their best on these occasions. Their attitudes are positive and their behaviour satisfactory overall, but with isolated examples of inappropriate behaviour. Pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 speak enthusiastically about their annual outdoor pursuits residential visits to Pembrokeshire.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

119. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall and lessons are correctly planned to develop the range of pupils’ skills. Time is used appropriately once activities begin but too much time is allowed for pupils to change into suitable clothing and footwear. Teachers make satisfactory use of demonstration to encourage and improve the pupils’ performance, and some staff join in some activity to become role models for those who are unsure. Class management is effective but insufficient thought is given to the relevant coaching points that groups and individuals need to raise their performances beyond the satisfactory level. Insufficient account is taken of pupils’ The Ilsleys Primary School - 39 prior attainment and all pupils tackle the same challenges. Co-ordination of the subject is broadly satisfactory, although there are shortfalls in the maintenance of appropriate records. Records are maintained of coverage of the National Curriculum but not of how efficiently pupils perform and

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

120. Resource levels are satisfactory and most pupils and staff dress appropriately for physical activity. There are suitable arrangements for the provision of extra-curricular activities that include football and netball. Other opportunities are also provided for games such as rounders and cricket. There is an annual sports day and Maypole dancing as part of community linkage, which is enjoyed by staff, pupils, parents and other members of the local communities. There is a planned work week in Derbyshire for 2001. Together, this represents satisfactory provision for all pupils.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

121. Standards generally meet the requirements of the locally Agreed Syllabus at the end of Key Stage 1 but not at the end of Key Stage 2. One lesson was observed at Key Stage 2 and from discussions with pupils and inspection of books, progress in learning is judged to be unsatisfactorily slow at this key stage. Pupils have insufficient knowledge and understanding about their own and alternative religions. At the previous inspection, standards were judged to be satisfactory in both key stages. The school has maintained standards at Key Stage 1 but not at Key Stage 2.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

122. At Key Stage 1, pupils have satisfactory knowledge of the Christian religion, although they do not understand the meaning of this word. They talk confidently about their perception of a caring, loving God and his son Jesus. They understand the concept of prayer as talking to God and know that a church is a place of worship. Pupils know that Christmas and Easter are the two most important festivals in the Christian calendar, and that these events are written in the Bible. They all understand the significance of Christmas and older pupils can explain what happened at Easter. They are all able to explain some of the teachings of Jesus in relation to their own behaviour; the need to be kind, not to harm other people or steal and to be forgiving. They do not have enough awareness and knowledge of other religions.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

123. At Key Stage 2, higher attaining pupils have good recall of recent learning about the significance of the Seder Plate at Passover in the Jewish religion. They are able to explain the symbolism of each item and how this relates to the story of The Passover in the Bible. Pupils understand the use of symbols in different religions and can remember the meaning of some. They have a very basic knowledge of Christianity, but are unsure of the different traditions within Christianity, or how the Bible is divided into Old and New Testaments. They demonstrate little progress in knowledge or understanding from pupils at Key Stage 1. Recall of learning about any other religion is poor. Those with special educational needs make similarly unsatisfactory progress in their learning.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

124. Teaching in this subject is variable, ranging from satisfactory to unsatisfactory, and is judged to be unsatisfactory overall as it is fragmented by the lack of clear planning. The locally Agreed Syllabus has not been followed so that pupils’ experience has lacked structured progression. The school is planning to introduce a revised locally Agreed Syllabus and to use this alongside recently produced, nationally recommended programmes, in order to improve standards, which is commendable.

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