Oak Cottage Primary School

OAK COTTAGE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 23 rd – 24 th January 2001

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OAK COTTAGE PRIMARY SCHOOL

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

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OAK COTTAGE 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. Oak Cottage Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Greswolde Road Solihull West Midlands

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mr M Trzcinski

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: January 1997 Oak Cottage Primary School - 4

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Team members

4341 Mr D Clegg Team inspector 13526 Mr R Barnard Lay inspector 4343 Ms S Billington Registered inspector

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Team members

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

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Team members

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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Team members

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Oak Cottage Primary School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school is a slightly above average sized primary school with 257 pupils aged between four and eleven years serving an advantaged community in Solihull. There is a nursery class catering for 30 children who attend part- time from the age of three.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Less than one per cent of pupils is eligible for free school meals, well below the national average. The majority of pupils are white with about ten per cent of pupils from Indian or Pakistani backgrounds. Slightly less than ten per cent of pupils have English as an additional language although no pupils are at an early stage of acquiring English and none receives specific support. The other main languages spoken are Urdu, Panjabi and Gudjarathi.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

There are about six per cent of pupils on the special needs register; none has a statement of special educational needs, this is well below the national average. Most of the pupils on the register have moderate or specific learning difficulties.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Attainment on entry is consistently above the national average and the most recent intake is well above average. There are very few children whose skills and understanding are below average when they enter school.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Oak Cottage is a good school. It is a successful, popular school and provides pupils with a good quality education. Standards of attainment are consistently above or well above the national average. Overall, good class teaching ensures that the great majority of pupils achieve standards that reflect their abilities. The school is particularly effective in promoting pupils’ personal development. The school is effectively led by the head teacher working closely with the governing body. The school provides good value for money.

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What the school does well

 The majority of eleven-year-olds achieve high standards in mathematics and science.  Throughout the school pupils achieve high standards in aspects of the creative arts.  Pupils have very positive attitudes, behave well and form constructive relationships.  The curriculum is rich, broad and balanced.  There is very good provision for pupils’ personal development and welfare.

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What could be improved

 The rigour with which monitoring and evaluation procedures are applied and the effectiveness of the action taken to address weaknesses.  Standards in some aspects of information and communication technology (ICT). 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 January 1997. Since then high standards have been maintained and in some subjects improved. Pupils continue to be positive about the school and behave well. The quality of teaching is similar to the last inspection

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

Some of the issues identified in the last report have been successfully addressed; development planning is more secure and includes all aspects of the schools’ work. Work is well matched to the abilities of most pupils, except for some of the lower attaining six and seven year-olds. However, some weaknesses remain in the deployment of teachers.

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STANDARDS

Oak Cottage Primary School - 7 The table shows the standards achieved by eleven year-olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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Key

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

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Key

The school has consistently attained very high standards in the National Curriculum tests for eleven year-olds. Over the past three years results have regularly been in the top five per cent of all schools nationally. In comparison with similar schools results in English are also above average and in mathematics and science they are well above average. In mathematics and science well over half of pupils achieve above average levels. Throughout the school, the great majority of pupils achieve the standards they should although occasionally, the lower attaining six and seven year-olds could achieve more in lessons. Standards in some aspects of ICT are below expectations due to pupils not being taught all aspects of the subject.

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Key

The majority of pupils achieve high standards in reading. By the time they leave the school, most pupils are fluent, confident readers who have a good knowledge of books and authors; they understand what they have read and discuss their preferences sensibly. Standards of written work for eleven year-olds are not as good as standards in reading but are improving and there is some high quality written work by the nine and ten year-olds. Pupils have a very secure understanding of mathematics and work confidently with high numbers accurately using the four operations. The school has set realistic targets for 2001 aiming to ensure that 94 per cent of eleven-year-olds achieve at least average standards in tests in English and mathematics.

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Key

High standards are achieved in science; pupils have a good understanding of the areas that they have studied and they have a good level of skills in experimenting and investigating. Throughout the school there is high quality artwork showing imagination and creativity and the quality of pupils’ singing is good.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Good, positive attitudes to school; pupils work hard and are keen to succeed.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Very good. Pupils behave very well in lessons and around the school; they are friendly polite and courteous.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Pupils are mature and sensible, they respond very positively to the responsibilities they are given. They form and sustain constructive relationships.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Good level of attendance, above the national average.

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Aspect Comment

The oldest pupils are very confident and mature and well prepared for the next stage of education.

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

Oak Cottage Primary School - 8 Lessons seen overall Satisfactory Satisfactory Good

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

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 is good and occasionally it is very good. There are some instances of unsatisfactory lessons. About 87 per cent of teaching is satisfactory or better and 53 per cent is good or very good, about 13 per cent, (2 lessons), is unsatisfactory. Most teaching is well planned and enables pupils to learn at the right level. There is some very good teaching of the seven to eleven year-olds that result in high levels of motivation and genuine enthusiasm for subjects such as art and music. Throughout the school teaching of literacy and numeracy is satisfactory and often good; the great majority of pupils are effectively taught and they make the progress that would be expected. In some lessons with support groups, pupils do not always make as much progress as they might, as occasionally the work does not meet their needs. However, the teaching of special needs pupils in withdrawal groups is consistently good and often results in them making good progress

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

and achieving average levels of attainment.

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

Resources are well used and in the majority of lessons teachers have appropriately high expectations and ask challenging questions; this is a key factor in ensuring that the high attaining pupils reach good standards.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum The curriculum is broad and balanced and meets the needs of the great majority of pupils.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Provision for pupils with special needs is good for the seven to eleven year- olds who receive effective support in small withdrawal groups and make good progress. It is weaker for the five to seven year-olds although their progress is satisfactory over time.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language There is no specific provision for the pupils with English as an additional language as no pupils are at an early stage of acquiring English. Those pupils who are not entirely fluent get appropriate support.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development A strong feature of the school. The school makes very good provision for pupils’ personal development and is actively helping them to live in a diverse and multicultural society.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils There are very strong systems to ensure pupils are well cared for; personal development is carefully monitored.

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Aspect Comment

A rich and well-balanced curriculum enables pupils to enjoy a wide range of activities supplemented by visits to places of interest and a good range of extra-curricular activities for the older pupils. Some aspects of ICT are not taught.

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Aspect Comment

The school takes good care of its pupils; there are good procedures in place for child protection.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and manage- ment by the headteacher and other key staff The head teacher provides effective leadership and gives the school a clear sense of direction. Those teachers who have specific responsibilities provide effective support to colleagues. Oak Cottage Primary School - 9 How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governors are enthusiastic, hard-working and committed to the school; they work closely with the head teacher, take their responsibilities seriously and fulfil their statutory responsibilities.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance There are systems in place for evaluating performance, but these are not applied rigorously enough in identifying weaknesses and taking effective action.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Expenditure is well planned and used in a strategic manner, but there are weaknesses in the deployment of staff.

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Aspect Comment

The leadership of the school is particularly effective in ensuring a positive ethos. The school makes good efforts to ensure that best value is achieved. The bursar is particularly effective and efficient in ensuring that financial management is very secure.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

 The way the schools helps pupils to mature  Behaviour is good  The school expects pupils to work hard  Children enjoy coming to school  The teaching is good  The amount of work that pupils get for homework  The nature of the annual reports

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The above views are based on the 42 per cent of the parents’ questionnaires that were returned to the school and the comments made at a meeting attended by 26 parents.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection largely confirms the positive views of parents. They are correct in identifying that the school helps pupils to develop personally, that the behaviour is good and that pupils are expected to work hard. Teaching overall is good. Inspectors found that homework was generally well used to support work in lessons. A significant minority of parents, about 27 per cent of those responding to the questionnaire, do not like the computer generated annual reports. Whilst the inspection found that reports provide clear information about what pupils have achieved, the school is sensibly planning to incorporate more personal comments in the next set of reports. Oak Cottage Primary School - 10

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The majority of eleven year-olds achieve high standards in mathematics and science

1. The majority of eleven year-olds achieve well in mathematics and science. Over the past four years the results of National Curriculum tests have been regularly in the top five per cent of schools nationally. The most recent results (2000), are well above those of similar schools.

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The majority of eleven year-olds achieve high standards in mathematics and science

2. By the time pupils leave the school they are very confident mathematicians. They have a firm understanding of how numbers work and calculate comfortably with high numbers. They understand thoroughly place value, including decimals, working easily to two decimal places. Pupils have efficient and quick methods for calculating using rounding up and down to solve problems mentally. They successfully solve problems involving several operations, for instance quickly working out the sale price of items with a 33 per cent reduction. Pupils apply what they know to solving more complex problems. For example, higher attaining pupils drew notional plans of their classroom, putting in the carpeted areas, the desks and items such as bookcases. Using the nominal measurements of the room, they confidently calculated the fraction of the area of the room covered by the various items. Pupils understand the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentages; they identify equivalent values using

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The majority of eleven year-olds achieve high standards in mathematics and science

each of the systems, adding and subtracting and working out fractions or percentages of given amounts.

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The majority of eleven year-olds achieve high standards in mathematics and science

3. Pupils have a good understanding of the areas of science they have been taught and are particularly strong on the ideas behind fair testing and scientific skills. Work in their books shows a keen emphasis on the key skills of careful observation and recording. Pupils are required to predict and hypothesise as they work through experiments and challenged to provide explanations about what happened. The oldest pupils made careful observation of a range of different changes, coming to clear conclusions about reversible and irreversible changes. Successful investigations into what processes might create some of the changes, such as filtration, evaporation or decay, also encouraged careful observation and recording over a period of time. Pupils record their work in a variety of ways using straightforward accounts, pictorial representations of results or diagrams, for instance they drew careful diagrams using

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The majority of eleven year-olds achieve high standards in mathematics and science

the correct symbols to show how a variety of circuits work. Some pictures illustrated a range of forces at work and gave clear explanations of opposing forces and the balance that existed between gravity and upthrust. Overall, pupils are enthusiastic scientists, they enjoy the opportunities to investigate and have a good level of knowledge and understanding.

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Throughout the school pupils achieve high standards in aspects of the creative arts

4. The youngest children learn to use a range of techniques and media to record their observations and ideas in a variety of ways. Following a visit to a farm, nursery children drew, painted and made collage and three-dimensional representations of the animals using recyclable materials. Children develop good skills in observational drawing, as the reception children showed in detailed pencil portraits of their friends. In Years 1 and 2 the range of art-work is extended and design skills are applied across the curriculum, for example in aspects of science and in design and technology. Drawings are often very detailed and children use their skills well, for instance in creating simple moving images of characters from stories in a variety of settings. The study of the work of artists and artistic techniques is used well as pupils make their own representations of canal boat art and geometrical pastel and computer generated pictures in the

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Throughout the school pupils achieve high standards in aspects of the creative arts

style of Mondrian. Oak Cottage Primary School - 11 5. Older pupils make good use of sketch-books to plan drawings, explore the relationship between colour and mood and attempt to show how artists such as Degas portray movement in their pictures. Drawings are careful and considered, for instance the drawings of figures showing emotions such as fear, anger and joy give pupils a good chance to try and capture distinctive poses. The school is particularly successful in harnessing art to extend work in other topics; the paintings stimulated by the play Macbeth effectively express the atmosphere of the play, with dark brooding mountains and sharp flashes of lightening. The art connected to work on rivers successfully gave pupils the chance to print, while other used thread to create a very effective vision of the movement and colours of rivers. Similarly, the study of the Aztecs has been used to create patterns based on the Mayan story ‘The Fifth Sun’. Pupils get good

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Throughout the school pupils achieve high standards in aspects of the creative arts

opportunities to look at the work of a wide range of artists. They not only attempt to work in the style of different artists, but they are also encouraged to simply look and appreciate the work of artists such as Miro, Degas, Mondrian, Andy Goldsworth, William Morris and Howard Hodgkins.

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Throughout the school pupils achieve high standards in aspects of the creative arts

6. The youngest children enjoy music and respond well to opportunities to play and compose using a variety of instruments. Nursery children worked in groups to play an accompaniment to a tape recording of ‘Down on the Farm’. Many showed good awareness of rhythm and were able to follow the tune well, coming in and stopping to the signals of the adult ‘conductor’. Reception children copied rhythms on the lollipop drum, clapping and counting the beat as a group and working hard to improve their skills and accuracy in response to compositions that became increasingly complex.

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Throughout the school pupils achieve high standards in aspects of the creative arts

7. The use of class teachers’ specialist knowledge with some of the older pupils ensures that teachers’ skills are well used. Standards in music benefit from skilled effective teaching. Pupils appreciate the relationship between music and mood and they work effectively together to create their own compositions that they refine and improve. The good quality singing in assemblies is a further positive indication of the high standards attained and the enthusiasm of pupils.

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Pupils have very positive attitudes, behave well and form constructive relationships

8. In almost all lessons pupils listen attentively, are keen to respond to the teachers’ questions and very willingly to share their ideas. In a literacy lesson on characterisation, Year 1 pupils offered a range of imaginative suggestions to describe the Bad Fairy in ‘Sleeping Beauty’. The teacher made good use of the children’s ideas, skilfully drawing from them an appreciation of the difference between description and character. Several children became very animated in trying to explain their understanding, for example in suggesting that character was what was ‘inside a person’. At the end of the lesson individuals enjoyed the opportunity to be ‘hot- seated’ as a character from a fairy tale, describing their feelings and actions and responding readily to questions asked by others as they tried to establish who the character was. This was a difficult activity for such young children, but they responded very positively to the challenge.

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Pupils have very positive attitudes, behave well and form constructive relationships

9. Pupils work well together in pairs and small groups. Year 2 pupils readily took turns in playing a number game, sharing the dice sensibly and helping each other to calculate answers and to see which numbers they needed to complete their cards. In another mathematics lesson Year 5 pupils collaborated effectively in a problem solving activity, engaging in good focused discussion about the best strategy for using the four operations to arrive at the answers needed on a multiplication square.

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Pupils have very positive attitudes, behave well and form constructive relationships

10. Throughout the school pupils readily take on responsibilities. Younger children act as class monitors, for example taking the registers to the office and tidying up at lunchtime. The oldest pupils have a range of responsibilities through the school, for instance helping to organise assemblies and acting as helpers for class teachers. They take their duties very seriously, Oak Cottage Primary School - 12 arriving promptly at the start of the lunch break to see if they can help to prepare classrooms for teaching in the afternoon.

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The curriculum is rich, broad and balanced

11. In both the nursery and reception classes good attention is paid to developing children’s knowledge and understanding of the world through a variety of imaginative activities. Displays in the nursery remind children of work that has been covered, for example on the use of the senses. Children’s understanding of the natural world is developed as they plant daffodil bulbs and observe stick insects, considering what living things need to help them to grow. Their knowledge of colours is reinforced through drawings that express the particular characteristics of different colours and the creation of a large ‘rainbow’. Their early understanding of cultural diversity is raised through the opportunity to handle a range of artefacts and study photographs and greetings for Chinese New Year.

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The curriculum is rich, broad and balanced

12. Work in the reception class in a range of areas of learning is linked with the topic on clothes and materials. There are displays of favourite clothes and a variety of materials used for different purposes. Many children have produced detailed observational drawings of different types of shoes, using pastels and crayons carefully to represent shape and tone.

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The curriculum is rich, broad and balanced

13. In Year 1, books are used as a stimulus for a range of work. ‘Rosie’s Walk’ has, for example, led to map-making to show the route that the hen took around the farm. ‘Peace at Last’ was used as a stimulus for some large scale and detailed pastel drawings of the various situations that stopped Mr Bear from sleeping. Children invented and made posters about some new characters that might feature in the ‘Happy Families’ series including, for example, Miss Puff the runner.

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The curriculum is rich, broad and balanced

14. Throughout the school good use is made of visits to extend pupils’ knowledge and to support work in a variety of subjects, particularly English, history and art. Years 1 and 2 have engaged in a study of canal boat life, producing some colourful cans using finger painting to replicate the traditional canal art. Written ‘guides’ to the canals show good understanding of the ways in which life has changed for people using the waterways. Year 4 made a variety of visits to Tudor buildings, including Sudgrave Manor where they experienced some of the ways in which Tudors might have lived. Drawings and written work showed very good understanding of aspects of Tudor architecture and some of the significant events in Tudor times. The Year 6 visit to the Black Country Museum supported studies of the Victorians, bringing alive some aspects of the significant industrial changes that affected the West Midlands.

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The curriculum is rich, broad and balanced

15. Throughout the school there is evidence of a rich and varied curriculum that is supported by good teaching in subjects such as art and music. Links between subjects are used very cleverly to enable pupils to extend understanding through a range of disciplines. For instance, there are clear links made between history and geography as pupils study their locality but they are also encouraged to have opinions about recent developments and so are being introduced to ideas about citizenship and social development. The study of contrasting places in Africa is used effectively to raise awareness of development issues and moral questions. 16. Further strengths in the curriculum include the good provision for extra-curricular activities, particularly for the older pupils who get plenty of opportunities to extend their work in lessons in art, music and sport. Homework is also well used to supplement lessons and is taken

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There is very good provision for pupils’ personal development and welfare

Oak Cottage Primary School - 13 17. Good attention is paid to children’s personal and social development in the nursery. The daily ‘snack time’ is a very positive experience. The children sit together in groups and one child in each group acts as snack monitor, distributing fruit or biscuits to the others. Staff and adult helpers sit with each group encouraging conversation and promoting children’s confidence and skills in speaking and listening in a social setting. Opportunity is taken to remind children of the ‘golden rules’, for example the need to talk quietly so that everybody in a group can hear others speak. The children all have responsibility for clearing the tables and wiping their individualised place mats when snack time is finished.

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There is very good provision for pupils’ personal development and welfare

18. Older pupils are also given good opportunities to form constructive relationships. In lessons pupils are encouraged to collaborate to good effect, helping each other and learning from each other. A good example was the group activity in a Year 3 numeracy lesson where pupils had to work together to order fractions. The activity promoted co-operation and the need for discussion. Other good opportunities occur in other aspects of their work, for instance in religious education pupils are challenged to think about important aspects of growing up and how they relate to others. They are asked to write about ‘People We Trust’ or to explore the feelings that different characters in Macbeth have and to see things from different perspectives. These included ‘Macduff’s view of Duncan’s murder’ and the attempt to imagine what the victims of racism may feel. There is a clear and overt approach to preparing pupils to live in a

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There is very good provision for pupils’ personal development and welfare

multicultural and diverse society and pupils spoke very positively about the school’s approach to any racist incidents.

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There is very good provision for pupils’ personal development and welfare

19. Personal development is further enhanced through the meetings of the school council that meets regularly to talk about issues, some of which emanate directly from the pupils through the ‘ideas book’. Each class is represented on the council through elected members and the oldest pupils also vote for the head boy and girl. Year 6 pupils are encouraged to have a sense of responsibility through their visits to a local special school where they help in classrooms on a rota basis. Overall, teachers know pupils well and carefully record aspects of their personal development. 20. There are very good systems to ensure pupils’ welfare. Child protection procedures are taken very seriously and there is a strong awareness of the importance of reviewing systems and practice. Similarly, the school undertakes regular health and safety assessments. Oak Cottage Primary School - 14

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The rigour with which monitoring and evaluation procedures are applied and the effectiveness

of the action taken to address weaknesses.

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The rigour with which monitoring and evaluation procedures are applied and the effectiveness

21. The school has put in place sensible ways of evaluating the work of the school. These include activities such as looking carefully at a range of pupils’ work from particular classes or year groups, observing lessons and providing written and verbal feedback to individual teachers and looking systematically at what teachers are planning. All these activities have the potential to identify weaknesses and improve teaching and learning. The school is also beginning to use performance data to track the progress of individuals and groups of pupils. This has enabled the school to identify some weaknesses in the standards in written work of the oldest pupils. It is also helping teachers to set realistic targets for individual pupils.

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The rigour with which monitoring and evaluation procedures are applied and the effectiveness

22. However the rigour with which the activities are undertaken need to be more robust. For instance, there are specific groups of pupils in school identifiable by ability, gender, ethnicity or having English as an additional language. Currently there is no monitoring of the progress of these groups to ensure that they are all benefiting equally from what the school provides.

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The rigour with which monitoring and evaluation procedures are applied and the effectiveness

23. There was a noticeable drop in performance for higher attaining seven-year-olds in the National Curriculum tests in 2000. Whilst the school has a convincing explanation about why this occurred, more rigorous monitoring would have alerted the school to the problem sooner rather than later. More robust monitoring of this group of pupils is now leading to significant improvements in standards and teachers’ expectations are now suitably high.

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The rigour with which monitoring and evaluation procedures are applied and the effectiveness

24. The quality of teaching of groups receiving support in both key stages has some weaknesses. Occasionally, the work that pupils do is not well matched to their ability, or the rate of progress is slow. Monitoring and evaluation activities, whilst recognising some of the weaknesses, have not resulted in effective support and guidance being given to bring about improvements.

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Standards in some aspects of information, communication technology (ICT)

25. The standards attained by the oldest pupils in some aspects of ICT are below those expected. The main reasons for this are that the school has not yet acquired all the necessary software to teach the full range of the National Curriculum requirements and teachers are not yet sufficiently familiar with some aspects of the subject to enable them to teach these confidently.

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Standards in some aspects of information, communication technology (ICT)

26. Standards are up to expectations in some aspects of ICT. For instance, pupils are generally confident users of word processing programs. They communicate information using text and pictures and recently produced simple multi-media presentations incorporating text, graphics and sound. Pupils enter data about themselves, for example their ages and height, and create a range of graphs to represent the information in different ways. Computers are also being used to research information using CD-Roms or the Internet. For instance, the work of artists is researched on the Internet and used as a basis for pupils’ own work.

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Standards in some aspects of information, communication technology (ICT)

27. The weak areas are those aspects concerned with control technology and the use of computers to monitor the environment or to model situations and solve problems. Some work is beginning to take place with the younger pupils, who are beginning working on some aspects of control technology. All staff are currently undertaking a comprehensive training programme to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge and skills to teach all aspects of ICT and take fuller advantage of the splendid ICT suite. The training is already giving some teachers more confidence to use ICT to support specific work in subjects such as mathematics. Oak Cottage Primary School - 15

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

In order to improve further the governing body, working closely with the head teacher and the staff should:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

 Ensure that monitoring and evaluation procedures are applied rigorously and effective action is taken to address weaknesses.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

 Improve standards in some aspects of information and communication technology (ICT) by: -ensuring that all pupils are taught all aspects of the curriculum; -all teachers are sufficiently confident to teach all aspects of the subject. Oak Cottage Primary School - 16

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

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

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

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

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 14 257

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals - 1

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs - 0

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register - 16

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 19

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 9

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 12

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.2 National comparative data 0.5

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Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Oak Cottage Primary School - 17

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2000 17 18 35

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 17 17 17 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 18 18 18

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 100 (97) 100 (100) 100 (97) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 85 (83) 90 (87)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 17 17 16 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 18 18 18

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 100 (100) 100 (97) 97 (100) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 88 (86) 88 (87)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2000 16 16 32

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Boys 15 15 16 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 16 16 16

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 97 (97) 97 (100) 100 (100) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (70) 72 (69) 85 (78)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Boys 15 15 16 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 16 16 16

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 97 (97) 97 (100) 100 (100) at NC level 4 or above National 70 (68) 72 (69) 80 (75)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Oak Cottage Primary School - 18

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage Black – Caribbean heritage

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage Black – African heritage

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 1 Other minority ethnic groups

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 11 Financial year 1999/2000

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 25.3

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total expenditure 460,321

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 1 Expenditure per pupil 1,731

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 25 Balance brought forward from previous year 24,544

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance carried forward to next year 40,846

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 28

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 2

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 32.5

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Teachers and classes Financial information

FTE means full-time equivalent. Oak Cottage Primary School - 19

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Percentage of responses in each category

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

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 38 45 5 3 9

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 43 53 3 1 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 25 52 15 5 3

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 26 47 22 5 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 48 39 9 4 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. 53 43 3 1 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 30 53 14 2 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 30 52 10 4 4

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 37 56 4 2 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 37 44 7 6 6

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