Flyford Flavell Primary School

FLYFORD FLAVELL FIRST SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 30 th April –1 st May, 2002

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FLYFORD FLAVELL FIRST SCHOOL

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

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FLYFORD FLAVELL FIRST SCHOOL

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

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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: Thomas Young

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 03/11/1997 Flyford Flavell First School - 4

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Team members

21292 Stuart Russell Registered inspector 19694 Moira Kerr Lay inspector 21563 Graham Martin Team inspector

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Team members

85 Shores Green Drive Wincham Northwich Cheshire CW9 6EJ

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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 Flyford Flavell First School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Flyford Flavell First School is a small, rural school for pupils aged four to nine. When it was last inspected, it was a Grant Maintained School. Now it is a Community School. It is slightly bigger than it was then. Ninety-five pupils now attend the school compared to 86 previously. There are five classes in the morning, one for each age group. In the afternoon, when Year 1 pupils are taught with either the Reception Class pupils or with Year 2 pupils, there are four classes. The school is very popular. In September 2001, more parents wanted their children to come to this school than there were places available. There is an even number of boys and girls. Children usually begin at the school in the September of the school year during which they are five. Most have had some sort of pre-school experience. In the majority of cases this has been at the independent nursery that is accommodated

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

within the school. The school’s assessment records show that there is a wide spread of attainment among the children when they start at the school. This ranges from the above-average to those with special educational needs. On the whole, however, most of the children start at the school with physical, social, language and numeracy skills that are broadly average for their age. As at the time of the last inspection, about ten per cent of the pupils have special educational needs. The majority of schools work with about twenty-three per cent of pupils who have special educational needs. One pupil at the school has a Statement of Special Educational Need. This is average for this size of school. Virtually all of the pupils stay at the school until they leave at nine to go on to the local Middle School. Nearly all the pupils are of ethnically white-UK heritage. They all speak English as their first language.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The percentage of pupils who are known to be entitled to free school meals is low. The head teacher, staff and members of the governing body, have nearly all changed since the last inspection.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very effective school. Standards are high. Teaching and learning are very good. The pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are very good. The school is very well led and managed. It provides good value for money even though the cost of educating children in a small school is higher than average.

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What the school does well

§ Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very effective, pupils learn very rapidly and consequently they achieve very well. • Provision for pupils with special educational needs is up-to-date and very effective. • The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well for living in a diverse society. • Relationships are very good. • There are extensive links with parents that have a very good effect on how well the pupils learn. • The school is very well led and managed. Everybody involved is deeply committed to providing the best for the pupils.

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What could be improved

§ The school could improve on the results that it achieved in the 2001 National Curriculum spelling tests.

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What could be improved

The school has already set about doing this. Flyford Flavell First School - 7

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school has improved considerably since it was last inspected in 1997 even though it was in a strong position then. Standards in reading, writing and mathematics are much higher than they were, especially reading and writing. Teaching was consistently effective, now it is very effective. English and mathematics are now taught in very small classes to single age groups, rather than in mixed-age classes. There are now many opportunities for the pupils to learn about how other people live. This was identified as a weakness in the last inspection report. The school has developed links with an urban school, for example. At that school the pupils are mainly from ethnic-minority heritages. All the areas for improvement that the last inspection pointed out to the school, have been fully addressed. However, attendance in 2000/2001 was not as good as at the time of the last inspection.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 2 based on National Curriculum test results.

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Key

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

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Key

The Year 2 pupils’ results in the National Curriculum tests in 2001 were well above average. Standards in writing were very high. They were in the top five per cent in the country. Standards in science are not shown in this chart. They too were very high. Like the standards in writing, they were among the top five per cent in the country. In 2001, many Year 2 pupils at this school, were achieving the standards expected nationally of Year 4 pupils. That is, level 3. Fifty per cent of them achieved level 3 in mathematics. The percentage that reached level 3 in writing was again among the top five per cent nationally. Although 100 per cent of the Year 2 pupils reached level 2 or above in writing generally, only 70 per cent reached level 2 or above, in the spelling test.

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Key

In 2001 the standards achieved by the Year 4 pupils were also well above average. Many were achieving the standards expected of Year 6 pupils. That is level 4. Nearly 60 per cent of the Year 4 pupils last year achieved level 4 in mathematics.

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Key

Standards in the present Year 2 and Year 4 classes continue to be well above average. Year 4 pupils are achieving very high standards in English, art-and-design and religious education.

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Key

Most of the pupils in the Reception Class are well on their way to achieving the standards expected nationally of five-year-olds. There are many pupils in the Reception Class who have achieved these goals already. They are working on the National Curriculum that is intended for Year 1 pupils. This is especially so in reading.

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Key

No groups of pupils at this school are under-achieving; rather, the opposite. All groups of pupils achieve very well whether they find learning easy or difficult. This includes pupils with special educational needs. The school has very high expectations. Its sets challenging targets for its pupils, then enables them to achieve them. Flyford Flavell First School - 8

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Very good. The pupils are full of enthusiasm.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Very good overall. At playtimes and lunchtime, behaviour is very good in the playground. A little boisterous play was seen in the playground before school started. Personal development and relationships Very good relationships are one of the strengths of the school.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Attendance in 2000 – 2001 was only average. That year, authorised absence was above average because of holidays being taken in term time. There was no unauthorised absence. This brought overall attendance back to average. The very good behaviour in the dining room at lunchtime creates a pleasant atmosphere in which to dine. The pupils can talk to one another happily while they eat. The school is successful at fostering very good relationships. It lays emphasis upon respecting the differences between people, recognising worth and building-up confidence. Parents, governors, staff and pupils commented to the inspectors that this is a very friendly school. Traditionally attendance at this school has been above average. So far this year, attendance is back at its traditional position.

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 4

Quality of teaching Very good Very good Very good

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 4

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 in: Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 4

A wide range of subjects was inspected. This included English and mathematics. Teaching ranged from good to excellent. Overall the quality of teaching and learning were very good. Excellent English, art-and-design and religious education lessons were seen. In the art-and-design lesson, the teacher made excellent use of information and communication technology (ICT) to ‘visit’ an art gallery with the pupils. Teaching is very good throughout the school for all groups of pupils including those with special educational needs. Reception class pupils are taught very skilfully and are learning very rapidly. In the afternoon, when the Year 1 pupils work with either Reception or Year 2 pupils, the teachers carefully plan the curriculum together to ensure that appropriate challenge is maintained for all pupils.

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 4

Literacy and numeracy are taught very well in small classes averaging 18 pupils. The school is well supplied with very effective support assistants. Often parents help in lessons to very good effect; for example, in a history lesson on Viking trading voyages. In literacy and numeracy lessons, because of the low number of pupils and the very good adult support, there is a very favourable adult:pupil ratio. This enables the pupils to be grouped precisely and to be supported very well, so that the teaching can be the very best for them. Consequently, they learn rapidly. The school has successfully adopted the national strategies for literacy and numeracy. It is confidently adapting the strategies to suit it best. For example, Year 1 and 2 pupils begin the day with a shared-reading session. This is very effective. It is a calming experience that prepares the pupils to apply themselves to new learning. The standard of

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 4

Flyford Flavell First School - 9 reading during these sessions is very good, especially the level of comprehension.

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 4

The spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of lessons are fine features at this school. A very effective personal-and-social-education lesson was seen. The pupils were eager to take part. In a very good lesson on plants, the teacher showed the pupils seeds through a computer-microscope, magnified ten times. Their amazement at what they could see inspired their appreciation of the beauty of creation.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Very good. The curriculum prepares the pupils very well to succeed in a rapidly changing world.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Very effective. Provision is very up-to-date. The new Code of Practice for Special Education Needs is already appropriately in place.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal development - including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Very good. The school is very successful at inspiring in the pupils a love of their own locality and a respect for how other people live. Links with the parish church enrich the curriculum greatly. The school supports national and international charities. It gives the pupils opportunity to choose charities to support and to organise fund-raising.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils This is a very caring school on all levels. This sets a very good example for the pupils.

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Aspect Comment

The curriculum is very well enriched by practical activities that put schoolwork into real-life contexts. For example, Year 4 pupils who are studying Hinduism will be visiting a Hindu temple with which the school has built up a very good relationship. Parents spoke very well of the Adventurous Weekend that the pupils undertake. They regard it as a very appropriate activity for the age group. Art and music festivals enrich the curriculum very well by bringing into school visitors who have special skills. Recently the timetable has been reorganised. This has been done to enable Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils to study subjects in blocks of continuous afternoons. It is giving them very good opportunity to study in depth and build up enthusiasm for a topic.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and manage- ment by the headteacher and other key staff Very good. The head teacher, deputy head and subject-leaders are very adept at assessing the effectiveness of the teaching. Continuous improvement is succeeding very well in raising standards even higher.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The very capable governing body is a key factor in the success of this very effective school.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance The staff and governors are very good at identifying precisely what is working well and where there needs to be improvement.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources The school knows clearly what it needs to do next to raise standards even higher. Consequently resources are used efficiently to that end.

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Aspect Comment

The staff and governors obtain best value by setting targets to raise standards, providing high quality provision for the pupils and spending public money to good effect.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Flyford Flavell First School - 10 • The very good teaching. • The high expectations of the school. • That their children like school. • The children are making very good progress. A very few parents had concerns about • The pupils’ behaviour. • Mixed-age classes in the afternoon. • The leadership of the school

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspectors endorse parents’ positive views of the school. Overall, behaviour is very good. The mixed- age lessons are carefully planned. The inspection finds that leadership is very good. Flyford Flavell First School - 11

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

effective, pupils learn very rapidly and consequently they achieve very well.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

1 In the 2001 National Curriculum Tests/Teacher Assessments, 100 per cent of the Year 2 pupils reached level 2 or above in reading, writing, mathematics and science. This is very high both in comparison with schools similar to Flyford Flavell and to schools throughout the country. These results put Flyford Flavell among the top five per cent highest-achieving schools, both nationally and for similar schools. Twenty Year 2 pupils were involved. Of the twenty, 30 per cent had special educational needs. The very high results illustrate the effectiveness of the school’s provision for pupils with special educational needs.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

2 The school has high aspirations for all its pupils. This includes the above-average. The percentage of Year 2 pupils, who achieved level 3 in reading, mathematics and science, was well above the national average. For writing, it was very high, among the top five per cent. These results are striking because the school’s records for the last five years plainly show that when most of the pupils start at the school their attainment is average. It is clear that the leadership of the school does not only aspire to high attainment, which is the inspiration behind its success, but it has in place effective strategies to enable its pupils to achieve high attainment.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

3 The results of tests taken by Year 4 pupils in 2001, showed similar high attainment. This was across English, mathematics and science. The pupils were not only reaching standards expected nationally for Year 4 pupils, many were reaching level 4, which is the norm for Year 6 pupils. When these pupils’ results are compared to their results as Year 2 pupils, they show very good achievement. This is true for boys and girls, for above-average pupils, the average and for pupils who find learning difficult, including pupils with special educational needs. The pupils continue to achieve very well as they pass from class to class in the school. There are no dips. Provision is consistently very effective. The pupils are taught very effectively and learn rapidly, from start to finish.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

4 The pupils’ work during lessons, samples of work from the past and discussions with pupils, all indicate that this year the pupils are continuing to achieve very well in the Reception class, Years 1 and 2 and Years 3 and 4. Teachers’ records and discussions with teachers and parents confirm this. The inspectors observed not only English, mathematics and science lessons, but a abroad range of other subjects, including the Foundation Stage curriculum, art-and-design, history, information-and-communication technology (ICT), music, physical education, religious education and personal-and-social-education. The picture matched the test results. Standards are well above average. In English, art-and-design and religious education, excellent work was seen.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

5 Ninety-nine per cent of those parents who answered the parents’ questionnaire, thought that their children were well taught. The vast majority of those who came to the parents’ meeting, said that their children were making appropriate progress whatever their abilities. One parent described how his child had come to school already reading. This child continues to read at a level above what would normally be expected of his age because the teachers spotted his ability and developed it. The parents said that their children were intellectually challenged because teaching was pitched appropriately for different ability groups. They described their children as highly motivated to learn. One parent said that the teachers developed in their pupils ‘a love of a subject through their skills and enthusiasms’. Flyford Flavell First School - 12 6 During the inspection, the inspectors saw the effectiveness of that very good teaching

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

that the parents had described. All groups of pupils including those with special educational needs (SEN) learn rapidly. As well as knowing their pupils very well, the teachers know their subjects very well. They are confident with subject matter. This enables them to deliver their lessons in imaginative ways that reach all their pupils. In an excellent art-and-design lesson, the teacher used ICT to ‘visit’ an art gallery. The pupils were able to see quickly how famous artists around the world had worked on the same theme that they were going to work on. Enthused by the ideas this stimulated, they put great creative effort into their work. Soon they were ready to start using the school’s digital cameras to collect images for their work. At this point, the teacher took the opportunity to teach the pupils new ICT skills. She taught them how to retrieve their photographs by using the same computer that had been their gateway to

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

an art gallery at the start of the lesson. In this way she drew the attentions of the pupils to the potential of ICT. As well as having very good subject knowledge, the teachers are technically very competent and up-to-date,

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

7 The pupils play a big part in their own learning. The teachers set clear objectives for lessons. These are written up for even the youngest pupils to be able to refer to. As a result, the pupils understand the purpose of what they are doing. They can assess for themselves how well they are doing. With the help of the teacher or a pupil with whom they are working, they can see how they can improve. In lessons, pupils are often heard commenting on the quality of their work. They think about how they can do better.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

8 A very successful, common feature in the teaching, is the simplicity of the structure of lessons. They have a consistent, clear style that resembles the format advocated by the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. There is very successful emphasis on a session where the pupils investigate. During this time they are able to think and learn for themselves. They are not, however, left to their own devices. During these times, the teacher, support assistant or voluntary helper assesses the quality of the pupils’ work and helps them to overcome difficulties. As a result the pupils are productive and work at a very good pace. During the inspection, the pupils’ learning was seen to be benefiting from the work of a very effective trainee teacher. The school’s arrangements for participation in initial teacher training are very effective.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

9 The governors finance small classes for literacy and numeracy lessons. The teachers use the opportunities that this offers, to very good effect. The pupils are taught in very small groups where the work is precisely pitched to promote very good learning. These groups are often supported by voluntary help or support staff. Classroom assistance in this school is of very good quality. The classroom assistants are expert practitioners. They are clear about their roles in lessons and very well able to fulfil them. They are an integral part of the very effective teaching that goes on throughout the school. Voluntary help, including that from parents and governors, is very effective. It is very well deployed. A parent with a history background was appropriately organised to help a group that was learning about Viking trading voyages.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

10 At their meeting, parents were supportive of the school’s policy on homework. In general, they were well satisfied with the amount of homework that their children were given. They felt that the pupils were not overloaded with homework. Consequently they had time to enjoy their childhood. They could play and have hobbies. Parents praised the type of homework that the school gave, especially the mathematics homework. Rather than being tedious, it was creative. Usually it was to do with solving problems that parents could happily get involved in. It was open-ended so that those pupils who wanted to take it on-and-on, could do so. It reinforced learning. It also simulated the imagination. Parents were also pleased that the school gave plenty of time for homework deadlines, so that working parents could help their children without any sense of rush. Flyford Flavell First School - 13 11 Most of the pupils come into the school with average attainment. They leave with well

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

above average and in some subjects very high attainment. While they are at the school, they achieve very well. This is because they learn rapidly as a result of very effective teaching.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

Provision for pupils with special educational needs is up-to-date and very effective.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

12 Pupils with special educational needs (SEN) are taught very effectively and achieve very well. This aspect of teaching is competently led by a very able, very well informed Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). The SENCO is a member of a network of cluster and pyramid SENCO support groups. These enable her to communicate with other SENCOs who serve in similar schools. It also means that she liases with the SENCOs of schools to which her pupils will be transferring. This helps to make their transfer smooth. At meetings with other SENCOs, she has access to up-to-date local education authority and national information. In addition the SENCO uses Internet resources such as the SENCO Forum. She is released from classroom duties for half-a-day each week to give her time to address her role as SENCO. For example, to ensure that full records are kept and available. These can be referred to if pupils need School Action Plus or if the SENCO needs to present

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

a case for statutory assessment. The SENCO is the ‘responsible person’. She makes sure that all those who are likely to teach a pupil with a statement of SEN are told about the statement.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

13 Provision for pupils with SEN is very up-to-date. The school is taking very good account of the new Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. It has already adopted the new code, making adjustments to reflect its particular circumstances. Soon after the new code became statutory guidance, the SENCO led staff discussion about how to take account of it when meeting the needs of pupils with SEN. The staff has agreed to a revised policy on SEN. This will outline the way in which the school’s responsibility to educate pupils with SEN, is exercised by individual staff. The draft policy is ready for discussion with the governors. The SENCO’s job description will be revised in the light of the school’s new policy. It will take into account the guidance in the new code.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

14 To help match SEN provision to children’s needs, the school has adopted the graduated approach recommended in the new Code of Practice. This is through School Action and School Action Plus, terms that the school is already using to describe its provision for pupils who have SEN.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

15 All the teachers are aware of those pupils in their classes who have SEN. Their very thorough lesson planning takes the needs of pupils with SEN into very good account. The preparation for a literacy lesson for Foundation Stage pupils, identified clearly which pupils had learning difficulties or disabilities that made it harder for them to learn than the rest of the children of their age. The teacher gave them extra or different help from the rest of the class. She was aware of their needs when teaching the whole group, checking their learning and reinforcing knowledge, understanding or skills gained. The tasks that she set for them suited their special educational needs. Consequently, they achieved very well. The school’s work with pupils who have SEN, benefits very much from the expert contribution of its learning support assistants.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

16 The school endeavours to identify pupils who might have SEN, as early as possible. It uses its baseline assessment to do this. If pupils join the school from early education settings with identified SEN, the school uses the information arising from the child’s previous educational experience to provide starting points for the development of an appropriate curriculum for the child. At the parents’ meeting, a father spoke from his family’s experience of the efficiency of the school in this respect. As soon as the school starts to give its pupils Flyford Flavell First School - 14 extra or different help because they have SEN, the pupils’ parents are told. The school issues parents with copies of the parental and carers’ guide to SEN, talking and reassuring them about procedures. They are consulted and involved at every step. When appropriate, the school considers the pupil’s own views about why s/he finds it difficult to learn. In the

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

case of a pupil with specific learning difficulties this has resulted in the pupil’s having a valuable input into his ‘Individual Education Plan’ .

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

17 The school is devising a new Individual Education Plan (IEP) format with other local schools. This will result in an agreed style for IEPs that will foster consistency of provision and administration within the local cluster and pyramid of schools. The SENCO appreciates the leadership that the local education authority is giving in this. The school’s current style of IEPs matches the new code’s recommendation well. Though it does not identify success or exit criteria. The SENCO has seen this. She is looking forward to being able to address this in the new format. Individual Education Plans are reviewed at least twice a year. At present teachers discuss their pupils’ IEPs with the SENCO who then writes them. In line with the new code, teachers will write their IEPs in future as part of their planning of differentiated teaching for their pupils. This will be done with the help of the SENCO, after discussion with

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

parents and pupils, if appropriate. Former IEPs are kept as evidence of provision and achievement in case the SENCO needs to seek additional help for a pupil.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

18 A few pupils at the school need the help of external support services. One pupil has a Statement of Special Educational Need. External support services advise and support the school to reduce pupils’ special educational needs. The SENCO liases with these services. The local education authority reviews pupils’ statements at least once a year. The SENCO correctly invites to these reviews those people who should be invited. The outcomes of the reviews are speedily acted upon by the SENCO. The administration of the school’s provision for pupils with SEN is very good.

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Standards are among the best in the country. This is because the teaching is very

19 At present two governors lead the governing body in this aspect of its work. They are aware of and attend the courses that the local education authority provides to keep them up- to-date on their responsibilities. The governing body fully discharges its duties towards pupils with SEN.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

20 The pupils have very good attitudes to learning. Nearly all the parents who returned questionnaires said that their children like coming to school. At the parents’ meeting, they said that the pupils were keen to learn. One of the reasons the parents gave for this was that their children found school-life very interesting. They said that lessons were taught in ways that caught the pupils’ interests. Also that the day-to-day range of subjects was supplemented by opportunities to be involved in special occasions. They readily cited a range of these including the school’s participation in a concert at the National Indoor Arena, planting bulbs in the school grounds and creating garden sculptures as part of an art-and- design project. The school meets statutory curricular requirements very well. This includes providing very good quality, daily acts of collective worship. These contribute very well to the

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

pupils’ spiritual development. The environment in which the pupils learn is a stimulating one, both indoors and out. It is attractive and interesting, with high quality displays of the pupils’ work.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

21 The school goes out of its way to show its pupils that what they are learning in one subject, often helps them to understand better another. It plans these cross-curricular links carefully. Sometimes it organises ‘themed-days’ that put learning into contexts. These days Flyford Flavell First School - 15 also give the pupils the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills that they have learned, in a variety of linked subjects. ‘Themed-days’ enliven the curriculum by providing variety. Often they involve skilled visitors to the school who make a contribution to the teaching. These include parents. One parent, who came into the school to play the piano to the pupils, commented on the pupils’ ‘excellent’ behaviour. The arts have been an area of curricular development that the school has focused upon with great success. ‘Themed-days’ have played an influential part in this. For instance, local sculptors have worked in the school.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

They have produced works of art with the pupils that have involved a range of subjects including design-and-technology. More such ‘themed-days’ are planned with the support of Arts Agency Grants. The school has fully addressed criticisms of its art-and-design curriculum that were made in the last report. Insufficient attention was being paid then to three-dimensional art. There was also a lack of balance in the range of media used. The pupils studied only Western European history of art. There was little opportunity to listen to music other than Western European music. The school is now rich in opportunities for its pupils to learn about a range of cultures. The school has noticed an increase in enthusiasm among the pupils for subjects that it has taught through ‘themed-days’. Also an increase in staff confidence in teaching subjects that previously they had been unsure about, notably design-and-technology.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

22 Recently the school has revised its timetable for the Reception Class and Years 1 and 2 pupils. Part of every afternoon for a week is given to the study of a subject such as geography. Each week a different subject is taken. This enables the pupils to build up enthusiasm for a topic. They are able to follow their interests to completion without other topics intervening. Parents at the meeting with the Registered Inspector were keen on this. Such timetabling, makes it all the more important that pupils are not absent from school unless unavoidable. Otherwise they will miss major sections of the curriculum.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

23 The school provides a wide range of interesting activities outside lessons. These contribute to the pupils’ enthusiasm for learning. For example, there is a religious education club that successfully links the school with the parish church, two central organisations in the life if the village. There is also an ICT club whose activities feed back very well into lessons. In a successful history lesson, two pupils used the skills that they had learned at the ICT club to produce a PowerPoint Presentation about the Vikings. Not only did this add to the class’ enthusiasm for the history topic but it also stimulated interest in the potential of ICT.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

24 One of the criticisms of the school at the time of the last inspection was that it did not promote enough, the pupils’ knowledge and understanding of cultures beyond their own. This is no longer the case. Without losing appropriate emphasis on learning about the pupils’ own locality, the school has succeeded in teaching them very well about how other people live. It has not done this by introducing another subject to the curriculum, but by giving a multicultural dimension to all of its work.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

25 The ethos of the school promotes a positive attitude towards different ways of life. The ‘School Creed’ that was established in 1999 in collaboration with the pupils, includes the aspiration to ‘let us respect ourselves and each other’. ‘Learning for Life’ is the goal of the school. This includes ‘Encouraging responsible, tolerant, respectful citizens’ among the pupils and ‘celebrating differences’. In the school’s philosophy statement, it states that the school should help its pupils ‘to realise that they are part of several communities – home, school, town, country and the world’. It succeeds very well in doing this in ways that are appropriate for First School pupils.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

26 The school’s Equal Opportunity Policy promotes equality of opportunity for both children and adults in the school. The school seeks to enable them, whatever their background or circumstances, to achieve their full potential. In practice, this can be seen in Flyford Flavell First School - 16 the school’s awareness of and very effective provision for the above-average pupils. The school has a designated curricular leader for the able-child; it participates in activities organised locally for the able and provides challenging work such as a mathematics trail around the village for the able-child. The governing body intends to build upon its very good Equal Opportunities Policy in fulfilling its duty to promote race equality.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

27 The school’s curriculum aims ‘to respond to the changing demands of the outside world…and to prepare the pupils for their future’. In its description of its curriculum, the school uses phrases that show that it deliberately and incidentally brings to its pupils’ notice lifestyles different to their own. Religious education includes a range of world religions besides Christianity. Teaching is not only theoretical. At present, Year 4 pupils are preparing for a visit to a Hindu temple. Over the last few years the school has built up a good relationship with the temple. Another very successful strategy for teaching the pupils how other people live, has been to link the school to a city school that is very different to their own. The pupils on the roll of the partner school are mainly from ethnic-minority heritages. The setting is urban rather than rural. Pupils from both schools have visited one another’s

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

schools. They have studied similarities and differences. Contact is being developed by e- mail.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

28 The school supports charities. The pupils help to choose which charities they are to support. They help to plan the fundraising activities. This work contributes very well to the pupils’ growing awareness that some children live very different lives to their own. Charities recently supported include ‘Childline’, the ‘European Children’s Fund’ and ‘Children in Distress’. At Christmas time, the pupils sent boxes of presents to Eastern Europe.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

29 Over the last two years, Japanese visitors have worked for a time at the school. This has been a very successful way of extending the pupils’ cultural awareness. The Japanese visitors have taught the pupils about traditional Japanese culture in exchange for learning first-hand about England. It has been a two-way process. The pupils have learned traditional Japanese stories, Japanese phrases, about Japanese cooking and many artistic techniques used in Japan.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

30 Relationships in the school are very good. This is the result of the attitudes and values that the school promotes. Its provision for the pupils’ moral and social development is very effective. Relationships are very good between pupils and between adults and pupils. Quite independently of one another, people say that this is a very friendly school. Parents felt that they could happily approach the school with ideas or anxieties. Relationships between adults working at the school are very good. This sets the tone for the pupils. Voluntary helpers including parents, feel comfortable in the school.

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The pupils find school-life very interesting. The school prepares its pupils very well

31 The result of this is that pupils’ learning benefits. Pupils collaborate very successfully in practical sessions. A very effective personal-and-social education lesson succeeded because of the high level of trust between the teacher and the pupils and between the pupils themselves. The lesson was about relationships; how to develop good relationships, develop confidence, respect the differences between people and celebrate positively things about oneself and others. The lesson was driven home when pupils trusted themselves into the care of their peers. One pupil left the room while the others suggested characteristics to congratulate her upon. This worked. The pupils understood the message of the lesson. It could not have been undertaken, however, if the teacher had not been confident about the very good relationships among the pupils. Nor would the pupils have been confident about taking part if they had not trusted their teacher.

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There are extensive links with parents that have a very good effect on how well the

32 At the parents’ meeting, parents praised the effectiveness of their lines of communication with the school. They have access through a variety of means to information about their children and school-life. These include parents’ evenings in the spring and autumn terms during which parents have the opportunity to discuss their children’s personal targets. A written progress-report is sent home in the summer term. Parents have the opportunity to discuss this with the teacher. A ‘Home-School Diary’ is a regular means of communication between parent and teacher. One father at the meeting spoke up to tell of its effectiveness. A newsletter is sent home each week. Parents expect it each Friday. This ensures that they do not miss it as they might do if it were sent home on an unscheduled basis. There are plans to put the newsletter onto the school’s website; the current letter and the previous two. At the start of the academic year and again at the beginning of each term,

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There are extensive links with parents that have a very good effect on how well the

the school informs parents of the syllabus. This enables them to support their children’s learning. Parents help in school. This includes offering skills. They also support lessons with books and artefacts. Knowing what the topics for each term are, helps them to do this.

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There are extensive links with parents that have a very good effect on how well the

33 Parents feel that they have easy access to teachers. This can be formally arranged or it can be informal contact before or after school. The school discourages lessons being interrupted on non-urgent business. The parents respect this, understanding the reason.

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There are extensive links with parents that have a very good effect on how well the

34 Other links between parents and school include a Home-School Agreement that emphasises the importance for learning of a free flow of information between home and school. There is a user-friendly prospectus that includes the most recent governors’ report to parents. Together they form a comprehensive document. There is a clear complaints procedure that is included in the prospectus. Special events like a ‘Music Week’, services and ‘Open Afternoons’, give parents insight into school-life and the opportunity to see what their children can achieve. An uncommon and commendable feature of communication between parents and school is that the school provides written summaries of the gist of curricular evenings for all parents so that those who cannot attend still learn about what was said.

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There are extensive links with parents that have a very good effect on how well the

35 There is an active parents’ association that supports the school very well. Governors hold drop-in sessions for parents to come to discuss the work of the school with the governors. They use questionnaires each year to canvass the views of parents on how well the school is doing and what it could do better. This information feeds into their School Improvement Plan. Before they make any major changes to how the school is run, they consult parental opinion.

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The school is very well led and managed. Everybody involved is deeply committed to

36 There is a clear link between the very good leadership of the school and the high standards that the pupils achieve, both academically and in terms of their personal development. Parents praised the head teacher at their meeting, for both maintaining the long-standing good reputation of the school and for school improvement. They cited the smaller class sizes in the mornings, a popular new reading scheme for the younger pupils and developments in ICT, as examples of how the head teacher has improved the school. The head teacher, deputy head and subject leaders take the school forward by knowing clearly where it is now. The school is good at evaluating for itself how well it is doing. This involves the governors who fulfil their role as critical friends, very effectively. When the school has monitored how well it is doing, the leadership is very good at spotting what needs Flyford Flavell First School - 18

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The school is very well led and managed. Everybody involved is deeply committed to

to improve and what needs to be done to achieve that improvement. For example, what needs to change in the way that pupils learn so that they might achieve higher standards. They look first of all at the effectiveness of the teaching and how that needs to change if the pupils are to learn better and achieve better.

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The school is very well led and managed. Everybody involved is deeply committed to

37 Very good leadership results in high standards because it is backed up by very good management, especially the management of change. The leaders in this school are adept managers as well as leaders. They are very well supported by the governors, support staff and parents. Staff, governors and parents are kept very well informed of the reasons for change. In appropriate ways they play their roles in achieving it. This might involve doing things differently, having different resources or making changes in personnel. For example, the school proposed single-age teaching of literacy and numeracy and the governors found the funds to finance it.

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The school is very well led and managed. Everybody involved is deeply committed to

38 Once changes have been made, the school monitors their effect. In fact starting the cycle all over again – monitoring the work of the school, assessing success, identifying areas for improvement and managing changes to learning and teaching that will raise standards. In this way there is a continuous process of school improvement going on. This is motivated by commitment to providing the best for the pupils.

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The school could improve on the results that it achieved in the 2001 National

39 Although 100 per cent of the Year 2 pupils in the 2001 National Curriculum Tests reached level 2 and above in writing, with 30 per cent reaching level 3, only 70 per cent of pupils reached level 2 or above in spelling. When the school was analysing its results, it recognised this relative weakness.

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The school could improve on the results that it achieved in the 2001 National

40 The English leader led the teachers in identifying what they needed to do in order to improve how well the pupils learned to spell. As a consequence, changes were made in the way that spelling was taught. This included introducing a whole-school approach to the teaching and learning of spelling whilst allowing the teachers to supplement this depending upon the rate at which individual pupils learned and the ways in which they learned best. The school has been monitoring the implementation of its whole-school approach. It is now setting about assessing whether the strategies that it has introduced are raising standards.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) The head teacher, the teachers and the governors should monitor the effectiveness of the steps that they have taken to raise the standard of spelling. They should then act on the outcome of this monitoring, either to take further steps to raise the standard of spelling or to maintain the improvement. (Paragraphs 39 and 40)

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Flyford Flavell First School - 19 Number of lessons observed 14

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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 Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the number and percentage of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents more than seven percentage points.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR– Y4

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 95

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Information about the school’s pupils

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

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR– Y4

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 1

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 14

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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 0

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 7

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 4

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.6 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. Flyford Flavell First School - 20

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2001 10 10 20

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 100 (100) 100 (95) 100 (100) At NC level 2 or above National 84 (83) 86 (84) 91 (90)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 100 (95) 95 (89) 100 (100) At NC level 2 or above National 85 (84) 89 (88) 89 (88)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

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

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Because there are only ten boys and ten girls, it is correct protocol to omit the number of boys and girls reaching level 2 and above. This protects the confidentiality of pupils’ results. Flyford Flavell First School - 21

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were no exclusions in the last school

Black – Caribbean heritage Black – Caribbean heritage

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were no exclusions in the last school

Black – African heritage Black – African heritage

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were no exclusions in the last school

Any other minority ethnic group 1 Other minority ethnic groups

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were no exclusions in the last school

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) 5.5 Financial year 2001-2002

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 17

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y4 Total income 239 607

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 7 Total expenditure 245 000

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 86 Expenditure per pupil 2552

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 29 093

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) N/a Balance carried forward to next year 23 700

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher N/a

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff N/a

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week N/a

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 2

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 2

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Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 1 Flyford Flavell First School - 22 Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0

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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. 51 44 1 1 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 37 56 3 0 4

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 34 52 7 3 4

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 46 44 7 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 65 30 3 3 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. 63 34 3 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 46 42 8 1 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 58 30 8 1 3

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 55 34 1 0 10

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 52 39 6 0 3

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Summary of parents’ and carers’ responses

Parents and carers are very supportive of the work of the school. Flyford Flavell First School - 23

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