Defford and Besford CofE Primary School

DEFFORD-CUM-BESFORD C of E SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 27 th – 29 th January 2003

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DEFFORD-CUM-BESFORD C of E 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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DEFFORD-CUM-BESFORD C of E 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. Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Hill View Defford Worcester

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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: Rev. Peter Thomas

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: May 1997 Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 4

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Team members

21277 Steve Hill Registered inspector 9577 Elaine Parrish Lay inspector

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Team members

Evenlode Associates Ltd 6 Abbey Close Alcester Warwickshire B49 5QW

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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 Defford-cum-Besford C of E 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

This is a small, rural, Church of England first school catering for 58 boys and girls aged from four to nine years of age. It serves Defford and several other, nearby villages. Children start in the reception class on a part-time basis in the September of the school year in which they will be five. They attend full time from the start of the term in which they will be five. The attainment of pupils on entry covers a wide range, but overall is below the average for the county. Pupils’ social circumstances also vary considerably, but overall are average. There is an average number of pupils who have special educational needs. These pupils have moderate learning difficulties. The number of pupils who have a statement of special needs is high for such a small school. These pupils’ particular needs include a variety of both physical and learning difficulties. All pupils are of white, British origin and have a home language of English. There are five

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

traveller pupils on roll. Since the last inspection numbers have dropped because of demographic changes in the village.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very good school, where pupils are happy and enjoy learning, and standards and achievement are high. The very good leadership and management of the headteacher and her team lead to consistent, very good teaching and learning. Pupils are known and valued as individuals, and all receive an education well tailored to their needs. The school’s many important strengths greatly outweigh its few minor weaknesses, and despite its high costs per pupil, it provides good value for money.

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What the school does well

• Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics, and design and technology. • Very effective leadership has resulted in excellent teamwork, which underpins all the school’s strengths. • Teaching and learning are very good. • Very good relationships underpin a very positive ethos that contributes strongly to pupils’ success. • Links with parents and the community are very good. • The curriculum is broad and interesting and develops pupils’ learning very well.

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What could be improved

• Accommodation could be better. • Pupils could make more systematic use of the library. 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

Since the school was last inspected in May 1997 the improvement has been very good. Standards have risen and pupils now make good progress in all subjects. Teaching has improved to be very good in all classes. The key issues have been dealt with well. Pupils work more independently and are more willing to take the initiative. The quality of pupils’ extended writing is now high. The presentation of pupils’ work has improved, and is very good. Teachers have been provided with effective professional development, which has supported the improvements in the quality of teaching and learning. Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 7

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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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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

2000 2001 2002 2002 reading A* A* A A well above average above average A B writing A* B A A average below average C D mathematics A* A A* A* well below average E A* means the school’s performance is in the highest 5% nationally.

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

For several years the school has obtained consistently high scores in national assessments for pupils aged seven. Standards have gone up in line with improvements nationally, remaining well above average. The small variations from year to year are because of the different abilities of the small cohorts involved, including different levels of special educational need. Inspection evidence confirms high standards in reading, writing and mathematics for pupils aged seven. Standards in other subjects for seven-year-olds are good generally, but particularly so in design and technology, science and singing.

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

Standards continue to be high in Years 3 and 4 for English, mathematics, and design and technology. Pupils also achieve good standards in singing and science. By the time pupils are nine, their standards of speaking and listening are also high.

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

Pupils enter the reception year with overall standards that are below average. By the end of reception, most will have attained the early learning goals in all areas of learning. Some will exceed them, but one or two may struggle to get to the expected standards in all areas.

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Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

In the light of pupils’ low attainment on entry, and their high standards when they leave, their achievement is very good. This very good achievement applies to all pupils, including those who struggle with their work, and those who are high fliers. Boys and girls achieve equally well. The traveller pupils are well integrated into the school and achieve the same standards as their classmates. The school sets high targets for each group of pupils based on careful assessment of their individual capabilities, and generally meets them.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Very good. Pupils enjoy school and work hard. They are proud of the school and of their achievements.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Good. It improves as they get older and the behaviour of older pupils is usually very good.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Personal development is very good, and pupils’ relationships with each other and with adults are very positive. Pupils willingly take on responsibilities, and they are very caring and helpful to each other.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Satisfactory, and improving. Systems to monitor and promote attendance are good. Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 8

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

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

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

All teaching seen during the inspection was at least good, and most was very good. There was one excellent lesson. Examples of very good teaching were observed in every class. The quality of work in pupils’ books, and the standards they attain, confirm that this very good standard of teaching is consistent through the school. Literacy and numeracy are taught very well, resulting in high standards in both.

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

Teachers are very good at meeting the needs of all pupils. They use the school’s good assessment data, as well as their personal knowledge of each individual, to provide work that is challenging and interesting for each pupil. High fliers are given harder work, and pupils who struggle are given work that is easier, but still demanding of them as individuals. As a result, pupils are keen to learn, and make very good progress. Teachers’ expectations are high of both achievement and behaviour. Pupils try hard to live up these expectations, because they like and respect their teachers. Teachers are enthusiastic about what they do, and this rubs off on pupils, who tackle their work with similar energy and enthusiasm. Teachers make very good use of the skilled support staff, who contribute enormously to the quality of pupils’ learning, particularly of the youngest children, and those with special needs.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Very good. Pupils have access to a wide and interesting range of activities. Very good use is made of the locality, and of trips wider afield. Full use is made of visitors from the local community and elsewhere to enhance the curriculum. The provision of extra curricular activities is good for such a small school.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Pupils achieve very well in relation to their abilities, because provision is very carefully targeted to their needs. Good quality individual education plans contribute effectively to this. Teaching for these pupils is very good, including the help they get from the skilled support staff.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Very good. The wide range of cultural provision is a particular strength. There is very good provision for social development, particularly for fostering pupils’ independence, collaborative working and their very positive relationships.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Very good. Caring for the pupils is at the heart of everything the school does. There are very good systems to support all aspects of this, including health and safety issues, child protection, and the assessment of their progress.

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Aspect Comment

The partnership with parents is a particularly strong feature of the school. Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 9

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The headteacher’s very good leadership, and that of her very effective team, are pivotal to the school’s success. Mutual respect ensures that staff willingly take on board any needs for improvements that are identified, and work together imaginatively to bring them about. Very good systems are in place to manage this.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Very good. They are fully involved and keen to help the school to build on its success. They have a clear view of the school’s needs and its strengths.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Very good. The school has good assessment systems that it uses accurately to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Staff and governors work together to maintain and build on the school’s success. However, the school team are by no means complacent about the many strengths, and are constantly working to make improvements.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Good. Resources are satisfactory, although a relative paucity of computer equipment hampers progress in this subject. Accommodation is limited in some aspects, particularly in the lack of a headteacher’s room, or rooms for small groups to use. The school makes good use of the resources it does have, particularly the skilled staff. However, pupils are not given enough opportunities to use the library to develop their research skills. Finances are managed well and good use is made of the principles of best value. The high cash reserves, in hand at the end of the last financial year, have since been spent on much needed improvements to the buildings and on resources.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• Behaviour is good. • They feel comfortable about approaching the school with concerns. • The school is well led and managed. • The school helps their children to become mature and responsible. • A few parents feel that the quantity of homework is not right.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Parents who replied to questionnaires were unanimous about the above positive points, and a large majority were strongly supportive of all aspects of the school’s provision. The inspection team agree with them. The provision of homework is good, although an increase in quantity for the older pupils, to prepare them for their next school, could be beneficial. Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 10

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

1. Pupils do well in all subjects and this is reflected both in the quality of the work they produce, and in the understanding they display in lessons. The high standards indicated by the results of national tests at age seven are continued into the older classes, and are seen across a range of subjects. During the inspection, the overall standards seen in lessons throughout the curriculum were better than those normally found for pupils of similar ages. This is an unusually high level of consistency, and reflects very good achievement, particularly as the assessment of pupils’ attainment when they start in Reception, shows them to be overall below average.

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

2. Work in pupils’ English books reveals a high standard of writing. By the age of seven, most pupils are using fluent, cursive handwriting and producing work of a good standard in a range of forms. These include stories, poems, lists and sets of instructions. By the time they are nine, their writing has developed well and shows very good grammatical structure. Spelling and punctuation are good, with most pupils using simple punctuation well, and many using speech-marks and apostrophes accurately. These good basic skills are put to good use to produce writing which is lively and thoughtful, and which is often well organised. This is true of pupils’ work in English, such as the interesting stories they write, but also in other subjects such as science, where they write clearly about their understanding of a range of topics. Reading is also of a consistently good standard, and pupils are keen readers, eager to talk about books and what they enjoy in them.

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

Good use is made of these skills in a range of subjects, for example in reading instructions in design & technology.

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

3. A particular strength is in pupils’ standard of speaking and listening. Their skills are developed systematically throughout the school, and help pupils to make progress in a range of subjects, as was seen in many lessons during the inspection. Although the skills of Reception children are only average, they are making very good progress because of the very good individual attention they get from the staff. Careful questioning helps children to think about what they have seen, and sensitive encouragement ensures that they develop their own powers of expression in explaining their ideas. This good start bears fruit in older classes, for example when pupils in Year 2 showed maturity in organising photographs of Alaska, refining their ideas through talking to each other, and responding thoughtfully to questioning from the teacher. By Year 4, their skills are very good, as pupils showed when working very effectively, in small groups, to plan an experiment in science.

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

They listened to each other well, and expressed their own ideas clearly, arriving at sensible and amicable conclusions.

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

4. In mathematics, pupils do consistently well, but show particularly good standards in their understanding of number and, by Year 4, in applying this understanding to “real life” problems. By Year 2, most pupils have a secure understanding of place value, and are developing a good understanding of the easier multiplication tables. They are secure in adding pairs of two-digit numbers and start to work out multiplication and division problems using small numbers. By the age of nine, pupils have consolidated and built on their understanding of number well. They are confident in talking about a range of strategies for tackling mental arithmetic problems. Almost all are competent in dealing with problems involving addition or subtraction with numbers to 100 or greater, and most can tackle problems involving multiplication and division, about half of them with consistent accuracy and confidence. About two thirds are secure in using place value to multiply

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

or divide by 10, and can explain their working clearly.

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

5. Good standards were also seen in Years 1 and 2 in lessons in music, particularly singing, and in information and communications technology and geography. In Years 3 and 4, pupils continue to Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 11 sing well, and also show very good standards in science, particularly in their understanding of fair testing and of how to design an experiment.

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

6. At both key stages, good standards were observed in lessons on design and technology. Examples of finished products and pupils’ writing and drawing indicate careful designs accurately made. Pupils’ making skills are good. Pupils in Year 2 showed good skills in accurately pinning and sewing together fabric, and had a good understanding of terminology such as “seam” or “running stitch”. One or two pupils showed particularly good skills, in stitching which was small and meticulously accurate. By the age of nine, pupils have continued to build on their good skills with textiles. They use a range of different stitches accurately and know which would be best for a particular task. In designing a fabric container, they showed a good understanding of the need to choose particular fabrics for a particular purpose, for example, felt for lining a glasses case, or binca to serve as a base for a cross-stitched decoration.

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Standards are high, particularly in English, mathematics and design & technology

7. The good standards across the school are promoted by a mixture of an interesting curriculum, very good teaching, and hard work and enthusiasm from pupils.

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strengths

8. Many of the school’s strengths stem from the high quality of leadership provided by the headteacher. She is liked and respected by staff, pupils and parents alike, who all come to share the same aims and to support the school’s very positive ethos. Governors are fully involved in the work of the school, both through the governing body’s effective systems, and also through many informal ways in which they contribute to the school. Governors and staff work with the headteacher as a very effective team, so that all concerned are pulling in the same direction, working together well and concentrating on pupils’ standards and wellbeing.

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strengths

9. Teachers, in turn, show good leadership in their areas of responsibility. In such a small school, with only four teachers including the head, each has to take on a wide range of duties. They fulfil these well, giving a clear lead to colleagues so that there is consistency in practice across the school. A mixture of formal written systems, and constant dialogue between all members of staff, ensures that everyone is fully aware of what is happening in the school. Staff are quick to share ideas and to seek advice from each other, providing a strong basis for the excellent teamwork. This underpins the high standards seen in all lessons, the good behaviour of pupils, and the very good progress they make.

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strengths

10. The strong leadership is backed up by very good management systems. Samples of pupils’ work are analysed regularly to check up on standards, and each teacher, in their role as co-ordinator, has the opportunity to observe colleagues teaching. Clear records are kept of these observations, so that strengths and areas for improvement are fed back to colleagues, and areas for improvement can be acted upon. Staff react quickly to any aspects which are identified as needing development, and work together well to address these. A good example is the relative weakness, identified by staff, in pupils’ extended writing. Staff have worked over the last year to concentrate on improving this, with the result that writing is now of a high standard.

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strengths

11. Finances are used effectively to support the school’s educational priorities. The high cash reserves at the end of April 2002 have been spent during this financial year, leaving the school with a small but prudent reserve of less than 4% to “carry forward” in April 2003. This money has been spent on upgrading information and communications technology (ICT) provision, on other improvements in learning resources, on a large number of replacement windows, and on training for teachers, particularly in ICT. Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 12

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Teaching and learning are very good

12. A major strength is that teachers are very good at meeting the needs of all pupils. Planning of lessons is thorough and careful. Support staff are fully involved in the preparation of work that is well matched to the different needs of different pupils. Good use is made of the school’s assessment data to group pupils, and to ensure that what is taught builds successfully on what pupils have already learned. In addition, because all staff are constantly involved in discussing lessons and how pupils are doing, they keep fully up to date with the progress pupils are making, and any difficulties they might have. This is firmly based on careful evaluation during lessons of how pupils are responding and how they are coping with work. This ongoing monitoring ensures that pupils are presented with work that provides them with a good level of challenge. When pupils run into problems, staff quickly pick this up and can give them appropriate help to get them back

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Teaching and learning are very good

on track. For pupils with special educational needs, their good quality individual education plans give teachers a firm basis for planning work to help these pupils attain their specific targets. All this results in very good progress for pupils, as they very seldom meet work that is too hard for them, nor do they waste time doing work which is too easy.

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Teaching and learning are very good

13. Teachers’ have high expectations of both achievement and behaviour. These are made clear to pupils and, because of the very good relationships between pupils and all the staff, pupils are keen to live up to them. Teachers give praise to pupils when they do well, but are also consistent in challenging them to examine and improve their work when it falls short of their best. Pupils readily take this on board, being boosted by the praise they receive, and trying hard to improve their work when this is needed. This was seen in an excellent writing lesson when Year 2 pupils responded enthusiastically to a difficult task. They succeeded in writing expressive sentences using interesting phrasing and vocabulary, making enormous gains in their skills and understanding. The teacher had very high expectations of what they could achieve and, by the provision of useful written materials and by asking searching questions to get pupils to think through and expand their

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Teaching and learning are very good

ideas, enabled them to succeed. Pupils were very enthusiastic and worked very hard, showing a genuine excitement at the quality of the writing they produced.

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Teaching and learning are very good

14. A relaxed but disciplined working atmosphere is maintained in all classes. Although this is strongly supported by clear expectations and well-established routines, the main reason for pupils’ good behaviour is the positive relationships that they have with staff. They like and respect staff, and are keen to please them. When pupils’ concentration or behaviour lapses, a gentle reminder nearly always brings them back into line very quickly.

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Teaching and learning are very good

15. The high levels of interest and involvement of pupils are strongly supported by the exciting and challenging nature of the work they are given. Teachers show imagination in preparing lessons, making extensive use of practical work, the environment, interesting materials, and contributions from visitors. This was seen during the inspection in a geography lesson about Alaska, with pupils in Year 2. Having had their interest roused the previous week when a governor had talked to them and shown them a video about his trip to Alaska, they were eager to follow this up. The teacher prepared an exciting range of photographs, which recaptured their enthusiasm, and they worked happily to sort them into pairs. Sensitive questioning by the teacher helped them to arrive at geographical criteria on which to make their choices, and they made good gains in their understanding of geographical concepts and vocabulary during the lesson.

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Teaching and learning are very good

16. Above all, teachers and support staff make learning fun. They clearly enjoy what they are doing and convey this to their pupils. Pupils respond with a matching enthusiasm, are keen to participate, and enjoy their lessons as a result. They take a pride in what they achieve, and are keen to share this with others.

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success

Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 13 17. Pupils enjoy school. From their start in Reception, they get on very well with their teachers and with other staff, and like and respect them. As a result, they are keen to earn their teachers’ approval, and work hard to do so. Teachers and other staff are good role models, and pupils learn to emulate them more consistently as they get older. Through the exemplification and encouragement of staff, pupils learn to behave well, to care for each other and to take a pride in their work. As a result, standards of behaviour are good throughout the school, and are very good by the time pupils are nine. All this also underpins pupils’ high academic achievement.

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success

18. The very good relationships with staff are paralleled by pupils’ very good relationships with each other. They are thoughtful and caring towards each other, and get on well at work and at play. Older pupils enjoy helping the younger pupils, and willingly help any classmates who need assistance with aspects of their work. These positive relationships are used very effectively by the staff to develop pupils’ collaborative skills and their standards of speaking and listening. Pupils work together very effectively, listening to each other’s ideas carefully, and being willing to express their own ideas because they know they will be respected. In a very good mathematics lesson, pupils in Years 3 and 4 showed great maturity when playing an arithmetic game against the clock. When a mistake by one pupil meant they failed to break their record time, they were disappointed, but there were no recriminations, and all were simply keen to get on and try again.

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success

Similar patience and persistence are shown by individuals, for example by the boy who cheerfully went to re-do his sewing, when the teacher pointed out that the seam was too near the edge of the fabric to be secure.

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success

19. The school is very outward looking, and pupils have good opportunities to gain a broad perspective on the world, and to think about people other than themselves. This is reflected, for example, in their efforts to produce parcels for children in Rumania, and their pride and delight in what they have accomplished with this. The staff’s mixture of high expectations, and praise for success and effort, ensure that pupils are keen to succeed. Their pride in their successes is evident when they talk to visitors about the variety of work on the walls, particularly that which is acknowledged on the school’s “Achievement Board.” Parents showed a similar pride in what the school does, and it was noticeable at the pre-inspection meeting that many of them took time to look at the Achievement Board before going home.

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Links with parents and the community are very good

20. Parents are very well established as partners in their children’s education. There is a warm and welcoming ethos in the school which everyone, be they parents, staff, governors or visitors, shares in. As one member of staff said, “We are all one family here”.

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Links with parents and the community are very good

21. The school is a very happy place which most parents get to know well when their children attend the pre-school playgroup in the school hall three times a week. Many parents also attend the pre- school Friday afternoons when their pre-school children play in the reception classroom and staff and new parents get to know one another. Apart from the obvious benefit of ensuring a smooth start to school for their children, this also helps to break down any barriers that parents may have in approaching the school.

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Links with parents and the community are very good

22. The ease with which parents come into school continues when children start full-time education. Assured of a warm welcome, many parents help in classrooms, either by listening to children read or by helping the teacher. All parents’ meetings, including the twice-yearly consultation evenings, are very well attended. A particular favourite has been the class assembly when parents can also observe their child in a lesson. To date, each class has done a literacy and numeracy lesson for parents and plans are already afoot for a science lesson. In the pre-inspection questionnaires, virtually all parents said they felt comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem whether this is by a chat with the teacher at the school gate or by pre-arranged interview. Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 14 23. The school works hard to keep parents well informed about all aspects of their children’s

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Links with parents and the community are very good

education. Letters, newsletters and the governors’ annual report are written in clear and accessible language and keep parents up to date with all school events. Parents particularly like the termly curriculum letter that gives them details of topics their children will follow. This enables them to help their children at home by researching in the library or on the Internet, and by bringing resources and artefacts into school. Parents also appreciate the new homework schedule which encourages family involvement and which has resulted in many more children completing their homework each week.

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Links with parents and the community are very good

24. There is a flourishing and imaginative Friends’ Association which contributes generously to school funds and which cements excellent relationships between parents and staff. Pupils benefit greatly from the funds raised on their behalf and by the very good relationships forged between home and the school. Parents are very appreciative of the support given by the school to the Association’s events and see this as practical evidence of the school’s strong commitment to maintaining a strong home/school partnership. 25. The energy and enthusiasm of governors and staff have helped to establish very good links with the local community which gives the school a high profile within the village. There are very close links with the church. These work well to the benefit of both pupils, in the weekly act of worship, and of parents and the village community when they join in the Harvest, Christmas and Easter

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Links with parents and the community are very good

festivities. Governors come in regularly to read stories and to listen to pupils read, and one governor has started a popular school choir that has taken part in the Spring Festival at Worcester Cathedral. The school uses every opportunity to invite people to share their experiences with pupils, such as the local resident who talked to Year 2 about his visit to Alaska. Another took the school’s Christmas “shoe boxes” to children in Rumania, bringing back photos of them being opened for everyone to enjoy.

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Links with parents and the community are very good

26. In addition, there are very good links with local schools, including a visit by a specialist teacher from the High School, who spent a week with pupils teaching them how to use a wide range of computer equipment. This was a great success as it enthused the pupils and helped them make progress. Parents, staff and governors also benefited from these very good links when they attended a 10-week computer course.

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The curriculum is broad and interesting, and develops pupils’ learning very well

27. As well as developing a curriculum that is very broad and balanced, the staff team works very well to ensure that lessons are relevant to the individual needs of each pupil, whatever their talents or aptitudes. Each child is valued as an individual and staff adopt a very flexible approach to the curriculum to meet each pupil’s needs in this small school with mixed age classes. Flexible organisation enables pupils to be taken out of their class to work with older pupils or to work in small ability groups, whenever this is to their benefit.

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The curriculum is broad and interesting, and develops pupils’ learning very well

28. Pupils are stimulated by a wide variety of experiences across a range of subjects and this makes a significant impact on their learning. There is very good enrichment of the curriculum through well- chosen visits and visitors. None of this comes about by chance. It is the result of very good teamwork and whole-school planning together with a shared understanding of what makes learning and teaching both effective and fun.

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The curriculum is broad and interesting, and develops pupils’ learning very well

29. Teachers actively involve pupils in experiencing many aspects at first hand, for example in the school’s Eco project. Children in Reception learn to save their apple cores and fruit peel from their mid-morning snack for the school’s compost heap which Year 4 pupils monitor with great enthusiasm, taking their role to protect the environment very seriously. Numerous visitors make a welcome and valuable contribution to pupils’ learning and greatly enjoy their time in school. Pupils are taken on a wide range of outside visits to support their lessons and everyone looks forward to the residential trip in Year 4 where they participate in such varied activities as rock-climbing and Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 15 archery. Pupils are actively encouraged to take part in a very good range extra-curricular clubs at lunchtime and after school. These include choir, recorder, skittleball, calligraphy and tag rugby.

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The curriculum is broad and interesting, and develops pupils’ learning very well

30. There are many productive links between subjects, such as English, mathematics, and design & technology, where teachers take care to emphasise the importance of the correct language in pupils’ written work. In a very good lesson on designing a fabric container, pupils in Years 3 and 4 were helped to use the correct terminology when planning their designs by the good use of vocabulary cards. These enabled them to write confidently and accurately about the texture of the fabric and the design of the container.

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The curriculum is broad and interesting, and develops pupils’ learning very well

31. The school’s provision for pupils’ personal development is very good and permeates many aspects of their learning. All staff are excellent role models and the care and kindness they show to each other rubs off on their pupils. The school takes a very active approach to teaching pupils to appreciate their own cultural traditions as well as the diversity of other cultures. Local crafts and traditions are celebrated and enjoyed, such as the Willow Whale in the playground and the Music Festival in Cheltenham. In spite of the school’s relative isolation in a small country village where there are few multi-cultural experiences close at hand, teachers go out of their way to help pupils to experience the rich ethnic mix within the wider community. Pupils are taken to visit a Hindu temple in Birmingham. They enjoy working with visitors who have shown them, for example, Flamenco and Indian dancing and mendhi artwork. The school’s clear commitment to raising

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The curriculum is broad and interesting, and develops pupils’ learning very well

pupils’ racial awareness is evident from governors’ recent participation in a training day on race relations and the many displays of different faith groups around the school.

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The curriculum is broad and interesting, and develops pupils’ learning very well

32. This carefully planned curriculum offers many rich experiences for pupils which, together with the very good teaching across the school, develops the pupils into very effective learners.

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Accommodation Could be Better

33. The school generally has satisfactory accommodation, and the quality of the outside environment is very high. The maintenance and cleanliness of the school are also of a high quality. However, there are two main weaknesses that impact on the work of the school and on pupils’ learning.

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Accommodation Could be Better

34. There is no office for the headteacher. This means that if she needs to have a confidential discussion with parents or colleagues, there is nowhere to go without disrupting other aspects of the work of the school.

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Accommodation Could be Better

35. There is a lack of space where small groups could work. The school does its best by making use of the staffroom, the library and the hall at different times of day. However, space is still at a premium, and the use of the library as a teaching space for groups restricts its use as a library. At times, the lack of space means that groups working in the classrooms have to “compete” for space and are restricted in what they can do. For example, when two adults each want to talk with a group, their discussions can be distracting to each other.

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Pupils could make more systematic use of the library

36. The school has a small library space that is conveniently placed for access from the two oldest classes’ rooms. However, discussion with pupils in Year 4 suggests that they have very little experience of using the library to support their work. One or two pupils had used the library to borrow books to take home out of personal interest. However, they said that they never used the library to research information about the topics they were studying, but reported that books were made available for them in the classroom. Teachers confirm that providing pupils with chances to work in the library is made difficult because of the need to devote the space for a variety of other uses. This lack of experience means that a group of Year 4 pupils had little idea how to find a Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 16 book on a particular topic. Although they knew that a book on the Tudors would probably be in the

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Pupils could make more systematic use of the library

history section, they had no notion of how to find it other than working through all the books in the section. This was a group of pupils who have very good reading skills, and were able to use the index and glossary of a particular book with great confidence. Their lack of practice in using the library does not prepare them well for their future education, when the demands on them finding information for themselves are likely to be much higher.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

In order to build on its current very good provision the school should:- 1) Improve the accommodation, as funds permit, to provide a. More space where small groups of pupils can be taught. b. An office for the headteacher, where confidential discussions can take place without disrupting other aspects of the school’s work. (Paragraph Nos. 33. 34. 35)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

2) Make more use of the library for pupils to develop their study skills, by ensuring that regular and systematic opportunities for this are built into the curriculum, particularly for the oldest pupils. (Paragraph No. 36) Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 17

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of lessons observed 12 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 10

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor Number 1 6 5 0 0 0 0 Percentage 8 50 42 0 0 0 0 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 eight percentage points.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll YR – Y4 Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 58 Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 5

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs YR – Y4 Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 2 Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 7

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of 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 Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 1 Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 2

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Authorised absence Unauthorised absence

% % School data 5.7 School data 0.2 National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 18

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

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2002 9 7 16

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National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 9 9 9 level 2 and above Girls 6 6 7 Total 15 15 16 Percentage of pupils School 94 (100) 94 (100) 100 (100) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (84) 86 (86) 90 (91)

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Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 9 9 9 level 2 and above Girls 6 7 7 Total 15 16 16 Percentage of pupils School 94 (100) 100 (100) 100 (100) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (85) 89 (89) 89 (89) Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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exclusions

White – British 58 0 0 White – Irish 0 0 0 White – any other White background 0 0 0 Mixed – White and Black Caribbean 0 0 0 Mixed – White and Black African 0 0 0 Mixed – White and Asian 0 0 0 Mixed – any other mixed background 0 0 0 Asian or Asian British – Indian 0 0 0 Asian or Asian British – Pakistani 0 0 0 Asian or Asian British – Bangladeshi 0 0 0 Asian or Asian British – any other Asian background 0 0 0 Black or Black British – Caribbean 0 0 0 Black or Black British – African 0 0 0 Black or Black British – any other Black background 0 0 0 Chinese 0 0 0 Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 19 Any other ethnic group 0 0 0 No ethnic group recorded 0 0 0

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y4

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 3.6 Financial year 2001-2002

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y4

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 15.83

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y4

Education support staff: YR – Y4 Total income 202011

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y4

Total number of education support staff 5 Total expenditure 183110

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y4

Total aggregate hours worked per week 76.5 Expenditure per pupil 2543

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Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y4

FTE means full-time equivalent. Balance brought forward from previous year

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 0

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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) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) FTE means full-time equivalent. Defford-cum-Besford C of E School - 20

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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. 71 27 2 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 48 52 0 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 52 38 10 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 71 21 8 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 85 13 0 0 2

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 79 19 2 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 73 19 8 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 85 15 0 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 67 33 0 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 65 29 6 0 0

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