All Saints CofE VA Primary School

Age group Published Reference no. All Saints C of E VA Primary School Inspection report

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Unique Reference Number 122096 LEA Northamptonshire

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Inspection number 274782 Inspection dates 14 - 15 June 2005 Reporting inspector Tom Shine

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Inspection deemed to have been carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 according to section 12(3) of the same act.

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Type of School Primary School address School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4 - 11 Boughton Green Road Kingsthorpe Northampton NN2 7AJ Gender of pupils Mixed Telephone number 01604 715658 Number on roll 205 Fax number 01604 711461 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair of governors Mr K Davidson Date of previous inspection Not applicable Headteacher Mrs H Gompertz

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4 - 11 July 2005 274782 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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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 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. Inspection Report: All Saints C of E VA Primary, 14 - 15 June 2005 1

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Introduction

The inspection was a pilot of the new arrangements for inspection announced by Ofsted in consultation paper of February 2004. It was carried out with the support and co-operation of All Saints School and of the local education authority.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors.

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Description of the school

All Saints, on the outskirts of Northampton, opened in September 2004 on the same site as a previous middle school. In 2003/04 some younger primary pupils entered the school before it formally became a primary school, but, as a consequence of local school reorganisation and closure, there are few pupils in Years 2 and 3. The bulk of pupils, who have a wide range of skills and experiences, joined from a spread of other local schools. It is an average sized school and is expected to grow to 420 over the next few years. Most pupils are White British, and about a sixth of them are from minority ethnic backgrounds, mainly Mixed White/Black Caribbean, and Black British Caribbean. The proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties and disabilities is broadly average, and the proportion eligible for free school meals is low. There are a few, but an increasing number of pupils learning English as an additional

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Key for inspection grades

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Satisfactory Grade 4 Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness of the school

The school judged its effectiveness as being satisfactory and this inspection confirms that judgement. It has a number of strengths and some weaknesses and knows how to bring about improvement. This is because it has carried out sufficient checks at an early stage to prioritise what it needs to do. Standards are currently in line with those expected for Year 6 pupils but the school knows that they can be higher still and that improving teachers’ subject knowledge in particular areas, for example in mathematics, is the key to this. It has put in place the means to check the progress of pupils and has gathered basic information about how well they are doing. It is well placed to use this information constructively to bring about further improvements in standards. It has built up effective links with many organisations, to promote the well-being of its pupils. The school makes good use of support staff and of particular

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Overall effectiveness of the school

strengths in teaching. It has done much in a short space of time and gives good value for money.

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Overall effectiveness of the school

Leadership by the senior staff is good but subject leaders do not have enough involvement in observing what is happening in their subjects. Parents and pupils too do not as yet have enough opportunities to contribute their views. Nevertheless, pupils’ personal development and care are good. As a result, attendance is better than average and pupils consistently behave very well. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good, overall. The quality of provision in the reception classes is good and pupils make good progress.

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Overall effectiveness of the school

The school’s evaluation of its work is similar to that of the inspection and because it knows itself well, and has identified the right issues to address, its capacity to improve is strong.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Continue to raise standards, giving a particular focus to the improvement of teachers’ subject knowledge. • Continue to develop the subject leaders’ roles especially in the monitoring of Mathematics, Science and English Inspection Report: All Saints C of E VA Primary, 14 - 15 June 2005 3

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Achievement and standards

As this is a new school, there is no test data yet. However, the inspection finds standards by Year 6 are broadly average in English, mathematics and science, and this confirms the school’s view. Progress is satisfactory overall, but the lowest attaining pupils make the best progress, and pupils speak, listen and read better than they write. Most pupils confidently communicate their views to others, but the quality of handwriting is inconsistent and joined handwriting is not well developed. The school knows this and has identified a style to be taught by all teachers. As a result, teaching of a basic script is now more consistent and younger children’s handwriting is improving steadily. In mathematics, progress is satisfactory overall, but some of the most able pupils could do better. This is because the work they are given is not always challenging enough.

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Achievement and standards

When children start in reception, their skills and knowledge are below those typical for that age. As a result of good teaching and well-targeted help, they get off to a positive and confident start and they make good progress in all areas of learning to reach average standards by the end of the year.

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Achievement and standards

The help provided for pupils who have learning difficulties and disabilities, including the few children with physical disabilities, is very well directed. As a result, these pupils make good progress and achieve well. The children learning English is an additional language also make good progress.

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Personal development and well-being

The pupils enjoy school and are positive about the great majority of things they do. These are very strong features. Their enjoyment is reflected in their good attendance and punctuality. Behaviour is very good and pupils invariably show respect and consideration for each other and are polite and courteous to everyone. Older pupils are mature and sensible when undertaking the many responsibilities they are given. However, the school does not consult pupils enough or take their views into account in developing the school.

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Personal development and well-being

Pupils are keen to help those less fortunate than themselves through fund raising activities. They readily become involved in community projects, such as giving practical help to elderly people and choir-singing in the town at festive times. They gain insights into their own and other cultures. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good, overall. Many pupils use the chapel, which is a wonderful oasis of peace and tranquillity, to reflect quietly.

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Personal development and well-being

The pupils report feeling very safe and have little fear of being harassed or bullied. They are very confident that if they are in trouble there is always Inspection Report: All Saints C of E VA Primary, 14 - 15 June 2005 4

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Personal development and well-being

someone to turn to for help. Already many of the pupils are learning key skills and knowledge for life, such as the importance of healthy lifestyles and wholesome food, fund-raising and interacting with a wide range of people. The Christmas Project provides good opportunities for the children to discuss commercial ideas when they run the cafeteria business.

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Teaching and learning

Teaching is satisfactory overall. It is strongest where the teachers’ subject knowledge is good such as in the reception classes and music. In music, specialist teachers are used to good effect - for example in Year 5, where pupils were highly involved in improvising jazz sequences on keyboards. Pupils’ learning was very good and full of enjoyment. Teaching is weakest where there are gaps in teachers’ knowledge. A few teachers have little experience of teaching some subjects, and this means that work is sometimes not demanding enough.

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Teaching and learning

Very good relationships and secure class management help to create the right atmosphere for learning. In the best lessons, the work is well matched to the pupils’ differing needs and it challenges them so that they respond and learn well. Teachers work well with the learning support assistants. In a lesson in Year 6, for example, a group of pupils with learning difficulties was very well supported. This gave them the confidence to join in discussions and as a result they felt their contributions were valued. The enjoyment they gained in rising successfully to the challenge showed through in their positive attitudes.

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Teaching and learning

Some teachers have only recently begun teaching a younger age group and wider range of subjects. At present they are less confident and there is a tendency to over use textbooks and work-sheets, and as a result pupils often produce uninspiring work. They do not consistently set hard enough work to stretch the more able pupils. In one mathematics lesson for example, some very capable pupils were ready to be given more opportunities to use their initiative in choosing their own subject for a survey. This would have engaged them more than the predetermined task set by the teacher and would have enabled them to progress at a more rapid rate. On some occasions, teachers do not ask sufficiently probing questions to check how well pupils understand. Teachers check pupils’ work regularly, but marking varies in quality and does not show consistently how work could be improved.

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Curriculum and other activities

Pupils benefit from a soundly organised curriculum. A clear programme helps them to get to grips with basic skills in English and mathematics. In Years 5 and 6, the grouping of pupils in these two subjects ensures that work is often fine-tuned to meet their needs. But because some teachers are still not fully confident in teaching all subjects, they are not flexible enough in adapting to the varying needs of pupils, and rely too much on textbooks and worksheets. Provision for information and communication technology is good. In the reception classes, the curriculum in all areas of learning meets the needs of children well. Work at an appropriate level is very well planned for pupils with additional learning needs and those who are learning English as a second language, enabling them to be fully involved in lessons and to make good progress. Many pupils are keen to participate in a wide range of out of school

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Curriculum and other activities

activities, and visits and visitors further add to pupils’ experience and enjoyment.

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Curriculum and other activities

The school is very conscious of the need to ensure pupils understand how to keep themselves safe and healthy; for example, healthy options are strongly promoted at lunchtime, and all pupils receive the recommended two hours of physical education each week.

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Care, guidance and support

This is a very caring school; care and guidance of all pupils is central to its ethos. Effective child protection arrangements are in place. As a result, pupils feel safe from bullying and other forms of harassment. Children are well known to all adults in the school. Those at risk from harm are identified early and given help. There are effective links with parents, carers and support agencies to ensure that pupils have a safe place to learn, play and grow. Very strong and developing links have been formed with the private provider for day care that shares the same site. There is a very open and committed approach to educating children with physical disabilities who are fully included in the school.

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Care, guidance and support

The school has worked hard in the short time since it opened to establish robust procedures to check pupils’ progress to ensure that they all reach their full potential. It uses a computer system to track pupils’ progress and it has amassed a wide range of data on pupils’ performance. The school is doing all it reasonably can to refine its procedures and set individual targets to guide pupils.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher leads the school well. Leadership and management are good over all. This is because the headteacher and her senior staff have managed the transition to a new school very well and much has been accomplished in a comparatively short time. They have created a unity of purpose among all staff and morale is high. A calm and ordered community has been established in which pupils thrive. The school has correctly identified targets for improvement and has at the heart of its priorities, the raising of the quality of teaching and learning in order to raise pupils’ standards further.

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Leadership and management

The school does much that is good, but it is too early for management to have had a significant impact on raising pupils’ standards, their achievement and the quality of teaching. Nevertheless, a very clear vision of a caring Christian community where every child matters, while emphasising high standards, is at the heart of everything the school does. The views of parents have been gathered informally and the school has responded to the comments parents have made, but systematic procedures to gather and use these more formally have yet to be developed.

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Leadership and management

The senior management team knows where the weaknesses are which need to be addressed, and the strengths which need to be retained. They know that some teachers’ subject knowledge is weak in several areas such as English, mathematics and science, as these teachers were specialists in other subjects in the former middle school. They have started to tackle these weaknesses. For example, the school identified that teachers lacked skills and confidence in teaching children how to calculate accurately. A programme of staff training has focused strongly on helping teachers understand how best to do this and standards of problem solving and computation are improving.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher has made judicious staff appointments and is making good use of existing skills amongst teachers, such as in the reception classes and in music. However, the management of subjects is currently underdeveloped. The school recognises that current checking on the quality of teaching has relied heavily on senior staff and external advice. Subject leaders for mathematics and science, especially have had limited experience of monitoring in the classroom. Now the school has identified where it needs to go, subject leaders can take a greater role in this, particularly in checking standards and progress.

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Leadership and management

The governing body fulfils its statutory responsibilities well for this stage in the school’s development. Most requirements are in place and governors know the few that are still to be addressed (such as putting a sex education policy in place). The minority of governors, who were recently recruited, are being Inspection Report: All Saints C of E VA Primary, 14 - 15 June 2005 7

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Leadership and management

trained in their roles and are well placed to contribute further to the school’s development. The school runs smoothly on a day-to-day basis and finances are managed well.

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Grade: 2

procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about HMI-led Ofsted inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate. School Overall 16-19

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INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners’ well-being? The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2 The effectiveness of the school’s self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection NA

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INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

ACHIEVEMENT AND STANDARDS How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards reached by learners 3 How well learners’ make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELL-BEING How good is the overall personal development and well- being of the learners? The extent of learners’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development The behaviour of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community. How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

THE QUALITY OF PROVISION How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of learners’ needs? How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? How well are learners cared for, guided and supported? 2

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Annex A

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners? How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected Yes

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Annex A

The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy Delete as appropriate Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily. Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise. Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse. Yes Learners are educated about sexual health. Yes The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe. Delete as appropriate Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements. Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place. Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism. Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them. Yes The extent to which learners make a positive contribution Delete as appropriate Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships. Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect

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Annex A

them. No Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community Yes

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Annex A

The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well- being Delete as appropriate There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills. Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams. Yes Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in Key Stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form. NA Education for all learners aged 14-19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy. NA

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Annex B

All Saints C of E VA Primary School Boughton Green Road Kingsthorpe Northampton NN2 7AJ

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Annex B

Thank you very much for all the help you gave to the inspectors when they came to your school a few weeks ago. We enjoyed being in the school and talking to you. We know that you will be interested in what we thought about your school.

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Annex B

• Your school has done well since it opened last September. The changes for you and your teachers were not easy but we found a well organised school where the teaching was helping you to make steady progress. Your headteacher and her staff have worked hard to make this happen. They know what needs to be done next to make your school even more successful. • You told us you like school a lot, but enjoy some lessons more than others. • Your school makes sure that children who enter the reception classes get a good start to their learning. We think that in other classes you are doing pretty well but some of you can do even better. • You said you would like a school council to express your views about the school and we agree this would be a good idea. • The school was good at taking care of you and you told us you felt safe and free from being bullied or harassed. You know who to turn to if you have a problem.

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Annex B

• We think you are very polite, helpful and well-behaved.

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Annex B

• Make lessons even better than they already are. For example, we think that some of you could do more interesting and challenging work.

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Annex B

Mr Tom Shine Lead inspector Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 www.ofsted.gov.uk

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