Coppice Primary School

Inspection Report Coppice Primary School

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102837 Unique Reference Number Redbridge LEA LEA 276778 Inspection number 22 February 2006 to 23 February 2006 Inspection dates Andrew Howe AI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Manford Way School address Primary Type of school Chigwell Community School category IG7 4AL 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 020 8708 0740 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 020 8708 0749 Fax number 449 Number on roll Mr Paul McMaster Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Carole Minkey Headteacher 15 November 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 276778 22 February 2006 - 3 to 11 23 February 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 Education Act 2005, 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Coppice Primary School is of larger than average size and includes a nursery. It serves a deprived area of mixed owner-occupied and local authority housing in east London. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is higher than average and rising. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is higher than average as is the proportion whose first language is not English. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities is below average. An average proportion of pupils enters or leaves the school during the school year, but this increases markedly in higher age groups. Attendance is lower than average. The school has achieved Investors in People status and the Arts Mark Gold award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Coppice Primary School, 22 February 2006 to 23 February 2006

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Grade: 3

Coppice Primary School provides a satisfactory quality of education with a number of significant strengths. The school rates itself as good, but inspectors disagree because pupils' achievement and teaching and learning are sound rather than good. The school provides satisfactory value for money.The school faces many challenges arising from its social context. Through the purposeful and energetic leadership of the headteacher and senior staff it provides children with a secure and happy learning environment. Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes. The curriculum is broad and well organised, enriched by a stimulating range of additional activities which pupils greatly enjoy. Pupils are cared for and known well by staff. This is an inclusive school where all pupils are valued and generally supported effectively. The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage are good. The great majority of parents appreciate and support

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Grade: 3

the school's work.Younger pupils make good progress but progress slows from age seven to 11 and consequently overall achievement is satisfactory. Teaching is satisfactory but teachers do not always use time well and pupils are not given sufficient guidance on how they might improve. There are systems in place to monitor the quality of teaching and pupils' performance, but the use of these is not sufficiently rigorous to drive standards up further. The school makes every effort to monitor absence and reward good attendance but some parents ignore these efforts, despite the negative effect of absence on their children's progress. As a result, attendance is below average. There has been satisfactory improvement since the last inspection and the school has a sound capacity to improve further.

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What the school should do to improve further

* Ensure greater consistency in assessment systems to check pupils' progress and give clearer guidance so that pupils see how to improve their work;* Explore and implement further ways to improve attendance;* Develop a more rigorous approach to the use of information gathered during the monitoring of teaching.

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Grade: 3

The school judges that pupils' achievement and standards are good, but inspectors disagree and find them to be satisfactory overall. Children make a good start to school. Despite lower attainment on entry than is generally expected they make good progress in the nursery and reception classes because of effective teaching. Children's attainment by the end of the Foundation Stage is close to expectations, but their understanding and use of English remains relatively weak.Pupils continue to make good progress in lessons in Years 1 and 2. At age seven they attain broadly average standards, performing best in reading and writing. Progress from age seven to 11 is satisfactory and pupils' attainment is broadly average. Results in national tests in 2005 improved significantly in mathematics, because of improvements to curriculum and teaching. There is some underachievement. A few pupils make unsatisfactory progress because they have poor

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Grade: 3

2 Inspection Report: Coppice Primary School, 22 February 2006 to 23 February 2006 attendance. The school sets realistic targets which pupils often achieve. Pupils with learning difficulties make good progress in relation to the targets in their individual plans because they are well supported. Pupils whose first language is not English also make good progress.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is good. Pupils behave well, have positive attitudes to work and show concern for the welfare of others. For example, the school council is devising its own buddy system, whereby pupils befriend those who are newly arrived in school or are having difficulty with friendships. Pupils respect others' feelings and enjoy sharing their achievements. They have a good knowledge of cultures other than their own and appreciate the need to respect the beliefs of others. Pupils say they enjoy their time in school and talk enthusiastically about the many clubs and activities. However, the rate of attendance is below the national average, despite the firm, fair and positive action taken by the school to monitor and discourage absence. Pupils of all ages have an active voice in shaping the school's direction through their school council. They

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Grade: 2

have suggested improvements which have been taken up by the school, including better playground equipment and an anti-bullying policy. Pupils recognise the importance of exercise and eating sensibly in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Their work in literacy and numeracy prepares them well for their future economic well-being.

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Grade: 3

The school judges teaching to be good but inspection evidence shows that it is satisfactory. A number of good lessons were seen during the inspection, particularly with the younger classes, and these pupils achieve well. Lessons are generally planned well and frequently interest the pupils, retaining their concentration. Teachers preserve a calm working atmosphere in lessons and have good relationships with pupils. Learning objectives are made clear at the start of most lessons but they are often not reviewed at the end which means that pupils do not assess how well they have done. Sometimes teachers spend too much time talking and do not leave enough time for pupils' activities. Marking of pupils' work is thorough and often helps them to improve. However, pupils' individual targets for improvement are not clear enough so that they do not understand exactly how they can make their work better. Teachers track pupils'

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Grade: 3

progress well in broad terms across the school, but records are inconsistent in quality and format and are not always used effectively to plan lessons. 3 Inspection Report: Coppice Primary School, 22 February 2006 to 23 February 2006

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Grade: 2

The curriculum meets requirements and there is a good balance of activities. Thoughtful links are often planned between subjects which help pupils see the relevance of what they are learning. Good attention is given to pupils' personal development. The local environment and the school's grounds are used well to widen pupils' experience. Pupils' appreciation of diversity is enhanced by introductions to the customs and languages of different countries, such as France. The curriculum is very successfully enhanced by extra-curricular activities in which sport and music feature prominently and these help to develop pupils' interests and skills. The successful sports partnership with a local secondary school adds a significant strength to the physical education curriculum. The good provision for pupils with learning difficulties and for pupils whose first language is not English fosters their good progress. Visitors and visits, including a

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Grade: 2

residential trip, make a very significant contribution to pupils' enjoyment, understanding and social development.

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Grade: 2

The school places a high priority on providing care, support and guidance. This is reflected in the views of the vast majority of parents who say that their children feel safe and well cared for. Pupils are taught how to take care of themselves and how to make healthy and safe choices. Health and safety procedures are effective and are reviewed regularly. Child protection procedures are good. The school's effective links with a range of external agencies help to promote the welfare of pupils and support the school's efforts to improve attendance.Although pupils appreciate the guidance that teachers provide through marking, the targets for improvement they are given are not sufficiently precise and do not give them enough information about how they can improve.

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Grade: 3

The school judges that leadership and management are good, but inspectors found that they are satisfactory overall, with some strengths. The headteacher provides strong and energetic leadership and has the confidence and respect of pupils, parents and staff. One parent told inspectors 'everyone is included in the major decisions'. The staff are a happy team and establish good relationships with pupils who consequently behave well and have positive attitudes towards learning. Because leaders have an inclusive vision all pupils feel valued as full members of the school community. As another parent wrote 'every child is treated as an individual'. The school has satisfactory systems to enable leaders to evaluate its effectiveness and plan improvements. For instance, the analysis of test results led to effective steps being taken to improve the teaching of mathematics so that standards have risen. Although

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Grade: 3

there are useful procedures in place for monitoring the quality of teaching, the 4 Inspection Report: Coppice Primary School, 22 February 2006 to 23 February 2006 information gathered is not always used effectively to improve lessons. Governors are supportive and have a sound understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses. There has been satisfactory improvement since the last inspection. The issues identified then have been successfully tackled. The school has a satisfactory capacity to improve further because purposeful leadership has successfully addressed some of the problems of underachievement. 5 Inspection Report: Coppice Primary School, 22 February 2006 to 23 February 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Coppice Primary School, 22 February 2006 to 23 February 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 4 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 3 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 3 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 3 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes 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

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes 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

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA 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

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for sharing your views of the school with us when we visited a little while ago. We enjoyed our time with you, and we promised to let you know what we decided after our visit. You told us what a caring place Coppice Primary School is, and how there is always someone you can go to if you have a problem. You are quite right. Teachers and helpers take good care of you, and do a great deal to help you learn and stay safe. Your school council means you can have a say in how the school runs, and it has some real improvements to show for its work.Right through from the nursery and reception classes to Year 6, children behave well and make satisfactory progress in their learning. Children who find learning hard, or who speak a language other than English at home, do well. Many of the lessons we saw were satisfactory and some were good. You clearly enjoyed them. You work hard, because teachers try to make learning

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

fun. There are a lot of interesting activities you can do at school outside class, such as clubs and school trips. There are some things that could be better, though:* Although teachers' marking is good, there is more they could do to check on your learning and improve the targets they give you.* Too often children are absent from school for unacceptable reasons, such as holidays taken in term time. We are asking the staff and governors to try to put this right, because children miss important work, which usually cannot be repeated. You could help here by coming to school as often as possible.* Although teaching is satisfactory it could be improved if the systems for checking it were used more effectively. Coppice Primary School is a satisfactory school with good features. If you continue to work as hard, and behave as well as you do now, you will help to make the school even better.

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