Thorne King Edward Primary School

Inspection Report Thorne King Edward Primary School

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106750 Unique Reference Number Doncaster LEA 277621 Inspection number 18 January 2006 to 19 January 2006 Inspection dates Mr Bill Keast CfBT Lead Inspector Reporting inspector

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

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King Edward Road School address Primary Type of school Thorne Community School category Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN8 4BY 4 to 11 Age range of pupils

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01405 813 522 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01405 740 873 Fax number 277 Number on roll Mr P Best Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs S Hall Headteacher 14 February 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 277621 18 January 2006 - 4 to 11 19 January 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

Thorne King Edward Primary School is a broadly average sized school with 277 pupils including 28 in the nursery. Numbers are falling as a local area of housing has been cleared in preparation for rebuilding. The school is situated close to the centre of Thorne and its pupils come from areas of significant deprivation. This is reflected in the well above average proportion of pupils entitled to a free school meal and the low academic and personal development standards of a significant number of pupils on entry. Nearly all pupils are of white British origin with approximately 5% of pupils who are Travellers. This reflects the local area. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is similar to most schools.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Thorne King Edward Primary School, 18 January 2006 to 19 January 2006

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Grade: 2

Inspectors agree with the school's own evaluation that Thorne King Edward is an effective school. It provides good value for money. The school is well led and managed. Clear direction has led to a shared understanding and commitment to drive the school forward. Teaching is good. Great care is taken to ensure formal assessments are accurate. The curriculum is good and good standards in art are particularly apparent. The school provides a safe and supportive learning environment and makes a particularly strong impact on pupils' personal development. Pupils make good progress. Attendance remains unsatisfactory despite strenuous efforts. Some aspects of monitoring do not receive the focus they need to be most effective and some information is not routinely shared with parents. The good quality of provision in the Foundation Stage leads to good progress being achieved, although standards remain below average. The

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Grade: 2

improvements made since the last inspection show the school has a good capacity for further improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

To raise standards further in this effective school, developments already planned should be continued. In addition, the school should: • improve attendance with continuing support from the local authority and, through detailed analysis of absence, try to identify patterns which could be tackled • work even more closely with parents to gain their help and support by routinely sharing outcomes of surveys and the improvement targets their children have been given • extend monitoring of pupils' progress by focussing on specific groups and the impact of strategies introduced to raise their standards even further.

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Grade: 2

Pupils join the school with standards of attainment which are below average with a significant proportion of pupils with well below average standards. In the Foundation Stage pupils make good progress both academically and in their personal development. Standards on entry to Key Stage 2 are below average. In particular there are fewer higher attaining pupils, especially in writing, and lower attaining pupils than is usual nationally. At the end of Year 6, in 2005, standards were broadly average. A higher than national proportion of pupils reached the expected level, Level 4, in mathematics and science although a smaller than national proportion reach the higher levels, reflecting the attainment on entry. Standards in mathematics have been close to the national figure for the last four years. Standards in science and English have been rising, except for a significant dip in English in 2004, and are close to national. The

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Grade: 2

dip was related to a Key Stage 2 staffing issue. The, then, new headteacher made strenuous efforts to minimise the damage this caused. The staffing issue has since been resolved. Pupils who left school in 2005 made good progress. Analysis shows 2 Inspection Report: Thorne King Edward Primary School, 18 January 2006 to 19 January 2006 they made similar progress in English, mathematics and science and that progress was similar for all groups of pupils and not dependent on gender, background, attainment or educational need and/or disability. The school set targets, based upon national analysis, which were what might reasonably be expected of pupils in their context. Pupils exceeded these targets.

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Grade: 2

Pupils make good progress in their personal development throughout the school, particularly in their social and moral development. Overall, behaviour is good, pupils move around the school sensibly and they are well mannered and prepared to offer help to both adults and other pupils. In the best lessons children work well together sharing ideas. Pupils develop a satisfactory awareness of other cultures, for example, the Traveller culture represented by a proportion of pupils. They make good progress in understanding themselves and their feelings, reflecting upon their reactions and celebrating their own and others' achievements. Pupils say, and parents confirm, that they enjoy coming to school. They are proud of their school and what it does for them. Pupils enjoy their lessons and they try their best. For example, they enthusiastically participated in a dance lesson which was planned with the local secondary school and involved their students. Pupils feel safe

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Grade: 2

and know who to go to if they have concerns or worries. Bullying is rare and pupils agree that when it does occur it is effectively resolved. They have a good understanding of what they can do to contribute to a safe and healthy life style. Pupils value the voice they have through class and school councils although some would like to be able to contribute to decisions about more significant changes. Pupils contribute well to their school community but contribute less to the wider community. Attendance is below national standards and unsatisfactory. Although most pupils, including some Travellers, attend regularly, a significant minority have poor attendance records.

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Grade: 2

A strong feature of the good teaching is the effective sharing with pupils of what they are expected to learn and how they will know if they have done so. Teachers use questioning well to extend pupils' answers and deepen their understanding. Relationships are good. Teachers' use of a variety of resources, including computers and electronic whiteboards, engages children's enthusiasm. Pupils enjoy the learning activities, for example 'map symbol bingo'. Most pupils' good levels of concentration and behaviour match teachers' high expectations. Teachers plan and adapt work to suit children's different learning needs. Well trained teaching assistants work closely and effectively with teachers to support identified individuals or groups. The needs 3 Inspection Report: Thorne King Edward Primary School, 18 January 2006 to 19 January 2006 of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are clearly identified and all pupils

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Grade: 2

are effectively supported to enable them to make the same good progress as their peers. Pupils' work is well marked and this allows teachers to plan for pupils' next steps. Useful targets are given to help pupils improve their English and mathematics but these are not routinely shared with parents to help them support their children. Formal assessments keep track of pupils' progress and the information used to identify those in need of additional help. This places the school in a good position to more closely monitor the progress and standards of particular groups of pupils and the impact of different strategies.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum meets statutory requirements. Work is planned which meets pupils' different needs well. It gives pupils a wide experience and opportunities to learn in a range of ways. Pupils in the Foundation Stage become used to planning which activities they are going to undertake in each session and are able to report back about their learning to others. Provision for information and communication technology has improved significantly since the last inspection. Pupils' very rich experiences in art are reflected in the high quality creative work on display and in the progress achieved by children of all abilities. Educational visits are regularly used to enhance pupils' learning, for example, the geography work that involved a visit to the River Derwent. Pupils take part in an extensive range of clubs and activities and speak about them with enthusiasm, particularly the art club. Effective use of visitors, artists in residence and close working

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Grade: 2

with other schools and groups enhance the curriculum and further widen pupils' experiences.

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Grade: 2

School procedures ensure that children are safe and well cared for. Many staff are trained in first aid. Robust arrangements for child protection are followed and staff are regularly trained. Appropriate risk assessments are undertaken. Teachers are good at encouraging pupils to adopt safe and healthy lifestyles and pupils know about the safe use of the school's outdoor 'trim trail'. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who are vulnerable are well supported. The school makes good use of external agencies to help provide this support. Circle time is used well to support personal development. The whole school regularly focuses on an activity or aspect. Taking classes on a 'learning walk' around the resulting displays helps pupils recognise progression, take a pride in their own work and promotes the raising of standards. Pupils know their targets for the end of a year and understand how they can improve

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Grade: 2

their work towards achieving them. Encouraging older pupils to develop self-assessment skills contributes to raising standards. 4 Inspection Report: Thorne King Edward Primary School, 18 January 2006 to 19 January 2006

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Grade: 2

The headteacher leads well and is ably supported by members of the leadership team. She has set a very clear direction for the school and all share this vision. Subject co-ordinators lead their subject areas well. The school is well managed and operates smoothly on a daily basis. Changes required by the national work force reforms have been implemented well. Self-evaluation has accurately identified factors which hinder the raising of standards and effective actions have been taken to tackle most of these. In particular, pupils' personal development and often low self-esteem is a focus for action throughout the school. Many initiatives have been undertaken which involve working closely with the local authority or other schools. Parents' views have been sought on a number of occasions although some parents feel they are not well enough informed about the outcomes. Attendance has stubbornly refused to improve despite

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Grade: 2

strenuous efforts by the school. However, attendance this term is the highest for several years. Overall, attendance by Travellers is significantly below that of other pupils. Classroom observation, work scrutiny and assessments are carried out regularly and well. Care is taken, by internal and external moderation, to ensure assessments are accurate. Identified teaching weaknesses are effectively tackled through professional development, and any potential underachievement of pupils leads to individual support programmes. Governors satisfactorily fulfil their duties and this has improved since the last inspection. They are very supportive of their school but have too little firsthand information to act most effectively as a critical friend. The school is well resourced; an improvement since the last inspection. The improvements achieved show the school has a good capacity for further improvement. 5 Inspection Report: Thorne King Edward Primary School, 18 January 2006 to 19 January 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: Thorne King Edward Primary School, 18 January 2006 to 19 January 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 2 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 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 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 3 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 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 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 2 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 welcoming and helping us and being so well mannered when we visited your school. We really enjoyed talking to you about your work and finding out about the things you like doing and what your school is doing for you. We found that your school gives you a good education, that you are taught well and you make good progress. We were very impressed with the super art work that you have produced and which is displayed all around your school. We think the school is good at helping you to become more self-confident, more self-controlled and to learn how to get on with other children. You told us that you like the extra activities and clubs that are provided for you. We think that the school is helping you to understand how to grow up fit, healthy and safe. Your headteacher wants you to learn as much as you can and to keep on improving the standards of your work. She knows how to do this and, with your teachers and others, is working hard to

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

make it happen. You say you enjoy coming to school and we saw that you worked hard and behaved well. We expect your teachers and the governors to continue with the plans they have to make your good school even better. We have asked them to work more closely with your parents by telling them more about the surveys the school has done. We have asked your teachers to share the targets they give you with your parents so that they can help you learn. We have also asked your teachers to look more closely at how well the things that they do with different groups of you are working, so that they know which are having the most effect. You can best help your teachers to help you by working hard and, for a number of you, by coming to school more regularly. We wish you well for the future.

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