Crowthorne Church of England Primary School

Inspection Report Crowthorne Church of England Primary School

p.1

109962 Unique Reference Number Bracknell Forest LEA LEA 278322 Inspection number 16 May 2006 to 17 May 2006 Inspection dates Olson Davis AI Reporting inspector

p.1

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

p.1

Duke's Ride School address Primary Type of school Crowthorne Voluntary controlled School category RG45 6ND 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01344 772089 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01344 750106 Fax number 209 Number on roll Mr I Williamson Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs B L Gellatly Headteacher 7 February 2000 Date of previous inspection

p.1

Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278322 16 May 2006 - 4 to 11 17 May 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

p.3

Description of the school

This is an average sized Church of England primary school. Most pupils come from economically advantaged backgrounds and the number of pupils entitled to free school meals is low. All pupils benefit from pre-school provision. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is similar to other schools. The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is lower than average and there are no pupils at an early stage of learning English. Year 6 pupils were away on a residential trip during the inspection accompanied by the deputy headteacher.

p.3

Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Crowthorne Church of England Primary School, 16 May 2006 to 17 May 2006

p.3

Grade: 3

The school considers its effectiveness to be good whereas inspectors judge it to be satisfactory. There is a lack of sharpness in marking, target setting and in evaluating the progress of groups of pupils. School leaders do not make sufficient use of assessment information to monitor the progress of all groups or evaluate their performance against national standards. This weakness results in insufficient attention being given to accelerating the progress of some groups of pupils. Quality and standards in the Reception class are satisfactory and provide children with a sound start. Progress continues to be satisfactory through the school. Teaching is satisfactory overall with examples of some good lessons. In some instances, teachers do not make effective use of assessment to match work to the capabilities of more able pupils. As a result, these pupils are not sufficiently challenged particularly in some

p.4

Grade: 3

mathematics and English lessons. The school places a strong emphasis on promoting pupils' personal development and provides a safe and secure environment. As a result pupils behave well and enjoy coming to school. Their attendance is good. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are also good. They are learning to become responsible citizens and are developing positive attitudes to healthy living. Pupils benefit from a good curriculum which is enhanced by visits, visitors and interesting activities. Leadership and management are satisfactory. Although school self-evaluation is satisfactory overall it is too generous in some respects. School leaders have improved provision since the last inspection and have effectively addressed some areas of weakness, including improving handwriting and the presentation of pupils' work. The school has satisfactory capacity to improve and provides satisfactory value for money.

p.4

What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the teaching of more able pupils, especially in English and mathematics, by making better use of assessment. • Make better use of target setting, marking and assessment to accelerate the progress of all groups of pupils.

p.4

Grade: 3

Children enter the reception class with broadly average skills, make satisfactory progress and most achieve the goals expected for them by the end of the year. Most pupils make satisfactory progress but the more able should do better. Standards at the end of Year 2 rose in 2005 as a result of good teaching in Years 1 and 2. In 2005, standards at the end of Year 6 in English, mathematics and science were above average. This reflected the higher attainment of these pupils when they first started school. However, some more able pupils, particularly girls, did not achieve as well as they should in 2 Inspection Report: Crowthorne Church of England Primary School, 16 May 2006 to 17 May 2006 mathematics and English and the school fell short of reaching its targets for the more able. Standards in the current Year 6 are average and boys and girls achieve satisfactorily, although the more able should do better. The school is likely to reach its targets this

p.4

Grade: 3

year. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities are also making satisfactory progress, as are pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds. A school initiative has been successful in improving pupils' handwriting and presentation skills to raise standards in English.

p.5

Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Pupils enjoy school, are keen to learn and behave well. Attendance is good. Pupils speak positively about many aspects of school such as sport, clubs, art and technology. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are good. They are developing a good understanding of the diversity of cultures within society. They know about healthy lifestyles, eat sensibly and take a good amount of exercise. Their awareness and care of each other show that they are successfully learning about keeping safe. Pupils contribute well to their school and community by helping to solve difficulties and disputes in their role as a peer mentors, or by looking after others as mini-buds. Pupils have a voice and make good suggestions on how to improve things through the school council. They participate well in the local community through musical events, contributing items at harvest and raising money to help people involved in international

p.5

Grade: 2

disasters. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of education. They show growing self-confidence and an ability to cooperate well.

p.5

Grade: 3

Inspectors agree with the school's evaluation that teaching and learning are satisfactory. Some good teaching was seen during the inspection. Most teachers make satisfactory use of assessment information to identify the ability levels of pupils in their classes. In good lessons, teachers use this information effectively to match the learning activities to pupils' abilities and pupils are well challenged and supported to make good progress. However, in other lessons, assessment is not used effectively to plan the next steps in learning. As a result, more able pupils find that the work lacks challenge, especially in some mathematics and English lessons. The quality of marking varies and does not always show pupils how they can improve their work. Teachers provide interesting and practical activities for pupils and this adds to pupils' enjoyment. For instance, some pupils particularly enjoyed bringing snails to study in

p.5

Grade: 3

their science lesson and others were inspired to write interesting poems after they had analysed other poets' work. Teachers make effective use of the interactive whiteboards 3 Inspection Report: Crowthorne Church of England Primary School, 16 May 2006 to 17 May 2006 to add interest to their lessons and make learning more visual. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities are supported well in lessons by the teaching assistants.

p.5

Grade: 2

The curriculum is good. There is a strong emphasis on developing pupils' literacy, numeracy and information and communication (ICT) skills and these are developed further within other subjects. Other subjects are well catered for and the school extends its curriculum by providing Spanish to pupils from Year 2. The curriculum is enriched by a range of special events and clubs, including musical shows, singing with choirs from other schools, residential trips, judo, knitting and badminton. Each of these contributes much to pupils' good personal development and enjoyment of school. The school makes imaginative use of the specialist skills provided by outside agencies such as road safety officers to give pupils a good grounding in how to stay healthy and safe. This breadth of experience is preparing pupils well for later life and work. The curriculum in the reception class has improved since the last inspection. Children

p.6

Grade: 2

experience a suitable mix of self-directed and teacher-led activities.

p.6

Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory. Pupils feel valued and are confident that an adult or another pupil will always be ready to listen to or help them if they need it. This is confirmed by parental comments such as, 'Individual concerns have been dealt with very well'. Pupils know that staff care about practical details such as securing new toilets and widening corridors; these have been welcome developments. Pupils feel safe. There are satisfactory mechanisms to protect pupils and staff know the policies and procedures to follow. Risk assessments are properly carried out for all outings. Provision for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is satisfactory. Guidance and support for learning are inconsistent between teachers as assessment information is not being used well enough.

p.6

Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher promotes a caring ethos within which pupils make good progress in their personal development. Parents are full of praise for the levels of care provided by adults in school. One parent commented, 'The school has been excellent in its pastoral care towards my child'. Parents are also pleased with the academic and social progress made by their children. Managers at all levels are enthusiastic and carry out their responsibilities conscientiously. School self-evaluation is satisfactory. Although the school has overestimated its performance in some areas, school leaders identify areas of weakness 4 Inspection Report: Crowthorne Church of England Primary School, 16 May 2006 to 17 May 2006 and take effective action to bring about improvement. One example is the successful measures to improve pupils' handwriting. Issues from the previous inspection have

p.6

Grade: 3

been successfully tackled. The school has the capacity to improve. Teaching staff and other adults work closely as a team. The school includes the whole school community in setting priorities for its development. Teaching is monitored satisfactorily and teachers' targets are linked to the school's priorities. The school collects considerable assessment information but this is not used well enough to monitor the progress of different groups and to identify when some pupils are not achieving as much as they should. Governors are very supportive and play a full role in monitoring and evaluating aspects of the school's work. They place strong emphasis on the school developing the whole child. They provide challenge to the school to improve its provision for pupils but do not hold the school to account enough for the progress made by some groups of pupils. 5 Inspection Report: Crowthorne Church of England Primary School, 16 May 2006 to 17 May 2006

p.7

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

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Crowthorne Church of England Primary School, 16 May 2006 to 17 May 2006

p.8

Overall

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

p.9

learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 3 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

p.9

Achievement and standards

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

p.9

Achievement and standards

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

p.9

learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 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

p.9

needs and interests of learners?

NA 3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

p.9

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.

p.9

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 3 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

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Pupils We enjoyed our visit to your school and would like to thank you for making us so welcome. We enjoyed talking with you. We were impressed by how much you all like your school. Your school provides you with a satisfactory education. There are some things that your school does well:* you work hard and enjoy the many interesting activities* you feel safe and well cared for by the adults in school; you say that the older pupils are good at looking after the younger ones* your teachers help you to learn how to take responsibility* you behave well and come to school regularly. We have asked the staff and governors to work on the following to make the school even better for you:* to use the information they keep about you to see how well different groups are doing; they can use this information to plan some lessons better so that the work is more challenging.We hope that you will keep enjoying your school.

p.11

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Yours sincerely Olson Davis, Lead Inspector

p.11