Lionel Walden Primary School

Inspection Report Lionel Walden Primary School

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110632 Unique Reference Number CAMBRIDGESHIRE LEA LEA 278474 Inspection number 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005 Inspection dates Mr. Geof Timms LI Reporting inspector

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

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High Street School address Primary Type of school PE15 0TF Community School category 5 to 11 Age range of pupils 01354740405 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01354741514 Fax number 225 Number on roll Mr.Kevin Robinson Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr. David Barron Headteacher Not applicable Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278474 6 December 2005 - 5 to 11 7 December 2005 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 two Additional Inspectors and one Child Care Inspector.

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Description of the school

Lionel Walden Primary School serves the village of Doddington and the surrounding area. It is of average size for a school of this type. The proportion of children eligible for free school meals is well below average. Almost all children are White British, with a small number from other minority ethnic backgrounds. No children are at an early stage of acquiring English. The proportion of children with special educational needs is below average. The attainment on entry to the school of most children is broadly typical for their ages.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Lionel Walden Primary School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005

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Grade: 2

Lionel Walden Primary School is a very effective school with some outstanding features. It offers its children a very good grounding in the basic skills, which is one of its core aims. The school's evaluation of its performance is accurate and largely supported by the findings of the inspection. There is strong leadership and management, and good plans for improving the middle management in the immediate future. This provides a good basis for further improvement in the future. Since the last inspection, important improvements have been made, particularly in information and communication technology (ICT), and this has had a positive impact on standards. The school currently provides good value for money. The school's major strengths lie in the standards achieved by children in the core subjects, such as English and in the strong focus on ensuring that children learn basic skills. A clear priority is given to close links between

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Grade: 2

the school and the playgroup it manages. The quality and standards achieved in the Foundation Stage (playgroup and reception class) are good with some outstanding features. The standards the school achieves are outstanding in English and very good in mathematics and in some aspects of science. In science, the children have insufficient opportunities for developing their investigative skills through planning and carrying out their own experiments. The quality of teaching and learning in the school is good and the curriculum is enriched through visits and visitors. Teachers do not always make clear how children can improve their work further. However, the teachers receive high quality support from teaching assistants. There is an outstanding level of care for children's personal and emotional needs.

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What the school should do to improve further

- Improve the opportunities for children to plan and carry out investigative and experimental work in science. - Put into place the planned developments for the roles of key staff in the middle tier of management to support teaching and learning. - Give children more information about how they can improve their work.

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Grade: 2

The standards achieved by the school are significantly above average. Standards in the Year 6 national tests have risen at a rate faster than that found nationally and they are consistently above or well above average. Standards attained in the teachers' assessments made at the end of Year 2 are also significantly above those found nationally, especially in reading. The school sets challenging targets for the national tests and these are often exceeded by children. Children's attainment on entry to the school varies but is largely in line with that expected for 4-year-olds. The standards achieved in the school's playgroup are good and this prepares children well for the reception year. Particular strengths are found in their personal, social and emotional development, and in their recognition of numbers. Children continue to make good progress through the reception year and almost all of them fully achieve the expected

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Grade: 2

2 Inspection Report: Lionel Walden Primary School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005 goals by the end of the year and some exceed them. By the time the children leave the school, they have made outstanding progress in English and very good progress in mathematics and in their knowledge and understanding in science. However, children have too few opportunities to plan and carry out investigative and experimental work in science, which limits their progress. Since the last inspection the standards in ICT have greatly improved throughout the school and are now above those expected, especially where teachers and children have opportunities to use interactive whiteboards, and to work in the new computer suite. The children with physical or learning difficulties make equally good progress, largely due to the very good support they receive from teaching assistants. There are no significant differences in the

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Grade: 2

achievements of children from minority ethnic backgrounds.

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Grade: 2

The school provides well for children's spiritual, cultural, moral and social development. Consequently, they behave well, and when the teaching is most effective, exceptionally well. There have been no recent exclusions. Children take responsibilities seriously and have very positive attitudes to school. They enjoy their lessons and concentrate well, trying their best and working neatly. Relationships between children and with adults are very strong throughout the school. The school has very effective strategies for supporting children with behavioural and emotional difficulties. Attendance is above average and punctuality is good. There is an effective emphasis on healthy living, so that the children have a good understanding of the importance of diet and exercise. They have many opportunities to contribute to the local community, to charities and to the life of the school. For example, decisions about the refurbishment

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Grade: 2

of the toilets have been made after considering their concerns. They study the customs and cultures of many other countries. Children are well-prepared for their future lives because, for example, there is a strong focus on ensuring that children learn basic skills, such as reading and writing.

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Grade: 2

The overall quality of teaching is good. This is reflected in the good progress made by children and the high standards achieved by the end of Year 6. The teaching is consistently good throughout the school, although there are areas where it is particularly strong. For example, the teaching in the playgroup and the reception class results in children's good progress. An outstanding aspect of the teaching is the way the staff in both classes plan and assess children's work together. They ensure that the learning builds well on what has gone before. The strongest teaching is lively and challenging, and helps children find pleasure in their learning. They talk about how much they enjoy their lessons. Resources, including computers and interactive whiteboards, are used well and the learning expected in the lesson is made clear to 3 Inspection Report: Lionel Walden Primary School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005

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Grade: 2

children so they are clear about what is expected of them. Teaching assistants provide teachers with very capable support, especially where they are working with groups of children. The relationship between adults and children is a major factor in supporting the very good learning and progress made. On the few occasions where the teaching is weaker, the pace of lessons is slower, and the teachers are not always clear enough about the learning expected. Teachers are very knowledgeable about individual children and how they can be helped. However, the marking of children's work does not always make clear what they have done well or how they can improve. There are good examples of children being involved in assessing their own progress and achievement, and this could usefully be extended.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is very good in the Foundation Stage, where there is a very good structure to activities that support children's learning. It is satisfactory overall through the rest of the school, with some strong features. The curriculum gives children many opportunities to undertake practical work in most subjects and a wide range of visits and visitors enliven their experiences. Children attend a good range of clubs and after school activities. Children have good opportunities to learn to play musical instruments. There is a very good emphasis on the provision for English, mathematics and scientific knowledge. The provision for ICT is good. However, the teaching time is shorter than that recommended, so that the time for other subjects is somewhat restricted. The curriculum in science does not enable the children to plan and carry out their own investigations sufficiently often.

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Grade: 2

The school provides good care, guidance and support. There is exceptional care for the children's well-being. All adults are concerned with children's emotional needs and children say that there is always someone who will help when they are distressed. All staff know and understand the child protection arrangements, and health and safety procedures are fully in place. Children say there is no bullying and that if there are difficulties with relationships, adults resolve them quickly. They know how to keep themselves safe. Those with specific learning needs have a high level of support to help them to achieve well. All staff support the children well in their learning but there are inconsistencies in the marking of work and children are given too little guidance about how they can improve. They do not have enough information about the levels they are working at and do not have targets for improvement. In the playgroup, children

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Grade: 2

receive very good care and the provision for their safety is outstanding. 4 Inspection Report: Lionel Walden Primary School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005

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Grade: 2

The quality of the leadership and management is good overall, with outstanding features. This is reflected in the high standards achieved by the time children leave the school. The school is very well run and organised and routines are clear. During the inspection the school ran smoothly even though there was a whole school production happening each evening. The leadership and management of the Foundation Stage are outstanding. The close links created between the playgroup and the main school support children's good achievement. The Foundation Stage is resourced well and has very good accommodation, although children do not have easy access to a secure outdoor area where they work. The headteacher provides the school with an exceptional focus on achieving their main aim of attaining very high standards in basic skills in the core subjects, and the governing body supports this aim. The school has had a number of staff changes and absences beyond their control recently and this

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Grade: 2

has caused some disruption to the subject leadership. The staff have done very well to maintain such high standards during this period. The governors and headteacher are planning to develop the role of middle managers with responsibility for teaching and learning further. This initiative, together with other planned improvements, indicates that the school has a good capacity to improve further. The governing body is very effectively and efficiently organised. The work completed on the planning, building and resourcing of the annexe, which includes the computer suite, playgroup provision and music room, has been very professionally managed and financed. Governors have a good understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses and are effective in holding the school to account for the quality of its work. 5 Inspection Report: Lionel Walden Primary School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005 .

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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: Lionel Walden Primary School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005

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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 NA 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 2 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 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

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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 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 2 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 us to your school when we visited. It was a pleasure to talk to you and to watch you working and playing. We are very sorry we were not able to find time to watch Robin Hood but we hear it went very well and you were all fantastic in it! We particularly enjoyed talking with you and you told us a lot about the things you like doing at school and what you would like to see improved. This letter is to tell you about some of the important things we saw. Your parents are very happy with your school, and you told us you are very happy there as well. You are lucky at your school because Mr Barron, the teachers and other adults all look after and care for you very well. They encourage you to be healthy and to stay safe, and are working very hard to ensure that you learn new things. You behave well in lessons and in the playground and this helps the teachers teach you so well. You have lots of very good

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

opportunities to take part in sports, music and trips out and about. You work very hard and try to do the best you can and this means your test results are very high. Your teachers are keen to make the school even better for you and we think they are very good at knowing how they can do this. We think that to do this they need to provide you with more chances to plan and carry out experiments in science, and to make sure you know how you can improve your work even further. The school has plans to change the way teachers check on how well you are learning and we think these will be good as well. You are very lucky to be at such a good, friendly school. Keep working hard and enjoy your time at Lionel Walden!

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