Edale CofE Primary School

Inspection Report Edale CofE Primary School

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112813 Unique Reference Number DERBYSHIRE LEA LEA 279029 Inspection number 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006 Inspection dates Mrs. Susan Hall LI Reporting inspector

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

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Grindsbrook Booth School address Primary Type of school S33 7ZD Voluntary controlled School category 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01433670280 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils - Fax number 28 Number on roll Mrs.Anita Critchlow Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs. Jennifer Rackstraw Headteacher 11 September 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279029 4 May 2006 - 4 to 11 4 May 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 an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a very small primary school in North Derbyshire that is above average in terms of social and economic features. All children are of White British heritage. The proportion of children eligible for free school meals is low. An average proportion of children have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The headteacher and the other full time teacher were both appointed less than two years ago. Year groups are very small with up to five children in any cohort.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Edale CofE Primary School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006

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Grade: 3

Edale C of E Primary is an improving school which provides a satisfactory quality of education with some good features. The school has developed in many areas since the arrival of the new staff team but several of the changes are at a relatively early stage in impacting on standards. The school provides satisfactory value for money and has the capacity to continue to improve. Inspection judgements largely match the school's self-evaluation. Children start school with varying early learning experiences and with skills that are average overall. Provision in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory and children reach the standards expected by the end of reception. Standards in Years 2 are currently average. In Year 6 standards are broadly average but have been variable due to the proportion of children within the small cohorts with recognised learning difficulties. In the last two years, staff have developed a good system to check and

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Grade: 3

track the progress pupils make. Children make satisfactory progress as they move through the school. Teaching and learning is satisfactory with some good features. Staff recognise that standards in mathematics and science are not as high as in English as over a period of time children have not developed the skills to tackle investigative and problem solving tasks with confidence. Leadership and management of the school are satisfactory. The headteacher is enthusiastic and caring and is well supported by the small staff team. However, the monitoring of the work of the school lacks sufficient evaluative rigour to enable all concerned to identify the next steps for improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

- Continue to extend the opportunities for children to plan and carry out investigative and experimental activities in mathematics and science. - Ensure that monitoring of the work of the school is sufficiently rigorous to enable staff, and, where appropriate governors, to identify the further steps for improvement.

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Grade: 3

Children start school with skills, knowledge and understanding that whilst wide-ranging are average overall. In Reception, children make at least satisfactory progress and reach the standards expected for their age. There are very small numbers in some year groups and this makes the identification of trends in achievement difficult. In Years 1 and 2, standards are currently average and children make satisfactory progress. The slightly lower standards this year compared to others is because there are few high attaining children within the cohort. National test data shows that standards in Year 6 have been variable. School information indicates that this reflects the number with identified learning difficulties within the small cohorts. In Years 3 to 6, children make satisfactory progress and standards are average overall. Throughout the school, children often do better in English than in mathematics and science. The school has rightly

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Grade: 3

recognised that until recently there had not been enough opportunities for children to carry out investigative and problem solving activities. The school sets targets that 2 Inspection Report: Edale CofE Primary School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006 whilst varying from year to year are challenging for the different cohorts. Overall, children including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve satisfactorily which matches the school's evaluation.

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Grade: 2

Personal development and well-being are good. Behaviour is satisfactory overall. Most children behave well, work hard and enjoy their time in school. The school is committed to continuing to improve behaviour and a focus on the work of the Anti-Bullying Committee, which includes children and parents, is having a positive impact. However, staff are aware that some older children are quite focussed on their own needs and do not always take good care of others and especially the younger ones when, for example, in the very small playground. Attendance is good. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good overall and the school works hard to extend children's understanding of multicultural life. There are good opportunities for children to make a positive contribution to the school and local community. They are keen to be elected to the School Council and enjoy the chance to identify areas for

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Grade: 2

improvement, one of which led to their direct involvement in decorating school toilets. Children are aware of the importance of eating healthily and are being encouraged to put this into practice to enable them to make good choices and encourage regular exercise. The focus on the development of basic skills in literacy and numeracy, together with science and information and communication technology, helps prepare children well for later life and their future economic well-being.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Teachers have extended the systems by which they track the progress children make as they move through the school. The graphs produced to illustrate progress are very useful. This enables staff, pupils and parents to identify where progress is secure or whether additional support may be necessary. There are also well developed procedures to support different groups of children including those who are gifted and talented or with learning difficulties or disabilities. Staff are aware of the on-going challenges of mixed age and ability classes. While planning is satisfactory staff are keen to monitor this carefully to ensure the tasks set for a whole year group meet the needs of those of different ages and ability. Staff have good expectations of behaviour and of what children can achieve. Most explain things well but do not ensure all children are involved in discussing their ideas.

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Grade: 3

This allows some quiet and possibly less confident children to 'hide' in discussions which are sometimes dominated by high attaining children. Teaching in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory and staff, within the confines of the small classroom base and with restricted external facilities, work hard to ensure children are 'learning by doing'. 3 Inspection Report: Edale CofE Primary School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 2006

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Grade: 2

The school provides a good range of activities to help children learn and develop as well rounded individuals. There are strengths in activities that enrich learning including a good range of extra-curricular activities and developing use of the local area and links with other school. There are good opportunities to learn a musical instrument and French. The school has also introduced a programme to support Personal, Social and Health Education including the development of 'Circle time' discussions and an emphasis on how to stay healthy. Because of the limited external facilities, the school has extended the use of local amenities including the employment of professional sports coaches.

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Grade: 2

This is a caring school, where children say they feel happy. Provision is good overall with some strong elements of pastoral care. In the short time since their appointment, staff have got to know the children, their families and their individual needs well. All children, including those with learning difficulties, are well supported and all children are fully included in the range of activities. The procedures for child protection are good and applied well with the safety and well being of the children being paramount. Teachers have recently improved the way in which they check and track the progress children make and use this information to ensure an appropriate level of challenge is provided. Staff set 'small step' targets in mathematics and English with which the children are very familiar and which ensures that they know exactly what to do to improve.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management of the school are satisfactory overall. The new staff team work well together and show a clear commitment to the on-going development of the school and links with the local community. The school has the capacity to continue to improve. The headteacher and staff have worked very effectively to develop their own procedures to check children's progress. The school now has a good range of information on which to securely base future planning. Parents are mostly supportive and consulted by the school with information used in self-evaluation and school improvement planning. These developments are beginning to make a positive impact on the work of the school, but the headteacher is shrewd and realises there is more to be achieved. Staff have monitored teaching in the main areas for which they hold responsibility. However, the monitoring undertaken is not very extensive and staff need additional opportunities to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning, including

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Grade: 3

pupils' work, in order to identify the further steps for improvement. Governors are supportive and enthusiastic. Many are recently appointed and at an early stage in developing their role in evaluating the work of the school. 4 Inspection Report: Edale CofE Primary School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 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. 5 Inspection Report: Edale CofE Primary School, 4 May 2006 to 4 May 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 3 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

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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 3 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 3 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 3 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

Following my visit to your beautiful village and school, I would like to let you know what I found out from my inspection. But first can I say a big 'thank you' for making me feel welcome and for talking to me about all the different things that you enjoy doing. It was good to hear how most of you enjoy coming to school. You probably saw me when I came into classrooms, when I had lunch with you and around school. Your teachers are proud of you when you try hard and behave well. I know how many of you, and your families, like your school, so I have talked with your headteacher about how the school can become even better. I have asked your teachers to look at how they can help you all to do really well, particularly in mathematics and science, by giving you more opportunities to carry out investigations and solve problems. The staff, and sometimes the governors, will look at your books and how you learn in different classes, and

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

will talk to you to see if you are doing the best you can. The staff at school want you to do really well and have some good ideas to make the school an even better place. All of you can play an important part in this by working as hard as you can and always being kind and helpful to everyone. Perhaps you older pupils can look after the younger ones a little better. I am sure you will do your best. It was a pleasure to meet you all. All my best wishes.

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