Catsfield Church of England Primary School

Inspection Report Catsfield Church of England Primary School

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114494 Unique Reference Number East Sussex LEA 279395 Inspection number 18 May 2006 to 18 May 2006 Inspection dates Kathryn Taylor AI Reporting inspector

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

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Catsfield School address Primary Type of school Battle Voluntary controlled School category East Sussex TN33 9DP 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01424 892247 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01424 893690 Fax number 97 Number on roll Mr P Josling Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs R Butters Headteacher 31 January 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279395 18 May 2006 - 4 to 11 18 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

This report replaces an incorrect version submitted in error by Ofsted and its Regional Inspection Service Provider. The incorrect version appeared on the Ofsted website from 15 June 2006 to 2 March 2007. Ofsted apologises unreservedly for any inconvenience or embarrassment this may have caused to the school and the parents of pupils at the school. The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Catsfield is a small village school. Almost all pupils attending the school are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties is about average. None of the pupils needs help in learning English. Socio-economic circumstances are favourable. The school is part of a small schools' network. It has been adversely affected by staffing difficulties during the past three years, but staffing is now stable. The current headteacher has been in post for one year.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Catsfield Church of England Primary School, 18 May 2006 to 18 May 2006

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Grade: 3

The school is satisfactory. Following a period of decline and instability that also resulted in some underachievement and a fall in pupil numbers, the new headteacher and governors are now providing good leadership and a strong steer in tackling weaknesses. This is why the school judges itself to be good. However, initiatives to raise standards have only been put into place recently and, as yet, teaching and learning and pupils' progress are still only satisfactory. Leadership and management are also satisfactory, because subject leaders do not yet have a clear picture of strengths and weaknesses in all subjects so that support can be firmly focused on areas where it is most needed. Pupils have good attitudes to learning and many behave well. Pastoral care is good, but weaknesses in teachers' marking and assessment mean that pupils are not given enough guidance on how to improve. Although teaching and learning are improving

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Grade: 3

and are sometimes good, a lack of challenge is still evident in some lessons. Pupils make good progress in Reception because of high staffing levels and a wide range of activities on offer, both indoors and outside. Progress since the last inspection has been uneven, but is satisfactory overall. The school has the capacity to continue to improve and provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise the quality of teaching and ensure that work in lessons consistently challenges pupils of all abilities. • Improve the quality of assessment and marking of pupils' work so that they have a clear idea of how to improve. • Develop subject leaders' skills in monitoring and evaluation, so that they can have a positive impact on raising standards in their subjects.

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Grade: 3

Pupils' achievements are satisfactory overall and standards are average. When children enter Reception standards are average overall and their speaking skills and social skills are generally good. Children settle into school quickly and make good progress. By the end of reception standards are usually above average for the older children (who attend school full time throughout Reception) and are average for younger children. Overall standards in Years 2 and 6 vary each year because of the small year group sizes, but pupils sometimes attain better standards in one subject than they do in another and the school finds it difficult to explain such differences. This is because its systems have not been sufficiently reliable to either track pupils' progress as they move through the school or monitor how well each subject is taught. The school is now addressing these weaknesses, with some success already evident. For example, better arrangements

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Grade: 3

to provide challenge for the more able pupils are now in place and standards and pupils' progress in reading and writing in Year 2 have improved as a result of better assessment and target-setting. Standards in the current Year 2 class are average. 2 Inspection Report: Catsfield Church of England Primary School, 18 May 2006 to 18 May 2006 Standards in the current Year 6 are below average and lower than in previous years, as there are a high number of pupils with learning difficulties in this class. The targets for pupils in Year 6 provide a satisfactory level of challenge, and most pupils meet them. Throughout the school, pupils with learning difficulties make good progress. This is because the support provided for them is good and work in this area is well led and managed. Standards in information and communication technology (ICT) are improving and are now broadly average in Year 6.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Pupils say they feel safe at school and that on occasions when disputes or bullying do occur, staff resolve these quickly. Pupils told inspectors how much they enjoy school and like the staff. They particularly enjoy science, art and after school activities. Pupils are developing a good understanding of healthy lifestyles and the importance of exercise. Their views are regularly sought and acted upon. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. It develops well through subjects such as art and music and through pupils' involvement in competitive sports, community and whole-school events. Pupils also enjoy close links with the church and frequently contribute to charities. Attendance is satisfactory. Behaviour has improved in recent times; it is now satisfactory, and is good in some classes. Pupils get on well together and now have better attitudes to learning, but the work in their books shows

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Grade: 2

that older pupils do not take enough pride in their work. Pupils' good attitudes and their sound basic skills prepare them satisfactorily for secondary school and their future life.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Better monitoring and analysis have led to improvements across the school, and staffing is now stable. Teachers provide a range of interesting activities and use ICT well to enhance teaching and learning. Good relationships between teachers and pupils result in teachers in most classes managing pupils well. Staff make good use of resources, including the locality, for example when Reception children walked into the village to observe specific features of village life they had previously seen in photographs. In some lessons teachers provide good challenge, as was seen in a lesson in Years 3 and 4. This is not consistent across the school, however, and expectations are not always high enough. As a result, pupils work at a comfortable pace rather than enabling their learning to move forward more quickly. 3 Inspection Report: Catsfield Church of England Primary School, 18 May 2006 to 18 May 2006

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Grade: 3

Lessons seen were well prepared and organised. Although planning of lessons has improved significantly, it does not yet consistently cater for all ability groups. Assessment in Reception is good. Staff have a clear picture of individual children's attainment on entry to school and by the time they join Year 1. This information has not been well used in the past to inform teachers in Years 1 and 2 about the standards they should expect pupils to reach by the end of the year. Teachers in Years 1 to 6 are nevertheless beginning to improve their assessments, to provide a clearer picture of pupils' year-on-year progress. Marking of work is encouraging, but is not sufficiently evaluative, nor does it challenge pupils to work harder to improve their work. The support for the pupils with learning difficulties is good. Well trained assistants provide good support to these pupils and others.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory and is developing. The school has recently introduced a wide range of activities based on the principles of 'Excellence and Enjoyment' that promote learning and pupils' good attitudes to school. Subject leaders are also making improvements to work in each subject, but work in ICT, literacy and mathematics is not yet well linked to pupils' work in other subjects. The school's participation in the small schools' learning network provides good support for curriculum development, and good opportunites for pupils with specific gifts or talents to work alongside those of similar abilities. The personal, social and health education programme is good. It has a strong focus on developing pupils' self-esteem and on teaching pupils about staying healthy. Enrichment of the curriculum is particularly good with a wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer, including sports and music. The recent addition

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Grade: 3

of a school hall has enabled physical education to become a strong feature of the curriculum.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory. There are weaknesses in providing guidance to pupils about the precise strengths and areas for improvement in their work. There are, however, strengths in pastoral care. Staff are very supportive of pupils, help to raise their self-esteem and ensure they are happy in school. The arrangements for ensuring health, safety and welfare are thorough, including regular risk assessments. The building is clean and well maintained. Child protection procedures are securely in place and all staff have received recent training. The school has forged good links with external agencies to support pupils who need extra help.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The newly appointed headteacher provides strong leadership after a period when the school has experienced difficulties. 4 Inspection Report: Catsfield Church of England Primary School, 18 May 2006 to 18 May 2006 She has put many systems into place to improve provision, but many of these initiatives are too new to have yet had a significant impact. Nevertheless, there is some demonstrable improvement in behaviour, standards, and teaching and learning in some classes. All subjects now have leaders who are beginning to monitor work in each subject, but as yet their roles are underdeveloped. Governors are supportive, very involved and willing to help in school and share their expertise. Their contribution to leadership has been considerably strengthened in recent times. They are now very proactive and sufficiently well informed to provide a good level of challenge to the school.

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Grade: 3

The headteacher and governors have been thorough in evaluating the school's effectiveness and identifying priorities for improvement. They recognise that past weaknesses have meant that teachers' expectations of pupils have not always been high enough and the school has been unable to account for variations in standards. They survey pupils' and parents' views, as for example when recently developing a policy to improve behaviour. They take pupils' and parents' views seriously and respond to them. Most parents are appreciative of the school. They feel that their children are safe, happy, well cared for and make good progress. Some parents recognise the need for improvements and value those that have been made already. Parents and members of the local community support the school very well. Good financial management has ensured that the school is well resourced. The recent additions to school buildings

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Grade: 3

have significantly improved the facilities. 5 Inspection Report: Catsfield Church of England Primary School, 18 May 2006 to 18 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. 6 Inspection Report: Catsfield Church of England Primary School, 18 May 2006 to 18 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 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 3 The behaviour of learners NA 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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

Dear Pupils Thank you for being so helpful and for making us welcome when we visited your school. We enjoyed talking with you and looking at your work. We think your school is improving. These are the things we especially liked about your school •You are friendly, polite and helpful and your attitudes to learning are usually good. •Everyone who works in your school makes sure that you are happy and safe. •The staff provide many interesting activities both during and after school. •You contribute well to both the school and community; staff value your opinions and act upon them. •The headteacher and governors lead the school well and are working hard with the staff to make improvements. We have also suggested several things that the school should do now Some of the teaching could be even better and the work that some of you are given to do should be harder. We have asked the teachers to ensure that they give you more information about what you

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

need to do to improve your work. The adults in charge of different subjects should look at your work and lessons more regularly, so that they can see where improvements can be made to your work. We feel sure you will want to help to make your school even better. You can do this by making sure you always work hard in school. We would like to wish you lots of success in your future education. Ms K Taylor and Mr J Parsons Additional Inspectors

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