Oakridge Parochial School

Inspection Report Oakridge Parochial School

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115674 Unique Reference Number Gloucestershire LEA 279652 Inspection number 18 October 2005 to 18 October 2005 Inspection dates Peter Allen RISP Reporting inspector

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

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Oakridge Lynch School address Primary Type of school Stroud Voluntary aided School category Gloucestershire GL6 7NR 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01285 760269 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01285 760269 Fax number 45 Number on roll Mrs Mary Fern Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Miss Lisa Austin Headteacher 27 September 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279652 18 October 2005 - 4 to 11 18 October 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 one additional inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a small primary school with 37 pupils on roll which serves the village of Oakridge Lynch, near Stroud, and its surrounding communities. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is below the national average. The proportion of pupils identified as having learning difficulties is average. The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage. Following significant staffing instability over recent years, the school now has a settled staff, led by the previous acting headteacher who was appointed on a permanent basis in April 2005.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Oakridge Parochial School, 18 October 2005 to 18 October 2005

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Grade: 2

This is a good school, a view shared by the staff, governors, parents and pupils. The new headteacher’s leadership and management are good with some outstanding features. The headteacher, staff and governors are working very well together in developing a clear and accurate view of the school’s strengths and how it can further improve. A significant characteristic of the school is the outstanding care and concern shown for each individual pupil. The provision for children in the reception year is good. They make a good start and reach good standards. All pupils, including those with learning difficulties, make good progress as they move through the school as a result of the good teaching. Because of the very small numbers in each year group, standards vary from year to year. Nevertheless, the overall standards reached are above average. The school looks after its pupils very well and helps them become thoughtful, helpful

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Grade: 2

young citizens. They adopt good exercise habits and eat healthily. The high level of care sets an example that pupils follow. The curriculum is broad and relevant and is enriched by visits and visitors and by good links with the local community. There is a clear and appropriate plan for development, identifying those aspects most in need of improvement, notably the raising of writing standards across the school. Additionally, the school recognises the need to develop the way it monitors pupils’ progress and sets them targets, and to provide more consistently challenging work for the higher attainers. Good progress has been made since the previous inspection. The school is very well placed to improve further and provides good value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• raise standards in writing across the school • continue to develop the monitoring of pupils’ progress to lead to more effective target setting • ensure that the work set for the higher attaining pupils consistently matches their capabilities.

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Grade: 2

Pupils achieve well throughout the school because of the good quality of the teaching they receive. Increasingly, challenging targets are being met and so standards are rising. Boys and girls do equally well. Those with learning difficulties are well supported and, relative to their capabilities, they achieve as well as their classmates. Attainment on entry varies from year to year, but most children join reception with broadly average knowledge and skills. Children in reception make good progress and reach the national targets for their age, with some exceeding these standards, notably 2 Inspection Report: Oakridge Parochial School, 18 October 2005 to 18 October 2005 in literacy and numeracy. At the time of the inspection, reception children were reaching good standards. The numbers of pupils undergoing national assessments are too small and variable from year to year to provide a reliable guide to trends in standards. Nevertheless, over

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Grade: 2

time, standards in English, mathematics and science are above average, as they are currently. However, whilst standards in reading are very high, standards in writing need to be higher. In writing, whilst most pupils at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 reach the expected levels, too few reach the higher levels. Teachers have recognised this weakness. Improvements are evident, but more remains to be done. The new headteacher’s strong commitment to raising standards is beginning to have a very positive impact, as are the very high expectations of the new Key Stage 2 teacher.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ personal development is good. Attendance is well above average and punctuality is good. All aspects of personal, social and emotional development are well promoted in the reception year and the children respond well. Pupils across the school enjoy their education. They have very good relationships amongst themselves and with all adults. Pupils’ very good attitudes and behaviour have a very positive effect on their learning. The way every child is valued equally is part of the school’s caring, Christian ethos. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good and the school now works productively to give pupils clear insights into the multicultural world in which they are growing up. The school is successful in fostering healthy lifestyles. Pupils understand that these lifestyle choices can influence their success at school. During their valuable residential visit, pupils were helped to make healthy choices when making their own lunches.

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Grade: 2

Health and safety is a high priority. The site is safe, clean and well maintained. Pupils are well aware of their responsibilities to keep themselves and others safe. The pupils are helped to prepare for their future well-being. School council members become involved in the collection of money raised for various charities. Pupils make a good contribution to the local community, partly through the very good links with the two churches.

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching is good and the teaching in the Key Stage 2 class has some outstanding features. The good teaching, well supported by the effective teaching assistants, is a major factor in the progress made. Pupils are expected to work hard 3 Inspection Report: Oakridge Parochial School, 18 October 2005 to 18 October 2005 and achieve well and this they do. Teaching and learning are underpinned by very good relationships which help to ensure that pupils enjoy their learning. The teaching of writing has been insufficiently challenging, especially for the higher attainers. Strategies are being introduced to remedy this weakness and standards are beginning to improve, with pupils being given more opportunities to apply their writing skills. A good start has been made in assessing pupils’ work, monitoring their progress and setting targets for improvement. The teachers are becoming increasingly aware of the

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Grade: 2

need to plan lessons to take greater account of the needs of the higher attainers so that those pupils can reach their full potential. The headteacher’s monitoring has had a very positive impact on improving the quality of teaching and learning across the school.

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Grade: 3

The broad and balanced curriculum meets statutory requirements. The school plans to review the series of topics to make more links between the subjects. The school development plan identifies the intention to make more use of information and communication technology to support learning across the curriculum. Work set does not always match the pupils’ capabilities. There are limited facilities for physical education but the school provides very good opportunities by using the village green and the village hall, together with weekly visits to the local leisure centre for swimming and gymnastics. The school’s commitment to promoting healthy eating, exercise and safe living is a strong feature. At the present time there are few extra curricular activities but the school has plans for more. The curriculum is well enriched by close links to the community and good use of visits to places both locally and further afield, such as the recent visit by the

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Grade: 2

The school is very successful in its aim to ‘ensure that all children and adults feel valued, included and secure’. Staff are very aware of pupils’ welfare needs and respond well through very good communication and close relationships with each family. The school makes very good use of external agencies to meet particular needs. Staff are well trained in the policies and procedures required to keep pupils safe and in identifying particular needs. The quality of pastoral support is of a very high order. Parents value the caring and supportive atmosphere of the school. In discussion, one parent likened the school to an extended family. The monitoring of pupils’ progress is in need of further development. A good start has been made in tracking pupils’ progress to help to identify the learning needs of individuals and groups of pupils but more remains to be done. 4 Inspection Report: Oakridge Parochial School, 18 October 2005 to 18 October 2005

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Grade: 2

The new headteacher has had a very positive effect on the school’s development and this is the main reason for the significant improvements made over the past year. Her leadership and management are good and in some respects outstanding and the school now has very good capacity for further improvement. Performance is now being monitored and improved and a successful programme of self-evaluation is being developed. The headteacher has improved the quality of teaching and learning and set a clear agenda for improvement, partly through the carefully considered school development plan. Morale is high and teamwork is good. The headteacher’s vision is shared well by the staff. Pupils feel well included in all the school activities and consider that they are treated fairly. The school seeks and values the views of staff, governors, parents and pupils and acts upon them. Very effective links with the local community and all

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Grade: 2

the external support agencies enhance the quality of education provided. Governance is good and meets statutory requirements. Governors have carefully guided the school through the difficulties of the last few years. The headteacher has introduced a useful system of monitoring visits. These are helping the governors to deepen their understanding of the work of the school. Governors and staff have worked well to develop the school’s environment. The quality of leadership and management, with increasingly effective self-evaluation and the contributions from parents and pupils, places the school in a strong position to improve further. 5 Inspection Report: Oakridge Parochial School, 18 October 2005 to 18 October 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: Oakridge Parochial School, 18 October 2005 to 18 October 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 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 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 2 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 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

Oakridge Parochial School Oakridge Lynch Stroud Gloucestershire GL6 7NR 18th October 2005 Dear Pupils I enjoyed my visit to your school. You made me feel very welcome. A special thanks to those of you who talked to me about life in school. You are right to be proud of your school as it is a good school. What I liked about your school: I am pleased that you enjoy school, behave very well and work hard in lessons You make good progress because of the good teaching there is in both classes all the adults care for you extremely well and they give you good advice about how to keep healthy and safe your new headteacher is working very well to make your school better your parents are pleased that you come to this school. There are some things I think your school should be working on: you need to try harder with your written work your teachers need to collect more information about your progress your teachers need to continue to plan lessons that are even better matched to your individual

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

abilities. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and watching you learn. I wish you well for the future. Yours faithfully Peter M Allen (Lead inspector)

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