Orleton CofE Primary School

Inspection Report Orleton CofE Primary School

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116836 Unique Reference Number Herefordshire LEA 279914 Inspection number 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006 Inspection dates Andrew Watters HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Orleton School address Primary Type of school Ludlow Voluntary controlled School category Shropshire SY8 4HQ 5 to 11 Age range of pupils 01568 780366 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01568 780366 Fax number 184 Number on roll Mrs Alison Harries Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Matthew Dunkerley Headteacher 31 October 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279914 28 February 2006 - 5 to 11 1 March 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 one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and one Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Orleton CE Primary is situated in the village of Orleton not far from Ludlow, near the Shropshire and Herefordshire border. Most pupils are of White British origin. Many live in privately owned homes either in Orleton or neighbouring villages. Families represent a mix of professional and manual employment. The pupils’ attainment on entry is average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Orleton CofE Primary School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006

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Grade: 1

The school views its overall effectiveness as good, which is too modest. Inspectors judge it as outstanding because nearly all aspects of the school’s work are good and significant elements are exceptional. Standards are high. The pupils’ progress is very good overall, with many pupils making exceptional progress and achieving extremely well. A very small minority of pupils make less than the expected rate of progress in aspects of reading and mathematics. Teaching and learning are outstanding and characterised by high expectations and aspirations for all pupils. Parents are overwhelmingly positive and greatly appreciate what the school offers their children. The provision for the pupils’ personal development, well-being, care, support and guidance is excellent. The pupils’ behaviour is good overall and sometimes exemplary. However, on a few occasions, it does not reach the very high standard set by the

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Grade: 1

school’s excellent behaviour policy. The quality of provision and standards in the Foundation Stage are good. The headteacher’s leadership is outstanding. He receives good support from the senior leadership team who have the potential to make a very effective contribution to further improvement. Targets are challenging and great care is taken to check the pupils’ progress and their achievements. The governing body carries out its work effectively and gives a very good level of challenge and support to the headteacher. The school gives excellent value for money. Improvement since the last inspection has been very good and the school has an excellent capacity for further improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that the very small minority of pupils who make less than the expected rate of progress in reading and mathematics achieve better in these areas. • Further extend the role of the senior leadership team in line with their job descriptions, which provide an excellent framework for developing their responsibilities. • Make sure that the behaviour policy is implemented consistently to a high standard on all occasions.

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Grade: 1

Standards are high and many pupils achieve above the level expected for their age. They do extremely well in the end of key stage national tests, responding positively to their challenging targets. Over a five-year period, the pupils’ performance in the Key Stage 2 tests has been consistently above average. The school’s assessment information and analysis show that many pupils make exceptional progress in relation to their different starting points and capabilities, particularly during their time in Key Stage 2. Rates of progress overall are very good. Some of the pupils reach very high standards in writing, the arts and in information and communication technology (ICT). There is very little underachievement among any group of pupils. On the rare occasions 2 Inspection Report: Orleton CofE Primary School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006 this does occur, the school is swift to act and put in place a range of effective strategies

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Grade: 1

to tackle the relative weaknesses, for example in aspects of mathematics

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Grade: 1

The pupils have very positive attitudes. Their attendance levels are high and their academic progress is very good, as is their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. From their time in the Reception class, the pupils are given many opportunities to develop responsibility and respect for others. As a result, they are reflective, confident and caring individuals. This is shown well in their role as playground monitors and as members of the school council. Behaviour is good and sometimes exemplary. In lessons and around the school, the pupils work and play well together with virtually no unkind behaviour taking place. However, on a very small number of occasions, some pupils are restless and inattentive when they are expected to be listening or working. The very effective personal, social and health education programme and a range of activities, including sports and cycling proficiency lessons, successfully encourage and

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Grade: 1

promote the benefits of leading a healthy and safe lifestyle. Pupils’ involvement in, and contribution to, both the local and wider community is excellent. They help at the village fete, and strong links with schools in Tanzania and Wolverhampton make a particularly good contribution to their knowledge of other cultures. The development of key skills that should help contribute to the pupils’ future economic well-being is particularly good. For example, older pupils are very good at designing multi-media presentations.

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Grade: 1

The quality of teaching and learning ranges from outstanding to good and overall it is outstanding. This is because of the teachers’ high expectations and the exceptional progress made by many pupils, who greatly enjoy being challenged and working hard to meet their targets. Teachers’ subject knowledge is excellent and all lessons were very well planned. A good range of teaching styles and questions are used effectively to probe the pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Instructions and explanations are always clear and helpful so that the pupils know exactly what they are expected to learn. Assessment is used well to match the pupils’ work to their different learning needs although on very few occasions, the level of challenge for a few more able pupils could be higher. The work in the pupils’ books is nearly always of a high standard and some is exceptional. Teachers’ marking is constructive and effective.

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Grade: 1

3 Inspection Report: Orleton CofE Primary School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006

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Grade: 1

The breadth and richness of the curriculum are of a very high quality. This helps to ensure that pupils become well-rounded individuals who not only do well in literacy and numeracy, but also in other subjects such as ICT, art and physical education, for which the school has received awards. Specialist teaching in a range of subjects such as French, music and dance is greatly appreciated by the pupils. The curriculum is further enhanced by the significant level of support from parents, for example their contribution to Pancake Day activities in the Reception class. The pupils’ participation in the many after-school clubs is very good and they enjoy school trips, particularly the residential visits for older pupils. The activity afternoons, introduced as part of the national workforce reform project, enhance and enrich the curriculum and add to the pupils’ enjoyment of coming to school.

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Grade: 1

The level of care, guidance and support given to all pupils is outstanding. Pupils have a very good understanding of how well they are doing and teachers help them to set challenging targets which inspire them to do their very best. Parents are overwhelmingly positive. One parent said, ‘the school’s caring, friendly nature and the rich educational environment allow all children to fulfil their potential’. A high priority is given to ensuring pupils’ health and safety and risk assessments are carefully attended to. As a result, the pupils feel very happy and secure. There are good links with other agencies, such as the local authority, and these have been used effectively to support the progress of pupils who have learning difficulties or disabilities.

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Grade: 1

The quality of leadership and management is good in all respects and is exemplary in a number of significant areas. The headteacher’s leadership is outstanding. He knows his school extremely well and cares greatly about all staff and pupils. He has the highest expectations and aspirations for all members of the school community. His greatest strengths are his relentless pursuit of high standards and achievement along with a strong commitment to the pastoral care and welfare of all adults and children. The recently-formed senior leadership team has the potential to strengthen the school’s collective leadership even further. The team is similarly committed to high levels of achievement for all pupils and its members are looking forward eagerly to developing their role in monitoring, evaluation and data analysis. This gives the school an excellent capacity for further improvement. There are effective systems for checking the impact of the school’s work. These include

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Grade: 1

regular observations of teaching and learning. Assessment information is analysed carefully to track the pupils’ progress, measure their achievement and set challenging 4 Inspection Report: Orleton CofE Primary School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 2006 targets. Governance is very good. The school development plan provides a very good basis for further improvement. The school’s self evaluation accurately identifies areas for improvement and is used effectively, for example to eliminate some relative weaknesses in the pupils’ performance in the Key Stage 2 mathematics tests. There is a common sense of purpose among staff, governors, parents and pupils. Each group greatly appreciates being part of a successful and caring school. 5 Inspection Report: Orleton CofE Primary School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 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: Orleton CofE Primary School, 28 February 2006 to 1 March 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 1 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 1 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 1 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 1 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 1 How well learners enjoy their education NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 1 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 1 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 1 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 1 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 1 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 1 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 1 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

Orleton CE Primary School Orleton Ludlow Shropshire SY8 4HQ 2 March 2006 Dear Children Thank you for welcoming us to your school. We have really enjoyed talking with you and visiting your lessons. You are all very friendly, cheerful and polite and have made sure that, for the two days we have been with you, we have felt a part of your school. Thank you for sharing your work with us. We could see that you try hard to do your best and help each other. Well done! We think your school council does a very good job and works hard to improve things for you, like getting you more games to use at playtimes and, at the moment, raising funds for a ‘buddy bench’ to go on the playground. We are very pleased to tell you that you go to a really good school! In fact, many of you told us that the school is great and that you appreciate all the exciting things you have a chance to do. We couldn’t agree more! We had a good time talking to your teachers and it was good to

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

see how well they and you got on together. You really know what you are expected to learn and how you can achieve even more. Your teachers, the headteacher and all the other adults in school work very hard to make sure that you are safe and that you do well with your work. You have lots of fun in your lessons and really enjoy coming to school! We have asked Mr Dunkerley and the senior teachers to continue with all the very good things that are happening in your school, to make sure that you carry on doing really well and that some of you do even better! We have also asked him to make sure that you always behave the best you can in all the things that you do. We shall take away lots of good memories about how well you are doing and we have really enjoyed being at your school. Thank you again for being so helpful and friendly. Yours sincerely Andrew Watters Her Majesty’s Inspector

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