Willesborough Infant School

Inspection Report Willesborough Infant School

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118370 Unique Reference Number Kent LEA 280300 Inspection number 12 July 2006 to 13 July 2006 Inspection dates Robert Ellis HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Church Road School address Infant Type of school Willesborough Community School category Ashford, Kent TN24 0JZ 4 to 7 Age range of pupils 01233 624165 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01233 612580 Fax number 379 Number on roll Mr R Scoble Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs J Parsons Headteacher 27 April 2004 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 280300 12 July 2006 - 4 to 7 13 July 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Willesborough Infants School is larger than most infant schools and is situated on the outskirts of Ashford in Kent. The pupils come from a variety of social and economic backgrounds and the percentage eligible for free school meals is below the national average. About 8% of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds but few are at an early stage of learning English. The proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties and disabilities is slightly higher than in most schools nationally but the proportion of these who have Statements of special educational need is just below the national average. The pupils’ attainment on entry to the school is in line with the expectation for their ages. The headteacher joined the school in January 2006.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Willesborough Infant School, 12 July 2006 to 13 July 2006

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Grade: 3

Overall effectiveness is satisfactory. This is an improving school where every pupil matters. Those responsible for leading and managing the school know their school well and have an accurate picture of its strengths and where it needs to do better. The strong, corporate commitment of staff to making the school better reflects the good leadership of the headteacher and high quality teamwork of the leadership team. Pupils’ achievement and the quality of provision are satisfactory across the school, including the Foundation Stage. The pupils are well cared for and most parents value what the school does for their children, although some feel that there could be better communication between school and home. The pupils want to be in school and they are proud of their school. Teaching has improved since the previous inspection but the school recognises that it needs to be better still if all pupils are to achieve as well

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Grade: 3

as they might. The pupils’ personal development is good and most are happy and confident. Accommodation is satisfactory and outside play areas meet minimum requirements. However, the school recognises that these areas need to be developed, particularly for the younger children. When the school was inspected in April 2004 it was judged to be underachieving. Under the leadership of the new headteacher the pace of improvement has increased and the areas of weakness identified in the previous inspection report have been successfully addressed. As a result, the school is no longer underachieving. The school development plan provides a clear set of priorities for improvement and further demonstrates that the school has the capacity to improve. The school gives satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Develop the outside areas to encourage more challenging activity and provide better opportunities for different types of play. • Improve the quality of teaching to eradicate inadequate teaching and increase the proportion that is good or better.

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Grade: 3

Achievement and standards are satisfactory overall. The Foundation Stage Profile (FSP) is used to track children’s progress through the Reception classes and concerns are identified, analysed and addressed. There is no comparative data for FSP scores available from the local authority but school data shows that most children are achieving standards in line with national averages by the end of the year although progress across classes is variable. At the end of Key Stage 1, pupils’ results are broadly in line with the national average and most reach the challenging targets set for them. However, the legacy of weak teaching, now addressed, has resulted in uneven progress through Years 1 and 2 for 2 Inspection Report: Willesborough Infant School, 12 July 2006 to 13 July 2006 those pupils now at the end of Year 2. A rigorous programme of tracking standards throughout the year has been introduced and challenging targets are set for all pupils.

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Grade: 3

These are carefully monitored by the senior leadership team and intervention programmes set in place when necessary. The extensive work on tracking and targeting means that school staff are now well placed to raise standards. Most groups of learners make expected progress and are gaining the knowledge, skills and understanding expected for their age.

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Grade: 2

Achievement and standards are satisfactory overall. The Foundation Stage Profile (FSP) is used to track children’s progress through the Reception classes and concerns are identified, analysed and addressed. There is no comparative data for FSP scores available from the local authority but school data shows that most children are achieving standards in line with national averages by the end of the year although progress across classes is variable. At the end of Key Stage 1, pupils’ results are broadly in line with the national average and most reach the challenging targets set for them. However, the legacy of weak teaching, now addressed, has resulted in uneven progress through Years 1 and 2 for those pupils now at the end of Year 2. A rigorous programme of tracking standards throughout the year has been introduced and challenging targets are set for all pupils. These are carefully monitored by the senior leadership team and intervention

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Grade: 2

programmes set in place when necessary. The extensive work on tracking and targeting means that school staff are now well placed to raise standards. Most groups of learners make expected progress and are gaining the knowledge, skills and understanding expected for their age.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall. Rigorous monitoring of teaching has identified weaknesses and these have been addressed through good support which has enabled some teachers to develop and improve their practice. The school’s monitoring records show that the overall profile of the quality of teaching has improved when compared to the start of the year. However, there remains some inadequate teaching and the proportion of teaching that is good or better is lower than in other infants schools. Teaching assistants work in partnership with teachers to give individuals and groups of pupils good support. Good procedures are in place for regular and frequent assessments for all pupils and an effective system of tracking pupils’ progress 3 Inspection Report: Willesborough Infant School, 12 July 2006 to 13 July 2006 in relation to their targets is used to enable teachers to plan the next steps for learning

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Grade: 3

well. Individual needs are identified and analysed for each year group and the performance of specific groups of pupils, including pupils who have learning difficulties and disabilities and the most able, are carefully investigated and action plans implemented in order for further progress to be made.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory. Statutory requirements are met and the majority of pupils are well served by a curriculum matched to their needs. Topics are well planned and matched to pupils’ interests and varied appropriately for their abilities. Information and communication technology is used well across the curriculum and interactive whiteboards are used as a high quality tool to support teaching and learning. A wide range of quality enrichment activities is offered to the pupils and a safe and healthy lifestyle is well supported. Programmes to address the needs of the various groups in the school are implemented well and new procedures will consolidate this progress. Pupils are now appropriately challenged within lessons, according to their ability with extension activities being planned for all abilities. As a result most pupils make satisfactory progress in lessons, enjoy learning, and strive to do as well as they can.

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Grade: 3

Good behaviour shows that pupils are encouraged to take their responsibility within the community seriously and the council, currently only for Years 1 and 2 pupils, offers them the chance to make the pupil voice count. Accommodation is satisfactory overall and good in some areas. However, although outside play areas meet minimum requirements the school has rightly planned to develop these further so that pupils can be offered more challenging physical activities and different types of play.

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support are good. The pupils are kept safe, happy and secure and child protection procedures are well understood and effective. Challenging targets are set for all pupils and in most classes pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning and become independent. The school has a policy of including all pupils fully in all that it does. Pupils with disabilities are welcomed, and facilities made available to meet their needs. A structured system of monitoring ensures that physical and educational needs are met. Vunerable children are closely monitored and the school works effectively with other agencies to ensure that the needs of individual pupils are planned for and met.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The school is over modest in its judgement that leadership and management are only satisfactory. Otherwise the senior leadership 4 Inspection Report: Willesborough Infant School, 12 July 2006 to 13 July 2006 team have an accurate picture of strengths and areas for development throughout the school. Rigorous monitoring of teaching and learning ensures that senior leaders are well informed. Good analysis of the information gathered through monitoring enables them to evaluate the impact of actions taken and to plan for further improvement. The senior leadership team has a very good understanding of the assessment procedures and rigorously and regularly monitors the results, in partnership with the subject leaders, in order to move each year group of pupils forward. The headteacher and her deputy have a strong working partnership and are committed to developing all staff. Strong leadership, together with the hard work and commitment

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Grade: 2

of the staff, ensure that the school is improving rapidly and is not complacent about its overall effectiveness. Governance is good. Governors are well informed and highly supportive of the school. Following training, governors are now becoming effective critical friends and are holding the school to account for the standards it achieves. The positive impact of the actions taken, and clear priorities for improvement, demonstrate that the school is well placed to improve further. 5 Inspection Report: Willesborough Infant School, 12 July 2006 to 13 July 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: Willesborough Infant School, 12 July 2006 to 13 July 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 3 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 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 2 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 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 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 3 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 very much for letting us be part of your lessons and a special thank you to those of you who spoke to us about your school or showed us your work. We especially liked the animation work you did on computers and your artwork. Everyone we spoke to said that you enjoy being at school and feel safe and well looked after and we agree. We were pleased to see that you like eating healthy food and enjoy running about and playing with your friends. We were impressed by your friendliness, good behaviour and how well you look after your school and the people in it. The adults work hard to help you to learn the right sorts of things in your lessons. They encourage you to do your best and help you to improve. Most of you work hard and by the time you are ready to move on to your next school you have learnt the same things as other children of your age. The people in charge know a lot about the school because they check on how well it is doing

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

and listen to what you say about improving it. They have some good ideas about how it can be made even better. We think that the most important things that they should do are to make your lessons more interesting and exciting and to improve the outside play areas. Thank you again for helping us with our work and making our visit to your school so enjoyable.

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