Packington Church of England Primary School

Inspection Report Packington Church of England Primary School

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120151 Unique Reference Number Leicestershire LEA 280746 Inspection number 7 March 2006 to 7 March 2006 Inspection dates Jacqueline Wordsworth HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Mill Street School address Primary Type of school Ashby-de-la-Zouch Community School category Leicestershire LE65 1WL 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01530 412425 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01530 412425 Fax number 106 Number on roll Mr Angus Bennion Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Carol Price Headteacher 5 June 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 280746 7 March 2006 - 4 to 11 7 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

Packington is a small village primary school and most children come from socially and economically favourable backgrounds. Almost all have White British backgrounds. There are very few children with learning difficulties and disabilities. Attainment on entry to the school is broadly average. Children are organised into four mixed-age classes. The headteacher joined the school 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: Packington Church of England Primary School, 7 March 2006 to 7 March 2006

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Grade: 2

The school provides a good quality education and good value for money, and this view is shared by the school. Good leadership in the Foundation Stage promotes good progress, with standards by the end of the Reception year that are generally above the level expected for the pupils’ age. Thereafter, most children continue to make good progress and reach high standards. There is a real family atmosphere, with each child included and valued. As one pupil pointed out, ‘I am new to the school, and I like it here because everybody is very friendly’. Leadership and management are good and have enabled the school to identify pertinent priorities: improving writing and raising even further the achievement of higher-attaining pupils. The setting and monitoring of the pupils’ targets for improvement are not as rigorous as they could be and pupils are not always sure how to improve. Although teachers have updated their skills in information and

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Grade: 2

communication technology (ICT), there is still room for improvement. Children learn about other lifestyles and beliefs, but nonetheless, some pupils still expressed the wish to learn even more. For example, one pupil remarked, ‘We don’t meet people from other cultures in our everyday life, if we know more about them, perhaps we would find out that they are not so different from us’. The school is well placed to improve because the new headteacher knows and understands the school’s strengths and weaknesses.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the pupils’ progress in writing and further develop opportunities for writing in a range of contexts. • Ensure that all pupils are aware of how to improve their work. • Provide greater challenges for higher-attaining pupils so that they achieve as highly as they possibly can. • Improve teachers’ skills in ICT by providing further training. • Give the pupils a wider perspective of what life is like in a diverse cultural society.

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Grade: 2

The pupils’ achievement is good and the standards they reach are well above average. In the Foundation Stage, the children settle in well and make good progress. In Years 1 and Year 2, the pupils make good progress with reading, writing and mathematics. However, the number of children attaining at the highest level in writing is not as good as it could be. The school acknowledges that pupils did not achieve as well as they could in writing because there were too few opportunities for them to write at length. The pupils in Years 3 to 6 continue to make good progress, especially in mathematics, where they make significant gains in their understanding and generally meet challenging targets. However, the standard of writing from some of the most able pupils is not as good as it should be and prevents them from attaining the highest 2 Inspection Report: Packington Church of England Primary School, 7 March 2006 to 7 March 2006

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Grade: 2

level in English. In lessons, there is some lack of challenge for these pupils. The new headteacher quickly recognised these weaknesses and has introduced robust systems to identify and meet the needs of all children. Children with learning difficulties and disabilities make excellent progress.

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Grade: 2

Children develop good personal qualities during their time at the school. They get great pleasure from coming to school, achieve well and have excellent attendance, and this ensures that they are extremely well prepared for their future economic well-being. The school is rightly proud of its ‘family atmosphere’ and lives up to its aim of ‘Doing our Best and Working Together’. The pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development is good and their cultural development is satisfactory. Drawing on a strong Christian ethos, the children quickly learn right from wrong and so their behaviour and relationships with each other are outstanding. All children have a good knowledge of the types of food that are good for them and those that are not. The pupils make a good contribution to their school and the local community, initiating charitable collections for a number of good causes. As a result, they are on course to

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Grade: 2

become responsible citizens. The pupils’ views are appropriately sought on a range of issues. Most pupils are clear about what they need to do to stay safe.

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Grade: 2

Overall, the quality of teaching and learning is good. Teachers’ expectations are mostly high, with the work pitched at the right level and building on what the pupils know and can do. In these cases, teachers know what they want the children to learn and make it clear to them. As a result, the pupils are motivated, try hard and make good progress in developing the skills needed for future learning and achievement. However, in some instances the teaching does not build well enough on what the pupils already know and does not always take sufficient account of individual learning needs. For example, the higher-attaining pupils are not supported well enough or given appropriate levels of challenge, especially in English. As a result, the pace of learning is sometimes slow in these lessons. The teachers assess the pupils’ work carefully and regularly; however, they do not make enough reference to the pupils’ targets in their marking,

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Grade: 2

particularly in writing. Consequently, the pupils are not as clear as they might be about how well they are doing or what they need to learn next. Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to the pupils’ learning because they are well informed and usefully employed. 3 Inspection Report: Packington Church of England Primary School, 7 March 2006 to 7 March 2006

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good overall, with some very good elements to enrich pupils’ experiences, including residential visits. The many, varied and well-attended school clubs effectively contribute to the pupils’ enjoyment of the curriculum. Many visits and a variety of visitors enhance the pupils’ awareness of the wider world and their cultural understanding. These help the pupils to appreciate the richness of the world around them. However, opportunities for them to learn about the multicultural nature of British society are less evident in the curriculum and through displays around the school. The ICT curriculum has improved. Nevertheless, more emphasis needs to be given to using ICT to support learning across the curriculum, and in developing ICT skills progressively through the school.

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Grade: 2

Throughout the school, all pupils receive good support and are well cared for, especially those with learning difficulties and disabilities. As a result, their self-esteem is high and they feel safe and have confidence in their teachers. The school takes appropriate steps to ensure that the pupils are safe. The parents appreciate the school’s caring approach and family atmosphere. Guidance is satisfactory. The school has a register of pupils with particular gifts and talents and is currently developing alternative curricular opportunities for these pupils. A system for making pupils aware of their learning targets and involving them in knowing how to reach these targets has been introduced but is not the same in each class or year group. Although the school has improved the procedures for monitoring academic progress, some of the targets set for learning do not challenge the more able pupils enough.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The leadership of the headteacher is quietly determined and, since her appointment, she has tackled weaknesses with commitment and rigour. The school’s self-evaluation is refreshingly honest, with the governors recognising it as a valuable means of directing the school’s continued improvement. There is a strong focus on achievement, with high aspirations for the success of all the pupils. This has had a positive impact on raising standards in mathematics and science, but has not yet had the desired effect of increasing the number of pupils reaching the higher levels in writing. The collegial style of management ensures that everyone is involved in decision-making. The headteacher listens to and consults staff, governors, parents and children so that all feel involved in their school. However, a significant minority of parents felt that their views are not taken into account. All staff

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Grade: 2

are well motivated and keen to improve the school and have good capacity to do so. They have responded well to improving their skills in ICT and in enabling the higher-attaining pupils to achieve as well as they possibly can. The school’s procedures 4 Inspection Report: Packington Church of England Primary School, 7 March 2006 to 7 March 2006 for monitoring teaching and pupils’ progress, and those for setting targets for pupils, are satisfactory. Both are becoming more rigorous and robust as the result of the work of the new headteacher. Nevertheless, more could be done to ensure that the work in the pupils’ books is always of the highest quality, as in some instances, the pupils’ first efforts are too readily accepted. 5 Inspection Report: Packington Church of England Primary School, 7 March 2006 to 7 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: Packington Church of England Primary School, 7 March 2006 to 7 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 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 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 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 1 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 1 The behaviour of learners NA 1 The attendance of learners NA 1 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

Thank you very much for being so welcoming and friendly towards us during our recent visit to your school. We very much enjoyed the opportunity to talk with you and your teachers about how well you are doing. We thought you would like to know what we have said about your school, which we think is a good school. You behave very well and you are kind and considerate to each other. In lessons, we think you listen carefully to what your teachers have to tell you and you try hard. You enjoy coming to school and your attendance is better than in lots of other schools. You have told us you feel safe and secure. We think you know the importance of staying healthy and taking regular exercise. Your teachers look after you well and listen to what you have to say. They work hard to help you learn. We have made some suggestions to help the school get even better. By the end of Year 6, many of you do very well in the tests but we have suggested to your teachers that some of you could

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

do even better, especially in your writing. We have asked your teachers to learn even more about ICT to help you do even more exciting things in lessons. We have also suggested that you learn more about other cultures. Many things are good about your school and you, together with your teachers, can make it even better. Please keeping working hard and doing the best you can. We wish you well in the future.

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