Flore Church of England Primary School

Inspection Report Flore Church of England Primary School

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121970 Unique Reference Number Northamptonshire LEA 281142 Inspection number 15 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 Inspection dates Alison Cartlidge AI Reporting inspector

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

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The Avenue School address Primary Type of school Northampton Voluntary aided School category Northamptonshire NN7 4LZ 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01327 340415 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01327 340129 Fax number 111 Number on roll Mrs Jo Walsh Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Jan Stoppani Headteacher 1 November 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281142 15 March 2006 - 4 to 11 15 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is a small school with more than one age group in most classes. The headteacher has a heavy teaching commitment. Most pupils are of White British heritage, with a few of minority ethnic background. No pupils are learning to speak English as an additional language and the proportion of pupils with learning difficulties is average. Pupils’ attainment on entry to the school is broadly average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Flore Church of England Primary School, 15 March 2006 to 15 March 2006

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Grade: 2

This is a good school with various outstanding features. The headteacher, deputy headteacher and governors provide strong leadership and have a clear understanding of most strengths and weaknesses in provision. Their evaluation of how well the school is doing is similar to that of the inspectors. Pupils’ achievement is good, and by the end of Year 6 their standards are well above average overall. Pupils’ standards are exceptionally high in reading, but their good knowledge is not always reflected well in the content of their written work in science. Good provision for pupils in the Foundation Stage (Reception Year) enables them to make good progress, and by the end of the Reception Year, most are working securely within nationally expected levels, with many working beyond them. Teaching is consistently good throughout the school, and work is matched well to pupils’ differing needs. The school has an outstanding

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Grade: 2

curriculum that contributes exceptionally well to the pupils’ high levels of enjoyment. Good levels of care and support enable most pupils to reach their personal and academic potential during their time at the school. However, not enough use is made of assessment information to ensure that pupils’ progress in all subjects is consistently good from year to year. The school has been successful in improving aspects of provision that were found to be weaknesses at the time of the last inspection and has a good capacity to improve further. The school provides good value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Increase the teachers’ expectations for the quality of the content of written work in science, so that it reflects pupils’ good knowledge and demonstrates how well they apply this knowledge to their investigative work. • Make better use of information kept on pupils’ standards, especially in Years 3 to 6, to identify more swiftly when pupils have not made good progress from one year to the next.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ achievement is good and standards by the end of Year 6 are well above average overall. In the Reception class, pupils make good progress from their broadly average starting points. By the end of the Reception year, nearly all pupils are working within nationally expected levels and many are working beyond them. Pupils make particularly good progress in reading and in their personal, social and emotional development. In 2005, national test results at the end of Year 2 were above average overall. They were well above average in reading, above average in writing and broadly average in mathematics. Pupils make good progress overall from the end of the Reception Year. By the end of Year 6, pupils’ standards are exceptionally high in reading and above average in mathematics and science. Pupils perform much better in reading than writing. Whilst pupils have good knowledge in science, because there is thorough

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Grade: 2

revision work in Year 6, the quality of their report writing in this subject is not good enough, and does not demonstrate their investigative skills well enough. During their 2 Inspection Report: Flore Church of England Primary School, 15 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 time in Years 1 to 6, most pupils make good progress, although their handwriting and mathematical problem-solving skills less well developed. The achievement of pupils with learning difficulties is similar to that of other pupils and by the end of Year 6, across the school boys and girls do equally well. Suitably challenging targets for pupils at the end of Year 6 were largely exceeded in 2005.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ personal development and well-being are good, with some outstanding features. Rates of attendance are very high and pupils have excellent attitudes towards learning. They work very hard in lessons and are genuinely appreciative of the many exciting activities provided. However, not all pupils take enough care with the presentation of their written work. Behaviour is good throughout the school, although there are occasions when pupils do not listen well enough when other pupils are talking. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Throughout the school, pupils feel safe and show a good concern for the welfare and well-being of others. Pupils take responsibility willingly and the very active school council makes an outstanding contribution to school life. A ‘playground committee’ has been very successful at improving lunchtime provision. The way in which the committee manages its resources

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Grade: 2

in the ‘toy tuck shop’ is very impressive. These activities, together with pupils’ well-developed social skills, prepare them well for the world of work. Pupils know why they need to eat healthy foods and they understand the importance of exercise and how it will help them to ‘learn better’. Pupils take a very active part in the local community; for example, they make a significant contribution to the village’s May Day celebrations.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are consistently good, and this a key factor in the good progress made by pupils. Throughout the school, teachers plan interesting tasks that motivate pupils and build successfully on what they have already learnt. Good use is made of interactive whiteboards to introduce new work and to engage pupils. For example, in Years 1 and 2, the whiteboard was used to help pupils learn how to count coins. Teachers are very good at making learning purposeful by using drama or role play to put work into a practical context. Teachers have good expectations of pupils’ achievement, especially in English and mathematics, and this has positive effects on learning. However, in science, teachers do not always expect enough of the pupils in the quality and quantity of written reports on investigations. This slows the progress of pupils in Years 3 to 6, where written tasks are not always challenging enough.

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Grade: 2

Teachers are very conscientious about marking work and they frequently give useful verbal feedback or add written comments that help pupils understand how they can improve their work. In the Reception class, there are outstanding systems in place for 3 Inspection Report: Flore Church of England Primary School, 15 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 assessing how well pupils are doing, and teachers make good use of this information to plan the next stage of learning. Hardworking teaching assistants give good support, especially when they are working with groups of pupils with learning difficulties.

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Grade: 1

The outstanding curriculum meets the needs and interests of all learners very successfully, including those in the Foundation Stage. The school provides pupils with a very wide range of experiences both in and out of lessons. Creativity is fostered very imaginatively, and pupils produce very high quality work in art and music. Over the last two years, pupils have displayed work in the National Gallery and they regularly perform in plays and concerts to parents and the wider community. These activities add greatly to pupils’ enjoyment of school. Pupils are given good opportunities to learn about staying safe and healthy. There is a very wide range of sporting activities and pupils are encouraged to eat healthily. The development of pupils’ basic skills in literacy and numeracy is promoted well. The school has rightly identified the need to extend further the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in different

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Grade: 1

subjects in order to speed up the pace at which pupils acquire new skills. The curriculum is enhanced by the excellent opportunities pupils have to learn languages such as French and Latin.

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Grade: 2

The quality of care, guidance and support is good. There is a very welcoming atmosphere, where pupils can feel safe and happy. The school works very well with parents and outside agencies to safeguard pupils’ well-being and there are secure procedures for child protection. Pupils say that they know what to do if they have a concern. Teachers provide good academic support. Assessment procedures are well established but the information gained is not always used well enough to identify where pupils have made less than the expected gains over the year, so that additional support can be put in place more quickly. There are outstanding procedures for introducing new pupils into the Reception class, helping them to settle quickly. The school successfully promotes healthy and safe lifestyles, for example, by encouraging pupils to eat fruit at playtimes.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The headteacher and deputy headteacher lead an enthusiastic and committed staff, and their dedication to improving provision has a good impact on how well pupils learn. The school has successfully dealt with weaknesses found at the time of the last inspection and has a good capacity to improve further. For example, recent developments for improving pupils’ writing are starting to close the gap in attainment between reading and writing. Priorities are based on a 4 Inspection Report: Flore Church of England Primary School, 15 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 careful analysis of national test information. However, not enough use is made of the school’s detailed information on pupils’ standards in other year groups to ensure that progress is consistently good from year to year. School self-evaluation is good overall. Senior managers are knowledgeable about most strengths and weaknesses, although

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Grade: 2

because of the headteacher’s heavy teaching commitment, have not identified the weaknesses in the content of older pupils’ written work in science. From this point of view, aspects of monitoring and analysis are satisfactory rather than good. Nevertheless, the school development plan includes relevant aspects to improve provision and raise attainment further. There is a fairly accurate understanding of where teaching is best and the school is right in its evaluation that the curriculum is outstanding. Governors are hard working and committed to school improvement, and provide good support for the work of the school. They have recently expanded their responsibilities by making more formal visits to help them challenge the school more fully. Parents and pupils are given excellent opportunities for sharing their views and contributing to the school’s self-evaluation process. For example, the school has recently improved

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Grade: 2

information for new parents by providing them with a practical guidebook on issues most frequently raised by other parents. Parents are particularly good at supporting their children with reading. Pupils were heavily involved in planning the recent improvements to the school grounds and talk with enthusiasm about the new equipment they selected for playtimes. 5 Inspection Report: Flore Church of England Primary School, 15 March 2006 to 15 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: Flore Church of England Primary School, 15 March 2006 to 15 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 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 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 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 1 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

Dear Children Thank you for welcoming the inspectors to your school and for showing us your work. You were very polite and friendly. What we liked most about your school • You learn to read very well • Members of staff help you to learn to behave sensibly and to make an outstanding contribution to the community • The school provides you with an outstanding range of interesting activities. • Your teachers are kind and caring and look after you well • Members of staff and governors are working hard to make the school even better • Your parents and carers are very pleased that you enjoy coming to this school. What we have asked your school to do now • Help you to improve your written work in science • Use information about how well you are doing to ensure that you make enough progress each year. We thoroughly enjoyed listening to you and watching you learn. We wish you all well for the future. Yours sincerely Alison Cartlidge Lead Inspector Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 www.ofsted.gov.uk

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