Tritlington Church of England First School

Inspection Report Tritlington Church of England First School

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122299 Unique Reference Number Northumberland LEA 281224 Inspection number 14 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 Inspection dates Mr Christopher Quigley Reporting inspector

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

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Tritlington School address First Type of school Morpeth Voluntary aided School category Northumberland, NE61 3DU 3 to 9 Age range of pupils 01670 787383 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01670 783 108 Fax number 83 Number on roll Mrs Anne Petrie Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Judith Leja Headteacher 1 November 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281224 14 March 2006 - 3 to 9 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 one additional inspector.

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Description of the school

The school is smaller than average and in a rural setting. Children enter the school with broadly average standards, within a wide spread of ability. The proportion of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is around average but increasing. The number of children who receive free school meals is below average. Children are organised in three mixed aged classes. The school has had a change in leadership and key staff over the past three years and was without a permanent headteacher for some time. The headteacher is currently on maternity leave and an associate headteacher is managing the school in her absence.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Tritlington Church of England First School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 2006

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Grade: 3

The inspection supports the school’s view that it provides a satisfactory education. It is also improving at a steady rate. The school has made overall satisfactory improvement since the last inspection, following a period of decline. Until recently, test results in Year 2 were falling and children did not make enough progress, including those in Years 3 and 4. All children, including those in the Foundation Stage, now make satisfactory progress and standards are beginning to rise. Throughout the school, standards are now broadly average. This is because of the good systems introduced by the headteacher, supported by the good partnerships between the school, governors and local authority. Teachers are implementing new strategies introduced by the headteacher well, but the impact is only just beginning to show. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Basic skills are taught well but children do not have enough opportunity

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Grade: 3

to apply them across the curriculum and this slows their progress. In addition, further work is necessary to track the progress of individual children and to provide greater challenge and expectation for what teachers want children to learn. Personal development is good and children speak warmly of the school, saying that they particularly enjoy the wide range of activities the school provides. They say that they would like to make more decisions about the school and inspectors agree that this is an area for development. The vast majority of parents feel that the school is doing a good job but a small group of parents feel that partnerships and communication between home and school are in need of improvement. The inspectors agree with this. The leadership and management are satisfactory. The school provides satisfactory value for money and the recent improvements show that the school has a sound foundation from which to move forward.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the tracking of individual children’s progress and make better use of this in day to day teaching. • Raise teachers’ expectations for what they want children to learn by setting more challenging targets. • Improve children’s use of basic skills across the curriculum. • Give children more say in making decisions about the school. • Improve the way parents are involved as partners in their children’s education.

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Grade: 3

Children achieve satisfactorily. Most children start school with attainment broadly in line with the national expectation. In nursery and reception, all children make steady progress. They begin Year 1 with standards that are broadly average but standards vary greatly from year to year, as would be expected in a small school. Standards are beginning to rise in Years 1 and 2 after a number of years of decline. Children now 2 Inspection Report: Tritlington Church of England First School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 attain levels that are about the same as the national average overall, and some children attain above the average. A detailed investigation of individual children’s progress during the inspection showed that all of them, regardless of their ability or background make satisfactory progress. In Years 3 and 4, children attain the expected levels for their age. The children who are now in Year 4 were underachieving in Year 2 but have

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Grade: 3

now caught up and achieve satisfactorily because of improved teaching. Children generally meet the targets set for them but there is insufficient challenge, and this limits their progress to a satisfactory level. In addition, although children have a sound grasp of basic skills, their progress in developing them is slowed because they have little opportunity to use them across the curriculum.

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Grade: 2

Children’s personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Children are especially caring and respectful of those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the school has successfully created an inclusive culture. Children reflect on their actions well and the assemblies provided by the vicar help children to develop a good spiritual awareness. Children say they enjoy coming to school and especially enjoy the visits and the range of activities the school provides. Attendance is high and behaviour good. Children know how to live a healthy lifestyle but some parents have resisted the school’s efforts to develop healthy eating and drinking habits. This limits some children’s progress in this area to a satisfactory level. Children make steady progress in the basic skills and they are beginning to become more creative in their thinking during lessons, which helps to give them a

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Grade: 2

sound foundation for future life. Children do not have enough say in making decisions that affect them.

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Grade: 3

The school correctly judges its teaching as satisfactory. Lessons have several good features. They include effective management of behaviour, interesting tasks and good quality partnerships between teachers and support staff. Teachers use the interactive whiteboards regularly and children respond well to these visual opportunities for learning. Teachers capture children’s interest, help them to understand what they are doing, and involve them actively with their learning. Children say they enjoy their lessons and the support for children of differing abilities is generally good. The headteacher has recently introduced some of the improved methods teachers are using and the impact is now beginning to improve the progress children make. In some lessons, children are beginning to think of ways to evaluate their own progress and this is helping them to know how to improve. Written marking is beginning to have a

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Grade: 3

positive impact on children’s progress because teachers are trying to show children what they do well and how they can improve. Teachers have started to set individual 3 Inspection Report: Tritlington Church of England First School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 targets for children but their expectations of what pupils are to learn are not high enough. This is because the targets they set are not challenging enough and they are not used on a day to day basis to judge how much progress children are making.

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Grade: 3

The school judges the curriculum as good but the inspection showed that, although there are some good features, overall the curriculum is satisfactory. The curriculum is well planned to give children a good level of personal development and children say they enjoy the wide range of visits and visitors to the school. Trips to Plessey Woods and Alnwick gardens are popular and football coaching after school is something many children look forward to. Children say they enjoy the clubs after school and think that the school does a lot for them. To improve the level of healthy eating further, the school has rightly prioritised the introduction of the ‘healthy schools’ programme. Use of the basic skills is not planned well enough across the curriculum. The school has begun to improve this but it is not yet sufficient to make a difference to children’s overall progress.

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Grade: 3

The school gives a good level of care to children. Although the school evaluates the whole of this area as good, overall provision is satisfactory. Good systems help the most vulnerable children to feel safe. All educational visits are well managed and all staff have the necessary clearance to work with children. Children get good guidance in their personal development and this helps them to do well in this area. However, academic support is not yet helping children to make better than satisfactory progress. Although teachers challenge children in some lessons, targets do not challenge children sufficiently and this limits the progress they make. Written and spoken feedback is beginning to help children understand how they can improve but this is not yet sufficiently developed across the school.

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Grade: 3

Although the headteacher is currently on maternity leave, the systems she has implemented are beginning to have a positive impact on children’s progress. Standards are starting to rise. All children now achieve satisfactorily, and their personal development continues to be good. The headteacher has re-deployed staff and this has provided extra consistency and improved the quality of provision for the current Year 4 children. The quality of teaching is beginning to improve because of the new methods introduced. The local authority, governors and the associate headteacher support the headteacher well and together, they have established a clear direction for the school. These early improvements have brought the school to a satisfactory level. Although the school evaluates leadership as good, the full impact of actions is yet to 4 Inspection Report: Tritlington Church of England First School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 2006

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Grade: 3

be seen. Currently, leadership and management are satisfactory. The school’s understanding of its strengths and weaknesses is broadly satisfactory and leaders have established a sound strategic plan for improvement. However, the way the school tracks and analyses individual children’s progress is not rigorous enough and expectations of children are not high enough. This limits the school’s capacity to improve to a satisfactory level. Leaders seek the views of parents and, although the majority believe the school is doing a good job, a small number feel the way in which the school works with parents could be improved. Although leaders have begun to seek the views of children, this is not yet an established part of the school’s self-evaluation procedures. Governance of the school is satisfactory. Resources are used effectively and the school gives sound value for money. 5 Inspection Report: Tritlington Church of England First School, 14 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: Tritlington Church of England First School, 14 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 3 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 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 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 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 3 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 3 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 3 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 3 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

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 Ofsted helpline 08456 404045 To Children Tritlington Church of England First School Tritlington Morpeth Northumberland NE61 3DU 14 Mar 2006 Dear Children Thank you for your help in my recent inspection of your school. I thought that you were well behaved and polite and you said you very much enjoy coming to school. You told me about the exciting things you do at school and I agree with you that there are lots of things to keep you interested. I found that your teachers are working hard to make the school better and you told me that you enjoy your lessons. I have asked your teachers to make the school better in these ways. Measuring how well you are getting on with your work and giving you more challenges. You can help by continuing to try your hardest at everything you do. Giving you more chance to use your reading, writing, mathematics and computer skills that you

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

are learning so well. Giving you more say in decisions about the school. Thinking about the best ways to help your parents get involved in your education. Yours faithfully Chris Quigley Lead Inspector

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