Tetsworth Primary School

Inspection Report Tetsworth Primary School

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123031 Unique Reference Number Oxfordshire LEA LEA 281387 Inspection number 3 May 2006 to 3 May 2006 Inspection dates Nicola Davies AI Reporting inspector

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

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15 High Street School address Primary Type of school Tetsworth Community School category Thame OX9 7AB 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01844 281328 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01844 281883 Fax number 36 Number on roll Mr Aidan Lynch Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Miss Claire Coggins Headteacher 4 December 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281387 3 May 2006 - 4 to 11 3 May 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 an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Smaller than most, this village school serves a residential and farming area. Like most small schools, the number of pupils joining the school each year varies significantly. There are 36 pupils currently on roll, almost all of whom are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties or disabilities is consistently higher than average which has a distinct impact on this small school. Since September 2005, the school has been led by an associate headteacher who is the deputy headteacher of another primary school within the Thame Partnership of Schools.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Tetsworth Primary School, 3 May 2006 to 3 May 2006

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Grade: 3

Pupils enjoy their learning, the friendships they make and the variety of opportunities and experiences they have at this friendly village school. As one new parent commented 'My children have been welcomed into the school which contributes greatly to the local community'. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. In the Foundation Stage children make a sound start to school life. From Years 1 to 6 pupils make satisfactory progress although not all reach or exceed the expected standards by the end of their time at the school, particularly in English. One reason for this is that pupils do not have enough planned opportunities to extend their reading and writing skills through their work in other subjects. Similarly, they do not make the most of the information and communication technology (ICT) resources, which include video conferencing facilities. The good care and support for pupils' differing needs are appreciated by parents, as is the way the

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Grade: 3

school helps their children to develop good personal skills and qualities. The school and the inspector agree that it provides a satisfactory quality of education and value for money. The leadership team has set a clear direction for the school's work and has introduced a number of changes to improve achievement. It has set higher targets and is tracking pupils' progress towards these. However it is not yet using lesson observations to closely monitor the impact of teaching and support on pupils' progress. The school has successfully addressed the issues from the previous inspection and has plans to improve its facilities further. The collaborative arrangements are making it easier for the school to overcome some of the difficulties caused by its small size. These successes indicate that the school has the capacity to continue to improve.

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What the school should do to improve further

• ensure pupils have planned and challenging opportunities to develop their reading and writing skills across the curriculum • focus the monitoring of lessons on how well teaching and support helps pupils to make good progress • ensure that pupils have more opportunities to use ICT to extend their learning

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Grade: 3

Children join the school at four years of age with a wide variety of skills and experiences. They make satisfactory progress in their Reception year which means that some, though not all, reach the expected learning goals. Across the school, pupils continue to make satisfactory progress and meet appropriate targets although not all reach the expected levels for their age and proportionally few attain higher levels. Results in national tests are broadly average but the school has identified that some pupils could make better progress, particularly in English. The school has identified that some pupils could make 2 Inspection Report: Tetsworth Primary School, 3 May 2006 to 3 May 2006 better progress, particularly in English. As a result, it has set more challenging targets for pupils to achieve and are monitoring the progress that pupils make towards these. Pupils with learning difficulties benefit from close attention to their individual needs

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Grade: 3

and make sound progress in relation to their starting points.

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Grade: 2

Personal development and well-being are good. Pupils enjoy school and attend regularly. They get to know each other well and enjoy learning and playing together. As a result they behave well in lessons and develop caring and considerate attitudes towards others. School rules are clear and pupils feel safe and feel 'there are fewer bullies and nasty people in a small school'. Pupils appreciate and value differences through opportunities they have to learn about a range of religions, cultures and countries. As a result they make good progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The school has plans to further develop their awareness by using its new video conferencing facilities to give pupils additional opportunities to find out about how other people live. Pupils understand well how to keep safe and healthy. For example, the school council is considering further promoting healthy lifestyles through developing its own reward

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Grade: 2

scheme for healthy lunchboxes and active playtimes. Pupils particularly enjoy the sports and physical activities the school organises, both in lessons and at lunchtimes. Getting involved in the school council, fund raising activities or taking on responsibilities around the school means pupils make good progress in developing personal skills and qualities which will help them in later life. For example, the school council manages its own small budget, buys stock and runs the school shop to raise funds. Pupils are also keenly aware of environmental issues and proudly monitor how well the school makes energy savings.

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Grade: 3

The teaching and learning are satisfactory. Good relationships between teachers, their small mixed age classes and other adults provide a secure foundation for learning. Teachers identify the behaviour they expect and what they want pupils to learn. As a result, pupils behave well and make satisfactory progress. Teachers also identify how other adults can help. For example, a teaching assistant helped children in the Foundation Stage to explore the story of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' through outdoor role play whilst older pupils worked on writing the story. Teachers are confident and use a range of teaching approaches to capture pupils' interest and sustain their enthusiasm. They work with different individuals or groups as well as bringing the whole class together to share their learning in pairs or as a group. For example, in one lesson observed, the teacher used questions and the 3 Inspection Report: Tetsworth Primary School, 3 May 2006 to 3 May 2006

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Grade: 3

overhead data projector to help pupils create a joint newspaper report before they went on to write their own. However, teachers are not creating enough challenging opportunities for pupils to use and extend their literacy, numeracy and ICT skills in all lessons. Teachers track pupils' performance regularly although this is an area the school has identified can be improved to ensure that pupils make better progress relative to their starting points. As a first step, pupils are now assessing how well they feel they have done which is helping to ensure that their work is appropriate and that they make the most of their time in lessons.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory and enables pupils to make sound progress. The size and facilities of the school sometimes limit the activities that pupils can undertake, for example as the school has no hall, whole school assemblies and physical education lessons are difficult to arrange on site. However, good collaboration with nearby schools and other local partners helps to overcome some of these. For example, parents and pupils commented positively on events involving Thame Partnership schools and the opportunities for sports arranged with local partners. Visits, themed weeks such as 'Buddhism' or 'photography', visiting specialist teachers and additional clubs are enjoyed by pupils and contribute well to their learning. Links are made between subjects so that pupils use their literacy, mathematical, and ICT skills in other subjects. However, the school has rightly identified that it does not always plan these well enough to give all pupils sufficient challenging opportunities

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Grade: 3

to improve their skills in reading and writing or extend their learning and experiences through ICT.

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Grade: 2

The care and support that this small school provides for its pupils are two of the things which parents most appreciate. 'We feel that staff know our child well and can highlight any problems quickly' is typical of parents' comments and is echoed by the pupils. Procedures to protect and support pupils are good and the school works well with specialist agencies to ensure that pupils with learning difficulties or special educational needs make satisfactory progress. Parents and pupils are involved well in this process and feel their views and concerns are listened to. Encouraging pupils to assess their own learning in lessons and a focus on individual targets is helping pupils to understand how to improve. The school has rightly identified a need to ensure that assessments do not simply track pupils' progress but also help teachers to plan well matched activities and deploy support well in lessons. 4 Inspection Report: Tetsworth Primary School, 3 May 2006 to 3 May 2006

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Grade: 3

When the governors were unable to appoint a suitable new headteacher, they entered into a two year collaboration project with another local primary school. The headteacher of the partner school has overall responsibility of Tetsworth and the day to day leadership and management of the school is carried out by the associate headteacher who is also the deputy headteacher of the partner school. These new arrangements are working smoothly and are beginning to have an impact on the quality of education which the school provides which indicates that the school has a good capacity to improve. For example, the school's new leadership, teachers and governors have been involved in a thorough review of what the school does well and what it needs to do to improve further. This had led to the setting of more challenging targets and providing staff with more opportunities to observe lessons. However these lesson observations

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Grade: 3

are not yet closely focussed on whether teaching and support is helping pupils to make good progress. The effective governors are determined to ensure that the school maintains its place at the heart of the village community and they involve parents and the wider community well in the life of the school. For example, parents' views are sought regularly and the weekly school newsletter is not only circulated to parents but also posted around the village. The school manages a fluctuating school budget well and has well-developed plans to improve, through further collaboration, the education it provides. These plans include improving facilities at the school through a building programme and working with the local pre-school to improve opportunities for children in the Foundation Stage. Parents and pupils have already noticed the collaboration is providing more opportunities for pupils. For example, Year 3 pupils were recently able to take part in

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Grade: 3

an educational visit with the partner school which would previously have been prohibitively expensive. However, it is too early for the collaboration to have had a significant impact so the school has correctly judged leadership and management overall as satisfactory. 5 Inspection Report: Tetsworth Primary School, 3 May 2006 to 3 May 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: Tetsworth Primary School, 3 May 2006 to 3 May 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 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 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 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 3 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

Pupils This letter is to thank you for taking time to talk to me about your school and your work and to let you know what I found out. You told me that your school is a friendly place where you get a chance to learn about lots of interesting things and I agree. I was particularly impressed by what you have learned about making sure the school saves energy and how keen you are to make sure that everyone in the school exercises and eats healthy food. I saw that you behave well and try hard to do your work. I also saw that you get along well with your teachers and that they listen to your ideas and problems. This is one of the things you and your parents particularly like about the school. The governors and all the adults in the school are all keen to make sure you all do as well as you can. I have asked them to watch how you learn in lessons to see if you need extra help or if your work should be harder. One of the ways they already check how well you are doing is

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

by asking you, so remember to think hard about that yourself. I have also asked them to make sure you have enough opportunities to get better at writing or reading and make use of ICT when you are learning about things like the Egyptians or mountains. With best wishes for the future Nicola Davies Lead Inspector

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