Peppard Church of England Primary SchoolOfsted inspection, 15 Jun 2006

Inspection Report Peppard Church of England Primary School

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123135 Unique Reference Number Oxfordshire LEA LEA 281410 Inspection number 14 June 2006 to 15 June 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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Church Lane School address Primary Type of school Peppard Voluntary controlled School category Henley-on-Thames RG9 5JU 5 to 11 Age range of pupils 01491 628354 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01491 629906 Fax number 85 Number on roll Mrs Elizabeth Bielby Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Anne Jarvis Headteacher 6 November 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281410 14 June 2006 - 5 to 11 15 June 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

This is a small, four class, village primary school set on the edge of Peppard Common. The area which the school serves is socially advantaged. All pupils are of White British or Other White heritage. Currently, there are no pupils with learning difficulties whose needs are at a level that requires recording on the special needs register. There has been lack of continuity in staffing in the past two years.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Peppard Church of England Primary School, 14 June 2006 to 15 June 2006

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Grade: 3

This is a school where every child matters, not only to staff, but also to every other pupil. Pupils learn not only to keep themselves healthy and safe but also develop a shared sense of responsibility for the happiness and well being of others. Similarly, pupils not only make the most of the opportunities they have to learn, but enjoy giving something back, whether this is by raising money for a local search and rescue service, singing in a cathedral, or re-enacting the Battle of Trafalgar on Peppard Common. Describing the buddy system which pairs youngest and oldest pupils together, one young pupil explained that her buddy was 'a cross between my older sister and my really best friend'. Such caring friendships between boys and girls of all ages which build mutual understanding and respect are a strong feature of this church school which represents a family to many pupils and staff. Watching pupils of all ages playing

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Grade: 3

happily together on the common or seeing older pupils sensitively helping the very youngest children to manage lunch time arrangements, (including balancing their lunch, a knife, fork, spoon and cup on their lunch trays whilst negotiating the classroom tables and chairs), it is clear that pupils make outstanding progress in developing the personal skills and attributes which help them develop into thoughtful and mature young people. Consistently helping its pupils grow into caring and confident young citizens is one of the reasons that the school considers itself to be good. However, the inspector judges the school's overall effectiveness and the value for money it represents to be satisfactory. This difference relates to the achievement of pupils in subjects such as English, mathematics and science. Although pupils consistently attain standards which are above average, many more-able pupils make only satisfactory progress in relation

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Grade: 3

to their high starting points. The school has rightly identified that it therefore needs to improve teaching to ensure a greater degree of challenge for more-able pupils in classes. However, this is not yet apparent in all lessons because a lack of continuity in staffing has made it difficult to regularly monitor and improve this aspect of teaching. So whilst the inspector agrees that school has an accurate idea of its strengths and weaknesses, there remains a gap between its aims for pupils' achievements and their realisation. Although pupils arrive promptly and are keen to start each day, attendance is only just average because of the number of parents who take their children on holiday during term time. While the school rigorously pursues unexplained absence, it does not similarly point out to parents how 'planned' absences may affect their child's progress. Parents have been understanding of the staffing difficulties which the school

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Grade: 3

has faced over the last two years which have been clearly explained to them. However, because all parents are not yet formally involved in evaluating the school, a small minority feel that the school does not take account of their views, particularly where these are different from the school's current practices. The quality of provision in the Foundation Stage has improved significantly since the last inspection. Children now get a good start in their reception year including the 2 Inspection Report: Peppard Church of England Primary School, 14 June 2006 to 15 June 2006 chance to develop new skills in the stimulating 'outdoor classroom'. Successfully improving such aspects of the education it provides whilst maintaining its core strengths and values indicates that the school has the capacity to continue to improve.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that activities for more able pupils are suitably challenging through more regular monitoring and evaluation • Involve all parents in regularly identifying the school's strengths and weaknesses • Engage with parents to improve attendance

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Grade: 3

Most pupils enter the Foundation stage with good skills for their age which are well developed by the stimulating and engaging opportunities they have to learn. As a result, children make good progress and most reach the goals set for the end of the Reception year and some exceed them. Throughout the school, most pupils reach standards which are above those found in schools nationally. This is demonstrated in their performance in national tests at the end of Years 2 and 6 and in optional tests which pupils undertake at the end of each year. The school has identified that more-able pupils could make better progress if there was a closer match between the activities they undertake and their particular needs. As a result, it has set more challenging targets, particularly in English, which current pupils look on course to meet. There are no significant differences between how well boys and girls achieve.

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Grade: 3

Pupils with learning difficulties achieve well.

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Grade: 1

Throughout their time at the school, pupils make outstanding progress in developing the personal skills and attributes which help them develop into thoughtful and mature young people. They know how to keep themselves safe and healthy and promote the health and fitness of others. They thoroughly enjoy their education and appreciate the good opportunities they have to learn from, and with, others in the school community and beyond. In return, they attend regularly, behave extremely well and make a very good contribution to the school and to the wider community. They develop an understanding of children and adults who are different from themselves, through art, music and literature. They take responsibility for themselves from the earliest age, for example, signing themselves in for the day and choosing their own lunch. As they mature, they take responsibility for others too, through the school council, producing

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Grade: 1

and selling the school magazine or becoming a much admired 'buddy'. Such experiences develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness very well. Although pupils are sad to leave the school, their good basic skills and excellent personal skills mean they are well equipped for the next phase of their education and beyond. 3 Inspection Report: Peppard Church of England Primary School, 14 June 2006 to 15 June 2006

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Grade: 3

Good relationships between adults and pupils, very good attitudes to learning and teachers' clear expectations of behaviour and effort contribute to the calm and purposeful atmosphere of lessons. As a result, pupils work hard, contribute thoughtfully to class discussions and value their own work and that of others. Pupils enjoy the range of activities which teachers provide. Although teachers generally plan different activities to cater for the different ages and abilities in their classes, they do not always ensure that activities for the most-able are sufficiently challenging. This means that although these pupils work diligently, at times, the pace of their learning is not as fast as it could be. As a result, they make satisfactory rather than good progress. Teachers are beginning to include pupils in evaluating their own progress, but as yet this does not happen consistently. This means that not all pupils have good opportunities to apply

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Grade: 3

their well developed personal skills to examining, evaluating and improving their own work and contributing to the learning of others.

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Grade: 3

The school has made good arrangements with local schools, and other agencies to ensure that, despite its small size, the curriculum that it offers covers all subjects and is balanced. It makes the most of its strong links with the church and the local community to enrich the curriculum for pupils through a range of visitors and clubs. Residential trips and special events are a strong feature of the school which provide pupils with enjoyable opportunities to learn new skills in unfamiliar settings. The youngest children now have good opportunities to learn through a wide variety of experiences. The school uses the specialist skills of teachers and other adults to provide for some specialist teaching in subjects such as music, art and French which ensure that pupils make good progress in these subjects. However, planning for the development of pupils' literacy, mathematical, scientific and information and

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Grade: 3

communication technology skills needs to be sharper to fully reflect the needs of more-able pupils.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are well cared for and supported and this contributes well to their academic and personal progress. Difficulties which pupils may be experiencing are quickly identified and extra help provided, such as sessions in a smaller group with teaching assistants or specialist advice and support. As a result of this prompt help, pupils experiencing problems make good progress and the number of pupils with more persistent difficulties has been significantly reduced. 4 Inspection Report: Peppard Church of England Primary School, 14 June 2006 to 15 June 2006 Procedures to protect children are robust and the school makes sensible arrangements to assess and deal with potential risks, which include ensuring that even the youngest pupils have a good understanding of how to take care of themselves and to be alert to potential dangers. Although the school investigates and has improved unexplained absence, it does not yet routinely point out to parents how 'planned' absence may

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. Although plans for improvement are clear and comprehensive, disruptions to staffing have meant that the progress of a number of the school's initiatives has not been as rapid as it would like. For example, the improved tracking system has helped the school to identify correctly the need to improve the progress that more-able pupils make and as a result to set more challenging targets for pupils to reach. However, limited opportunities for lesson observations and the scrutiny of pupils' work means that the school has not checked to see if this is happening consistently throughout the school. Similarly, specialist provision for more-able pupils provided by the headteacher has been limited by additional and unexpected teaching commitments. Governors carry out their responsibilities well and, together with the headteacher, have skilfully managed the school's tight budget. Current approaches to school

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Grade: 3

self-evaluation although well-conceived, are not yet fully effective in practice. For example, the recent introduction of a scheme of 'associate' governors is helping parents and others to support the school with their particular expertise without the commitment of becoming a full member of the governing body. However, the lack of a formal mechanism for recording all parents' opinions means that a few do not feel their views are taken into account. The school's successful record of making effective improvements, including those to the Foundation Stage, indicates its capacity to maintain and improve further the quality of education it provides. 5 Inspection Report: Peppard Church of England Primary School, 14 June 2006 to 15 June 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: Peppard Church of England Primary School, 14 June 2006 to 15 June 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 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 2 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 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 1 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 1 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 3 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

Pupils Thank you for welcoming me to your school recently. I really enjoyed seeing how you worked and talking to so many of you in lessons and around the school. You helped me find out a lot about your school, and were especially helpful in explaining why you enjoy school. Many of you asked me if I liked your school and I hope that this letter will answer that question for you. I know that not all of you will be able to read this letter for yourselves, but having watched you at work, I know that your buddies or another pupil will be on hand to help you. The way that you get on really well and help each other by being thoughtful and kind is one of the things that impressed me the most, and I know this pleases your teachers and parents too. Whilst we all agree that your work is good, we feel that some of you could do even better if sometimes the things you do in lessons were a bit harder. Your teachers already make your

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

lessons interesting and provide you with lots of different experiences but I have asked the headteacher to find some time to look at your work and join some of your lessons like I did, so that she and your teacher can check together that your work is hard enough. Your teachers are already checking this by asking you sometimes how well you think you have done, so you will need to think hard when they ask you these questions. I have also asked the school to make sure that everyone comes to school regularly and to stop taking holidays in term time, so they will need your help there too. Everyone involved in the school is keen to keep on improving it. Your parents have lots of ideas and I know you do too. Although the school often asks your opinions when they are thinking about making changes (like the healthy lunch box issue) I have asked them to think about how they can regularly find out what your parents think. I'm sure they will find their ideas as

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

interesting as I did. With best wishes, Nicola Davies Lead Inspector

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