All Saints Church of England (Aided) Primary School

Inspection Report All Saints Church of England (Aided) Primary School

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123228 Unique Reference Number Oxfordshire LEA LEA 281437 Inspection number 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005 Inspection dates Mike Thirkell HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Tamar Way School address Primary Type of school Didcot Voluntary aided School category OX11 7QH 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01235819143 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01235819200 Fax number 371 Number on roll Mr Michael Walker Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Ms Margot Buller Headteacher 27 March 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281437 28 September 2005 - 4 to 11 29 September 2005 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England (Aided) Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005

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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 of Her Majesty's Inspectors and one contracted inspector.

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Description of the school

All Saints Church of England Primary School is a large primary school situated in the Ladygrove estate in Didcot, inOxfordshire. The school emphasises its strong Christian ethos. Few pupils are eligible for free school meals and lowerthan average proportion of pupils have special educational needs. A smaller than average number of pupils haveEnglish as an additional language. The school provides education for a small number of traveller children. The schoolshares part of its building with the local community. Many pupils join the school from the nursery. As a result, thebuildings offer a wide range of specialist teaching spaces, for example for music and PE.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England (Aided) Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005

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Grade: 3

The school judges that its overall effectiveness is good. This differs from the inspectors who judge it to be satisfactory. In most other respects they agreed with the school's own evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses. Despite the school's many strengths, in particular the high quality of leadership provided by the headteacher, there is still considerable scope for raising pupils' attainment and supporting their progress more effectively. The important priorities required to support further development have been identified and are being urgently acted upon. The school has dealt with most of the issues for improvement at the time of their previous inspection, but still needs to raise standards in mathematics. Overall the school provides satisfactory value for money.The management style has changed significantly since the new head arrived and in the view of the inspectors the school is well placed to improve further. The

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Grade: 3

correct priorities to raise standards have been clearly identified by the school leaders. Staff are being encouraged to take a greater role in management. Effective structures for monitoring are established but are still to have full impact. The school has the strong support of parents. Children feel well cared for and enjoy coming to school. The quality of teaching and standards in the Foundation Stage are good.

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What the school should do to improve further

* raise standards by improving the use of assessment information and target setting within classroom teaching;* provide pupils with opportunities to be more active and independent in their learning;* ensure that there is sufficient and suitable staff training to support the school's priorities.

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Grade: 3

Pupils generally enter the school with attainment at the expected levels and leave the school with broadly average standards. This means that, overall, pupils make satisfactory progress. The school believes, and inspectors agree, that higher standards and achievement should be the aim.Within this broad picture, there are a number of specific factors. For example, when they start school, most pupils have good social skills which are then developed well in all year groups. Pupils' progress in the Foundation Stage is good. Pupils with special educational needs achieve satisfactorily. Traveller pupils are integrated well into school life and progress as well as other pupils. A small group of pupils with English as an additional language is appropriately supported which enables them to make sound progress. For the past two years, national test results at Year 2 and Year 6 have not been significantly different from the national average. In

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Grade: 3

Year 2, in 2005, the most able pupils did not achieve well enough. In Year 6, however, higher attaining pupils generally achieved quite well, whereas pupils in the middle and lower range achieved satisfactorily. Standards were higher in English than in mathematics and science. Staff set suitably challenging targets for all pupils and review them appropriately. Sometimes these targets are met, or even surpassed, and at other 2 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England (Aided) Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005 times they are not. The school is not yet doing enough to give pupils all the support and help they need to reach all of their targets.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are very enthusiastic about school and as a result attendance is good. Expectations of behaviour are high and the children are well supported and guided. Due to the positive relationships in the school pupils for the most part co-operate well with staff and with each other.Pupils develop a strong sense of their moral and social responsibilities as members of a community. Social skills are well-developed in the classroom and through initiatives where the children themselves are encouraged to take the lead, such as Eco -Schools and the school council. As a church school there is a strong focus on spiritual matters, but this is also evident in the school's emphasis on the arts and the environment.Learners' understanding of healthy lifestyles and their commitment to them is outstanding. They all say they feel safe at school and act responsibly as they move about the building and at playtimes as well as in the

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Grade: 2

classroom. They feel that their views are listened to and as a result develop in confidence and self-esteem, ready for the next phase in their education.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. In the lessons seen during the inspection it ranged from good to satisfactory. This judgement corresponds with the school's own evaluation and priorities set to improve aspects of teaching and learning.The teaching and learning demonstrate a number of important strengths. Teachers generally use classroom management strategies well and ensure that pupils work in a positive learning atmosphere. Teachers communicate well and classrooms and resources are organised effectively. In the Foundation Stage teachers provide good support for developing pupils' thinking and language skills. Teachers use good techniques for questioning pupils throughout the school. Use of a wider range of teaching strategies would support further improvements. Teaching assistants play an effective role in supporting learning. They organise their time well. Nevertheless opportunities for using classroom support has been affected by their reduction in

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Grade: 3

number as part of staff cuts. Staff assess the pupils very accurately and regularly. This enables tracking of each pupil's progress. Pupils with special educational needs have well written individual education plans. However, all this precise information is used poorly to provide specific, targeted teaching for individuals and groups, based on their assessed needs. Too much of the teaching is too general. This is a key reason why pupils' progress is satisfactory rather than good. 3 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England (Aided) Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005

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Grade: 2

The school provides a really interesting and exciting curriculum. As a result, the children thoroughly enjoy most of their lessons which are geared well to the interests of all groups of pupils. There is a broad range of stimulating activities, with a particular focus on the arts. Visits out, visitors to the school and school journeys are much enjoyed and bring learning to life. There is also a very extensive and popular programme of extra curricular activities. One pupil commented, when comparing All Saints with another school she had attended, 'there are more trips and we do lots more things like art, music and science.' The curriculum is well organised to ensure that pupils build up concepts and skills in a progressive way. Staff are keen to develop and refine the teaching programme and to try out new ideas within the overall framework. This keeps lessons fresh and motivating. In the Foundation Stage, all children have good

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Grade: 2

opportunities to learn independently. Reception pupils could benefit from further timetabled opportunities for this. Planning between the nursery and reception needs to be better integrated. The core subjects of English, mathematics, science and ICT are well organised but some lessons are over teacher directed. Although these lessons remain interesting they contain too few opportunities for pupils to contribute their own ideas and to learn actively. An impressive feature of the curriculum is the well planned teaching about how to work together in groups. This prepares pupils well for their future economic well being and to join in community activities.

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Grade: 3

The care for the children has many strengths, but guidance to support their progress needs to be improved. Relationships at the school are strong and adults know the children well. This enables them to recognise when a child might need emotional support and to provide help effectively. This is done individually by staff and through arrangements such as a 'nurture group' and a lunch-time club. The children feel confident they have someone they can turn to for help if necessary. The school provides an environment where children feel safe and well supported. This means that pupils are well-placed to achieve personally and academically. Child protection procedures are understood by all staff and operate effectively. However, at the time of the inspection all staff had not yet received the required training. Attention to health and safety issues is good.Response to the questionnaire sent out before the inspection

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Grade: 3

indicated that parents are overwhelmingly happy with the level of care provided to their children. New arrangements to keep them informed about their children's progress at school are appreciated. Interviews with pupils emphasised their faith in the school leaders. Younger pupils echoed the view of a year 5 girl who referred to the head as 'a nice person who knows her job'. 4 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England (Aided) Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005

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Grade: 3

Overall leadership and management in the school are satisfactory. Senior management demonstrates significant strengths. The current headteacher is still very new in her post. She has quickly made a positive impact on the school through well considered changes. Her leadership demonstrates very clear vision and aspirations for the further development of the school. This is reflected in the school's generally accurate evaluation of its own strengths and weaknesses, demonstrated through documentation provided to the inspection and the quality of strategic planning. The school has recently undergone a significant amount of change in its leadership team and the style of management. The new management structure reflects the headteacher's aim of involving all staff in decision making and an emphasis on self-evaluation and improving strategies for monitoring the work of the school. This is currently satisfactory. Senior

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Grade: 3

and middle managers are working hard to improve the quality of monitoring although financial constraints make this difficult. An annual cycle of school evaluation and improvement planning has been established. On the basis of development planning and the priorities set through analysis of progress and attainment, leadership and management demonstrates clearly the capacity to further improve the school. Evaluations by subject co-ordinators have played an important role in this process. The focus for the school improvement plan is correctly based centrally on the honing of the quality of teaching and learning through improved use of assessment, in particular the use of data which the school already has and the more effective use of target setting to support individual pupils' needs. Whilst the school has considerable capacity to provide staff training in-house, the pace of development is severely constrained by the deficit budget that the new management team has inherited and

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Grade: 3

which restricts the range of training opportunities.The governors play an important role in monitoring the key priorities and providing support to the head teacher. Currently there is not a full complement of governors, including no local authority representative. The governors need to take a more pro-active role in the monitoring and development of the school. 5 Inspection Report: All Saints Church of England (Aided) Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005 .

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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: All Saints Church of England (Aided) Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005

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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 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 1 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 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 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 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 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

It was a great pleasure for myself and the other inspectors to meet many of you when we visited your school recently and to hear your views about the work that you do and how well you feel that you are looked after. It was clear from what you told us that you enjoy your time at school. You may know that most of your parents also told us how pleased they are with the school and your progress, through the questionnaires that they completed for us. We thought that the school buildings were lovely and that they provide you with a lot of special opportunities to learn. The school caretaker clearly works very hard to keep everything wonderfully neat and clean. It seemed to us that you also care for your buildings. We saw that you are taught to respect your environment in a number of ways. You should be proud of yourselves! There have been some important changes in your school during this year. Teachers have clearly

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

worked very hard to ensure that you have continued to be well looked after. Not least of these changes has been that you have a new headteacher. Many of you emphasised when you spoke to us how much you respect her hard work. We think that the school is good at helping you as you grow and this helps you to feel confident and secure. I must say that we thought that you behaved very well both in classrooms and about the school. This really does make learning so much easier. When your behaviour is good teachers have the opportunity to give more of their attention to each of you as you are learning. Your school understands very well what it must do to make things better. This is very important! In particular many of you need to be making better progress. Some of the procedures used for supporting you need to be improved, in particular the way that your progress is checked and importantly the way that targets are set for you. This is to help each of you to understand

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

exactly what you must do to improve. We feel that your teachers, who really want to do their best for you, need to have the opportunity to develop the range of ways that they use to help you make progress.

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