Albrighton Primary School & Nursery

Inspection Report Albrighton Infant School

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123410 Unique Reference Number Shropshire LEA 281469 Inspection number 30 November 2005 to 30 November 2005 Inspection dates Mary Hamby HMI Reporting inspector

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

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New House Lane School address Infant Type of school Albrighton Community School category Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV7 3QS 4 to 7 Age range of pupils

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01902 372558 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01902 372558 Fax number 130 Number on roll Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Wendy Taylor Headteacher 3 April 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281469 30 November 2005 - 4 to 7 30 November 2005 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 of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of schools and an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a small school that serves the village of Albrighton, but also takes 40% of its children from the local Royal Air Force base. There is a high level of movement into and out of the school, associated with postings of service personnel. Most of the children are from White British families. The school has two points of entry, September and January, and so some children have only two terms in the Reception Class before moving up to Year 1.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Albrighton Infant School, 30 November 2005 to 30 November 2005

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Grade: 2

This is an effective school that gives good value for money. Parents are right to be pleased with what is provided for their children by the caring and dedicated school staff and governors. The school also judges itself to be good. It knows its own strengths and weaknesses well because of effective evaluation systems, which have helped the staff and governors to steer a successful course since the last inspection. The school is well placed to continue to improve. The leadership team is strong and has recognised the need to develop assessment further by identifying potentially talented or gifted children and making provision for them. The leadership team is also planning to involve all the children more in talking about their learning. These are appropriate next steps because there are some higher attaining children who are not yet being given sufficient challenge in mathematics. Additionally, although the majority of children have good speaking skills, the teachers

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Grade: 2

do not always give them sufficient opportunity to talk about their own learning and contribute to assessment. The staff have good relationships with the children and care for them. This helps the children to have a good sense of well-being and grow in confidence. The children are keen to take part in lessons, behave well and have good attitudes to school. The children make good progress during their time in the Reception Class because they are taught well, and standards are above average as a result. In Years 1 and 2 the children build on this good start and most of them continue to make good progress. The teaching of English is particularly effective.

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What the school should do to improve further

•Improve the provision for higher attaining children by: identifying potentially talented children, posing searching questions, providing more opportunities for them to record their own work, ensuring that marking pinpoints the next steps for them to achieve and giving more opportunities for them to use and apply their skills. •Involve the children in the assessment of their own work by providing more opportunities for them to do so.

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good. Most children start school with broadly average skills and leave with higher than average standards. The children achieve well in the Reception Class because the work they are given is matched well to their needs. The children who start school in September have an extra term in school and they attain higher standards in Year 2 than their younger classmates. Achievement through Year 1 and Year 2 is good for the vast majority of pupils. Standards in the most recent national tests were higher than average across the board, with particularly good results in reading. Girls reached higher standards than boys last 2 Inspection Report: Albrighton Infant School, 30 November 2005 to 30 November 2005 year, but there has been little difference in attainment between the two sexes over the course of the last few years. Children with learning difficulties make good progress even though they learn at a slower rate. The school achieves its targets.

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Grade: 2

Last year’s results mark an improvement in mathematics, which has been close to average for a number of years. The main improvement has been in helping children of average ability to do well. However, a few of the higher ability pupils are not achieving as well as they could because elements of the lessons are not challenging enough for them.

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Grade: 2

The school provides an effective array of opportunities to help the children to grow in confidence and maturity and to appreciate the world around them. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The children are starting to appreciate cultural diversity and they respect each other’s views. They collect large amounts for charity, which also helps them to understand the needs of others. The children really enjoy coming to school and their attendance is good. They enter very happily each day with a sense of anticipation and think that learning is fun. They behave well, work together very cooperatively and care for each other. For example, the children in Year 2 suggested that they should ‘look after the little ones’ and take care of those new to the school ‘in case they are scared’. The children are starting to have an understanding of citizenship through their involvement with the local

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Grade: 2

community and through enterprise schemes, such as making and selling gifts. Most of them talk confidently about how they are getting on in literacy, but are less able to talk about their development in mathematics or other aspects of school life. Even the youngest children have an understanding of the need to keep safe and healthy. They know that sweets are bad for their teeth and that they should make healthy choices at lunchtime. The school has won a prestigious award for the work it does to promote good health and is making good strides to ensure that the children learn about environmental issues.

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Grade: 2

Parents are pleased with the good teaching and are right to think that their children make good progress. The children themselves are starting to have an understanding of the progress that they are making in English through the helpful comments that they receive on their work and by getting to know the next target to aim for. However, they are less certain of their targets in mathematics because the marking is not specific enough and there are not enough opportunities in lessons for them to talk about their learning. 3 Inspection Report: Albrighton Infant School, 30 November 2005 to 30 November 2005 The teachers are supported effectively by a committed team of assistants who make a strong contribution to children’s achievement. The teaching in groups, for children with learning difficulties, is particularly successful. All the staff have very positive relationships with the children and know them all well. They provide the children with

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Grade: 2

interesting tasks and expect them all to work hard and do their best. However, a few of the higher attaining children could do even better in mathematics if they were challenged by harder questions and had more opportunity to set their work out by themselves rather than working on photocopied sheets.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and is enriched by a range of other activities, such as arts week. The key skills of literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology are developed coherently across the curriculum. The curriculum for children with learning difficulties is effective because there are ample opportunities for them to reinforce key skills through practical work and playing games. However, the mathematics curriculum does not provide sufficient challenge to the highest attaining children, particularly in terms of opportunities for using and applying their skills. There is a good range of extra-curricular activities, and there are many opportunities for the children to learn through visits to places of interest. Parents are pleased with the way their children are prepared for the next stage of their education and how the school provides for the children’s introduction to the Reception Class. The curriculum

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Grade: 2

for children in this class is good. There are appropriate opportunities for work and play, and careful thought is given to how and when the children are introduced to the national strategies for literacy and numeracy.

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Grade: 2

The school cares well for the children and provides very effectively for their health and safety. Good child protection procedures are in place. The parents are very pleased with the support given to their children; one parent commented that their child’s ‘confidence has really increased and along with it their independence’. The children feel safe and know that they can turn to any member of staff if they have a worry or concern. The school works well in partnership with external agencies to support pupils who have particular difficulties; consequently these children make good progress towards their targets. Arrangements for the induction of children new to the school are effective; this is particularly important, as the school has a number of children who come and go during the year.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management of the school is good. There has been significant improvement since the previous inspection, when leadership and management was 4 Inspection Report: Albrighton Infant School, 30 November 2005 to 30 November 2005 unsatisfactory. A new headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed since then and their action to address weaknesses has been swift and effective. Standards have risen steadily, the quality of teaching has improved and there is now a clear sense of purposeful teamwork in the school. Subject coordinators contribute well to school improvement by monitoring their subjects and identifying pertinent areas for development. Tracking procedures have been introduced to mark the progress that the children make and targets are set as a consequence. The school has only recently begun to consider the needs of gifted and talented children but further work is planned for this in the near future.

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Grade: 2

The governors show a high level of commitment to their responsibilities and work very hard to help the school achieve its aims. They have a crystal-clear view of the school’s strengths, based on their accurate self-evaluation, and support the staff well. They make an outstanding contribution to many aspects of school life. The headteacher has a really good grasp of what needs to be done to improve the school further and has already identified the need to involve children more in their own assessment. She values the views of parents through regular consultation and makes changes to take account of their wishes, such as the proposed extension to parent evenings. Parents are positive about the school and think that it is well led and managed. The school has a good capacity to continue to improve. 5 Inspection Report: Albrighton Infant School, 30 November 2005 to 30 November 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: Albrighton Infant School, 30 November 2005 to 30 November 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 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 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 2 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 1 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

The Children Albrighton Infant School Newhouse Lane Albrighton Wolverhampton West Midlands WV7 3QS 1 December 2005 Dear Children I have asked Mrs Taylor to read this letter to you to tell you about our visit to your school on November 30th. Can you remember that we came to see all the work that you do and to talk to you and your teachers? We also talked to Mr Beddows and read the questionnaires that your parents filled in. All of this gave us a really good picture of your school, even though we were only there for a day. The first thing that we would like to say is a very big ‘thank you’ to you and to your parents for helping us. We enjoyed talking to you and reading what your parents had to say. We agree with you and your parents that your school is a good place to learn. There are lots of reasons for this, but the main ones that we noticed are: •you learn very well because your teachers work hard and plan interesting things for you to

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

do •you like coming to school and your attendance is better than a lot of other schools •you behave well in lessons, listen hard and pay attention •you help and care for each other and know that you can turn to any of the adults in school if you are worried •you enjoy helping others and play together cooperatively •Mrs Taylor and the governors work very hard to help you all do your best and they know the things that will make the school even better. To help improve your good school we have asked the staff and governors to make sure that some of you are given harder work in mathematics lessons and to make sure that all of you get the chance to talk more about what you are learning. Keep on trying as hard as you can and enjoy your time in your lovely school. Best wishes from Mrs Hamby and Mr Feast

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