Grovelands Primary School

Inspection Report Grovelands Infant School

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125056 Unique Reference Number Surrey LEA LEA 281872 Inspection number 26 June 2006 to 27 June 2006 Inspection dates Ian Wilson AI Reporting inspector

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

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Terrace Road School address Infant Type of school Walton-on-Thames Community School category KT12 2EB 3 to 7 Age range of pupils 01932 227816 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01932 269590 Fax number 308 Number on roll Ms Julie Harnett Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Robert Eyre-Brook Headteacher 15 November 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281872 26 June 2006 - 3 to 7 27 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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Grovelands Infant School is a community infant and nursery school of above average size. Most of the pupils are of White British origin. The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is average, as also is the proportion of pupils with learning difficulties. The school serves a disadvantaged area.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Grovelands Infant School, 26 June 2006 to 27 June 2006

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Grade: 3

Grovelands Infant School provides a satisfactory quality of education for its pupils and provides satisfactory value for money. The main strengths are its friendly ethos and the way it develops its pupils personally. Parents are uniform in their praise for the school's openness and the way the school helps develop their children's self confidence. Many commented on how much their children enjoy coming to school. The quality of teaching and the curriculum are satisfactory and enable pupils to make satisfactory overall progress. Children's knowledge and skills are below average when they start school in the nursery but progress in the Foundation Stage has improved and is now good because of good teaching and children now attain at the expected levels by the end of reception and in Year 1. Attainment at the end of Year 2 is below average, mainly because of pupils' below-average starting points, but higher attaining

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Grade: 3

pupils do not achieve as well as they should, particularly in Year 2 where the teaching is not as strong as in Year 1. Pupils are well looked after but some teachers' judgements of standards are not accurate and arrangements to track pupils' progress are not yet systematic leading to work being set for pupils that is not always sufficiently challenging. Following the last inspection the school did not initially make the progress it should. However, it is, with the support of the local authority, putting in place effective strategies to improve standards and monitor and evaluate the school's effectiveness. These need embedding, and the school development plan has too many priorities with the result that it does not sufficiently focus on improving pupils' progress and raising standards. However, overall the leadership and management of the school are now satisfactory. Leaders have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of

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Grade: 3

the school and self- evaluation is accurate. This, together with a strengthened management team has contributed to the overall satisfactory progress since the last inspection and gives the school a satisfactory capacity to improve further.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the progress of higher attaining pupils in Year 2 • Improve the quality of teaching, particularly in Year 2, so that a much higher proportion of teaching is good • Simplify the school improvement plan so that it contains fewer priorities and is tightly focussed on raising standards • Develop and embed the arrangements for monitoring and evaluating the school's provision and ensure that the assessments made by teachers are accurate.

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Grade: 3

Children start in the nursery with levels of skills and knowledge that are below those expected for their age. The progress that they make in both the nursery and reception 2 Inspection Report: Grovelands Infant School, 26 June 2006 to 27 June 2006 classes has improved from satisfactory to good during the last two years. As result, they are now achieving the goals expected for them by the end of the Foundation Stage. The standards attained by pupils at the end of Year 2 have declined since the last inspection. They have been below average for the past three years and have shown little sign of improvement, with attainment of pupils presently in Year 2 being below average in reading, writing and mathematics. Writing is the weakest area, with very few pupils attaining at higher levels. This below-average attainment arises mainly from pupils' below-average starting points and pupils' overall achievement and progress are satisfactory. Progress is, however,

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Grade: 3

uneven, with better teaching in Year 1 leading to better progress by pupils in this year than in Year 2. Pupils who are given additional support because they have learning difficulties or speak English as an additional language make good progress because of the effective support that they receive. However, some higher attaining pupils underachieve because they are not challenged sufficiently by the work given to them. Pupils currently in Year 1, who benefited from a good start in the Foundation Stage, are attaining at the levels expected for their age.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development is good. Pupils are happy and enjoy school, behave well and have good relationships with each other. They gain confidence and self-esteem as they progress through the school. Attendance is below average but more rigorous follow-up of absences has helped raise levels recently. Pupils accept responsibilities sensibly in class and act as buddies to other pupils. Through collecting for charities, work with elderly local residents and managing their own budget in the school council, pupils become involved in the local community and begin to develop satisfactory skills for their future life. They know about the importance of healthy lifestyles and being safe. They develop satisfactory skills in literacy, numeracy and using information and communications technology (ICT). Pupils' moral and social development is good. They understand the difference between right and wrong and show an awareness of the needs of others both in their own school

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Grade: 2

and beyond. Cultural development is also good and especially valuable is the link to a school in India, which has led to an International Schools Award from the British Council. Through assemblies and lessons pupils develop a sound understanding of other faiths and cultures. The school is aware that pupils' spiritual development is an area requiring further development. 3 Inspection Report: Grovelands Infant School, 26 June 2006 to 27 June 2006

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall and good in the Foundation Stage. Teachers have good relationships with their pupils and they manage their classes well, although in some lessons, they do not always ensure that all pupils are paying attention and pupils sometimes spend too long sitting and listening. Support staff are used well and contribute substantially to helping individuals and groups make progress. Lessons have clear objectives for learning. In the Foundation Stage, there are good opportunities for speaking and listening and good links between English and other areas of the curriculum, which leads to imaginative lessons. In other years, lessons can at times be routine. The weakest aspect of teaching, particularly during Year 2, is the lack of sufficient challenge in the work set for a significant proportion of pupils and this directly affects their achievement. The school has invested in improving the learning environment and learning resources

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Grade: 3

and both of these are now good. Teachers make good use of electronic whiteboards to enhance learning. Assessment procedures are satisfactory. Some marking gives pupils guidance on how to improve and indicates how pupils got on with tasks but in some classes it is mainly an acknowledgement of work done. Teachers' judgements of standards are not always accurate but appropriate training to improve the consistency of judgements is being provided by the school. Pupils have good attitudes to learning and work well together as well as individually. They are well motivated and behave well.

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Grade: 3

The school provides a broad curriculum with a strong emphasis on creativity leading, for example, to good quality work in art. Provision for numeracy and ICT is satisfactory. However, there are insufficient links between literacy and other curriculum areas reducing the opportunities pupils have to develop writing skills. The curriculum meets the needs of pupils with learning difficulties well through a combination of effective in-class support and well-targeted teaching in smaller groups. It meets the needs of higher attaining pupils less well as they are insufficiently challenged. Provision for pupils' personal development is good. It includes good opportunities for pupils to take responsibility, learn about safety and healthy lifestyles, be involved in the community and collaborate together, for example by taking part in a range of school performances. 4 Inspection Report: Grovelands Infant School, 26 June 2006 to 27 June 2006

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is enhanced by a good range of extra-curricular activities in which many pupils participate and through the use of visitors and visits. Swimming lessons enhance the physical education curriculum.

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Grade: 3

Pupils are known well by the school. They settle in well when they start in the Nursery and throughout the school feel safe and free from bullying. 'Caring people here' and 'teachers really nice' were typical pupil comments. This contributes strongly to the positive attitudes that they have about school. Arrangements for child protection and identifying at risk pupils are secure. Adults who work in the school have received the appropriate police checks. Procedures for the administration of medicines, dealing with injuries and recording accidents are good. Risk assessments are carried out appropriately. Systematic arrangements to track pupils' attainment and use the information to target support are being developed, but are not yet fully in place. Pupils have individual targets in English and mathematics and whilst they know their English targets their use is not sufficiently well embedded for them to be having a significant impact on

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Grade: 3

their progress. The targets themselves do not always make it clear what they have to do to improve. There are effective arrangements to support pupils' transition to junior schools.

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Grade: 3

The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory. The headteacher has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and the school runs smoothly on a day-to-day basis. With the support of the local authority, action is being taken to improve pupils' progress and raise standards. Improvements in children's performance in the nursery and reception classes are evident, but the work of the senior management team and of subject managers is only just starting to have an impact on pupils' progress elsewhere. Some of the areas raised in the last inspection have been addressed successfully but overall improvement has been limited. Recent appointments have strengthened the senior management team and the schools capacity for further improvement is now satisfactory. Systematic arrangements for monitoring and evaluation, including the tracking of pupils' progress, are being established. They have led to some improvement in the

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Grade: 3

work of the school but they need embedding and the outcomes more rigorously acted upon. The school improvement plan is too lengthy and does not give sufficient focus to the crucial issue of raising standards in English and mathematics. The school aims to meet the needs of all pupils but is not always successful, particularly for higher attaining pupils. The partnership with governors is satisfactory and they are developing 5 Inspection Report: Grovelands Infant School, 26 June 2006 to 27 June 2006 their roles as critical friends who challenge the headteacher and evaluate the school's performance. There are strong links with parents and the local community and they are consulted on decision making. The school provides satisfactory value for money. 6 Inspection Report: Grovelands Infant School, 26 June 2006 to 27 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. 7 Inspection Report: Grovelands Infant School, 26 June 2006 to 27 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 3 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 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 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 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 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 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

Pupils You may remember that three inspectors recently came to visit your school. We really enjoyed our visit and meeting you, your teachers and other people who work in the school. We are writing to let you know what we found out. We think that you are well looked after and feel safe. We know that you enjoy your school and are proud of it. You behave very well and, importantly, get on well together. You learn well in the nursery and reception. You have good opportunities to be involved in the school, for example, through your work in the school council on improving the playground. There are interesting things for you to do outside of lessons. We do think though that your school can improve in quite a few ways and made four suggestions to help the school do this. These were to: make sure that all of you learn as much as you can in Years 1 and 2; make some of your teaching better and more interesting; plan improvements

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

better and lastly check frequently on how you are progressing. Yours sincerely Ian Wilson Lead Inspector

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