Manby Lodge Infant School

Inspection Report Manby Lodge Infant School

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125075 Unique Reference Number Surrey LEA LEA 281876 Inspection number 11 May 2006 to 12 May 2006 Inspection dates Margaret Coussins AI Reporting inspector

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

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Princes Road School address Infant Type of school Weybridge Community School category KT13 9DA 5 to 7 Age range of pupils 01932 851848 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01932 855035 Fax number 161 Number on roll Mrs Marion Pidgeon Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Miss Claire Witham Headteacher 12 January 2004 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281876 11 May 2006 - 5 to 7 12 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 two Additional Inspectors

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Description of the school

Manby Lodge is a two-form entry Infant School. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is much lower than average as is the percentage with learning difficulties or disabilities. The majority of pupils are of White British origin. Six pupils are the early stage of learning English. The school has Investors in People and Healthy schools Awards. At the last inspection the school was deemed to have serious weaknesses.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Manby Lodge Infant School, 11 May 2006 to 12 May 2006

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Grade: 2

Manby Lodge Infants is a good school and the school's previous designation as having serious weaknesses no longer applies. The school was cautious in evaluating its overall effectiveness and leadership and management as satisfactory. These areas are judged to be good by the inspectors. The school provides good value for money. The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage are good and by the end of the reception year, almost all pupils achieve the expected levels and many do even better. Systems to check that children have a balance of experiences in all areas of learning are not rigorous enough. Pupils make good progress throughout the school so that by the time they leave at the end of Year 2, standards are above average. Teaching is good, and effective assessment procedures are in place. However, on occasion, the level of challenge for the more able pupils is inconsistent from class to class. Pupils really enjoy coming to

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Grade: 2

school, they are confident and articulate and good provision is made for their personal development and well-being. The school is well led and managed. The headteacher, her deputy and the governors are fully aware of the strengths of the school and the areas for development. The headteacher, the leadership team and governors have worked together well to lead the drive to raise standards and have demonstrated that challenging targets are attainable. There has been good improvement since the last inspection and there is good capacity to make further improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Provide a consistent level of challenge for more able pupils • Ensure each child in the Foundation Stage receives a balance of experience in all areas of learning

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Grade: 2

Achievement and standards are good and have improved since the last inspection. Standards have risen as a result of good teaching and because pupils' progress is carefully monitored and challenging targets are met. Children start school in the Foundation Stage with above average abilities. They make good progress and the vast majority of children meet, and many exceed the standards expected by the end of the Reception Year. By the end of Year 2 standards are significantly above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. This represents good achievement for pupils of all abilities. By the time they leave the school, most pupils achieve higher levels of attainment than expected for their age. In some lessons, more able pupils are not given enough challenge in their work and on these occasions they do not always achieve as well as they could. Standards in science have improved because of the

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Grade: 2

stronger focus on learning through investigation. In information and communication technology (ICT), pupils' skills are improving as they use computers more frequently. 2 Inspection Report: Manby Lodge Infant School, 11 May 2006 to 12 May 2006

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Grade: 2

Pupils are confident and articulate and behave very well. They have very good attitudes to school as reflected in their good attendance and their enjoyment of school, which is outstanding. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are good. Assemblies celebrate good work and achievement. The school council took an active part in an assembly to introduce its work on becoming an eco-friendly school and talked about how important this was to the community. Pupils know about the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle. One pupil remarked, 'If we play lots of games and run around we won't get poorly or fat.' Pupils feel proud of their school and safe and secure within it, confident that there is someone to go to if they have a problem. They are caring and considerate of each other at work and play. The Buddy System is valued highly, one Buddy explaining, 'Her face looked very down and she looked sad so I went

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Grade: 2

to see if she was alright.' Pupils' good level of basic skills prepares them well for later life.

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching and learning is good, as demonstrated by the pupils' good progress and the standards they achieve by the time they leave. Foundation Stage activities are planned well and effectively develop children's confidence and independence. However, systems for checking that reception children experience a balance of activities in all areas of learning are not rigorous enough. In Years 1 and 2, lessons are interesting and relevant to pupils' lives and provide them with many opportunities to use their literacy and numeracy skills. Pupils enjoy their learning. Skilful and challenging questioning promotes their independent thinking. On occasion, however, the level of challenge is not high enough for the more able pupils. Teachers use a wide range of procedures to assess pupils' attainment and record their progress. They set targets for all pupils and involve them in evaluating their own progress. For example, teachers are making very good use of 'traffic lights' and 'thumbs

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Grade: 2

up' systems to help pupils check their own progress.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and promotes pupils' enjoyment and enthusiasm for learning. The curriculum is planned well to meet the needs of all pupils and is enriched by a good range of clubs. Developments to the curriculum to link subjects together are successful in making learning relevant and fun for pupils, for example, using stories as a starting point for work in science. The Foundation Stage curriculum achieves a good balance between structured learning and play activities with suitable emphasis 3 Inspection Report: Manby Lodge Infant School, 11 May 2006 to 12 May 2006 on the development of literacy and numeracy skills. However, teachers need to ensure that children experience all the activities offered. Teachers make very effective use of the outdoor area and the indoor space to provide a good range of activities. Curriculum provision for ICT has improved since the last inspection with the new ICT suite and

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Grade: 2

the use of interactive whiteboards. The curriculum is enriched by a variety of visitors to school and a good range of well-planned visits which link to topics, such as the visit to the Guildford Victorian schoolroom, and Esher Common for pond dipping.

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Grade: 2

The quality of care, guidance and support is good and the school safeguards its pupils well. They trust staff and feel they can talk to them if they have a problem. There are many initiatives which promote health and safety issues successfully, including the Golden Boot Challenge, which encourages walking to school. Child protection and welfare arrangements are thorough and staff training is up to date. Pupils with learning difficulties and those whose first language is not English are supported well. There are good systems for tracking pupils' progress and staff use assessment well to identify individual pupils' needs, except for more able pupils in some lessons, which is an improvement since the last inspection. Pupils know their individual targets well and this contributes to their good progress, particularly in English and mathematics. Targets are set to help children achieve academic success and become effective, independent

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The headteacher, senior leaders and governors, supported by the local authority, have been successful in responding to the issues raised at the last inspection and the school has improved significantly. The pace and clear direction for school improvement has been led and managed well by the headteacher. As a result standards have improved. The school has a clear idea of what its strengths and priorities are despite being cautious in some of the judgements of its own success. The deputy headteacher and other leaders are effective in raising standards through monitoring, and influencing their colleagues with guidance and support. The school's ethos successfully encourages pupils' good personal development and well-being and their enjoyment and enthusiasm for learning. Pupils' performance is regularly and carefully tracked. Parents are generally happy with the school and feel

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Grade: 2

strongly that their children enjoy coming to school. The school has taken effective action to deal with unexpected and ongoing long-term sick leave of a member of staff. This has been managed well by leaders. However, they recognise the need to communicate more regularly and fully with parents to address their concerns and to demonstrate that this situation is not having an adverse effect on their children's progress. The quality of governance is good. The restructuring of the governing body has resulted in a tighter focus for governor visits and monitoring. The governing body fulfils its supportive and critical role as well as its statutory responsibilities. 4 Inspection Report: Manby Lodge Infant School, 11 May 2006 to 12 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. 5 Inspection Report: Manby Lodge Infant School, 11 May 2006 to 12 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 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 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 NA 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 I am writing to let you know how much we enjoyed our visit to your school. Thank you all for making us so welcome and for helping us. These are the important things we want you to know.* we think Manby Lodge is a good school* we know you enjoy coming to school because many of you told us this and your parents think so too* we believe that everyone in your school takes good care of you and you get on very well with each other * you told us that you feel safe and know that there is always someone to talk to if you have a problem * we think teachers make your lessons interesting and you all do well * your behaviour is very good in lessons and around the school* the headteacher, teachers and everyone else who helps you in school have done a good job in improving the school since it was last inspected. These are the things that we think could be better * teachers should keep a better check on the activities you choose to do in the reception classes to make sure you do not miss out on

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

anything* the work that some of you do does not always make you think hard enough and teachers should give you more challenges. Thank you again for being so helpful and friendly when we came to see you. Good luck with your work to become an eco-friendly school. Best wishes Margaret Coussins Lead Inspector

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