St Lawrence CofE (Aided) Primary School

125168 Unique Reference Number Surrey LEA LEA 281905 Inspection number 14 March 2006 to 15 March 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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Bagshot Road School address Primary Type of school Chobham Voluntary aided School category Woking GU24 8AB 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01276 858336 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01276 858366 Fax number 184 Number on roll Lady G Randall Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs L Masterson (Acting) Headteacher 31 January 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281905 14 March 2006 - 4 to 11 15 March 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

This is a small primary school in the village of Chobham. The majority of pupils are of White British heritage with other pupils from a range of ethnic heritages. Approximately 10 per cent of pupils are of Traveller or Gypsy Roma heritage. Over a quarter of pupils have learning difficulties and disabilities, which is above average. More pupils are eligible for free school meals than the national average. A number of pupils are in year groups below their chronological age including 3 pupils in the current Year 6. The school is currently led by an acting headteacher due to the absence of the headteacher.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Chobham St Lawrence CofE Aided Primary School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 2006

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Grade: 3

Inspectors agree that the school provides a satisfactory quality of education and value for money. Children in the Foundation Stage get a good start to their education. They make good progress and achieve the expected goals for their age. Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall and often good in English and mathematics. This means that pupils make sound progress in Years 1 to 6 and reach expected standards by the end of their time at school. Pupils enjoy learning and the broad curriculum which includes a range of additional experiences such as residential trips and other visits. Although parents agree that their children enjoy school, this is not reflected in pupils' attendance which is below average. The school is inclusive and pupils from a wide variety of backgrounds join the school with a range of different strengths and needs. Pupils generally get along well and enjoy the opportunities they have to learn and play together. The school provides

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Grade: 3

appropriate care and support for their differing needs. The school's leadership and management have set a clear direction to the school's work and have introduced a number of changes to improve achievement and the progress pupils make. These changes have not yet been fully evaluated nor communicated well enough to parents. As a result, many parents feel that the school does not take full account of their concerns. The school has successfully addressed all the issues from the previous inspection and has improved the teaching and learning of English and mathematics. These successes indicate that, despite the current uncertainty, the school has the capacity to make further improvements.

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What the school should do to improve further

* Improve communication with parents * Improve attendance so that pupils benefit fully from the education that the school provides * Evaluate the impact of changes in provision for pupils

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Grade: 3

When the pupils first join the school at four years of age, standards are similar to those found in most schools nationally. They make good progress in the reception year in all areas of learning and reach the expected learning goals with a good proportion of the children exceeding these. In the rest of the school, all pupils make satisfactory progress. Pupils reach average standards in English, mathematics and science. The 2005 national test results for Year 2 and Year 6 pupils were better than the previous year, although in English there was a slight decline in Year 6 because too few attained higher levels in writing. Most pupils reached their targets and the school is improving 2 Inspection Report: Chobham St Lawrence CofE Aided Primary School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 writing standards by focussing on this aspect of the pupils' English work. The school has identified writing as in need of further improvement and the teaching seen shows

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Grade: 3

this to be effective. English targets for Year 6 are higher this year and the pupils look to be on course to achieve these. Pupils with special educational needs and those with learning difficulties achieve satisfactorily because they receive appropriate support and their individual targets are monitored closely. There are no significant differences in the attainment of pupils from different ethnic groups.

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Grade: 3

Personal development and well-being are satisfactory. Pupils enjoy school but attendance rates do not reflect this as they are unsatisfactory. Behaviour is satisfactory. School rules are clear and pupils know how to react to bad behaviour and the few instances of bullying. Pupils benefit from the good links the school has with the local church as this provides opportunities for spiritual experiences. They learn to value differences through opportunities they have to celebrate some of the cultures represented in the school as well as learning about other religions and countries. As a result, they make satisfactory progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils have a good understanding of the importance of eating healthily and of exercising regularly. They particularly enjoy opportunities they have to take part in weekly 'fun games' or tasting unfamiliar vegetables and fruit as part of a healthy eating

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Grade: 3

week. They develop a good sense of fair play and enjoy refereeing football and basketball games or acting as playground buddies to help younger pupils to cope with concerns or worries. Pupils say they have some responsibilities and that the staff involve them in some decisions but there is no formal arrangement to seek their varied views, such as a school council. Pupils use basic skills, including information and communication technology (ICT) skills, adequately to prepare them for future life.

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Grade: 3

Teaching is good in the Foundation Stage and pupils make good progress. They have good opportunities to learn from well planned activities and enjoy sharing their experiences with others. Inspectors agree with the school that teaching and learning are satisfactory overall. Teachers clearly identify the behaviour they expect and what pupils are expected to learn. As a result pupils behave well, enjoy lessons and make satisfactory progress leading one pupil to comment that 'learning is the best thing about school'. 3 Inspection Report: Chobham St Lawrence CofE Aided Primary School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 Frequent assessments are used to track pupils' progress and performance and this is helping teachers to plan a variety of activities which cater well for pupils' different starting points. Support staff work with small groups of pupils in lessons to ensure that all pupils participate fully and make satisfactory progress. For example, in one

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Grade: 3

year 3 lesson, small groups of pupils worked enthusiastically with teaching assistants to try out practically what they later represented in a diagram. This is particularly helpful for learners who have learning difficulties and disabilities. Teachers are confident and use resources and questions well to capture pupils' interest, particularly in English and mathematics. In the best lessons, pupils have good opportunities to learn from each other by discussing their ideas in pairs or by assessing their own progress. However this does not yet happen consistently across the school and across subjects.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory and enables pupils to make satisfactory progress. Teachers across the school plan well to make sure they provide activities which will meet the needs of all pupils, particularly in English and mathematics. Links are made between subjects so that pupils have opportunities to practise and improve their reading, mathematical and ICT skills in other subjects. However, the school has recognised that it needs to give pupils more opportunities to apply their writing skills to a wide range of tasks. School clubs, trips and visitors to the school, provide opportunities to take part in a range of enjoyable activities. The curriculum contributes well to pupils' personal and social development. For example, older pupils said they enjoyed listening to Year 1 pupils telling them about their visit to a 'Victorian' school.

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Grade: 3

Procedures to protect and support pupils are satisfactory. The school works with a range of specialist agencies to ensure that all pupils make satisfactory progress. Specialist agencies also help the school support the achievement of pupils from Traveller and Roma Gypsy heritage. Staff improve the behaviour of pupils who have emotional and behavioural difficulties and deal effectively with incidents where behaviour is inappropriate. Assessments are used to track pupils' progress and performance and this is helping teachers to focus additional support and ensure that activities in lessons are appropriate. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities benefit from support from teaching assistants and specialist teachers enabling them to work towards their individual targets. The school has recently focussed this support on improving the progress of these pupils through whole class lessons and is evaluating the impact of this change.

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Grade: 3

Governors and staff carry out systematic risk assessments and health and safety checks to protect children. The school takes care to support children who are more vulnerable. 4 Inspection Report: Chobham St Lawrence CofE Aided Primary School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 2006 However, some pupils are being taught in younger classes as a result of spending additional time in year groups early on in their time at the school. This is not always appropriate to meet their personal, social and learning needs. The school is successfully addressing their placement in appropriate year groups. This should in turn ensure that all pupils take national tests in the correct year in the future.

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Grade: 3

The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory which tallies with the school's own evaluation. The school runs smoothly, finance is adequately managed and resources are appropriately deployed. The acting headteacher provides clear direction which is focussed on improving standards. The governors are supportive and are beginning to assume more responsibility for evaluating the school's strengths and weaknesses. However, the evaluations of the impact of some initiatives are at early stages and the evaluation of the school's strengths and weaknesses does not yet include the perspectives of parents and pupils. A number of changes have been made with support from the local authority which are beginning to have an impact on the achievement of pupils. For example, subject co-ordinators and other staff have worked successfully to monitor teaching and planning in English and mathematics. As a result, the teaching of these subjects is

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Grade: 3

often good and the standards which pupils achieve have risen. The success of such initiatives indicates that the school has the capacity to improve. The rapid pace of change at a difficult time for the school has unsettled many parents, particularly where the reasons for such changes are not always clearly explained. This means that a significant number of parents feel that communication is inadequate and their views are not valued. A typical parent comment is that 'Changes could have been handled more sensitively by keeping the parents informed and 'on board'.' 5 Inspection Report: Chobham St Lawrence CofE Aided Primary School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 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: Chobham St Lawrence CofE Aided Primary School, 14 March 2006 to 15 March 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 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 3 The behaviour of learners NA 4 The attendance of learners NA 3 How well learners enjoy their education NA 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 3 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 This letter is to thank you for welcoming us to your school recently, for taking time to talk to us about your school and your work and to let you know what we found out. You get a good start to the school in the reception class. In all years, your teachers work hard to make sure that all of you do as well as you can. They have been thinking hard about how they teach English and mathematics which is perhaps why so many of you told us you like your maths lessons. You have lots of different opportunities to learn which you told us you enjoy, especially the opportunities you have to do different things like visits or 'fun games'. You told us that you get along well with each other most of the time and we saw that in lessons you worked really hard. Your parents, your acting headteacher, teachers, and governors are all keen to make sure that you learn, do well and enjoy your time at school. You will have noticed that the adults in the

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

school have made quite a lot of changes recently. Changes can be worrying so we have asked them to make sure that they explain any changes very well to your parents. We have also asked them to keep checking that these changes help you to do the best you can, which is what they and your parents want. You can help too by making sure that you come to school every day. We are sure you will. With best wishes, Nicola Davies Lead Inspector

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