Shottery St Andrew's CofE Primary School

Inspection Report Shottery St Andrew's CofE Primary School

p.1

125646 Unique Reference Number Warwickshire LEA 281973 Inspection number 23 February 2006 to 23 February 2006 Inspection dates Malcolm Greenhalgh AI Reporting inspector

p.1

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

p.1

Hathaway Lane School address Primary Type of school Stratford-upon-Avon Voluntary aided School category Warwickshire CV37 9BL 7 to 11 Age range of pupils 01789 551508 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01789 551509 Fax number 68 Number on roll Mrs Kay Sillitoe Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Sarah Marshall Headteacher 27 September 1999 Date of previous inspection

p.1

Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281973 23 February 2006 - 7 to 11 23 February 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

p.3

Description of the school

The school is smaller than most schools. Pupils abilities are broadly average on entry to the school. The large majority are White British. There are a few pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and nearly all speak English fluently. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is above the national average.

p.3

Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Shottery St Andrew's CofE Primary School, 23 February 2006 to 23 February 2006

p.3

Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school that has a sound view of how to improve further. This matches the school’s judgement of its overall effectiveness. Progress since the last inspection is satisfactory and all the issues identified then have been dealt with effectively. Pupils make satisfactory progress and their personal development is good. Standards are in line with national expectations at the end of the Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The atmosphere around the school is calm and promotes good relationships and good attitudes to learning. The pupils feel safe and cared for. All members of staff know pupils well and provide additional and effective support where needed. The quality of teaching throughout the school is satisfactory. A strength is the way teachers and teaching assistants focus on what they expect different groups of pupils in their mixed age and mixed ability classes to learn. However, they do not

p.4

Grade: 3

always share with the pupils what it is they need to learn next to make good progress. The quality of the curriculum is good. It covers all requirements and is enhanced through links with the local authority’s cultural service, the Royal Shakespeare Company and through a good range of additional activities at lunchtimes and after school. The quality of provision in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory. Leadership and management are satisfactory. All members of staff and the governing body work well as a team and are involved with school improvement. They contribute well to the key areas for improvement as identified in the school development plan, although the role of governors does not extend to challenging the school’s judgements of itself. The school is quite rightly keen to develop more rigorous assessment and selfevaluation systems to ensure they have a better picture of how well pupils are doing and can help to

p.4

Grade: 3

ensure pupils make good progress. Overall, the school provides satisfactory value for money.

p.4

What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the rate of learning by giving pupils clear guidance about what they need to learn next. • Implement more rigorous assessment procedures to give a clearer picture of how well pupils achieve. • Ensure governors are fully involved in their role as critical friends.

p.4

Grade: 3

Pupils’ attaintment on entry to the school is broadly average and they make satisfactory progress. Standards are generally in line with the national expectation at the end of each key stage, although in 2005, standards in English at the end of Key Stage 2 were exceptionally high compared to the national average. Appropriately challenging targets for pupils meeting Level 4 and Level 5 were exceeded in English. In mathematics, they were exceeded at Level 5 but not met at Level 4. Standards in the tests at the end of Key Stage 1 in 2005 fell to below average for reading, writing and mathematics. However, the progress these pupils made was satisfactory when taking into account 2 Inspection Report: Shottery St Andrew's CofE Primary School, 23 February 2006 to 23 February 2006 their below average starting points. Pupils do not always have enough information about what they need to do to improve and this occasionally impacts on the pace of

p.4

Grade: 3

their learning. Effective additional support is given to boost the achievement of pupils who are finding work difficult and those with learning difficulties to ensure they make satisfactory progress. In addition to this, the support for the few pupils at the early stages of learning English ensures they are well catered for and make good progress in their English language acquisition.

p.5

Grade: 2

Personal development and well-being are good. Although attendance levels dropped last year they have generally been above the national average. The atmosphere around the school is calm and encourages the pupils’ good relationships, behaviour and attitudes to learning. The pupils’ spiritual development is good and is enhanced through the school’s close relationship with the church and in assemblies. The pupils also have a good understanding of the arts and the influences of multicultural views and beliefs. The school council is proactive in how the school improves and is very supportive of what the school does for the pupils to ensure they are happy and work well. The council also leads the way so that pupils become involved in projects to raise awareness of the needs of those living in countries worse off than our own. The school has a strong focus on healthy lifestyles and being safe. Pupils respond well to this by thinking

p.5

Grade: 2

carefully about how they live their own lives. The school has a sound focus on information and communication technology and team building skills. Pupils’ basic skills of literacy and numeracy are satisfactory.

p.5

Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. All teaching and support staff have a keen enthusiasm to improve and make learning better for the pupils. They work hard to ensure the work matches the range of ages and abilities of pupils in their classes and are beginning to develop good practices to involve the pupils more in knowing what they need to learn next. However, this is not yet well established in all lessons and is a key factor in why progress is often satisfactory rather than good. Pupils respond well to the teachers and assistants and are interested in their work. They work equally well in small groups or as a whole class. The overall judgement on teaching and learning is different to that made by the school because the school does not put enough weight on the impact the teaching has on learning. 3 Inspection Report: Shottery St Andrew's CofE Primary School, 23 February 2006 to 23 February 2006

p.5

Grade: 2

The curriculum the school provides for its pupils is good. It has improved since the last inspection when insufficient time was allocated to lessons and when the provision for personal, social and health education needed further development. The school plans the curriculum carefully to meet the needs of the different ages in each class, including the Foundation Stage. It also ensures that the basic curriculum is supplemented by a good range of popular additional activities offered to the pupils during lunchtimes and after school. As well as providing a sound coverage of basic literacy and numeracy skills, there is a strong emphasis on developing the arts. There are effective links with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the local authority’s inter-cultural service that enhance the teaching of the arts. The award of a Gold Artsmark is good testimony to the school’s commitment to this.

p.6

Grade: 2

The school provides good care, guidance and support for individual pupils’ personal development. Provision for assessing the pupils’ academic development is satisfactory and improving although the school recognises that more work is needed. The recently implemented assessment procedures in the Foundation Stage ensure a good link between the Foundation Stage expectations and those of the National Curriculum. Much emphasis is placed on health and safety and child protection procedures to ensure the pupils feel safe and secure. As a result, the pupils are confident and articulate. Members of staff know their pupils well and good additional support is given to those who are in need of extra help to ensure they make at least satisfactory progress. The ‘family’ assemblies are a good example of how the school emphasises the Christian faith and how this can be used to guide the way pupils behave in everyday

p.6

Grade: 2

life. These assemblies are well attended by parents and carers and underline the importance of family values.

p.6

Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher ensures there is a good team spirit amongst the small group of teachers, other staff and governors. This has instilled a sense of community and a consistently positive and supportive atmosphere around the school. This has helped the school to make reasonable progress since the last inspection and has ensured it is in a satsfactory position to improve further. The school’s improvement planning is sound and the school development plan provides clarity on what the school wants to improve next. The school quite rightly assessed that the key management area for development is the system for collecting and analysing the information about the progress pupils make. At present, it is not robust enough to provide a precise view of whether pupils make satisfactory or better progress. All teachers are involved in contributing to how the school improves and the governors

p.6

Grade: 3

4 Inspection Report: Shottery St Andrew's CofE Primary School, 23 February 2006 to 23 February 2006 are very supportive of this work. Nevertheless, the governors do not sufficiently challenge the headteacher and staff to ensure the judgements the school has come to about its work are accurate. Parents and pupils are much involved in the process of improvement and their views are regularly sought and acted upon. The school council is a particularly active group of pupils who articulate their opinions and desires very well. The budget is well managed. Good use is made of all resources and there are good financial links with the key priorities for development. 5 Inspection Report: Shottery St Andrew's CofE Primary School, 23 February 2006 to 23 February 2006 .

p.6

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Shottery St Andrew's CofE Primary School, 23 February 2006 to 23 February 2006

p.8

Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

p.9

learners?

NA 3 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 3 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

p.9

Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

p.9

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

p.9

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 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

p.9

needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

p.9

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.

p.9

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

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Dear Children It was a pleasure for us to spend time with you during the inspection. You made us feel very welcome and this helped us to do our job. A special thank you to the school council who spent some of their lunchtime telling us how they felt about school and others that we spoke to as we came to classes and walked around the school. We feel that you are lucky to attend a school where everybody works very hard to make your time in school an enjoyable experience. What we liked best • The way you enjoy your work and the relationships you have with each other • The way the staff ensure you are safe and the support they give you, especially when you need more help and guidance • The number of opportunities you have to learn different things whilst you are in school • The work you do in the art, dance and drama. What the school can do next • Improve how well teachers share with you what they want you to learn

p.11

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

next • Develop better ways of identifying how well all pupils are doing • Make sure the governors are fully involved in judging how well the school is doing. We wish you every success in the future. Yours sincerely Malcolm Greenhalgh Lead inspector

p.11