St John the Baptist CofE Primary School

Inspection Report St John The Baptist C of E Aided Primary School

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126027 Unique Reference Number West Sussex LEA 282045 Inspection number 7 June 2006 to 7 June 2006 Inspection dates Mike Capper AI Reporting inspector

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

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School Hill School address Primary Type of school Findon Voluntary aided School category West Sussex BN14 0TR 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01903 873072 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01903 877205 Fax number 136 Number on roll Mr D Tomalin Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Richard Yelland Headteacher 5 June 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 282045 7 June 2006 - 4 to 11 7 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This small rural primary school takes pupils from the local village as well as surrounding areas. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is well below average and there is a below average number of pupils identified as having learning difficulties.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: St John The Baptist C of E Aided Primary School, 7 June 2006 to 7 June 2006

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school, with good features. Members of staff are particularly good at promoting pupils’ personal development. Pupils are well cared for and they behave well. They are confident and articulate and enjoy the many interesting activities that the school provides outside lessons. Pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching are satisfactory. Provision in the Reception class is satisfactory. Children start school with standards a little above those usually found. They make satisfactory progress and by the start of Year 1, standards are above those found nationally. The standards attained in the current Year 6 are above average and throughout the school pupils make satisfactory progress in most subjects. Pupils make good progress in reading but in science, where standards are only average, there is some underachievement, especially amongst the most able. This is because teachers do not always expect enough of pupils and there

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Grade: 3

are too few opportunities for pupils to take responsibility for their learning by applying their scientific knowledge in experiments. Teachers get on well with pupils and plan work that usually meets differing needs. However, they sometimes accept work that is poorly presented. Leadership and management are satisfactory. Senior managers have an accurate view of the school’s effectiveness. They realise that more needs to be done to raise achievement, and they have made a good start in doing this, especially in writing where there has been a significant rise in standards over the last year. Checks on teaching are systematic, but have not fully ironed out inconsistencies in teaching. This is because aspects of teaching that are identified as needing improvement are not always followed up with sufficient rigour. Nevertheless, weaknesses from the last inspection have been dealt with. The headteacher and deputy headteacher have high aspirations for the

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Grade: 3

school and there is a strong commitment to ensuring that recent improvements are built on. Consequently, the school is in a good position to improve further. The school provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

Improve standards in science by ensuring that there is always enough challenge for pupils, especially the more able and by giving pupils more opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning. Improve the presentation of work by ensuring that all teachers have consistently high expectations. Improve the quality of teaching by continuing to monitor lessons and ensuring that any areas for development are rigorously followed up.

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Grade: 3

Standards are above average and pupils’ achievement is satisfactory. By the start of Year 1, standards are above those found nationally, with children in the current 2 Inspection Report: St John The Baptist C of E Aided Primary School, 7 June 2006 to 7 June 2006 Reception year making satisfactory progress from their above average starting points. Standards are especially high in personal, social and emotional development and in reading. Despite broadly average national test results at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 in 2005 overall standards are higher than often found. This is because recent initiatives to improve attainment are beginning to take effect. In both the current Year 2 and Year 6, standards are above average in English and mathematics and are average in science. For several years, standards have been much higher in reading than in writing. Over the last two years, senior managers have focused on improving pupils’

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Grade: 3

writing and this has resulted in better quality writing throughout the school. As a result, the proportion of pupils currently reaching above average levels in writing at the end of Year 2 has increased significantly. All pupils, including those with learning difficulties, make satisfactory overall progress in Years 1 to 6. A scrutiny of pupils’ work shows that pupils’ progress is now more consistent across the school than in the past, with pupils in Years 1 to 3 in particular benefiting from being taught in single age classes for both numeracy and literacy lessons. This has had a good impact on the progress of younger pupils. Throughout the school, pupils make good progress in reading. However, progress continues to be too slow in science because there is not always enough challenge, especially for more able pupils. The school sets realistic targets for pupils’ attainment by the end of Year 6 and these were fully met in 2005.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ personal development and well-being are good. Pupils’ behaviour has improved significantly over the last three years and is now good. Pupils have good attitudes towards learning. They enjoy coming to school and attendance has improved since the last inspection and is now very high. Pupils are good at organising activities such as chess and reading clubs, but have fewer opportunities to do things for themselves in lessons, particularly in science. For example, a group of pupils from different year groups said they did not enjoy science because they ‘just had to write things down and not find out for themselves’. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils understand the difference between right and wrong. They get on well together and are sociable and articulate. They enjoy taking responsibility and the school council represents the pupils well. Pupils make a good contribution to the local community particularly through

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Grade: 2

their close involvement with the church and with village events. Pupils feel safe at school and understand how to stay safe and healthy. They talk very positively about the ‘Grow it, Cook it’ project, explaining how it has taught them about healthy food and caring for the environment. Pupils’ good basic skills and their good self-confidence prepare them well for later life. 3 Inspection Report: St John The Baptist C of E Aided Primary School, 7 June 2006 to 7 June 2006

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. In the Reception class, pupils make good progress in developing personal and social skills because the teacher expects a lot of the children and helps them to become independent. Throughout the school, teachers plan work carefully and provide work that generally builds on what pupils already know. However, on occasions teaching is not challenging enough and teachers do not always do enough to encourage pupils to take responsibility for their own learning. This has the greatest impact in science, where more able pupils in particular, do not get enough opportunities to apply their scientific knowledge to their own investigations or experiments. All members of staff have good relationships with pupils. Teachers have good expectations of how well pupils should behave but some do not do enough to make sure that work is neat and tidy. This leads to the work of some

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Grade: 3

older pupils being poorly presented. Teachers mark pupils’ work conscientiously and, increasingly, are adding comments or setting targets that help pupils to improve their work. This is a recent improvement that addresses a weakness from the last inspection. Interactive white boards make a positive contribution to learning, helping teachers to quickly introduce and explain new ideas. Teaching assistants provide good support particularly when working with small groups of pupils.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory. It is enriched by a good range of additional activities that support learning both inside and outside the classroom. Throughout the school, there is a clear focus on developing basic skills and the curriculum supports pupils’ personal development well. For example, pupils plant, grow and cook some of their own food, supported by experts from the Royal Horticultural Society and this helps them to learn about healthy lifestyles. A weakness in the curriculum is that although children are taught to be independent in the Reception class, this is not taken forward and does not develop well enough in the rest of the school. There is a good range of well attended clubs. A good number of visits and visitors help to make learning interesting. For example, visits from the fire brigade teach pupils how to stay safe.

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support for pupils are good. Pupils feel that they are looked after well, and their parents agree. Child protection and welfare arrangements are thorough and the school works well with outside agencies and a ‘family link’ worker to safeguard pupils’ well-being. Personal guidance and academic support are good because staff generally use assessment information well to meet individual pupils’ needs, including those with learning difficulties. This is most effective in English and mathematics. In 4 Inspection Report: St John The Baptist C of E Aided Primary School, 7 June 2006 to 7 June 2006 science, more remains to be done to ensure that information about how well pupils are doing is used to plan consistently challenging work. There are good systems in place to support children when they start in the Reception year. Consequently, children settle well into the routines of school life. The buddy system where pupils support

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Grade: 2

each other is particularly effective and welcomed by older and younger pupils. There is good liaison with the local secondary school, promoting a smooth transition for pupils at the end of Year 6.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher and deputy headteacher work together well and there have been many good recent initiatives that have helped to improve the school. A good example of this is the way that the senior managers have tackled the underachievement of some pupils in writing so that progress is now more even across the school and standards have gone up. The role of subject co-ordinators has been significantly developed in the last year and subject leadership is now satisfactory. As they develop their skills and confidence, subject co-ordinators are taking a far more active lead in their subjects. There are satisfactory systems for evaluating the work of the school. Parents and pupils are regularly consulted and play an active part in planning for school improvement. The use of test data has improved and senior managers are now beginning to use this information rigorously to identify and support pupils who could

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Grade: 3

be doing better. The monitoring of teaching is systematic and there is a clear understanding of what needs improving, especially in science. However, there is still more to do to make sure teachers’ expectations are high enough in all subjects. This is because aspects of teaching that are identified as needing improvement are not always followed up with sufficient rigour. Governance is satisfactory. Governors are supportive but they are sometimes over-reliant on the headteacher for information. This makes it difficult for them to hold the school to account. Nevertheless, weaknesses from the last inspection have been dealt with. The school is improving quickly and is in a good position to improve further. 5 Inspection Report: St John The Baptist C of E Aided Primary School, 7 June 2006 to 7 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. 6 Inspection Report: St John The Baptist C of E Aided Primary School, 7 June 2006 to 7 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 2 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

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 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 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 1 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 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 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

Thank you for welcoming us to your school in such a polite and friendly way and for showing us your work. What we liked most about your school: We are very pleased that you behave so well and enjoy school and all the activities that the school provides for you. We especially like the way that you grow some of your own food and take part in so many village events. Your teachers are very kind and caring and they look after you well. The school is good at teaching you about the importance of staying safe and healthy. You have a well-organised school council which lets you contribute so well to school life. Your headteacher and governors are working hard to make the school even better. Most of your parents and carers are pleased that you come to this school. What we have asked your school to do now: Help you to do better in science by making sure that your work is hard enough and by letting you carry out more of your own experiments. Make sure that you present your work more

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

neatly. Make sure that the teaching gets even better. We thoroughly enjoyed talking to you about your work and watching you learn. We wish you all well for the future.

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