Cadbury Heath Primary School

Cadbury Heath Primary School Inspection report

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109019 Unique Reference Number South Gloucestershire Local Authority 288252 Inspection number 1 °2 May 2007 Inspection dates Alexander Paul Baxter Reporting inspector

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

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Primary Type of school Community School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 295 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority John Gordon Chair John Ridley Headteacher 20 May 2002 Date of previous school inspection Lintern Crescent School address Warmley Bristol BS30 8GB

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01454 867215 Telephone number 01454 867216 Fax number

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4 °11 Age group 1 °2 May 2007 Inspection dates 288252 Inspection number .

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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

Cadbury Heath Primary School admits pupils from the local area. The percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The number of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is also below average, but there are more pupils with a statement of special educational need than is found nationally. No pupils need specialist support for English as an additional language and very few are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Children's attainment on entry is below that expected for their age. The school has experienced varying degrees of staff absence for some time. Currently approximately a third of the permanent teaching staff is absent.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Cadbury Heath Primary School, 1 °2 May 2007

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Grade: 3

Cadbury Heath Primary School provides a satisfactory, but improving, quality of education for its pupils. The headteacher, staff and governors provide good care, guidance and support. Pastoral care is particularly strong and as a result, pupils have an excellent understanding of the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle. The school promotes close, effective partnerships with parents and outside agencies. These help to ensure that the pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Parents welcome this and one wrote, 'I would recommend Cadbury Heath to anyone.' There is particularly good provision for pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities. Pupils enjoy being at school as seen in their good attendance, very warm relationships and wholehearted contributions to school and local community events. In recent years instability in staffing has contributed to weaknesses in teaching and in pupils'

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Grade: 3

academic achievement, particularly in Years 3 to 6. Although a level of staff absence continues, the school is systematically rebuilding its effectiveness by developing teams to lead and manage key aspects of its work. Improvements are noted by pupils and parents. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The quality of the school's self-evaluation is sound. Key areas for improvement, for example improving the consistency of teaching, have been identified correctly. Senior managers, subject and year leaders and governors have clear monitoring roles and responsibilities. Together they are having an increasingly beneficial effect on improving teaching and pupils' progress. As with other initiatives, strengthened management structures have not been in place long enough to achieve these fully. A significant number of children enter school with below average skills, especially in communication. Children are taught well and make good progress in the Foundation Stage

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Grade: 3

(Reception Year.) Good progress continues through Years 1 and 2. As a result standards are mostly above average in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2. Although standards are broadly average in Year 6, there is some variation in how well pupils do in different subjects. Pupils make good progress and attain above average standards in science, information and communication technology (ICT) and in physical education. Progress is satisfactory and standards are average in English and mathematics. Standards have improved, but are still constrained at times by some variations in the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in mathematics. There has been some improvement in this subject, for example, in pupils' skills in calculation, but overall achievement is still not good enough. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Teaching is consistently good for children in Reception and in Years 1 and 2. A strong emphasis on practical work secures the children's success as

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Grade: 3

learners. Teaching and learning are satisfactory in Years 3 to 6. They are improving as the focus on developing pupils' academic skills intensifies. Teachers mostly know their pupils well, but do not always make enough use of assessment information to set clear targets for pupils. Not all marking of pupils' work is effective. The school provides an appropriately planned curriculum. It is enriched by a good range of clubs and activities, notably in sports, which are promoted very effectively.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the consistency of teaching and learning in Years 3 to 6 to raise achievement and standards further, especially in mathematics. • Strengthen teachers' marking and the use of individual targets for pupils to make sure that pupils know what they have to do to improve. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Cadbury Heath Primary School, 1 °2 May 2007

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Grade: 3

Standards are broadly average in Year 6. Most pupils achieve satisfactorily in relation to their capabilities by the time they leave the school. Children make a good start in the Reception Year, especially in developing their physical skills and in personal, social and emotional development. Good progress continues through Years 1 and 2. Standards are above average in Year 2. In 2005 and 2006 pupils' progress in Years 3 to 6 was constrained by weakened teaching, and standards at the end of Year 6 dipped, especially in mathematics. Since then, improving teaching, typified by a more precise focus on pupils' academic learning, has re-established satisfactory progress. An increasing number of pupils are on course to meet challenging targets and are now achieving well, but there is still too much variation in the quality of teaching and pupils' learning. This year standards in Year 6 are average in English

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Grade: 3

and mathematics and are above average in science and in ICT. Pupils also achieve well in physical education. In English, pupils are doing as well as they should given their starting points and standards in this subject are set to rise further. Although improving, standards and pupils' achievements in mathematics are still not high enough.

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Grade: 2

The youngest children make a very good start in developing positive attitudes and this is sustained throughout the school. 'Everybody helps each other' is how a pupil summed up why he enjoyed school. Behaviour is good, with a very small minority of pupils who need extra guidance receiving good support. Pupils and their parents are unanimous about bullying being very rare and always being effectively dealt with. There have been no incidents of racial harassment. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They respond well to opportunities for reflection and have a strong understanding of right and wrong. Pupils have a clear awareness of the needs of others and conduct themselves safely and considerately. Their understanding of the diversity of British society is more limited. Pupils enthusiastically adopt very healthy lifestyles through participation in sport and choosing healthy diets. They

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Grade: 2

have a strong voice, through an active school council, and their views are gathered and acted upon. This empowers pupils in contributing to the running of the school, for example, as 'playground buddies', and to the wider community. Pupils show good teamwork and are confident speakers. Their literacy and numeracy skills prepare them satisfactorily for their future economic well-being.

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Grade: 3

Children are taught well in Reception where they are given very effective support which promotes their personal, social and emotional development. Teaching and learning are also good in Years 1 and 2 classes. Here well embedded strategies, for example the use of 'can do statements' which inform pupils about how well they are doing, underpin learning. Other effective features such as warm relationships, valuing pupils' contributions and good use of ICT, continue through the school. The pace of learning slips through Years 3 to 6 because of inconsistencies in the 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Cadbury Heath Primary School, 1 °2 May 2007 quality of teaching. The school has recognised this and has put in place several initiatives which are bringing improvement. These include strengthening teachers' plans and clarifying learning objectives. As a consequence, teaching is now satisfactory, and some aspects have shown good

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Grade: 3

improvement. Other initiatives need more time to take full effect. The use of targets is not fully embedded in all classes and teachers' marking is not consistently good. This means that at times pupils do not know what they have to do to improve. This is particularly affecting their progress in mathematics.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum meets the needs of all learners. Children in Reception experience a broad curriculum which takes good account of their stages of development. Throughout the school, there is good enrichment from a wide range of clubs, with sporting opportunities being a significant strength. There is an appropriate focus on literacy and numeracy. Relatively recent actions to strengthen planning are leading to improved progression in pupils' learning, but have yet to lift their achievement over time. Assessments of pupils' writing in Years 3 to 6 are used effectively to lift expectations and encourage extended writing. In mathematics there are not enough opportunities for problem solving and this constrains learning at times. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities are supported well through carefully planned additional activities. Pupils receive very good guidance on health and personal safety matters. The school's

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Grade: 3

stimulating facilities, especially outdoors, enhance pupils' learning experiences.

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Grade: 2

All adults in the school fulfil its aim of cherishing pupils. Parents and pupils alike value the sensitive care taken to deal with concerns. Arrangements for safeguarding pupils are given meticulous attention and are very robust. These result in pupils feeling safe and developing high self-esteem and confidence. The school travel plan, enthusiastically adopted by many pupils, strongly promotes exercise and safe journeys to school. Teachers and their assistants provide excellent pastoral care and ensure that all pupils participate fully in school activities. There are very good links with parents and outside agencies, which support pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities. There is an outstanding induction programme for new children entering Reception. This ensures that parents and children are familiar with the school routines. There are good systems to track the progress of children in Reception and Years 1 and 2. The

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Grade: 2

information is used well to plan the next stage of their learning and this leads to good progress across these year groups. Although improving, this form of academic guidance for older pupils in Years 3 to 6 is less consistent. This is because pupils are not always shown how to improve their work precisely enough.

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Grade: 3

The headteacher clearly leads the 'Every Child Matters Agenda' and promotes good pastoral care for all pupils. He receives very good support in doing so from staff, governors, parents and outside agencies. At the beginning of the school year senior managers, together with a new chair of governors, identified that the school was not focused as effectively on promoting and monitoring pupils' academic achievement. To address this they have introduced a team 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Cadbury Heath Primary School, 1 °2 May 2007 approach to how leaders and managers operate. More responsibility is being delegated to subject and year team leaders. Governors too are reviewing their monitoring roles. Together they are making better use of the expertise available and are demonstrating a satisfactory capacity to improve in the future. Self-evaluation is satisfactory and there is an improved awareness of the school's strengths and weaknesses. Much has been achieved in a relatively

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Grade: 3

short period of time, for example, improved curricular planning, but initiatives have yet to ensure consistently good teaching and learning, especially in Years 3 to 6. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Cadbury Heath Primary School, 1 °2 May 2007 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Cadbury Heath Primary School, 1 °2 May 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Cadbury Heath Primary School, 1 °2 May 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Cadbury Heath Primary School, 1 °2 May 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

3 May 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Cadbury Heath Primary School, Warmley, Bristol BS30 8GB We enjoyed our visit to your school. We particularly welcomed the opportunity to talk to many of you and were very interested to hear your views. These are the main things we found: • It is a satisfactory and improving school. The headteacher, staff and governors have improved the way they work as a team and are helping you make better progress. • Many of you make good progress in Reception and in Years 1 and 2 classes where the teaching is good. Teaching and learning are satisfactory in Years 3 to 6 but vary a bit too much. • You enjoy school, treat each other in a very kindly way and adopt exceptionally healthy lifestyles. • Yours is a very caring school where staff work closely with your parents and other people and look after you very well, especially those of you who need extra help. • Generally you make steady progress. You do well in science, ICT and physical education. You

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

are now doing as well as you should in English but could do even better in mathematics. • You enjoy a wide range of interesting activities at school and know how to keep healthy and safe. I have asked the headteacher, staff and governors to do these things to help you make better progress: • Make sure that teaching is more consistent in Years 3 to 6 so that you can learn better and more successfully, especially in mathematics. • Improve the way they check how well you are doing and make sure that you know and understand what to do next to improve. Thank you once again and good luck in the future. With best wishes Alex Baxter Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Cadbury Heath Primary School, 1 °2 May 2007

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