Iver Village Infant School

Inspection Report Iver Village Infant School

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110374 Unique Reference Number Buckinghamshire Local Authority 288649 Inspection number 6 °7 March 2007 Inspection dates Abdul-Hayee Murshad HMI 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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West Square School address Infant Type of school off Grange Way Community School category Iver SL0 9NW 4 °7 Age range of pupils 01753 655104 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01753 630840 Fax number 110 Number on roll (school) Mr Stafford Salt Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Miss Roz Bartlett Headteacher 5 March 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 288649 6 °7 March 2007 4°7 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 an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Iver Village Infant is smaller than the average school and serves an area of comparative social and economic advantage. Most of the pupils are White British and the proportion from minority ethnic groups is similar to what is found nationally. The school has a very low proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals. The proportion with a learning difficulty or disability is slightly above the national average but there are no pupils with a statement of special educational need. The school caters for a small number of settled pupils of traveller heritage.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Iver Village Infant School, 6 °7 March 2007

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Grade: 3

Iver Village Infant provides a satisfactory standard of education and is improving. Parents say that the 'teachers are very approachable and friendly'. Having experienced a period of significant staff turbulence, it is now regaining momentum under the good leadership of the current headteacher who has given the school a new impetus to succeed. Senior leaders and the governors are clear about what needs to be done to improve the school. Some of the initiatives to raise standards are beginning to show an impact on pupils' achievement and learning. This is reflected in the recent improvement in writing. However, there are considerable inconsistencies in the ways in which pupils are assessed, their progress is tracked, and their work is marked. The governors play an active role in the school's development but do not have enough access to clear information. This means that they are unable to provide the checks and challenges to the school that their role requires, particularly in relation

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Grade: 3

to raising achievement. Children are given a good start to their education in the Foundation Stage classes. This is acknowledged in many of the comments from the parents. Good progress in the Foundation Stage means that when children move to Year 1, most have reached the goals expected nationally at this point. Pupils make satisfactory progress in Years 1 and 2 and the standards in English and mathematics are broadly average. Considering the skills with which they start school, overall achievement is satisfactory. Teachers work well together to plan learning that is interesting and exciting. The teaching assistants support pupils well. However, the challenge provided by the work and the pace of the lessons are not always demanding enough. The school has a good understanding of the weaknesses in teaching and actions to tackle some of them are already in place. The newly formed leadership team is yet to impact on the quality of

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Grade: 3

teaching and learning and take a greater role in the development of the curriculum. The school curriculum provides a range of activities. It is satisfactory rather than good because the links between the learning in different subjects are not as clear as they need to be. Pupils are well behaved and are extremely kind to each other. They say they enjoy coming to school 'because it makes learning fun'. Almost all pupils are interested in their work and consistently try hard. Relationships between adults and pupils are very positive and there is sensitivity to the needs of individual learners. However, attendance is below the national average and this adversely affects some pupils' personal development and well-being. Pupils are well cared for and supported. They have a good, secure knowledge of how to stay safe and adopt healthy lifestyles in preparation for the next phase in their education. Academic guidance is not yet rigorous enough

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Grade: 3

and there are variations in how targets are used to support pupils with their learning.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Develop the role of the leadership team so that they are more involved in improving the quality of teaching and learning, and in developing the curriculum. 2 Inspection Report: Iver Village Infant School, 6 °7 March 2007 • Establish a coherent and agreed approach to marking, assessment and target setting. • Ensure governors effectively fulfil their role of challenging and supporting the school, particularly in raising pupils' achievement.

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Grade: 3

Achievement is satisfactory overall. Pupils start school at age four with skills that are slightly lower than what is expected at their age. Most pupils' ability in communication, language and literacy is particularly low. The school's targeted support helps pupils to achieve well and make good progress in the Foundation Stage. At the start of Year 1 pupils' levels of knowledge and understanding are similar to what is expected nationally at this point. Pupils make satisfactory progress and at the end of Year 2 standards are broadly in line with the national average. Pupils' attainment in mathematics is slightly better than it is in English and the proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels is significantly higher than the national average. Contrary to this, the proportion of pupils attaining the higher levels in reading and writing is relatively lower. Girls consistently achieve better than the boys. Pupils with a learning

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Grade: 3

difficulty or disability, and those speaking English as an additional language, achieve as well as all other pupils.

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Grade: 3

Personal development and well-being are satisfactory. Pupils are happy, friendly and inquisitive. They greatly enjoy the experiences of socialisation and the learning offered by the school, and this is reflected in their good behaviour and positive attitudes. A pupil captured this when stating, 'I like coming to school because I want to be clever when I'm older'. Pupils are beginning to develop a satisfactory understanding of healthy eating and healthy lifestyles. They are fit and active. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory. They are keen to please and appreciate the opportunities that allow them to contribute to the local community. They emulate the adults and treat each other with kindness and respect. Incidences of bullying are extremely rare, and the school council is beginning to play an active role in identifying ways in which to make the school a better place for

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Grade: 3

everyone. Attendance remains below average despite the introduction of a number of good initiatives to address the issue. Parents have a key role in making these initiatives work better. 3 Inspection Report: Iver Village Infant School, 6 °7 March 2007

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Grade: 3

Teaching is satisfactory with examples of some good practice across the school. The school has developed systems to ensure that teachers work together to plan their lessons and share each other's strengths. Pupils are told what they are going to learn at the beginning of each lesson. The work is interesting, but the lessons lack the pace to ensure that pupils work with sustained concentration. Not all work is linked to the levels at which the pupils are working because teachers often focus more on what the pupils will do in an activity rather than what different groups will learn. Opportunities for pupils to develop their ideas by discussing them with their 'talk-partners' are yet to impact on their learning. Teachers use established routines and a range of strategies for classroom management. Pupils behave well in the lessons and are not easily distracted from their learning. Learning support assistants make good contributions to keeping the pupils focused,

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Grade: 3

particularly by asking questions that allow them to think. Pupils' work is marked regularly, but marking is inconsistent and does not always show pupils what they need to do to improve their work.

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Grade: 3

The satisfactory curriculum provides the pupils with a range of activities that leads to satisfactory achievement. The school makes good use of the learning support assistants in providing targeted support during small group work. Pupils in the Foundation Stage benefit from well planned activities that support their learning in all areas of development. There is a good balance between adult-led and independent learning tasks for children. The curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to learn through local studies and make satisfactory use of the experiences which they have outside school. The learning activities are enriched with visits and contributions from visitors. A range of sports activities, both in curriculum time and after school, adds to pupils' enjoyment. This has been acknowledged through the Active Sports Mark award. The school has re-organised the way in which English and mathematics are taught to the pupils.

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Grade: 3

However, the links between the learning in different subjects are not fully explored and the curriculum plans are not clear about the development and progression of pupils' knowledge, understanding and skills.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory. Creating a supportive and caring environment is at the heart of what the school does. Pupils feel safe and secure, and 4 Inspection Report: Iver Village Infant School, 6 °7 March 2007 they are confident that they can approach a member of staff with an issue and know it will be dealt with. The school provides parents with good information and support so that they can play a full and active role in their children's education and learning. Procedures for safeguarding pupils and ensuring their health and safety are in place. The school has identified the need to improve academic guidance through better assessment, marking and tracking of the pupils' progress. However, inconsistencies in implementation are affecting the outcomes of the initiatives.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. Changes in staffing in the last three years have resulted in inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and learning and have affected the standards attained and pupils' achievement across the school. The headteacher, with the support of the governors, has responded well to these unexpected challenges. She leads by example, is highly reflective, and has carried much of the responsibility for the many aspects that require on-going improvement. A new leadership team has been established and is showing a common sense of purpose. However, there is much to be accomplished. The team is yet to play a full part in developing the curriculum and the teaching, and in ensuring greater consistency in the assessment of pupils' work. The school has made satisfactory progress since the last inspection in 2002. It has pursued the right priorities which have resulted in satisfactory improvement in the

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Grade: 3

provision for information and communication technology and the full implementation of the agreed syllabus for religious education. The school is now more systematic in the ways in which it identifies and deals with issues to secure school improvement. The school's evaluation of its own performance is satisfactory, as is the capacity to secure further improvement. The governors have supported the school well in difficult times, but are yet to provide the necessary challenge, particularly in raising pupils' achievement. 5 Inspection Report: Iver Village Infant School, 6 °7 March 2007 .

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Iver Village Infant School, 6 °7 March 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?

3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 3 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 3 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?

3 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. 7 Inspection Report: Iver Village Infant School, 6 °7 March 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? 8 Inspection Report: Iver Village Infant School, 6 °7 March 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I am writing to thank you for being so friendly and welcoming when I inspected your school. It was a pleasure to talk to you and I particularly enjoyed our working lunch. At the moment your school is providing a satisfactory education. Your school is improving because your headteacher is working hard with the governors to make it even better. They have good ideas about what to do, and some of their plans have already helped you to improve. For example, your writing is now much better than it used to be. One of the things that I was very pleased with was your behaviour. You all are very caring and kind towards each other. You have a great deal of respect for your teachers and other adults. Your teachers are working hard to provide you with work that is interesting and teach you what you need to learn. The learning support assistants provide you with good support by asking you questions that help you to think. You enjoy school and have good ideas about how to stay

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

safe and be healthy. Some of you miss important learning by being absent or late, and this affects your education. Your school has identified some good ways to help stop this happening, and your parents can also help to improve your attendance and punctuality. Before I left I talked to your headteacher and some of the teachers and governors about how they can continue to make the school better. They need to keep an eye on how well you are being taught and how well you are learning, and make sure that you are given enough interesting things to do. They also need to make sure that all your teachers tell you how well you are doing and what you need to do to get even better. I have asked the governors to look at how well you are doing, to make sure you are doing as well as you can. I am sure you can think of ways in which you can help your school to achieve this. I would like you to find ways and share the information in this letter with the other children in your school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I hope that in the future your school is successful in helping you to do as well as you possibly can. Yours sincerely, Abdul-Hayee Murshad Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: Iver Village Infant School, 6 °7 March 2007

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