Bonners CofE School & Nursery

114511 Unique Reference Number East Sussex Local Authority 289946 Inspection number 28 November 2006 Inspection date Sheila Browning 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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School Hill School address Primary Type of school Maresfield Voluntary controlled School category Uckfield TN22 2EG 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01825 762381 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01825 762863 Fax number 94 Number on roll (school) Steven Wilson Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Marion Ponting Headteacher 26 February 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 289946 28 November 2006 4 °11 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 school is much smaller than most primary schools. The majority of pupils are from White British families. A few are from minority ethnic groups, including some with Gypsy Roma heritage. The attainment on entry is generally below expectations. The school is working with the challenge of increasing numbers of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. Staff mobility, including at senior management level, has been high in recent months. In recognition of its work, the school has received Silver Healthy Schools status and a Basic Skills Quality Mark.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Bonners CofE School, 28 November 2006

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Grade: 3

The school provides a satisfactory education for its pupils. During a period of significant change in staff and governors, the good leadership of the headteacher has guided the school forward in several areas. However, overall, leadership and management are satisfactory, as the roles of subject leaders are not sufficiently developed to impact on raising standards. The pupils' personal development and well-being are good and the school provides good opportunities for pupils' moral and social development. Consequently, pupils are well behaved and attendance is good. Pupils have satisfactory attitudes to their learning. Achievement is satisfactory and standards are average, or slightly above, at the end of Years 2 and 6. Children in the Foundation Stage make good progress from their below-average starting points because the work they do is interesting and stimulating. Pupils make satisfactory progress in Years 1 to 6 to reach average levels in reading, mathematics and science

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Grade: 3

by the end of Year 6. However, pupils' achievement in writing is lower than it should be and the standards are below average. Improved identification and good support for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities help them to make good progress. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Teachers make sure that pupils know what they are learning and focus well on basic skills. However, their expectations of what pupils can do and the pace of learning are not sufficiently challenging, particularly for more-able pupils. The level of care, guidance and support is satisfactory, with strengths in the pastoral care and support pupils receive. Academic guidance is not rigorous enough. Targets are in place for English and mathematics but these are not helping to move all pupils on at a fast enough rate. This is because more-able pupils' targets are not high enough and so they are not always aiming to reach their full potential.

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Grade: 3

The satisfactory curriculum, including the extra-curricular provision, has improved since the last inspection, significantly so in information and communication technology (ICT). This has led to improved standards. Pupils understand how to lead safe and healthy lifestyles and generally enjoy their time in school. Pupils' involvement in the community is satisfactory. They increasingly develop their self-confidence, work well together and make steady progress in developing their basics skills. The majority of parents are pleased with the school, with one commenting about its work, 'this is true education, drawing the best out of every child.' The school demonstrates that it has a satisfactory capacity to secure further improvements.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve pupils' achievement in writing. • Raise teachers' expectations of what pupils are capable of, raise the pace of learning, and set more challenging targets, particularly for more-able pupils. • Develop the role of subject leaders to drive forward the improvement in standards. 2 Inspection Report: Bonners CofE School, 28 November 2006

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Grade: 3

In the Foundation Stage, children join the school with skills below the level expected for their age, particularly in communication, language and literacy and in their social and emotional development. They make good progress and by the time they start Year 1, most are on track to achieve the levels expected. The number of pupils taking national tests each year is small, and results need to be analysed with caution. Standards have fluctuated since the last inspection, reflecting the variation in such small groups. Test results in 2006 improved on the previous year and most pupils met their targets. Nevertheless, a few pupils, particularly the more able, do not achieve their full potential in writing. As a result, English standards are lower than in mathematics and science. Pupils make more rapid progress in Years 5 and 6 because the teaching is consistently good. Those with learning difficulties or

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Grade: 3

disabilities make good progress in relation to their starting points.

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Grade: 2

The good personal development results from pupils' needs being effectively met. In the Foundation Stage, children make good progress in developing their personal skills. Pupils' behaviour is good and they generally listen attentively in lessons. Pupils report that bullying is unusual and on the rare occasions when it occurs it is dealt with effectively. Their attitudes to learning are satisfactory. On occasions, they are not sufficiently involved in their learning and do not always find lessons exciting or enjoyable enough. The strong focus on moral and social education ensures that pupils develop a caring and understanding approach to others. This is further developed through arranging sales of goods to aid the work of various charities. The school recognises that enough is not yet done to develop pupils' understanding of the cultural mix in British society. Pupils are satisfactorily involved in the local community, such as singing carols and

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Grade: 2

attending church services. Healthy lifestyles are promoted effectively and pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe. They were involved with the village in conducting traffic surveys to help identify ways of improving safety in the area. The election of school council members and raising money to support others introduce pupils to aspects of the life beyond school.

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Grade: 3

There is not enough good teaching throughout the school. Strong teaching is evident in Years 5 and 6. Here the teacher's expectation of pupils' capabilities is high and is 3 Inspection Report: Bonners CofE School, 28 November 2006 well focused on supporting and improving their writing skills. The headteacher recognises that there is a lack of consistency and is working hard to address this. In the Foundation Stage, good teaching ensures that lessons have a balance and range of activities and good use of ICT resources, which are helping to develop independence. Marking is good throughout the school and often includes helpful comments which identify what pupils do well and how they might improve. Better analysis of what pupils already know and understand, especially in English and mathematics, is helping teachers meet pupils' needs more precisely, but more- able pupils are not yet challenged consistently to achieve the highest standards possible. Teachers' expectations are not

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Grade: 3

always high enough in relation to the standard of work, particularly in writing, and the pace at which they work. Targets for learning are not yet specific enough to help pupils to know how to reach the next level of attainment. This limits the impact that the targets make on improving standards. Relationships between teachers, teaching assistants and pupils are consistently good, and these aid learning. Pupils are generally engaged and questions and answers are used effectively, but too many lessons lack excitement, which limits pupils' enjoyment.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum, including in the Foundation Stage, is having a positive effect on pupils' personal development. Consequently, their behaviour is good. The school has improved its ICT resources significantly since the last inspection and this has led to improvement in standards. The developing links between subjects enable pupils to improve their skills by using them in different subjects, as when studying light and dark and shadows in science and writing poems about the city at night. However, the work set for more-able pupils is not sufficiently challenging. Educational visits and visitors widen pupils' experience and pupils are spending more time pursuing sport and extra-curricular activities since the time of the last inspection. Strong partnerships with local small schools and a local secondary school enable pupils to have an enriched curriculum, such as in mathematics and science, which pupils said

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Grade: 3

they enjoyed. Opportunities for pupils to work in teams are good, although there are few opportunities for them to develop financial expertise and enterprise; this is an acknowledged area of development.

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Grade: 3

In this small school all pupils are well known and cared for by all adults, which contributes to their personal development. Health and safety procedures, including child protection and regular risk assessments, ensure the school is safe and secure. Pupils settle quickly and say they feel safe and free from bullying. Older pupils enjoy being friendship buddies. Small classes and high levels of adult support mean that those with learning difficulties or disabilities make good progress. The strong links with the traveller welfare and education team, speech and language and behaviour support services and other external agencies support pupils' learning well. Targets are 4 Inspection Report: Bonners CofE School, 28 November 2006 not always sufficiently challenging, particularly for more-able pupils, and pupils' progress is not tracked rigorously enough. Pupils said they understood what they needed to do to improve their work from the marking but they are less clear about

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Grade: 3

their medium-term targets and how well they are progressing towards them.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management have ensured that pupils achieve satisfactorily. The headteacher leads the school well and she has effectively handled significant staffing changes to minimise disruption to pupils. She has a very good understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses, reflected in the school's self-evaluation. However, changes to staffing have resulted in not all subject co-ordinators being sufficiently experienced in monitoring their subjects and ensuring that the targets identified by the school are being met. Nevertheless, the headteacher has a clear and accurate picture of, for instance, the quality of teaching throughout the school, and staff have a growing awareness of what needs to be done to improve pupils' progress; as a result, it is improving. The headteacher, together with all staff and governors, is determined to improve standards by ensuring that pupils are challenged to achieve well more

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Grade: 3

consistently. Social integration is good and there is an increasing focus on ensuring that all pupils are challenged to achieve well; the school recognises that in the past this has been more effective for lower-attaining pupils. The governing body is increasingly involved, with well-organised monitoring and recognition of the need to question and challenge. Good care is taken to use the school's finances, which are well managed by the governing body, to provide pupils with a satisfactory education. The school considers the views of parents and pupils and takes these into account when planning improvements. 5 Inspection Report: Bonners CofE School, 28 November 2006 .

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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: Bonners CofE School, 28 November 2006

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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 2 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 3 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 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: Bonners CofE School, 28 November 2006

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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: Bonners CofE School, 28 November 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for helping us when we visited your school recently. We very much enjoyed talking and listening to you and seeing your work. At the moment the school is giving you a satisfactory education. These are some important things we found out about your school: • You behave well and care for each other, which ensures the school is safe and happy. • The youngest pupils get a good start in the Foundation Year. • You know how to lead safe and healthy lives, which will help you in future. • Your headteacher leads the school well and she is determined to provide the best for you. • The staff look after you well, and those of you with learning difficulties and disabilities are well supported, which helps you to achieve well. This is what we have asked the school to do to make it even better: • To help you improve your writing. • To make sure that those of you who learn quickly are given work which really challenges

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

you and for teachers to liven up the pace of learning for you. • For teachers with subject responsibilities to make sure that you are helped to do your very best. 9 Inspection Report: Bonners CofE School, 28 November 2006

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