All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Dovercourt

Inspection Report All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary

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115203 Unique Reference Number ESSEX Local Authority 290165 Inspection number 28 February °1 March 2007 Inspection dates Gulshanbir Kayembe 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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Main Road School address Primary Type of school Dovercourt, Harwich Voluntary aided School category Essex CO12 4HT 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01255 502389 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01255 508930 Fax number 201 Number on roll (school) Mrs Laura Garnham Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Sue Worthington Headteacher 25 February 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 290165 28 February °1 March 2007 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. Inspection Report: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors

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Description of the school

The school is situated in Dovercourt, Essex and serves the local community. Though the proportion of pupils taking a free school meal is below average, the town has pockets of high deprivation. Attainment on entry to the school is below average, especially in relation to the development of pupils' early writing skills. The vast majority of pupils are White British. The small number from minority ethnic backgrounds all speak fluent English. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is broadly average, including the proportion with a statement of special educational need.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school. It has some good features. Standards are broadly average and achievement is satisfactory. The school has come a long way in the last two years in developing its focus on, and support for, pupils' academic development, particularly in establishing rigorous systems for termly checks on pupils' progress. As a result, pupils and teachers are clear about the next steps in learning in English and mathematics. However, this has yet to be reflected in the results of national tests at the end of Year 6. Nevertheless, current attainment in English, particularly in writing, is now in line with national averages in contrast to the weak performance of Year 6 pupils in this area in 2006. The trend of declining results that was beginning to form has been very firmly reversed. These improvements are down to the good leadership provided by the headteacher and her deputy. They work well as a team to identify and

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Grade: 3

address weaknesses in provision. Much of the teaching is good, especially in English and mathematics. However, there is an overuse of worksheets in most classes in other subjects. In addition, work is rarely matched to the needs of individual pupils. This is not the case in English and mathematics where teachers regularly adapt work for different groups of pupils ensuring that they make at least satisfactory progress. Hence, teaching is satisfactory overall. The curriculum is also satisfactory. Aspects, such as provision for extra-curricular activities and pupils' personal development, are good. However, there are insufficient opportunities for pupils to practise their writing in subjects across the curriculum or to develop their investigative and problem solving skills. These shortcomings make it difficult for pupils to make better than satisfactory progress, particularly in English, mathematics and science. The quality of education

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Grade: 3

in the Foundation Stage is good, as is the teaching, and the pupils achieve well in the Reception class. Personal and social development and well-being are good. Pupils enjoy school, not least because of its warm and friendly ethos. Their moral, social and cultural development is good, and spiritual development is outstanding. Pupils make an excellent contribution to their local community. They readily adopt healthy lifestyles. The good care, support and guidance they receive make them feel safe and secure at school. Behaviour is good and attendance satisfactory. Pupils are satisfactorily prepared for their future lives. The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory. The headteacher and her deputy know the school very well and understand exactly what needs to be done to raise standards further. They have successfully established a good focus on learning and achieved a good level of commitment from staff towards common aims and goals.

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Grade: 3

Hence, the capacity for further improvement is good. However, because many staff are either new to the school or have recently taken on new responsibilities, their leadership and management roles are not yet fully developed, particularly in relation to monitoring standards and progress. These roles are being strengthened. Governors provide satisfactory oversight of the school and its work. The school is generally well resourced and provides satisfactory value for money. 2 Inspection Report: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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What the school should do to improve further

• Provide more opportunities for writing across the curriculum. • Encourage pupils to investigate and develop their problem solving skills in mathematics and science. • Develop the roles of middle managers, especially in relation to checking progress and raising standards.

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Grade: 3

Standards are broadly average by the end of the Foundation Stage. They are in line with national averages by the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 in English, mathematics and science. Achievement is good in the Foundation Stage and in Year 5. It is satisfactory overall throughout the rest of the school. This shows an improving picture since the 2006 results where achievement in English was unsatisfactory largely due to poor progress in writing. Over the last two years the school has had a good focus on developing this aspect of its work. In the past some pupils actually regressed slightly when they moved up to their next class, especially in the transition from Year 2 to Year 3. Records show that this is no longer the case. Even current staffing difficulties in Year 6 have not resulted in pupils losing ground in their learning, a concern voiced by many Year 6 parents. This is because of the action taken by the headteacher to

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Grade: 3

introduce appropriate interim arrangements. The small number of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds achieve at least as well as others and are often amongst the most able. Those with learning difficulties and disabilities make satisfactory progress. Records and data indicate that this is an improvement on previous years when lower attainers made inconsistent progress.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. They clearly enjoy coming to school and their attendance is satisfactory. Pupils are polite and friendly and have the confidence to talk to adults if they have any problems. Pupils are not concerned about bullying and think that the school deals effectively with any problems. They say they feel safe in school. Pupils' moral, social and cultural development is good. As a result of excellent opportunities for spiritual development, pupils respect the views, values and beliefs of others. Adults act as good role models for promoting thoughtful, caring relationships and pupils are considerate to each other. Pupils' behaviour and attitudes to work are usually good. They are very aware of the importance of eating healthy food and taking regular exercise. There are many examples of pupils taking responsibility and these develop confidence and self-esteem well. Opportunities to

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Grade: 2

act as school councillors and playground pals and raising funds for charities help pupils to make an excellent contribution to the community. 3 Inspection Report: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 March 2007

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching is satisfactory and the school has many good aspects to teaching. However, there is overuse of worksheets in most subjects other than English and mathematics. This detracts from pupils' capacity to develop their skills of independent working and to think for themselves. The best teaching is in literacy where some outstanding lessons were seen. Good features of teaching include good planning, good use of questioning and work that is matched to pupils' needs. Where teaching is less effective, pupils are not given enough opportunities to explain their thinking and work is not challenging enough. Teaching assistants are well used in lessons to support those with learning difficulties or disabilities. Interactive whiteboards are used effectively in lessons to support learning.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory. There are too few opportunities, however, to develop writing through other subjects and for pupils to investigate and think for themselves. Information and communication technology (ICT) is beginning to be used to enhance learning in other subjects. Within the basic curriculum, there are good opportunities for pupils to learn French or German. The computer suite and attractive, well-resourced library stimulate learning. Provision in the Foundation Stage is good and the school makes the best use of an outdoor learning area that is not fully fit for purpose. However, there are effective plans to redevelop it. The school makes satisfactory provision for supporting the needs of different groups of pupils, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities and the gifted and talented. Many pupils attend the very wide range of activities provided after school and at lunchtimes. These,

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Grade: 3

together with visits and visitors, such as an artist helping pupils to create a mosaic mural, add to pupils' enjoyment of school. Around the school, there are high quality displays celebrating pupils' work; for example, relating to Chinese New Year. The school successfully teaches pupils to develop safe and healthy lifestyles and gives them good opportunities for sport and exercise.

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Grade: 2

The school provides a very caring and supportive environment. Pupils say that, 'Teachers are kind and look after us'. The school council is an effective voice in making the views of the pupils known. The arrangements to ensure that pupils are safe are satisfactory and in line with the most recent government requirements. Health and safety checks are made regularly. The school is working well with outside agencies to support pupils with additional needs. There are good links with the church and with other schools in 4 Inspection Report: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 March 2007 the area. The majority of parents hold the school in high regard. Weekly newsletters keep parents well informed. Pupils have clear targets in English and mathematics. These are helping them to improve their work. The school now analyses the performance of each pupil in both subjects

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Grade: 2

to identify areas for improvement. This data is used to set challenging targets and to take additional action where pupils appear to be making less progress than they should.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. Good leadership and management by the headteacher have led to standards being securely average across the school and achievement mainly satisfactory. Pupils now make the expected progress and some exceed this. The headteacher and the deputy provide models of good practice for the rest of the staff to follow. Their monitoring is rigorous and effective in securing improvements to teaching and learning. Training and development are in hand to develop the roles of other middle managers. A recently appointed co-ordinator for special educational needs is currently assessing how effective the school is and how to further improve provision for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities. Governors meet regularly and have an effective structure of committees. Parents are confident about the school. Its positive ethos, the good systems for managing performance and the challenging targets being set, add to the school's good capacity

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Grade: 3

to improve. 5 Inspection Report: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 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: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 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 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 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 3 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 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. 7 Inspection Report: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 March

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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: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 March

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

5 March 2007 Dear Pupils All Saints Church of England Primary School, Main Road, Dovercourt, Harwich, Essex, CO12 4HT We enjoyed visiting your school very much and we particularly liked visiting your classrooms and talking to you. We would like to thank you very much for making us feel welcome. The school is providing you with a satisfactory education. We saw a number of things that were good including ways in which you help to make the school a better place. • You enjoy school and like learning. • You develop good social skills and learn to value and respect the beliefs of others. • Children in the Reception class get a good start to their education. • Staff take good care of you and help you to understand what you need to do to improve your work. • Your headteacher and deputy headteacher work well together. They lead the school well and know exactly how to make it better. There are some things that could be better. These include:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• improving your writing by having more opportunities to practise writing in subjects across the curriculum • improving your work in mathematics and science by developing skills in solving problems and investigations • developing the roles of teachers in charge of subjects so that they regularly check how well you are being taught and how well you are working. You can certainly help to improve the school by continuing to work hard and following your teachers' advice when they tell you what you need to do to improve your work. We wish you all well in the future. Gulshan Kayembe Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: All Saints' Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 28 February °1 March

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