Willersey Church of England Primary School

Inspection Report - Amended Willersey Church of England Primary School

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115661 Unique Reference Number Gloucestershire Local Authority 290295 Inspection number 13 September 2006 Inspection date Derek Watts 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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Church Street School address Primary Type of school Willersey Community School category Broadway WR12 7PN 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01386 852646 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01386 852178 Fax number 50 Number on roll (school) Barry Knight Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Andrew James Ferguson Headteacher 30 September 2004 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 290295 13 September 2006 4 °11

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Amended Report Addendum

Report amended due to Ofsted notification

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Amended Report Addendum

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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Amended Report Addendum

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

Willersey CE Primary is much smaller than most primary schools. The majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds. There are no pupils with English as an additional language. Children's attainment on entry to the school varies because of small year groups. The school has experienced considerable staffing changes during the past three years including three changes of headship. The current headteacher became the acting headteacher in September 2005 and substantive headteacher in January 2006.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Willersey Church of England Primary School, 13 September 2006

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Grade: 3

Willersey CE Primary School provides a satisfactory quality of education. This reflects the school's own evaluation of its overall effectiveness. Under the strong leadership and direction of the current headteacher, the school is showing signs of improvement following the unsettled period of staffing. Care, guidance and support for pupils' personal development are good. The school has the confidence of the parents and receives good support from them. A welcoming and positive atmosphere pervades the school. These factors contribute to pupils' good personal development. Pupils enjoy school and show very positive attitudes to learning. They relate very well to others and behaviour is often outstanding. Pupils show a good understanding of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and keeping safe. Satisfactory teaching and learning, and a sound curriculum mean that pupils achieve satisfactorily as they move through the school. Children make sound progress in

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Grade: 3

Reception and most are likely to reach the expected standards by the end of Reception because of sound provision. Pupils continue to make satisfactory progress in Years 1 and 2. National test results for Year 6 in 2005 were average in mathematics but below average in English and science. While these pupils made satisfactory progress in mathematics since they were in Year 2, progress in English and science was inadequate. The school recognised this underachievement and has taken effective action to address it. Pupils are now achieving satisfactorily and standards in the current Year 6 are broadly average. Teachers have very good relationships with pupils and their explanations and demonstrations promote learning well. However, tasks are not always well matched to pupils' ability and needs. Effective systems are being developed to assess and track pupils' attainment and progress. These are not always used effectively to plan the

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Grade: 3

next stages of learning and to show pupils how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve. A good range of additional activities enriches the curriculum and these contribute well to pupils' enjoyment. Leadership and management are satisfactory and improving. The headteacher provides strong leadership and has a good understanding of the school's strengths and development needs. The roles of subject leaders are being extended so that they are more involved in the monitoring and development of their subjects. There are clear plans to raise achievement and improve provision further and the school makes good use of external support from advisers and consultants. There have been satisfactory improvements since the last inspection. The recent raising of achievement in English and science indicates that the school is in a good position for further growth.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Build on the current action planning to raise achievement further in English, mathematics and science. • Improve the consistency of teaching and learning by matching work more carefully to pupils' ability and needs. 2 Inspection Report: Willersey Church of England Primary School, 13 September 2006 • Strengthen assessment and tracking so as to show pupils how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve.

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Grade: 3

Pupils' achievement is satisfactory. Children in Reception make satisfactory progress in all areas of learning and most are on course to reach expected standards by the end of Reception. Pupils continue to make sound progress in Years 1 and 2. Standards by Year 2 tend fluctuate due to variations in attainment on entry of small year groups. Standards and test results also fluctuate in Year 6 because in small year groups, one pupil's results form a high proportion of the whole year group. National test results for Year 6 in 2005 were below average in English and science and average in mathematics. National data and school assessments indicate that these pupils achieved satisfactorily in mathematics from their average prior attainment in Year 2. However, pupils made inadequate progress in English and science. The school recognised this underachievement and has been taking effective action to address it. There has been

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Grade: 3

a whole school focus on improving writing skills and steps have been taken to bridge gaps in pupils' learning in science. Early indications from tests results for 2006 for Year 6 indicate above average standards in English and science and broadly average standards in mathematics. These pupils achieved satisfactorily from their above average prior attainment in Year 2. Standards in the current Year 6 are broadly average and pupils' achievement is satisfactory.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are very positive about all aspects of school life and clearly enjoy learning. They appreciate all that the staff do for them and respect and like their teachers. Very good relationships between all members of the school community underpin the happy and caring atmosphere in the school. Pupils feel safe at school and readily turn to adults and friends for advice and help. Older pupils particularly take on responsibilities to help with the smooth running of the school. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils are reflective and thoughtful. Their awareness of moral and social issues helps them to behave very well in lessons and at playtimes. There is no evidence of any bullying or racism. Pupils are conscious of the needs of others and are keen to raise money for a range of charities. For example, they supported one of the teachers on her walk along the Great Wall of China to raise money for cancer research. Pupils' cultural understanding is not

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Grade: 2

as developed as other areas because pupils are not taught systematically about the diversity of cultural traditions. Pupils are conscious of the need to eat healthily and talk with enthusiasm of the fruit snacks at playtime. They are also aware of the need to exercise and their activity at playtimes and take up of after school sporting activities 3 Inspection Report: Willersey Church of England Primary School, 13 September 2006 show that they take this seriously. Attendance is satisfactory. It is not higher because several families take term-time holidays.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory and this results in pupils' satisfactory achievement. Teachers manage the pupils well and have established very good relationships with them. Explanations and demonstration are used well by teachers to promote learning. There are regular opportunities provided for pupils to work in pairs or groups and this develops their team working skills. In a good Years 5 and 6 mathematics lesson pupils made good progress because interesting and challenging activities were well matched to their different abilities. However, in some lessons, tasks are not well matched to pupils' needs. Where this occurs the pace of learning slows and pupils are not suitably challenged. Teaching assistants are well directed and provide effective support, particularly for those with learning difficulties. The marking of pupils' work is satisfactory. It is more detailed in English and provides guidance on

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Grade: 3

how pupils might improve. In other subjects marking is less helpful as it is mainly just ticks.

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Grade: 3

A sound curriculum forms a firm foundation for pupils' steady progress. Staff plan satisfactorily to meet most of the learning needs of different age groups in their class. Work captures pupils' interest and enthusiasm effectively, but does not always stretch the more able and sometimes is too hard for pupils who find learning difficult. Sensible arrangements are made to plan for physical education in the absence of a field or school hall. Links with other schools are used well to extend the provision in this subject. There is a good programme for pupils' personal, social and health education. Pupils are particularly positive about the good additional activities provided. They are especially enthusiastic about the Christmas pantomime, the after school clubs and the annual residential trips.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory overall. However, there are some clear strengths in the provision in this area. Good support for pupils' personal development, for example, means that children settle easily into school and approach their work confidently. Pupils are cared for well. All reasonable steps are taken to ensure that pupils are kept safe. 4 Inspection Report: Willersey Church of England Primary School, 13 September 2006 Pupils are given satisfactory academic guidance. They are clear about the teachers' views of their efforts, but do not always have enough information about how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve. A careful check is kept of the standards reached by individual pupils at the end of each academic year, but individual pupils' progress is not sufficiently analysed. This makes it difficult to set clear targets for individual pupils' progress year on year.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. These have been effective in providing good personal care, guidance and support to promote pupils' good personal development. The headteacher and staff have created a welcoming and positive atmosphere where all pupils are valued. The school has the confidence and support of its parents. Parents' comments confirm that, 'The head and teachers are friendly and approachable' and 'The staff know the children well'. The headteacher provides strong leadership and knows what is needed to raise achievement and improve provision. Under his leadership, the role of subject leaders is being extended so that they are more involved in the monitoring and development of their subjects. The school is aware that there is still more to do so that leadership promotes pupils' good achievement. School self-evaluation is satisfactory and the school has an accurate view of its performance. The monitoring and development of

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Grade: 3

teaching is beginning to improve practice. The school improvement plan has appropriate priorities and effective action has been taken to raise achievement recently in English and science. The school is now in a good position to raise achievement and improve provision further. The governors are committed and supportive. They are generally well informed about the school's work and have seen the school through challenging times. The governors are now focusing more on pupil achievement and the quality of teaching and learning. 5 Inspection Report: Willersey Church of England Primary School, 13 September 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: Willersey Church of England Primary School, 13 September 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? 3 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 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 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?

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: Willersey Church of England Primary School, 13 September 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: Willersey Church of England Primary School, 13 September 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you so much for welcoming us into your school and showing us your work. We enjoyed our visit and would like to tell you what we found out. We think that Willersey is a satisfactory school which is showing signs of getting better. These things were particularly pleasing: • You clearly enjoy school and the extra activities, particularly the residential visit. • Your behaviour is very good and you are friendly and polite. • You get on well with other pupils and adults. • Your headteacher and staff know you well and ensure that you are well cared for, supported and safe. • Your parents are pleased with the school and give it good support. There are things that we think could be improved: • In some lessons, some of you could be given harder work so that you make better progress. • Teachers could sometimes give you more information on how well you are doing and what you need to do to improve. • The two above points should help you to make even more progress in English, mathematics

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

and science. Finally, thank you once again for all your help. We wish you all the best for the future. 9 Inspection Report: Willersey Church of England Primary School, 13 September 2006

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