St Martin's East Woodhay Church of England (Aided) Primary School

St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School Inspection report

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116356 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 290513 Inspection number 27 °28 June 2007 Inspection dates Olson Davis 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 Voluntary aided School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 99 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs R Cahill Chair Mrs J Veasey Headteacher 29 April 2002 Date of previous school inspection East End School address Newbury RG20 0AF

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01635 253489 Telephone number 01635 253880 Fax number

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4 °11 Age group 27 °28 June 2007 Inspection dates 290513 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 an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This small primary school is located in an area of socio-economic advantage. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is much lower than the national average. Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD) is above the national average. The proportion of pupils joining and leaving the school other than at the usual times is above average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 10 Inspection Report: St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School, 27 °28 June 2007

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Grade: 2

'St Martin's is an amazing school. It is a very nurturing school and offers a broad and balanced education for both of my children.' This comment from one parent reflects the positive views of the majority of parents. Another parent wrote, 'My daughter absolutely loves going to school and has genuine enthusiasm for all that she learns - especially maths!' The school provides a good standard of education. Under the experienced and committed leadership of the headteacher, the school works hard to include all children and ensure that they make good progress in their learning. All adults work closely as a team to help pupils settle quickly and achieve well. As a result, all pupils, including those who join the school other than at the usual times and those of different abilities feel welcomed and are encouraged to learn. Close links with the church, the local parish, the local secondary school and outside agencies enrich the

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Grade: 2

curriculum and provide benefits for pupils' learning and well-being. Achievement is good throughout the school. Children make a good start in the Foundation Stage because of good provision. As they get older, they continue to make good progress and attain well above average standards by the end of Year 6. This is the result of good teaching, good provision for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities, and a good curriculum. There are good systems to track pupils' progress. Teachers use this information well to plan tasks and activities for their mixed-age classes that build well on previous learning, and this contributes to pupils' good progress. Standards in writing are not as high as in reading, mathematics and science. This is because there are not enough challenging opportunities for more able pupils to apply their writing skills across the curriculum. Improving the higher-order writing skills of

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Grade: 2

more able pupils is a central feature of the school's well-focused strategic plan. There is a strong ethos of care based on Christian values. Adults know the pupils well and pupils feel safe and valued. Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. They have positive attitudes to school and enjoy their work. Attendance is good. They behave well and are keen to take responsibility for their own learning. Pupils' good basic skills and good social skills prepare them well for the next stage of their education and for the world of work. Leadership and management are good. The headteacher and the governors provide a clear direction to the work of the school. The school has recognised the need to increase the influence of subject leaders on teaching and learning within their areas of responsibility. There were no issues from the previous inspection, but the school has not been complacent and has successfully

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Grade: 2

raised standards in mathematics. This demonstrates that the school has a good capacity to secure further improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise standards in writing by providing more challenging opportunities for more able pupils to develop more sophisticated writing skills. • Develop the role of the subject leaders so that they have more influence over the quality of teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility.

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Grade: 2

Standards are well above average and achievement is good. Children enter the school with standards that are above what is normally expected, although these vary from year to year 4 of 10 Inspection Report: St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School, 27 °28 June 2007 because of the small size of each cohort. Children make good progress in the Foundation Stage and most reach the learning goals expected for them. Standards by Year 6 are usually well above average and pupils make good progress throughout the school. In 2006 standards in mathematics were exceptionally high. Standards in writing, however, are not as high as in reading, mathematics and science. Fewer than expected pupils attain the highest levels in writing at the end of Year 2 and at the end of Year 6. The school strategic plan recognises that this is because higher-attaining pupils are not given sufficiently challenging opportunities to

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Grade: 2

develop and practise higher order writing skills in other subjects. There is no particular difference in the achievement of boys and girls. The small proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds make good progress. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities also make good progress because their additional needs are well catered for.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are friendly, confident and keen to take on responsibilities, for example, as house representatives and peer mentors. Pupils feel that their views are valued. For example, the school has implemented a system for promoting good behaviour at lunchtime devised by the school council. Pupils have a good understanding of the benefits of good diet and exercise. They eagerly participate in the many opportunities for sport and exercise offered by this small school. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They are developing spiritually through opportunities for reflection in collective worship and within the curriculum. Pupils display a strong social sense by raising money for charities and by getting involved in parish events. They also show a mature attitude in their understanding of the varying needs of others within the class. Despite a broad range of cultural activities, particularly in music,

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Grade: 2

current provision does not do enough to help prepare pupils for life in a culturally and ethnically diverse society.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good. Teachers in the Reception class provide a wide range of well organised and carefully managed activities that meet the needs of children well. Throughout the school, teachers have high expectations for behaviour and have established very good relationships with their classes. Support staff make a strong contribution to the good learning of pupils who find learning hard or have behavioural difficulties. They manage these pupils very well and contribute effectively to the teachers' evaluations of the pupils' achievements. These and other assessments of the pupils' progress are used well to ensure that future lessons are pitched at the right level to match their learning needs. Nonetheless, teachers sometimes miss opportunities to add extra challenge to writing tasks to bring out the best in more able pupils.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum meets the pupils' needs well. There is a strong emphasis on developing pupils' literacy and numeracy skills which leads to good progress in these areas. The school has good plans in place to provide more opportunities for pupils to practise their writing skills across the 5 of 10 Inspection Report: St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School, 27 °28 June 2007 curriculum. The 'plan, do and review' sessions provide good opportunities for pupils to reflect on their learning and to work independently. The school has appropriate plans to extend the use of information and communication technology (ICT) within other subjects. Specialist music tuition, themed events such as 'Activity Week' and 'Book Week', visits, and visitors enrich pupils' learning and add to their enjoyment. Residential visits for Year 5 and Year 6 provide good support for pupils' academic, personal and social development. These sometimes include

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Grade: 2

adventurous activities such as pot-holing which one pupil described as 'a bit scary at first but great fun'. The personal, social, health and citizenship education programme contributes effectively to pupils' growing understanding of being healthy and staying safe. The planning for children in the Foundation Stage is good and ensures that they make good progress in all areas of learning.

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Grade: 2

Provision for care, guidance and support is good. Pupils feel safe because there is always an adult to go to if they are in difficulty. Procedures for child protection are robust and all adults in school are fully aware of their responsibilities. Systems for assessing and minimising risks are in place and rigorously followed by staff. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities are given good support to achieve their challenging targets and to help them make similar progress to their classmates. The school has good procedures to assess and track pupils' progress through each year group. Pupils know how well they are doing and what they need to improve. There are examples of effective marking offering pupils good guidance on what they do well and what they need to improve. However, this is not consistent throughout the school.

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Grade: 2

School self evaluation is good and shows that school leaders have an accurate and clear understanding of the schools' strengths and areas for development. All staff are involved in the process of school improvement, and the strategic plan is effectively monitored and evaluated by school leaders and the governing body. Areas of strength have been maintained and standards in mathematics have improved. The headteacher visits classrooms regularly and works with teachers to improve teaching approaches. Other teachers in the school perform their leadership roles well despite the heavy workload this generates. Their overall contribution is restricted by the limited time they have available for monitoring and sharing good teaching. Governors are effective. They have a good understanding of the school's strategic development through their active involvement in the school improvement process. They are conscientious

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Grade: 2

in ensuring that statutory duties are fulfilled and that the school's financial resources are used well. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School, 27 °28 June 2007 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School, 27 °28 June 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

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 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 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?

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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School, 27 °28 June 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? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School, 27 °28 June 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

11 July 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School,Newbury,RG20 0AF Thank you for making me welcome when I visited your school recently. I appreciated the help you gave me when I looked at you working and when you shared your ideas about the school. I took careful note of what you and your parents had to say about the school. Here are some of the many things that I think are good about your school: • the work in the school Foundation Stage is well organised and gives you a good start in school • you make good progress in your learning • you enjoy school and behave well in lessons and around the school. • you are taught well and you are given good help when you find the work hard • the school council represents your views well and you all help the school to run smoothly • all of the adults in your school make sure that you are well looked after • your headteacher, staff and governors run the school well and are continually trying to make

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

your school even better for you. The school provides you with a good standard of education which prepares you well for the next stage of your education. Some of you need help to improve your writing even more. I have asked the teachers to give some of you more challenging writing tasks, particularly for those of you who are already good at writing, so that you can become even better. I have also asked the teachers responsible for different subjects to keep an even closer check on how well you are learning in these subjects so that you make as much progress as possible. I hope that you will help your teachers as they try to make your school even better for you. Yours sincerely Olson Davis Lead Inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: St Martin's East Woodhay C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School, 27 °28 June 2007

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