St Andrew's CofE School and Nursery

Inspection Report Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First

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116811 Unique Reference Number Worcestershire Local Authority 290642 Inspection number 13 °14 December 2006 Inspection dates Patricia Pothecary 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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Marymans Road School address First Type of school Hampton Voluntary aided School category Evesham WR11 2QN 4 °10 Age range of pupils 01386 41351 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01386 765581 Fax number 144 Number on roll (school) Michael Hunter Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Justin Schiffmann Headteacher 5 November 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 290642 13 °14 December 2006 4°10 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

Evesham St Andrews is a smaller-than-average first school with a high proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and an above-average proportion from socially deprived backgrounds. Almost all pupils are from White British origins. The headteacher has been in post for just over two years and the deputy headteacher has recently joined the school.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First, 13 °14 December 2006

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Grade: 2

Evesham St Andrews is a delightful school that provides a good quality of education for pupils. Pupils clearly enjoy what they do and this is reflected in very high attendance. Parents are very positive about the school. One wrote, 'St Andrews has become an absolute joy for children and parents alike.' In all age groups, including Reception, pupils of all abilities make good progress and achieve well, especially in reading. This is because teaching is good and managers continuously improve the school's work. By the time pupils leave the school, standards are above average, despite low attainment on entry. There are several outstanding aspects of the school's work. The excellent curriculum means that the school is a lively and vibrant place with a wide range of interesting activities, including high quality music, dance, sport and community involvement. Information and communication technology (ICT) is exceptionally well

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Grade: 2

used to enhance learning in all subject areas. In this environment, pupils thrive and demonstrate outstanding personal development and well-being. They are especially keen to keep healthy through plenty of exercise and eating good food. Extensive links with other schools, organisations and individuals contribute significantly to the pupils' rich experiences and their all-round well- being. Good care, guidance and support contribute to the pupils' overall success in their personal and academic development and ensure that they are kept very safe. The school sets challenging annual targets for each pupil, although lessons are not yet linked closely enough to them. This means that although most teaching is good and some is of a very high quality, it is not consistent. On a lesson-by-lesson basis, pupils do not know sufficiently well what they need to do to reach their targets. Senior and subject leaders monitor the pupils'

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Grade: 2

progress but not frequently enough to ensure that even better progress is made. Pupils make an important contribution to the school and wider community and, from Reception onwards, show remarkable confidence in taking responsibility. The wide range of useful skills that pupils develop, both personally and academically, ensures that they are very well prepared for the next school and their future careers. Leadership and management are good and the direction the headteacher provides is outstanding. Good self-evaluation by senior leaders has ensured that improvements to the school and to pupils' achievements are sustained. The school's capacity to improve is good.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Strengthen the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that teachers and pupils are clear about the individual targets of every learner and their progress towards them.

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Grade: 2

In every year group, the pupils make good progress and achieve well in English, mathematics and science. This is a much-improved picture since the last inspection. Some pupils make outstanding progress. This is due to good teaching, and many 2 Inspection Report: Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First, 13 °14 December 2006 parents testify to this. All pupils make excellent progress in reading because the school has focused particularly on improving their reading skills. The pupils' standards rise from below average when they first begin school to above average by the time they leave. By the end of Year 2, pupils have already reached average standards and have made good progress. By the end of Year 5, their continued good progress means that they begin the middle school with above-average skills in a wide range of subjects, including ICT and French. This year, as a result of successful support programmes, pupils with learning difficulties made good progress in all the main subjects for the

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Grade: 1

Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Pupils show tolerance and good humour towards each other and to the beliefs and cultures of others. During their Christmas lunch, the whole school sang 'Feed the World' with heartfelt expression. Children from Reception onwards quickly learn to work together in a remarkably mature way and make rapid gains in building self-confidence and social skills. Pupils act safely, behave well and are eager to attend school. Exclusions and bullying are rare as a result of a recent initiative to improve the pupils' well-being. The pupils are encouraged to keep fit and at playtimes they play a range of games, for example, running, skipping, and football. Pupils make an outstanding contribution to both the school and the wider community. For example, the school council has championed better games for the playground, healthier food at lunchtime, whole-school rules and more music tuition. Pupils actively

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Grade: 1

recycle waste, work with the parish church and raise money for charities. Recently, many took part in the singing of 'Silent Night' in German on BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester. One reported, 'We were excited, nervous but really felt proud of our school'.

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Grade: 2

There is good quality teaching by teachers and teaching assistants throughout the school, and some teaching is of a very high quality. Teachers plan work very carefully, based upon their assessment of what has been learned before, to help each individual pupil make the best progress. Pupils are given feedback immediately on how well they have done, which is helping to raise standards. The good planning is well supported by the excellent ICT curriculum and lesson resources. A major feature of most lessons is the interesting variety of practical activities which make learning enjoyable for pupils. In a few lessons, the teaching is satisfactory. This is largely because the work planned is not yet linked closely enough to each individual pupil's end-of-year targets and so does not match the needs of all pupils. As a result, some pupils in these lessons do not do as well as they can. 3 Inspection Report: Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First, 13 °14 December 2006

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Grade: 1

The outstanding curriculum is tailored to meet each pupil's needs. This means that all pupils are motivated and have excellent equal opportunities to do well regardless of their starting points and interests. Provision in Reception is excellent. There are some highly effective initiatives, for example, in reading, mathematics and working with families, which have raised standards. The many links with other groups bring learning alive and increase opportunities for pupils to learn in ways that interest them, such as the 'Forest School'. The great strength of the curriculum is the way it relates pupils' learning to acquiring life-long skills. There are many opportunities for pupils to access information and the way they use ICT significantly develops their independent learning skills. In Year 5, all pupils have their own hand-held computers (PDAs) which enable them, for example, to word process work or evaluate their own performance in dance

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Grade: 2

Parents are extremely pleased with the good quality of care, guidance and support the school provides. As one parent explained, 'Every child is treated as an individual.' As a result, pupils develop excellent personal skills. Good procedures keep pupils safe and those who are at risk are supported well, both by the school and through outside agencies. There are excellent systems for promoting very high attendance levels. The guidance provided to set and help pupils reach challenging targets is much improved and parents are involved well. For pupils with learning difficulties, frequent monitoring and early intervention has resulted in them making good progress in English, mathematics and science for the first time. Despite this, pupils are not sufficiently involved in setting their own targets and do not always know whether they are on track to meet them during the year.

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Grade: 2

Outstanding leadership by the headteacher, well supported by his deputy, has transformed the school and improved the pupils' personal development and achievement in a relatively short space of time. Staff, governors and parents all testify to the motivating vision and clarity of direction the headteacher provides. These underpin the common sense of purpose and obvious enjoyment amongst staff and pupils. There is good management of the key systems of the school, although middle management is currently being re-organised. Good self-evaluation includes and acts upon the views of parents, pupils and others. Stronger monitoring of pupils' progress has led to accurate identification of where improvements are most needed. This has also resulted in several other successful developments, including better accommodation, sport and parental involvement. The monitoring of standards and progress to see 4 Inspection Report: Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First, 13 °14 December 2006

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Grade: 2

whether pupils are on track to meet their targets is thorough, especially for those with learning difficulties, but for the majority of pupils this only takes place at the end of each school year. This means that a few of the average and higher-attaining pupils who are falling behind are not identified or helped as early as they could be. Managers recognise that providing teachers and pupils with this information more frequently is an important step towards even higher standards. Governance is outstanding in the high quality challenge and knowledgeable support it provides in sustaining and improving the quality of the school and the pupils' achievements. 5 Inspection Report: Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First, 13 °14 December 2006 .

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Grade: 2

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First, 13 °14 December 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 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?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 1 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 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: Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First, 13 °14 December 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: Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First, 13 °14 December 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for being so welcoming when we visited your school. We very much enjoyed meeting you and joining you for some of your lessons. We found your school to be successful, well run and caring. It is a good school, just like you and your parents told us it was. It helps you to make good progress. The success you have with reading is outstanding. You make exceptional progress in your personal skills, behaving well and being very responsible in working for others. Your teachers and teaching assistants are skilled at helping you to do your best and they teach you well. The way you become more mature and work hard is very good and you clearly enjoy school. We were pleased to see the large amount of sport that you play and the fruit and vegetables that you eat to try and keep healthy. You work and socialise very well together and we think that this, alongside your good skills in literacy, numeracy, ICT and teamwork, will stand you in

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

good stead for the future. Your teachers see to it that you have an excellent range of activities and links with other organisations to help you improve many of your skills and make your work interesting. The 'Forest School' project looks very exciting. The school is very successful in keeping you safe and looking after you. Senior staff lead the school very well but we have suggested that they look more often at how well you are doing and share this with you, so that you can receive support to reach your targets as soon as you need it. You clearly play a good part in the success of the school. We wish you all the very best in the future. 9 Inspection Report: Evesham, St Andrew's CofE First, 13 °14 December 2006

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