Diseworth Church of England Primary School

Diseworth Church of England Primary School Inspection report

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120127 Unique Reference Number Leicestershire Local Authority 291639 Inspection number 25 April 2007 Inspection date Mike Capper 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 controlled School category 4 °10 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 47 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Kate Henry Chair Alison Woffindin Headteacher 1 January 2003 Date of previous school inspection Grimesgate School address Diseworth Derby DE74 2QD

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01332 810208 Telephone number 01332 853880 Fax number

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4 °10 Age group 25 April 2007 Inspection date 291639 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 one Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This very small rural primary school takes pupils from the local community as well as the surrounding areas. The school admits Nursery-age children for two days a week in the spring and summer terms. Children's attainment when they start school is broadly 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: Diseworth Church of England Primary School, 25 April 2007

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Grade: 2

This is a good school where all members of staff work together to help pupils develop the skills and values to help them succeed in later life. Good quality care, guidance and support ensure that pupils' personal development and well-being is good. As a result, pupils are eager and happy learners. They are at ease when talking to adults and behave exceptionally well. They enjoy school and make a good contribution to the local community by taking part in village events and raising money for charities. Good teaching ensures that pupils achieve well throughout the school. Provision for children in the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception Year) is good. Children receive sensitive help,, ensuring that they make good progress. Standards are well above average overall by the end of Year 5, although progress is much slower in science than in English or mathematics. Pupils make good progress in English and mathematics because

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Grade: 2

teachers plan carefully to meet differing needs, and there is a good pace to learning in most lessons. Pupils do less well in science, where standards are only average, because there is not always enough challenge in the work that they are given and too little time is allocated to the subject. This lack of balance makes the curriculum satisfactory, although it is enriched well by a good number of clubs, visits and visitors. These give pupils many opportunities to learn new skills, especially in sport. As one pupil said, 'Even though we are a small school, we do lots of fun things in and out of lessons'. The school is well led and managed. There have been many useful recent developments and members of staff share the headteacher's commitment to ensuring that pupils fulfil their potential. There are good systems for setting targets and tracking pupils' progress from year to year. This information was used well to identify a minor dip in

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Grade: 2

achievement in Year 1 in 2005, meaning that it could be dealt with quickly so that pupils soon got back on track. The role of subject leaders is developing. They are enthusiastic but have not been able formally to monitor teaching in their subjects to help them get a complete picture of how well pupils are doing. There are good links with parents. They contribute well to pupils' achievement by supporting learning at home. One parent summed up the views of many: 'Our children love this school. Members of staff are very approachable and the children are well behaved'.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve progress in science by raising teachers' expectations of what pupils should do and giving more time to the subject. • Give subject leaders more responsibility to formally monitor teaching and learning.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' achievement is good. Children get a good start in the Nursery and Reception Year and by the start of Year 1 most have reached or exceeded the expected levels for their age. Pupils make especially good progress in communication, language and literacy because a recently introduced programme for teaching letter sounds has been particularly successful. Pupils are now making good overall progress in Years 1 to 5, although a dip in progress in Year 1 in 2005 resulted in broadly average standards at the end of Year 2 in 2006. This is lower than usual. The headteacher has taken effective steps to deal with this pocket of underachievement and all pupils are now working successfully towards the challenging targets that they have been set. By the end of Year 5, standards are well above average overall, although pupils do less well in science than in English and mathematics. Good teaching means that all pupils, including

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Grade: 2

4 of 10 Inspection Report: Diseworth Church of England Primary School, 25 April 2007 those with learning difficulties, make good progress in English and mathematics. In science, progress is only satisfactory and too few pupils are working at the higher levels. This is because more-able pupils are not stretched enough by the work that they are given.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are rightly proud of the school. Their positive attitudes and outstanding behaviour are key factors in its success. In the Foundation Stage, children quickly become independent and are happy to find things out for themselves. Throughout the school, pupils work hard and support each other well. They are confident with adults and are very happy at school, with one boy commenting that 'Everything we do is fun, even our work'. Despite pupils' enjoyment of school, attendance is only satisfactory, mainly because some parents take their children on holidays during term time. Pupils' good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development enables them to develop a good awareness of their responsibilities. There is a successful school council that manages a small budget and gives pupils a good opportunity to contribute to school improvement. These activities, as well as pupils' good basic skills, prepare them well for the

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Grade: 2

next stage of their education. Pupils have a good understanding of how to stay safe and they adopt healthy lifestyles. Children in Class 1 have been growing their own produce and they confidently explain that eating fruit or drinking milk at playtime will help them to 'keep fit and healthy'. Older pupils are very appreciative of the many opportunities that they get to learn different sports.

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Grade: 2

Teaching is good in the Foundation Stage. Adults provide calm and patient support to all children and meet differing needs well. In Years 1 to 5, lessons are well organised and teachers have good relationships with their classes. They plan interesting and purposeful work, helping to ensure that pupils are well motivated and keen to do their best. Pupils are encouraged to work at pace, and are given good opportunities to share their ideas through discussion and challenging questioning. Skilled teaching assistants have a good effect on learning, especially when supporting pupils with learning difficulties. Throughout the school, teachers are aware of the need to provide challenge for the wide range of ages and abilities in each of the three classes, and differing needs are generally met well in English and mathematics. In science, teachers do not always ask enough of the pupils and work does not always build sufficiently

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Grade: 2

on previous learning. Where classes have more than one teacher in the week, there are some inconsistencies in the quality of marking and in the presentation of work, reflecting the occasionally different expectations of teachers.

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Grade: 3

The Foundation Stage curriculum supports learning well. The indoors and outside areas are used imaginatively to promote children's independence and to teach new skills. In Years 1 to 5, the curriculum is sharply focused on improving basic literacy and numeracy skills. This has had a good effect on standards. The downside of this is that not enough time is allowed for the teaching of science, and this significantly slows progress in this subject. Teachers are 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Diseworth Church of England Primary School, 25 April 2007 beginning to link different subjects more closely than in the past in order to make learning even more meaningful, although this is still in the early stages of development. After-school clubs are popular and successfully meet pupils' differing needs and interests. The school carefully plans a good range of visits to motivate pupils. A joint residential trip with another small local

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Grade: 3

school is greatly enjoyed. It makes a good contribution to pupils' social development, helping them to learn to live and share with others.

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Grade: 2

In this small school, where everybody knows everyone, pastoral support is especially strong. Consequently, this is a happy school where all pupils are treated as part of the 'school family'. The school works well with parents and outside agencies to safeguard children. Pupils are happy that any worries are dealt with quickly. As one said of the headteacher, 'She is good at solving problems if you have any'. Academic support is good. In the Foundation Stage, children's progress is monitored very carefully in all areas of learning. In Years 1 to 6, there are good systems for tracking pupils' progress in English and mathematics. This produces a wealth of information that is used well to set targets for pupils. The school does not yet have sufficiently rigorous systems in other subjects, especially science, making it hard for teachers to monitor progress accurately. Pupils with learning difficulties are identified early and set clear targets

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Grade: 2

Since her appointment two years ago, the headteacher has established a good understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses and an accurate picture of overall effectiveness. She has brought fresh ideas to the school and there is a good awareness of what remains to be done. There has been a good pace to changes made, with the school rightly focusing first on improving progress in English and mathematics. Recent initiatives, such as the introduction of new assessment procedures and the organising of pupils into ability sets in mathematics, have had a good effect on learning. This demonstrates the school's good capacity for further improvement. There are good systems for finding out how well the school is doing, although too much of this responsibility lies with the headteacher. Subject leaders are involved in the analysis of performance data but have not had the opportunity to monitor teaching. This makes

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Grade: 2

it difficult for them to identify what needs to be done to improve learning in their subjects. In particular, science has not been monitored recently and this means that the school has been too slow in picking up the lack of challenge in some recent work. Governance is good. Although there are many new governors, they take an active part in holding the school to account. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Diseworth Church of England Primary School, 25 April 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: Diseworth Church of England Primary School, 25 April 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 1 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?

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: Diseworth Church of England Primary School, 25 April 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: Diseworth Church of England Primary School, 25 April 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• 25 April 2007 Dear Children, Inspection of Diseworth C of E Primary School, Grimesgate, Diseworth, Derbyshire DE74 2QD Thank you for welcoming me to your school and for showing me your work. You were very polite and friendly. I enjoyed talking to the school councillors. Yours is a good school and your parents and carers are very pleased that you come here. What your school does best • Good teaching helps you to learn well and make good progress, especially in English and mathematics. • Your behaviour is excellent and you thoroughly enjoy school. • You are taught all the subjects you should be. I am especially pleased that you are able to take part in lots of sports, both in and out of lessons. • All adults in school are very kind and caring and they give you good help with your work. • Your headteacher and governors are leading the school well and are working hard to make it even better. What we have asked your school to do now

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• Help you to do better in science by allowing more time for the subject and ensuring that work stretches you more. • Give teachers more chances to watch other teachers working so that they can check how well you are learning. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to you and watching you learn. I hope your residential trip to Whitby goes well ° it sounds great fun. I wish you all well for the future and hope you continue to help your teachers by working hard and trying your best. Yours sincerely Mr M Capper Lead Inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Diseworth Church of England Primary School, 25 April 2007

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