South View Community Primary School

Inspection Report South View Community Primary School

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120406 Unique Reference Number LINCOLNSHIRE Local Authority 291717 Inspection number 14 °15 February 2007 Inspection dates Margaret Goodchild 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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Reform Street School address Primary Type of school Crowland, Peterborough Community School category Cambridgeshire PE6 0AN 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01733 210361 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01733 211472 Fax number 282 Number on roll (school) Mrs Judith Sumner Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mr John Cork Headteacher 20 May 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 291717 14 °15 February 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The school is in the village of Crowland, which is situated in the Fens several miles north of Peterborough. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is below that of most schools, although pupils come from an area that has suffered from rural deprivation in the past. Very few pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds or speak English as an additional language. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is similar to that in schools nationally. Attainment on entry to the school is broadly average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: South View Community Primary School, 14 °15 February 2007

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school. There are some good features and the overall quality of education is improving. Parents express a high level of appreciation for the school's work and feel well informed and involved in their children's learning. They comment on how the school is 'forward looking', saying that it provides 'a very safe and happy environment' and 'has improved immensely since the appointment of the new headteacher'. The headteacher has high expectations and a very clear vision for taking the school forward. He provides strong and well-judged leadership that has enabled the school to make significant improvements since the last inspection. Senior managers are accurate in judging the school's effectiveness and ensure that areas for development are being tackled systematically. The positive impact of their work is most evident at Key Stage 2, where standards reached by pupils in Year 6 have risen over the last three

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Grade: 3

years to a point where they are now above average. Good systems are in place for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning so that managers at all levels are clear about what is working well and what needs to be improved. Assessment information is used effectively to check whether pupils are doing as well as they should and pupils know what they need to do to do to improve. Pupils reach above average standards by Year 6 and achieve well in response to good teaching in Years 5 and 6. However, achievement and teaching are satisfactory overall because there are some relatively inexperienced teachers lower down the school. They receive good support from senior staff and it is clear that teaching is improving. Teaching is satisfactory when teachers do not consistently match work and activities to what different groups within the class need to learn next. Pupils are well cared for and benefit from the good level of support and guidance

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Grade: 3

provided. As a result, they have good attitudes to learning, behave well and say that they enjoy school. They make good progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The curriculum has improved significantly since the last inspection so that it meets pupils' needs well and a good range of additional activities enriches pupils' learning. Provision for children in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory and good in some areas. There is a strong commitment amongst staff and governors to making the school as good as possible, and work to this end has gathered momentum so that the capacity to improve is good. The school provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise achievement at Key Stage 1 and ensure that children in the Foundation Stage make good progress in all areas of learning. • Ensure that teachers consistently match work to the needs of different groups of pupils. 2 Inspection Report: South View Community Primary School, 14 °15 February 2007

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Grade: 3

The achievement of children in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory overall and good in some areas. They make good progress in communication and language, knowledge and understanding of the world and in their creative development. They make satisfactory progress in developing their literacy skills and in mathematical development and physical development. National Curriculum assessments at Year 2 have been average since the last inspection, though they declined slightly in 2006. Standards in Years 1 and 2 are currently in line with the national average and achievement is satisfactory. The school maintained average standards in Year 6 between the last inspection and 2005, but an upward trend over the last three years gave rise to above average results in the 2006 tests. Pupils' attainment in Years 5 and 6 is currently above average and their achievement is good. There are no differences in the achievement

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Grade: 3

of different groups of pupils within classes, but there are variations from one class to another. This is most evident in Years 3 and 4, where standards are broadly average. Pupils in these years make good progress in some lessons but more often it is satisfactory because teaching is not always consistent. Good support for pupils with learning difficulties ensures that they make good progress towards the targets in their individual education plans.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy school and say that they feel secure. Pupils' good behaviour and positive attitudes ensure that they respond readily to all that the school has to offer. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The school's positive ethos helps to ensure that pupils have a clear understanding of right and wrong. Close work with parents has resulted in a significant improvement in attendance, which is now good. The school council goes about its work with purpose, and the 'guardian angels' take their responsibilities seriously. Most children understand the importance of eating healthily and enjoy the sporting activities provided. They clearly value belonging to a caring community. They contribute significantly to both the school and wider community, for example, through the school's link with Ghana and by raising funds for good causes. By the time they leave school, pupils have gained a good range of

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Grade: 2

basic skills needed for the next stage of their education together with important personal skills which should stand them in good stead for the future. Children in the Foundation Stage do well overall in their personal, social and emotional development, but they do not always develop as well as they could when they are taught with Year 1 pupils. 3 Inspection Report: South View Community Primary School, 14 °15 February 2007

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall, although good teaching in Years 5 and 6 accelerates pupils' progress and contributes significantly to above average standards by the time they leave the school. Teachers ensure that pupils know what is to be learnt and encourage them to evaluate their own learning. This enables staff to improve pupils' progress by amending lessons in response to the feedback that they receive. Where teaching is particularly effective, staff plan challenging activities and give clear guidance to pupils about how to reach the targets that have been set for them. Teachers' marking is constructive and helps pupils to improve their work. However, staff do not always make the best use of the information they have in planning the next steps in pupils' learning.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and improving. There have been improvements in the provision for geography and music, which were identified as issues at the time of the last inspection. The school has upgraded its resources for information and communication technology (ICT), with the result that staff and pupils use ICT well to support learning. Pupils particularly enjoy the wide range of activities outside lessons, such as drumming, residential visits and projects like the village study, which involved pupils and members of the community exploring village history and 'recreating' Crowland on the playground. Staff have recently begun to employ creative approaches to curriculum planning that use similar events as the basis for forging links between subjects, with the intention of making learning more relevant and purposeful. However, this work is at an early stage of development and has not yet had its full impact on standards and achievement.

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Grade: 2

The school provides good care, support and guidance. Parents praise the level of care provided and feel that they are kept well informed. The school promotes health and safety effectively and makes sure pupils are suitably protected. It works closely with external agencies in supporting those with learning difficulties. Pupils have trusting relationships with the staff and the learning mentor makes a significant contribution to pupils' well-being. The system for tracking pupils' progress is thorough and enables senior managers to pick up quickly if a particular pupil needs additional help. Pupils know their targets, especially in Year 6, which encourages them to work harder to try to meet them. Good support is provided for pupils with learning difficulties but the school also considers the needs of its gifted and talented pupils. The school has, rightly, identified the need to ensure that all midday supervisors manage behaviour effectively

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Grade: 2

4 Inspection Report: South View Community Primary School, 14 °15 February 2007 and promote pupils' social development in the playground. It has begun a training programme which is necessary to ensure that they are all suitably skilled.

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Grade: 2

Good improvement has been made in resolving issues identified at the last inspection and there has been substantial development in a number of other areas. Managers at all levels, including subject co-ordinators, are working as a committed team in evaluating the school's effectiveness and ensuring that the right issues for development are identified. They correctly prioritised raising achievement for the oldest pupils and have been effective in raising standards in Years 5 and 6. Where inadequate teaching has been identified in the past, strong action has been taken to eradicate it and the school has clear systems in place to improve teaching further. The leadership is also taking positive steps to provide further support for less experienced staff. Information gleaned from lesson observation is shared with the staff so that they know what they need to do to improve their teaching. Data is analysed carefully to identify areas where

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Grade: 2

pupils are not making as much progress as they should and the school is outward looking in embracing new initiatives. Teachers have good opportunities to take part in training and to visit other schools. Governance is good: governors are much more involved in the life of the school than they were at the time of the last inspection. They collect information to inform their decision making, ask focused questions and have a good understanding of the school's work. 5 Inspection Report: South View Community Primary School, 14 °15 February 2007 .

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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: South View Community Primary School, 14 °15 February 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? 3 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? 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. 7 Inspection Report: South View Community Primary School, 14 °15 February 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? 8 Inspection Report: South View Community Primary School, 14 °15 February 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

16 February 2007 Dear Pupils South View Community Primary School, Reform Street, Crowland, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE6 0AN Thank you for making us feel so welcome when we visited your school. A special thank you to those of you who talked to us and shared your thoughts about the school. I am writing now to tell you what we found out about it. This is a satisfactory school that is improving. It has come a long way since the last time it was inspected and there are already some good things about your school. You are well cared for and the staff make sure that you get support if you need it. We were pleased to find that you have good attitudes to learning, behave well and say that you enjoy school. You told us that you particularly like going on visits and the special events that happen in school. We loved the work you did as part of the study of Crowland and we have asked the school to let you do more

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

things like that to bring learning to life. Those of you in Years 5 and 6 are making good progress and doing work that is better than we see in many schools. Those in other years are learning new things but not doing quite as well as pupils in Years 5 and 6. We have asked the teachers to make sure that you always have work that builds on what you already know. The headteacher and the other staff really want to make this school as good as they can and we believe that they will succeed. You can help them to do this by working really hard and getting the best out of all the opportunities the school provides. We hope you continue to enjoy your time at South View. Yours sincerely M J Goodchild Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: South View Community Primary School, 14 °15 February 2007

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