Captain Webb Primary School

Inspection Report - Amended Captain Webb Primary School

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123443 Unique Reference Number Telford and Wrekin Local Authority 292665 Inspection number 13 September 2006 Inspection date David Carrington 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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Webb Crescent School address Primary Type of school Dawley Community School category Telford TF4 3DU 3 °11 Age range of pupils 01952 386770 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01952 386782 Fax number 335 Number on roll (school) Shirley Bruneau Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Jessie Gupta Headteacher 3 February 2003 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 292665 13 September 2006 3 °11

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Amended Report Addendum

Report updated to resolve formatting inconsistency

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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 one Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

The pupils at Captain Webb Primary School come from the area around the school, which is one of the older residential areas in Telford, and an area of high social and economic disadvantage. Nearly a third of the pupils are entitled to free school meals. Children's starting level in the Nursery is below average. Captain Webb is a full service extended school, in partnership with its neighbouring secondary school. This term it has opened a day care centre for children from two years old. There is also a family learning centre on site.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Captain Webb Primary School, 13 September 2006

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Grade: 2

Pupils at Captain Webb are insistent that their school is the place to be. The pupils talk in their own way of the school's effectiveness, which they rate highly. They would happily recommend their school to other children. They enjoy their education immensely and they see the staff as friends. The school has forged ahead very well in recent years and its overall effectiveness is good. It has worked very successfully to ensure pupils' achievement is good and to raise standards to an average level from the well below average position in the past. School leaders have done this by raising the expectations of staff, pupils, governors and parents. The rise in standards is clearly related to improvements in the quality of teaching and learning and the acceleration of pupils' progress, which are both good. Captain Webb Primary School has good capacity to make further improvements in order to bring greater consistency to its work. There is determination across the school,

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Grade: 2

inspired by the headteacher and deputy headteacher, to raise standards even further. School leaders have full insights into the strengths of the school and there is a sense of celebration of what has been achieved. There is also a rigorous appraisal of what could be improved. Improving achievement in reading and mathematics is at the heart of the school's efforts to raise standards. Standards in these two areas are average, although weaknesses in pupils' speaking and listening skills restrict achievement. The system of tracking pupils' progress is shaping into a very focused tool that is having a significant impact on planning and the match of work to pupils' needs. These very necessary strengths are the result of the outstanding direction provided by all leaders. School leaders work to ensure the school makes a difference to the pupils, regardless of their starting point. This is the key reason for the development of extended services

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Grade: 2

for children, parents and the local community. Children in the Foundation Stage have some significant gaps in their literacy and mathematical knowledge when they start. In particular, their speaking and listening skills are not as advanced as expected. Currently, Nursery and Reception children develop well in school. The opening of the day care centre this term has the capacity to give children greater opportunities to build a base of good language skills to assist their future learning. In later years, the pupils make equally good progress in their academic work and in their personal development. Pupils have good understanding of the need to keep safe and healthy, work well with others in the community and develop good skills to help them in later life. All staff provide effective support to enable pupils to develop such skills, and the developing partnership with parents is strengthening pupils' personal

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Grade: 2

development. The family learning centre provides some excellent opportunities for parents to develop greater skills in supporting their children's learning. The pupils report that they feel safe and well looked after in school. Behaviour is good and pupils participate with eagerness in the many activities that are provided inside and outside school hours. Learning is a positive affair for pupils and staff and many pupils show early potential as shown in the writing skills already developed amongst some Year 2 pupils. At present, 2 Inspection Report: Captain Webb Primary School, 13 September 2006 however, provision for the gifted and talented pupils is not always planned effectively enough to ensure that they achieve their capabilities consistently. Senior leaders have introduced a number of useful strategies to develop provision for these pupils, such as asking parents to identify their children's strengths. They recognise that more can

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Grade: 2

be done to improve provision for the gifted and talented. Currently, Captain Webb Primary is a good school. It is working to be an outstanding one. The track towards this goal is mapped clearly and there is clear evidence it has the power to complete the necessary improvements.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise standards in reading and mathematics by providing consistent opportunities for pupils to talk about and listen to each other's ideas, opinions and ways of solving problems. • Improve the programme for gifted and talented pupils that builds on their strengths and influences the progress made by other pupils.

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Grade: 2

Standards are average by Year 6 and pupils achieve well. Good improvement has been made to reading and science though improvements in results in reading and mathematics have been slower. However, the school has worked well to close the gap and pupils' progress is accelerating in all subjects. Shortcomings in pupils' speaking and listening skills slow the development of their reading skills because they have a narrower vocabulary and less confidence of expression than most pupils of a similar age. Most pupils learn basic arithmetic well, and build a useful store of numeracy knowledge, though some older pupils cannot apply this to solving problems that involve more than two steps. Achievement is good overall, although provision for the gifted and talented does not yet ensure that they are always challenged enough. The school recognises the need to add more value to the achievement of the gifted and talented which should have

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Grade: 2

the ripple effect of promoting even greater aspirations amongst the other pupils. It has already started the process of improvement and there are positive signs of success.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being is taken very seriously by the school, with good result. Pupils work happily together and support each other in building friendships and teams that underpin their effective learning. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils enjoy their learning and have a good sense of their own community. The pupils give the example of the playground buddies to show how they are encouraged to take responsibility, work with others and show initiative in promoting harmonious play. The Games Shop is the focus for developing 3 Inspection Report: Captain Webb Primary School, 13 September 2006 Years 5 and 6 pupils' organisational, team-building and independence skills, which assist their readiness for future life and education well. Pupils are alert to the need to keep healthy and stay safe and readily identify improvements that they have suggested

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Grade: 2

to improve their own welfare. There are a few pupils who do not willingly share this approach to mutual friendship and support, although for these pupils the learning mentor provides trustworthy and valuable guidance. The developing partnership with parents is increasingly allowing the few cases of poor behaviour, for example, to be dealt with more effectively and early on. Senior leaders know they have to remain vigilant with these pupils to ensure behaviour is consistently good.

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Grade: 2

Teaching has been improved well and is now of good quality. There is evidence of some outstanding teaching, especially in Years 2, 4 and 6. Raised expectations, greater pace and firmer match of work to pupils' ability have all contributed to the good progress made by the pupils. The pupils thoroughly enjoy their learning and they work productively and purposefully right from the time they start in the Nursery. To move teaching quality up a notch, a firmer focus on the development of pupils' speaking and listening skills is necessary. The teaching assistants, who are a talented group, have an important role to play in the development of pupils' speaking and listening skills, which could be developed further.

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Grade: 2

The good development of useful cross subject links has had a beneficial impact on standards and achievement. This is shown in science work where pupils present the results of their much enjoyed collaborative investigations in a variety of written ways. However, the development of speaking and listening across the curriculum and the provision for gifted and talented pupils are not fully developed. Learning outside lessons is planned very carefully and pupils join in wholeheartedly. The day care provision, whilst in its very early days, is viewed with much approval by parents for the potential it has to improve their children's progress. The family learning centre is a fun place for parents and their children to work together. The school works outstandingly well with others, such as the local secondary school and local services to give its pupils and their parents the opportunity to do well. 4 Inspection Report: Captain Webb Primary School, 13 September 2006

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Grade: 2

Captain Webb School ensures it meets current requirements for the welfare and safeguarding of all pupils. Staff work well with parents to learn the full background of their pupils. The quality of relationships throughout the school is a particular plus in matters of care and guidance. There are rigorous systems to check how well pupils are progressing, with clear expectations and targets set for learning and for personal matters such as behaviour. The pupils work well to meet these goals. The partnership with parents to provide even more effective care and guidance is not yet complete as some parents lack the confidence to join the school fully in the education of their children. The school has worked hard to build a more fruitful partnership, especially through the Family Learning Centre. The learning mentor works successfully with the few pupils who are disadvantaged in their learning by poor behaviour or health.

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Grade: 2

The school has a very realistic understanding of its effectiveness and it sets relevant priorities for improvement, especially in pupils' progress. Leaders at all levels work very successfully to develop and improve the chances pupils have to succeed. The headteacher and deputy headteacher have high expectations and together they steer the school in a steadfast way that encourages others to give of their best. It is very evident that the school has good capacity to continue its track record of successful improvement. The newly restructured senior leadership team has so far had little time to develop further the already successful procedures for checking the school's effectiveness. The school development plan includes an appropriate priority focused on developing the senior leadership team's work. These leaders are keen to provide strong direction for the school and have very good experience to help them build on the school's past

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Grade: 2

successes. Governors are knowledgeable and influential and are very supportive of the school's work to provide extended opportunities for pupils, parents and the community to do well. 5 Inspection Report: Captain Webb Primary School, 13 September 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: Captain Webb 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? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 1 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? 3 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 3 The attendance of learners 1 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: Captain Webb 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: Captain Webb Primary School, 13 September 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for your warm welcome when I visited your school recently. You told me a lot about your school, especially that you think your teachers are your friends and that there are a lot of enjoyable challenges in your work. In my report, which I hope a lot of you will read, I have written about the good things in school. The main ones are: • Captain Webb is a good school. • You are getting better results every year. • Your lessons are full of interesting things to learn. • You are taught well. • Your headteacher and deputy headteacher expect you to work hard and do well in your learning. • Your school works well with others to help you in your work and play. • Everyone enjoys being at school. I have asked the school to do two things to make it even better: • Give you more chances to talk to each other about what you are learning so that your reading and mathematics work improves. • Give some of you even more challenge in your work so that you can show just how talented

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

you are. I know you will want to help your teachers make these improvements. You can do this by continuing to do your best work and by helping each other when you have problems or difficulties. Since you told me you liked the challenges in your work, you can start by finding out who was the first woman to swim the English Channel and by sharing this with your teachers. You might also discover what the link is between your school and a box of matches. Good luck in your work. 9 Inspection Report: Captain Webb Primary School, 13 September 2006

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