Oxon CofE Primary School

Inspection Report - Amended Oxon CofE Primary School

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123502 Unique Reference Number Shropshire Local Authority 292691 Inspection number 27 September 2006 Inspection date Graham Sims 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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Racecourse Lane School address Primary Type of school Bicton Heath Voluntary controlled School category Shrewsbury SY3 5BJ 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01743 351948 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01743 272645 Fax number 371 Number on roll (school) Keith Fearnside Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mark Rogers Headteacher 24 September 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 292691 27 September 2006 4 °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

Oxon Primary School is a larger than average Church of England primary school which draws its pupils from the western outskirts of Shrewsbury. The great majority of the pupils are of White British heritage and almost all speak English as their first language. Pupils' socio-economic backgrounds vary widely but, overall, are slightly above average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is below average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Oxon CofE Primary School, 27 September 2006

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Grade: 2

It is easy to see why Oxon CE Primary School is so popular with parents. It is a good school, and the quality of education it provides is not far short of outstanding. Pupils of all abilities achieve well throughout the school. When children enter the Reception class, the range of skills exhibited is typical of the average four-year-old. By the time they leave the school at the end of Year 6, standards are significantly above the national average. Moreover, the pupils really enjoy their school. One said, 'It is a wonderful school!' and another, 'It is the best school you could have!' Key reasons for the school's success are the excellent leadership provided by the headteacher and the commitment and dedication of a hard-working and united staff team. The school has a very good understanding of its own performance and has a good track record of making improvements. For example, the progress made by pupils

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Grade: 2

who left in 2003 was amongst the lowest 20 per cent of schools in the country. By 2005, pupils' progress was firmly amongst the top 20 per cent, and pupils who left in 2006 look to have emulated that performance. A much improved curriculum, carefully implemented development plans and consistently good teaching have secured these improvements. The school prepares its pupils very well for the future, resulting in excellent levels of personal development and well-being. Children receive a really good start to their education in the Reception classes. They make particularly good progress in their personal, social and emotional development and develop very positive attitudes towards school. Excellent relationships between staff and pupils help pupils to feel safe and secure throughout the school and to have the confidence to participate actively in lessons. Pupils have a very good understanding of how to lead a healthy lifestyle,

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Grade: 2

heavily influenced by the school's insistence on healthy food, provision of fruit at break and plenty of opportunity to participate in sporting activities. Participation in the school council, acting as buddies at playtimes and carrying out various responsibilities enable pupils to make a thoroughly positive contribution to the smooth running of the school. Good standards of literacy and numeracy, competence in information and communication technology, and collaborative and independent skills learnt through varied teaching methods and participation in residential visits ensure that pupils have a good range of skills for their future education. So, what more does the school need to do to become outstanding? The main thing is to improve the quality of pupils' writing, which does not yet match the very high standards achieved in reading and science. Some significant improvements to the way the school helps pupils to

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Grade: 2

develop their writing skills are starting to have a positive impact. However, pupils are not always given enough feedback on how they could improve their writing and are not given sufficient opportunity to reflect on their work and learn from their mistakes.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Provide pupils with clearer feedback on their writing and ensure they have sufficient time to reflect on their work and learn from their mistakes. 2 Inspection Report: Oxon CofE Primary School, 27 September 2006

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Grade: 2

Over the last few years, the school's results at the end of Years 2 and 6 have fluctuated considerably. Some of the fluctuation, for example, the improving picture in mathematics in Key Stage 2, has come about because of new initiatives to improve areas of weakness identified by the school. Other changes, such as a fall in standards at the end of Year 6 in 2006, are attributable to the differing characteristics of some year groups. The general trend, however, is one of improvement, of above average standards and pupils of all abilities achieving well. The gap between the school's performance and the national average increases as pupils move through the school. Nearly all children achieve the goals expected for their age in all areas of learning by the end of the Reception, even though many of the children will only have been at the school for two terms. Standards in reading are particularly good at the end of Year

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Grade: 2

2. Results achieved by pupils in Year 6 in 2005 were exceptionally high. Although still significantly above the national average, those in 2006 were not as good. The weakest performance was in writing. For a number of years, standards in science have been exceptionally high, fuelled by the school's strong emphasis on investigative work.

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Grade: 1

In one of the Year 6 classes, each pupil has a piece of writing on display entitled, 'What makes a happy classroom?' One girl, in a similar vein to many others, wrote: 'People have to be enthusiastic about their work, participate in all activities, look forward to learning and be kind and cooperative. They should share school property, as well as respecting it. Classmates must try their best in all subjects, even if its one they don't particularly enjoy. Obey the class rules, and treat everyone the way you'd want to be treated.' This writing typifies what life is like at Oxon. Visitors cannot fail to be struck by the politeness of the pupils and the friendly, welcoming atmosphere of the school. Lessons take place without disruption from anti-social behaviour. Well before they leave the school, pupils have developed into mature and responsible citizens, and exhibit a very good level of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Grade: 2

One of the keys to pupils' good achievement is that there are no weak links in the teaching, which is consistently good throughout the school. Much effort goes into checking the quality of teaching, and effective action is taken to rectify any weaknesses. The teachers are supportive of each other, which helps to spread good practice. Lessons are well planned, and teachers use a good variety of teaching methods. They make particularly good use of the interactive whiteboards to motivate and interest the pupils. 3 Inspection Report: Oxon CofE Primary School, 27 September 2006 Pupils learn well because of their positive attitudes, their willingness to participate, and the mutual respect which exists between staff and pupils. Teaching assistants are deployed very effectively and play a significant part in helping pupils with learning difficulties to make good progress. The teachers maintain a good pace throughout

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Grade: 2

the day, resulting in good quantities of work. However, this positive trait also has its downside, in that teachers do not build in sufficient time for pupils to reflect on the work they have completed and learn from their mistakes. The teachers are assiduous in their marking of pupils' work, although they do not always give pupils sufficient feedback to help them know where they have made mistakes or how they can improve.

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Grade: 2

The school provides a good curriculum, which has some outstanding features, such as the wide range of extra-curricular activities, visits, visitors, special events and residential trips. The rationale for such events is carefully thought out. For example, pupils in Year 6 have a week-long residential visit at the start of the school year, as the school believes this has a strong and positive influence on the way pupils work for the rest of the year, as well as on their personal development. For some time, the school has been concerned about the quality of pupils' writing, and has made substantial changes to the way English lessons are planned and cross-curricular work is used to develop writing skills. These changes, though not yet fully consolidated, are beginning to have a positive impact. Good links with external providers, pre-schools and local secondary schools supplement the good quality education provided by the school.

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Grade: 1

The quality of care, guidance and support is excellent. Starting with very good procedures to help children settle into the Reception classes, the care provided by class teachers is of an extremely high quality, and is a significant factor which contributes to the very good ethos throughout the school. Very careful attention is given to ensure the protection, health and safety of the pupils. The school keeps detailed records of pupils' progress to ensure that no pupils fall behind in their work.

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Grade: 2

Good leadership and management are evident at every level. At the heart of the excellent leadership demonstrated by the headteacher is a thorough insight into all aspects of the school, which ensures that relevant issues for development are identified and action taken to bring improvement. Senior managers, subject leaders and governors are all involved in the process of drawing up development plans. The views of parents, canvassed through biennial questionnaires, and the voice of the pupils, represented well by the school council, contribute to the school's quest to become even better. Improvements in the progress made by pupils in Key Stage 2, particularly in mathematics 4 Inspection Report: Oxon CofE Primary School, 27 September 2006 and increasingly in writing, and the many changes and new initiatives which have occurred since the previous inspection, indicate that there is good capacity for further

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Grade: 2

improvement. For the effectiveness of the school's leadership in raising achievement to be judged to be outstanding, it only remains for the school to fulfil its plans to raise standards and improve pupils' achievement in writing. They are well on the way with this task. 5 Inspection Report: Oxon CofE Primary School, 27 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: Oxon CofE Primary School, 27 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? 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 1 The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 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?

1 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: Oxon CofE Primary School, 27 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: Oxon CofE Primary School, 27 September 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I very much enjoyed my visit to your school to find out how well the school is doing. Thank you for making me feel welcome. Those of you I talked to, and nearly all of your parents, think Oxon is a good school ° I agree! These are the main things that are going well: • You are making good progress with your work in every class and achieving better standards than in many schools. • You are enthusiastic, polite and very well behaved, which ensures that there is a very good atmosphere within the school which helps you to learn. • You receive good teaching from all of your teachers and helpful support from your teaching assistants. • The school provides a very good range of activities, visits, residential trips and special events, which you greatly enjoy. • The school takes very good care of you, prepares you very well for your future education and helps you learn how to lead healthy and safe lives. • The headteacher, governors and senior staff run the school well, which ensures that you

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

all receive a good education. There are no major weaknesses in the school. However, standards achieved in writing at the end of Year 6 last year were not as high as in reading, mathematics and science. I have, therefore, asked your teachers to give you more feedback about how you can improve your writing and to give you more time to reflect on what you have done and to learn from your mistakes. I was sorry not to have met pupils from Year 6, but I am sure you had a wonderful time at Arthog. I hope you will all continue to work hard, achieve high standards and enjoy the rest of your education at Oxon. 9 Inspection Report: Oxon CofE Primary School, 27 September 2006

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