Newdigate CofE Endowed Aided Infant School

Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School Inspection report

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125192 Unique Reference Number Surrey Local Authority 293225 Inspection number 6 °7 June 2007 Inspection dates Christopher Gray 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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Infant Type of school Voluntary aided School category 4 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 110 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Jackie Bennett Chair Ms LInda Trueman Headteacher 25 February 2002 Date of previous school inspection Village Street School address Newdigate Dorking RH5 5DJ

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01306 631353 Telephone number 01306 631821 Fax number

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4 °7 Age group 6 °7 June 2007 Inspection dates 293225 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 an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

The school is smaller than most and serves a generally advantaged area. The proportion of pupils from ethnic minority groups is very small and English is the first language of all the pupils. The school holds the Healthy Schools' award and the Activemark.

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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: Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School, 6 °7 June 2007

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Grade: 2

This is a good school where pupils enjoy learning and are part of a secure and happy community, 'one which we are delighted our children attend,' as one parent wrote. One boy spoke of how pupils should react to a new child: 'Go over and make him feel at home.' Pupils' personal development and well being are good. This is partly the result of the good care, guidance and support the school gives them and also because of their good attitudes to learning. In a Year 2 lesson, pupils were reading stories in groups to find the moral behind each story. One group decided it was 'You get what you're given', but changed this to 'Be thankful for what you've got' when one girl thought this was a more positive way of putting it. A parent summed up: 'The children are happy therefore learning is easy.' Pupils achieve well and reach above average standards by the end of Year 2. Standards in reading are the highest and those in writing are not far behind. In mathematics, more able

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Grade: 2

pupils do not all reach the higher levels, because they are not always challenged sufficiently in those practical investigations that deal with aspects other than arithmetic. Pupils also achieve well in swimming as a result of the good teaching and volunteer help. Children in the Foundation Stage have a good start to their schooling and make good progress. The teaching is good and children engage in a wide variety of interesting and well resourced activities inside and outside the classroom. One parent observed, 'I am really looking forward to my four-year-old starting in September and know she will really enjoy herself.' Teaching is also good in Years 1 and 2 because teachers plan the curriculum carefully to draw on a range of pupils' skills, such as information and communication technology and art. Teachers make very good use of assessment information in directing support where needed in English,

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Grade: 2

mathematics and science. They are currently extending these procedures across the whole curriculum. Leadership and management are good and governors' effective support is valued. The headteacher gives a very good lead and sets a good example by the thoroughness of the work in the many roles she undertakes. The school has a small staff and makes excellent use of its partnership with groups of other schools to broaden the available expertise and resources. Subject coordinators have to take on several roles each in order to cover the whole curriculum. They are in the process of extending their responsibilities, but the school recognises that the coordinators' overview of teaching and learning is currently limited.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Enable more able pupils to reach higher standards in mathematics by giving them practical investigational work which is more closely matched to their abilities. • Build on the extension to the role of coordinators, to give them more responsibility for their areas. • Complete the work to develop systems of assessment across the whole curriculum.

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Grade: 2

Pupils achieve well. They begin in Reception with broadly average skills, though this varies from year to year. By the time children enter Year 1, they have made good progress to reach the county average, which is a little above the national average. 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School, 6 °7 June 2007 Pupils continue to make good progress in Years 1 and 2. Standards by the end of Year 2 are above average overall and well above average in reading. The 2006 national assessments showed that pupils were doing less well at the higher levels in writing. The school analysed why and has worked to improve pupils' use of punctuation and more complex sentences, with the result that a big improvement is now evident. The school is to move its focus to mathematics, with the aim of achieving a bigger percentage at the highest level. The achievement of boys is better than that of their national counterparts. Pupils with learning

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Grade: 2

difficulties receive very good support and achieve as well as other pupils.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy coming to school and work and play together well. They know how to keep safe in school and at home. They say there is little bullying but know what to do if it occurs. All those spoken to were confident that it would be dealt with effectively. Pupils understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle. School lunch is a very civilised event and pupils readily point out what is good for them. 'We are allowed treats on Fridays or special occasions, though,' said one. 'We do exercises every day,' said another. Attendance is good and pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their education. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils know how to behave and generally do so well, though a few need reminding of what is expected of them. The school council has drawn up rules for the playground and is keen to make sure that pupils follow them. Pupils are determined to give every one a fair chance, whatever their background. As one Year

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Grade: 2

2 pupil put it, 'God does not want the world to be an unhappy place.' Pupils contribute well to the school community through the school council and also to the village community. They were looking forward to the May Queen festival at the following weekend and practised their maypole dancing enthusiastically.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good. The Foundation Stage is bright and attractive and the two classes make good use of the small outside area to give children a good balance of free choice and adult direction. Activities link well to themes, so that children's learning is not piecemeal. For example, on a theme of light and dark, children were experimenting with mixing light and dark colours in one group while another was using literacy and science skills to label sources of light. All teachers are very good at classroom management and so help those who need to become more self-disciplined. Classroom assistants make a good contribution by taking small groups for specific foci. Teachers plan to give different learning experiences to pupils of varying abilities. This works well in many lessons. In mathematics, it is generally effective in number work, but teachers do not always plan practical activities for more able pupils which are effective in

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Grade: 2

challenging them. 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School, 6 °7 June 2007

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and generally meets the needs of most pupils well. One parent said, 'Newdigate has provided a great start to both my children's education and has tailored its provision to suit their individual needs.' The curriculum is well enriched through exciting and relevant visits and visitors. Excellent use is made of a range of links to broaden pupils' experiences. For example, all Year 2 pupils are learning to play cricket with the village club. A link with a secondary school is helping pupils to learn about China and to sing a song in Chinese. The school is working to make more regular links between subjects in its day-to-day planning and is re-designing its two-year topic cycle to add greater interest and relevance.

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Grade: 2

The school gives pupils good care, guidance and support. A parent wrote to say, 'I am particularly impressed with its high level of pastoral care and support offered to all its pupils.' Procedures for child protection and safeguarding are thorough and exceed statutory requirements. The support given to pupils with learning difficulties is of good quality. For example, pupils are given short, intensive support with specific problems, such as letter sounds, which enables them quickly to be taken off the special needs' register. This is evidence of the effectiveness of assessment procedures in English, mathematics and science. Assessment is in the process of being improved in other subjects, to give teachers a greater awareness of pupils' needs in these areas.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. This is no easy matter in a small school, where teachers have to assume many responsibilities. The headteacher assumes key roles, such as assessment coordinator and special needs coordinator, and the lead she gives makes these areas among the strengths of the school. The senior teacher leads the Foundation Stage well and is also involved in developing assessment in other subjects. Middle managers are increasing their responsibility for their subjects, though they have not as yet had enough opportunity to evaluate new initiatives, such as the special grouping arrangements for more able pupils on a Monday morning. The process of self-evaluation involves all staff and governors and is thorough and effective. This is demonstrated by the fact that the three areas for development highlighted in this report are already chief priorities for the school. Governors support the school well and visit it often

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Grade: 2

to evaluate its work for themselves. The school's good capacity to improve is demonstrated by the success of recent work to raise standards in pupils' writing. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School, 6 °7 June 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: Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School, 6 °7 June 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 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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School, 6 °7 June 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: Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School, 6 °7 June 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

19 June 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School,Dorking,RH5 5DJ It was a pleasure to visit your school recently and to meet so many of you. You were very friendly and made me feel welcome - thank you. I was especially glad of this as I was all on my own when I arrived. Many of your parents wrote to me to say they think Newdigate is a good school and I agree with them. The adults there all care about you and make sure that you are safe and happy. This helps you to learn well so that you reach good standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Many of you reach the highest level in reading and the adults are trying to make sure that more of you do so in mathematics. I have asked them to carry on doing this. Your headteacher leads the school well. All the staff keep a close eye on how well you are progressing in English, mathematics and science. If you are having difficulties, they are very

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

good at spotting this and giving you the right sort of help. Teachers are working to do the same thing in all the other subjects and this is another thing I have asked them to go on with. Teachers and classroom assistants work hard to make your lessons interesting and there are lots of 'extras', such as swimming (in which you do very well) and cricket. These help you to keep safe and healthy. Most of you behave well in your lessons and round the school. The school council does its best to help you in this and a group of children I spoke to told me what a good job they do. You enjoy school - two people said their favourite bit is homework. I hope you all had a good time at the May Queen festival recently and that your maypole dancing went well. Yours sincerely Christopher Gray Inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Newdigate CofE Endowed Infant School, 6 °7 June 2007

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