Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Inspection Report Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

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126396 Unique Reference Number Wiltshire Local Authority 293548 Inspection number 18 January 2007 Inspection date Stephen Lake 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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High Street School address Primary Type of school Chapmanslade Voluntary aided School category Westbury BA13 4AN 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01373 832367 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01373 832367 Fax number 83 Number on roll (school) Christopher Oakham Chair The governing body Appropriate authority J A Jewell Headteacher 17 September 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 293548 18 January 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is a smaller-than-average village school. All pupils are of White British origin. Since the last inspection, significant improvements to the site and buildings have taken place. More pupils than usual join the school during their school career. A significant number of pupils leave at the end of Year 4 to join a middle school system in the neighbouring authority.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 18 January 2007

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Grade: 2

Chapmanslade Church of England Primary is a good school because it is led and managed well. The strong leadership of the headteacher is a key factor in this. A parent expressed it well saying, 'The dedication of the headteacher and other members of staff makes Chapmanslade school a happy and safe environment in which to learn.' All pupils achieve well and attain above-average standards because of the good teaching. The school is particularly good at teaching pupils to read and this key skill, together with their good personal skills, contributes well to their future economic well-being. Children in the Foundation Stage make good progress, especially in their personal and social education. They start Year 1 well prepared for learning and with skills in line with those normally expected. Standards attained at age eleven vary from year to year because of the size of the school but are generally above average, and at

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Grade: 2

times well above. The teachers work hard to make learning interesting and mark work regularly, but marking does not always make it clear enough to pupils exactly what they need to do to improve their work further. The good curriculum provides many opportunities to make learning enjoyable. The high importance given to personal development ensures that pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Pupils clearly enjoy school. They know how to keep safe and healthy, with a lot of pupils taking part in sport after school. Pupils show respect for each other and make a good contribution to the community, demonstrating the values implicit in the school's church foundation. The care, guidance and support provided are good. The school places great store on the pastoral care of pupils and is diligent in ensuring their well-being and safety. 'All children are listened to and treated as individuals,' said a parent. The revised systems

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Grade: 2

for assessing pupils' attainment and progress are used well to set challenging targets for groups of pupils and to identify pupils who are possibly gifted or talented. Nevertheless, they are not yet used well enough to guide individual pupils' academic progress or to set targets that are specific to individual children. Leadership and management are good. The very good leadership of the headteacher is supported by an effective governing body. The headteacher and governors know the school well as a result of the good systems for monitoring the work of the school. Improvement since the last inspection has been good and the school is well placed to improve further.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Interpret assessment information more closely to set challenging targets for individual pupils. • Ensure that marking provides more guidance to pupils on how to improve their work. 2 Inspection Report: Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 18 January 2007

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Grade: 2

Attainment on entry to the school varies from year to year but has fallen since the last inspection. Currently it is below expectations and below the average for the local authority. Children's personal and social development is often below expectations. Children make good progress in the Foundation Stage, particularly in personal and social development, and start Year 1 with skill levels in line with those normally found. Achievement is good and all groups of pupils achieve equally well. Attainment at age seven is normally good, especially in reading. National assessment results tell only part of the story in this school because a large number of pupils enter the school during their school career, often with below-average skills. This has affected current standards, which are broadly average. Many of the pupils who leave at the end of Year 4 achieve standards above or well above those normally found at that age. Standards at age

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Grade: 2

eleven are also normally above and sometimes well above average, and the challenging targets set for English and mathematics are exceeded. The school has correctly identified that improving pupils' writing would raise standards of attainment further. Attainment in information and communication technology (ICT) and art has improved since the last inspection owing to vastly improved provision for these subjects.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' good personal development and well-being are due to the high emphasis given to these aspects of pupils' education, reflecting the values of the school's church foundation. Behaviour is good and the sensitive support given to pupils who join the school mid-year means that they settle in quickly and learn the school's values. Pupils have very positive attitudes and clearly enjoy school. Attendance is consistently above average. Pupils' spiritual, moral social and cultural development is good, although their understanding of the different cultures to be found in Britain is not as strong as other aspects of their cultural development. Pupils show respect for one another and have a good understanding of what is fair and what is not. The good guidance that they receive means that that know how to stay safe, especially on the very busy road that adjoins the school or when moving around the school. Pupils know how to keep fit

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Grade: 2

through all the sport that they do and they understand healthy diets, although lunch boxes do not always reflect this. Pupils take on responsibilities very sensibly, making a good contribution to the community. The skills that they develop when doing this, together with their good ICT skills and the high standards attained, contribute well to their future economic well-being. 3 Inspection Report: Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 18 January 2007

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Grade: 2

The close partnership between teachers and teaching assistants ensures that all pupils, especially those with learning difficulties or disabilities, are fully included in lessons. This is particularly so in the Foundation Stage. The skills of support staff are used well to support learning in Spanish and ICT. Teachers' specialist skills are used effectively by moving teachers between classes at times to enable their expertise in different subjects to be shared by all pupils. Assessment is used appropriately to match work to the needs of different groups of learners. Most work is marked regularly but marking is inconsistent and does not always provide enough guidance to pupils on how to improve their work. The school has correctly identified the need to improve the quality of teaching in writing and the new strategies introduced are beginning to have an effect.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is planned well to meet the needs of mixed-age classes and offers a wide range of experiences to make learning interesting. The Foundation Stage curriculum covers all areas of learning imaginatively and successfully targets those areas where children need most help. As a result, children make good progress. The school is still completing the provision for outdoor play. Pupils are very enthusiastic about the good range of additional experiences, such as sport and residential trips. Many of these activities and the support for gifted and talented pupils are underpinned by the many partnerships that the school has with other schools and the local community. There is a strong emphasis on pupils' personal development and on making links across subjects of the curriculum. For example, the teaching of Spanish this term is closely linked to geography work on Mexico. ICT is used effectively to support

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Grade: 2

learning, although this is in an early stage of development.

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Grade: 2

The pastoral care of pupils is a strong aspect of the school's work. Teachers and support staff know the pupils well. The procedures for safeguarding pupils are robust and thorough. Pupils say that the good guidance provided through personal, social and health education helps them a lot. Parents are very pleased with the way the school deals with behaviour. One parent wrote, 'Bullying is dealt with diligently, fairly and swiftly.' Pupils say that they feel they can talk to any member of staff if they have a problem. The recently revised systems for assessing pupils' progress are being used to set targets for groups of pupils. Nevertheless, the school acknowledges that, if standards are to improve further, better use needs to be made of assessment 4 Inspection Report: Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 18 January 2007 information to set targets for individual pupils and provide guidance to them on how

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Grade: 2

The strong leadership of the headteacher has resulted in the school meeting all of the areas for improvement noted in the last inspection very quickly. She has a clear vision for the school that is shared well with the staff and governors. Teachers now manage all subjects through a key stage rather than each teacher managing several subjects. Although at an early stage, this is starting to enable staff to gain a better understanding of the whole school. Good systems for monitoring its work have enabled the school to have a clear view of its overall performance. This has helped the leadership and the governors to make good financial decisions, improve the quality of education and ensure that the school provides good value for money. The governors have been very effective in improving the quality of accommodation to allow space for sport and ICT and to improve provision for the Foundation Stage. The quality of teaching and learning

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Grade: 2

is monitored regularly and the information gained is used through performance management to identify ways in which teaching can be further improved. 5 Inspection Report: Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 18 January 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: Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 18 January 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. 7 Inspection Report: Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 18 January 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: Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 18 January 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for making us welcome when we visited you and for talking to us about your school. We agree with you that this school is a good place to be and think that your school is a good school that helps you learn. We think that some of the best things about your school are: • The teaching is good, which is why you reach above-average standards by the time you leave school, preparing you well for life after school. • The school makes the good curriculum interesting by finding a lot of extra activities that you really enjoy, such as Spanish and all the sports and visits that you take part in. The sport especially helps you keep fit. • The school looks after you well and we agree with you that the adults give you a lot of good guidance, which is why you know how to keep safe and healthy. • Your behaviour is good. • You clearly enjoy school and your attendance is above average. • Your personal development is good. You take lots of responsibilities well and make a big

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

contribution to the community. • All of the above things happen because your school is led and managed well. Your headteacher and the governors do a good job in making sure that you are looked after and taught well. There are just a few things we think your school should do to help you do even better, especially in your writing. We have asked them to: • Use the information they have to help set targets that are more individual and to help you achieve these. • Make sure that marking always makes it clear what you need to do to improve your work. You can help here by asking your teachers to explain to you what you need to do next. Thank you again for your help. 9 Inspection Report: Chapmanslade Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 18 January 2007

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