Oliver's Battery Primary and Nursery School

Inspection Report Olivers Battery Primary School

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116046 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 295640 Inspection number 8 °9 November 2006 Inspection dates Linda Kelsey HMI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 which gives Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools the authority to cause any school to be inspected. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Austen Avenue School address Primary Type of school Olivers Battery Community School category Winchester SO22 4HP 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01962 869496 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01962 870406 Fax number 240 Number on roll (school) Mrs Susan Simpson Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Dean Buckland Headteacher 27 June 2005 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 295640 8 °9 November 2006 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and one Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Situated in the village of Oliver's Battery on the outskirts of Winchester, this all through primary school has few pupils with additional language needs and most are of White British heritage. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is just above the national average. The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average. A new headteacher was appointed in September 2006 and the senior management team has been re-organised. This term, three newly qualified teachers joined the staff. The school is currently running a deficit budget of about £50 thousand and a recovery plan is being agreed with the local authority. The school was judged to be requiring special measures in June 2005.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Olivers Battery Primary School, 8 °9 November 2006

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Grade: 3

This school provides an adequate education for its pupils because leadership and management have improved and are now satisfactory. In accordance with section 13 (4) of the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures. Pupils enter the school with broadly average standards and provision for them is good in the foundation stage so that by the time they start in Year 1, progress is good and standards are above expectation. Overall, standards are now above national expectations at both key stages in English, mathematics and science. However, standards in writing at Key Stage 1 are not as high. Standards have significantly improved in science at Key Stage 2. Pupils are now making satisfactory progress in class because teaching is good and has significantly improved since the last inspection. The progress for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is also satisfactory because the quality of the

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Grade: 3

work of the support staff is good. While more able pupils generally perform well at the school the number who achieved the higher levels at the end of Key Stage 2 fell in 2006. Overall achievement is satisfactory. Personal development and well-being are good because the behaviour of pupils is good and contributes to the better progress made in class. Teaching is good and has improved recently with more consideration being given to the different abilities within class groups and this contributes to the better standards that pupils are reaching. Curriculum provision and care, guidance and support of pupils are satisfactory. Leadership and management, now satisfactory, have addressed all of the areas for improvement identified at the time of the last report, except in raising the standards in writing. Child protection procedures are now in place and a behaviour policy has been agreed with staff and parents. However, pupils said that they felt that this was

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Grade: 3

not always fairly applied. Governance is now stronger and offers a good challenge to the Headteacher. Science and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are taught better and standards are higher. The school with its new leadership team has the capacity for further improvement although there is a need to improve the inadequate quality of the self-evaluation if this is to continue. This includes better use of performance information to identify key priorities for improvement in teaching and learning, so as to improve standards further, especially in writing at both key stages.

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What the school should do to improve further

Raise achievement of all pupils in all subjects and particularly in writing by:* improving the quality of the self-evaluation so that the school can identify the most appropriate priorities for development.* using the performance information more effectively, and at all levels of management, to inform teaching and learning. 2 Inspection Report: Olivers Battery Primary School, 8 °9 November 2006

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Grade: 3

Standards are above average at the end of Key Stage 2. Achievement is satisfactory overall because pupils enter Year 1 with above average abilities and are above average by the time they leave at the end of Year 6. At Key Stage 1, standards in 2005 national assessments were average in reading and mathematics and below average for writing. More able pupils did not reach the expected standards in writing; however, they did in reading and mathematics. The 2006 results indicate a further deterioration in writing but improvement in reading and mathematics. Above average pupils do well in reading but not so well in writing and mathematics. At Key Stage 2, standards in 2005 were above average in English, but below average in mathematics and science. The more able pupils achieved high standards in 2005. In 2006 standards have improved in English, mathematics and science and are above the national average. This is because in lessons pupils are now achieving at least

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Grade: 3

satisfactorily due to improved teaching and more stable staffing.

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Grade: 2

Personal, spiritual, social, moral, and cultural developments are good. A particular strength is the moral and social development of pupils, most of who mature impressively as confident, articulate learners. They become very good ambassadors for the school. Pupils have a keen appreciation of what they value in the school. Behaviour has improved considerably since the school was subject to special measures. Attendance has improved and is now just above the national average. Pupils work very well individually and collaboratively, and the best teaching utilises these qualities to good effect. This was observed when a group of Year 5 pupils made a confident presentation to the class on solving mathematics problems. Pupils appreciate the increasing emphasis put upon a healthy lifestyle: for example they talk about the more healthy eating options in the canteen. Older pupils are particularly enthusiastic about the opportunities

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Grade: 2

to take responsibility, for example at lunchtimes helping younger children and supporting the office staff. Pupils enjoy coming to school, and are enthusiastic about particular activities such as the annual residential visit. They are mature enough to recognise not just the strengths of the school but what could be improved: for example, some pupils comment on a decline in extra curricular activities, and girls feel that there is a limited range of opportunities for them. 3 Inspection Report: Olivers Battery Primary School, 8 °9 November 2006

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching and learning has improved since the school was subject to special measures and is now good. These results in good progress in many lessons, but because of several problems, notably a high turnover of staff, achievement to date has been only satisfactory. A much improved use of support staff, challenging questioning by teachers and teachers' willingness to encourage pupils to discuss ideas at length, all help an increasing number of pupils do well. There was a particularly successful use of a wide range of materials and teaching strategies in a mixed Year3/4 mathematics lesson, based on the theme of "The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe". It enabled pupils of all abilities to improve their understanding of calculation strategies. Sometimes the match of work to the needs of more able pupils is not sufficiently challenging so as to enable them to make sufficient progress. Individual education

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Grade: 2

plans now give good guidance to pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities, although the use of targets to promote good learning for individual pupils is in its infancy, except in English. Marking is satisfactory and it is often constructive, for example in English, but is still inconsistent in its application across the school.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory. Previous developments have been built upon, notably the provision of three foreign languages, which many older pupils enjoy. The provision for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is now good, a considerable improvement since the school was subject to special measures. Pupils have good opportunities to develop the speaking and listening skills to help them in later life, although writing remains an area of relative weakness. Pupils enjoy extra-curricular clubs, although they would like more of them and a greater variety.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory. Pupils feel safe and secure most of the time, although they are not confident that all incidents of misbehaviour or bullying are dealt with promptly. Pupils receive good individual support, and they value their targets in English. However, the use of targets to promote progress is still undeveloped. Teachers do not use targets or information gleaned from performance information as an integral part of their teaching strategy. Communications with parents have improved. They are now more involved in pupils' learning, for example taking part in reviews of statements of pupils with special educational needs. 4 Inspection Report: Olivers Battery Primary School, 8 °9 November 2006

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management of the school are satisfactory and there is now a satisfactory capacity for continued improvement. The newly appointed headteacher is beginning to review the strengths and weaknesses of the school, although as yet has not produced a relevant and current self-evaluation of the school. The school now has positive relationships with many parents and the governing body. This has built upon the relationships developed by the previous acting headteachers. However, the day-to-day operational challenges the school has recently faced, such as the lack of caretaker and enough lunch time supervisors has distracted the school from developing and implementing a comprehensive, rigorous and sustainable programme for improvement. There has been an early and effective start to the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning, but insufficient progress in developing effective and

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Grade: 3

robust systems for self-evaluating the school's performance. There has been inconsistent analysis of information by senior management and the identification of the key priorities for improving the pupils' learning. With Local Authority support, subject leaders for literacy and numeracy have carried out some appropriate monitoring and evaluation of pupils' progress and the quality of teaching. There is good practice in the leadership and management of provision for special education needs. Governors appropriately challenge the school's leadership with regard to self-evaluation and school improvement and the chair of governors has a clear awareness of the school's strengths and weaknesses. 5 Inspection Report: Olivers Battery Primary School, 8 °9 November 2006 .

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Olivers Battery Primary School, 8 °9 November 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 4 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 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 3 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 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 3 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?

3 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: Olivers Battery Primary School, 8 °9 November 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: Olivers Battery Primary School, 8 °9 November 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for making us so welcome at your school during our recent inspection visit. We saw you enjoying lessons. Some of you told us you would recommend the school to others and some of you said you liked the opportunity to learn Italian. We would like to share the findings of the inspection with you and explain why we have decided that your school no longer requires special measures. Your new headteacher and his senior staff are working hard to improve teaching and pupils' behaviour in the school. At the moment however, standards although above average are still not good enough for the majority of you. Teaching has improved recently and most of you are making better progress than you have done in the past. Most of you understand about keeping healthy and how to keep fit. The headteacher already monitors some of the teaching in class. However, the information he already has about the school has not been put together as a full evaluation of the school's

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

strengths and weaknesses. This means that future development for the school and what needs to be done first to bring about improvement have not been outlined. We wish you all the best of luck for the future. Linda Kelsey HMI(Lead inspector) 9 Inspection Report: Olivers Battery Primary School, 8 °9 November 2006

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