Wargrave CofE Primary School

Wargrave CofE Primary School Inspection report

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104787 Unique Reference Number St Helens Local Authority 308670 Inspection number 3 °4 July 2008 Inspection dates Clare Henderson 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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Primary Type of school Voluntary controlled School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 230 School The governing body Appropriate authority Cllr Dave Banks Chair Mr Clive Davies Headteacher 7 February 2005 Date of previous school inspection Bradlegh Road School address Newton-le-Willows Merseyside WA12 8QL 01744 678720 Telephone number 01744 678721 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 3 °4 July 2008 Inspection dates 308670 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This average size primary school serves an area of social and economic disadvantage. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is well above average. The number of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is above average. Most pupils are White British. A larger proportion than usual join or leave the school during the school year. The school has gained the Healthy Schools, International Schools and Activemark Awards and an Early Years Kitemark.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Wargrave CofE Primary School, 3 °4 July 2008

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory and improving school which provides sound value for money. Under the leadership of the headteacher, staff have been successful in creating a happy and welcoming school where pupils grow in confidence and self-esteem. As a result, pupils' personal development and pastoral care are good. Carefully tailored support helps those with emotional and behavioural problems, as well as those who join the school part-way through their primary education. As a result of this support and a stimulating curriculum that engages pupils' interest, the school turns out mature and sensible young people who are keen to do well. The majority of parents share this view. Typical comments include, 'Staff are very friendly and approachable.' and 'the head teacher and his team have introduced some new and interesting aspects into school life which have broadened children's outlooks.' Pupils' achievement is satisfactory. In most years though, there is some variation. Pupils begin

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Grade: 3

Year 1 with skills below those expected for their age. In recent years, standards at the end of Year 2 have dipped and, in 2007, were well below average in writing and mathematics. Standards at the end of Year 6 over the same time have risen and are now close to the national average in English, mathematics and science. The decline noted at the end of Year 2 and the inconsistent progress of pupils in Years 3 to 6 is a result of past disruptions in staffing and some weaker teaching in some classes. Although the quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall, an inconsistency in matching activities to pupils' learning needs means that all pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Pupils with learning, or behavioural difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress as a result of the effective support they receive from learning support assistants and outside agencies. Care, guidance and support are satisfactory overall. Many pupils have appropriate targets and

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Grade: 3

are keen to achieve them, but in some classes the targets do not provide pupils with enough challenge. Pupils are proud of their school and eagerly embrace responsibilities given to them. Their enjoyment of school is reflected in good behaviour and broadly average and improving levels of attendance. Pupils demonstrate a clear understanding of how to stay safe and what they need to do to live a healthy lifestyle. Their sound literacy and numeracy skills, together with good information and communication technology (ICT) skills and their well developed sense of community, prepare them satisfactorily for their future lives. The school has made good use of support provided by the local authority and has strong partnerships with other schools and external agencies to improve pupils' academic and personal development. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The school has a mostly accurate understanding

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Grade: 3

of its strengths and areas needing improvement. It has dealt effectively with the issues identified at the time of the last inspection. Governors do not have a clear view of their roles and responsibilities. Some statutory requirements are not implemented. The school has a satisfactory capacity for improvement.

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Grade: 2

Children get off to a good start in the Foundation Stage as a result of effective links with parents and good quality care and teaching. The majority of children begin Nursery with skills 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Wargrave CofE Primary School, 3 °4 July 2008 well below those expected, particularly in terms of their communication and in their personal, social and mathematical development. Provision within the Nursery is lively and stimulating and children have a wide range of opportunities both indoors and outdoors to develop their enjoyment of learning whilst extending their skills well. For example, the effective use of the letters and sounds programme is improving children's phonic awareness effectively. However, the outdoor environment in Reception is not developed well enough to challenge or promote children's learning. The school has plans in place to do this but it has not happened quickly enough and so children's learning slows. Leadership and management are good and staff use

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Grade: 2

observations of the progress children make to plan the next steps in learning well. When children transfer to Year 1, the majority are working below the levels expected. However, given their low start, this reflects good progress.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that targets provide all pupils with suitable challenges.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that all teachers set tasks that match pupils' learning needs.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the quality of governance so that all statutory requirements are met and a stronger challenge is given to the school. ■ Improve the outdoor area for the Reception class so it can be used as a stimulus for learning.

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What the school should do to improve further

A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection

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Grade: 3

Although progress is satisfactory overall, pupils do not progress at a consistent pace throughout the school. Where the quality of teaching and learning is good progress accelerates. However, in a minority of classes, pupils are not sufficiently challenged to attain the higher levels of which they are capable. The school recognised the need to tackle this and has worked hard to raise standards. Initiatives introduced to improve the quality of writing and mathematics are beginning to pay off and inspection evidence shows that standards are rising. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress as a result of the effective support they receive from learning support assistants and the support of outside agencies.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is good. They show an awareness of other cultures and traditions through projects such as the HOREC (Hope for Orphans' Rehabilitation Centre) in Kenya and are frequently provided with the opportunity to reflect upon their own beliefs and values. Pupils enjoy coming to school chiefly because of the, 'fun and interesting activities' they take part in. They develop positive relationships with staff and each other. Older pupils look after younger ones through their work as play-time activity leaders and as house captains. School councillors take their roles seriously and are proud of their work to improve the school environment, though their roles are not fully developed as they require adult support. The behaviour of the majority of pupils' in lessons and around the school is good. The responsibilities taken on by older pupils in relation

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Grade: 2

to running the healthy fruit snack shop prepare them effectively for the future. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Wargrave CofE Primary School, 3 °4 July 2008

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Grade: 3

When teaching is lively and challenging learning is good and occasionally outstanding. In these lessons, pupils say learning is, 'exciting and inspiring'. An example of this was seen in a Year 6 literacy lesson where pupils were encouraged to develop their critical thinking skills, and helped to know that their views and opinions are valued. As a result, they become confident learners and make good progress in their learning. Where teaching is less effective, the pace of learning slows because tasks set are not sufficiently matched to pupils' abilities and assessment data are not used well enough to set challenging targets. Learning support assistants are used well to support pupils with behavioural or learning needs, helping them to make good progress.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum provided is clearly focused on meeting pupils' personal and academic needs. It places strong emphasis on developing pupils' learning skills and this is effective in supporting pupils' personal development and, in particular, their social and emotional needs. It provides pupils with many opportunities to work and learn cooperatively and to develop thinking skills within a wide variety of subjects. Pupils appreciate this approach and a typical comment is, 'We do really interesting things in our school: lots of different topics.' The curriculum includes good opportunities for pupils to extend their ICT skills. It is enriched through a wide programme of visitors and visits both local and abroad. Pupils have the opportunity to learn to speak German and to participate in a number of out of school activities. Good links with local high schools extend pupils' gifts and talents effectively.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory. Good quality pastoral support enables pupils with social, behavioural or learning needs to access all aspects of school life effectively. Procedures to safeguard pupils are in place and risk assessments are conducted regularly. Good support, through the sensitive work of classroom support staff and specialist teaching programmes, helps pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Pupils have confidence in staff and procedures for dealing with their concerns: they know help is always available if needed. Pupils clearly benefit from these positive relationships and, as a result, their personal development is good. The school is now compiling a wealth of data in relation to pupils' progress but this information is not used well enough by all teachers to ensure pupils are sufficiently guided to achieve their potential.

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Grade: 3

The strong leadership of the headteacher is pivotal in moving the school forward. He has a clear vision of what he wants pupils to achieve and, together with the senior management team, has improved many aspects of the school's work. This has had a marked impact on pupils' personal development, which is good. Subject leaders have been involved in subject reviews 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Wargrave CofE Primary School, 3 °4 July 2008 and improvements in planning, curriculum provision and the use of ICT in learning are evident. However, there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and learning. Governors, though supportive of the school, do not meet all statutory requirements or challenge the school well enough. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Wargrave CofE Primary School, 3 °4 July 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Wargrave CofE Primary School, 3 °4 July 2008

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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? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 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 extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 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?

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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Wargrave CofE Primary School, 3 °4 July 2008

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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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Wargrave CofE Primary School, 3 °4 July 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Inspection of Wargrave CofE Primary School, Newton-le-Willows WA12 8QL Thank you for your friendly welcome during our recent inspection of your school. You were very helpful and polite. We enjoyed chatting with you and listening to your views. You told us that your school is very friendly and we agree with you. We judge it to be a satisfactory school. There are many things of which you should be proud. You have a good range of activities to enjoy which develop your talents well. You say school rules are fair and we were pleased to see how well you behave. You told us how you feel safe and well cared for and we saw how well you get along together in class and in the playground. We were very impressed with your computer skills. You seem to have lots of interesting visits, and are even learning to speak German. One of the reasons for our visit was to see how your school could improve. We want you all to

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

be challenged to do your best in every class and we think teachers can do this by giving some of you harder work. We have also asked them to set targets that will really push you. Having met you, we are confident that you will respond by doing your very best. This includes continuing to listen to your teachers and to get on well together. The outdoor area in Reception should be improved so that children can have more opportunities to learn outside the classroom. Finally, we have asked your governors to be more involved in the work of the school to make sure that each and every one of you is achieving the best you can. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Wargrave CofE Primary School, 3 °4 July 2008

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