Woodville Infant School

Woodville Infant School Inspection report

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112655 Unique Reference Number DERBYSHIRE LA Local Authority 310966 Inspection number 14 °15 January 2008 Inspection dates Joanne Harvey 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 Community School category 4 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 189 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Steve Taylor Chair Mrs Jayne Smart Headteacher 2 June 2003 Date of previous school inspection High Street School address Woodville Swadlincote Derbyshire DE11 7EA 01283 217675 Telephone number 01283 550702 Fax number

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4-7 Age group 14 °15 January 2008 Inspection dates 310966 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 is a smaller than average sized school serving the Woodville area of Swadlincote in Derbyshire. The number of pupils entitled to claim free school meals is greater than in most schools and the school is situated within a designated Children's Centre area. Almost all pupils are White British and have English as their first language. The number of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is similar to most schools and the number with a statement of special educational need is much lower. The school has achieved Health Promoting School status, Basic Skills Awards and an ActiveMark.

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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: Woodville Infant School, 14 °15 January 2008

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Grade: 1

This is an outstanding school which provides excellent value for money. Leadership and management are also excellent and result in standards which are high and sometimes exceptionally so. Pupils, from below average starting points, make outstanding progress throughout the school. Provision in the Foundation Stage is good. The school's success arises from the exceptionally clear vision and direction given by the headteacher and other school leaders to a remarkably caring and committed staff team. They work extremely hard in partnership with governors and with the support of the community to provide exceptional levels of care to ensure that pupils achieve as well as they can academically and personally. All individuals are valued in a nurturing but challenging environment in which children thrive and become very well rounded individuals. It is not surprising that parents are highly appreciative of the school. One wrote that, 'The staff put the interests of the children

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Grade: 1

above everything else.' Another said, 'No matter how much fun my daughter may have at home, she is ever ready to go back to school.' These comments echoed the views of many, including the children, who volunteered, 'We really like our teachers and our school.' This high level of enjoyment is reflected in the above average levels of attendance. It is no surprise that children's personal development is outstanding. Behaviour is exemplary so that not a moment is lost maintaining discipline in lessons or around the school. Because children are encouraged to express their opinions and to accept responsibilities, they grow in confidence. They demonstrate that they care about others through a range of helpful roles they are proud to take on in school and by raising money for charities. Children show a remarkable understanding of how to keep themselves and each other safe and an excellent understanding of how to make healthy lifestyle choices. The combination of very high standards

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Grade: 1

in literacy and numeracy skills and highly developed personal skills equips children exceptionally well for the next stage of education and their future lives. Teaching is outstanding because lessons are planned very carefully, based on rigorous assessment, to take children's learning forward from whatever level they have reached previously. Teaching is always at least good but the school has recognised, through its own very careful monitoring, that the best and most dynamic features of the outstanding teaching, particularly the use of lots of practical and highly stimulating activities, are not always consistently applied. Children greatly benefit from an outstanding curriculum, which is carefully planned to ensure that learning is matched closely to the needs of every individual in school. Those who find learning more difficult get excellent support from class teachers and able teaching assistants

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Grade: 1

so that they make excellent progress. The school benefits from exceptional leadership at all levels. Expectations are high and challenging targets are set and achieved. Given the way the school has successfully addressed issues from the previous inspection, maintained high standards and made significant improvements, there is little doubt that it has an excellent capacity to continue to improve.

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Grade: 2

Children do well in the Foundation Stage. Even though some had only been in school a few days, they settled quickly into this very happy and stimulating environment. This is because of the good support and knowledge of staff; and that from the beginning children are made to 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Woodville Infant School, 14 °15 January 2008 feel valued, secure and confident. Effective arrangements for home visits for example, ensure that children arrive happy and ready to learn. Children thrive and make good progress because carefully planned activities, based on accurate assessment, are taught well by class teachers and teaching assistants. Consequently, by the time they enter Year 1 children have achieved the standards expected of them and some have surpassed them. Good leadership ensures that there is no complacency. Leaders are working to ensure an even better balance between adult led and meaningful child-initiated opportunities and that the quality of the experience of the

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Grade: 2

six areas of learning offered to the children outdoors matches that which they enjoy inside every day.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Increase the overall effectiveness of teaching by promoting greater consistency in the use of practical and stimulating activities so that it increases pupils' learning.

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Grade: 1

Those who lead the school have been highly effective in implementing systems which have ensured that standards have risen considerably since the last inspection and that children now make outstanding progress. Indeed, over recent years, high standards have been maintained in reading, writing and mathematics. In the last two years they have occasionally been exceptionally high in these subjects. Evidence at the time of the inspection suggests that pupils are currently on target to reach high standards once again, representing excellent progress for these pupils. Those children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are supported exceedingly well to ensure that they also make excellent progress.

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Grade: 1

Children have extremely positive attitudes to learning and love school. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is excellent because its development is embedded throughout the life and work of the school. They grow in self-awareness, think in moral terms and reflect upon their feelings and actions with a level of maturity beyond their years. Children work and play together exceptionally well. They share ideas, listen to one another and celebrate each other's achievements. In a wide variety of ways, from fund-raising for local and international charities to helping in the smooth day-to-day running of the school, pupils make a very full contribution to the life of their school. They are particularly proud of the difference they can make to the enjoyment of others either as 'Yellow Hats' or as 'Mini Leaders'.

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Grade: 1

Teaching is outstanding. Teachers promote high levels of confidence and positive attitudes through excellent and trusting relationships, ensuring pupils work extremely hard. Careful management ensures children's behaviour is exceptional. Detailed planning, based on accurate assessment ensures work is well matched to children's needs and that children are very clear about what they need to learn. Highly skilled teaching assistants support individuals and groups to do well. The best lessons seen feature lots of practical 'hands on' activities to engage children 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Woodville Infant School, 14 °15 January 2008 and allow them to practice what they have learned. Very good subject knowledge is used in dynamic and imaginative ways to ensure very high levels of interest, engagement and challenge for all and that learning moves at a swift pace. Leaders recognise that occasionally these best

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Grade: 1

features are not consistently applied across school.

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Grade: 1

Great care has been taken to provide children with a curriculum full of activities which are relevant, interesting and closely tailored to meet the different needs of all the children at Woodville. A particularly strong emphasis is given to developing children's important basic skills. Themed events, such as Africa Week, clearly benefit children's knowledge and understanding across several subjects, helping them to learn very well and providing them with lasting memories. They talk enthusiastically about these and the many other practical 'hands-on' activities that are a feature of their curriculum. Visitors and visits extend and enliven the curriculum. Provision for personal, social and health education is excellent and results in children's outstanding personal development. The school modifies its curriculum very effectively so that those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are included well and progress at the

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Grade: 1

same rate as their peers. A very good range of popular extra-curricular provision, suggested by pupils themselves, includes the arts, sports and the promotion of life skills, including cookery.

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Grade: 1

Woodville Infant School has a very strong ethos of pastoral and academic care and support, which is immediately evident to anyone who visits the school. Much is done so children settle quickly when they join the school and to ensure they look forward positively to the next stage in their learning. All pupils' needs are identified quickly and their progress is monitored closely in all areas so that their academic and personal needs can continue to be very well met. Clear information is shared with parents about how well children are progressing and school and home work well together in the best interests of the children. This is at the heart of the positive climate for learning which contributes to outstanding achievement and personal development. The school meets current requirements for safeguarding its pupils. Pupils say they feel particularly safe in school and that there is always someone to turn to if they have any worries.

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Grade: 1

The headteacher has made an outstanding contribution to school improvement by providing great strength and clarity in boosting the vision and ethos of the school. She has successfully devolved leadership, providing mentoring and support, so that all can play their part in ensuring the impact of leadership and management at all levels is outstanding. The headteacher, staff and governors have a extremely clear picture of how well the school is doing because they have particularly rigorous and systematic procedures for checking this. This shared understanding of the school's performance, and the commitment to continuous improvement results in all staff and governors being involved in school development planning so that, good as the school is, there is no complacency. Therefore, leaders have been highly successful in addressing all the issues from the previous inspection. Parents and community partners are extremely

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Grade: 1

supportive of the school's work and are thoroughly involved in the life of the school resulting 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Woodville Infant School, 14 °15 January 2008 in greatly improved opportunities for the children, for example, in sport and the provision of additional resources. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Woodville Infant School, 14 °15 January 2008 .

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Grade: 1

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Woodville Infant School, 14 °15 January 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 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

1 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 1 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 extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 1 The behaviour of learners 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Woodville Infant School, 14 °15 January 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 1 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 1 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: Woodville Infant School, 14 °15 January 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

16 January 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Woodville Infant School, Swadlincote, Derbyshire DE11 7EA Thank you for making us so welcome when we visited your school recently. This letter is to tell you what we found out. There are lots of things that we like about your school. Some of them are:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you achieve particularly high standards and make excellent progress

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you behave extremely well and get on very well with each other

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you really enjoy school and the school is excellent at organising lots of interesting things for you to do ■ all of the adults in your school make sure that you are really well looked after

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ your headteacher, and all of the other people who help run your school, are extremely good at making sure that you get an outstanding education. We agree with your parents that you go to an outstanding school. All of the adults in your school want it to be even better. To help them to do this we think that the most important thing to do next is to make all your lessons as good as the very best ones. We certainly enjoyed talking with you and finding out all about your school. Keep on working hard, doing your very best and enjoying your time at school. Joanne Harvey Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Woodville Infant School, 14 °15 January 2008

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