Winkleigh Primary School

Winkleigh Community Primary School Inspection report

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113174 Unique Reference Number Devon Local Authority 311137 Inspection number 4 °5 June 2008 Inspection dates Andrew Redpath HMI 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 Community School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 130 School The governing body Appropriate authority Susan Gill Chair Jane Rivans Headteacher 15 November 2004 Date of previous school inspection Farmer Frank's Lane School address Winkleigh EX19 8JQ 01837 83354 Telephone number 01837 83354 Fax number

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4-11 Age group 4 °5 June 2008 Inspection dates 311137 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 one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Winkleigh Primary is a small village school. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds and are fluent in English. The proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below average, although a small number of pupils have a statement of special educational needs and require intensive individual support. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is much lower than the national average.

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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: Winkleigh Community Primary School, 4 °5 June 2008

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Grade: 4

In accordance with legislation, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than in all the circumstances it could reasonably be expected to perform. The school is therefore given a Notice to Improve. Significant improvement is required in relation to the achievement, teaching and learning of pupils in Year 3 to Year 6, particularly in English and mathematics. Winkleigh School provides a caring environment where pupils feel safe and happy. The headteacher provides a clear vision for the school and is successful in promoting a positive ethos which is shared by staff. In the words of one parent, 'This school has a good atmosphere with caring and hard-working teachers.' The broad range of outdoor learning activities and social skills programmes help to promote pupils' good personal development and well-being.

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Grade: 4

Children make a good start in the Reception class. Staffing difficulties have affected the quality of teaching since the last inspection and have contributed to the school's weaker performance. The quality of teaching and learning varies between classes and is inadequate overall. This results in inadequate achievement and below average standards. Assessment information is not used effectively to ensure pupils are set work that is sufficiently challenging. As a result, pupils, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, make inadequate progress. The school has been successful in establishing good links with a range of other professionals and organisations to ensure pupils who need additional help receive it. About two thirds of parents who responded to the inspection questionnaire hold totally positive views of the school. Parents are particularly pleased with the quality of care and how their children enjoy school.

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Grade: 4

Procedures for safeguarding pupils do not fully meet the current government requirements. The school has a satisfactory knowledge of its strengths and areas for development and is using external support effectively to improve aspects of teaching and learning. The school has satisfactory arrangements for tracking pupils' progress, although this information is not used to set targets which provide enough challenge, particularly for higher attaining pupils. The headteacher monitors teaching regularly and subject leaders contribute to planning in their subjects across the school. These arrangements are not sufficiently robust to ensure that the quality of teaching and learning is high enough in all classes. Initiatives that have been introduced recently, for example to improve the teaching of writing, are beginning to raise standards and demonstrate that the school has a satisfactory capacity for improvement.

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Grade: 2

The quality of provision in the Foundation Stage is good. When they enter the school, most children are at the expected starting point for their age. Good links with pre-school providers and thorough induction procedures mean that children settle in well. One parent commented, 'My daughter has blossomed, she is confident, chatty and very happy.' There is a good balance between structured activities and creative play, which ensures children make good progress. Children's independence and social development is promoted very well through the 'Forest School' programme of outdoor learning activities. Assessment records are thorough and contain a good range of evidence to show children's achievements. Those with a statement of special educational need receive the required support. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Winkleigh Community Primary School, 4 °5 June 2008

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the quality of teaching by using assessment information more effectively to plan lessons which provide pupils with sufficient challenge. ■ Monitor teaching and learning more thoroughly to ensure they are of a consistently high quality across the school. ■ Raise standards by setting more challenging targets, particularly for higher attaining pupils.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that procedures for safeguarding pupils meet current government requirements.

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Grade: 4

Pupils make a good start in Reception and by the end of Year 2 standards in reading, writing and mathematics are broadly in line with or above the national average. By the end of Year 6, standards are below average, particularly in mathematics and English, and not enough pupils gain the higher levels in national tests. When taking into consideration pupils' starting points, this represents inadequate progress in Year 3 to Year 6. The school has introduced sharper assessment and is tracking pupils' progress more carefully to help identify areas of learning that need to be improved. As a result, some pupils are making better progress. However, there is inconsistency in the quality of teaching and learning and the pace of improvement is not yet sufficient to tackle underperformance. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make unsatisfactory progress. Pupils who are behind in their reading and writing receive additional

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Grade: 4

help, both individually and in small groups. Some of these pupils make satisfactory progress. Those with a statement of special educational needs do not always achieve as well as they might because their targets are not sufficiently detailed to enable them to make gains in their learning.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy coming to school. As one commented, 'It is a friendly school where everyone knows everyone.' Their behaviour is good and they do not feel bullying is an issue. Pupils' attendance is good and any absences are followed up quickly. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils' self-esteem and social skills are promoted very effectively through the 'Forest School' activities and the programme for personal, social and health education. Pupils' knowledge of different cultures is promoted through visits to a local church and a mosque and many can talk knowledgeably about the link with the school in Africa. Pupils are physically active and are aware of the need to eat healthy food. They take part in daily physical exercise, and are provided with healthy dinners, fruit in the school tuck shop and ready access to drinking water. The school has achieved the Healthy Schools Award and Activemark in

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Grade: 2

recognition of this work. Pupils learn to contribute to the school and wider community, for example by acting as playground leaders, serving on the school council and taking responsibility for the school garden. They are encouraged to recycle and care for their community and have achieved the Silver Eco-Schools Award. Pupils also raise money for the school's partner school in Africa. The development of pupils' economic well-being is satisfactory. Economic awareness is promoted when for example, pupils run the school snack shop or members of the school council compare the cost of purchasing equipment for the playground. However, pupils leave school with numeracy and literacy skills that are lower than they should be. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Winkleigh Community Primary School, 4 °5 June 2008

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Grade: 4

Some aspects of teaching have improved recently, although teaching is not strong enough to enable pupils to make up for their relatively slow progress in recent years. The school has introduced strategies that are beginning to raise standards. These include a more systematic approach to teaching writing and increasing opportunities for pupils to discuss their work. An interesting variety of activities is often provided in lessons and pupils are happy to learn. However, inconsistency exists between classes, particularly in the use of assessment information. The focus is often on what pupils are doing, rather than on what they are learning, and activities do not always provide sufficient challenge. This limits progress, especially for higher attaining pupils, but also for some pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The quality of marking is variable and it does not always help pupils to improve their work. Teaching

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Grade: 4

assistants are well trained and are particularly effective in running small groups to help develop pupils' social skills.

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Grade: 3

Provision in the curriculum for pupils' personal, social and health education is good. 'Forest School' activities and a programme to raise pupils' social skills and self-esteem feature prominently in the curriculum. The school also uses the school grounds and a vegetable garden effectively to enhance learning. Good enrichment is provided by a range of clubs, sporting activities, musical instrument tuition and residential trips. Curriculum changes have been introduced recently and planning is not yet complete in all subjects to demonstrate how pupils' academic skills and knowledge are built on as they progress up the school. Planning for the use of information and communication technology (ICT) across the curriculum was identified in the last inspection as a weaker area. Although there has been some improvement, planning is not yet in place to ensure pupils' ICT skills are developed systematically across the curriculum.

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Grade: 3

The needs of pupils requiring additional specialist support are identified quickly and specialist support obtained, for example from a speech and language therapist, a physiotherapist, and hearing impairment and visual impairment specialists. Appropriate child protection policies and procedures are in place. Checks are carried out to ensure the suitability of staff. However, procedures for safeguarding pupils do not comply fully with the current government requirements to keep a single central record of these checks. Academic guidance is improving with the use of tracking to check pupils' progress. Also, pupils have regular meetings with teachers to discuss their progress. However, not all pupils are aware of their targets for improvement and the use of marking to promote improvement is limited. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Winkleigh Community Primary School, 4 °5 June 2008

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Grade: 3

The headteacher sets a clear direction for the school that underpins the school's inclusive ethos. All pupils, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, feel welcome. Whilst successful in promoting pupils' personal and social development, until recently there has been less success in tackling pupils' academic underachievement. The school's leaders have a satisfactory understanding of the school's strengths and have correctly identified areas for improvement. Arrangements for checking that agreed changes are leading to the desired improvements in pupils' learning are less secure. A good system is in place for measuring pupils' progress in mathematics and English, although there is limited information to show progress in other subjects. Targets are not sufficiently challenging and are not used effectively to raise expectations and achievement in all classes across the school. The governing body provides a

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Grade: 3

satisfactory level of support, particularly with regards to the financial management of the school. Governors have a broad understanding of the school's work, which is reinforced through termly meetings with subject leaders. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Winkleigh Community Primary School, 4 °5 June 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: Winkleigh Community Primary School, 4 °5 June 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? No 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

4 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 4 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 2 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: Winkleigh Community Primary School, 4 °5 June 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 4 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 No Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? Yes Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Winkleigh Community Primary School, 4 °5 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

6 June 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Winkleigh Primary School, Winkleigh, EX19 8JQ As you know, I visited your school recently. I thank those of you who talked to me about your work and life at the school. You were very polite and helpful. I am writing to let you know what I thought about your school. Here are the main points:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your school is a friendly place, you enjoy coming to school and your behaviour is good.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Children in the Reception class make a good start to school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You enjoy the 'Forest School' and working in groups, which helps you to feel good about yourselves. ■ You play your part in helping the school, for example through the school council and taking care of the school garden. ■ Your headteacher and staff care for you well and get help you if you have a problem.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Pupils in classes from Year 3 to Year 6 are not making fast enough progress, particularly in English and mathematics. ■ In some lessons, you are not given work that is hard enough.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I have asked the school to do three things to make it better:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Improve teaching by using information on your progress to set work at the right level.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Check more closely how well you are learning in lessons, and make sure some of the good things that the school is doing happen in all classes. ■ Use targets to help the school aim higher.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

You can help by trying your best, particularly in English and mathematics. Best wishes Andrew Redpath Her Majesty's Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Winkleigh Community Primary School, 4 °5 June 2008

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