Fulstow Community Primary School

Fulstow Primary School Inspection report

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120447 Unique Reference Number LINCOLNSHIRE LA Local Authority 313619 Inspection number 27 March 2008 Inspection date John Messer 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 45 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr S Lewis Chair Mr J S Grant Headteacher 9 June 2003 Date of previous school inspection Churchthorpe School address Fulstow Louth Lincolnshire LN11 0XL 01507 363226 Telephone number 01507 363226 Fax number

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4-11 Age group 27 March 2008 Inspection date 313619 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 an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This village primary school is much smaller than average. Nearly all pupils are from White British families. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below average. No pupils are eligible for free school meals. The attainment of most, but not all, pupils on entry to the school is average. In some year groups a large proportion of pupils enter or leave the school part way through this phase of their education. The school has received the Active Mark award.

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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: Fulstow Primary School, 27 March 2008

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. Children enter the school with standards that are broadly average, and by Year 6 most attain standards that are above average. This represents good progress. Teaching is good, so pupils learn effectively and achieve well. Classes are small and this helps teachers and support staff to develop a detailed understanding of each individual's learning needs. However, teachers do not always insist that pupils present their work neatly. Lack of care over presentation diminishes the quality of work. One key factor that has accelerated progress is the good system that the new headteacher has introduced to set ambitious targets for pupils to aim for in literacy and numeracy. Pupils respond well to the challenges set and have a clear understanding of what they need to do to reach the next stages in their learning. Pupils who experience difficulties with learning, as well as the faster learners, are supported well and make

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Grade: 2

good progress. Pupils' personal development, including their good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is a particular strength of the school. They develop into confident learners. They are self-assured and display a maturity beyond their years. They willingly take on responsibilities such as play leaders, and older pupils are good at supporting the younger ones. They all enjoy school. One said, 'It's like one big happy family.' Pupils develop a wide range of key skills that provide them with a good foundation for transferring to the next phase of their education. The school maintains high levels of care. Safeguarding procedures are robust. Pupils understand what makes a balanced diet and appreciate the need for regular exercise. The morning and afternoon 'activate' sessions, led by the older pupils, gets everybody ready for learning. Pupils receive good guidance on how to stay safe and look after themselves. They support a number

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Grade: 2

of charities such as the local air ambulance service, which helps them to recognise their responsibilities towards the wider community. The leadership and management of the school are good. The headteacher leads the school well. He has fostered a strong sense of teamwork so that all staff share a commitment to improving provision and raising attainment. Most parents are pleased with the education provided for their children. One comment was typical, 'The enthusiasm of the staff is helping the school to go from strength to strength.' Some parents are concerned about shortcomings in communication between home and school. The school is working hard to forge stronger links with parents. Informative newsletters are now produced and the school is becoming increasingly involved in community events. Good links have been made with two other small village schools so that expertise can be shared. The governing body provides sound support. Governors are becoming increasingly involved in

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Grade: 2

monitoring the school's performance. Resources are good and the learning environment is improving, especially for children in the Foundation Stage. Classrooms and corridors are bright and colourful. The grounds have been developed well as a learning resource. The curriculum is satisfactory but does not fully capture pupils' interests and promote work of consistently high quality. The school has begun to make the curriculum more stimulating and exciting by developing imaginative role play and by linking subjects to create a topic approach to learning. This is one of the main priorities for further development. The school's self-evaluation is largely accurate and used well to create a good school development plan. There has been good improvement since the last inspection. The school is poised to make further advances and has good capacity to improve further. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Fulstow Primary School, 27 March 2008

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Grade: 2

Children are given a warm welcome when they start school and settle happily in Class 1. The four Reception-age children enjoy their learning. The Foundation Stage leader provides good leadership and clear direction. There is a strong emphasis on teaching children the relationship between letters and the sounds they make. This gives them the tools to develop early reading and writing skills. There is also an emphasis on teaching children about numbers, shapes and patterns so that their mathematical development is secure. They love listening to stories and are keen to learn to read for themselves. The outdoor learning environment is being developed and new, extra resources are already enhancing children's learning. The overall quality of provision is good so that children learn effectively and make good progress. The school's assessments show that most pupils attain standards that are slightly above national expectations.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Develop the curriculum to include more opportunities for imaginative role play and exciting topics that match pupils' interests. ■ Teach pupils how to present their work neatly.

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Grade: 2

Pupils, including those who find learning difficult and those who learn quickly, achieve well. This is largely because teachers prepare lessons carefully and set challenging tasks that are well matched to each individual's particular learning needs. Pupils make good progress between Years 1 and 6. By Year 2, standards are above average in reading, writing and mathematics. By Year 6, they are above average in English, mathematics and science. The number of pupils in each year group is very small, so comparative statistical data must be treated with great caution. However, the school's results in national tests in Year 6 are usually above average. They declined to below average in 2007 because, although most of the group made good progress, the starting points of several were lower than usual. The school's assessment data indicate that results are likely to improve significantly this year and will be much higher than last. Pupils are developing

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Grade: 2

a good range of skills in information and communication technology (ICT) and most learn to swim well.

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Grade: 2

This is a strength of the school. The school's very small size and the caring staff help pupils to feel secure. They are confident and become self-assured learners. Pupils are keen to learn and eager to please. Attendance is good. The warm and friendly relationships, coupled with the business-like approaches to learning, help to foster high levels of maturity and responsibility. Behaviour is nearly always good and pupils confirm that, 'There is definitely no bullying at all.' They have a keen sense of fairness and know what is right. They are particularly keen to support the 'Life Straws' initiative which helps people in developing countries, such as The Gambia where the school has links, to drink purified water. Pupils are polite and sensitive to the needs of others. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Fulstow Primary School, 27 March 2008

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Grade: 2

The ratio of adults per pupil is high and so each receives good support. Pupils are well motivated. One boy expressed this clearly, 'They come up with interesting ways of teaching, like literacy based on Harry Potter and maths based on Star Wars.' Teachers assess pupils' achievement thoroughly and keep careful records of progress. These are used well to provide all groups with appropriate challenges that lead them on to the next stages in their learning. The faster learners are given their heads and learn rapidly whilst the slower learners receive appropriate support to help them achieve success. Pupils are not always shown how to present their work, including the films they make, with enough attention to detail to enhance the quality.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory. Sport, drama, music, art and design feature well. The school compensates for the lack of a school hall by using facilities in other local schools. The school has made a good start on planning a curriculum that links subjects together to form interesting topics. It has embarked on enlivening lessons by placing more emphasis on drama and film-making. However, a lack of direction and attention to detail diminishes the quality of the work produced. There is a good range of visits to places of interest to extend learning opportunities. Regular visits to the village hall to eat lunch with senior citizens promote pupils' social development well.

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Grade: 2

Care and support are strong features of the school and underpin learning well. Pupils do not always receive enough guidance about how to present their work neatly. Good emphasis is placed on ensuring the safety of pupils. Child protection procedures are in place and are understood by staff. Pupils say they feel secure in the school. They receive clear guidance about how to stay safe and lead healthy lifestyles. They say that they understand what they have to do to reach the next steps in their learning. They feel well supported by all school staff and would have no hesitation about sharing problems or concerns with their teachers. Parents are very pleased with these high levels of care.

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Grade: 2

The new headteacher gives clear direction and leadership. Staff willingly participate in new developments to improve teaching in order to make learning even more effective. One key factor that is helping to raise standards is the introduction of clear targets for the amount of progress that each pupil is expected to make. Pupils' work is frequently assessed to check on whether as much progress as possible is being made. Clear charts are created to plot progress and identify any pupils who are not doing as well as expected. Extra support is then provided where appropriate. Although this system is new, it is already proving effective. The governing body gives sound support but has not monitored provision systematically or fully explored what 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Fulstow Primary School, 27 March 2008 needs doing to raise standards further. Finances are managed prudently. The school is an orderly

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Grade: 2

community and good management ensures that it runs smoothly on a day to day basis. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Fulstow Primary School, 27 March 2008 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Fulstow Primary School, 27 March 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 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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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 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?

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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Fulstow Primary School, 27 March 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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 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: Fulstow Primary School, 27 March 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

28 March 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Fulstow Primary School, Fulstow, Lincolnshire, LN11 0XL I thoroughly enjoyed the day I spent with you. Thank you for being so friendly and helpful. I think that there are many good things about your school. The older pupils are very good at helping the youngest ones and that helps to make the school seem very much like one big happy family. Your behaviour is good and you like learning new things. You work willingly but also enjoy having fun. You care about other people, especially those who are less fortunate than you are. I think that the 'Life Straws' that help people to drink purified water is a great idea and it's good that you are keen to support getting more of these straws to the people who need them. You are good at reading, writing, mathematics and science. The grounds are being developed well and the swimming pool is used a lot so that everybody learns to swim.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

You know how to stay safe and look after yourselves and others. You told me that one of the best things about the school was the teachers and I agree. All the grown ups do their best to help each and every one of you to feel happy and to learn successfully. Mr Grant and all the staff are keen to make the school even better and to make your lessons even more exciting. The links that you are making with other village schools are really good. Not only does it help you to make a wider circle of friends but it also gives you more opportunities to learn alongside others. I think that there are two things that would make the school even better. I think that your topic work could be developed further so that you have more frequent opportunities to study exciting things in greater depth. I also think that you could improve the quality of the work that you produce, including the films that you make, by paying much closer attention to detail and the

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

way the work is presented. I wish you every success in the future. John Messer Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Fulstow Primary School, 27 March 2008

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