Fleggburgh CofE Primary School

Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Inspection report

p.1

121081 Unique Reference Number Norfolk Local Authority 313867 Inspection number 17 March 2009 Inspection date Ian Jones Reporting inspector

p.1

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

p.1

Primary Type of school Voluntary controlled School category 4–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 39 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Ms J Gilbertson Chair Mrs P Spychal Headteacher 4 July 2005 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Main Road School address Fleggburgh Great Yarmouth Norfolk NR29 3AG 01493 369283 Telephone number

p.1

4–11 Age group 17 March 2009 Inspection date 313867 Inspection number 01493 369283 Fax number

p.1

4–11 Age group 17 March 2009 Inspection date 313867 Inspection number .

p.2

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.

p.3

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. 3 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009

p.3

Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two additional inspectors.

p.4

Description of the school

This is a small rural school of two classes serving the village of Fleggburgh near Great Yarmouth. The school's provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage comprises a shared class of Year 1 and Year 2 pupils. Attainment on entry varies from year to year due to the small numbers involved. This year it is above average. An average proportion of pupils is entitled to free school meals. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average. All pupils are of White British backgrounds and speak English as their first language. The school has gained the Activemark for sport, the Healthy Schools award and the Government's financial management standard for schools. The newly appointed headteacher has been in post for one term.

p.4

Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009

p.4

Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school. It has good features, such as pupils' personal development and well-being, and some areas for further improvement. The parents are rightly appreciative of the pastoral care their children receive. Comments, echoing the views of many, included: 'My children are confident and happy, they are accepting and respectful of others and willing and eager to learn. This is a direct result of the attitudes and environment provided by the school and its staff.' The new headteacher has made a good start to her headship. She has quickly gained the commitment of her colleagues and the confidence of parents. She has involved all those connected with the school in identifying areas for future development, although the school now needs to prioritise which actions are the most important. The very good care meets pupils' pastoral needs very effectively. Consequently, pupils' personal development is good. Pupils enjoy school, reflected in their above average attendance. They

p.5

Grade: 3

know how to keep safe and healthy, and trust the staff to look after and care for them. Pupils take responsibility through a range of roles offered in school. Good personal qualities, along with sound basic skills, prepare pupils appropriately for the next stage of their education and their future lives. Academic guidance is satisfactory. Systems to check how well pupils are doing and to help teachers increase the pace of learning are being developed, but the information gleaned has not been used quickly enough in the past to address pockets of underachievement. Standards fluctuate from year to year due to the very small numbers of pupils in each cohort. Overall, achievement is satisfactory. Pupils make satisfactory progress from their starting points. Preliminary national test results in 2008 for pupils in Year 6 indicate above average standards, with almost all pupils reaching the expected level in English, mathematics and science and most

p.5

Grade: 3

pupils attaining higher levels in science. Results at the end of Year 2 were below average, particularly in writing. Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall. Staff develop effective relationships with pupils, who behave well and show good attitudes to learning. The curriculum is satisfactory. It promotes good personal development and provides enjoyable enrichment activities. However, the quality of the curriculum is weakened by a lack of long-term planning. The school's success in ensuring it is a cohesive and inclusive community is satisfactory. Links with organisations locally are good and pupils have a growing awareness of what it means to live in a global community. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The recent improvements already made, together with the determination to do even better, demonstrate that the school has satisfactory capacity to improve further.

p.5

Grade: 2

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides a secure environment so that children settle quickly and happily into school. Staff look after children with high levels of care and attention so that children feel safe. Teaching is good and based securely on what children know and need to learn next. Achievement is good, particularly in learning letter sounds. They enjoy using the sounds they know to help them write. Children thoroughly enjoy learning because there are well-planned links between areas of learning. They are provided with good opportunities to explore and discover for themselves. A strength of the provision is that children develop very positive and confident attitudes to learning. They gain much from working alongside the older 5 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009 pupils in the class. As a result their social skills, ability to work as part of a team and willingness

p.5

Grade: 2

to help one another are very well developed. Very good links are established with parents through visits to the local private Nursery prior to starting school and parent-consultation meetings. Leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage by the headteacher are good. On her appointment, she quickly identified the need to develop a systematic approach to teaching letter sounds. The implementation of a new, comprehensive scheme together with good teaching have had a considerable impact on increasing children's rate of progress. Early literacy skills are developing at a good rate. By the end of Reception, there is no consistent picture of attainment as the number of children in the small Reception group varies considerably. Consequently, attainment ranges from below expectations for the year group to well above. Currently, children's skills exceed those expected for their age when they start in Reception.

p.6

What the school should do to improve further

■ Prioritise improvements planned to give a clear focus on raising standards and to ensure that progress across the school is consistent. ■ Use information from the tracking of pupils' progress to set challenging targets and provide timely support for those not making the progress expected. ■ Devise a long-term curriculum overview to ensure that skills are taught systematically across a range of subjects. 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.

p.6

Grade: 3

Standards fluctuate at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 due to the very small numbers of pupils in each year group. The 2008 assessments showed standards by the end of Year 2 to be below average in reading, writing and mathematics. Standards of writing were particularly low, and progress for these pupils was much slower than it should have been. The school is addressing these weaknesses and has introduced several initiatives such as the Big Write project and also increased opportunities to practise writing across the curriculum. As a result the rate of progress across all subjects has quickened and now is at least satisfactory and occasionally, as in science, better. Standards at the end of Year 6 were above average in the 2008 assessments, with all pupils reaching the expected level in English and science. Standards in mathematics have also improved and almost all attained the expected level, although the proportion of pupils attaining

p.6

Grade: 3

the higher level was not as high as it could be. Evidence at the time of the inspection shows the rate of progress to be satisfactory overall. Improvements to information and communication technology (ICT) resources have helped to raise standards in this subject, in which pupils make sound progress. Pupils who need additional help with their learning are supported appropriately and make satisfactory progress from sometimes very low starting points. The welcoming and friendly nature of the school ensures that pupils, both those who join in Reception as well as those who join in other year groups, settle in quickly. 6 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009

p.6

Grade: 2

Attendance is good. Pupils enjoy coming to school and involve themselves enthusiastically in all that it has to offer. Behaviour is good. Pupils are adamant that there is no bullying in the school and that, should they have any worries, any member of staff will deal with them promptly and effectively. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The school provides many and various opportunities for pupils to take responsibility and develop self-discipline. Pupils rise to these opportunities and take their responsibilities seriously. They contribute well to their own community by being monitors, school council members or setting up equipment for assemblies. Pupils have a good understanding of how to lead a healthy lifestyle and keep themselves safe. They have a very good understanding of what constitutes a healthy diet. In the wider community, pupils organise fund-raising events for local and national

p.7

Grade: 2

charities such as the Shoe Box appeal. Pupils are prepared satisfactorily for their future economic well-being in terms of their sound progress in literacy and numeracy. Pupils' highly developed social skills enable them to work very well together and show respect for the contributions and ideas of others.

p.7

Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning ensures that pupils make satisfactory progress. Teaching manages satisfactorily the difficult task of catering for the learning needs of pupils across several year groups and a wide ability range. In many lessons, pupils work together according to their abilities rather than age. Teaching is often enthusiastic, and pupils say they enjoy learning especially when teachers make lessons fun. There are some good features in the teaching. Lessons are often planned well around clear objectives that are shared with pupils. Relationships are very good and little time is lost in gaining pupils' attention. Although most pupils understand what they need to do next to improve their work, pupils are not sufficiently familiar with personal learning targets, and thus cannot independently review and improve their own work. Marking is affirming and encouraging, and provides some helpful guidance as

p.7

Grade: 3

to how to improve, especially in writing. The recent introduction of strategies to support writing is already having a positive effect on progress and contributes effectively to pupils' enjoyment of learning, although there is some way to go to successfully tackle previous underachievement. Questioning of pupils is used to satisfactory effect, and develops understanding appropriately.

p.7

Grade: 3

The curriculum promotes personal, social and health education effectively and, as a result, pupils are polite, respectful and get on well with each other. Provision for literacy, numeracy and ICT is satisfactory but the curriculum is not always adapted effectively to suit the different needs and abilities of all pupils. The school has begun to increase the number of opportunities for pupils to write, especially in other subjects. A strength of the curriculum is the recently introduced thematic approach, which has involved pupils across the school in collaborating effectively. The school has identified useful links across subjects within a current topic, but does not have a clear overview of provision which allows stronger emphasis to be placed on developing pupils' skills within a plan which improves the way subjects are covered. There is a 7 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009

p.7

Grade: 3

good range of after school clubs, visitors and visits that help to promote pupils' good personal development.

p.8

Grade: 3

In this small school each pupil and their family are known well. Any signs of unhappiness are quickly noted and dealt with. Parents speak highly of the care and support provided for their children. Pastoral support for pupils is very strong and pupils know who to go to if they are worried or upset. They talk about the high level of trust they have in their teachers. Arrangements to prepare pupils for secondary school are appropriately developed, and help to ensure a smooth transition to the next stage of education. Arrangements for safeguarding pupils are satisfactory, as also is the academic guidance provided. Pupils' work is always marked but links to learning objectives are rare. The headteacher has rightly identified that better use needs to be made of the increasing amount of data gathered about pupils' progress in order to provide appropriate and timely support to stop them falling behind. An adequate system of

p.8

Grade: 3

setting targets for individuals is in place but needs to be refined because challenging targets are not always used efficiently to promote faster learning.

p.8

Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. Progress since the last inspection has been satisfactory. For example, pupils' ICT skills have improved throughout the school. The effective leadership of the new headteacher is providing the school with a clear impetus for improvement. She has swiftly gained the confidence of colleagues and the trust of parents, who welcome her commitment and drive in furthering school improvement. Together with the staff, she is ensuring that this is an inclusive school with a welcoming and friendly community. The school has a growing understanding of its strengths and where action is required. Staff, governors, parents and pupils have been involved well in articulating a vision of where they would like to see improvement. This information has been used to formulate a plan for school improvement, but actions are not yet prioritised to make the plan achievable. Thanks to the

p.8

Grade: 3

determination of the headteacher, there have been recent improvements in planning the curriculum, and in standards of writing. However, it is too early to see the full impact of this work. Governance is satisfactory. Governors are keen to enhance their role as critical friends and develop the school's strategy for the future development. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009 .

p.8

Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 9 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009

p.9

Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

p.10

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? 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

p.10

EYFS?

2 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 2 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 2 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 2 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

p.10

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 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make progress

p.10

Achievement and standards

1 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. 10 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009

p.10

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 The extent to which 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

p.11

learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

p.11

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 3 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 3 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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? 11 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009

p.11

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

18 March 2009 Dear Pupils Inspection of Fleggburgh Church of England (VC) Primary School, Great Yarmouth NR29 3AG Many of you will remember my visit, with a colleague, to your school a little while ago. Thank you for making us so welcome. We were pleased to find how keen you were to share your thoughts about your school. This letter is to tell you what we found out about it. Yours is a satisfactory school. Your teachers help you to make sound progress. Many of you work hard to help others and improve your school, and you carry out your tasks well. I was pleased to see how committed you all are to making improvements and helping things run smoothly. You behave well and take a pride in what you do. You told us that you enjoy school and try your best, and we can see this in the things you do. Your parents are very pleased with the school. They can see how well Mrs Spychal and the other staff look after you and are

p.12

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

working hard to make your school better. The adults take good care of you and work to provide a safe and caring place for you to come to. To help you do even better, we have asked the school to:

p.12

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Decide which are the most important things they need to do to raise standards.

p.12

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Make better use of information about your progress to help anyone falling behind with their work to catch up. ■ Plan a good way of teaching the curriculum so that you all learn the skills you need at the right times. You can help by carrying on working hard and enjoying school. I hope you continue to enjoy school and work hard for the future. Ian Jones Lead inspector 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 17 March 2009

p.12