St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham

St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham Inspection report

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125183 Unique Reference Number Surrey Local Authority 315181 Inspection number 19 September 2007 Inspection date Elisabeth Linley 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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Infant Type of school Voluntary aided School category 4 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 84 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs S Keogh Chair Mrs E Page Headteacher 27 May 2002 Date of previous school inspection Frensham Road School address Frensham Farnham GU10 3DS 01252 792406 Telephone number 01252 795407 Fax number

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4-7 Age group 19 September 2007 Inspection date 315181 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. The inspector evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: achievement and standards in writing, pupils' personal development and well-being and the care, guidance and support they receive, also the effectiveness of target setting. Evidence for the inspection was gathered from observation of lessons, the pupils' work, discussion with pupils, staff, some parents and two governors, plus a scrutiny of school documents and parent questionnaires. The curriculum was an aspect of the school's work that was not investigated in detail, but the inspector found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessment, as provided in its self-evaluation form, was not justified.

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Description of the school

St Mary's Church of England Infant School is smaller than most primary schools. As a church school, it admits pupils from beyond the school's immediate location. Most pupils who attend are from a white British cultural heritage and no pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils identified by the school as having learning difficulties is below average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham, 19 September 2007

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Grade: 2

The words of some parents represent the views of most: 'a lovely school' that has provided 'a wonderful start to school life for all of my children'. Parents are correct in their judgement. St Mary's is a good school providing an effective education for its pupils. It has particular strengths in the care, guidance and support that it provides and also in pupils' personal development and wellbeing; these aspects of the school's work are outstanding. 'I have always been impressed with the way all the staff make learning fun and enjoyable which is definitely reflected in my children's enthusiasm for school' says another parent. Pupils certainly enjoy coming to school. The staff team is small but totally dedicated to the pupils in their care and this is fundamental to the school's Christian ethos. The curriculum, teaching and learning are good. Teachers track and assess their pupils' progress diligently so that they plan well to meet pupils' needs in lessons.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' work is marked carefully, often in discussion with them which helps with their next steps of learning. Pupils have targets that will help them improve their handwriting and they value the certificates they get to celebrate their achievements. Targets set to help develop their wider skills in writing, however, are not shared routinely with pupils and so pupils are not as clear as they could be about what they need to do to improve. Over the past few years, standards overall have remained at least above average and pupils have done particularly well in reading and mathematics. Their success reflects the good progress they make in the Foundation Stage and in Years 1 and 2. There is more work to be done, however, to ensure that every pupil achieves as well as they can in their writing. This is because standards in writing, whilst always at least average, are not as good as they could be and are

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Grade: 2

regularly surpassed by speaking and listening, reading and mathematics, particularly at the higher levels. Pupils consistently try hard in their work. They have exemplary attitudes to learning and their behaviour is very good. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good; they are respectful of others, polite and courteous. Pupils care about each other, acting as buddies in Year 2 for the younger children and as members of the school council. They know about 'keeping healthy'. They enjoy their healthy school meals, and the sporting opportunities provided; as a result, they have been successful in attaining the Healthy Schools Award. Pupils know about keeping safe; they are responsible in their actions and have great fun outside. They find the playground an exciting place to be with all its resources and opportunities for independent learning; the new pirate boat and storyteller's chair are a huge success. With so

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Grade: 2

much to enjoy, it is hardly surprising that pupils' attendance is very good. Pupils are extremely well cared for and all statutory requirements and procedures are in place. Very high expectations, underpinned by rigorous systems, promote high standards of behaviour, very good attendance and punctuality. The headteacher is at the forefront of the school's high expectations. She has established very good partnerships and relationships with others that in turn enhance the school's provision. Leadership and management of the school are good. The headteacher provides a strong lead taking a very active role in the analysis of data, the setting of challenging targets and tracking of pupils' progress. The outcomes are communicated very well to parents by sharing targets for their child's progress and through the annual school reports, which are of high quality. Self-evaluation is effective and correctly identifies where improvement is required. Although

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Grade: 2

school development planning is satisfactory, in respect to developments in writing, it does not 4 of 9 Inspection Report: St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham, 19 September 2007 clearly show what the expectations are for the majority of pupils when the school's actions are successful. The headteacher is well supported by her staff and by an effective governing body. As a team, they have worked hard to ensure that good improvement has been made since the last inspection; as a school, they demonstrate good capacity to improve further.

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Grade: 2

Children settle well in the Reception class at St Mary's. They are helped to do so by the comprehensive induction they receive which parents say is very good. The very positive relationships established between staff, children and parents provide the security required for children to gain in independence and confidence. This was seen during the inspection when in a group activity, and after only a few weeks in school, many children were confident to sit in the storyteller's chair to talk to their friends and teacher. The quality of provision in the Foundation Stage is good and is well planned to meet the children's needs. There is a good range of taught small group activities planned alongside many opportunities for children to make their own choices and to play. Children's progress in the Foundation Stage is well tracked and analysed and evidence shows that they achieve well.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Share pupils' writing targets with them in an appropriate way so they can understand better how to improve their work. ■ Ensure that planning clearly shows the school's high expectations for all pupils to achieve well in their writing. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham, 19 September 2007 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham, 19 September 2007

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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 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The attendance of learners 1 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?

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. 7 of 9 Inspection Report: St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham, 19 September 2007

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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? 8 of 9 Inspection Report: St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham, 19 September 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

2 October 2007 Dear Children Inspection of St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham,Farnham,GU10 3DS I visited St Mary's recently to find out how you are getting on at school. I was pleased to be able to talk to you and to find out about all the things you like. These are some of the things I found out:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you all try very hard to do your best and you do well at school particularly in reading and mathematics ■ you really like school and your parents like it a lot too

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ you behave very well indeed and your attendance is very good

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ everyone at school works extremely hard to care for you and to keep you safe.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

There are a couple of things I think could be better and your headteacher and teachers are going to support you to help to make them happen:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Mrs Page and the governors are going to plan very carefully how you can all improve your writing so that it is even better than it is now; and then ■ your teachers are going to help you understand how to improve your writing.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for making me so welcome when I visited you. I wish you all the best for the future. Yours sincerely Elisabeth Linley HMI 9 of 9 Inspection Report: St Mary's CofE Aided Infant School, Frensham, 19 September 2007

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