Crawley Down Village CofE School

Crawley Down Village CofE Inspection report

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131001 Unique Reference Number West Sussex Local Authority 315695 Inspection number 5 °6 December 2007 Inspection dates Kevin Hodge 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 Voluntary controlled School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 265 School The governing body Appropriate authority Steven Warr Chair Jane Donovan Headteacher Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection Hophurst Drive School address Crawley Down Crawley RH10 4XA 01342 713292 Telephone number 01342718517 Fax number

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4-11 Age group 5 °6 December 2007 Inspection dates 315695 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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This large school was established in September 2006 as a result of an amalgamation of two previously separate schools. Following a year of building work and refurbishment, it moved into new buildings in September 2007. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or learning disabilities is below average and pupils enter the school with skills and experiences that are typical for their age.

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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: Crawley Down Village CofE, 5 °6 December 2007

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Grade: 3

Crawley Down Village is a satisfactory school which has some good features. The headteacher and governors have been successful in bringing together the differing backgrounds of both staff and pupils and steering the school towards one that has a shared philosophy. Parents are enthusiastic about the school's early progress and most describe how there has been a real 'transformation', with the facilities now up to modern standards. Children get a secure start in the Foundation Stage and make satisfactory progress in most areas of learning. The development of some of their physical skills and of their ability to choose their own learning are weaker aspects. Activities to promote these aspects are limited and the outside area lacks resources to make this aspect of their learning more inviting for children to experience. In 2007, the national test results in Year 2 were above average in reading, writing and

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Grade: 3

mathematics. Pupils' achievement is satisfactory rather than good because pupils in Years 3 to 6 do not yet do as well they might, given their starting points in Year 2. These older pupils joined the school with lower standards than pupils currently in Years 1 and 2 and the school has not had enough time to accelerate their progress. Standards in the Year 6 national tests last year were broadly average. This represents satisfactory achievement during their first year at Crawley Down Village. Pupils made least progress in mathematics. Although pupils are accurate in their calculation work, their confidence in applying their knowledge and understanding of number to different problems is limited. Comments from pupils such as 'wonderful' and 'great' following their recent science week provide clues to the type of curriculum the school is trying to adopt to enliven learning. However, some mathematical activities and topic-based work are not fully refined. This hampers pupils'

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Grade: 3

learning. In lessons, pupils behave well and enjoy their work. Teachers are good at promoting positive relationships among pupils, but not all are successful at setting work that matches pupils' needs in order to stretch their thinking. Parents strongly value the care and guidance given to their children. One parent summed up the feeling of others by saying, 'While there has been a lot of upheaval during the year, the school has ensured minimal disruption.' Pupils confirm that they feel safe, enjoy school and believe that their classmates behave well around the school and at playtimes. The school has come some way in its first year, having navigated through practical accommodation issues while trying to improve pupils' academic levels. The headteacher, senior staff and governors have a partial picture of the school's strengths and weaker areas. They have not yet delved deeply enough into what further steps are needed to move it forward more

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Grade: 3

quickly, particularly in raising the quality of teaching. The school's early successes reflect its satisfactory and developing capacity to improve further.

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Grade: 3

Provision in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory. The clear, structured teaching enables children to make sound progress in gaining early writing, number and reading skills. They are on course to meet the expected goals for learning when they enter Year 1. Children do particularly well in their personal, social and emotional development as the positive ethos of the classes creates a secure and safe environment in which to learn. There is a good range and variety of class-based 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Crawley Down Village CofE, 5 °6 December 2007 activities, but the outdoor area is not enticing enough. It does not stimulate and develop children's independent learning skills or have enough resources to extend their physical abilities fully. Class assistants and helpers provide timely support for children needing extra help.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Provide a more inviting and better resourced outside area in the Foundation Stage to develop children's independence to learn and to extend their physical skills. ■ Raise pupils' confidence in applying their mathematical skills and knowledge to solve 'real life' and practical problems. ■ Improve the monitoring of lessons and pupils' work to focus more sharply on those areas which will improve teaching and learning more quickly. 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.

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Grade: 3

Children make a secure start in the Reception classes. They make satisfactory progress in most areas, but the development of their physical skills and independent learning is weaker. In 2007, pupils reached above-average standards in the Year 2 national tests. Pupils in Year 2 mostly make good progress in their work, but it is patchy in different aspects as teaching is not yet consistently good. Results in the Year 6 national tests were broadly average in 2007. Pupils did not do quite as well as expected but their progress was generally satisfactory when account is taken of the move to their new school and the disruption that this entailed. Pupils do least well in mathematics as they often lack the confidence to use and apply their number skills. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities keep pace with their classmates as they receive good practical support, often by able class assistants. The steady progress pupils make in

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Grade: 3

numeracy and in English prepare them satisfactorily for the next stage of their education.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is good. Pupils say they enjoy coming to school and their good level of attendance supports one parent's view that her child 'can't wait to get to school in the morning'. Pupils behave well around the school and in lessons. They say they like their new school and appreciate the new equipment, which helps them enjoy playtimes. They willingly discuss the merits of healthy lifestyles. Many choose to walk or cycle to school to aid their fitness levels, but not all are keen to adopt healthy eating habits. Members of the school council take their role seriously. Although it is early days, they are suggesting changes to routines. Pupils regularly give their views through questionnaires and interviews. This encourages their good sense of responsibility towards the school. They regularly take part in local events, such as opening a local health centre and

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Grade: 2

participating in church services. Pupils develop appropriate enterprise skills through running mini 'companies' that design products to sell. This supplements their efforts to help boost funds for local charities and aids their awareness of workplace skills for later life. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Crawley Down Village CofE, 5 °6 December 2007

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Grade: 3

Teaching is generally satisfactory throughout the school. There are some good features, such as the way teachers foster good relationships which encourage pupils to work together effectively. In some lessons, pupils mark time as their attention dips or wanders because the pace of the lesson is not matched closely enough to their needs. This means that some pupils are not fully stretched in their thinking or work rate. To enliven activities, teachers use practical work well in subjects such as geography and all teachers use interactive audiovisual whiteboards confidently to help present information to good effect. Teachers give clear individual help to pupils, but the marking of their work is inconsistent. In the best examples, teachers accurately assess pupils' attainment and provide constructive comments to help them gauge and improve the quality of their own work, which enhances their progress.

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Grade: 3

In general, the curriculum is satisfactory and provides systematic coverage of basic skills. In the Foundation Stage, activities foster pupils' writing, number and reading skills well. Activities in the outdoor area are limited in scope by weaknesses in resources and planning. Both parents and pupils are noticing changes to promote exciting activities that ignite interest in lessons. For example, a recent science week included a live discussion with an Antarctic explorer. A good emphasis on promoting pupils' well-being aids their emotional maturity. As a result, pupils behave well and cooperate willingly. A clear focus on gaining good basic skills in English and science and computer-based work is helping to compensate for some older pupils' past underachievement. In mathematics, they do not have enough experiences that help them solve 'real life' practical problems. Extra-curricular activities such as indoor tennis and football help

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Grade: 3

boost pupils' activity levels. Residential visits and special 'one off' trips away from the school help broaden their horizons further.

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Grade: 2

Consistently good care, guidance and support underpin pupils' good personal development. Parents are very confident about this aspect of the school's work. The school works closely with outside agencies to ensure that pupils make sound progress, especially those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Children make a smooth start to school and their individual needs are catered for well. This helps the children become confident when they enter Year 1. The arrangements for safeguarding pupils are clear and effective. Pupils are confident they can turn to any member of staff for help. There are effective arrangements to help older pupils make a confident start to their secondary education. Although teachers regularly set clear academic targets for pupils in Years 1 to 6, these are relatively new. As a result, not all pupils are clear about how they can use them to guide their own learning. This reduces the effectiveness

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Grade: 2

of pupils' academic guidance. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Crawley Down Village CofE, 5 °6 December 2007

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Grade: 3

The headteacher has succeeded in bringing staff and pupils from contrasting schools together so they can have a fresh start under one roof. An increasingly good team ethos is evident. Staff are rising to the challenge of their new roles as subject leaders, but most have not had enough time to identify areas to improve or to monitor teaching. This reduces the effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation. As a result, the priorities chosen to improve aspects of teaching are not clearly identified or shared so all staff can improve further. Better checks on pupils' overall progress are helping staff to pinpoint those who need that extra push or support. Governors have helped steer the early development of the school effectively and provide a good sounding board for ideas and concerns. Their routines to check on the school's work are not yet giving them enough information to gauge its performance. Governors are keen to seek improvement,

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Grade: 3

and literacy work is one particular area that they have monitored well. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Crawley Down Village CofE, 5 °6 December 2007 .

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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: Crawley Down Village CofE, 5 °6 December 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? NA 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 effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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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 disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 3 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: Crawley Down Village CofE, 5 °6 December 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 3 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 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: Crawley Down Village CofE, 5 °6 December 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

7 December 2007 Dear Children Inspection of Crawley Down Village C of E School, Crawley Down, West Sussex RH10 4XA Thank you for making us feel welcome at your 'new' school when we visited it recently. Yours is a satisfactory school, which is trying to be even better. It has some good things about it. Here are some of the things we found out

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Children in the Reception classes settle in well and quickly feel at home.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You said you feel safe and all the staff make sure that you do. You said you like the 'caring' atmosphere and we noticed it too. ■ You make satisfactory progress in your work and most of you reach the expected levels. Your progress in maths is not quite as good as your progress in other subjects. ■ Teachers explain things well and use the electronic whiteboards to help make learning fun.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The activities you do in school, like your Antarctic studies, are fun and interesting.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You know about keeping fit and active and you are trying to eat sensibly.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You behave well. The school helps you become sensible and mature.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your involvement with local events, such as opening the local health centre, is good.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We have asked the school to do three things

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Give the youngest children a more exciting outside play area so they can really increase their activity levels and choose activities for themselves. ■ Give you more activities where you apply your number skills to solve some 'real life' problems.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Give the teachers more ideas about how they can help you learn even faster in lessons.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

You can help by working hard as you all settle in to your new school together. Best wishes Kevin Hodge Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Crawley Down Village CofE, 5 °6 December 2007

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