Setting

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr A Hughes Headteacher Clough and Rise Primary School Chopdike Drove Gosberton Clough Spalding Lincolnshire PE11 4JP

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Religious Education (RE)

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 17 October 2007 to look at work in RE.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Religious Education (RE)

As outlined in my initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of the subject, the visit had a particular focus on the way the subject contributes to the promotion of community cohesion.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Religious Education (RE)

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half-term.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Religious Education (RE)

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: interviews with staff and pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work and an observation of one lesson.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Religious Education (RE)

The overall effectiveness of RE was judged to be satisfactory.

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Achievement and standards

Pupils' achievement in RE is satisfactory.

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Achievement and standards

 Overall, pupils make broadly satisfactory progress to reach the standards expected for their age. By the end of Year 6, pupils describe the key beliefs and teachings of the religions they have studied. However, pupils' ability to describe similarities and differences between religions is underdeveloped.  The contribution of RE to pupils' personal development is good. Pupils have a strong sense of right and wrong and make suitable links with religious teachings that they have encountered.  Pupils behave well in lessons and they have positive attitudes to RE.

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Quality of teaching and learning of RE

The quality of teaching and learning in RE is satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching and learning of RE

 Lessons have a broad range of activities and tasks which engage pupils' interests and enthusiasm.  Teachers form good relationships with pupils and know them very well. This helps pupils to feel confident to express their own views and make gains in their learning about different religious practices. Pupils enjoy learning in RE, particularly when the learning requires them to use their creative and literacy skills.  Assessment procedures are underdeveloped and the school recognises this as a priority for improvement.

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Quality of the curriculum

The quality of the curriculum in RE is satisfactory.

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Quality of the curriculum

 The school uses the medium term plans from the recently revised Lincolnshire agreed syllabus to inform teaching across the three classes. The plans are generally implemented well, supported by other resources, such as information and communication technology and artefacts.  The school recognises the need to devise a whole school curriculum overview of the RE provision. Currently, it is not clear how continuity and progression in pupils’ learning is secured.  Planned opportunities for pupils to think about what they are learning in RE, and to make their own responses, are not provided routinely.

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Leadership and management of RE

Leadership and management are satisfactory.

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Leadership and management of RE

 You anticipate that your temporary leadership of the subject will continue until February 2008.  The impact of teaching and learning is discussed jointly by staff in this small school and areas for further improvement are identified accurately.

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The promotion of community cohesion

RE makes a positive contribution to the promotion of community cohesion. Pupils have a sound understanding and awareness of religious and cultural diversity which they respect. There are good links with local churches and the school is keen to develop links with different communities through, for example, developing links with different schools within the wider locality and inviting visiting speakers.

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Inclusion

The provision for inclusion is good. All pupils are encouraged to participate in lessons and pupils with learning difficulties to make progress at a similar rate to their peers.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 ensuring that there is good continuity and progression in pupils' learning through the development and implementation of effective curriculum planning  developing assessment procedures so that pupils' progress is tracked and promoted more robustly  providing more planned opportunities for pupils to express what they have learned from the religions that they have studied.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop RE in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

As I explained in my previous letter, a copy of this letter will be sent to your Local Authority and SACRE and will be published on the Ofsted website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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