Harston and Newton Community Primary School

Harston and Newton Community Primary School Inspection report

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110612 Unique Reference Number Cambridgeshire Local Authority 325182 Inspection number 6–7 July 2009 Inspection dates Sheelagh Barnes Reporting inspector

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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.

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Primary Type of school Community School category 4–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 125 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 20 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Alison Kemp Chair Mrs Lisa Murphy Headteacher 5 June 2006 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection High Street School address Harston Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB22 7PX

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4–11 Age group 6–7 July 2009 Inspection dates 325182 Inspection number 01223 870345 Telephone number 01223 871375 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 6–7 July 2009 Inspection dates 325182 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. 3 of 12 Inspection Report: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an additional inspector.

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Description of the school

This small village school has Early Years Foundation Stage provision in Reception. It offers extended care before and after school. Pupils come from homes nearby and other surrounding villages. Fewer pupils are entitled to free school meals than nationally. The vast majority come from White British backgrounds. A smaller-than-average proportion speaks English as an additional language, with no pupils currently at very early stages of learning English. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is average and they have a variety of different needs. Standards when children start school are in line with those expected for their age. Pupils often join and leave the school outside the normal times, as families move into and out of the area with work. There have also been significant changes to staffing in recent times, mainly due to promotion. As a consequence, many subject leaders are new to

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Description of the school

their roles. The school has received the Activemark, ICT Mark (for information and communication technology) and the Healthy School Award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. It has a number of outstanding features, including the management of the development of links with the local and wider community. Leadership and management are good overall. The headteacher, in particular, has a clear and accurate understanding of the areas of strength and of the things that could be improved still further. As a result of her good leadership there has been good improvement since the previous inspection. The high standards in different aspects of school life have been maintained and developed still further. The school provides good value for money and has a good capacity to continue to improve. Achievement by boys and girls of all levels of ability and relative to their prior attainment is good; they are well prepared for the next stage in their education. Achievement in the Early Years Foundation Stage is satisfactory and, by the time children transfer to Year 1, standards

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Grade: 2

are broadly in line with those expected. Achievement across Years 1 to 6 is faster overall than the average, but varies between subjects and classes. By the end of Year 6, standards are above average in English, mathematics, science, and information and communication technology (ICT). The overall good quality of teaching is pivotal in the good progress pupils make. Lessons are planned to be interesting and good use is made of one subject to develop and reinforce skills in another. Relationships are good and teachers' high expectations are rewarded with good concentration and application by pupils. Lessons are generally matched well to pupils' needs and enable them to make good progress. On occasion, however, particularly in classes where there are two year groups, although account is taken of the general level of all pupils, specific planning for particular individual needs is overlooked. On these occasions, progress is

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Grade: 2

just satisfactory. The curriculum is good. A rich, balanced and varied range of activities is provided. This is enhanced outstandingly well by a wide range of clubs and extra activities. Pupils' personal development is excellent. They develop a good understanding of citizenship through such activities as the school council. They demonstrate their thought and care for others and their sense of belonging to a community extremely well through their participation in the life and work of the school and in charitable work. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils enjoy school enormously, behave well and their attendance is good. Strengths lie in the care, guidance and support provided. The school works exceptionally well to ensure that all pupils, including those who need extra support with their learning, are fully involved and have equality of opportunity. Excellent care is taken to promote pupils' health and to make

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Grade: 2

sure they develop an outstandingly good awareness of staying safe. Pastoral guidance is excellent and enables pupils to develop self-esteem. There are good systems to inform pupils about their progress. For example, all pupils have individual targets for English and mathematics. However, while teachers have a good knowledge of each pupil's targets and use them regularly, such as in marking work, pupils themselves are not involved in deciding them or evaluating whether they have achieved them. As a consequence, many do not know what their targets are, although they know where to find them. This limits their opportunities to start to take responsibility for their own learning.

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Grade: 3

Children enjoy coming to school and make satisfactory progress. Relationships are good. Even the very youngest children show respect for each other, patiently taking turns and sharing 5 of 12 Inspection Report: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009 equipment. The environment, especially in the pre-school, is well organised and stimulating. Children are able to make decisions, show initiative and enthusiastically take part in the range of practical experiences available, such as cutting fruit and vegetables and looking at the different patterns inside. Throughout, there is a strong emphasis on care and routines and systems are well developed. As a result, children's personal development is good, as they know what is expected of them. Planning incorporates the six areas of learning and staff provide a wide range of activities, including regular access to a recently developed outdoor area. There is a good balance between

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Grade: 3

activities initiated by individual children and those directed by an adult. In the pre-school, children achieve well, mainly because adults make effective use of observations to plan carefully for the next stage in each child's learning. However, in Reception, the planned activities, especially for children's physical development, do not always provide sufficient challenge. Consequently children's rate of learning slows and is just satisfactory. By the time the children enter Year 1, attainment is broadly in line with that expected in all six areas of learning. Overall, teaching is satisfactory. Skilful questioning is often used well to develop a child's understanding, especially in the pre-school. Leadership and management are satisfactory. Although children are regularly assessed, the information is not always used rigorously enough to ensure that greater challenge is provided for children in Reception classes.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure teachers' planning consistently reflects the wide range of pupils' abilities and needs more accurately. ■ Involve pupils more actively in understanding what they need to do next to improve their work still further.

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Grade: 2

Pupils from all groups achieve well and attain standards above those expected for their age by the end of Year 6. In 2008, standards in Year 2 were in line with the national standards and, in Year 6, they were above average in English, mathematics and science. The current Year 6 pupils are in line to attain standards that are above average in all three areas by the time they transfer to the next school. Standards in ICT are also above those expected for pupils' ages throughout the school. In Key Stages 1 and 2 pupils make overall good progress in English, mathematics, science and ICT, although there is some variation, from satisfactory to good, between classes and subjects across the school. Pupils who need extra support with their learning are given extremely good support and they achieve well, as a result.

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Grade: 1

Pupils behave well. They have exceptionally good attitudes towards their work and they all want to achieve high standards. Extremely good relationships between pupils and adults ensure pupils really enjoy school. They have an excellent awareness of how to stay safe and say that they can talk to someone in school if they have a problem. Pupils show great consideration for each other and a strong commitment to the school community when carrying out their roles and responsibilities, such as playground buddies. The school council provides a good channel for the voice of all pupils. Attendance is good. Pupils' awareness of how to stay healthy is excellent. They are very enthusiastic about taking part in physical exercise and know the 6 of 12 Inspection Report: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009 importance of eating healthily. Breakfast club, after-school club and lunch menus promote this

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Grade: 1

aspect extremely well. Pupils make good progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Through well-considered lessons, and the extensive programme of visits and visitors, pupils gain an excellent respect and understanding for other people in the local, national and world communities and faiths. They entertain local residents and organise charitable collections for those less fortunate than themselves.

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Grade: 2

The overall quality of teaching and learning is good. However, there is variation between subjects and the quality ranges from satisfactory to good. Consistently good features in teaching include the good relationships that teachers establish with pupils. The teachers have good skills in using interactive whiteboards to explain tasks to pupils and make good use of opportunities for pupils to undertake practical tasks. These approaches help to make lessons interesting and appealing. However, in some cases, lessons are planned with too little regard for information from assessments of pupils of different levels of ability within a class. At these times, the level of challenge and the pace of pupils' learning do not rise above satisfactory. Teaching assistants provide good extra support for pupils who find learning harder. They are particularly good at ensuring that pupils who need extra support are fully integrated with others and so are enabled

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Grade: 2

The core curriculum is well-planned and relevant links are being made between subjects. Use of ICT is good, although variable between classes and some opportunities for pupils to use computers in lessons are missed. The curriculum effectively supports the needs of pupils who find learning more difficult. It enables pupils to have an excellent knowledge about how to keep themselves safe and lead healthy lifestyles. Pupils thoroughly enjoy their time in school because interesting work is planned for them. They say lessons are exciting. They particularly enjoy the excellent range of well-attended activities and clubs for pupils in Years 1 to 6, many of which promote physical fitness. For example, all pupils have a minimum of three hours of physical education, including swimming during the summer months. Over 90% of pupils attend at least one club. However, the degree to which work is precisely matched to different ability

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Grade: 2

groups is inconsistent between year groups.

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Grade: 1

The quality of care and pastoral support is excellent overall. Arrangements for child protection and for safeguarding pupils fully meet current requirements. There is well-targeted support for pupils who require additional help with their work. Extremely good use is made of strong links with other agencies, which benefit the learning of these pupils. The care provided in breakfast and after-school clubs also benefits pupils. The school takes effective steps to help the youngest children settle into Reception and to help the older pupils transfer to their next stage of education. Routines are well established and known to all. Pastoral guidance is excellent and contributes to the outstandingly good personal development and well-being of pupils. 7 of 12 Inspection Report: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009 Systems to monitor pupils' progress have been developed effectively. While all pupils have

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Grade: 1

individual academic targets, however, few are involved in deciding what these will be and not all pupils can say what their own targets are.

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Grade: 2

Despite significant changes to staffing, including coordinators' roles, the good quality of leadership and management has ensured that standards remain high. Improvement since the last inspection has been good and the school has a good capacity to continue to improve. The large majority of parents who responded to the questionnaire are pleased with the way the school supports and encourages their children. The headteacher has a good level of awareness of the school's strengths and areas for improvement. Governance is good. Governors are supportive, knowledgeable and carry out their role of critical friend effectively. Consolidation of those aspects of the school that were already strong, such as the school's involvement with and its impact on the local and wider community has been excellent. Extremely strong links have been developed, including with a number of local industries, which benefit pupils greatly,

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Grade: 2

both in material and social ways. The strategy to promote community cohesion and widen links is outstanding and has a very positive impact on pupils' learning and personal development. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 9 of 12 Inspection Report: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009

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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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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 capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

3 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 3 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 2 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 3 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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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/or disabilities make progress

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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: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 1 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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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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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 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 1 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: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

8 July 2009 Dear Children Inspection of Harston and Newton Community Primary School, Harston, CB22 7PX Thank you for all the help you gave me when we visited your school. I enjoyed talking with you. Yours is a good school. I thought you would like to know what was particularly good about your school. These are the things I liked most.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Lots of you told me how much you enjoy school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your personal development is excellent and you work hard and try to do your best.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Links with the local and wider community are excellent and benefit you and others greatly.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your school makes sure that you are extremely well looked after.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Mrs Murphy and the governors work hard to make your school better all the time.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You make good progress in your work because teaching is good.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You achieve good standards in your work.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your school makes sure that those of you who find learning harder are supported extremely well. ■ You are taught interesting things and have excellent opportunities to join clubs and take part in other activities. These are the things I have asked your teachers to do to make your school even better:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ to plan lessons even more carefully to make sure that you all have work that is just hard enough, so that you can make the best possible progress ■ to involve you all more closely in deciding what you need to do next to improve your work, and deciding when you have achieved each step. I wish you the very best for the future. Yours faithfully Mrs Barnes Lead inspector 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Harston and Newton Community Primary School, 6–7 July 2009

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