Ivington CofE Primary and Pre-School

Ivington CofE Primary School Inspection report

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116894 Unique Reference Number Herefordshire Local Authority 326477 Inspection number 10 June 2009 Inspection date Patricia Pothecary 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 Voluntary aided School category 4–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 86 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 John Hanson Chair Timothy Milne Headteacher 26 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 Ivington School address Leominster HR6 0JH 01568 720216 Telephone number 01568 720167 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 10 June 2009 Inspection date 326477 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. 2 of 9 Inspection Report: Ivington CofE Primary School, 10 June 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two additional inspectors. The inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues:

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Introduction

■ how well assessment and target setting are used in lessons

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Introduction

■ the role of school leaders in using data to drive school improvement

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Introduction

■ the quality of pupils' personal development.

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Introduction

Evidence was gathered from analysis of school data, the school's self-evaluation, the previous inspection report, pupils' work, parental questionnaires, school policies, monitoring reports, and other documents. Lessons were observed and discussions were held with pupils, senior staff and governors. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail, but inspectors found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments, as given in its self- evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

Ivington is a small rural primary school with pupils drawn from a wide range of backgrounds but predominantly from the local town. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds. There is a higher than average number of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The headteacher was appointed in February 2009 and the deputy headteacher was appointed in April 2009 and has been acting in that capacity since September 2008. There is one Reception group in the Early Years Foundation Stage who are taught alongside some pupils from Year 1. There is a privately run Nursery on the same site.

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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: Ivington CofE Primary School, 10 June 2009

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Grade: 2

Ivington is a good school. It is a very happy, purposeful and vibrant community where pupils thrive. Pupils make good progress and achieve well in their academic subjects and show outstanding progress in their personal development and well-being. This results from good teaching, good leadership and management, an outstanding curriculum and excellent care, guidance and support for pupils. Pupils greatly enjoy school and behave exceptionally well in lessons, where they are keen to do their best. When children enter Reception their skill levels are broadly below those expected for their age, although they have already reached national averages by the time they join Year 1. Pupils of all abilities make consistently good progress from then on so that, by the end of Year 6, standards are usually above average. Each year group is so small that standards do vary significantly from year to year. Pupils who experience difficulties with learning also make good progress and the

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Grade: 2

support they are given is skilled and highly valued by the community. There is evidence of some outstanding progress, most noticeably in science, but also, for example, for some pupils in reading where the new reading and writing scheme has begun to take effect. Pupils progress well in mathematics overall but make slower progress in the problem- solving element, which the school has recognised and is planning to address with a new strategy. There are many strengths in teaching, including the excellent quality of relationships and interesting, lively activities which keep pupils motivated and wanting to learn. In one lesson, for example, pupils were helped to be very creative in using adventurous vocabulary to bring their writing to life. As one pupil explained, 'Teachers encourage you to really do the work well.' Accurate assessment means that teachers have a very good understanding of pupils' attainment levels, and they carefully track how much progress they are making. However, the

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Grade: 2

school has identified that this information is not shared in sufficient detail with individual pupils. Pupils do have targets in English and mathematics lessons but they are not specific or individual enough to ensure that each one of them knows where to focus their efforts for maximum effect. For this reason, in a few lessons, progress for a small minority is satisfactory rather than good. A training programme is already in place to begin to address this. Parents are very positive about all aspects of the school and particularly appreciate the strong leadership, the family atmosphere and how well their children are cared for. A typical comment praised the 'very good grounding and start in life'. Pupils are equally positive, as evidenced by their good attendance and how very safe they feel. As one remarked, 'Everyone is kind to each other.' The care, guidance and support pupils receive is very thorough. Safeguarding procedures

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Grade: 2

meet requirements and there are excellent links with other agencies and organisations to support pupils with their needs and aspirations. Effective leadership has ensured that the good standards are sustained and are being built upon. For example, writing has improved recently and a focus on investigations has led to a strong improvement in science. The capacity to improve is good. The headteacher and deputy headteacher understand the school's strengths and weaknesses well through good self-evaluation. However, they recognise that the way they collect information, to monitor the progress of different groups of pupils over time, does not provide a sufficiently clear focus for setting school targets to raise standards further. The exceptionally rich curriculum helps develop pupils' broader skills substantially. For example, very strong provision for sports and health education has led to an exceptionally good awareness

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Grade: 2

4 of 9 Inspection Report: Ivington CofE Primary School, 10 June 2009 by pupils of how to lead healthy lives. Regular exercise, encouraged by school activities such as 'huff and puff', support this very well. There is a wealth of trips, visits, visitors and projects to bring learning to life, including regular residential experiences for pupils from the age of seven. In addition, pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is excellent. The school promotes community cohesion well. Great care is taken to develop a strong understanding of, and respect by pupils for, the diversity of cultures and beliefs around them, both within school and further afield. Pupils make an outstanding contribution to the community. They play a significant role in the work of the school, helping to interview new staff and design the new playground area, for example. They also look out for one another, play a big part in local events and get involved

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Grade: 2

in international projects to help others. From the exceptional care taken to encourage high quality teamwork and independent study, to their excellent personal skills, pupils are well prepared for their next school and the lives ahead of them.

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Grade: 2

Provision in Reception is good and effective in meeting the learning needs of the children. Children's development is often noticeably low in literacy and numeracy when they join, but they make good progress and so finish the year working securely within all the areas of learning. For some, progress is outstanding in these areas. Effective teaching, based on very thorough assessment, is planned well to meet the needs of children at different levels of ability. Those experiencing difficulties are given skilled support and carefully selected targets. The staff make very good use of the small outdoor space, especially in the afternoon, where learning flows well between the classroom and outside. There is an inviting array of equipment, sand, water and imaginative toys to encourage exploration, to which children respond enthusiastically. In the mornings children are not always being given enough opportunity to learn for themselves.

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Grade: 2

Nevertheless, children have plenty of fun with their learning, making music with friends or role playing in the make-believe garden centre. Their excellent personal development includes a growing maturity which can be seen as they tidy up after activities, help each other and behave exceptionally well. The outstanding welfare provision includes tracking progress very carefully and linking closely with external agencies to secure children's well-being. Leadership and management are good, with excellent liaison with parents and nursery provision to help children settle quickly. The coordinator reviews practice regularly, making good use of other organisations and the local authority to successfully and regularly develop and improve the quality of provision.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the way pupils' individual targets are set so that each one of them has a more detailed and personal understanding of how to improve, particularly in mathematics. ■ Improve the way information about the performance of different pupil groups is collected, in order to have a clearer focus for raising standards. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Ivington CofE Primary School, 10 June 2009 .

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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: Ivington CofE Primary School, 10 June 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?

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? 1 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 2 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. 7 of 9 Inspection Report: Ivington CofE Primary School, 10 June 2009

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learners?

1 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 1 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 3 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 2 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? 8 of 9 Inspection Report: Ivington CofE Primary School, 10 June 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

11 June 2009 Dear Pupils Inspection of Ivington C of E Primary School, Ivington HR6 0JH Thank you for being so welcoming when we visited your school. We very much enjoyed meeting you, joining you for lunch and seeing some of your lessons. Yours is a good school with many interesting things going on, just as you described. Senior staff work hard to keep developing the school and, for this reason, the standards you reach are above average and you make good progress. Skilled teaching helps you to make good progress in your lessons. As a result, you do particularly well in science and reading. We like the way you really enjoy your lessons and always try to do your best. You told us that your teachers make lessons fun and interesting and we can see that they help you to do well. We have, however, asked them to make sure all of you have clearer individual targets in English and mathematics to help you know what you personally need to

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

do to improve, especially in mathematics. In addition, we want them to improve the way information on progress for different groups of you is collected to give a clearer focus for improving the standards you reach in the end. We are sure that you will discuss these ideas with your teachers and help them by working hard and sharing your ideas. An outstanding curriculum helps you to make excellent progress in your social and personal skills. You were keen to tell us that the school keeps you safe and looks after you very well. It is therefore very pleasing to see that you are helping yourselves by taking plenty of exercise and eating a healthy diet. Your behaviour is excellent, especially in the way you value learning and respect others, including those who have different beliefs and ways of living. The responsibilities that you take on within the school and wider community are impressive, especially the way you contribute your ideas to improving the playground and helping the

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

environment. It is good to know that you feel the school takes your views seriously and that you can make a difference. You clearly love coming to school. We think that this, alongside your good quality basic skills and mature attitudes, helps to prepare you very well for your next school and future lives. Yours faithfully Patricia Pothecary Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Ivington CofE Primary School, 10 June 2009

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