Weston Lullingfields CofE School

Weston Lullingfields CofE School Inspection report

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123513 Unique Reference Number Shropshire Local Authority 327929 Inspection number 16 October 2008 Inspection date Doris Bell 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 Foundation School category 3–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 30 School (total) 7 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 Robin Rees-Webbe Chair Jackie Cutcliffe Headteacher 7 November 2005 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Weston Lullingfields School address Nr Baschurch Shrewsbury SY4 2AW 01939 260306 Telephone number 01939 260306 Fax number

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3–11 Age group 16 October 2008 Inspection date 327929 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 11 Inspection Report: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This very small primary school has a well above average percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. It has Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provision for four Nursery and three Reception children. The proportion of pupils who join or leave the school other than at the customary times, particularly in Years 3 to 6, is higher than in most schools. The Nursery operates as one group and pupils in Reception to Year 6 are taught in two classes, one for those in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, the other for pupils in Years 3 to 6. There have been many changes in staffing since the previous inspection, and the school has had two acting headteachers since September 2007. The present acting headteacher took over responsibility for the school in January 2008. The school has a Gold Healthy Schools Award and the Activemark status. It has also received a UNICEF level 2 award for its work in promoting global awareness.

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Description of the school

The school has a breakfast club and an after-school club, both of which started this year and are managed by the governing body. The Nursery and the before and after-school clubs became part of the wrap-around provision in September 2008.

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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: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. The acting headteacher has given it a strong sense of purpose and a clear educational direction. Governors support the school well and keep a close check on its work, and there is a strong sense of teamwork amongst all staff. At the forefront of all of this is a desire to help every pupil do as well as they possibly can during their time in the school. For a significant proportion of pupils, this can be relatively short. The school knows its strengths and the areas in which it needs to develop further, and it has much in place to help it do so. All of this, plus the improvement evident since the previous inspection, gives it good capacity for further improvement. Pupils' behaviour is excellent. Their understanding of what having 'rights and responsibilities' means is exceptional. They explained: 'We have the right to come to school and when we are here, we have a responsibility to behave sensibly and learn well.' Parents are

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Grade: 2

overwhelming in their support of the school, describing it, for example, as an 'extension of the family'. The school meets its duty to promote community cohesion exceptionally well. Pupils have an excellent understanding of their place in, and of how they can contribute to, the school, local, national and international communities. They are justifiably proud of their UNICEF award. The very small numbers in each year group, and the high proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, mean comparisons with national statistics must be treated with caution. Overall, standards are average. All groups of pupils achieve well and they make excellent progress in their personal development. This starts with the good provision made for them in the EYFS. The weakest aspect of pupils' learning is their writing. They do not have enough opportunities to write at length in literacy or in other subjects. Each class and year group have

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Grade: 2

targets for writing and pupils are beginning to use them to assess their own learning. However, they are not always clear about what the targets mean to them personally. This is because teachers' marking does not often enough focus on their targets to help them see how to reach them. The school tracks pupils' progress adequately from year to year but the procedures for doing so are not rigorous enough to accelerate progress. Staff are about to undertake training to sharpen their understanding of how to do this, especially for pupils who are at the borderline between two levels. The pastoral care for pupils is outstanding. The school works very closely with a range of external agencies to ensure that pupils receive a broad and balanced curriculum that caters well for their learning and personal development. An excellent range of enrichment activities during and beyond the normal school day, in which almost the whole school

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Grade: 2

participates, contributes to this. These activities also add to pupils' sheer enjoyment of school. They particularly value horse riding, sailing, the gardening club and the residential visit to an outdoor pursuits centre. They recognise the contribution all of these make to their highly developed understanding of healthy living. The school knows each pupil really well. Pupils work, learn and play in an exceptionally caring and supportive environment where they trust the staff to look out for them. They feel very safe and secure.

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Grade: 2

There has been no systematic recording of children's attainment on entry until the beginning of this year. However, the school holds a range of data that show that children's skills and experiences on entry vary considerably from year to year and are often below the expected level overall. Children currently in the EYFS are making good progress and are on course to reach at least expected standards in all areas of learning by the end of Reception. Throughout the EYFS there is a good balance between adult-directed and child-initiated activities, so that 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008 children are helped to grow in independence while they are learning. The curriculum is planned well to meet their needs but there is insufficient provision for spontaneous access to outdoor learning. The school is looking at ways to improve this. Children's personal, social and emotional

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Grade: 2

development, and their welfare and wellbeing are promoted exceptionally well in Nursery and Reception. Reception children learn from the older pupils in their class while retaining the open, inquisitive minds necessary for their own learning. Close interaction with the staff and the continuous assessment and tracking of children's learning that is now taking place, particularly in communication, language and literacy, problem solving, reasoning and numeracy and personal, social and emotional development, contribute to their good progress. Reception children attending the well-supervised breakfast club engage well with older pupils, enthusiastically joining in the good range of leisure activities on offer.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Give pupils more opportunities to write at length in literacy and in other subjects, and ensure teachers mark pupils' literacy skills at all times. ■ Sharpen up the procedures for assessing and tracking pupils' progress and make pupils' targets clearer for them to understand and follow.

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Grade: 2

The school's excellent knowledge of its pupils means it is able to describe their individual learning journeys, and any factors affecting them, in considerable detail. Although attainment on entry, at whatever age, has not in the past been formally recorded, subsequent data show pupils make good progress. This is because of the attention paid to pupils as individuals, and the good quality additional support they receive whenever they need it. This applies especially to the high proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Standards are average in Year 2 and Year 6. The high level of mobility among pupils, especially in Years 3 to 6, means that the make-up of each of those year groups changes considerably after Year 2. For example, none of the pupils in Year 6 attended the school prior to Year 5, the pupils originally in that year group having moved out of the area. A large proportion of the

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Grade: 2

pupils joining the school have experienced learning or behavioural difficulties in previous schools. They talk quite openly about this and recognise how much their progress has improved at this school. The school has rightly identified writing as the area most in need of improvement. Pupils learn the mechanics of how to spell, construct sentences and write in different styles for different audiences and purposes. However, they do not always remember to use these skills in all of their writing.

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Grade: 1

The pupils' excellent behaviour contributes greatly to their good progress. The school operates as one big family whose members care deeply for each other. Pupils readily accept responsibility, for example, as school councillors and helpers of younger pupils, explaining why it is important to ensure young children use the play equipment safely and sensibly. Pupils speak very warmly of the caring ethos in the school, describing their teachers as 'kind and really helpful'. They talk of the huge amount of support they receive to help them 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008 understand and control their feelings, 'especially when you get angry sometimes, the school helps this to stop'. They appreciate the anonymity of the 'worry box' and the sensitive way staff deal with issues raised there. Pupils' excellent awareness of global issues is evident in their exceptionally well-developed understanding of equality. As one pupil said, reflecting the

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Grade: 1

views of others, 'we're all the same, no-one should be treated differently'. They are keenly aware of how poverty limits life experiences for some people, including children, in Britain and the wider world, and how they can help, albeit in a small way. Pupils' excellent understanding of the importance of healthy eating is evident in, for example, the reasons they give for growing herbs and vegetables in the gardening club, and their exploration of the range of food available in supermarkets. They participate wholeheartedly in the wide range of exhilarating activities available to them during and outside of the normal school day. Attendance has improved recently and is now good. All of this, plus their good progress in basic skills, means pupils leave the school exceptionally well prepared for later life.

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Grade: 2

Teachers manage the learning and behaviour of the different age groups in their classes well. Planning shows what is expected of each group, and support from the teacher and/or well-briefed teaching assistant helps pupils to make good progress in lessons. The school uses its generous staffing ratio flexibly, successfully addressing pupils' different learning needs and fostering their independence. This benefits their learning. Teachers usually assess pupils' learning well in class, building it up step-by-step and responding immediately to any difficulties. This is not always the case in writing. Here, teaching sometimes expects too much of younger pupils in the mixed Year 3 to 6 class, missing opportunities to build and consolidate story-writing skills. Teachers always mark pupils' work and discuss it with them. However, they rarely provide pupils with written guidance on how to improve their writing, wherever it occurs, to help them reach their targets faster.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum provides many good opportunities for pupils in all year groups to learn and develop well. The school successfully adapts local and national guidance to meet the needs of pupils in a small school. Through its thematic work, it presents pupils with a good range of ways to build and consolidate basic skills. However, it does not identify or promote extended writing clearly enough in different subjects. The school uses expertise from a range of external sources, for example in art and music, to ensure breadth and balance in the curriculum for all pupils. Pupils are justifiably proud of the well-executed murals and the harvest sheaves they produced with help from their artist-in-residence. An excellent range of very well-attended enrichment activities, including the residential visit for all pupils in Years 3 to 6, greatly enhances pupils' learning and personal development. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008

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Grade: 2

High quality pastoral care, often in conjunction with external agencies, promotes pupils' personal development and well-being extremely well. Safeguarding procedures are robust and the school's determination to foster a caring, supportive learning environment for the pupils is highly successful. Procedures for guiding and supporting pupils academically are satisfactory. Pupils know they have targets for literacy, and Year 6 pupils can explain how the class target is translated into different targets for different year groups in the class. However, pupils are not sufficiently aware of the steps needed as individuals to reach their targets and teachers' marking does not give them enough guidance on this.

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Grade: 2

It is a credit to the school that through a period of disruption in staffing, including at leadership level, it kept pupils' progress at the forefront. The school knows where it is going, and it is clear about the steps it needs to take to get there. Its own evaluation of its work is accurate and well founded. This is evident in the outline for the new school improvement plan, and the good understanding the acting headteacher and governors have of the school's successes and areas for improvement. The acting headteacher's evaluation of teaching and learning and how they can be improved is good, and her feedback to staff is clear, sensitive and supportive. However, none of this is recorded well enough to provide an ongoing record of improvement for the school. Given the barriers presented by its relatively fluid population, the school sets itself challenging targets. It works purposefully towards them to try to ensure that every pupil makes the progress

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Grade: 2

of which they are capable. The school leaders and managers successfully promote high quality care and a good quality of education for the pupils. They meet their duty to promote community cohesion exceptionally well. The school works together very effectively with other schools and external agencies to do all of this. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008

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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? 3 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008

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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? 2 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

17 October 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Weston Lullingfields CofE School, Shrewsbury, SY4 2AW Thank you for the very warm welcome you gave us when we visited your school. You and your parents are clearly extremely proud of the school and greatly appreciate all the exciting things you get to do there. Many of your parents see school as an extension of family life, and you told us your teachers are 'brilliant' and that they 'watch' you carefully to make sure you are safe. You certainly know why it is important to keep yourselves safe, fit and healthy and you have a Gold Healthy Schools Award to prove it. Your school is good. No matter what age you are when you join, it helps you to settle in, become part of it, and make good progress in your learning. The way it fosters your personal development is excellent. It was superb to see how well you understand that you have rights but that they carry with them responsibilities. You have an excellent understanding of how different

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

communities locally, nationally and internationally can learn from each other, work together and help each other. This prepares you really well for your future. Those responsible for leading and managing your school are doing a good job. Your acting headteacher is working hard with the staff to improve your progress. We agree with them that the weakest aspect of your work is writing. Therefore, to help you make better progress in writing, we have asked your school to give you more opportunities to write at length in literacy and in other subjects. We have also asked it to make your targets clearer for you, and to make sure teachers always give you pointers to improve your work, including your writing, when they mark it. The teachers are rightly looking at how they can be better at keeping records on your progress too. You can help with your writing by following their guidance and by trying to remember what your targets are every time you write.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We hope that you will continue to make the most of all the opportunities you are given at this school and that you will enjoy learning for the rest of your lives as much as you do now. Yours sincerely Doris Bell Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Weston Lullingfields CofE School, 16 October 2008

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