Priors Field Primary School

Priors Field Primary School Inspection report - amended

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125609 Unique Reference Number Warwickshire Local Authority 328364 Inspection number 29–30 June 2009 Inspection dates Angela Kirk 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 214 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 Adell Pulham Chair Deborah Townsend Headteacher 22 March 2006 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Clinton Lane School address Kenilworth CV8 1BA 01926 853015 Telephone number 01926 851875 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 29–30 June 2009 Inspection dates 328364 Inspection number

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Amended Report Addendum

Report amended due to a change to the report following a complaint

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Amended Report Addendum

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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Amended Report Addendum

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: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 June 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two additional inspectors.

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Description of the school

Priors Field is a primary school of average size. Pupils are predominantly from White British backgrounds, with a very small number from minority ethnic groups. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is lower than that found in most schools. These pupils have mainly moderate learning difficulties. Early Years Foundation Stage is provided in one Reception class. The school currently has an interim headteacher for one term only. The new headteacher will take up her position in autumn 2009. The school has a privately run pre-school and out-of-school club on the site. These are inspected separately.

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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: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 June 2009

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Grade: 1

This is an outstanding school which gives pupils a high quality education. A key part of the school's success is its outstanding curriculum, which, together with high quality teaching, enables pupils to reach exceptionally high standards in English, mathematics, science, information and communication technology (ICT) and art. Pupils' achievement is excellent. The school has made good progress since its previous inspection and high academic standards have been maintained over the last three years. Capacity to improve further is good. Most parents hold this school in high regard. One typical parent commented, 'Lovely school, lovely atmosphere. Both my children want to go to school and learn.' Children enter the school with skills above those expected for their age. They make a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage and enter Year 1 with standards that are well above average. By the time pupils leave the school, standards are consistently very high and often

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Grade: 1

exceptional. This represents outstanding progress. Pupils are highly motivated to learn and the school encourages pupils to do as well as they can and to take part in all that the school offers. As a result, pupils' personal development and well-being are outstanding. The overwhelming majority of pupils attend very regularly. Behaviour is generally good. Pupils thoroughly enjoy their learning; they pick up new skills and learning strategies easily and quickly apply what they have learned to other areas of learning. Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and often choose exciting activities to inspire pupils' learning. For example, the school has an outstanding environmental project. This includes a wide range of habitat areas which is used very effectively within the curriculum. Pupils' experiences are enlivened by numerous visitors to the school and by the interesting educational trips. Teachers

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Grade: 1

assess pupils' work regularly but the marking does not provide sufficient guidance on how pupils can improve. The wide variety of after-school clubs are popular and well attended. Staff know pupils' individual needs, and the school's systems to safeguard pupils are thorough. The school makes good provision for pupils' care, support and guidance, which is particularly appreciated by parents of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The school works well with parents and outside agencies to ensure that they have the expertise to meet the differing needs of pupils. This ensures that equal opportunities for all pupils are promoted effectively. Leadership and management have had a strong impact on the school's performance, for example through the use of challenging targets to promote high standards. Leaders have created a shared vision among staff, and they monitor the school's work energetically. However, they do

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Grade: 1

not yet evaluate their findings through clear criteria. These would provide a more accurate understanding of how well initiatives are working and what needs to be done to make them more effective. As a result of recent training from the interim headteacher, leaders and managers at all levels now have a better understanding of the strategic role they need to play in school improvement. Governors exercise their responsibilities well in most respects.

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Grade: 2

Children enter Reception with levels of skills and knowledge above age-related expectations. They make good progress in their learning and by the time they enter Year 1, most pupils are well above average. All areas of learning for the Early Years Foundation Stage are at least good, 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 June 2009 with writing being identified by the school as an area for further development. The environment and learning opportunities are good and children enjoy both indoor and outdoor activities, with a good balance between adult-led and pupil-initiated activities. The curriculum also offers opportunities to work with other year groups and exciting activities are regularly planned. Pupils' oral communication ability is strong, many being able to feed back their findings confidently to the whole group. Good links between school and parents exist from early induction

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Grade: 2

sessions, informal and end-of-the-day discussions and more formal parents' evenings. The promotion of pupils' welfare is outstanding and as a result they make excellent progress in their personal development. Pupils feel really safe, greatly enjoy their activities and show first-rate behaviour and attitudes to their work. The monitoring and recording of data, though thorough, is not updated sufficiently soon after children's tasks are completed.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ ensure through clear marking that pupils understand how to improve the quality of their work ■ strengthen evaluation at a whole school level by having clear criteria through which initiatives to improve performance can be more accurately evaluated.

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Grade: 1

By the time pupils leave the school, they reach standards that are consistently very high and often exceptional. The quality of writing across the school is of a very high standard. Across the whole curriculum, a significant proportion of pupils write with style, grammar and punctuation much above that expected for their age. In mathematics, most pupils are confident at manipulating numbers; again well above the standard expected for their age. They are very adept at using their number and calculation skills to solve problems and to support their learning, for example in their use of graphs in science experiments. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make similar progress to their peers, due to effective support. There are no significant differences between the achievements of any groups.

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Grade: 1

The many excellent features of the quality of education provided by the school underpin pupils' outstanding personal development and well-being. Pupils' behaviour in class and around the school is usually good, although some do not always choose to behave as well as they could, either in lessons or when not directly supervised. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good, although the school is aware of the limitations of its current support for pupils' spiritual development and their first-hand experiences of the range of cultures in Britain. Pupils have an excellent understanding of how to develop healthy lifestyles; they enjoy sport, participate keenly and most make sensible choices about healthy eating. They feel really safe and well cared for. Enjoyment is high on the agenda for pupils. They say that they greatly enjoy their lessons and the extra opportunities that the school offers them such as trips and clubs.

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Grade: 1

Pupils' attendance at Priors Field is outstanding. Pupils support charities, both locally and world-wide, which helps them to make a positive contribution to their school and the wider community. The school council play an important role in representing their peers. Older pupils are good at working collaboratively and in using information and communication technology 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 June 2009 (ICT) to support their learning. Given pupils' high level of basic skills, together with their excellent personal development, they are prepared exceptionally well for their future lives.

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Grade: 1

Teaching is at least good in all major respects and is exemplary in the progress and standards it enables pupils to achieve. Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and the school uses teaching assistants to good effect, for example to enable pupils to achieve high standards in ICT. Whilst some lessons engage all groups of learners and encourage them to work independently, some teachers are really able to inspire pupils and challenge them to use a range of their knowledge to either solve a problem or present a piece of quality extended writing. Teachers assess pupils' work regularly and use this information to plan lessons and to support pupils' learning. Learners show good attitudes to their work and there are good relationships with adults. Teaching assistants contribute strongly to the learning of the lower attaining pupils and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. They make sure they are well challenged

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Grade: 1

by providing just the right level of support.

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Grade: 1

Pupils engage well with a very rich and varied curriculum. Cross-curricular learning is well embedded and links between year groups collaboratively working together are excellent. Pupils experience a good range of visits and visitors, which enhance their learning experience. The use of ICT is excellent and pupils are well skilled in using packages with word-processing to present and animate their work, including the addition of video. The school grounds are extensive and the development of the environmental project is outstanding. The curriculum is also particularly strong for the full range of art activities, including extensive three-dimensional work for all age groups. The curriculum is strengthened still further by a wide and varied range of well attended extra-curricular clubs. A significant number of pupils take up the many good musical opportunities offered by the school. These pupils have the opportunity to perform

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Grade: 1

regularly. Year 6 pupils have the opportunity to visit France.

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Grade: 2

Pastoral care in school is strong and pupils feel really safe and secure and able to go to adults if they have a problem. Safeguarding procedures are fully in place and vulnerable pupils are well supported, helped by the good links that the school has with external agencies. The school's strong commitment to inclusion is evident in the very good provision for pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Support for these pupils, both in lessons and through individual and small group work, is managed very well and means that they make outstanding progress in line with their peers. The assessment of pupils work is regular, but academic guidance is a relative weakness because marking does not provide sufficient feedback to show pupils how to improve their work. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 June 2009

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Grade: 2

The leadership and management of the school have successfully ensured that standards remain high and have addressed particular issues, such as the drop in the standard of writing in the 2008 Key Stage 2 national tests. Leaders drive the school forward by setting, and achieving, very challenging targets. Inclusion is outstanding and this is central to the ethos of the school. The school's contribution to community cohesion is good. It works well with its school and local community. Pupils learning French and visiting France have been effective in extending pupils' understanding of life in Europe. However, the school recognises it needs to do more to give pupils better first-hand experiences of the variety of cultures represented in Britain today. Managers have a good understanding of the school's strengths and areas for improvement, but they are not yet using clear criteria through which to evaluate and refine initiatives to raise

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Grade: 2

performance. Governors are knowledgeable about the school and play an effective role in leadership and management. They have divided up their responsibilities effectively and have undertaken first-hand monitoring in school. Resources are generally well used, although there is a small, longstanding budget deficit. The interim headteacher and governing body, with support from the local authority, are working towards urgently addressing this. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 June 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. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 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

1 How well do learners achieve? 1 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 1 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: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 June 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 1 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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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 1 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 June 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

1 July 2009 Dear Pupils Inspection of Priors Field Primary School, Kenilworth CV8 1BA Thank you for making us very welcome when we visited your school recently. My colleague and I enjoyed talking to you and we particularly enjoyed the music assembly and the environmental project. You clearly enjoy learning and are very well prepared for when you go to secondary school. Priors Field is an outstanding school. With the excellent teaching and opportunities to do so many interesting things, pupils in Year 6 reach standards that are much better than in most other schools. You make outstanding progress. The subjects and topics that you study are excellent and you told us that you find your lessons both interesting and challenging. The school's curriculum is particularly good and we were very impressed not only with your English, mathematics and science, but also with your ICT and artwork. The staff make sure that you are

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

really well cared for. This helps you to feel safe. All the staff have worked hard to make the school outstanding and they are committed to continuing to make your school even better. We have asked your teachers to give you more feedback when they mark your work, so that you know how well you are doing and what you need to do to improve. We have also asked the leaders and managers in the school to ensure that they check up closely on any new initiatives to see how effective they are. You can help make your school an even better place by always behaving extremely well, not just in lessons, but around your school at playtimes and lunchtimes as well. Thank you once again for a very enjoyable two days, and best wishes for the future. Yours faithfully Angela Kirk Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Priors Field Primary School, 29–30 June 2009

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