Marshchapel Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the provision for, and pupils’ outcomes in, writing by:
  • ensuring that in the early years more opportunities are provided for children to practise and develop their writing
  • improving pupils’ extended writing in key stage 1
  • ensuring that lessons and activities, especially in writing, are sufficiently challenging for the most able.
• Improve the provision for, and pupils’ outcomes in, mathematics by placing greater emphasis on problem-solving and reasoning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since opening as a new school, the headteacher has quickly established an effective team that has worked to establish a good quality of education for pupils.
• Leaders’ plans for improvement are well thought out and effective. The positive impact of their actions can be seen in the quality of teaching and rates of progress made by pupils.
• Monitoring is rigorous and evaluation is accurate, which helps leaders to have a clear understanding of where improvement is needed. Leaders have good capacity to ensure that the school continues to improve in the future.
• The school has recently commissioned a report on the effectiveness of provision for disadvantaged pupils. This report has been used to improve the provision and rates of progress of disadvantaged pupils, and to ensure that the additional funding provided through the pupil premium is used effectively to support pupils’ personal development and learning.
• Staff work together well as a team. Staff who spoke with inspectors spoke positively about the training and guidance they receive from within the Fenland Federation, and through working with staff from other schools.
• The school successfully draws on a good range of support and expertise. The local authority works with the headteacher to promote and coordinate this work.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. Pupils learn about a range of cultures and beliefs and, in discussion, they spoke confidently about other ways of life in modern Britain.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced. Leaders have ensured that pupils’ knowledge and skills are built progressively as they move through the school. The curriculum for reading is particularly good. In the early years, the curriculum does not place sufficient emphasis on developing children’s early writing skills. In key stage 1, the writing curriculum lacks emphasis on developing pupils’ extended writing.
• The curriculum is modified well to meet the learning needs of lower- and middle- attaining pupils, disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Each of these groups of pupils makes good progress, supported by the good use of the extra funding that is targeted to enhance these groups’ achievement. The curriculum is sometimes not sufficiently modified to fully meet the needs of the most able.
• Leaders have ensured that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is provided for well. Older pupils are very keen to take on additional responsibilities and to help others.
• The additional funding for physical education (PE) and sport is used effectively. Pupils receive a good range of opportunities to improve their health, well-being and physical fitness through the activities on offer. They enjoy the weekly PE lessons provided by an external coach, and staff benefit from being involved in these teaching sessions.

Governance of the school

• Governance is effective. Members of the governing body have an accurate overview of what is working and what could be better. They have undertaken training, including in the analysis of school performance data. This enables them to provide good support and challenge, and to hold leaders to account for how well pupils and staff are doing.
• Governors are closely involved in a range of key school activities. For example, members of the governing body attend some pupil progress and staff meetings in order to ensure that they have clear insights into how staff work together to improve the school.
• Governors receive accurate and comprehensive information from leaders, including assessment information and reports, regarding the additional funding the school receives. They use this information to carry out their roles effectively and to help the school improve.
• The governing body checks that key aspects of the school’s provision are effective. For example, the governing body is checking that the recommendations of the recent report on the use of the pupil premium funding are effectively implemented.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding evident at the school. All of the school’s employment checks are in place and are in line with statutory requirements.
• Parents, carers, pupils and staff agree that the school is safe. In discussion, pupils confirmed that they feel safe in school and that they trust adults and their friends to make them feel secure.
• The headteacher has ensured that staff training for safeguarding is up to date.
• Governors fulfil their statutory duties regarding safeguarding. They carry out regular checks on the school’s procedures and make sure that staff training and their own training are kept up to date.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers and teaching assistants encourage pupils to adopt positive attitudes to learning. As a result, relationships are strong, and lessons flow smoothly. Pupils respond sensibly and calmly to teachers’ instructions and make good use of their time in lessons. They sustain good levels of concentration and work hard.
• In a range of subjects, teachers demonstrate secure subject knowledge, which enables pupils to develop and deepen their understanding. Throughout the school, learning is planned systematically to ensure that pupils learn their letters and sounds progressively. Pupils’ reading books are for the most part linked to their individual levels of ability.
• Staff ensure that learning is planned appropriately for lower-attaining pupils. Those who struggle with aspects of their learning are given regular additional support, for example in reading or in mathematics.
• Interesting starting points for learning help children enjoy their learning and make good progress. Teaching assistants are effectively deployed and are well trained. They give good-quality support for those who find learning more difficult.
• Sometimes, teachers do not set work that is sufficiently challenging for the most able pupils, especially in writing. This means that those pupils are not consistently supported to reach the high standards of which they are capable, particularly the most able pupils in writing.
• In mathematics, number and calculation work are taught more effectively than problem-solving and reasoning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils in all year groups show consistently positive attitudes to learning. This is having an increasingly positive impact on their steadily improving progress.
• Pupils embrace chances to apply for and take on extra responsibilities. For example, the librarian and the ‘bank managers’ carry out their duties with pride.
• Pupils who spoke with inspectors showed a mature understanding of what constitutes bullying in its different forms. Although pupils said they were sure that instances of bullying are rare, they were confident that the trusted adults in school, or their friends, would be willing and able to help if bullying were to occur.
• Pupils take great pride in being invited to display their best efforts on the ‘proud board’ or in receiving ‘terrific tickets’ and house points. These rewards, often given out in assemblies, motivate pupils to further efforts and to do their best.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is consistently good. Pupils’ conduct throughout the inspection was invariably orderly and calm, both around school and in lessons.
• Pupils’ behaviour during lunchtimes is good. The atmosphere in the dining hall is positive, and lunchtime is a happy, social occasion. Outside, pupils can take part in a good range of activities. These include ball skills and skipping. Pupils say that staff provide good supervision and handle any issues fairly and swiftly.
• Attendance is good and around the average for primary schools. Pupils’ regular attendance contributes to the good progress they make and reflects their enjoyment of school.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• In the early years and in key stage 1, pupils make good progress in their reading, writing and mathematics overall.
• Lower-attaining, middle-attaining and those pupils with SEND make the best progress. The most able make less progress than these other groups because, on occasion, not enough is expected of them, especially in writing. The school improvement plan includes a range of useful strategies to address this weakness.
• Progress in reading is stronger than in other subjects because reading has a very prominent place in the school’s curriculum. The school’s effective teaching of phonics is having a positive impact on pupils’ good progress in reading and spelling. A well- organised home reading programme enables many parents to have a positive impact on their children’s progress in this skill.
• In writing, pupils’ spelling, grammar and punctuation, and their handwriting, are stronger than their ability to write at length.
• In mathematics, the school has correctly identified that pupils’ number and calculation skills are stronger than their problem-solving and reasoning skills. Up to now, leaders’ attempts to address this issue have not been fully successful.

Early years provision Good

• Leadership and management in the early years are good. The lead teacher has strong subject knowledge and an accurate understanding of the setting’s effectiveness. Staff work together well as a team and provide a good quality of education. Leaders are aware of where further improvements might be made, and they continually refine provision.
• In the Nursery and Reception class, all groups of children make good progress from their varied starting points. Children make best progress in their reading and their personal, social and emotional development. Progress in writing is not quite as strong, because opportunities are sometimes missed to use the experiences provided to develop children’s writing skills.
• Very good induction arrangements for children, which include close liaison with parents, enable children to make a confident and happy start to their time at school.
• Staff are knowledgeable about the needs and development of two-year-olds and provide these children with appropriate care, attention and comfort. Close relationships with parents mean that any upsets that very young children sometimes experience when starting in the Nursery Year are soon overcome.
• Teaching, the use of assessment and guidance for learning are all good. Staff know each child as an individual and treat them as such. When talking to individuals engaged in independent activities, adults modify their interventions to meet the needs of each child.
• The children thrive on and enjoy the good range of interesting activities provided. On Shrove Tuesday, they enjoyed making pancakes. This activity helped children develop in many areas of learning, especially their spoken language and mathematical development. Children excitedly told the inspector that, ‘My pancake was a disaster!’ And they told him why.
• Standards of care and safeguarding are high. Expectations of behaviour are also appropriate. Children are expected to listen carefully and follow instructions, and they respond well to these high expectations. The calm atmosphere in whole-class sessions helps children to enjoy school and feel confident. Children are well prepared for Year 1.
• There are good relationships with parents, who are positive about the provision and staff in the early years. They enjoy finding out about their children’s life at school by looking at the on-line assessments for their child. Some parents usefully contribute to these assessments.
• The teaching of reading is a strength in the Reception Year. Children make good progress in their reading and benefit from their daily phonics lessons. Children enjoy books, and teachers use books well to stimulate children’s interest in them and in learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 120461 Lincolnshire 10054385 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 2 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 41 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Executive Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Marilyn Bell Amanda Turner 01472 388 371 www.marshchapel.lincs.sch.uk info@marshchapel.lincs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• Marshchapel Infants School is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• There are two classes in the school, which are comprised of the foundation stage class for early years children from the age of two, and a class for both Year 1 and Year 2 pupils.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is in line with the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is broadly in line with the national average.
• There is a well-below-average proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language.
• The school opened as a new school in September 2018. It is part of a formal federation, the Fenland Federation, with Grainthorpe Junior School. The Little Sheep Marsh Nursery is also part of the school. The executive headteacher is headteacher of both these schools.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed learning in both classes, sometimes jointly with the headteacher.
• The inspector looked at work across an extensive range of pupils’ books and considered the school’s assessment information on the progress and standards achieved by current pupils.
• The inspector listened to pupils read and talked with them about their reading.
• The inspector met with a group of pupils from key stage 1 and spoke with pupils informally in lessons and around school.
• A school assembly was observed.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher and the base lead teacher, who is the early years leader and also has responsibility for pupils with SEND. The inspector also met the teacher with responsibility for mathematics across the federation. The inspectors also spoke with teachers and support staff.
• A meeting was held with four governors, including the chair of the governing body.
• The inspector met with a representative of the local authority.
• Brief individual discussions were held with 22 parents of 24 pupils, at the start of the first day of the inspection. The 21 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, were also considered. There were no responses to the optional pupils’ and staff surveys.
• The inspector considered a wide range of documentation, including the school’s improvement plan and self-evaluation summary, minutes of meetings of the governing body, the school’s current information on pupils’ attainment and progress, attendance information, external reports on the work of the school, monitoring and evaluation records and a range of documents relating to safeguarding.

Inspection team

Roger Sadler, lead inspector

Ofsted Inspector