Cherry Hinton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve attendance by building on the successful work already undertaken, with even more rigour, to ensure that the small number of pupils who are still persistently absent attend well.
• Ensure that assessments in subjects such as geography and history are more accurate so that leaders can check carefully to ensure that pupils make as much progress as they do in reading, writing and mathematics.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has high expectations of herself, her staff and pupils. She is uncompromising in her work to continue to make improvements. She has created a culture where all staff strive to provide the best possible education for pupils.
• Leaders’ evaluations of the strengths and weaknesses of the school are accurate. This means the actions taken to improve are the correct ones. For example, following a period of research, leaders recently introduced a new, well-considered approach to the teaching of reading. This new approach has been implemented well and is having a positive effect on the progress pupils are making. Procedures for monitoring the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in English and mathematics are rigorous.
• Additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is now used effectively. This was an area for improvement at the last inspection. These pupils receive high-quality intervention to support their social and emotional needs. Leaders have introduced focused individual support plans. Evidence gathered during the inspection shows that most disadvantaged pupils are making good academic progress from their various starting points.
• The inclusion leader is experienced and offers a wealth of knowledge. As a result of her leadership, pupils’ needs are accurately identified and appropriate interventions are put in place. Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities make good progress from their individual starting points and funding is used well to support their needs.
• Leaders ensure that the physical education (PE) and sport premium is spent well. Teachers receive training from visiting sports coaches, which consequently improves the quality of PE teaching. Pupils have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of sporting clubs, including netball, dance, gymnastics and circus skills.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced. Leaders have thought hard about the intent and implementation of the curriculum. This means that as pupils move through the school they know more and remember more because the curriculum builds on their prior knowledge. The curriculum is brought to life with regular visitors to the school, for example bee keepers, scientists and a penguin expert.
• Pupils make good progress in a range of subjects, but the assessment of these subjects is not as well developed as in reading, writing and mathematics. This means not all teachers plan work in subjects other than English and mathematics to precisely meet the needs of pupils to allow them to make as much progress as they are capable of.
• The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding well. Values, such as democracy and tolerance, are taught throughout the school. During the inspection, pupils were concluding a project exploring the cultural diversity within school. They also have the opportunity to be elected ‘head for the day’. Through this, pupils deepen their understanding of democracy.
• There is a good range of clubs to support the formal curriculum. These include sports, music and chess. The school chess team has been particularly successful in recent county competitions and one Year 6 pupil is currently national champion.
• Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They say the school is well led and managed. One parent told an inspector, ‘I’m so thankful that my children are part of this wonderfully inclusive and inspirational learning community.’
• The local authority has provided very effective support to the school. A local authority adviser makes regular visits to the school to check the impact of the school’s work in improving outcomes in reading.

Governance of the school

• Governors provide support for leaders, but do not shy away from holding them to account for the progress pupils make. For example, they ask probing questions of leaders to make sure the new approach to the teaching of reading is having a positive effect on pupils’ outcomes.
• Governors make regular visits to the school to monitor their areas of responsibility. There is a range of expertise among the governing body and governors attend regular training to ensure that their knowledge is up to date.
• Governors make sure additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is spent well. They make regular checks to ensure that this group of pupils is making good progress.

Safeguarding

• Leaders ensure that the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a culture of vigilance and all staff are aware of the action to take if they have a concern about a child. The designated safeguarding leads keep meticulous records, tenaciously following up concerns with external agencies. Staff at all levels are well trained.
• The single central record of the suitability of staff meets all statutory requirements and pre-employment checks on staff are carried out thoroughly.
• Pupils are safe in school and their parents agree. They know who to speak to if they have a problem in school and are confident that adults will help them. As one parent said, ‘This is a kind, caring and compassionate place.’
• Governors make regular visits to school to check how effective safeguarding is. They know that the school is meeting all statutory requirements.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers and teaching assistants have high expectations of what pupils can do. In most lessons, they plan carefully to ensure that pupils are well challenged. For example, in a Year 5 mathematics lesson, pupils had to grapple with strategies to solve open-ended problems. Work in pupils’ books shows that this is typical of teaching over time in most lessons.
• Adults have established very positive relationships with pupils; they listen to pupils and take their views into account. Pupils are keen to share their thoughts and ideas in lessons because they feel well supported to take risks. As one pupil told an inspector, ‘Teachers listen to you; in fact, all adults listen to you.’
• The new system of teaching reading means that it is now taught well across the school. Older pupils read challenging texts and are able to see beyond the literal meaning, while younger pupils develop fluency and expression when reading aloud. Adults ask timely and effective questions which encourage pupils to think deeply and explain their thinking further.
• The large proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language are supported well. Some pupils join the school speaking little or no English. Teachers and teaching assistants use a range of strategies very well so that these pupils learn English quickly.
• Teachers provide pupils with a range of opportunities to apply their literacy skills across the curriculum. Writing in topic books is of a good standard. Year 3 pupils relished the chance to share with inspectors their writing undertaken during their volcano topic, which was of a high standard.
• Well-trained teaching assistants provide good support for pupils, especially those pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. As a result, pupils’ needs are well met; they develop increasing levels of independence and make good progress from their individual starting points.
• Teaching in subjects other than English and mathematics is good. Pupils make gains in their scientific knowledge because teachers have good subject knowledge and use questioning well to challenge pupils to think more deeply. However, because assessment in these subjects is not yet fully developed, pupils do not make as much progress as they could.
• Disadvantaged pupils receive precisely focused intervention because of the recently introduced individual support plans. Work seen in pupils’ books shows that disadvantaged pupils are making greater progress than they had previously, because of these well-tailored interventions.
• In a small number of cases, the presentation of work in pupils’ books is untidy, and is not picked up by teachers. This can lead to pupils making errors, especially in mathematics, because they have not taken enough care.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils’ social and emotional needs are given high priority. The highly effective counselling sessions have ensured that pupils receive timely support. Leaders showed inspectors striking examples of the positive effect of this counselling. The family support worker leads this aspect of the school’s work very effectively.
• The school values, ACT, are reflected in pupils’ considerate behaviour. Pupils have the skills to be able to work together cooperatively in lessons. The annual creative arts week provides pupils of all ages with the chance to collaborate on large-scale arts projects.
• Pupils feel safe in school. They said bullying is rare. One pupil told an inspector, ‘Bullying doesn’t happen in school, but we have been taught about bullying if it does happen.’ They know how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet.
• Leaders provide pupils with a wide range of cultural and artistic opportunities. For example, older pupils worked with a visiting orchestra to create a ‘mini opera’, focused on expressing emotions. Other pupils had the opportunity to create short films, which were showcased at the Cambridge Film Festival.
• In a small number of cases, some pupils who struggle with learning do not present their work as neatly as they should, especially in mathematics.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good and often exemplary.
• Pupils are polite and helpful. They readily engage in conversations with adults.
• Over time, there has been a reduction in the number of pupils given fixed-period exclusions from school. This is because the school provides high-quality services to support pupils and their families to manage behaviour.
• Pupils’ conduct at breaktime and lunchtime is good because they are provided with a range of activities. Pupils relish the chance to be able to climb the trees in the playground, but also have opportunities to be in a ‘quiet zone’ if they prefer.
• Leaders have taken effective action to improve attendance and reduce persistent absence. They have worked determinedly to address attendance issues and provided compelling evidence of the improved attendance of specific pupils.
• Despite this improvement in attendance, there are still a small number of pupils who are persistently absent and are disadvantaged because they miss too much school.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• In 2017, attainment and progress of pupils in reading in Year 6 were below average. This meant that not enough pupils reached the expected standard by the end of key stage 2.
• Leaders have taken action to address the underperformance in reading in 2017. Currently, pupils are making faster progress in reading across the school. School assessment information indicates that standards have risen overall and are continuing to do so.
• Most of the disadvantaged pupils are making good progress. The difference in attainment between this group of pupils and their peers is closing rapidly. This is because of the effective individual support that is in place.
• In 2017, the attainment of pupils in reading and mathematics in Year 2, was above average and was average in writing. Current pupils in key stage 1 continue to make consistently good progress in these subjects.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress across the school. This is because of the carefully planned provision they receive, which is tailored to their specific needs. Many of these pupils are also disadvantaged pupils.
• The most able pupils make good and improving progress in English and mathematics. This is because teachers set work which makes pupils think hard. In 2017, the proportion of pupils working at the higher standard at the end of Year 6 was above average in reading and mathematics.
• Pupils in Year 1 achieve highly in the phonics screening check. This has been the case for the past three years. Pupils in key stage 1 can apply their secure phonetic knowledge when reading aloud.
• Pupils make good progress in a range of subjects across the curriculum. ‘Pre-’ and ‘post-learning’ questions show that pupils know more, and remember more in subjects such as science and geography.

Early years provision Good

• From starting points which are broadly typical for their age, children go on to make good progress in the early years because of the rich learning environment and good teaching.
• Over the last three years, the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development at the end of Reception has improved each year and has been consistently above average.
• Children are independent in their learning and have access to resources which support them to be independent.
• Children behave exceptionally well and there is a highly nurturing culture across both the Nursery and Reception classes. Children are well cared for and there are no breaches of statutory requirements.
• Adults are highly effective in supporting children who speak English as an additional language. They model language and swiftly correct any errors in children’s speech. As a result, the youngest children learn English well.
• Parents contribute to their children’s learning through an online ‘learning journey’. Parents are well informed about their children’s progress.
• Children who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress because their needs are well met by adults.
• Leaders have an accurate view on the strengths and weaknesses of the provision. They rigorously evaluate their work and their plans for development show they are taking the correct action to further improve provision. Professional development opportunities are used well to continue to improve teaching.
• Phonics is taught well in the early years. Children can apply their growing phonic knowledge both when working with adults and in independent activities.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 110801 Cambridgeshire 10048047 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary controlled 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 229 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Jo Boyns Patricia Yoxen 01223 568834 www.cherryhinton.cambs.sch.uk office@cherryhinton.cambs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 10 January 2018

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above average.
• The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding is below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is average.
• In 2017, the school met government floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school has a larger proportion of pupils who join the school midway through a key stage than is typically the case.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in a series of lesson observations across all classes and in different subjects to inform judgements about teaching, learning and assessment.
• Inspectors assessed the quality of pupils’ work by scrutinising a range of written work in subject across the curriculum. They also heard pupils read.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, the school business manager, other leaders, a group of governors, a representative from the local authority and several groups of pupils.
• The inspection team scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation, its development plan, information on pupils’ achievement, records of the school’s safeguarding arrangements and records of the governing body.
• Inspectors spoke to parents in the playground at the start of the inspection. Account was also taken of the 44 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire and of the 18 parents who left comments on the Parent View free-text service. The views of 26 staff who completed Ofsted’s staff questionnaire were taken into account.

Inspection team

Nathan Lowe, lead inspector Andrew Smith Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector