Swavesey Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and governance by ensuring that:
  • pupil premium funding builds on recent improvements so that disadvantaged pupils throughout the school consistently achieve well in English and mathematics
  • leaders of subjects other than English and mathematics monitor the quality of teaching and evaluate pupils’ progress to identify any underachievement and use this information to raise standards in the subjects they lead.
• Improve the quality of teaching and further raise standards in reading, writing and mathematics by ensuring that:
  • teachers set work which consistently challenges the most able pupils and stretches them to achieve as well as they are able to
  • pupils are aware of teachers’ high expectations and consistently take pride and care in the presentation of their work.
• Strengthen the early years provision by developing the outdoor learning environment so that it consistently provides higher-quality learning opportunities and improves outcomes for children.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has made a positive difference since she has been at the school. Although the school’s journey since the previous inspection has not been without its setbacks, current pupils receive a good and improving education.
• Senior leaders and governors have a sound understanding of the school’s strengths and areas needing further improvement. There is a shared understanding of what the school is focusing on and what needs to be done to improve further.
• Leaders organise appropriate training, for example in improving pupils’ writing skills, which is appreciated by staff. Newly appointed staff develop their practice quickly because of the effective support from leaders and experienced colleagues.
• Leaders have developed a creative and engaging curriculum of well-planned activities that capture the imagination of pupils. Topics often include a school visit or a specific event to stimulate pupils’ imaginations. Examples include a visit to the Cambridge University botanic garden, and pupils experiencing an inflatable planetarium ‘space dome’ on the school site, complete with special effects. Pupils talk about their enjoyment of a range of subjects and extra-curricular activities. They particularly enjoy PE, science and art.
• Leaders ensure that pupils become well-informed young citizens. Staff encourage pupils to discuss and reflect on topics of global and moral importance. For example, when pupils were asked, ‘What would you wish for in a better world?’, their responses included ‘no animals in danger’ and ‘no homelessness’.
• In this happy and inclusive school, pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. Staff use religious education lessons and assembly themes to promote equality and diversity. They encourage pupils to reflect on their feelings, and to learn about and respect people from different faith groups and cultures. Pupils gain a good introduction to the importance of principles such as the rule of law and democratic processes, through holding their own school council elections and carrying out numerous roles of responsibility in school. The school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.
• The primary sport grant is used extremely effectively. Leaders are acutely aware of the importance of physical activity and, led by the effective sports coordinator, provide pupils with many challenging and enjoyable opportunities, both during the school day and outside of school. For example, all pupils participate in the ‘golden mile’ and are presented with various awards for the distances they have run. Pupils benefit from access to a variety of school sports clubs, competitive events and activities such as football, netball, rugby, hockey, tennis and new-age kurling. Using the school’s own bicycles, children in Reception take part in a ‘balanceability’ course to teach them to ride successfully and safely. Through these well-planned and focused activities many pupils develop a lifelong love of sport and enjoy a healthy lifestyle together.
• Strong leadership of the provision for pupils with SEND, including those with complex needs, ensures that funding is well spent. Focused staff training and regular reviews of pupils’ progress ensure that teaching, including programmes of support, is aligned with pupils’ needs. Consequently, pupils with SEND achieve well.
• Leaders work hard to develop and sustain positive relationships with parents. For example, leaders regularly consult with parents to gain their views on many aspects of the school, such as home-learning and the organisation of the parent teacher association. Most parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, the school’s own surveys, or whom inspectors met during the inspection, expressed positive views about the school and its leadership. One parent, summing up the views of many, stated: ‘The teachers have gone beyond what might be expected to ensure that our children have the best possible primary experience, particularly in providing a broad and interesting aspect to the curriculum.’
• Leaders are outward-looking. They receive guidance from an external adviser and work with other schools to share best practice so that the school continues to move forward and improve.
• Led by the deputy headteacher, there is now a greater focus on ensuring that disadvantaged pupils make strong progress. Governors oversee the effectiveness of the pupil premium spending. Leaders are ensuring that the pupil premium is deployed more effectively to address any gaps in the knowledge and skills of pupils who are eligible. This focused approach has started to have a positive effect. Most disadvantaged pupils make strong progress from their different starting points. There is still work to do to ensure that chosen approaches are effective and these pupils reach the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The English, mathematics and science leaders provide effective leadership. They are knowledgeable and monitor their allocated areas closely. The results of their actions are improving provision across the school. However, leaders for other subjects do not have a clear picture of the quality of teaching or pupils’ progress in the areas they lead. This hinders leaders’ ability to ensure that pupils achieve consistently well across all subjects and throughout the school.

Governance of the school

• Governors are committed to their role and are ambitious for the school. Between them, they have a wide range of relevant skills and experience. Governors have developed their own standards, such as the importance of asking challenging questions to leaders and attending meetings. These are shared with new governors so that roles and responsibilities are clear, and expectations remain high.
• Governors attend meetings and receive good-quality information from senior leaders about how well the school is doing. Minutes of meetings show that governors routinely ask probing questions about finance, staffing, the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.
• Governors make regular visits to find out, at first hand, about the school’s work. The governing body has carried out its legal duties, including in relation to safeguarding. Governors have ensured that additional funding, such as the pupil premium funding, is deployed with increasing effectiveness to overcome barriers to learning for disadvantaged pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. There is a clear culture of vigilance in the school. Staff understand that they must always do everything possible to try to protect any child who is at risk of harm. Staff receive good training in the many different aspects of safeguarding, including in areas of recent national concern, such as radicalisation and county lines. Leaders immediately give new members of staff all relevant safeguarding documentation, along with information on precisely how they must report a concern.
• Procedures for vetting staff when they are recruited are thorough. Appropriate checks are made on all adults who work in the school, including volunteers.
• The clear and detailed safeguarding records show that leaders do not hesitate to work with external agencies to protect pupils.
• All visitors, including parent volunteers, receive safeguarding information on arrival at Swavesey Primary School. This sets out how they should respond to a pupil who makes a safeguarding disclosure and what to do if they have concerns about a pupil.
• Parents recognise and appreciate that the school places a high priority on maintaining pupils’ safety and care.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• High expectations set by leaders and appropriate training for staff have led to improvements in the quality of teaching. Staff establish positive relationships with pupils. As a result, most pupils make good progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge. They give clear explanations and often model what they expect from pupils. Teachers provide guidance on what good work looks like. For example, in a mixed Year 5 and Year 6 lesson the teacher explained clearly the features of a biography. As a result, pupils understood the main features and were able to complete their own biographies of their chosen person successfully. One pupil told an inspector: ‘I have researched my person and got together a range of details. I am now putting their key life events in the right order.’
• Reading has a high profile at the school. Pupils have access to a variety of high-quality texts. Pupils are taught to consider the techniques used by authors to engage the reader. Staff give pupils frequent opportunities to develop their reading skills and they are encouraged to read for enjoyment. Displays in classrooms highlight interesting ‘words of the week’ for pupils to include in their speaking and writing.
• The teaching of phonics is effective, and pupils respond positively to the school’s approach. Pupils enjoy reading, both at home and at school, making good use of their phonics skills to support them. Older pupils are able to speak about their favourite authors and their love of reading.
• Pupils’ achievements in writing are improving. Leaders have chosen to extend pupils’ vocabulary while learning about the natural world. During the inspection pupils were observed confidently writing poems about otters and kingfishers and talking eagerly about their visit to Fen Drayton Lakes where they would see some of the plants and animals they had been studying. Teachers model different sentence structures and show pupils how to edit and redraft their writing and improve their skills. As a result, most pupils enjoy writing and write well.
• The quality of mathematics teaching is good. Teachers make effective use of resources to support pupils’ learning. They make sure that pupils have opportunities to explain their ideas, use their skills to solve problems and develop their reasoning.
• Pupils with SEND, including those with complex needs, receive good support from well-trained teaching assistants who understand their particular needs. Pupils with complex needs benefit from personalised support in ‘the snug’. Pupils told inspectors that it is helpful to go there so that their learning, and those of other pupils, is not interrupted. One pupil commented: ‘It’s a place where I can have my own space and calm down if I feel upset.’ As a result, pupils with SEND achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics across the school.
• Effective assessment procedures in reading, writing and mathematics ensure that leaders at all levels are able to monitor pupils’ achievement to quickly identify individuals or groups of pupils who are at risk of falling behind their classmates. Equally, they use this information to ensure that pupils have additional provision to meet their needs. Subject leaders are currently developing an assessment approach for subjects other than English and mathematics so that pupils’ progress can be checked rigorously to ensure that they achieve well across all subjects.
• In the mixed-age classes, teachers’ planning, and targeted questions ensure that learning activities are closely matched to most pupils’ needs. In the majority of lessons, the most able pupils are set work that is more challenging. However, at times it is not sufficiently demanding, and teachers do not extend pupils’ thinking or move them on to the next task quickly. Some most-able pupils told inspectors: ‘Sometimes we have to do easier work before we can do the challenge.’ Consequently, the progress of the most able pupils is not consistently as strong as it could be.
• The work in pupils’ books shows that most pupils make good gains in their learning in a range of subjects, such as science, history and geography. However, not all teachers make sure that pupils adhere to the school’s high standards of presentation. Consequently, on occasions, pupils do not take sufficient care when completing their tasks and some work in pupils’ books is rushed and untidy.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school and are proud to be part of Swavesey Primary. They told inspectors ‘we love our school’. They show respect for each other and enjoy celebrating each other’s achievements, both within and outside of school.
• Pupils know and understand the school’s ‘five Rs’ of responsibility, reflectiveness, readiness, resourcefulness and resilience. Pupils told inspectors that such qualities will enable them to become caring and successful adults in the future.
• Older pupils have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the health and well-being of younger pupils through additional roles, such as being members of the school council, sport leaders and peer mediators. Pupils understand that these roles develop their own confidence and organisational skills, and help them so that, ‘When we’re older, we’ll be responsible and helpful to others.’
• Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe in school. Pupils clearly explained how they make sure that they keep themselves safe from strangers and when they are using the internet. They said they ‘always have a person to talk to’ should they have a concern or a worry. Pupils also told inspectors that there is very little bullying in the school. If bullying does happen, then pupils are confident the adults will sort it out quickly.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are polite and courteous and show consideration for one another as they move around the school. At breaktimes, pupils make good use of the wide range of games and equipment the school provides. Disagreements are rare and, when they do occur, pupils know that adults are available to help. In the dining hall, pupils from different year groups and classes socialise happily together.
• Pupils appreciate their teachers, who they say are ‘kind, helpful and fair’. They settle to work quickly and generally persevere with activities. They enjoy working together and use resources sensibly.
• The school promotes the importance of good attendance so that no learning time is lost. Leaders monitor pupils’ attendance closely. They work closely with parents and the education welfare officer when pupils’ attendance is causing concern. As a result, over time, pupils’ attendance has been above the national average.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• In 2017 and 2018, the proportion of pupils who attained the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 was above the national average. Throughout the school and within each key stage, most pupils make good progress and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Good teaching of phonics has ensured that over time, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check has been at least in line with national figures. Pupils generally read widely, with fluency and comprehension that is appropriate to their age.
• Pupils with SEND make good progress as a result of well-targeted support. Staff monitor their progress carefully and adjust provision to meet their needs. Leaders use external specialists and communicate well with parents in the identification and provision of pupils with SEND. Consequently, pupils with SEND make strong progress from their different starting points.
• This year, disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged, are making better progress than previously due to more effective teaching and the good use of the pupil premium funding. However, their performance is not yet sufficiently strong to ensure that a high proportion of them leave Year 6 having achieved the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The work in current pupils’ books shows clear evidence of most teachers building on previous learning and moving pupils on with appropriate tasks. However, at times, the most able pupils throughout the school are not challenged sufficiently to make better progress in reading, writing and mathematics. This means that these pupils do not consistently achieve the higher standards they should.
• Pupils have many opportunities to practise literacy and mathematical skills through their topic work. Pupils’ work on display and in their books shows that most groups are making good progress in a wide range of subjects, including science, history, geography and art. However, leaders do not yet routinely monitor or evaluate pupils’ achievement in all subjects to be able to identify and address any underachievement.

Early years provision Good

• Children join the early years with knowledge and skills that are generally typical for their age. From their starting points, children make good progress because of effective teaching. In 2018, the proportion of children who achieved a good level of development at the end of Reception was above the national average. Most children are well prepared for the challenges of Year 1.
• The early years provision is currently led and managed by the enthusiastic and knowledgeable deputy headteacher. Although undertaking the role on an interim basis, she has a firm understanding of the strengths and areas for development in both the pre-school and Reception classes.
• Staff in the pre-school and Reception classes work together well. Effective relationships ensure that children’s transition from pre-school to Reception is positive. For example, the teaching of early phonics in pre-school enables children to continue to develop these skills quickly in Reception.
• Staff across both classes have a good understanding of the early years curriculum. They plan activities that engage children and motivate them to learn. They assess children’s knowledge and skills regularly, and then provide activities that capture children’s interests and build on what they already know.
• Relationships between staff and children in both the pre-school and Reception classes are extremely positive. Children enjoy the activities and behave well. Classroom routines are firmly established and children cooperate well with one another, for example in learning how to share equipment and take turns.
• Across the early years, staff constantly engage children in conversation. They model language well, introduce children to new words and follow the children’s interests to hold their attention and develop their skills.
• Staff ensure that children are safe and that safeguarding arrangements and welfare requirements, including for the youngest children, are secure. Children know how to stay safe in the environment and take reasonable steps to manage their own well-being and health. For example, children in pre-school were successfully putting on their own wellington boots before going outside. One child told an inspector: ‘We need to eat our vegetables and drink our milk to keep healthy.’
• The teaching of phonics is effective. Teachers model the links between letters and sounds and encourage children to learn these. Children use their knowledge to read simple words and form short sentences when writing. For example, children in the Reception class used their phonics knowledge well to write simple poems about bramble bushes.
• Staff engage well with children’s families. They share information frequently with parents through an online system and regular newsletters. Parents are pleased with the early years provision and told inspectors that their children settle quickly and are achieving well.
• Teachers ensure that children have opportunities to engage both in activities led by adults and tasks that they can choose for themselves. Indoors, the learning areas are welcoming and stimulating. The well-organised resources are accessible so that children can investigate and explore their own ideas. However, the outdoor learning area is less well developed and does not yet offer children a consistently good range of experiences in all areas of learning, or enough opportunities to select activities in order to follow their own interests.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 110620 Cambridgeshire 10085469 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 296 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Colin Oakman Anna-Claire Norden Telephone number 01954 273 312 Website Email address www.swavesey.cambs.sch.uk office@swavesey.cambs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 31 October 2006

Information about this school

• The school is an average-sized primary school.
• Most pupils are White British.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for support through the government’s pupil premium funding is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is above the national average. The proportion who have an education, health and care plan is above the national average.
• The school has a pre-school within the early years, which provides for two- to four-year-olds.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in every class. Several of the observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher or the deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors looked at a wide range of pupils’ workbooks throughout the inspection.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher, both of whom hold a designated safeguarding leader role. Inspectors met with: the English and mathematics leaders; several leaders of other subjects in the wider curriculum; the interim early years leader, who is also the deputy headteacher; the newly qualified teachers; and the school’s business manager. Additionally, an inspector held a telephone conversation with the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) who was offsite during the inspection.
• The lead inspector met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body, and the school’s external education adviser to discuss their work with the school.
• Inspectors spoke to pupils informally in class and around the school at breaktimes to seek their views about the school. Inspectors visited the school’s breakfast club, various lunchtime clubs and attended a whole-school assembly.
• Inspectors met with a group of pupils more formally to discuss many aspects of school life.
• Inspectors heard some pupils in Years 1, 2, 3 and 4 read. Inspectors talked to pupils about their reading habits and looked at their reading records.
• Inspectors scrutinised the school’s website and a range of school documents, including: assessment information; the school’s own evaluation; improvement plans; minutes from the local governing body meetings; reports from external consultants; and records about behaviour, safeguarding children and attendance.
• Inspectors considered the 56 responses made by parents to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, the school’s own recent parent surveys, the emails received from parents and phone conversations held with parents. Inspectors also spoke to parents before school and during the inspection. Inspectors took account of the comments from staff and the school’s recent staff surveys.

Inspection team

Fiona Webb, lead inspector Simon Eardley Sebastian Gasse Kevin Rae Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector