Andrews' Endowed Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to improve the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in mathematics, in order to further improve outcomes for pupils, by ensuring that:
  • teachers consistently have an accurate understanding of what pupils already know and can do, and adapt tasks to meet their needs
  • tasks planned by teachers even more frequently offer sufficient challenge,
  • particularly for the most able feedback to pupils about their work is as effective as that given by the best practitioners.
• Strengthen leadership further by:
  • ensuring that leaders build on the use of new assessment systems, by taking into account the progress of all groups of pupils
  • solidifying the links between self-evaluation and improvement planning in order to have greater impact on outcomes for pupils
  • making better use, in action plans, of clear targets and descriptions about what will be achieved by pupils at key points in the year to enable senior leaders and governors to monitor the impact of their actions: this includes the impact of pupil premium funding on the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils
  • ensuring that the school is fully compliant with the information it is supposed to have on its website.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher, governors, school leaders and staff are all fully committed to helping every pupil thrive and achieve well. They assess pupils’ work regularly and check how well they are meeting the standards expected of their age. Pupils who are falling behind are supported to catch up through effective interventions.
• Staff morale and relationships within the school are very positive. The staff who completed a survey as part of the inspection overwhelmingly support the school’s leaders and feel proud to work at the school
• The school’s training programme is well targeted to meet the needs of individual teachers and support staff. Teachers feel well supported and appreciate the range of training opportunities. Teachers at an early stage of their careers are particularly well supported.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and the senior leaders provide appropriate, compassionate and effective support for a range of pupils. The SENCo checks carefully the impact of steps taken to meet the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Bespoke training is improving the skills of teaching assistants. As a result, most pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have improved the standard of their work.
• Leaders and teachers have a detailed understanding about the attainment of individuals in the school and how well they have acquired new skills. They rightly recognise that they do not systematically check how well groups of pupils are progressing from their starting points. Although standards achieved by most pupils are high, it is not clear whether the rates of progress of individuals and groups of pupils could be even better. For example, school leaders could monitor the progress of groups of pupils, such as the most able pupils, better. Similarly, they could be better when reviewing how well disadvantaged pupils progress, compared with other pupils nationally who have the same starting points. However, there are only a few disadvantaged pupils per year group and school leaders do regularly check the performance of individual pupils.
• Despite their limited use of performance information about the progress of groups of pupils, leaders have a good understanding of the overall strengths of the school and what needs to be even better, due to their strong focus on individual pupil performance. Since the last inspection, leaders have shown determination to improve the school further. For example, due to strong leadership, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development by the end of the early years foundation stage has risen and pupils’ knowledge and skills in phonics have improved.
• Leaders are well aware of comparative weaknesses in the teaching of mathematics, particularly in a few classes in key stage 2. They are addressing them through raising expectations and providing training for staff. Changes made by leaders have had some positive effect in a short time, but it is too soon to evaluate their full impact.
• Visits and interesting activities enrich the curriculum and are used well to capture pupils’ interest. For example, pupils in Year 3 were enthusiastically reviewing their visit from an Iron Age warrior. This visit was used to connect history, science and imaginative writing. Learning outdoors plays a significant part of the school’s curriculum. The science subject leader described recently improved resources for the delivery of the science curriculum, but all leaders are not yet ensuring that pupils consistently develop their skills in scientific enquiry across classes. The curriculum is underpinned by a wide range of extra-curricular activities which are well attended by pupils.
• The physical education and sport funding for primary schools is spent judiciously to increase the number of pupils participating in sporting activities on a regular basis and to improve the expertise of both staff and pupils
• The school’s Christian values thread through the ethos and culture of the school. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. Pupils are given good opportunities to reflect and question and were clear about the need to respect others. However, pupils showed a limited understanding of those with different faiths, or none, and leaders could do more to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.
• Additional government funding to support disadvantaged pupils is being used to provide a wide range of additional support for their learning and their well-being. In 2015, by the end of Year 6, the difference in their attainment compared with that of other pupils nationally had diminished.
• Leaders and governors know their school’s strengths and weaknesses, although paperwork does not always reflect this as well as it could. Their self-evaluation reflects the many positives about the school, but sometimes is not as insightful about the areas identified for improvement as it should be. Development plans address some appropriate priorities. However, there is no link to what difference actions will make to pupils’ outcomes, which makes measuring the impact of leadership more difficult than it needs to be.
• Parents are extremely positive about the school. The vast majority say that their children are happy and make good progress at the school, and they believe this is because their children are well taught and cared for by the dedicated staff. Nine out of ten parents who responded to the online survey Parent View would recommend the school to other parents.
• The local authority provides light-touch support by carrying out an annual review. Following her visit in February 2016, the local authority adviser offered appropriate challenge and advice to the school about raising standards in mathematics. The local authority rightly call on the expertise of the early years leader to support other schools. However, the local authority has an overgenerous view of the strength of overall leadership at the school.

Governance of the school

• Governors fully share the headteacher’s commitment to Andrews’ Endowed School and they care deeply about each pupil that belongs to it. They are very proud of the school’s achievements.
• Governors have wide-ranging experience and participate in training to enhance their skills. They have recently completed a skills audit and have recruited new members to enhance governors’ expertise further.
• Governors visit the school regularly and this is helping them to get to know the school better.
• Governors know about the school’s strengths and weaknesses because of information provided by the headteacher. However, they do not always hold senior leaders to account as rigorously as they could, particularly about the progress of groups of pupils. They have not monitored carefully the impact of pupil premium spending. One governor has recently taken up oversight of disadvantaged pupils in order to improve this aspect of governance.
• Governors have not ensured that the school website is compliant with information it is supposed to include.
• Governors have ensured that pay increases for teachers are only awarded when the staff are effective in their work, including securing good achievement among pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. However, leaders and governors have not ensured that the safeguarding policy is up to date with information about keeping children safe. Nevertheless, pupils rightly feel safe in the school and their parents agree. Staff, who know pupils well, are quick to report any concerns they have about children in the school. These concerns are acted on in a timely way and appropriate referrals are made to other agencies.
• Staff are given regular and relevant training. Appropriate checks are made on new staff and recorded on a central register. School leaders place a high priority on keeping pupils safe and ‘go the extra mile’ for vulnerable pupils and their families.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers, including in the early years, have high expectations and provide tasks that interest pupils and encourage them to do their best. They model the values of respect and tolerance and expect pupils to cooperate, for example by talking in pairs about their work. They praise pupils’ efforts and help them to be proud of their work.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is improving. Clear routines and strong relationships between staff and pupils build high levels of trust and confidence so that pupils are absorbed in their learning. Where teaching leads to good or better achievement, skilful questioning encourages pupils to develop deep understanding, and this was seen in the early years and in both key stages 1 and 2.
• The teaching of phonics is strong, particularly in early years and Year 1. As a result, pupils are more confident readers. Pupils are increasingly applying their reading skills across all aspects of their learning and are enjoying reading more.
• Pupils are given a range of opportunities to write at length and apply new skills. There is a strong emphasis on the teaching of handwriting and spelling. Pupils’ work is consistently well presented.
• Teaching assistants know the pupils well. Their questioning techniques skilfully support and challenge pupils’ thinking and learning. They encourage pupils to work out answers for themselves. Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to the support of pupils who need to catch up and those who have special educational needs or disabilities.
• Where teaching is most effective, pupils are set tasks which provide opportunities to deepen learning and they can achieve well. In some classes, activities are well matched to pupils’ starting points and questioning extends pupils’ understanding and so they make good progress. During a Year 5 lesson on multiplication, pupils were grappling with new concepts which they described as ‘just right: not too easy, not too hard!’
• Occasionally, teachers plan tasks that are not set at an appropriate level to consistently challenge pupils, particularly in mathematics. For example, at times, the most able pupils have to complete work at lower levels before going on to more challenging tasks so do not make as much progress as they are capable of. At other times, some pupils are presented with challenging tasks which they are not yet equipped to tackle, or moved on too quickly, before they have a secure knowledge and understanding of the basics.
• Feedback by teachers in books is regular and follows the school’s policy, but it is not always as effective in guiding pupils about how to improve their work as it could be. As a result, some pupils are not able to make the most of feedback to help them to progress well towards meeting their targets.
• Teaching in mathematics emphasises the accurate use of basic skills. The development of important skills such as mathematical reasoning is not yet strong because teachers pose too few interesting and challenging mathematical problems for pupils to attempt and do not consistently expect them to explain their thinking.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• The school is a happy place. The great majority of pupils enjoy learning and show pride in their school.
• Pupils take on responsibilities enthusiastically and enjoy contributing to school life. Members of the school council were keen to tell inspectors how they had represented their peers to help improve the school.
• A very large majority of parents agree that their children enjoy school and feel safe.
• Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe in school and know who to turn to if they have a concern. They are clear about how to avoid danger when using the internet.
• Most pupils reported that bullying rarely occurs. However, some pupils and a few parents reported that incidents of derogatory name calling, when they do occur, are not consistently dealt with promptly by staff.
• Great care is shown to all pupils, including impressive support for those facing challenges. Staff in the school show a determination to help every pupil overcome difficulties they face and they work very effectively with a range of outside agencies to ensure that pupils receive the care and support they require.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are polite, courteous and welcoming to visitors.
• Pupils take pride in their work, their appearance and the school in general. They conduct themselves well around the school. The inspectors saw no low-level disruption during lessons.
• Occasionally, when teaching lacks challenge, some pupils’ attention wanes and they lose concentration.
• Overall attendance is higher than national levels. Leaders have appropriate plans in place to address the lower attendance of a very few pupils.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Evidence gathered during the inspection, including lesson observations, work in pupils’ books, school assessment information and talking to pupils, indicates that the standards achieved by current pupils in Year 1 to Year 5 are above those achieved nationally.
• There has been a steady increase in the percentage of pupils reaching expected standards in the phonics screening test.
• Attainment in the national tests at the end of Year 6 in 2015 was above the national average in reading, writing and English grammar, punctuation and spelling. It was in line with the national average in mathematics. Attainment at the higher levels was above average in reading and writing and in line with the national average in mathematics.
• The proportion of Year 6 pupils who reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined in 2016 was above the national average. However, unvalidated data shows that progress in mathematics could be even better.
• The school’s assessment information indicates that at the end of the 2015–2016 academic year, pupils in Year 5 were underachieving in mathematics. Although school leaders are setting out to address the weaknesses in mathematics among older pupils, the standard of work in mathematics for the current Year 6 pupils remains too low.
• Disadvantaged pupils reach at least the same standard as their peers. Since pupils throughout the school achieve strongly, the difference between the progress of disadvantaged pupils and others nationally is diminishing.
• The support provided for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is very effective. These pupils are, therefore, making good progress.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter the early years with skills and abilities that are broadly typical for their age. Published information from 2015 and unvalidated 2016 information shows that the proportion of children who achieved a good level of development at the end of Reception Year was well above the national average. This represents strong achievement.
• This success is due to precise planning by the teacher who, together with teaching assistants, assesses children’s needs accurately and plans activities designed to meet their learning needs closely. Skilful questioning helps children to think deeply and work out solutions for themselves. Feedback provided to children explains clearly how they can improve their work.
• The teacher, who is also the early years leader, role-models effective practice for teaching assistants. Her high expectations have created a calm and stimulating environment, which allows children to thrive.
• The classroom is well resourced and supports a good range of play and learning activities. Bright displays reflect the breadth of the curriculum and celebrate children’s’ work. The outside area builds children’s skills well; they enjoy choosing activities and are engaged, motivated to learn and curious. Resources outside are successfully designed to help prompt children with their reading, writing and mathematics. The early years leader has appropriate plans to increase the opportunities for children to take more risks, when using outside equipment.
• From the time they enter the Reception Year, children learn to follow routines and high levels of independence are encouraged. Relationships are strong; children have already learned to take turns, share and play happily together. This helps to build the confidence of children who have special educational needs or disabilities.
• Pupil premium funding is used to provide additional resources to effectively support learning by disadvantaged children.
• Children are well prepared for Year 1 and transition is smooth.
• Adults work closely with parents and encourage them to help their children build on their learning at home. Parents who spoke to inspectors were very pleased with the progress their children are making through the early years.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 116360 Hampshire 10000471 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 Voluntary aided 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 195 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Kate Marsh Maria Lloyd 01420 83094 www.andrewsendowed.co.uk/ adminoffice@andrewsendowed.hants.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 1–2 March 2012

Information about this school

• Andrews’ Endowed Church of England Primary School is smaller than the average primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average.
• The school meets the current government floor targets.
• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about pupil premium expenditure on its website. The school’s charging and remissions policy is well out of date.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 12 lessons, across all classes; six visits were carried out jointly with school leaders. The lead inspector also visited all classes, with the headteacher.
• Meetings were held with pupils, the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and senior leader, the special educational needs coordinator, and four governors, including the chair of the governing body.
• The lead inspector spoke to a representative of the local authority on the telephone.
• Questionnaire returns submitted online by 16 members of staff were also taken into consideration.
• Inspectors looked at a range of pupils’ work, listened to pupils read, observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, around the school and at lunchtime, and talked informally with staff and pupils.
• Inspectors considered the views of parents by talking to family members before and after school and taking into account the 46 responses to the online parent questionnaire Parent View. Inspectors also considered the 31 free text question responses submitted by parents.
• Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents including those to do with safeguarding, behaviour and attendance, minutes of meetings of the governing body, records of visits by the local authority, the school’s evaluation of its own performance and the school’s development plans.

Inspection team

Theresa Phillips, lead inspector Rob Crompton Clare Haines

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector