Grateley Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching so that pupils make greater progress in mathematics, by ensuring that:
  • all staff have a secure mathematics subject knowledge
  • pupils are given more opportunities to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills
  • resources are used effectively to develop pupils’ understanding.
• Improve outcomes for pupils by making sure that:
  • learning activities across the curriculum provide greater challenge for the most able, so they can achieve the highest standards of attainment.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The new headteacher has a clear and thorough understanding of the school’s strengths. She has quickly identified areas for school improvement and set about addressing these tenaciously. She is determined to make the school the best it can be.
• Since her appointment, the headteacher has introduced frequent monitoring of the quality of teaching, regular meetings with teachers about pupils’ progress and a new system for recording and tracking pupils’ progress. These systems have enabled leaders to hold teachers more readily to account for their pupils’ progress than had previously been the case and are already having a positive impact on school improvement. However, there has not yet been enough time for these systems to be fully embedded across the school.
• Subject leaders have a clear understanding of strengths and weaknesses within their subject area. They are quick to introduce further improvements, either through coaching or by arranging for staff to attend courses tailored to their individual needs. For example, the subject leader for mathematics has recognised that pupils do not have enough opportunities to develop their problem-solving or reasoning skills and has arranged support from the local authority mathematics team to help remedy this.
• The curriculum is suitably broad and balanced. Pupils enjoy learning a range of subjects and participate well in all areas. For example, during the inspection, the inspector observed a class of pupils thoroughly engaged in a topic on ‘Space’ which brought together a range of subjects, including history, science, mathematics and design technology. The pupils were ‘hooked’ on the idea of how astronauts can filter urine to get drinking water and were excitedly planning an experiment using sweets and water to examine the process of osmosis.
• Leaders have recently introduced a wide range of extra-curricular clubs. Chess, computing, yoga and cooking club are a few of those on offer. Many pupils attend at least one club a week.
• Additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is used to good effect. As a result, most current pupils make good progress from their starting points. The recently appointed leader for SEN provision is appropriately trained. She has a clear overview of the range of needs and effectively manages the interventions in place to help these pupils.
• Leaders make effective use of the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils. They provide individual support according to pupils’ needs, for example, giving financial support to enable pupils to participate in school visits and residential trips, in addition to providing extra focused support in areas such as mathematics and English. Consequently, most disadvantaged pupils make rapid progress across the school.
• The number of service-family children attending the school has risen sharply over the past two years. These pupils are quickly integrated into classes and settle well. As a result, most make good progress and attain well.
• The physical education and sport funding is used well. Leaders employ sports coaches to provide training for staff to improve their confidence and teaching skills. Until recently, pupils did not take part in competitive sport. However, the new headteacher has addressed this, and money has been used to help, for example to purchase sports kit and for participation in competitions with other schools. Pupils talk excitedly about representing their school at rugby, football and rounders.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported well throughout the school. Formal lessons, for example in religious education, focus on developing pupils’ respect and tolerance of other faiths, beliefs and cultural differences. Celebration of Black History month enables pupils to foster mutual respect for one another.
• Pupils are prepared for life in modern Britain. They show their understanding of the principles of democracy through elections to the school council and by discussing topical issues, for example whether Brexit is right or wrong.
• Parents are highly supportive of, and overwhelmingly positive about, the school. They feel their children make good progress, are safe and grow in a nurturing environment. Some parents commented that dropping the children off in the morning was like handing over a child from one family setting to another.
• All staff who work at the school say they are proud to work there. Teachers appreciate the opportunities given for further professional development. Newly and recently qualified teachers are supported well. They value the coaching and mentoring they receive and that leaders insist that their work–life balance remains a priority.
• The school receives valuable support from the local authority, particularly in the development of mathematics teaching.

Governance of the school

• The governing body is well led and plays a supportive role in the school’s strategic development. Governors regularly visit the school to talk to subject leaders about their action plans and the effect that these have on pupils’ progress. They visit classrooms, talk to pupils and look at workbooks alongside school leaders.
• Governors have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Minutes of meetings show that they ask leaders challenging questions, for example about the progress of pupils in key stage 2 mathematics and the proportion achieving the higher standards.
• Governors have a good understanding of school finances and effectively question how pupil premium, special education needs and PE and sport funding is utilised.
• All governors have received well-planned training in safeguarding and one is trained in safer recruitment. The safeguarding governor regularly visits the school to check safeguarding procedures.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff know the school’s policies and procedures well. They receive up-to-date training about safeguarding issues and talk through possible safeguarding scenarios at every staff meeting. Staff conscientiously follow the procedures for making sure that pupils are kept safe.
• The single central record of staff checks is compliant and all records relating to safeguarding are fully up to date.
• The designated safeguarding lead maintains detailed records of reported concerns about pupils, and swift action is taken to follow up these issues.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Effective monitoring carried out by the leadership team has resulted in improvements in the quality of teaching and assessment across the school. The impact of these improvements is evident in pupils’ workbooks, lesson observations and the school’s own checks on the quality of teaching.
• Since the appointment of the new headteacher, assessment procedures have been strengthened and clarified. Consequently, school leaders, governors and staff now have an accurate picture of pupils’ progress.
• Teaching assistants are effective and have a positive impact on pupils’ learning. They ably support pupils of all abilities, probing understanding by asking pupils to explain their responses to develop their reasoning skills.
• Teaching in mathematics has not consistently made the good impact on pupils’ progress as it has in other curriculum areas. Work scrutiny and lesson observations identified that the use of resources, opportunities for mathematical reasoning and teachers’ subject knowledge were inconsistent across the school. Leaders have put relevant steps in place to address this.
• All staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and what they can achieve. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and friendly. Pupils are encouraged to be positive about their work and to persevere when they find it challenging. As a result, pupils are developing as resilient learners.
• The teaching of phonics is effective. It ensures that pupils can use their phonic skills to tackle unfamiliar words. Older pupils read fluently using inference skills to find the meaning of new vocabulary. Pupils clearly enjoy reading and have regular opportunities to do so at school and at home.
• Sometimes teachers do not provide opportunities to challenge the most able pupils in subjects other than English and mathematics. As a result, some of these pupils do not achieve the highest standards in a range of subjects.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and nearly all parents and carers who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View agree.
• Pupils know what bullying is and can talk about the different types of bullying. Pupils say that bullying does not happen at this school because they all know each other and get along well. However, should bullying occur, pupils are positive that adults in the school would deal with it quickly and effectively.
• Pupils enjoy the extra responsibilities given to them. For example, Year 6 pupils relish the opportunity to be a buddy to a younger child, and this clearly supports pupils’ well-being and care.
• Pupils know how to stay safe, for example when using the internet or texting, because adults give them the information they need. For example, they know not to share passwords or personal information when online. Displays in school and information on the website reinforce the teaching given in school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave well and react quickly to prompts from adults. They demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and say that they enjoy coming to school because teachers make lessons fun. Occasionally, when pupils find work too easy, their attention slips and they go off task.
• During the inspection, behaviour was good around the school at lunchtimes and playtimes. Pupils say that they enjoy breaktimes because there are lots of things to do and plenty of equipment to play with.
• Attendance is in line with national averages. Leaders engage fully with parents to ensure that pupils attend regularly. Clear procedures to follow up any unauthorised absences are applied rigorously.
• The school has a clear system for tracking and reporting bullying, racism and other behaviour incidents. These show that poor behaviour is extremely rare and dealt with effectively.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ work and the school’s own assessment information indicate that most current pupils are making good progress across a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. This is because teaching is well planned and the assessment of pupils’ progress is more accurate than in previous years.
• Pupils attain well in reading. By the end of Year 2 and Year 6, the proportion of pupils who achieve the expected standard is well above that seen nationally. Similarly, the proportion who achieve beyond this standard is well above that seen nationally.
• Writing is a strength of the school. Pupils make good progress across the school and many attain above the expected standard. Work in pupils’ books shows that pupils are confident writers. They are given many opportunities to apply skills learned in English across other curriculum areas, for example when writing a profile of Henry VIII for a dating site.
• Pupils who are disadvantaged make good progress from their starting points. Leaders use lesson observations and progress meetings to analyse pupils’ progress and identify areas for support. Carefully tailored support is given to ensure that these pupils do not fall behind.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points.
• Carefully planned support activities, skilfully delivered by teaching assistants, help these pupils to achieve well.
• In 2017, Year 6 pupils’ attainment in mathematics was above that seen nationally. However, pupils made below-average progress from their typically high starting points. Leaders have taken actions to address the issue and, as a result, progress is improving.
• Good teaching of phonics has ensured that the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check has been above average for the past four years.
• The most able pupils do not achieve consistently well across the wider curriculum.

Early years provision Good

• Children achieve well in the early years. They start school with levels of knowledge and skills similar to those found in most children of their age. Staff plan well to ensure that children are supported in developing their skills and make good progress from their starting points. As a result, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of their time in early years has been consistently above the national average.
• The early years provision is well led. Leaders observe teaching, check planning, track progress and keep clear records. They have a strong understanding of the progress made by different groups of children. Local authority moderation confirms that teachers’ judgements about children’s attainment are accurate. Subsequently, leaders have a clear understanding of the areas for further development in early years.
• Support for the small number of disadvantaged children is well targeted, enabling them to settle quickly and make good progress from their starting points.
• Children’s behaviour is good. They listen carefully to adults and enjoy engaging visitors in conversations. However, children do lose focus when they have been sitting and listening for long periods of time.
• Staff plan stimulating activities for children. Consequently, children engage with the activities, are curious to learn and stay on task for sustained periods of time. Occasionally, instructions given to groups are unclear and, as a result, children waste learning time waiting for an adult to come to talk to them.
• The outdoor area is well resourced and well used. This enables learning to be replicated both indoors and outside the classroom, supporting children to develop their skills in all areas of the curriculum. For example, during the inspection one child independently worked on addition of numbers that were in boats in the water tray, setting her own challenges and recording the questions on a blackboard.
• The school engages well with parents about their children’s learning and development. They are kept informed regularly, for example through the school’s online communication tool, about how well their children are achieving. Parents say that they welcome the chance to have ‘face-to-face’ contact with staff every day.
• Children are safe at all times. Clear procedures are in place to keep children safe and all welfare requirements are met. Staff are well trained in first-aid and are suitably qualified.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 115897 Hampshire 10046701 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 Community 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 99 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Mrs Amelia Bridges Mrs Rachel Dance Telephone number 01264889240 Website Email address http://www.grateley.hants.sch.uk adminoffice@grateley.hants.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 2–3 October 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The current headteacher was appointed in September 2017.
• This is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is lower than in other schools nationally.
• The proportion of pupils receiving support for special educational needs is much lower than in other schools nationally.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards. These set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed activities in eight lessons in a range of subjects. All of these were joint observations with the headteacher.
• Meetings were held with school staff, members of the governing body, parents and carers. A telephone conversation was held with a representative from the local authority.
• The inspector scrutinised the school’s work. He looked at a wide range of documentation including safeguarding arrangements, work in books and the school’s procedures for having an accurate view of its strengths and weaknesses.
• Discussions took place with a group of pupils, as well as informal conversations with pupils during lesson and at playtimes. The inspector listened to pupils read and talked to them about their reading habits.
• The inspector considered 30 responses to Ofsted’s Parent View questionnaire and 13 written comments via free text
• The inspector considered responses by eight staff and by 67 pupils to online questionnaires.

Inspection team

Brian Macdonald, lead inspector

Ofsted Inspector