Chillerton and Rookley Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve governors’ knowledge and oversight of pupils’ attendance and progress to more effectively hold leaders to account for the outcomes of all pupils.
• Improve the teaching of phonics so that pupils quickly learn the skills they need to read and write and continue to develop these as they move through key stage 1.
• Increase the proportion of pupils who reach the expected and higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics by:
  • making sure that lessons contain sufficient challenge and interest to engage all pupils
  • ensuring that teachers use assessment and tracking information to accurately identify pupils who should be making more progress.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders and governors have been slow to address weaknesses in the school. The school has not enjoyed stable leadership for some time. Although the interim leadership, secured by the local authority, has been strong, the expectations for pupils’ learning and behaviour are not high enough. This can be seen in the poor results achieved in writing by the end of Year 2 for the past three years.
• Leaders have not paid enough attention to the progress that pupils make. The school’s approach to monitoring pupils’ learning has been weak. This has led to a lack of ambition for the pupils in the school. Consequently, too many pupils do not make the progress they are capable of.
• Leaders do not hold teachers sufficiently to account. The oversight of teaching has not quickly identified where weaker teaching is slowing pupils’ learning. New systems have been introduced to improve the assessment, planning and teaching in the school. Leaders are not yet evaluating how well teachers implement these new approaches. As a result, teachers have not been sufficiently well held to account for the progress that pupils make.
• The additional funding available for disadvantaged pupils and for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is not effectively monitored by leaders. This is because of the school’s weak approach to monitoring pupils’ learning. Although leaders do not currently have sufficient information to evaluate this effectively, newly introduced systems should soon provide this information.
• For some time, teachers and other staff have not received the support they need to improve their teaching. Recent training opportunities to improve the teaching of English have been well received. Sensible plans are in place for further training for all staff to address the gaps in their subject knowledge. The improvements that result from this training are beginning to have an impact on the progress that some pupils make.
• The local authority has provided leaders with effective support and challenge. It has provided leaders and governors with clear information about poor performance. Local authority officers have supported interim leaders and provided a variety of effective training opportunities. For example, support for the teaching of phonics led to improvements in this in 2018 assessments.
• The school’s plans for improvement have begun to be successful. Changes to the way that reading and writing are planned and taught are leading to more effective teaching in English. Leaders understand what needs to improve and have sensible plans for the next stage of development. Appropriate plans are now also in place to improve the quality of mathematics teaching.

Governance of the school

• Until recently, the governing body’s monitoring of the school was not effective. Governors did not have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in the school’s performance. Consequently, governors were not holding senior leaders effectively to account for the outcomes pupils achieved.
• The governing body is aware of the need for strong leadership for the school. It has already started the process of appointing a permanent executive headteacher.
• Recently there have been many changes in the governing body. The re-formed governing body, and newly appointed chair of governors, has taken its work seriously and acted quickly to address the school’s weaknesses. Governors are making good use of the training and support made available to them by the local authority. Governors now have appropriate plans in place to ensure that they closely monitor the school’s improvement. The local authority continues to support the re-formed governing body while it establishes its own systems to monitor the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have ensured that children have remained safe and well cared for during the turbulence in the school. Effective systems are in place to monitor concerns about pupils’ well-being. Leaders seek appropriate outside help when needed.
• Leaders have worked closely with the local authority to ensure that all aspects of safeguarding are as good as they can be. This has resulted in improvements to school systems and the building. Consequently, the school is an even safer place for pupils than it was at the time of the last inspection.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Until very recently, teachers have not been looking carefully enough at what pupils already know and can do. This means that for some pupils activities are too easy or too hard. As a result, some pupils become bored because they can already do the work in front of them. The assessment and tracking of pupils’ learning are not being used sufficiently well to ensure that pupils quickly catch up when they fall behind.
• Early reading is not given the attention it needs. Pupils are not able to use phonics confidently because the teaching of letters and the sounds they make is not good enough. Pupils do not get the regular opportunities that they need to practise these skills. Consequently, pupils do not make the progress in reading and writing that they are capable of.
• Pupils are not developing the confidence that they need in the basic skills of writing. Some pupils in Year 2 do not complete the phonics programme. This means that some more-able pupils make simple mistakes, while being able to understand the more complex rules of writing. For example, some older pupils still make simple mistakes about the use of capital letters, while accurately using an apostrophe to show possession. This happens because teaching in key stage 1 does not make sure that pupils make secure progress in the basic skills of writing.
• Teachers do not give pupils enough regular opportunities to practise and consolidate the basic skills in English and mathematics.
• The support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities needs to improve. Weaknesses in the assessment of pupils’ learning mean that gaps in what pupils know and understand are not quickly identified or addressed. Consequently, some pupils are identified as having SEN when they have simply fallen behind. Pupils with more complex needs are not making as much progress as they could. This is because the plans in place to support them lack precision. The progress that these pupils make is not closely checked or monitored.
• The deployment and subject knowledge of learning support assistants (LSAs) are not consistent. While some LSAs ensure that pupils make rapid progress, others do not. Some LSAs lack the subject knowledge they need to effectively support pupils in phonics.
• Recent changes to the way that lessons are planned and assessed are beginning to improve the quality of teaching in the school. A federation-wide approach to planning has been introduced, which is leading to more effective series of lessons being planned. This was particularly clear in the new English planning, where all classes were using a quality story book as the basis for their work. A similarly strong approach is being developed for mathematics.
• Pupils are developing a love of books. A good range of quality stories are used to enthuse and engage pupils in their work. At the time of the inspection, a new reading scheme was being introduced to support improvements to the teaching of reading.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Not all pupils are sufficiently engaged in their learning. Sometimes, the teachers’ expectations of what pupils know and can do are too low. This results in work that is not challenging enough. In these lessons, pupils can become bored and do not make as much progress as they could.
• Pupils feel safe in the school. They say that staff always act if unkindness or bullying takes place.
• Pupils have a basic knowledge of how to keep themselves safe. For example, older pupils understand the dangers of cyber bullying and have an awareness of ‘stranger danger’.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Pupils behave well in lessons, doing everything that is asked of them. However, staff do not have high enough expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Consequently, if pupils are not given the opportunities they need to be fully engaged, they become bored and lose interest.
• Attendance is below the national average and fell last year. Leaders use a variety of strategies to promote good, regular attendance, but these do not appear to be having sufficient impact. Leaders and governors do not effectively monitor the success of the strategies to improve attendance.
• Pupils behave well in the school. They show kindness and respect to adults and to each other.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Outcomes are inconsistent because, over time, teaching has not ensured that all pupils make the progress they are capable of. While pupils currently leave the school with outcomes that are broadly in line with national expectations, results in writing and mathematics are lower than could be expected. This is because pupils do not gain the secure skills that they need in reading, writing and mathematics in key stage 1.
• The standards that pupils reach in mathematics are improving but have been low for a number of years. This is because not enough attention has been given to teaching pupils the basic skills and concepts of the subject. As a result, pupils have gaps in their knowledge and make simple mistakes repeatedly in their work. Pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to practise their skills until they become firmly understood. Consequently, some pupils are hesitant when working with numbers, and this slows down their ability to cope with more complicated work.
• Leaders have introduced a new approach to tracking pupils’ progress. This is leading to a stronger focus on the progress that individual pupils make. Teachers are beginning to use this information to make sure that lessons match tasks to what pupils know and can do. This means that pupils currently in the school are starting to make better progress.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• There is not a common approach to teaching phonics in the early years. Different approaches are used in the Nursery and Reception classes. This makes it difficult for children to quickly and securely learn letters and the sounds that they make. Consequently, some children do not develop the phonic knowledge that they should.
• Children’s growing reading ability is not effectively tracked during the early years. Children who do well in Nursery and start in Reception with higher-than-expected skills are not given work that meets their needs. This is slowing children’s progress in reading.
• Leaders and governors do not yet have effective oversight of the early years. They are not aware of the strengths and weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment. Leaders are not ensuring that staff work together so that children can make good progress across the early years. Consequently, leaders do not have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in this part of the school.
• Behaviour and attitudes to learning are stronger in the Nursery class than they are in Reception. The Nursery provides a gentle and quiet environment that enables pupils to concentrate on their learning and develop their confidence. For some children, work in the Reception classroom is either too hard or too easy.
• Children enjoy their time in the early years. Good relationships exist between staff and children. Parents and carers are happy with the care and support their children receive in the early years. By the end of the early years foundation stage, most children achieve a good level of development.
• Staff in the Nursery class create an environment where children are well supported to develop confidence. Well-thought-out activities and very positive working relationships lead children to make good progress. This was evident during the inspection, when children were enjoying the range of pirate activities available to them. This successfully extended their vocabulary and helped them to develop a love of books.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 118155 Isle of Wight 10054382 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 Maintained 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 66 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Di Barker Interim Executive Headteacher Mark Snow Telephone number 01983 721207 Website www.chillertonandrookleyprimaryschool.co.uk Email address office@chillertonandrookley.iow.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 28 March 2018

Information about this school

• The school is part of the Stenbury Federation of three primary schools. The federation’s shared vision is ‘Learning and building a future together’.
• The Nursery is part of the school and is run by the governing body. It includes provision for two-year-old children.
• The school runs its own before- and after-school club on site, providing childcare for its own pupils.
• The school is in receipt of formal support from the local authority.

Information about this inspection

• During this inspection, 13 lessons or parts of lessons were observed. Most of these visits to lessons were carried out jointly with the interim executive headteacher. The inspector talked informally to pupils throughout the inspection and met with groups of pupils from Years 1, 5 and 6. Meetings were held with leaders and teachers. The inspector met with two representatives from the local authority and the chair of the governing body.
• The inspector gathered the views of parents at the beginning of the school day. He also considered the 39 responses to Parent View.

Inspection team

Phil Minns, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector