Edward Feild Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that:
  • teachers set work at the right level of challenge, particularly for the most able pupils
  • the planning of subjects other than English and mathematics is effective, and pupils achieve well in the wider curriculum.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Senior leaders and governors share the same vision and high ambitions for the school. They provide pupils with a rich stimulating environment in which to learn. The school’s caring and supportive ethos fosters good relations with pupils and with their parents. Most of the parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, or by text during the inspection, were supportive of the school’s work.
• Leaders know the school’s strengths and its weaknesses. Clear processes for managing the performance of teachers are in place to hold teachers to account for the progress of different groups of pupils in their classes. This has been effective in communicating higher expectations to staff, who are motivated to achieve more challenging targets. Staff receive carefully tailored professional development to help them improve their skills and pupils’ achievement.
• Leaders have carefully considered plans for improvement and identify accurately aspects of the school’s work that could be even better. They rigorously review any changes made in order to assess their effectiveness. For example, in reviewing the organisation and implementation of the curriculum, leaders have recognised that there is more to be done to plan for the provision of subjects beyond English and mathematics.
• Pupils learn about the rule of law, democracy and tolerance, and this is reflected in their good behaviour. They learn to respect the views of others and they know that people in different parts of the world have faiths and beliefs that are different to their own. For example, pupils learn about the origins of different world faiths, including Judaism and Hinduism. Displays around the school demonstrate how pupils’ diversity is explored and celebrated. British values are embedded well throughout the school.
• Leaders plan effectively for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Funding for this group of pupils is used for well-planned specific support. These pupils make good progress from their starting points because they are challenged by activities which are correctly matched to their abilities.
• The school uses the funding for disadvantaged pupils effectively. For example, ‘Eddie’s Room’ provides a nurturing environment for pupils to receive a renewed focus on learning skills. Staff focus sharply on the progress made by disadvantaged pupils and, because of the higher expectations that leaders have set, the disadvantaged achieve as well as other pupils.
• Leaders use the primary school physical education and sports funding effectively. The school belongs to the North Oxfordshire School Sports Partnership. This enables a specialist coach to train staff, teach pupils specific skills and provide opportunities for them to take part in sporting competitions. The funding allows the school to employ a member of staff to engage pupils in a variety of sports activities after school. This increases pupils’ enjoyment of sports and encourages them to be more active.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is developed well. This is evident in their positive attitudes to their work and the good relationships they have with each other. The school’s values, which include ensuring pupils can communicate with each other respectfully, are reinforced and celebrated in everyday activities, where pupils are encouraged to reflect and engage in philosophical discussion.
• The local authority, through the services of two serving headteachers, provides effective support. The previous inspection findings triggered constructive discussions about how the school would tackle the issues raised, and led to the swift provision of support. The progress that leaders have made has been sufficiently strong for the local authority to maintain a ‘lighter touch’ approach since the start of this academic year.

Governance of the school

Safeguarding

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching, learning and assessment have improved since the last inspection and are now good. School monitoring records and inspection evidence show that closer and more rigorous checks on teaching have resulted in pupils making better progress over time. Staff work well together to make learning interesting and enjoyable, and provide additional help for pupils who need it. Their coordinated work ensures that classrooms are purposeful and productive. Most teachers engage pupils well. For example, pupils were observed participating enthusiastically in discussions.
• Teachers and teaching assistants are effective in developing pupils’ phonics skills. Leaders have successfully improved the early reading skills of pupils in key stage 1 through staff training and ongoing support. Pupils’ progress since the beginning of the year has been rapid. During lessons, they confidently used their phonics skills to read to inspectors.
• Teaching assistants work with pupils who have additional needs and support groups of pupils who need help to catch up. They challenge pupils appropriately, and ask them to justify the reason for their answers. Teaching assistants balance effectively the support they provide with allowing pupils to formulate their own responses.
• Teachers’ comments and guidance typically make clear how pupils can improve their work. The school’s marking policy is followed consistently and is helping to improve pupils’ outcomes.
• Pupils write well because teachers demonstrate and explain different styles of writing. Grammar, spelling and punctuation are taught systematically across the school. Pupils write at length and for a wide variety of purposes. Teachers encourage pupils to use ambitious vocabulary to make their writing interesting. For example, when considering the ‘one perfect sentence’, pupils demonstrated that they already have a clear understanding of how to write high-calibre sentences. Pupils are genuinely excited when they use unusual words in their work.
• In mathematics, the expectation that pupils will apply their skills with greater independence is becoming an integral part of their learning. The ‘on the boil’ strategy, where teachers focus on the areas they have identified where pupils need additional help, is ensuring that weaknesses are quickly and successfully addressed. Pupils talk about their level of mastery and are given sufficient time to practise their skills.
• While teachers usually challenge pupils appropriately, sometimes they limit the progress that pupils make, especially the most able, by asking questions that do not challenge them to refine and extend their thinking.
• Teachers generally have high aspirations for pupils, but sometimes expectations of what pupils can achieve could be even higher. Teachers do not always identify the next steps in pupils’ learning. This means that they are not fully challenged in the tasks that they complete. This slows the amount of progress that pupils make.
• Subjects other than English and mathematics are not planned carefully enough over the longer term. This means that teachers do not ensure that different aspects are covered in sufficient detail. For example, some parts of history, such as the Great Fire of London, are covered well. However, others are not. Consequently, progress is slower than in English and mathematics and pupils have a limited understanding of some historical events.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils are confident and articulate. They showed a willingness to share their thoughts and their work with inspectors.
• Pupils feel safe and are helped to understand how to stay safe. They are aware of the different types of bullying that they may encounter, including cyber bullying. They trust staff to deal with any incidents quickly. Pupils who act as school ambassadors help their fellow pupils make safe and helpful choices in school at different times.
• Staff are very aware of the social and emotional needs of pupils and they provide high-quality care. Some pupils have difficulty managing their feelings and emotions, and struggle in lessons and the playground. To address this, the school provides ‘Eddie’s room’. This offers focused support to these pupils within a small and nurturing environment. Consequently, pupils learn effective strategies to help them manage their feelings and emotions.
• Pupils are taught to respect each other and their environment. As a result, they confidently express opinions and ideas that show a deeper understanding of society. Pupils’ ability to empathise with others from different backgrounds and cultures is strong.
• All pupils feel valued, and equality of opportunity is clearly established within the culture of the school. Pupils told inspectors that there is always someone to talk to if they ever have a problem.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils respond well to the high expectations of conduct and behaviour set by staff. Behaviour on the playground, in the dining hall and as pupils move around the school is generally very good. Attitudes to learning are usually positive, although when learning lacks challenge, a few pupils’ attention can drift.
• Pupils’ self-discipline is strong. They take great pride in their school and achievements, and talk positively about the improvements that have occurred. For example, pupils were rightly pleased to share their success at a tennis tournament on the first day of the inspection. They enjoy receiving rewards from staff and understand the sanctions, should they misbehave.
• Pupils show respect towards each other and to adults. They say that pupils are treated equally and fairly. It is clear that discrimination is not tolerated.
• At breaks and lunchtimes, play areas are busy, playful and active. Pupils meet happily in friendship groups around school. When asked about bullying, pupils told inspectors that it rarely happens. If bullying does occur they say that they know they can report it to any teacher, who will quickly and effectively help them to stop it.
• The large majority of parents who responded to the survey, or who spoke to inspectors, agreed or strongly agreed that their children are well looked after and behave well in school.
• Leaders do much to ensure that pupils attend regularly and arrive for lessons on time. Attendance is promoted well and the school works closely with a range of outside agencies to tackle persistently low absence. Overall attendance is in line with the national average.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils are now making faster progress than they were at the time of the last inspection in reading, writing and mathematics in all year groups. Leaders have set high expectations and have made sure that teachers focus on the essential skills that pupils need to reach or exceed age-related expectations. Pupils are well prepared for secondary school in terms of their reading, writing and mathematical skills.
• The large majority of current pupils make good progress from their starting points in mathematics and English. Pupils acquire the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills they need quickly and effectively. In writing in Year 6, for example, pupils show good development of more advanced sentence structure and adopt an engaging style.
• The improvements to the teaching of writing are reflected in pupils’ current achievement information. The school’s ‘one perfect sentence’ strategy has successfully improved the quality of pupils’ writing. This was seen in Year 4, where pupils wrote sentences that included a wide range of adjectives and adverbs, when describing a vivid illustration, that brought their writing to life.
• Pupils make good progress in mathematics. Evidence from pupils’ work and from the school’s own assessment information indicates that the vast majority of pupils make expected or better progress from their starting points. This is because of the good support that teachers have provided for pupils through being ‘on the boil’. Weaker skills are clearly identified and then ‘boiled’ during effective daily, short, learning opportunities.
• The proportion of pupils that met the expected standard in phonics last year was above the national figure. Inspectors observed high-quality phonics teaching. This supports the development of pupils’ reading skills. Pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 use their phonics skills competently to read unfamiliar words. More advanced readers read fluently, confidently and understand the meaning of texts well.
• Disadvantaged pupils currently make good progress across the school. The school uses clear information about progress made by pupils to ensure that they do not fall behind others. Where any pupil’s progress is not as strong, additional support is having a positive impact to help them catch up more quickly. This is checked effectively by different leaders.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good gains in their learning because of timely support, after detailed analysis of assessment information. There are also good partnerships with outside agencies that support learning well.

• Pupils’ work demonstrates that pupils occasionally complete activities which do not make them think hard enough about their learning. Indeed, the most able pupils in some classes commented that they would like more challenging work, for example in mathematics.
• There has been a focus on English and mathematics. However, pupils make inconsistent progress in parts of the wider curriculum, for example in history and geography. This is because other subjects are not as effectively planned as English and mathematics.

Early years provision Good

• Children start the early years with skills, knowledge and understanding below the levels typical for their age. This is particularly true for children’s communication and language skills and their social and emotional development. By the end of the Reception Year, the proportion of children attaining a good level of development is in line with the national average. Children are well prepared to enter Year 1 as a result of the good progress they have made from their starting points.
• Leadership of the early years is effective. The leader and her team understand the strengths and areas for development in provision, and constantly work to improve the experience that children have in the setting. They promptly identify children who need extra support when they enter the provision and plan accordingly, addressing needs swiftly and successfully.
• Staff plan topics and lessons that inspire and engage the children. This results in a learning environment that is filled with enthusiasm. For example, the ‘garden centre’ ensures that children make good progress in their personal and social skills as they take ‘orders’ from ‘customers’ that involve many discussions.
• The indoor and outdoor learning environments are bright and stimulating and encourage good language development. Adults skilfully question children to deepen their thinking and understanding. Lessons and displays, including those about phonics, are child-friendly and support children’s learning.
• Teachers and teaching assistants know the children well. They use careful, ongoing assessment to plan targeted and structured opportunities to develop children’s skills, particularly in language development.
• Leaders make effective use of the pupil premium funding to ensure that they remove children’s barriers to their learning. As a result, children who are disadvantaged and supported through the pupil premium funding make strong and rapid gains.
• Children are safe and well behaved. They concentrate well on tasks for sustained periods when they are working by themselves or during activities as a whole class. For example, during the inspection a group of children took great interest in finding out about new sounds and how they are pronounced.

School details

Unique reference number 123075 Local authority Oxfordshire Inspection number 10032839 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 4 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 299 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Christiaan Monden Headteacher Simon Jackson Telephone number 01865 372268 Website www.efs.oxon.sch.uk Email address office@efs.oxon.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 4–5 March 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The large majority of pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.
• The proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans or statements of special educational needs is above average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is below the national average.
• The school met the government’s floor standards (the minimum standards that schools are expected to achieve) in 2016.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out observations of learning in all year groups. Some of these were joint observations accompanied by the headteacher. The headteacher and assistant headteachers were also present at inspection team meetings.
• A range of documentation was scrutinised, including the school’s self-evaluation summary, action plans for improvement, safeguarding documents, records of the monitoring of teaching and learning and minutes of meetings of the governing body.
• Inspectors considered the 118 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and free-text comments sent by parents and carers. No responses were received from pupils or from staff.
• Inspectors held meetings with senior and middle leaders, including the special educational needs leader, four members of the governing body, a group of pupils, and two headteachers who provide support on behalf of the local authority.
• Inspectors spoke with parents informally at the beginning and end of the school day.

Inspection team

Richard Blackmore, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Alan Jenner Ofsted Inspector Louise Eaton Ofsted Inspector