Silverton Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Establish a greater consistency of good teaching, learning and assessment, especially in Years 2 to 4, by:
  • sharing existing good practice in setting high expectations so that teachers sustain pupils’ good behaviour and develop their full commitment to learning
  • ensuring that teachers check how well pupils are learning and adapt work and support as required to maintain an effective level of challenge that accelerates their progress.
• Raise outcomes by teachers:
  • more consistently developing pupils’ handwriting, spelling and punctuation skills
  • making sure that all pupils, especially the most able and those of middle ability, are able to tackle mathematical tasks which deepen their thinking and understanding.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • further developing the capacity of newly established middle leaders to raise standards in their areas of responsibility across the school
  • developing both a rigorous system and a culture so that governors can hold leaders to account for standards in the school
  • ensuring that the school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Since the previous inspection, leaders and governors have been unable to maintain consistently good-quality teaching, learning and assessment. This is largely the result of their inability to overcome weaknesses in teaching.
• Some middle leadership roles are as yet underdeveloped, and this has further impeded school improvement.
• Until recently, school leaders have been slow to focus on necessary improvements. For example, they did not check the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning rigorously enough. This led to some pupils underachieving.
• The headteacher has introduced a new system to manage staff performance, which holds teachers to account through targets linked to school priorities and pupils’ achievements. This strengthened process is now in place to support teachers and help them develop the skills they need. As a result, teachers are improving their practice but the quality of teaching is not yet consistently good.
• The headteacher, staff and governors now share a strengthened commitment to school improvement. This academic year, school leaders have worked closely with the local authority and made strategic use of their good-quality external support to provide training for staff to quicken the improvement of teaching, learning and assessment. 
• Leaders now require staff to share the good practice that currently exists in the school to secure a greater consistency of good teaching. The headteacher and her colleagues acknowledge, though, that there is still some way to go to ensure that all teaching is as good as the best in the school.
• Most parents value the work of the school, but several express concerns about communication with staff and about their children’s progress. Most parents also appreciate the way staff diligently promote the caring community atmosphere that typifies relationships across the school.
• Staff engage fully in training, including safeguarding, and ensure that discrimination is not tolerated and that pupils are protected from the risks associated with radical or extreme views.
• The school provides a curriculum that is suitably broad and balanced. It includes an appropriate emphasis on the development of pupils’ basic literacy and numeracy skills, including across the range of subjects, although this is not yet having a strong enough impact on pupils’ ability to spell and punctuate accurately. The curriculum is enriched by a good range of extra-curricular clubs. Over the past year, this includes a much increased number of sports clubs, which alongside specialist coaching for staff and pupils, reflects the school’s effective use of the primary physical education and sport funding.
• School leaders ensure that, in keeping with the school’s Christian ethos, learning opportunities promote the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. Older pupils talk knowledgeably about the range of cultures and religions evident in the community. They describe their election to the school council and show a good understanding of British values such as democracy and respect to demonstrate their readiness for life in modern Britain.
• This academic year, the school has substantially improved the way it uses additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders now ensure that additional funding is used well to reduce any differences between these pupils and others in the school.

Governance of the school

• Governors’ work with the headteacher is increasingly effective. They are taking the steps needed to bring the school through a period of change.
• Governors have provided good support to the headteacher this academic year to ensure that safeguarding procedures meet the statutory requirements. Governors have also worked well with the headteacher to ensure that additional funding is used to support disadvantaged pupils effectively.
• The governing body’s work to check on the effectiveness of the school has improved this year. It was proactive in requesting a local authority review of the way it holds leaders to account for the quality of teaching and the progress of pupils. Governors now examine reports from the headteacher, senior staff and local authority specialists about pupils’ progress in greater detail than at times in the past. As a result, they are gathering a more accurate picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. However, they recognise that their work in holding leaders to account has not yet secured consistently good teaching and pupils’ outcomes.
• Governors have not ensured that the school’s website complies with the requirements on the publication of information.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All the statutory safeguarding procedures are to up to date.
• Teaching and support staff engage in regular training about keeping children safe. All staff are clear about the procedures to follow should they have concerns about a child’s well-being. Safeguarding records such as appointment checks on staff are fit for purpose.
• The school staff liaise well with parents and outside agencies to check and ensure that all pupils, including those considered vulnerable, are kept safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, and consequently pupils’ learning, varies between classes. Teachers, particularly in Years 2, 3 and 4, do not check pupils’ developing understanding and tailor work and support precisely enough to provide the level of challenge needed to quicken pupils’ progress.
• At times, teachers in Years 2, 3 and 4 do not have consistently high expectations of pupils’ attitudes to learning. When the tasks pupils are set do not challenge them, they lose focus and switch off. Sometimes, pupils who lose interest also distract others and slow their progress as well.
• Teachers in all classes have worked effectively to improve the way pupils set out their work. This is contributing well to the pupils’, especially girls’, confidence in recording their work in mathematics. However, not all teachers place sufficient emphasis on developing the pupils’ handwriting, spelling and punctuation skills and this is restricting pupils’ confidence in writing, especially boys’.
• Teachers in Years 5 and 6 set high expectations and provide stimulating and challenging tasks that promote pupils’ interest in learning. Pupils respond well to the consistent emphasis placed on explaining their ideas, both orally and in writing, as they learn across the range of subjects.
• The teaching, learning and assessment of reading is good. Teachers build well on sustained good teaching of phonics by providing a range of opportunities for pupils to read and enjoy books regularly at school. Staff promote pupils’ interest in books by encouraging closer links with parents and encouraging reading at home. As a result, pupils are now making better progress.
• The teaching of mathematics is not consistently good across the school. However, it is improving as a result of staff working more collaboratively with each other and engaging well in training to assess pupils’ learning accurately. Pupils in the Years 5 and 6 class are rapidly improving their ability to tackle mathematical problems through work which challenges them at the right level. This is not consistent in all classes and some pupils, especially those of middle ability and the most able, are not deepening their understanding quickly enough.
• Leaders use the additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities well. Teachers and teaching assistants work effectively together. They have engaged productively in training and take care in getting to know individual pupils. In response to focused action by leaders, staff now ensure that disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• From the moment children first enter the school, staff in all classes work well to promote the pupils’ personal development. As a result, pupils get on well together.
• Pupils understand how to take turns and to share equipment. They enjoy sharing and discussing their ideas with each other.
• Most pupils’ attitudes to their work are positive. Although joined handwriting is often not fully developed, work in books is generally well presented and reflects good improvement this academic year. In some classes pupils’ interest wanders due to teachers presenting work that is not sufficiently interesting or challenging.
• Pupils undertake a range of responsibilities diligently. Older pupils support other pupils at breaktimes and help to manage the school library. Elected pupils represent their views and those of their classmates on the school council. They proudly explain how their ideas about transforming the outdoor classroom area into a quiet area are soon to be implemented.
• Pupils know how to stay safe and support each other well at school. They understand what bullying is and say that ‘bullying is not a problem here’. Pupils know how to use computers and cross roads safely.
• Pupils show a good understanding of British values and demonstrate respect for the views of others. They say, ‘We have lots of friends and care about each other.’

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• At times, pupils in Years 2, 3 and 4 do not apply themselves well enough to their learning. In these classes, a minority of pupils are too reliant on adult support before starting their work. On occasion, pupils also disengage from learning when staff move to assist other pupils. This hampers their progress.
• Pupils’ and parents’ responses in the inspection questionnaire reflect differing views about behaviour. A majority of parents and pupils feel that behaviour is good. Some pupils feel that it has improved this year. However, others report that sometimes unacceptable behaviour, such as shouting out answers to questions and too much chatter in lessons, disrupts their learning.
• Pupils move about the school in an orderly manner and are mindful of school rules and follow them thoughtfully. Pupils behave well during assembly and show respect for each other’s views. They are courteous to staff and visitors during breaktimes and talk and play happily with each other at playtimes and lunchtimes.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and enjoy school, which is reflected in the pupils’ above-average attendance. Most parents, especially of the youngest children, support these views.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• The rate of pupils’ progress varies too much between year groups and classes. For example, it is consistently good in the early years and Year 1, and in Years 5 and 6. However, pupils’ progress is still uneven across Years 2, 3 and 4. This means that some pupils learn well but others make slower progress that restricts their achievement.
• National tests in 2016 and current checks of pupils’ ability indicate that pupils of middle ability are not yet deepening their understanding well enough. In writing for example, although pupils are widening their vocabulary and producing more interesting pieces of work, too often their underdeveloped handwriting, spelling and punctuation skills limit their confidence and impede their progress.
• In mathematics, variations in the level of challenge presented to pupils, especially in Years 2, 3 and 4, still slow the rate at which pupils develop their numeracy and reasoning skills. This limits their ability to solve problems.
• Overall pupils are making better progress this academic year, especially in reading. However, not enough are reaching good standards in writing and mathematics.
• Pupils in the Reception and Year 1 class, and Years 5 and 6, are making rapid progress. This is because pupils of all abilities are enthused and fully engaged in learning. Teachers have consistently high expectations and set interesting and suitably challenging tasks.
• The most able pupils are increasingly achieving to their potential and respond well to opportunities to develop their own ideas, write creatively and design their own strategies to solve problems in mathematics.
• Pupils make consistently good progress in reading across the classes. The proportion of pupils reaching expected standards in the Years 1 and 2 phonic screening checks continues to be above average. Teachers’ assessments of pupils’ wider reading skills show accelerated progress, especially this academic year. This is because pupils are responding well to increased opportunities to read and are showing more interest in books and in extending their comprehension skills.
• Disadvantaged pupils are now making good progress. This is because leaders and teachers are making better use of additional funding to support pupils in and out of class and across all aspects of school life. For example, adults are providing extra help with developing basic reading, writing and mathematical skills. Additional funds are also being used effectively to include pupils in sports and other clubs to boost their confidence, attendance and interest in school. As a result, an increasing proportion of disadvantaged pupils are making rapid progress and reaching at least expected standards for their age.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making good progress as a result of good teaching that is focused on addressing their needs. Teachers provide learning experiences that motivate pupils and promote good progress.

Early years provision Good

• The provision in the early years foundation stage is well led and managed. The leader’s dedicated commitment to sustained improvement ensures that children’s learning in this key stage is a strength of the school.
• Children mostly start the combined Reception and Year 1 class with levels of skill that are typical for their age. A large proportion of the current children in Reception entered with lower levels of speech and language skills. Nevertheless, they too are making rapid progress in response to good teaching, which addresses their individual needs successfully. As a result, a continuing above-average proportion of children achieve a good level of development and are well prepared for the next stage of their learning in Year 1.
• Staff work diligently and effectively to implement all the statutory welfare requirements and to keep children safe. They liaise very supportively with parents to strongly promote the children’s self-confidence and enjoyment in learning.
• Staff work closely with pre-school providers and when necessary with outside agencies to settle children as quickly as possible. They use additional funding effectively to meet the individual needs of disadvantaged children and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is consistently good. Consequently children sustain at least good progress across all areas of learning. Staff check the children’s understanding frequently. They compile a valuable record of each child’s achievements throughout the year. Parents contribute well by recording ‘Wow slips’ of successful learning experiences at home.
• Increasingly staff are accelerating children’s progress by taking children’s interests into consideration when planning learning experiences. The leader recognises the need to further develop outdoor learning opportunities and children’s early writing skills.
• The teaching of phonics is a notably effective feature. Children across the range of ability, including the most able, make very good progress as they learn their sounds and letters and demonstrate good powers of concentration and listening during these sessions.
• Staff further develop children’s speech and language successfully by encouraging children to talk with each other and share their ideas when learning. During the inspection children enthusiastically considered ‘Mr Muddle’s and Mr Munchkin’s’ manifesto for designing a class mosaic. As a result, children enjoy their work, behave well and learn to respect and appreciate each other’s contributions.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 113365 Devon 10037563 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 controlled 5 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 126 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Dr Peter Smith Gill Adnams 01392 860677 www.silverton.devon.sch.uk/ admin@silverton.devon.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 13–14 February 2013

Information about this school

• This school is below average in size.
• The very large majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is broadly average.
• Children experience early years provision in a combined Reception class and Year 1 class.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the impact of pupil premium funding and of additional sport premium funding on its website.
• Governance is undertaken by members of the school’s own governing body.
• The school has experienced significant changes in staffing, including leadership, and governance since the previous inspection.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed learning in 12 lessons and saw the work of seven teachers.
• The inspector was accompanied by the headteacher during all of these visits to lessons.
• A wide range of documents was scrutinised, including records relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance, safeguarding procedures and the school’s self-evaluation.
• The inspector examined the school’s systems for checking progress and records of checks on the quality of teaching.
• The inspector talked to individual pupils and representative groups of pupils about the school and their work. He listened to individual pupils read and attended an assembly. The inspector also looked at samples of pupils’ work across a range of subjects and classes.
• The inspector met the chair of the governing body and held meetings with school staff, mainly senior and middle leaders. The inspector spoke informally with some teaching assistants and support staff.
• The inspector also held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.
• The views expressed in 33 online responses to Ofsted’s Parent View questionnaires, six staff questionnaires and 14 pupils’ questionnaires were considered. In addition, the inspector gathered the views of several parents during informal meetings at the school.

Inspection team

Alexander Baxter, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector