Churchdown Parton Manor Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Strengthen teaching to raise pupils’ achievement further by ensuring that teachers:
  • check pupils’ understanding in lessons and adapt their teaching in a timely way to maximise progress
  • set challenging work in reading for middle-prior-attaining pupils and children in the early years.
• Enhance the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that leaders have a clear overview of the provision across the early years and use it to secure further improvements.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the previous inspection, the school has improved rapidly. Leaders and governors have taken firm action to ensure that teaching is effective and that pupils achieve well. Federating with the junior school has helped leaders establish a clear direction for the school and set high expectations. They have dealt with the areas for improvement from the previous inspection successfully.
• Over the past year, the headteacher has forged an effective staff team. Leaders, including governors, work well together to drive forward improvements. Morale is good, and leaders commit to sharing their knowledge and skills to improve teaching and learning still further.
• Leaders have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. The introduction of a rigorous system for assessing and monitoring pupils’ achievement enables leaders to hold teachers to account for pupils’ progress. However, the new evaluation system in the early years does not yet give leaders a clear overview of where provision is strong and where to make further improvement.
• Improvement plans are sharply focused with clear timescales and targets to ensure that they have the required impact. Leaders use the expertise in the local authority to set clear priorities for improvement and to validate their judgements. This support has helped secure good teaching and higher achievement.
• Leaders give teachers precise and regular feedback about the strengths in their practice and where they need to improve. They set teachers clear targets related to the school’s priorities to raise pupils’ achievement further.
• Middle leaders have introduced successful strategies to improve teaching. They monitor carefully to check that teachers follow their guidance. They provide timely support and training to staff to increase their expertise.
• The curriculum is designed to engage pupils’ interests and to promote their emotional well-being as well as academic achievement. Leaders ensure that there are purposeful opportunities for writing across subjects. This has a positive impact on the quality of writing throughout the school.
• The school develops pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills effectively. Pupils learn about the ideas and beliefs of others through wide-ranging activities that also promote British values extremely well. The ‘Gems’ values, such as the ruby for kindness, encourage pupils to reflect on their own feelings and behaviour in order to become responsible citizens of tomorrow.
• Leaders use the sport premium to introduce new sports, such as archery or curling, and to encourage wider participation in competitions. Staff benefit from learning alongside coaches and specialist sports teachers to improve their skills and to ensure that new activities are sustainable.
• The provision for pupils with SEND is of good quality. Pupils receive a tailored programme of support, and they make good progress. The school’s specialist provision for pupils with emotional needs helps to improve behaviour and social skills, enabling these pupils to be fully included in school life.
• The school promotes equality of opportunity well and tackles any discrimination effectively. Leaders use the pupil premium astutely to make sure that disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as others, both academically and in their personal development.
• Parents are very supportive of the school. They appreciate the warm welcome that their children receive here and the approachability of staff. They like the class ‘Dojo’ app (new technology) that allows them to find about their child’s experiences at school and liaise with staff.

Governance of the school

• Governors are ambitious for the school. Since the previous inspection, they have taken decisive steps to secure good leadership through developing a close partnership with the junior school. They are very knowledgeable about the school’s performance because of the high-quality information they receive from leaders. In addition, they are kept informed about key areas for improvement, and they monitor the impact of new strategies alongside middle leaders. This gives them a clear view of the quality of teaching and of pupils’ achievement in relation to national figures. Consequently, they provide leaders with a good level of challenge.
• Governors manage the school’s finances effectively. They know how additional funds are spent to help disadvantaged pupils and to develop school sport. They are aware of how successful the school is in addressing any differences in achievement and social disadvantage.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders have created a culture where safety and support for pupils’ welfare is of a high priority and is everyone’s responsibility. They check regularly that policies and systems are followed and are effective. Recruitment and vetting procedures for appointing new staff follow statutory guidance. Staff are well trained in the latest requirements for safeguarding, including how to keep pupils safe from the influences of radicalisation and extremism. They are very clear about how to report any concerns about pupils. Risks are thoroughly assessed and updated regularly by leaders, for example with regard to fire safety, first aid and educational visits.
• Leaders and staff know the families of children who attend the school well, especially those whose circumstances make them vulnerable. This enables staff to keep a close eye on their well-being. Leaders work effectively with other agencies, such as the family-support worker, to promote regular attendance for a small number of pupils whose attendance is of concern. Parents agree wholeheartedly that their children are well looked after and kept safe at school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching is consistently good, resulting in effective learning, positive behaviour and good progress across the school. Improvements made to teaching since the previous inspection ensure that teachers have a good knowledge of the requirements of the national curriculum and set purposeful work.
• The system for assessing achievement ensures that teachers are clear about pupils’ prior knowledge and their starting points. This enables teachers to plan work that builds well on what pupils already know and can do. Teachers assess pupils’ work and give them regular feedback about how well they are doing. On occasions, teachers do not check pupils’ understanding precisely enough, and they do not respond in a timely way to address any misconceptions or provide additional challenge.
• Teachers have increasingly high expectations of pupils’ achievement and their behaviour. They work hard to make sure that learning is both challenging and enjoyable, especially for the most able pupils. For instance, in mathematics, the most able Year 1 pupils quickly mastered measuring accurately in centimetres and were able to apply their knowledge to drawing ‘Christmas trees’ that increased in size proportionately. This deepened their understanding of ratio as well as measurement.
• Disadvantaged pupils benefit from carefully targeted teaching that enables them to catch up with others who have similar starting points and to achieve well. Teachers ensure the most able pupils in this group have the right level of challenge to achieve as well as others of high ability.
• Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to learning. They work in close partnership with teachers to provide carefully tailored support for pupils with SEND. They help pupils to manage their feelings and build their self-esteem well.
• The teaching of writing is effective, and teachers ensure that they build pupils’ skills and extend their vocabulary in the tasks they set. For example, Year 2 pupils used imaginative adjectives to write descriptions of jungle animals and were further challenged to use similes to enhance their work, which most did. Consequently, they produced work of high quality for their age.
• The new approach to teaching mathematics ensures that pupils acquire and develop competence in number skills. Teachers extend mathematical thinking through regular opportunities for pupils to apply their knowledge and use reasoning to solve problems.
• Teaching of phonics is thorough, enabling pupils to become fluent readers by the time they leave the school in Year 2. Teachers stretch the most able pupils with tasks that develop their comprehension skills well. There is extra support for those pupils who need it. However, teachers do not challenge middle-prior-attaining pupils consistently in their tasks or ensure that they read suitably challenging books, and, at times, these pupils could achieve more.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, benefit from the breakfast and after-school clubs that help improve attendance and provide a calm start to the day. Initiatives such as the nurture room, where staff help pupils to manage their feelings and find respite, enable pupils with emotional needs to overcome any anxieties and access learning.
• Warm and effective relationships characterise the school’s culture and make this a very welcoming and orderly environment in which to learn. Pupils develop good personal and social skills because these are an integral part of the curriculum and at the heart of the school’s work.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and well cared for because ‘everyone is very kind here’ and there is seldom any poor behaviour or bullying. They trust staff to help sort out any problems should they occur but are confident in sorting out ‘little matters’ for themselves.
• The ‘Positive Playtimes’ initiative supports pupils’ welfare successfully at breaktimes. Staff encourage pupils to play in the designated zones: ‘stay connected, stay active, give compliments, learn new things and take notice’. Pupils enjoy trying out new strategies such as ‘cosmic yoga’ to promote calmness and mental health.
• Safety has a high priority. Teachers show pupils how to stay safe online, both in and out of school. Pupils spoke knowledgeably to inspectors about how to stay safe on the internet. They were also clear about how to maintain their personal safety in terms of ‘stranger danger’ and what to do if the fire alarm sounds.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Typically, pupils are friendly and well mannered. They show a genuine interest in visitors and speak enthusiastically about the school and their learning. They listen politely and talk respectfully to adults and to each other. They like to help around school and are supportive of pupils with SEND.
• The school’s system for managing behaviour is effective and encourages pupils to apply themselves well in lessons and concentrate hard on their work. Leaders monitor carefully when pupils spend time in the ‘reflection room’. They follow up any concerns promptly with parents, and they introduce further strategies to promote good behaviour. This approach is proving effective in reducing the need for exclusion.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school and their regular attendance and punctuality show this. The few pupils whose attendance has caused concern in the past have diminished in number due to effective steps taken by leaders to reduce any unnecessary absence.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Since the previous inspection, pupils’ achievement has improved, and attainment has risen across the school.
• Published data, the school’s own assessment information, the learning observed and the work in pupils’ books show that pupils make good progress across the curriculum. By the end of key stage 1, a greater number of pupils achieved the standard expected for their age in 2017 and 2018 than in the past, and attainment was in line with national figures. More pupils achieve at greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics than found nationally.
• Pupils demonstrate fluency in number skills and, increasingly, they are able to reason and discuss their ideas using the correct mathematical terms. Pupils say that they like the ‘hard’ challenges that teachers set. They apply their knowledge well to solve problems. For example, Year 2 pupils used their knowledge of time to work out train timetables.
• Pupils’ writing is much improved over the past year. Pupils become accomplished writers as they move across the school, building their vocabulary and their skills in grammar, punctuation and spelling well. They write in lively and engaging ways across subjects and in a range of styles, and they use imaginative vocabulary.
• Phonics teaching is strong, helping pupils to become fluent readers. Pupils have a good understanding of what they read, using inference skills well to derive deeper meaning. At times, middle-prior-attaining pupils are not challenged fully by their reading books and are not set enough tasks, and they could achieve more.
• Pupils with SEND make good progress as their work is carefully structured to meet their needs. Pupils are proud of their achievements and keen to try their best.
• Disadvantaged pupils make good and, sometimes, better progress than others in school from similar starting points. Extra help to build self-confidence and improve skills in English and mathematics is successful in raising their achievement. Consequently, current groups achieve as well as others in reading and writing and above them in mathematics.
• The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, make good progress because their work is consistently challenging and stretches their thinking well. This enables them to achieve highly.

Early years provision Good

• Parents appreciate the effective arrangements for starting school that ensure children settle quickly into their new routines. They speak highly of the approachability of staff and feel well informed about their children’s progress. They welcome opportunities to contribute to their children’s learning.
• Children start school in the Nursery and in the Reception classes with a variety of starting points, including some whose knowledge and skills are below those found typically. Across the early years, children make good progress in every area of learning, especially in writing and mathematics. The large majority start Year 1 as confident learners with the skills and understanding typical for their age.
• Children are enthusiastic learners and are very keen to join in the learning activities. They behave well and develop a good sense of how to keep safe, both indoors and out.
• Teaching is good due to improvements made since the previous inspection. Teachers’ assessment and monitoring of children’s learning are accurate so that teaching activities are usually well matched to children’s needs. As a result, disadvantaged children achieved as well as others from similar starting points in 2018. Teachers are successful in capturing the interest of boys and, as a result, boys’ achievement is higher than that of girls.
• Staff build on children’s interests and develop their language skills and understanding as they play. For example, in a mathematics lesson, some children developed their curiosity about mass by weighing themselves with different objects to reach a ‘target’ weight. Staff intervened skilfully to develop the children’s understanding of ‘heavier’ and ‘lighter’ extremely well.
• Phonics teaching underpins the development of early reading and writing skills well. The teaching of handwriting is effective and children soon become proficient in forming letters correctly and writing simple words and sentences accurately.
• The most able children are catered for well and are stretched to the full in their learning. Sometimes, reading activities for middle-prior-attaining children do not challenge them sufficiently to ensure that they achieve as well as they could.
• Staff pay good attention to safeguarding and welfare. They are vigilant to support carefully children with SEND, and others considered vulnerable, both in their learning and in their personal development. The school works well with other agencies to identify children’s needs precisely at an early stage and put the appropriate support in place.
• The early years provision is well-led and managed. Leaders have an accurate view of children’s achievement. Staff work together effectively as a cohesive team and have regular training opportunities to develop their skills. The system for evaluating the effectiveness of the early years is in development. As yet, leaders do not have a clear overview across the whole provision of where they have been most successful and where further improvement is needed.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority 115511 Gloucestershire Inspection number 10058301 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 4 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 169 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Executive Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Iola Garbett Darren Preece 01452 712 214 www.partonmanor-inf.gloucs.sch.uk admin@partonmanor-inf.gloucs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 8–9 November 2016

Information about this school

• This school is smaller than the average-sized infant school. Most pupils are of white British heritage.
• Pupils are organised in six classes and a Nursery class.
• The school federated with Churchdown Parton Manor Junior School in May 2018.
• The executive headteacher took up the interim post in February 2017 and the substantive post September 2018.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium is below average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is above average.
• The Nursery and Children’s Centre is managed by the school.
• There are breakfast and after-school clubs which are managed by the school.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning across the school. Most observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. In addition, they made visits to classrooms, the dining hall, and the playground, as well as attending an assembly.
• Meetings were held with pupils, governors and school leaders. The lead inspector spoke with an adviser from the local authority which supports the school.
• Inspectors spoke informally with parents at the start of the school day. They took account of the 58 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as their written responses. They also took account of the 31 responses to the Ofsted staff questionnaire and the 18 responses to the pupils’ questionnaire.
• Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents, including the school’s improvement plans. They examined information on current pupils’ progress, minutes of the governing body meetings, safeguarding procedures and the plans for the use of the sport premium.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read, talked with them in classrooms and evaluated samples of their work.

Inspection team

Sandra Woodman, lead inspector Wendy Hanrahan

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector