Oak Hill Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • leaders rigorously monitor and improve teaching and learning so that they are consistently strong across the school
  • middle leaders are well trained to use assessment information more precisely to support teachers to enable different groups of pupils to make better progress, particularly within each age group
  • leaders’ action plans for improvement are more precise to enable governors to check the impact of actions to improve pupils’ outcomes.
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning across the school by:
  • ensuring that teachers use assessment information effectively to plan sequential lessons that match closely pupils’ learning needs, particularly for the most able pupils
  • ensuring that mathematics teaching develops pupils’ use of calculation skills to help them solve problems and develop reasoning skills
  • further developing and extending pupils’ writing skills, including grammatical features and punctuation, by planning learning that enables pupils to use the skills they have been taught
  • increasing pupils’ skills to edit and improve their work.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The headteacher and leaders are ambitious for the school. However, they have an overgenerous view of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and pupils’ progress. Monitoring does not sufficiently focus on the impact of teaching on pupils’ achievement, especially for the most able pupils.
• The school’s development plans do not precisely identify what actions leaders will take to tackle the weaknesses in teaching and learning and to improve pupils’ outcomes. As a result, it is difficult for leaders and governors to check how effective the actions are in raising standards.
• Middle leaders are relatively new to post and have not yet had the training they need to enable them to fulfil the roles expected of them. Although they check the quality of teaching and learning across the school, their impact is limited. They are not using accurate assessment information to support teachers to plan learning that will improve pupils’ progress.
• Many of the initiatives the school has implemented, such as introducing developments in the curriculum, are new. Some initiatives are still in the planning stage. Therefore, their impact is minimal and they have not had an effect on further improving the outcomes for pupils.
• Staff are supportive of the headteacher and his leadership. He has tackled difficult situations effectively and has managed staff changes well. The governors, headteacher and newly developed senior team are focused in their drive to improve the opportunities, experiences and outcomes for the pupils and community they serve.
• Leaders’ support for disadvantaged pupils is largely effective. In most year groups, these pupils are making progress that is in line with their peers. School leaders have a secure understanding of the actions that have been successful. They are aware of the changes necessary to ensure high attendance levels and support for reading that have ensured disadvantaged pupils’ progress is consistently good.
• School leaders have a good understanding of the needs of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. They use this good understanding to ensure that teachers support pupils well. As a result, these pupils are making good progress from their starting points.
• Leaders evaluate the impact of the sport premium to ensure that it is used effectively to engage pupils in physical activities. Sports coaching has a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes to physical education as well as being linked to the school’s values. This has also ensured good-quality professional development for teachers.
• Leaders are improving the content of the curriculum. Pupils are enthusiastic about their lessons in subjects such as physical education, art and science. Pupils enjoy ‘whole-school days’ such as the science activities that took place recently. Displays celebrate learning in the wider curriculum and include examples of good-quality personal, social and health education work as well as educational visits and charity work.
• The curriculum for spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is effective in promoting pupils’ understanding of the need for tolerance, respect and care for others. The school uses examples of scripture in worship effectively to help pupils’ understanding of values such as forgiveness and humility. Pupils are able to articulate what the school’s motto, ‘Believe and Achieve’, means to them and how it can be seen in school in their efforts every day.
• Most parents and carers who spoke to the inspector or who responded to the online ‘Parent View’ questionnaire are happy with the quality of education and care that their children receive. They describe how their children are safe, well cared for and looked after by staff. For example, they are positive about how well the school cares for and nurtures the pupils. However, some parents raised concerns about the progress their children make.

Governance of the school

• Governors know that standards have not been good enough in recent years and are fully aware that there is more to do to raise pupils’ outcomes and improve the quality of teaching. They have worked, alongside the headteacher, with the local authority to develop the school further. However, they are not able to effectively check the impact of actions in the school’s development plans as the plans do not show precisely how actions will improve teaching, learning and assessment to improve pupils’ outcomes.
• Governors know where the school’s strengths lie. They also know where further improvements are needed and the role they play to develop the school.
• The governing body ensures that leaders keep children safe. Governors make sure that the school makes the necessary checks on staff when they are appointed, and that training on how to protect children is kept up to date. A nominated governor meets with the headteacher regularly to check on the safety of those pupils most at risk.
• Governors monitor the safety of the school site effectively. This is important, as the school is on two different sites. Governors are vigilant in ensuring that both sites are secure and pupils remain safe.
• Governors monitor how pupil premium funding is spent to ensure that it improves the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. They also monitor the extra funding for physical education and sport well.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have created a strong culture of safeguarding. The school’s systems are well established, promoting leaders’ and adults’ vigilance to ensure that all pupils are safe.
• Leaders ensure that staff training for safeguarding is up to date. Staff are knowledgeable about their responsibilities in keeping pupils safe from harm. They are secure in their understanding of the safeguarding procedures in school. All staff and governors have an awareness of the risks of radicalisation and extremism.
• Pupils report that they feel safe and well cared for within school. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe online and know what they would do if they were concerned about something. Pupils are aware of bullying, but report that this rarely happens in their school. When issues do occur, leaders deal with them swiftly.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching is not consistently good throughout the school to secure good progress for pupils, particularly in reading and mathematics in key stage 2. Over recent years, a high turnover of staff and movement of staff within the school mean that teachers are not yet as familiar as they should be with the age range they teach.
• Teachers do not use assessment information well enough to plan activities that build on pupils’ prior knowledge and understanding. This is particularly the case in teaching writing and mathematics. This means that not enough pupils reach the standards of which they are capable, especially those who are most able.
• The impact of recent school improvement initiatives, many of which are in their infancy, is not yet evident in pupils’ progress.
• Teaching in mathematics ensures that pupils have a good understanding of calculation. Teachers are now starting to provide tasks that will assist pupils to use calculation skills to help them solve problems and develop reasoning skills. However, teaching does not ensure that pupils move swiftly to the tasks that require them to use their understanding, especially those who are most able, so there has been minimal impact on improving pupils’ progress in this subject.
• In English, pupils’ writing books demonstrate that their progress remains inconsistent. Pupils are beginning to develop their vocabulary and grammar. However, pupils are not consistently using grammatical features such as clear and well-developed sentence construction or extending the range of punctuation. This is because teaching does not build sufficiently on these skills to enable pupils to use them with accuracy. Furthermore, pupils’ handwriting in books is generally not well formed. This is due to the lack of a whole-school approach to handwriting, which is acknowledged by leaders.
• Teachers do not always give pupils clear information on how they can improve their work. As a result, pupils have not developed sufficient skills to edit and further enhance their work.
• Pupils report that they enjoy reading for pleasure and are developing the range of texts they read. Although pupils can answer questions of a literal nature, they find questions of interpretation more challenging. Their weaker comprehension skills have limited their reading progress.
• Teachers follow the school’s agreed approach to providing feedback to pupils. However, they do not check consistently how well pupils are making progress. They do not routinely address misconceptions, and so pupils do not make the progress that they are capable of.
• Where teaching is more effective, teachers have a secure understanding of pupils’ needs and good subject knowledge. Teaching assistants and parental volunteers as well as governors are also well deployed as an extra resource to support learning.
• Phonics teaching is effective. Most pupils meet the assessment expectations for the end of Year 1 and all do by the end of Year 2 because teaching provides appropriate challenge for all. Current pupils’ ability to recognise and make appropriate links between groups of letters and sounds is in line with what is expected for this age nationally.
• The atmosphere, culture and environment in the classrooms and around the school support pupils’ learning well. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are well supported by teachers and teaching assistants. This helps these pupils engage in learning alongside their peers.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The school prides itself on the nurturing and caring ethos that it creates for all pupils. This was evident during the inspection. Parents also commented positively on how well their children are cared for.
• Pupils demonstrate respect for each other in the playground and in lessons. Positive relationships between pupils and adults are a strong feature of the school. Pupils speak to each other using polite language and respond appropriately when asked questions by adults.
• Leaders expect pupils to demonstrate the school motto of ‘Believe and Achieve’ as well as termly worship values, such as compassion, humility and forgiveness. Pupils were keen to share how they demonstrate these values in the wider community, for example by raising money for charity.
• Pupils feel safe and secure in school. Pupils of all ages have a good understanding of the potential risks when using the internet and use it safely and with confidence. For example, they know the importance of protecting their personal information and how to keep themselves safe. They are clear that they must tell an adult if something makes them feel uncomfortable.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils conduct themselves well around the school and generally demonstrate self-discipline. They are courteous and polite to each other, showing respect. They are aware of the school’s values and talk about how they apply these within their own lives.
• Attitudes to learning are positive and improving. Where teaching is stronger, pupils are attentive and work hard. They do not disturb others and settle well to their learning for the majority of the time. However, where teaching is weaker, a small minority of pupils do not concentrate well enough. Pupils speak confidently on how they could challenge themselves to do better in their learning, despite the lack of consistent feedback on how they can improve.
• Pupils play energetically and harmoniously in the playground. They feel safe and say that other pupils are kind. Pupils report that adults deal with behavioural issues swiftly or they have skills to enable them to solve these issues themselves. The school has worked hard to ensure that those who may find school difficult have clear boundaries which have been successful in reducing the number of incidents occurring.
• Pupils are aware of bullying and how to deal with it if it happens to them. However, they say that bullying rarely occurs in school and adults deal with any issues well.
• The headteacher has rightly tackled low attendance of groups of pupils. He has sought advice and support from outside agencies and worked well with parents to ensure that the number of pupils who are persistently absent from school has been reduced.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• The school was slow to implement the current national curriculum. This affected the results in key stage 2 tests over the last two years, which have been below national averages for reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils, including those who are most able, did not make enough progress in these subjects. Therefore, the school did not meet the floor standards set by the government.
• The small cohorts of pupils taking national tests each year at both key stage 1 and key stage 2 need to be analysed and interpreted with caution, as one pupil represents a significant percentage of the whole cohort. However, taking this into account, pupils are still not making sufficient individual progress.
• Pupils currently in the school are making more progress across the curriculum in key stage 2, as a result of recent efforts to improve teaching. Nevertheless, because these changes are recent, pupils are not yet making the progress of which they are capable, especially those who are most able. This is because the activities are not well matched or challenging enough.
• Currently, not enough pupils are on track to achieve the age-related expectations by the end of key stages 1 and 2. Children have traditionally achieved good outcomes in the early years and are prepared for the next stage of their education. However, this progress has not been continued throughout the rest of the school.
• The school has addressed the inaccuracies in assessments by the end of key stage 1. Attainment is now more in line with what the pupils know and can do. This has hampered pupils’ progress by the end of key stage 2.
• The school has coped well with the high mobility of pupils, especially those with additional needs. However, the progress of these pupils is not tracked quickly enough to enable leaders to ensure that they are making the progress of which they are capable.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding with increasing success to ensure that the relatively low number of disadvantaged pupils are well supported. Staff are implementing a range of strategies to help pupils to make better progress.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are making good progress over time. Teachers are increasingly deploying the additional support to meet these pupils’ needs so that many of them achieve as well as other pupils.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Leadership of the early years is weak. There is a lack of understanding of how to improve outcomes for children. Action plans are not focused on developing teaching and learning to enable children to make good progress. This is partly due to lack of training provided to the new Reception teacher. Therefore, the positive practice which has been good in the past has not been maintained.
• The teacher leads much of the children’s learning, and expectations of what the children can do and know are too low. Tasks and activities are not tailored to the needs of different groups of children, especially those who are most able. Therefore, children lack independence in their recorded work.
• During this academic year, teaching has been slow to address the needs of the children, especially in reading. As a result, children have limited knowledge and understanding of phonics. They have few opportunities to decode and blend sounds which will aid their reading progress.
• There is little importance placed on development of writing. Therefore, they are unable to create words or sentences that are the building blocks of writing. Children are able to copy words given to them by adults; however, they lack the knowledge and independence to create their own writing. Too many are still at an early stage of writing.
• Children have limited opportunities to develop their mathematical understanding. Children are able to recognise and count beyond 10; however, they are not being provided with activities which will further develop simple calculation skills.
• Assessments are inaccurate and do not reflect the work in children’s books. Too few children are on track to meet the early learning goals at the end of the year and to gain a good level of development.
• Despite the lack of challenging activities provided for the children, they do sustain concentration on tasks of a creative and physical nature. They are able to explain how they are constructing their models and why they are using different materials.
• Relationships between adults and children are positive. Children respond well to the adults and they play well together. They cooperate with and help each other during activities. The school uses the limited environment as best it can. However, there are too few opportunities for children to learn outdoors.
• There is a calm and orderly environment. Children generally behave well. The headteacher has dealt with any behavioural issues sensitively in collaboration with parents.
• Safeguarding is effective. The adults ensure that the children are kept safe from harm and risks. The school meets the statutory welfare requirements.

School details

Unique reference number 115670 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 10037845 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 5 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 88 Appropriate authority Local authority Chair Vivienne Kinder Headteacher Tom Holdstock Telephone number 01242 620448 Website www.oakhill.gloucs.sch.uk/ Email address admin@oakhill.gloucs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 20–21 February 2013

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average primary school. The school is located within two villages and has a split site.
• The majority of pupils attending the school are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils the school receives funding for who are in receipt of pupil premium funding is well below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is in line with the national average. The number of pupils who have education, health and care plans is in line with the national average.
• In 2016 and 2017, the school did not meet the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed pupils’ learning across the school. Mostly all observations were undertaken alongside the headteacher.
• During the inspection, pupils from Years 5 and 6 were on a residential visit. The lead inspector ensured that every book from these year groups was scrutinised.
• The inspector looked at pupils’ current work in books across the curriculum and carried out learning walks across the school.
• The inspector listened to pupils read in Year 2 and Year 3 and spoke with them to find out about their attitudes to reading.
• Meetings were held with governors, middle leaders and pupils. The lead inspector met with the school improvement partner from the local authority.
• The inspector took account of 36 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and informal discussions with parents when they brought their children to school. The lead inspector also took account of online staff and pupil surveys. The lead inspector talked to pupils at break and lunchtime, as well as during lessons.
• The inspector looked at a wide range of school documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, school improvement plan, school policies, governors’ minutes of meetings and the school’s own assessment systems and monitoring records.
• The inspector reviewed a wide range of safeguarding evidence, including the school’s single central record and behaviour and incident logs.

Inspection team

Paul Smith, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector