Abbas and Templecombe Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve teaching, so that the level of challenge enables all pupils, including the most able, disadvantaged and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities to achieve their potential.
• Strengthen staff and pupils’ understanding of the new mathematics curriculum, particularly by developing the application of reasoning skills.
• Strengthen progress in writing by encouraging pupils to regularly produce high quality writing, especially in subjects other than English, and by ensuring that teachers place greater emphasis on improving pupils’ presentation and handwriting.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The current school leadership, which has been in post only since the beginning of the current school year, has shown great drive and determination in bringing about significant improvements in the school, following a dip in performance, particularly in the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.
• The leadership has a good understanding of the school’s strengths and remaining weaknesses. Leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance is very accurate and the school’s improvement plan reflects this.
• Senior leaders now check the quality of teaching, learning and assessment much more rigorously. School leaders use the resulting information, along with the more regular and rigorous assessment of pupils’ progress, to plan better for the individual learning needs of pupils. This also enables the leadership to provide helpful opportunities for teachers and support staff to improve their own levels of skill and confidence. As a result, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved since the start of the academic year.
• Staff welcome these developments. Along with a more knowledgeable governing body, they recognise the improvements and welcome their increased accountability for progress. They feel more confident about the direction the school is taking. The leadership is committed to linking levels of pay to responsibilities and progress, although this is at an early stage to trigger improvements in pupils’ outcomes.
• The school now uses its pupil premium funding more effectively to provide support for disadvantaged pupils and so improve their rates of progress.
• School leaders use primary sports funding well. Partly provided by specialists, it has increased pupil participation in sport and developed the range of sporting opportunities. Pupils told the inspector how much they appreciated this.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school. Parents recognise that this is a very inclusive school which works hard to develop pupils’ awareness of rights and responsibilities and their ability to think for themselves. The inspector saw an assembly in which pupils were given opportunities to reflect on the importance of helping each other and they responded in a very mature way.
• The curriculum has been developed since the previous inspection. It has some aspects which pupils particularly enjoy, such as the forest school. The enrichment in the curriculum has helped to motivate pupils and improve their progress.
• Subject leaders now play a more significant role in checking the quality of learning in their areas of responsibility and promoting improvement in their subjects. Leaders are aware that they need to analyse assessment information in greater depth to drive improvements in pupils’ achievements.
• Over the past two terms, the local authority has provided considerable and effective support for both the headteacher and other staff. Leaders also makes good use of links with other local schools; for example, staff from the various schools meet to develop a common awareness of standards and to provide more training opportunities for teachers.
• The improvements already made include better attendance and better progress for all groups of pupils, including the most able, disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The progress already evident shows that the school has a strong capacity to improve further. However, as the leadership itself recognises, many of the improvements are relatively recent and need to be firmly consolidated so that the attainment and progress of all pupils rise to the levels they should be at.

Governance of the school

• Governance has improved since the previous inspection. The restructured governing body is more aware of the strengths of the school and its areas for development. Governors are more knowledgeable and confident in asking searching questions of the leadership and ensuring accountability.
• Governors understand the strengths and areas for development in teaching and pupils’ progress. They also check the impact of pupil premium funding on raising the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. They regularly come into school to talk to staff and pupils and see for themselves the progress being made.
• Governors have been trained well in, for example, carrying out their responsibilities for safeguarding and making sure that the performance management of staff is properly applied.
• Governors are now much better placed than before to understand the school, support leaders in the continued drive for improvement and to hold them to account.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school has procedures in place to make sure that staff are aware of more recent concerns, recognising, for example, the potential dangers of radicalisation and extremism.
• Staff have had recent training about their responsibilities for understanding and enforcing safeguarding principles and procedures. They know how to deal with any concerns about pupils’ welfare.
• The school has good relationships with outside agencies. It also works to help parents understand safety issues, for example those surrounding the internet. Staff enhance pupils’ awareness of safety in lessons, assemblies and through displays.
• School leaders keep records of any incidents which take place in school, such as the use of racist language. They deal with any incidents appropriately, as pupils confirm.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching requires improvement, because after the previous inspection the quality declined. Over recent years it has not been good enough to ensure that pupils of all abilities made good progress by the time they left school at the end of Year 6. Some changes in staffing contributed to the lack of consistently good teaching.
• Although progress for most pupils has improved, it is not yet good. Teachers do not have consistently high expectations of what pupils can achieve in some aspects of the curriculum. Although many pupils produce a good range of writing in their literacy books, too often the presentation of work and the quality of handwriting are not as good as they should be for pupils in both key stage 1 and key stage 2. There is not enough good quality writing in other subjects, for example in science.
• The most able pupils in particular do not do tasks which would enable them to show higher-level skills. Pupils say that occasionally they find the work ‘too easy’.
• Progress in mathematics has been slowed until recently by a lack of confidence in staff who are coming to terms with the needs of a new mathematics curriculum. This is now being rectified by better opportunities for professional development, which have also benefited teachers in other subjects.
• Teachers have not always used information about pupils’ progress to make sure that they regularly plan challenging work for pupils. This is improving as there is now more systematic tracking of pupils’ progress.
• The teaching of phonics has improved, and teachers now give more emphasis to developing pupils’ reading skills in class and at home.
• The teaching of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has improved. This is because teachers now deploy support staff more effectively and support staff have benefited from professional training that has developed their knowledge and skills.
• Teachers mostly follow the school’s policy when assessing and marking pupils’ work, although not consistently so. Pupils appreciate the feedback they get and know how to improve their work.
• Parents believe that teaching is good. The inspection showed, particularly through a detailed analysis of pupils’ work, that although there has been an improvement in teaching, it is not yet consistently effective. The school leadership recognises this, and continuing the improvement in teaching and assessment is an important part of the school’s development plan.

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 very enthusiastic about their school. They told the inspector how much they enjoy their lessons and the trips they do, including the various residential visits to activity centres. They also greatly enjoy the clubs, including the sporting ones, which have a good rate of participation. Music is also popular.
• Pupils enjoy taking responsibility, for example in the school council, and say they would like even more of it.
• Pupils know that they are well looked after. There is high quality care for all pupils, and this contributes to pupils feeling very safe. Parents confirmed this.
• Pupils enjoy the breakfast club and the good start it gives to the day.
• The school values its strong Christian ethos. School assemblies and display work reflect this ethos around the school. The school is proud of its community involvement.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. There have been no exclusions in recent years because staff manage behaviour well. Pupils’ attitudes towards learning in lessons are very good, although a small number of pupils do not take enough pride in their presentation of work.
• Bullying is rare. Pupils acknowledge that there are occasional ‘incidents’ in lessons or in the playground. However, they do not regard these as bullying, and they say that when there are any incidents, staff deal with them promptly.
• Attendance in the school was some way below average in 2016. It has improved for the great majority of pupils, and the school works with parents to encourage regular attendance.
• The attendance of a small number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is still not as high as it should be, but it has improved to be closer to average. The school is working hard to maintain this improvement, for example through a rewards system.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ attainment and progress require improvement because pupils in both key stage 1 and key stage 2 did not make sufficient progress for some time before the current school year. This was particularly evident in the most recent national assessments in 2016.
• Attainment and progress have not been strong for any group of pupils, but particularly so for middle-attaining pupils. There has been some variability, with boys achieving less well than girls in some classes, but with the reverse in others. There has also been variability in progress between subjects.
• Part of the reason for underachievement has been variations in the quality of teaching. Pupil premium funding was not always used effectively, and assessment was not used early or precisely enough to target those pupils who needed additional support.
• Progress in reading has improved as staff give reading a higher profile. Pupils of varying abilities told the inspector that they enjoy reading because they now have more opportunities for regular reading in class.
• There has been underachievement in mathematics, exacerbated by slowness in coming to terms with a new mathematics curriculum. School leaders, with some external support, have been improving the teaching of mathematics, and pupils’ progress has increased. However, pupils are not given enough opportunities to develop their mathematical reasoning skills.
• There has been progress in the quality of pupils’ writing, but it is still variable. Some pupils’ understanding of spelling and other technical aspects of language is not sufficiently well developed. The range and quality of writing topics in English have improved. However, there are not enough opportunities for writing in depth in other subjects.
• The quality of presentation and handwriting is still too variable and this slows progress.
• The new leadership has made strenuous efforts to improve attainment and progress, and they have begun to bear fruit. The phonics assessment results in Year 1 are now above expectations.
• Some of the variations in progress between different groups have narrowed significantly. Disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making more progress. These pupils are benefiting from more effectively targeted support.
• A few of the most able pupils do not make the progress they should because the work they do is not routinely challenging enough.
• Pupils towards the higher end of key stage 2 make more rapid progress than those lower down, and in some other year groups progress is faster than in others. Therefore, although more pupils are now on track to reach expected standards, or in several cases higher standards, this is not yet the case for all pupils. The leadership recognises this, but some of the strategies put in place to secure good progress for all groups of pupils have had limited time to produce levels of knowledge, understanding and skills at the expected level. However, there are encouraging signs that they are making a difference.

Early years provision Good

• Children in Reception make good progress, as they did at the time of the previous inspection, although the rate of progress has improved further. The most recent assessment results showed that the majority of children achieved the expected level of development. This is still the case, although some of the children currently in Reception are on track to exceed this level.
• Previously the level of development in language and number was less strong than in other aspects. However, progress in these aspects has improved because of the focus put upon them. Also, although in the past boys have tended to achieve less well than girls in some skills and levels of understanding, staff have worked to reduce these differences. Staff teach phonics well. Children are well prepared for their entry into Year 1.
• Teachers and support staff ensure that children make good progress by providing an effective blend of activities, some staff-led and some child-initiated. Children work alongside Year 1 pupils when appropriate.
• The good teaching is reinforced by opportunities for staff to develop their skills further.
• Teachers assess children’s progress regularly and they share the results with parents, who greatly appreciate this.
• Children learn not just the requisite subject skills and knowledge, but also develop well as individuals. They quickly learn what is expected of them, for example when listening to the teacher or each other. They socialise well with each other. Staff match tasks to children’s needs well. Children behave well and safety is a priority.
• Leadership of early years is good. The early years leader has high expectations, regularly checks progress and has a clear plan for how the early years setting should develop. She is also establishing closer links with the on-site pre-school so that children and staff in both the pre-school and Reception will benefit from a smooth transition into the next year group. The early years leader has begun to model some aspects of good practice for the pre-school.
• Parents appreciate the way that they are welcomed into the early years setting to celebrate their children’s work and to support them.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 123775 Somerset 10025003 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 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 124 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Russell Hamblin-Boone James Webb 01963 370 481 http://www.abbastemplecombe.co.uk abbastemplecombe@educ.somerset.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 3 to 4 July 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets the requirements for the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is considerably smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The great majority of pupils come from a White heritage British background.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for pupil premium funding is below average.
• The school meets the current floor standards, which are the government’s minimum expectations for attainment and progress for pupils by the end of Year 6.
• There are five mixed-age classes. Children in the Reception class attend full time.
• The school operates a breakfast club.
• The headteacher was appointed for the start of the current school year. At the same time, there was a restructuring of the senior leadership team and changes in the make-up of the governing body.
• There is an independently run pre-school on the school site. It was not part of this inspection.
• At the time of the inspection, the headteacher was absent from school through illness.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed two lessons and also paid short visits to several classes. He carried out all these visits jointly with the deputy headteacher. The inspector also heard pupils reading.
• The inspector looked extensively at pupils’ work and some of this was done in conjunction with the deputy headteacher.
• The inspector held meetings with teachers and pupils. He talked informally with parents. He met with three governors, including the chair of the governing body. He also met with a representative of the local authority. He attended an assembly.
• The inspector looked at a range of documentation, including the school improvement plan, the school’s evaluation of its own performance, minutes of the governing body, information relating to safeguarding and the school’s assessment data on pupils’ current progress.
• The inspector analysed 51 responses to the online parent questionnaire, Parent View.

Inspection team

John Laver, lead inspector Ofsted inspector