Chilton Foliat Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • leaders and governors robustly check the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school and the impact that this is having on the progress and outcomes for different groups of pupils.
• Raise achievement across the school by ensuring that:
  • there is a focus on rapidly raising expectations and improving outcomes for pupils, particularly in writing and in mathematics
  • the most able pupils are challenged to reach higher standards, particularly in writing and mathematics.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that:
  • learning activities are more closely matched to the specific needs of pupils
  • pupils’ work shows that areas of weakness and misconceptions do not continue over time
  • pupils understand and can describe the next steps they need to take in order to improve their work and are given opportunities to do so, particularly in writing.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• The headteacher and governors have faced some significant challenges since the previous inspection. A number of staff changes and periods of instability in teaching arrangements in some classes resulted in weaker teaching for some pupils. Pupil numbers decreased to low levels.
• While leaders have remained resilient and determined to create a secure, stable teaching staff and to increase pupil numbers, they have not maintained a rigorous approach to checking the effectiveness of some aspects of the school’s work.
• The system used to assess pupils’ progress has been unreliable. As a result, teachers have not accurately identified what pupils need to do in order to make better progress. Leaders have introduced a new assessment system, but it is too soon to see the impact of this.
• Leaders regularly check the quality of teaching and learning but do not evaluate the impact that teaching has on pupils’ outcomes. Weaknesses in pupils’ outcomes for particular groups or in particular years are not identified. Therefore, leaders have not ensured that actions are in place to support improvement for these pupils.’
• The unsettled time and lack of rigour in assessment have led to a decline in pupils’ achievement. The school’s own data shows that in recent years far too many older pupils have been working below standards expected for their age, particularly in writing and mathematics.
• There are signs, however, that the actions taken by leaders are starting to make a difference. The school improvement plan rightly highlights writing, mathematics and assessment as key priorities. The subject leader for mathematics has worked alongside teachers to improve the challenge given to pupils. There are extra materials to support pupils’ spelling and new strategies for teaching writing. Some pupils, particularly younger pupils, are now making better progress from their different starting points.
• Leaders have used additional funding to provide extra teaching resources and activities to enhance learning experiences for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. An increase in attendance for these pupils shows the impact that the funding has had.
• The physical education (PE) and sports premium is used effectively. Additional specialist teaching has helped to improve the sports provision across the school, and more pupils are attending sporting clubs.
• There is a strong sense of values and these are displayed around the school. Pupils talked with enthusiasm about the respect and care they show towards one another. The school’s curriculum includes themes that help to prepare pupils for their futures. Pupils learn about a number of religions, countries and cultures and this contributes towards their understanding of the world.
• Pupils spoke highly of their learning experiences and enjoy the curriculum themes, which often involve extra visits outside school. Parents also spoke highly of the wealth of varied activities, visitors and visits. A typical comment was, ‘Staff really go the extra mile to make learning interesting and fun here.’ Extra sports coaches support the activities on offer before and after school. There is also a well-attended before- and after-school club, which parents value.
• A school improvement adviser has supported the headteacher through regular visits. The headteacher values this. The local authority recognises that more support is required in order to help the school make the improvements needed.

Governance of the school

• Governors provide unique skills and show a passionate commitment to the school. They use their varied areas of expertise to support the work of the headteacher. Governors recently requested an external review of the school’s effectiveness, and this has helped them to have an accurate view of the areas that need development. Governors are aware that there needs to be a more rigorous approach towards checking that pupils’ achievement rapidly improves.
• Much of the focus for governors has been on improving the reputation of the school in order to attract more pupils. Extra open mornings and local communication of the school’s successes and activities have been successful, and pupil numbers have rapidly improved.
• Governors have also been effective in supporting a strong, consistent message to parents about attendance. Attendance has risen over the past two years and is now above the national average.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Arrangements for recruiting staff and making appropriate checks are organised and thorough. Staff receive training and information on a wide range of safeguarding areas and learn lessons from serious case reviews.
• The safeguarding governor makes frequent visits to school to check that any recommendations from safeguarding audits are acted on.
• Staff are vigilant and know what to do to report any concerns they may have. The designated lead for safeguarding ensures that families have the support they need when necessary, including the use of a range of agencies.
• The culture of safeguarding is strong. Pupils feel safe in school and they are safe. Safety messages are reinforced throughout the school year.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teachers plan a variety of activities aiming to ensure that pupils of different abilities have work that matches their needs. However, these activities do not consistently link with the knowledge, skills and understanding that the pupils have. Other than in the Reception class, the assessments that teachers make do not help them to target pupils’ next steps.
• At times, pupils’ work does not provide the challenge they need to improve and deepen their understanding. At other times, teaching does not specifically target pupils’ misconceptions. Therefore, these misconceptions continue, and progress slows.
• This lack of precision in identifying next steps for pupils also means that pupils are not clear about what they need to do to improve their work. For example, pupils were not able to describe what they need to do next in order to improve their story writing.
• Recent professional development for teachers in mathematics and writing is helping to improve teachers’ subject knowledge. There is a sense of the school team members moving forward and clarifying for themselves what good teaching and learning looks like.
• Pupils read widely and often. There is a good range of high-quality books around school that pupils enjoy. The recent developments in the teaching of writing involve using stories and poems to support writing activities. As well as improving pupils’ writing, especially that of younger pupils, this is also encouraging pupils to enjoy their reading even more.
• Teachers expect pupils to work hard, and recent work on improving pupils’ resilience supports the positive approach to learning evident across the school. Pupils enjoy the interesting learning themes and are keen to apply themselves to the task in hand. For example, younger pupils enthusiastically and accurately recited a poem about autumn, which they had used to help them to write their own season poems.

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 secure. For example, they talked positively about their homework tasks. The school celebrates pupils’ successes, and therefore pupils are motivated to try hard. Parents spoke highly of the work that the school does to promote pupils’ self-confidence and self-esteem.
• Teaching to support pupils’ personal development enables pupils to have a good understanding of what they need to do to keep themselves physically fit and to stay safe. This includes road safety and keeping safe online.
• The strong spiritual and cultural ethos means that pupils have well-developed respect and tolerance for others, including an understanding of different cultures and views.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Around the school, during lessons and at different times of the day, pupils are polite and show respect for one another.
• There are no concerns from pupils or parents about bullying, as any such issues are handled quickly and rigorously.
• Pupils want to be in school. Attendance, including that of pupils who previously had very high levels of absence, has improved over the last year and is now above national averages. Close partnership with parents and frequent communication to reinforce key messages about attendance have contributed to this improvement.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• The school’s own data and work in pupils’ books show that too many pupils across the school do not make the progress they should. Too many pupils are currently working below the expectations for their age, particularly in mathematics and in writing.
• Weaker teaching in the past has meant that some older pupils have gaps in their learning. The system used to track pupils’ achievement has not been robust. Teachers have not been able to identify the specific areas of learning that pupils need to work on in order to make the progress they should.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged generally progress well from their starting points due to the additional support they receive. However, the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, do not achieve as well as they should. Too few activities challenge pupils to extend their thinking.
• Leaders and governors have put strategies in place to make the improvements needed, and some pupils are starting to work in line with more age-appropriate expectations. However, it is too soon to see the impact of these improvements on overall pupils’ achievement across the school.
• The percentage of children who, by the end of the Reception year, develop the knowledge, skills and understanding expected for their age has improved each year and is higher than the national average.
• Outcomes for phonics in Year 1 have also improved year on year, and the percentage of pupils who meet the required standard in the phonics screening check is well above national averages.

Early years provision Good

• The good teaching, learning and assessment in the Reception class ensure that children develop the skills they need to equip them well for learning in Year 1.
• Well-planned transition meetings before children begin school ensure that staff have a good knowledge of the children. A careful assessment of their particular needs, including those of pupils who are disadvantaged or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, informs the learning curriculum on offer.
• Teaching staff make adaptations both to the inside and outside learning environment, so that children have the experiences and support they need to learn new skills and to achieve well.
• Children quickly settle to the established routines and high expectations of behaviour that exist. They feel secure and safe in the calm, well-organised learning spaces. Learning experiences are all around them and link to themes about stories and poems. The role-play area becomes the three little pigs’ building site office with clipboards and hard hats. Outside, there is a wealth of interesting areas to explore, making lavender perfume for example.
• Parents speak highly of the introduction to school, the communication about progress and the regular workshops provided that help them to know how to support their children at home.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 126397 Wiltshire 10042802 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 aided 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 100 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Samantha Wolcough Denise Weston 01488 682630 www.chiltonfoliatprimary.org.uk admin@chiltonfoliat.wilts.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 12─ 13 December 2013

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the impact of using the pupil premium allocation on its website.
• The school is smaller than average and some year groups are very small. The stability of pupils has been lower than the national average, and significant numbers of pupils have left the school and come in to the school over the past years. Numbers have increased recently, which has enabled governors to increase the number of classes from three to four.
• The proportion of pupils who are allocated the pupil premium is well below that found in schools nationally. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average. Very few pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The school runs a before-school and after-school club each day for pupils.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector met with the headteacher throughout the inspection and observed learning across the school. A selection of pupils’ workbooks was scrutinised.
• A meeting was held with subject leaders and the leader for early years.
• Several meetings were held with governors, including the chair of the governing body. The inspector scrutinised school documentation relating to safeguarding, attendance, pupils’ progress, school evaluation and the school improvement plan.
• The inspector spoke on the telephone to the school improvement adviser who has been working with leaders. A meeting was also held with a representative from the local authority.
• The inspector talked to pupils about their work throughout the inspection and held a meeting with some pupils to listen to their views.
• The inspector talked to parents at the start of each day and took account of the 57 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey. The inspector also talked to staff throughout the inspection to gather their views.

Inspection team

Tonwen Empson, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector