The New Forest CofE (VA) Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, including governance, by ensuring that:
  • governors develop their skills to challenge leaders stringently
  • leaders check the impact of their actions through precise and measurable plans
  • governors fully evaluate the impact that additional funding is having on improving the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and the development of sport
  • rigorous leadership of SEN and/or disabilities enables pupils to make consistently good progress
  • the curriculum is refined so that pupils deepen their knowledge in different contexts, situations and subjects.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • ensuring that teachers use assessment information to match learning precisely to the needs of pupils
  • identifying pupils’ knowledge and understanding accurately to ensure that gaps in learning are reduced quickly, including in the early years
  • ensuring that pupils have a consistent understanding of how they can improve their work. An external review of governance and of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how these aspects of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders have not ensured that the quality of teaching is strong enough to enable pupils to make sufficient progress. Monitoring is not rigorous and there has been a lack of urgency to ensure that agreed strategies are consistently implemented in the classroom.
• Leaders’ strategic overview is not sharp enough. It is not closely aligned to pupils’ academic achievement. Leaders have identified the right priorities and have outlined the subsequent actions to address these. However, the evaluation of how well their actions are working is too generic and often ambiguous. This means that leaders do not have a clear enough understanding of what has worked, and what has not, to inform future planning.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not make the same progress as other pupils nationally. Leaders have identified the barriers to learning for this group of pupils and have implemented strategies to address these. However, the review of the impact of these actions is not incisive. This means that actions have not consistently translated into the improvement required.
• Assessment information is not consistently accurate and lacks clarity to be an effective tool for teachers, particularly in key stage 2 and mathematics. However, teachers’ expertise and well-informed moderation in key stage 1 means that there is reliability and confidence in this part of the school.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities do not make the progress they should. This is because teachers do not consistently implement the support needed. Leaders are knowledgeable about pupils’ social and emotional needs but their plans lack detail about academic outcomes. This limits strategic overview and consequently the effectiveness of teaching.
• The curriculum provides coverage of a range of subjects. However, it lacks the structure to support pupils fully to build on their prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding across a wider range of subjects.
• Leaders are committed to the success of the school and have readily accepted advice to improve identified weaknesses in the school’s work. This means that leaders are now better placed to implement strategies with the speed required.
• Middle leaders’ skills and expertise are starting to improve. They are increasingly knowledgeable about how to monitor the quality of teaching to raise achievement. This has led to some improvements, for example in the proportions of pupils meeting the standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check.
• Leaders communicate with parents through a weekly newsletter and the information provided on the website. Parents say that they are well informed about events at the school. The proactive parents’ association supports the school well by organising events to encourage the school community to come together.
• Leaders model and promote the values that underpin the work of the school. Displays reinforce behaviour expectations and the importance of treating others with respect. Pupils clearly understand expectations and this is reflected in the positive climate that exists.
• Extra-curricular activities and visits support pupils’ learning well. Teachers celebrate and record these through colourful displays. They share highlights with parents on the website. There are many examples where staff have provided vibrant and meaningful experiences for pupils to develop their cultural, sporting, musical and theatrical interests. Leaders ensure that all pupils are able to access these and pupils value these activities.

Governance of the school

• Governors are committed to the success of the school but have not held leaders sufficiently to account in recent years. This is largely because they lack the information needed to be able to ask the right questions and assure themselves that leaders are taking effective action. They acknowledge this and are determined to improve the effectiveness of their work.
• Recent changes have meant that governors are now better equipped to support and challenge leaders to make the improvements needed at the pace required. Governors now have the experience and acumen to know what evidence they need from leaders to probe, challenge and support the work of the school more effectively. Training is up to date, which means that governors have the knowledge to evaluate better the evidence provided by school leaders. However, governors are not fully informed about the impact of actions so they can be more confident about leaders’ assertions.
• Governors’ analysis of the use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and for sport is not detailed enough. Governors track actions and expenditure but are not able to evaluate the impact of strategies to inform future spending decisions.
• Governors have raised their profile with parents and take opportunities to meet with them at the many school events. They have invited parental feedback and visit the school more regularly so they have first-hand evidence to understand better the quality of education that the school provides.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. However, there were some minor administrative oversights on the single central register which leaders rectified at the time of the inspection. Leaders make the necessary statutory checks and follow government guidance carefully to ensure that staff are safe to work with children. Governors discuss and agree actions relating to safeguarding and behavioural concerns more regularly through the newly introduced safeguarding committee.
• All staff know how to apply child protection procedures. Relevant training is up to date and includes protecting pupils from radicalisation and extremism. Where there are concerns, the school’s newly implemented electronic system ensures that the chronology of action is clear.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and are well looked after by their teachers. The majority of parents who responded to the online survey, Parent View, agree. Pupils speak positively about the personal, social and health education they receive. They have a clear awareness of how to keep themselves safe online and understand that Hector the dolphin is there to protect them from images that might upset them. Safeguarding updates are a feature of the newsletter, which means that parents are regularly informed about issues relating to their children’s safety.
• Staff know children well and are nurturing and open. The school places great importance on successfully promoting pupils’ emotional well-being. Pupils know that the ‘calm corner’ and ‘garden room’ are there for them when they need ‘time to talk’.
• Leaders seek advice and work with external partners and parents to support pupils who are at risk. However, when referrals are made, leaders are not always persistent enough in following up concerns if they are not satisfied with the speed of the resolution.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is too variable across the school. There are pockets of good practice but typically teachers’ planning is not tailored to pupils’ starting points. This means that teaching does not consistently challenge the most able pupils. It does not allow pupils to move on when they are ready, so they can demonstrate deeper knowledge and reasoning.
• Teachers do not consistently target and provide the right support for pupils who fall behind or routinely identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills. Pupils are not clear about what they need to do to improve the quality of their work. Therefore, the rate of progress slows, particularly across key stage 2.
• Pupils read a range of appropriate texts for enjoyment. At key stage 1, the majority of pupils develop their phonic skills sufficiently to enable them to identify words accurately. Pupils continue to develop their reading skills across key stage 2, particularly focusing on analysis, inference and prediction. Interventions, implemented by teaching assistants, are successful in the short term and lead to an improvement in pupils’ skills. However, teachers do not consistently ensure that targeted support is in place to enable pupils to demonstrate skills with increased confidence in the longer term.
• Pupils write for a variety of audiences and purposes but the quality of this is too variable. Younger pupils demonstrate an ability to form letters and begin to write sentences with increasing complexity. Older pupils respond well to writing which arises from an interesting context. In these instances, pupils write in a sustained and engaging way, demonstrating versatility in using interesting vocabulary and varying sentence structure for effect. However, inaccurate spelling, punctuation and grammar hamper some pupils’ skills in expressing themselves effectively. Where teachers do not address these, misconceptions continue, limiting the progress that pupils make.
• The teaching of mathematics is improving across the school. In particular, teachers’ subject knowledge enables them to ask questions to explore meaning. The most able pupils are directed to tackle complex problems and those who require support are able to develop their mathematical fluency at an appropriate level. However, where this is not the case, teachers do not plan to develop skills sequentially to allow pupils to build on their prior learning. Pupils choose to complete work that is too easy and teachers do not direct them to a suitable level of challenge. This means that pupils are not consistently securing arithmetical skills well enough and this limits their ability to tackle more complex problems.
• Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ work and their presentation are not consistently high enough. This means that pupils sometimes make repeated errors or do not publish work that is reflective of their ability or potential.
• Teachers’ planning is not matched well enough to the needs of disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Additional interventions, led by well-trained teaching assistants, have supported pupils effectively to develop their mathematical confidence and explain their thinking. However, support is not always as effective in classroom practice and the level of expectation is too low. Teachers do not review progress in sufficient detail, which means that ‘next steps’ to accelerate pupils’ learning are too general. As a result, pupils do not catch up quickly enough.
• ‘Forest Fridays’ are a highlight of the school curriculum and are a much-anticipated part of the week for pupils and adults alike. Teachers use the environment creatively to effectively enhance pupils’ learning. For example, pupils engage in real-life scientific experiments, and challenge themselves to use their orienteering skills and to develop their artistic prowess. Pupils are enthusiastic and keen to share these experiences.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Where pupils’ progress slows or where skills are not secure, teachers do not identify and rectify this quickly enough. Gaps in knowledge remain, meaning that groups of pupils, particularly boys, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, fall further behind their classmates. Where this is the case, pupils are not prepared well enough to take the next steps in their education.
• Where teaching is not well directed, pupils choose to complete work that does not present a challenge to them or lose focus and become distracted. In these instances, pupils lack the motivation and resilience to persist when learning becomes difficult.
• Staff provide experiences for pupils to engage in a rich variety of activities to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. Beautifully presented learning journals record this and pupils are able to talk excitedly and confidently about what they have learned.
• Pupils have a well-developed understanding of moral issues and an awareness of their social responsibilities. They talk readily about projects such as exploring the effect of plastics on the environment, the work of the eco-council and charity events. They understand concepts such as democracy through the work of the school council and value the importance of respect and diversity, making them well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Staff regularly reinforce the school’s core values. These are effective in promoting positive attitudes. Pupils regularly take on leadership responsibilities and are encouraged to do so. For example, the school council is currently raising money through ‘Friday ice treats’ to create a spiritual garden on the key stage 2 site.
• Pupils are positive about their experience of school. They understand expectations and respect each other and their environment. Pupils say that bullying is rare and have confidence that staff deal with it quickly should it arise. Year 6 pupils ‘buddy’ Year 3 pupils to support their transition to key stage 2. Younger pupils value this and older pupils take this responsibility seriously.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils say that conduct, both in lessons and around the school, is positive. They are supportive of the school, welcoming, polite and willing to talk. They play cooperatively together in the well-equipped outside area and respond quickly to teachers’ instructions. There are established routines which create an orderly environment. The school’s philosophy, to ‘be good; do good; don’t get up to no good’, is demonstrated by the large majority of pupils.
• The majority of pupils attend school regularly. Leaders have effective systems to evaluate patterns of pupils’ attendance. This helps them identify those who do not attend as often as they should and ensure that pupils catch up with work missed.
• Teachers are aware of pupils who find behaviour expectations difficult to manage and have taken effective action to address this. The number of recorded behavioural incidents is low and, when these do occur, leaders ensure that parents are involved. Staff provide support and, as a result, there have been no permanent exclusions for the last two years. However, the evaluation of trends and patterns is not secure enough for leaders to understand fully the impact of actions taken. Therefore, there are isolated instances where poor behaviour is not addressed efficiently enough to ensure that pupils receive the right level of support.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• The proportion of pupils achieving the combined expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6 has declined over a two-year period but is still in line with national averages. Fewer pupils than nationally achieved the higher standard in 2017.
• Pupils’ progress at the end of Year 6 dropped sharply in 2017 in reading, writing and mathematics and is now in the lowest 10% nationally for writing and mathematics. Current pupils do not make sufficient progress, particularly boys, disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• The proportion of pupils who reach the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 1 has been above national averages for writing and mathematics for the last three years, and at least in line with national averages for reading. The proportion of pupils who demonstrate a greater depth of understanding is above national average in most subjects, although no pupils reached this standard in writing in 2017. Current pupils continue to meet age-related expectations and there is an improvement in the number of pupils who go on to achieve greater depth in their writing skills.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not make as much progress as other pupils nationally by the end of Year 6, particularly in writing and mathematics. Pupils reach the expected standard by the end of Year 2 but few go on to achieve a deeper level of understanding. In all year groups, current disadvantaged pupils do not perform well.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities do not make enough progress by the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics. Current pupils across the school continue to make weak progress in comparison with their peers.
• The proportion of most able pupils who reach the expected standard by the end of Year 6 is in line with national figures for reading, writing and mathematics. However, pupils do not make strong enough progress when compared to other pupils nationally. In 2017, pupils’ progress in writing was in the lowest 10% nationally. In key stage 1, all pupils achieve the expected standard but too few pupils achieve a greater depth of understanding in writing. Current pupils in Year 2 meet the expected standard in all three subjects but not enough pupils in Year 6 meet these expectations.
• The number of pupils who achieve the phonics screening check has increased and is above the national average.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The proportion of children who reach a good level of development has improved and is now above the national average. However, expectations of children are not high enough, including for the most able, who are not reaching the highest standards of which they are capable. Too few of the most able children demonstrate deeper knowledge and understanding, particularly in literacy and mathematical development.
• Leaders’ monitoring of the early years lacks precision and the necessary detail to ensure that teaching, learning and assessment are effectively supporting children to make the progress that they are capable of. Leaders have not undertaken sufficient monitoring to ensure that teaching is focused on those children who need to make accelerated progress. This means that some children do not catch up quickly enough, especially in reading, writing and mathematical development. Therefore, not all children are well prepared for key stage 1 because their skills remain too weak, particularly lower-achieving boys, disadvantaged pupils and those children who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• There is an imbalance in the focus and outcomes of the curriculum. Personal and social development often eclipse the elements of literacy, phonics and mathematics necessary for some children to make the improvements needed.
• The environment is orderly and well presented. Teachers and adults interact meaningfully with children, resulting in a positive atmosphere. Children are happy and engaged in their learning. They interact well, play, share and learn together in a range of situations. However, teachers do not make the best use of this environment, including outside spaces. This does not maximise learning for children of different abilities, including the most able in literacy and mathematics.
• The teaching of phonics is improving but is not targeted precisely enough or with enough ambition to support lower-achieving boys. Therefore, appropriate actions and expectations to help these children learn their letters and sounds are not in place.
• Staff work successfully with parents to help them support their children’s learning. Staff and parents communicate regularly and there are opportunities to share children’s achievements. Parents meet with key staff and transition arrangements, including visits to pre-school providers and home visits, enable children to settle quickly
• Safeguarding is effective, including paediatric first-aid training.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 126407 Wiltshire 10048239 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 185 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Local authority Natalie Crates Paul Lailley 01794 390380 www.thenewforestschool.wilts.sch.uk ks2@thenewforestschool.wilts.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 6–7 July 2010

Information about this school

• The New Forest Church of England Primary School is a smaller than average voluntary- aided school.
• The headteacher was appointed in September 2013.
• The majority of pupils are from a White British background and no pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The number of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities has risen over the last three years and is now in line with the national average. The number of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is lower than the national average.
• The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is below the national average.
• Governors arranged a Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) in December 2015. At that time, the school’s distinctiveness and effectiveness as a church school were judged to be outstanding.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning across a range of subjects and age groups and scrutinised pupils’ written work. Some of the observations were conducted jointly with members of the leadership team.
• Meetings were held with members of the leadership team and representatives from the governing body. In addition, inspectors met with curriculum leaders. An inspector spoke on the telephone with the designated officer for safeguarding and with the ‘challenge and support’ partner from the local authority.
• Inspectors met with pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities, both formally and informally, to discuss their views about their experience of school.
• Inspectors looked at the school’s documentation, including the evaluation of the school’s effectiveness and priorities for future improvement. Inspectors reviewed progress, behaviour and attendance information relating to current pupils, and governors’ minutes.
• School policies relating to safeguarding, pupils’ behaviour, the use of additional funding, including pupil premium and sport premium, and the curriculum were also scrutinised.
• Inspectors listened to a selection of pupils read.
• Inspectors considered 62 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.

Inspection team

Sarah McGinnis, lead inspector Stewart Gale

Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector