Henley-In-Arden CofE Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and governance by:
  • developing the role of middle leaders in monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility
  • ensuring greater rigour in evaluating the impact of pupil premium funding
  • ensuring that improvement planning indicates clearly who is responsible for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the actions that leaders have taken.
• Strengthen curriculum provision so that it more effectively deepens pupils’ knowledge and skills by:
  • ensuring that the content in each subject is carefully sequenced across year groups and key stages.
• Ensure that the early years outdoor area is a rich and exciting learning environment that offers a wide range of opportunities for children to explore and extend their learning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders and governors have worked effectively to resolve the issues that were present in the school following the last inspection in February 2016. They have worked consistently hard to make sure that staffing is stable and to eliminate inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. As a result, pupils are now making strong progress from their starting points.
• Leadership capacity at the school has been increased by the appointment of an executive headteacher. He provides support and guidance to the heads of school, creating a strong leadership team that is determined to drive up standards further.
• Leaders have accurately identified the areas for improvement in the school’s development plan. Pupils’ academic and personal development are very much at the heart of the school’s strategic plans. Leaders review their work carefully. However, plans do not show clearly who is responsible for evaluating the impact of actions taken. Leaders commission external consultants to review the school’s progress and then act promptly on any advice or recommendations to tackle areas for improvement. This ensures that there is continued improvement in pupils’ achievement.
• Parents and carers are highly supportive and appreciative of the work of the school. They say that the school is well led and managed and that their children are taught well. During the inspection, a Year 5 Tudors day was well attended by parents who participated in ‘Do what you like homework’. They later enjoyed working at home with their children. Typical comments were that leaders ‘always listen to our feedback’ and that ‘children have a fantastic experience at school’. Parents are impressed by the changes at the school since the last inspection and comment on the dedication of the staff.
• Leaders are keen to secure further improvements and do not shy away from making difficult decisions. They track pupils’ outcomes closely and hold half-termly meetings so that everyone understands what is required for pupils to continue to make good progress. Leaders regularly check how well pupils are taught. They provide feedback to teachers about what they are doing well and how they can improve their practice further. Leaders ensure that teachers act swiftly on the advice that they are given.
• Good links with a multi-academy trust are used to develop staff and enhance their teaching skills. Good practice in reading at the school is now shared across the trust. This has meant that leaders and teachers have increased confidence, and it has built leadership capacity.
• Leaders plan the curriculum to provide pupils with a broad range of experiences that support their learning and wider personal development. An ‘Earth to Space’ day encouraged the use of mathematics across the curriculum through a problem-solving challenge. Teachers begin each topic with activities called ‘the big bang’, in key stage 2, and ‘sparkly starts’ in key stage 1, which pupils say makes learning fun. However, content in wider curriculum subjects has scope to develop further so that content is ordered more clearly and pupils make even stronger progress.
• Leaders make effective use of the pupil premium funding to improve the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and meet their wider pastoral needs. Pupils are provided with books to read at home as well as additional support and mentoring in school. However, in 2017, leaders did not evaluate the impact of their actions closely enough. As a result, they did not have a precise enough understanding of which strategies worked most effectively.
• Provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is monitored closely, and these pupils make secure progress overall.
• Leaders have established clear expectations about pupils’ conduct. They have worked with pupils and staff to develop a new set of values, centred on tolerance and respect, called the ‘Respect code’. Leaders monitor behaviour closely and use this information well to resolve quickly any emerging issues. As a result, pupils behave well and develop strong values of care and respect for others.
• The school uses the physical education (PE) and sports premium effectively to improve pupils’ life skills. A great deal of work is being done to promote healthy living and encourage girls into sport. The funding has been used to introduce pupils to new forms of PE. Pupils are proud of the success of the girls’ football team and say that they are now inspired to take part in sport. The school is proud to have achieved the School Games Mark Award Gold.
• A wide range of extra-curricular clubs, including hockey, drama, tennis and triathlon, enable pupils to build their confidence and develop their social skills.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well across the school. The school is proud of its Christian ethos. Pupils are very knowledgeable about a range of faiths and beliefs. Years 5 and 6 have visited a mosque and talk with great enthusiasm and respect about what they have learned. Leaders have formed a close partnership with a school in Birmingham, and pupils visit each other’s schools to learn about different families and cultures. British values are embedded in the work of the school, and this means that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Many middle leaders are new to their roles. They have begun to make checks on teaching in their areas of responsibility. However, these checks currently focus on compliance with school policies rather than on the quality of teaching.

Governance of the school

• Governors want the very best for the pupils and the community they serve. They carefully scrutinise the work of the school, using their findings to ask challenging questions of school leaders in order to bring about rapid improvement. Governors are highly vigilant in monitoring pupils’ achievement. New governors have been carefully recruited to ensure that their skills are closely aligned with the needs of the school so that they can support it on its journey of improvement.
• Governors have specific responsibilities for different areas, including standards, safeguarding and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. They make frequent visits to the school to carry out monitoring activities. These cover a broad range of the school’s work, including behaviour. Governors seek the views of parents and pupils. They have an accurate view of the school’s performance and provide helpful advice to leaders.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• A culture of safeguarding is embedded in the school. All staff undertake comprehensive training. Leaders check staff’s understanding and provide additional training if needed. Staff know who they should approach if they have a safeguarding concern. A highly skilled lead governor keeps a close eye on safeguarding, ensuring that statutory requirements are met.
• Pupils learn effectively in lessons about specific safeguarding issues, such as mobile phone safety and healthy relationships. Younger pupils know how to keep themselves safe in the local area. Leaders work successfully with a wide range of partners to make sure that pupils are safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Leaders and governors have rightly focused on improving the quality of teaching and have ensured that pupils are now making strong progress. Teachers have high expectations of pupils and plan interesting work that motivates pupils to achieve well and learn more. They use assessment information effectively to plan learning that meets pupils’ needs.
• Teachers provide purposeful opportunities for pupils to write at length. They think imaginatively about the interests of the pupils so that they are keen to write for different purposes and audiences. In Year 1, pupils were delighted when a mysterious suitcase arrived in their classroom with a bear that had been found at Henley railway station. They performed the story of ‘Paddington Bear’ and then wrote well-structured descriptive stories using a high level of vocabulary. Activities like this are regularly planned into pupils’ learning journeys. As a result, pupils’ achievement in writing is improving rapidly.
• Teachers check how pupils are getting on during lessons and provide immediate feedback to pupils when they need it. Pupils are moved on to more challenging tasks swiftly. Teachers know which pupils are falling behind and plan interventions to help them improve.
• Teachers use challenging texts to inspire pupils to read and develop their thinking. In Year 5, pupils wrote vivid descriptions of contrasting characters in ‘Macbeth’ that demonstrated a sound understanding of the text as well as a high level of inferential skill. Pupils learn to use increasingly complex and well-chosen vocabulary. As a result, pupils develop strong comprehension skills.
• The teaching of mathematics is good. Work is appropriately matched to pupils’ abilities. Teachers use questioning effectively to check and develop pupils’ understanding and address misconceptions. They provide what one pupil called ‘a stack of challenges’ that ensures pupils have regular opportunities to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills.
• Relationships in lessons are supportive. Teachers expect and encourage all pupils to work with positive attitudes so that they can apply themselves and make good progress. Pupils collaborate well and listen carefully to each other’s ideas. Teachers encourage pupils to have a go and learn from their mistakes. This builds a sense of curiosity and resilience, which means that pupils are developing into confident learners who are willing to take risks.
• The teaching of phonics is effective. Teachers plan well-structured activities that enable pupils to make strong progress in learning to read. Pupils use their phonics skills confidently to work out unknown words. They practise writing letters and sounds in cursive script, and this promotes good handwriting in key stage 1.
• Teachers promote equality of opportunity in lessons through good provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. They use appropriate resources to structure tasks well, and additional adults are directed effectively to ensure that these pupils make the same progress as 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.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development equips them to be thoughtful, caring and active citizens in school and in wider society. In Year 6, pupils discuss questions such as: ‘Is it better to express your religion through the arts and architecture or through charity and generosity?’ Pupils are reflective and show respect for others’ points of view. This is a strength of the school’s provision.
• The school has invested in additional training and resources to help staff and pupils develop resilience and greater capacity to learn from mistakes. Pupils are very positive about their teachers and how they help them to learn and behave well.
• Pupils understand how their education equips them with the attitudes for success in adult life. An annual careers fair gives pupils the chance to learn about a wide range of employment options, including visits from a mechanic, a nail technician and a vet. Pupils develop enterprise skills through a ‘£5 challenge’ in which they raise funds, with enthusiasm, for children in Fiji.
• Pupils have a strong awareness of their rights and responsibilities. Older pupils enjoy their roles as reading ambassadors, digital leaders and play leaders. They have an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships and are confident in staying safe online.
• Pupils’ mental health and emotional well-being are supported well. They know who they can talk to if they are worried. Pupils enjoy learning about yoga and mindfulness, using new resources purchased by the parent-teacher association.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Parents, staff and pupils have no concerns about behaviour or bullying in the school.
• The school’s ‘Respect code’ provides a simple structure through which pupils learn how to behave well. Pupils are courteous and respectful to each other and to adults. They are highly caring to one another, and older pupils take care of Reception children at lunchtime. Pupils are calm when they move around the school and treat equipment with care.
• Leaders keep a record of any incidents of poor behaviour and encourage pupils to reflect on the choices they make. The school has invested in training for lunchtime staff who supervise pupils closely. A quiet area is provided so that pupils can draw and read at lunchtime. Incidents of poor behaviour are rare. Pupils and staff deal effectively with the very rare incidents of bullying, including any use of homophobic or racist language.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school. Attendance last year was in line with that of schools nationally, and persistent absence is low. Any vulnerable families are quickly identified and supported to ensure that pupils are not absent from school unnecessarily.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• In 2016 and 2017, too few pupils reached the expected standard at the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics. However, current pupils’ attainment and progress are improving rapidly. Provisional outcomes for pupils at the end of Year 6 in 2018 show that attainment was well above the 2017 national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. This improvement is the result of more effective teaching.
• The school’s assessment information and work in pupils’ books show that pupils in almost all year groups make strong progress in reading, writing, mathematics and science. The majority of pupils are working at the expected standard for their age in key stages 1 and 2. However, progress is not always as strong in other subjects.
• Pupils make secure progress in phonics in the early years and key stage 1. Pupils read with confidence and love to share books. They apply their phonics skills to the texts they read. As a result, the proportion of pupils who meet the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check has been consistently above national averages for the past three years.
• A high proportion of current pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. This is because teachers make effective provision for these pupils’ needs.
• In recent years, disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 have often made less progress than other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. However, school assessment information and work in pupils’ books show that these differences have now diminished, and that current disadvantaged pupils are making progress that is at least in line with that of other pupils. This is because teachers make sure that pupils get the additional help they need quickly.
• Most-able pupils receive strong levels of challenge in mathematics and reading. Teachers routinely set challenges for pupils to move on to if they understand a concept quickly. The level of challenge is less evident in the wider curriculum, and there is some variation in the suitability of tasks for the most able pupils in topic work.
• In the early years, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development has been above national averages for the last three years.

Early years provision Good

• Children start school with knowledge and skills that are broadly typical for their age. They progress well in their learning and development, particularly in communication and language.
• The leadership of the early years provision is effective. Leaders have a clear understanding about the strengths and weaknesses of the setting. They are reflective and look for ways to improve practice for the benefit of the children in their care. Children are kept safe because leaders diligently ensure that safeguarding requirements are met.
• All adults have high expectations of children. They make regular checks on children’s progress to ensure that any gaps in their learning are identified and filled swiftly. Staff tailor activities to children’s needs to enable them to achieve well.
• Children behave well due to well-established routines and strong relationships with adults. They are caring towards each other and share when they are involved in group activities. The calm, purposeful learning environment supports good learning.
• Teachers develop children’s early reading and mathematics skills effectively. There is a strong focus on phonics and number in the learning environment and in lessons.
• Teachers’ planning is closely linked to children’s interests and their individual learning needs. Staff organise exciting opportunities, which encourage children to explore and think through fun topics such as ‘Superheroes’. During the inspection, children spoke excitedly about the traps they made to capture ‘the evil peas’ who had escaped and were hiding in their classroom.
• Children’s spirituality is developed through reflection and prayer. In the classroom, a thoughtful ‘wonder wall’ and a prayer corner offer children a space to sit quietly.
• Transition arrangements between home and school are effective and help children settle into the Reception class well. Leaders have made useful partnerships with local early years settings. They ensure that assessment information is reliable so that children can make the best start when they arrive at school.
• The outdoor area is less well developed than the indoor learning environment. Children are presented with fewer opportunities to think critically and solve problems. As a result, children do not have the opportunity to engage fully in problem-solving activities and extend their learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140135 Warwickshire 10042876 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy converter 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 145 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Executive Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Philip Tillman Adam Walsh 01564 792 766 www.henleyinardenprimary.org.uk admin2059@welearn365.com Date of previous inspection 4–5 February 2016

Information about this school

• Henley-in-Arden C of E Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school. It is a Church of England school, and it received an inspection of its religious character in June 2016.
• Almost all pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is much lower than that in other schools nationally.
• The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and receive support from the pupil premium grant is well below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school club that are managed by the governing body.
• The school is a stand-alone academy. It receives support from the Arden Forest C of E Multi-Academy Trust. There is an executive headteacher and two heads of school.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in parts of 14 lessons. They observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at breaktimes and lunchtimes. An inspector visited the breakfast club and the after-school club.
• Inspectors spoke formally with one group of pupils, as well as talking to pupils in lessons and around school. They listened to pupils read and talked to them about their reading.
• Inspectors examined the quality of work in pupils’ English, mathematics, science and topic books jointly with senior leaders.
• Discussions were held with the executive headteacher, the heads of school and other school leaders. Inspectors also met with staff to gather their views on safeguarding. The lead inspector met with the chair of the governing body and two governors.
• Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans, information about current pupils’ attainment and progress, records relating to safeguarding, behaviour logs, attendance records, minutes of meetings of the governing body and information on the school’s website.
• Inspectors scrutinised the 41 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and an inspector spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day. Inspectors considered the 10 free-text responses from parents and eight responses to the staff questionnaire. Inspectors also considered the 21 responses to the pupil questionnaire.

Inspection team

Johanne Clifton, lead inspector Mark Bailie

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector