INSPECTION REPORT Loders C of E V.C. Primary School Loders
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INSPECTION REPORT Loders C of E V.C. Primary School Loders, Bridport LEA area: Dorset Unique Reference Number : 113773 Headteacher: Mr Michael Kite Reporting inspector: Mrs. Janet Sinclair 19824 Dates of inspection: 27th – 29th September 1999 Under OFSTED contract number: 707231 Inspection carried out under Section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 © Crown Copyright 1999 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 and the Education Act 1993, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL Type of school: Primary Type of control: Voluntary Controlled (Church of England) Age range of pupils: 4 to 11 Gender of pupils: Mixed School address: Loders Bridport Dorset DT6 3SA Telephone number: 01308 423418 Fax number: 01308 423418 Appropriate authority: Governing Body Name of chair of governors: Mrs. Harriet Finbow Date of previous inspection: 18th – 20th March 1996 INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities Janet Sinclair English Attainment and progress Registered Inspector History Teaching Art Curriculum and assessment Religious education Music Design and technology Children under the age of five Equal opportunities Leigh Barclay Attitudes, behaviour and personal Lay Inspector development, Attendance Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Partnership with parents and the community Support, guidance and pupils’ welfare Ann Coughlan Mathematics Leadership and management Science Staffing, accommodation and Information and communication learning resources. technology The efficiency of the school Geography Physical education Special educational needs The inspection contractor was: Q A A Education Consultants Herringston Barn Herringston Dorset DT2 9PU Telephone: 01305 251591 Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints, which are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor, should be raised with OFSTED by writing to: The Registrar The Office for Standards in Education Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE REPORT CONTENTS Paragraph MAIN FINDINGS What the school does well Where the school has weaknesses How the school has improved since the last inspection Standards in subjects Quality of teaching Other aspects of the school The parents’ views of the school KEY ISSUES FOR ACTION INTRODUCTION Characteristics of the school 1 - 4 Key indicators PART A: ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL Educational standards achieved by pupils at the school Attainment and progress 5 - 15 Attitudes, behaviour and personal development 16 - 20 Attendance 21 - 23 Quality of education provided Teaching 24 - 31 The curriculum and assessment 32 - 38 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 39 - 43 Support, guidance and pupils’ welfare 44 - 48 Partnership with parents and the community 49 - 52 The management and efficiency of the school Leadership and management 53 - 59 Staffing, accommodation and learning resources 60 - 63 The efficiency of the school 64 - 68 PART B: CURRICULUM AREAS AND SUBJECTS Areas of learning for children under five 69 - 76 English, mathematics and science 77 - 108 Other subjects or courses 109 - 130 PART C: INSPECTION DATA Summary of inspection evidence 131 Data and indicators MAIN FINDINGS What the school does well ·. The school enables pupils to achieve good standards in English, mathematics and science and very good standards in information technology ·. The school promotes very good relationships and pupils make very good progress in their personal development as they move through the school. ·. Attendance is very good. ·. Teaching is good overall and sometimes very good at Key Stage 2 ·. Provision for extra curricular activities is excellent. ·. The head teacher provides clear educational direction for the work of the school and is well supported by his staff and governors ·. The school’s ethos is very good and there are good links with the community. · Where the school has weaknesses I. Pupils attain below the expected levels for religious education at both key stages. II. There are weaknesses in aspects of school development planning. III. The poor accommodation presents difficulties for staff in effectively teaching the curriculum. IV. There are minor omissions (charging policy, sex education, complaints procedure, rates of absence and sporting aims) in the statutory requirements for the school prospectus and annual governor report. The substantial strengths of the school far outweigh its weaknesses. The weaknesses will form the basis of the governors’ action plan, which will be sent to all parents or guardians of pupils at the school. · How the school has improved since the last inspection The school has made good improvement since the last inspection and is well placed for future improvement. Standards in the core subjects show year on year improvements and pupils’ attainment in information technology is well above average and is a strength of the school. Many of the issues from the last inspection have been tackled well. The inconsistencies in assessment practice have been addressed and assessment procedures are consistently used well to measure progress and inform teachers’ planning. The unhygienic toilets have been completely refurbished. New schemes of work have been developed in many subjects although there are as yet no schemes in place for art and design and technology. Overlong lessons have been restructured and this is rarely an issue now. Some practices have been put in place to monitor and evaluate cost effectiveness and the governing body monitors this in an informal manner. Some of the minor technical omissions of statutory requirements identified in the last inspection report remain. The national literacy and numeracy strategies have been effectively implemented. · · Standards in subjects This table shows the standards achieved by 11 year olds in 1998 based on the National Curriculum tests: Performance in Compared with all Compared with · Key schools similar schools well above average A above average B English C E Average C Mathematics A A Below average D Science A C well below average E The school’s annual cohort of pupils is very small (11 in this reporting year) and this causes wide variations in the school’s statistics year on year. However, standards over time remain above the national averages in all three subjects. During the inspection pupils were found to be attaining standards above the expectations for pupils at 7 years of age in English, mathematics and information technology. They are attaining the expected standards in all other subjects except religious education where standards are below expectations. At age 11 pupils were found to be attaining standards above the expectations in English, mathematics, science, geography and physical education and well above expectations in information technology. Standards in all other subjects are at the expected level except in religious education where standards are below the expected level. There was insufficient evidence to make an overall judgement about standards in music. · Quality of teaching Teaching in: Under 5 5 – 7 years 7 – 11 years English Satisfactory Good Good Mathematics Satisfactory Satisfactory Good Science Good Good Information Technology Good Very Good Religious education Insufficient evidence Insufficient evidence Other subjects Satisfactory Satisfactory Good The quality of teaching overall is good. All of the teaching seen was satisfactory or better and, of that, 55 per cent was good or better. At Key Stage 2 eighteen per cent of the teaching was very good. The quality of teaching is better overall at Key Stage 2. Teachers and support staff very effectively provide good quality teaching, which has a positive impact on standards. The quality of teaching for pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory. Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that strengths outweigh any weaknesses. · Other aspects of the school Aspect Comment Behaviour Behaviour is good both in lessons, moving around the school and at play. Pupils are courteous and respectful to all adults and each other. Attendance Attendance is very good. Pupils attend school regularly and arrive promptly .Ethos* The school’s ethos is very good. Relationships are very good throughout the school. There is evident commitment to high standards and pupils have good attitudes to work. Leadership and The leadership is good overall. There is good implementation of the school’s aims, management values and policies but there is a weakness in aspects of school development planning. Curriculum The curriculum provision, including provision for pupils under five is good overall. It is broad and relevant to pupils’ needs. There are good assessment procedures in place and these are used well to plan for pupils’ needs. The school’s extra- curricular provision is outstanding. Special educational needs The school makes good provision for pupils with special educational