A report on Knelston Primary School Reynoldston Gower SA3 1AR Date of inspection: May 2011 by Estyn, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales During each inspection, inspectors aim to answer three key questions: Key Question 1: How good are the outcomes? Key Question 2: How good is provision? Key Question 3: How good are leadership and management? Inspectors also provide an overall judgement on the school’s current performance and on its prospects for improvement. In these evaluations, inspectors use a four-point scale: Judgement What the judgement means Excellent Many strengths, including significant examples of sector-leading practice Good Many strengths and no important areas requiring significant improvement Adequate Strengths outweigh areas for improvement Unsatisfactory Important areas for improvement outweigh strengths The report was produced in accordance with Section 28 of the Education Act 2005. Every possible care has been taken to ensure that the information in this document is accurate at the time of going to press. Any enquiries or comments regarding this document/publication should be addressed to: Publication Section Estyn Anchor Court Keen Road Cardiff CF24 5JW or by email to [email protected] This and other Estyn publications are available on our website: www.estyn.gov.uk © Crown Copyright 2011: This report may be re-used free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is re-used accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the report specified. A report on Knelston Primary School May 2011 Context Knelston Primary School is a co-educational, Swansea local authority maintained primary school for pupils between the ages of three and 11 years old. The school is situated on the Gower Peninsula to the west of Swansea. It has a large catchment area which includes Oxwich, Penrice, Reynoldston, Burry, Scurlage, Port Eynon, Horton, Rhossili and Knelston. The school was built in 1969 and consists of a main hall and six teaching areas. Currently there are 128 pupils on role with 13 pupils of nursery age. English is the first language for nearly all pupils. Only two pupils speak Welsh at home. The school states that pupils come from varying backgrounds ranging from farming to professional business communities. Two pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds and approximately 5% of pupils are entitled to receive free school meals. Ten pupils have been identified as having special educational needs (SEN) and three pupils have statements of SEN. No pupil has been excluded from the school during the last 12 months. The current headteacher was in post during the last inspection in 2005. The 2010-2011 individual school budget per pupil for Knelston Primary School is £3,372, which compares with a maximum of £5,744 and a minimum of £2,550 for primary schools in Swansea. The school has the 34th highest budget per pupil out of 89 primary schools in Swansea. 1 A report on Knelston Primary School May 2011 Summary The school’s current performance Good The school’s prospects for improvement Good Current performance The current performance of the school is good because: • pupils achieve well, particularly in key stage 1; • there are good learning experiences for pupils that make particularly good use of the local environment; • pupil behaviour and attitudes to learning are very positive; • staff and pupil relationships enhance the school’s learning ethos; and • effective arrangements exist to support pupils’ health and wellbeing. Prospects for improvement The prospects for improvement are good because: • there is good leadership at all levels; • all staff work well as a team; • there are good self-evaluation procedures and opportunities for professional development; and • there is effective planning for improvement. 2 A report on Knelston Primary School May 2011 Recommendations The school needs to: R1 raise standards of achievement at key stage 2 to ensure that pupils continue to make good progress as they move up from the Foundation Phase; R2 improve the quality of boys’ writing skills; R3 further adapt the lessons to provide more challenging work for more able pupils; R4 give pupils more opportunities to apply their numeracy skills across the curriculum; and R5 focus more on standards when monitoring lessons and pupil work. What happens next? The school will draw up an action plan which shows how it is going to address the recommendations. 3 A report on Knelston Primary School May 2011 Main findings Key Question 1: How good are outcomes? Good Standards: Good Many pupils enter the school with skills that are at or above the expected level. In key stage 1 they make very good progress and attainment data shows that the school is performing well above the national average and also when compared to similar schools based on entitlement to free school meals. Progress in key stage 2 is generally good but is not as strong as the progress made in key stage 1. Most pupils engage well in their learning although, at both key stages, the girls perform much better than boys in the majority of subjects. In 2010, at key stage 1, the performance of pupils at level 2, the expected level at seven years old, in English, mathematics, and the core subject indicator (expected performance in English or Welsh, mathematics and science in combination), places the school in the top half when compared to similar schools based on the proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals. All pupils attained level 2 or above in mathematics, which places the school in the top 25% of similar schools. This is also significantly better than the local authority, the national and the family of schools averages. However, attainment in science was not as good as in the previous two years and places the school in the bottom half when compared to similar schools. Pupils’ performance above the expected level (level 3) is better than the family, the local authority and the all-Wales averages in English, mathematics and science. At key stage 2, pupil performance in attaining level 4, the expected level at 11 years old, has improved over the last four years. The core subject indicator shows the school to be performing well above both the national and local authority averages, and slightly above the family average. However, in 2010, when compared to similar schools, the school was in the bottom half for English, mathematics and science. In 2009 it was in the top half for these core subjects. The proportion of pupils achieving the higher level 5 is in line with the family but better than the local authority and all Wales averages in English and mathematics. In science, a smaller proportion of pupils gained level 5 than the family, local authority or Wales average. There is no difference in the relative performance of pupils at key stage 1, based on free school meals entitlement. However, girls perform consistently better than the boys, across all the core subjects. At key stage 2, in 2010, pupils entitled to free school meals performed slightly better than those not entitled to free school meals. As in key stage 1, the girls perform significantly better than the boys across the core subjects. Pupils with additional learning needs make good progress. Nearly all achieve the expected levels in the end of key stage assessments. At both key stages, many pupils have good standards of reading. Pupils in key stage 1 make rapid progress and most can read fluently, with confidence, and have a good awareness of phonics. However, during key stage 2, pupils do not always build on their earlier standards well enough. As a result, a minority of pupils do not make sufficient progress in their reading. Many older pupils have a good interest in reading 4 A report on Knelston Primary School May 2011 and can explain their reading choices. Pupil progress in writing is similar to that for reading: good progress at key stage 1 but a slowing down at key stage 2. The spelling, punctuation and grammar of a minority of older pupils are relatively weak, especially among boys. They are unable to apply the skills taught in English lessons to their work across the curriculum. Pupils’ oral skills are very good. They talk confidently and can explain clearly what they are reading and about their life in school. Pupils apply their numeracy skills well in specific mathematics work in key stage 1 but less so in key stage 2. Overall, pupils do not always apply their numeracy skills well across the curriculum. Many pupils are confident in using information and communication technology for a range of purposes at both key stages. This technology is often used to develop pupils’ literacy, numeracy and design skills. However, data handling skills are not as well developed. Key stage 2 pupils often undertake research on computers through accessing relevant websites. Pupils are not making expected progress in Welsh second language. In the Foundation Phase most pupils respond appropriately to instructions and use simple phrases correctly and with enthusiasm. The use of incidental Welsh is a common feature of oral communication between teachers and pupils. By the end of key stage 1, most pupils clearly understand the vocabulary they use, speak with confidence, and read and write simple sentences in Welsh. In key stage 2, most pupils can use Welsh words confidently in the classroom. However, the school is performing below the family and Wales averages in terms of the proportion of pupils gaining a level 4 or above in Welsh second language. Wellbeing: Good All pupils agree that the school teaches them to be healthy.