INSPECTION REPORT WINTERSLOW CHURCH OF ENGLAND (AIDED) PRIMARY SCHOOL Middle Winterslow, Salisbury LEA area: Wiltshire Unique reference number: 126420 Headteacher: Mr Peter Ward Reporting inspector: Dr T Simpson [10428] Dates of inspection: 29th to 30th November 2001 Inspection number: 196531 Short inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 © Crown copyright 2002 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 School Inspections Act 1996, 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: Infant and junior School category: Voluntary aided Age range of pupils: 5 to 11 Gender of pupils: Mixed School address: Middle Winterslow Salisbury Wiltshire Postcode: SP5 1RD Telephone number: 01980 862446 Fax number: 01980 863174 Appropriate authority: The governing body Name of chair of governors: Mr R Page Date of previous inspection: June 1997 Winterslow C of E (Aided) Primary School - 3 INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM Team members 10428 Dr T Simpson Registered inspector 12735 Mrs M Bebo Lay inspector 14997 Mrs V Emery Team inspector The inspection contractor was: Serco-QAA Ltd Herringston Barn Herringston Dorchester Dorset DT2 9PU Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to: The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division The Office for Standards in Education Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Winterslow C of E (Aided) Primary School - 4 REPORT CONTENTS Page PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6 Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school PART B: COMMENTARY WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL 10 WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED 14 PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS 15 Winterslow C of E (Aided) Primary School - 5 PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL Winterslow is a smaller than average sized Church of England primary school serving a rural and largely socially advantaged area near Salisbury in Wiltshire. There are 177 pupils on roll, including 18 who are in the reception class. There are no pupils who come from an ethnic minority background and none who speak English as an additional language. There are about the same number of boys and girls on roll. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs - including those with statements of special educational need - is average, but the percentage who are entitled to free school meals is well below average. In most areas, attainment on entry is above average. HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS This is a very effective school. Standards in the key subjects of English, mathematics and science are well above average by the time the pupils leave the school. Overall rates of learning are good and most pupils make good progress as they proceed through the school. Teaching is very good and is sometimes excellent. The personal support provided for pupils is excellent. Their attitudes and behaviour are very good and their personal development and relationships are excellent. Provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. The school has improved significantly since the last inspection. The headteacher and staff have a strong vision for taking the school even further forward, and overall management is very good. Ethos at the school is excellent. Income is above average, but the school still provides good value for money. What the school does well · Standards in English, mathematics and science are well above the national average by the end of Year 6. · Teaching is very good overall and there are examples where it is excellent. As a result the pupils learn very well. · The school’s provision for the personal development of the pupils is excellent. As a result, their attitudes and behaviour are very good, while their personal development is excellent. · Management at the school is very good and this has a very positive effect on standards and ethos. · Provision for pupils with special educational needs is very good, and as a result these pupils achieve well and are fully included in all areas of the school’s activities. What could be improved · The inspection team found no areas where significant improvement is required. The school is very effective. It has good procedures in place for self-evaluation and review and is constantly striving to improve even further. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION The school was last inspected in July 1997. Since then it has made very good progress in addressing all the issues then raised. Standards are now much higher in English, mathematics and science. Teaching is greatly improved and pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development are even better than they were. Curriculum planning, the provision for pupils’ personal development, and overall management have all improved – in some cases significantly. The accommodation is now much better and the school continues to improve its cost effectiveness. STANDARDS Winterslow C of E (Aided) Primary School - 6 The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests. compared with similar Performance in: all schools Key schools 1999 2000 2001 2001 well above average A English A* A A A above average B average C Mathematics A A* A* A below average D well below average E Science A A* A A Standards in all three subjects have been well above the national average for the past four years. An asterisk means that the school’s performance is in the highest five percent nationally. The judgement of the inspection is that current standards are still well above average at the end of Year 6. In the 2001 tests of seven-year-old pupils, results were below average in reading, average in writing and well above average in mathematics. The school had recognised previous weaknesses in mathematics at the end of Year 2 and successfully instituted a number of strategies to improve these. It is now applying the same strategies to reading and writing and it is the judgement of the inspection that standards in all three areas are currently above average. The main reason that standards at the end of Year 2 are slightly below those at the end of Year 6 is that the school focuses particularly on developing personal and social skills during reception and Years 1 and 2, as this is the one area identified by baseline assessments as being sometimes below expected levels when children enter the school. Overall achievement in the reception class and in Years 1 and 2 is, therefore, satisfactory, while – as the basis has now been created for more rapid academic learning – achievement in Years 3 to 6 is good. Most pupils with special educational needs achieve well in relation to their prior attainment. The trend in the school’s average national curriculum points scores for all core subjects was broadly in line with the national trend over the past few years. High targets have been set for future results in literacy and numeracy and these are on course to being met. Among the other subjects, there are strengths in art and in aspects of information and communication technology. PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES Aspect Comment Attitudes to the school Very good – pupils are enthusiastic about the school. They are eager to learn and work hard. Behaviour, in and out of Very good throughout the school in lessons and during playtimes. There classrooms have been no exclusions. Personal development and Excellent – pupils relate remarkably well to adults and to one another relationships and thoroughly enjoy taking responsibility. They have a high level of respect for one another and have very inclusive attitudes. Attendance Excellent – attendance is very high in comparison with other schools. In lessons, nearly all pupils are very attentive and very keen to learn. They are very courteous to adults and to each other. Relationships at all levels are outstanding and are based on high levels of mutual respect. Winterslow C of E (Aided) Primary School - 7 TEACHING AND LEARNING Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6 Quality of teaching Very good. Very good. Very good. Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses The quality of teaching is a major strength of the school and is having a very positive impact on the quality of pupils’ learning and on the standards they are reaching. Teaching was good or better in all the lessons seen during the inspection. It was very good or better in half and excellent in three out of the fourteen lessons seen. In some cases it was inspirational. In all lessons, objectives are shared with the pupils, which means that they have a clear idea about what they are trying to achieve. Basic skills are taught very well, which has a very positive impact on standards in literacy and numeracy.