INSPECTION REPORT SWALECLIFFE COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL Whitstable LEA area: Kent Unique reference number: 118558 Headteacher: Mr David Hares Reporting inspector: Mrs Margaret Britton 17678 Dates of inspection: 14th – 17th July 2003 Inspection number: 253885 Full inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 © Crown copyright 2003 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: Community Age range of pupils: 4-11 Gender of pupils: Mixed School address: Bridgefield Road Swalecliffe Whitstable Postcode: CT5 2PH Telephone number: 01227 272101 Fax number: 01227 281336 Appropriate authority: The governing body Name of chair of governors: Mr Roger Shillum Date of previous inspection: June 1998 Swalecliffe Community Primary School - 4 INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM Subject Aspect responsibilities Team members responsibilities 17678 Margaret Britton Registered Music The school’s results and inspector pupils’ achievements How well are pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? What should the school do to improve further? 8992 Julian Vischer Lay inspector Equal opportunities Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 33006 Carol Breakwell Team inspector Mathematics Art and design 3942 Keith Sanderson Team inspector Science How good are the curricular Physical education and other opportunities offered to pupils? 22778 Anne Shannon Team inspector Information and communication technology Religious education Special educational needs 1193 Gillian Wiles Team inspector Foundation Stage Geography History 30691 Kathleen Yates Team inspector English Design and technology The inspection contractor was: Full Circle division of Parkman The Brow 35 Trewartha Park Weston-Super-Mare North Somerset BS23 2RT Swalecliffe Community Primary School - 5 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 Swalecliffe Community Primary School - 6 REPORT CONTENTS Page PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 7 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 HOW HIGH ARE STANDARDS? 12 The school’s results and pupils’ achievements Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT? 16 HOW GOOD ARE THE CURRICULAR AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED TO PUPILS? 19 HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS? 21 HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS? 23 HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED? 25 WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER? 29 PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS 30 PART D: THE STANDARDS AND QUALITY OF TEACHING IN AREAS OF THE CURRICULUM, SUBJECTS AND COURSES 35 Swalecliffe Community Primary School - 7 PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL The school serves the seaside area of Tankerton, to the east of Whitstable. This much larger than average community primary school caters for 608 pupils aged between four and 11 years old. The pupils are drawn mainly from Tankerton, Chestfield and Swalecliffe but a number of parents choose to bring their children from further afield. The pupils are taught in 21 classes arranged by age. Sixty-eight pupils (11 per cent) are eligible for free school meals which is similar to the national average. The majority of pupils are from a white, British background and 34 pupils (six per cent) are from other ethnic backgrounds including Traveller families. Four pupils (Bengali) have English as an additional language and of these, two are at an early stage of language development. One hundred and nineteen pupils (19.6 per cent) are identified as having special educational needs. Of these, nine pupils (almost two per cent) have a statement and six pupils (one per cent), looked after by local education authorities have behaviour and learning difficulties. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs is similar to the national average. HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS This is a good school that gives good value for money. Standards are above average by the end of Year 6. The quality of teaching is good overall. The headteacher and the governing body provide very good leadership. They are well supported by the senior management team and the good teamwork of the staff. What the school does well · The standards pupils achieve in English, mathematics, science, physical education and religious education in Years 5 and 6 are above average. · Pupils achieve well in the Foundation Stage1 and in Years 3 to 6. · The quality of teaching is good and the teachers manage the pupils’ behaviour and learning very well. · Pupils’ behaviour, their attitudes to learning and to one another are very good. · The school makes very good provision for pupils with special educational needs. · The range of educational activities provided for pupils in after school clubs and through educational visits is very good. · The provision for pupils’ personal development including their spiritual, moral and social development is very good and they respond very well by respecting the feelings, values and beliefs of others. · Parents make a very good contribution to the work of the school. · The headteacher provides very good leadership for the school. · The governing body is very effective in fulfilling its responsibilities. What could be improved · The assessment and recording of pupils’ learning in the foundation subjects2. · The link between the strategies used for teaching and learning in the Foundation Stage and those in Years 1 and 2. · Opportunities for pupils to take more initiative and personal responsibility for their learning. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. 1 The Foundation Stage includes children aged from three to the end of the reception year. 2 The foundation subjects are: art and design; design and technology; geography; history; information and communication technology; music; physical education and religious education. Swalecliffe Community Primary School - 8 Swalecliffe Community Primary School - 9 HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION The school was last inspected in June 1998. There has been a good rate of improvement in many areas of the school’s work since that time. The staff have achieved the key issues for improvement and, in most instances, have gone further. Good improvements have been made in teaching information and communication technology; assessment procedures are developing well and the creation of a well-equipped computer suite and a library for pupils in Years 3 to 6 has improved the educational provision. In addition to these improvements, the school has: raised standards in English, mathematics, science, design and technology and religious education; developed the roles of staff with responsibilities; dealt with staffing issues which were blocking the rate of school improvement; improved the provision for children in the Foundation Stage; successfully implemented the national strategies for literacy and numeracy; implemented the new Code of Practice for pupils with special educational needs; updated curriculum policies and schemes of work. The inspection identifies improvement in pupils’ attitudes and behaviour which are now very good. The quality of teaching is good overall and there is now a higher proportion of very good teaching. STANDARDS 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 2000 2001 2002 2002 well above average A English C B B B above average B average C mathematics E D C C below average D well below average E science D C C C There has been a trend of improvement in all three subjects between 2000 and 2002. The greatest improvement has been in standards in English. In 2002, the proportion of pupils reaching the higher level (Level 5) was above average in English. The school has identified and begun to successfully address a significant gap between the performance of boys and girls throughout the school in reading, writing, spelling and mathematics. Changes in boys’ attitudes and rate of progress are narrowing the gap. Inspection evidence shows that standards in mathematics have improved with most pupils currently attaining above average levels at the end of Year 2. The targets that the school sets itself for pupils’ performances in the national tests for English and mathematics are appropriately challenging and the school came close to reaching these in 2002. In 2003, the school has achieved the target set for English and come close to achieving the target for mathematics. The results of the national tests and assessments for pupils at the end of Year 2 in 2002 show that standards were average in reading, writing and mathematics when compared to all schools nationally. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher level (Level 3) in writing and in mathematics was average. There has been an overall trend of improvement in standards since the last inspection.