OfSTED Report: March 2006

INTRODUCTION

OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS

ACHIEVEMENTS AND STANDARDS

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELL-BEING

QUALITY OF PROVISION

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

SUMMARY OF INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

LETTER TO CHILDREN

INTRODUCTION

Greenfylde First School
Inspection report
Unique Reference Number 123764
LEA Somerset
Inspection number 281554
Inspection dates 1-2 March 2006
Reporting inspector Mr M S Burghart
This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.
Type of School First School
School category Community
Age range of pupils 4 to 9

Silver Street
Ilminster
TA19 0DS

Gender of pupils Mixed

 

Telephone number 01460 52686
Number on roll 311

Fax number 01460 55780

Appropriate authority The governing body

Chair of governors Mr G Twinberrow

 

Date of previous inspection February 2000

Headteacher Mr J Jeffery

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act
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Introduction
The inspection was carried out by three Additional Inspectors.
Description of the school
This is a large first school at the heart of an ancient market town. A high percentage of pupils walk to school. Most pupils are White British and an average proportion has learning difficulties or disabilities. The attainment of children is below average when they first join Reception and has declined over recent years. It represents a wide range and varies from year to year. Recent changes in staffing mean that the majority of senior leaders and some curriculum coordinators are new to their posts of responsibility.

Key for inspection grades
Grade 1 Outstanding
Grade 2 Good
Grade 3 Satisfactory
Grade 4 Inadequate
Inspection Report: Greenfylde First School, 1-2 March 2006 2
Document reference number: HMI 2507 03 October 2005

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OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS

Overall effectiveness of the school
This is a good school, which gives good value for money. It takes good care of pupils and helps them to achieve well. Good provision in the Reception classes gives children a positive start and this is built on in personal and academic terms throughout the school. Pupils make good progress through the school and reach broadly average standards by the time they leave. A few pupils do better than this. Pupils respond to the good quality of education on offer with positive attitudes and excellent behaviour. They clearly enjoy their learning. Provision for those with learning difficulties and disabilities is outstanding. There is excellent consideration of how all pupils can be involved in all activities. However, there is more to do to improve the way in which teachers? marking shows pupils how they can move forward, especially in writing. Procedures for checking on pupils' progress are good in English and mathematics but are not consistent in other subjects.
Teaching and learning are good because the school is well run and successfully evaluates its own performance. There is a close match between what the school sees as its strengths and areas for development and inspectors' findings. Improvement has been steady since the last inspection with good progress since the new senior leadership team was established. These are strong indicators that the school has a good capacity to improve.
Grade: 2

What the school should do to improve further
*Improve rates of progress by developing the use of assessment across the curriculum to help pupils understand the targets they are working to
*Improve the marking of pupils' work to show pupils how they can make improvements particularly with regard to writing and mathematics. Back to top

ACHIEVEMENTS AND STANDARDS

Achievement and standards
Pupils' achievement and standards are good overall. This reflects good progress from a below average start in Reception. Good progress in the Reception classes means that children achieve most of what is expected of them before joining Year 1. Most pupils do well in reading, writing and mathematics to reach broadly average standards at the end of Year 4 and a few do better than this. Standards, although broadly average in Year 2 national tests in 2005, were better than in 2004. Most pupils meet the challenging targets set for them. There are signs that pupils are performing as well as the school expects of them and the improvement is continuing this year. Standards are lower than in 2001 but this is explained by children's attainment on entry declining and increased proportions of pupils with learning difficulties. Pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities achieve well, benefiting from outstanding support. Over the past three years progress rates have varied and have been slower in some aspects than others. For example, the school identified that girls did better than boys in the Year 2 national assessments last year and that higher attainers did not do as well in mathematics as they did in reading and writing.
Although there is still more to do, changes in the way these elements are taught are bringing about improvements.
Grade: 2 Back to top

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELL-BEING

Personal development and well-being
Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Spiritual development is particularly strong, with Christian ideals supporting all the work of the school. Good moral development is evident from the outstanding behaviour seen in lessons and around the school. Pupils act responsibly. Parents indicate that their children enjoy school and this is clear from the good attitudes, which contribute to hard work and good overall progress. Healthy eating and living are emphasised in science and personal, social and health education lessons. Pupils respond well to this by eating and drinking healthily and many walk to school. Safety issues are covered well, for example, by helping pupils understand the dangers of the nearby building site. The school council is fairly new but is enabling pupils to make a good contribution to the school and wider communities. Councillors have suggested improvements to the school playground and raised money for charities. Older pupils help younger ones on a regular basis and pupils take part in a number of activities in the community. Attendance is broadly satisfactory although the number of holidays taken in term time lowers the school-s figures. Pupils are developing basic skills for everyday life but there is room for more obvious planning in relation to their economic well-being.
Grade: 2 Back to top

QUALITY OF PROVISION

Quality of provision
Teaching and learning
Teaching and learning are good. This is the result of weaknesses reported in the last inspection having been overcome. Teachers are well organised and plan their work effectively for the different abilities within in their classes. They know pupils well and use the good ratio of experienced teaching assistants very effectively to support learning. Very good relationships and good questioning encourage pupils to listen as well as contribute to class discussions. Teachers make work challenging, interesting and enjoyable. These factors contribute effectively to pupils' progress, good response, and outstanding behaviour. Outstanding support and teaching for pupils with learning difficulties underpins good progress.
A strong commitment in the Reception classes to learning through a variety of structured activities and play encourages children's independence and personal development. It gives them a good start to their schooling.
The good assessment procedures in English and mathematics enable teachers to track pupils' progress. However, in other subjects pupil targets are too vague and are not always written in language readily understood by pupils. Teachers' marking is encouraging but does not highlight how work could be better.
Grade: 2

Curriculum and other activities
The school offers a good, broad and balanced curriculum with links being developed between subjects. The use of the locality, very good links with the community and churches, and a good range of visits and visitors have positive effects on learning. The curriculum is well focused on making learning enjoyable and recent initiatives to improve the quality of pupils' reading are driving up standards. The school now needs to improve the ways in which writing can be encouraged across the curriculum. There are good programmes to promote pupils? understanding of being healthy and safe and to develop self-confidence. Extra-curricular sporting, arts and other activities, which were identified as weaknesses at the last inspection, are now vgood and are very well attended by pupils.
The Reception curriculum is good. It uses the environment and seasonal changes effectively to help children to begin to understand the world in which they live. Learning through play is valued.
Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support
Pupils are cared for and supported well. There are some outstanding features such as the everyday love and care given to all pupils, the support for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities, and the total inclusion of all pupils in all activities. Young children settle well into school life, helped by thorough preparation including home visits. Teachers know pupils well. Together with effective assessment procedures this enables early identification of any problems pupils may have. Staff make effective use of outside agencies where necessary and very good use of the well trained teaching assistants to support pupils' learning. Marking to help pupils know and understand how they can improve is not consistent. The setting of clear individual targets for pupils is underdeveloped and restricts progress.
Good systems are in place to ensure that children are safe and protected. These range from up-to-date child protection procedures to locking the school gates during the day. Pupils know that any incidents of bullying will be dealt with by adults. 'Someone will always listen', explained a Year 3 girl. All necessary risk assessments are carried out. Parents are very supportive of the school and are pleased with children's progress.
Grade: 2 Back to top

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Leadership and management
Good leadership and management have positive effects on achievement and ensure that the school adds value to pupils' learning. Senior leaders (most of whom are new to their roles) and governors make accurate evaluations of how well the school is doing based on observations and reviews of teaching, standards and progress. There are highlights in the outstanding management of provision for those with learning difficulties and the good leadership of literacy and numeracy, as well as the leadership of work in Reception. Some curriculum coordinators have had insufficient opportunities for observing teaching and learning in their subjects and this restricts their capacity to identify where improvements can be made. Such monitoring is an area for development. The school's management of procedures to ensure that all pupils, regardless of any disability, are included in all activities, is excellent. Good quality self-evaluation results in the school?s view of its strengths and areas for development matching inspectors? findings. The headteacher's leadership is outstanding and his management is strong. He has fashioned the whole staff into a very good team and makes good use of contributions from all concerned to turn the school's intentions into practice. This lays a good basis for the school's future development. Good governance makes effective use of the budget to ensure money is well spent. Governors are prepared to challenge the school as well as give support. They report that the way communication with parents and the community is handled is very good and much improved. Parents are very supportive of the school. Comments like, 'We have real confidence in Greenfylde', show that parents agree with the inspectors' judgement that the school is well run.
Grade: 2


Inspection Report: Greenfylde First School, 1?2 March 2006 6
Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the
procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available
from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. Back to top

SUMMARY OF INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Annex A
Inspection Judgements
Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good,
grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate.

Overall effectiveness
How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? 2
How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2
The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2
The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2
The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes
Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection Yes
Achievement and standards
How well do learners achieve? 2
The standards reached by learners 3
How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2
How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress 2

Personal development and well-being
How good is the overall personal development and well-being of the learners? 2
The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural
Development 2
The behaviour of learners 1
The attendance of learners 3
How well learners enjoy their education 2
The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2
The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2
The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the Community 2
How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being 3

The quality of provision
How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of learners' needs? 2
How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 2
How well are learners cared for, guided and supported? 2

Leadership and management
How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners? 2
How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 2
How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review 2
How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can 1
How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achievevalue for money 2
The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities 2
The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are Protected Yes

Does this school require special measures? No
Does this school require a notice to improve? No

The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy
Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily. Yes
Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise. Yes
Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse. Yes
Learners are educated about sexual health. Yes

The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe
Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements. Yes
Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place. Yes
Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism. Yes
Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them. Yes

The extent to which learners make a positive contribution 2
Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships. Yes
Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them. Yes
Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school
and the wider community. Yes

The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being
There is provision to promote learners' basic skills. Yes
Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams. Yes
Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in Key Stages 3 and 4 and the sixth form. NA
Education for all learners aged 14-19 provides an understanding of employment
and the economy. NA Back to top

LETTER TO CHILDREN

Annex B
Greenfylde First School
Silver Street
Ilminster
Somerset
TA19 0DS
3 March 2006

Dear Children,
We really enjoyed our visit to Greenfylde. It is a good school. We can see why you
like coming and why your parents are so pleased with the school. It was good to find that you are polite, get on well with each other, and care so much about being
healthy. Your excellent behaviour in class and in the playground shows you respect
your school and each other.

These are some of the strengths of the school:
*You make good progress from the time you first join to when you leave for the
middle school because you are well taught and the school provides interesting
work
*Staff take good care of you and help everyone to learn, especially those who
find learning difficult
*The school is well run and is very successful in making sure all of you can join
in all activities.

We have asked your teachers to improve the ways that they find out how well you
are doing in all subjects and to make these assessments as good as they are in
English and mathematics. This will help you to make even faster progress and should raise standards. Teachers know that they need to set clearer targets for each of you and then follow these up in their marking to show you exactly how you can improve your work especially in writing and maths. Improving writing is an aim for everyone.

We were very impressed that you are prepared to listen to each other and your
teachers. This is one of the secrets of good learning. Good luck for the future.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Burghart
Lead Inspector
Alexandra House
33 Kingsway
London WC2B 6SE
T 0207 421 6800
F 0207 421 6707
www.ofsted.gov.uk Back to top

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