All Saints Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of All Saints East Clevedon Church of England Voluntary

Controlled Primary School Following my visit to the school on 1 March 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings.

The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in May 2012. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

You have been the headteacher since 2009 and are currently taking the school through a period of substantial change. Major building works are underway and these have caused considerable and ...unavoidable disruption to the school's normal pattern of work. Nonetheless, you, other staff and governors have worked very hard, and with good effect, to ensure that pupils' education has not been hampered by the works.

This is testimony to the team work that characterises the approach of staff in the school, which is a key foundation of the good standard of education it provides. Governors provide a good level of support to the school's leaders but do not shy away from holding them to account for pupils' academic outcomes. Governors provide, therefore, an important stimulus to further school improvement.

You have successfully tackled the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Teachers now set work which closely matches the learning needs of pupils. Teachers' training has also been enhanced by links with your local cluster of schools and by new approaches to sharing examples of effective teaching within the school.

You are keenly aware, however, that the school still needs to ensure that pupils in key stage 2 make faster progress in writing and attain at higher levels in science. Many parents regard the school as a 'family' or a 'real community' in which their children are well known, understood and looked after. A substantial majority of parents would recommend the school to another parent, although some would like communication between school and home to improve.

Staff are similarly positive about the school. All are proud to work at the school and this high morale is a significant contributor to the effective team work that takes place. Safeguarding is effective.

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. You and other staff at the school have established a very strong culture of vigilance in your work to keep pupils safe. For example, the site is extremely secure and procedures for moving between the temporary accommodation and the main buildings are well established, ensuring that pupils are safe at all times.

Staff are all well trained in safeguarding, as are you in your role as the designated safeguarding lead. Governors have a good understanding of their role in promoting a culture of safeguarding and the nominated governor works closely with the school's leadership to ensure this. Inspection findings ? The first key line of enquiry on this inspection concerned the progress that pupils in key stage 2 make in their writing.

In the 2016 national curriculum assessments, pupils made significantly slower progress in their writing than pupils nationally. Pupils' attainment was also lower in the grammar, punctuation and spelling test. Extensive scrutiny of the writing of pupils currently in Years 5 and 6, however, shows that they are making better progress than historic results would suggest.

• The writing of the most able pupils is characterised by complex sentence structure, wide vocabulary and strong understanding of grammar. Punctuation is used securely to convey meaning or enhance expression. The work of the most able pupils shows that they can write for a wide variety of purposes and sustain tone in longer pieces.

Other pupils are also making good progress in their writing, whatever their starting points. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are given effective support to improve the quality of their writing. ? In addition, the outcomes in 2016 for pupils at key stage 1 and for children in the early years foundation stage show that a larger proportion than the national average is reaching the expected standards in writing.

This means that there are secure foundations in place to support pupils' development of their writing once they reach key stage 2. Recent changes to how the literacy curriculum is organised are also supporting well the development of pupils' written skills in key stage 2. ? The second line of enquiry looked into how effective the teaching of mathematics was in developing pupils' ability to work at greater depth within the expected standard.

Pupils who are currently in Years 1 and 2 are clearly developing their abilities well in areas such as mathematical reasoning and problem-solving. They show perseverance when faced with difficult problems and use the resources available to them well in their problem-solving. Across key stage 1, pupils engage enthusiastically with their work in mathematics, whatever their ability.

• A third line of enquiry concerned the curriculum in key stage 2, especially the science curriculum. Science attainment in 2016 showed that none of a very small cohort attained the expected standard in science, which raised questions about the effectiveness of the science curriculum and its delivery. In the light of these results, school leaders took immediate steps to ensure that the science curriculum covered all the areas of the new assessment framework.

Most importantly, the work in current pupils' books shows that they are being introduced to key conceptual ideas in science, such as the scientific method, as they develop their knowledge and understanding of topics across the physical and biological sciences. The large proportion of pupils in key stage 1 who attained the expected standard in science also shows that there is effective science teaching in the school. Other topic work and the school's curriculum plans show that science fits into a broad and balanced curriculum in which pupils study an appropriate range of subjects.

For example, all pupils, from Reception to Year 6, study French every week. ? The final line of enquiry on this inspection examined pupils' attendance. The school has a strong record of pupils attending at rates higher than the national average.

The rate of attendance so far this year has improved again. You have worked hard with parents to create a culture of good attendance by helping them to understand what the impact of missing a day of school has on their children's education. Moreover, pupils enjoy coming to school and value the learning they do, which also promotes good attendance.

The attendance rates of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities improved last year and show further improvement for the current year. Nonetheless, the attendance for this group of pupils is still below the national average for all pupils. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? pupils in key stage 2 make faster progress in their writing ? recent changes to the science curriculum lead to a higher proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard at key stage 2.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Bath and Wells, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for North Somerset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Stephen Lee Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection I held an initial meeting with you at the start of the inspection to establish the key lines of enquiry I would follow during the rest of the day.

I observed pupils' learning in lessons and scrutinised their work. I took the opportunity to speak to pupils about their education throughout the day and met a group of them more formally to talk about the school. I had meetings with other school leaders and with the local governing body, including the chair.

I examined the school's documentation of safeguarding, including the records of the pre-employment checks it makes on staff. I talked to parents at the start of the day and took into account 32 responses to Ofsted's online survey of parental opinion, Parent View. I also examined the results of the surveys of the opinions of pupils and staff.

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