All Saints Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Winfarthing

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

All Saints Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Winfarthing continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have experienced a lot of change in the past few years. This change has been for the better and in their interests.

Nevertheless, although pupils are happy and safe, some would like fewer changes in teachers, so they can form more lasting bonds. The school is working hard to provide this stability.

Pupils are keen to do well.

They study an interesting and challenging curriculum and produce high-quality work. Pupils get the support they need from teachers to improve and develop their work. This includes pupils with sp...ecial educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

However, a few pupils at the early stages of reading do not develop their reading fluency as well as they might.

Pupils understand and apply the school's positive behaviour values. They learn about tolerance and respect in assemblies and treat each other well.

This means that classrooms and the playground are pleasant places to be.

Pupils go on lots of interesting trips that broaden their experience beyond the local area. They recently went on a 'Christmas extravaganza', which was centred around the personal development theme of finding their 'shining light'.

This involved having fish and chips at the beach and participating in the 'luminate light trail' at Sandringham.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has undergone a period of significant but necessary change. The local authority has strengthened governance and oversight.

Standards of education have been very significantly raised, as a result. However, this has meant significant changes in processes and staffing. This has caused some unavoidable instability for pupils.

The school has worked hard to ensure that sustainable plans are in place for the school's future and that staffing is more settled.

The school has ensured that high-quality curriculum plans are in place across all subjects. This includes tailoring planning for children in early years and mixed-age group classes.

The school has developed subject leadership and trained staff in how to lead subjects effectively. As a result, in most subjects, pupils learn the intended curriculum well. The school continues to develop leadership across different staff.

Teaching is effective. Pupils build subject knowledge well, and teachers check what pupils have learned. Teachers provide additional support where pupils need it, to close gaps in knowledge.

Pupils produce high-quality work. This is also the case for pupils with SEND. Staff plan for and meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

This means that they are fully included in lessons and achieve well.

Pupils grow to love reading from an early age. Pupils look forward to story time and read regularly.

The school has carefully thought through which high-quality books will enhance the curriculum. For example, pupils read a class book and different types of literature relating to their Viking project. This gives them the knowledge they need to be able to write in this style themselves and make connections across different subjects.

The school has ensured that there is a consistent approach to teaching phonics for those at the earlier stages of reading. This works well for most pupils. However, there is some inconsistency in how well staff teach pupils to read and spell unfamiliar words.

This is because not all staff implement the training they have had consistently well. Therefore, some pupils make slower progress with learning to read fluently than they might. However, pupils who are behind are supported to catch up.

Pupils follow positive behaviour values. Levels of attendance are high. Children in early years benefit from following familiar routines.

They learn to share, take turns, listen and sustain their focus on activities. Although the indoor classroom is a stimulating environment for children, the outdoor area is sparser and does not provide high-quality opportunities to develop children's learning.

The school promotes pupils' personal development well.

Pupils spend a week at the start of the year doing activities around an 'up-up and away' theme. They visit an aviation museum and design their own hot air balloons, capturing their aspirations. The school council leads charity work, which has included cake sales to support the homeless.

Pupils learn about democracy by visiting the Houses of Parliament.

The school is mindful of staff's workload and well-being. For example, opportunities to share planning and work collaboratively on subjects across the federation have supported this well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Staff do not always teach phonics consistently well. There are some inconsistencies in how well staff model decoding of words and blending of sounds.

This means that, although pupils use their phonics knowledge to read unfamiliar words, they make slower progress with reading more challenging words and sentences fluently than they might. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to teach phonics consistently well so that pupils read with age-appropriate levels of fluency.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2013.