Court-De-Wyck Church School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Court-de-Wyck provides a good education for its pupils, which fully reflects its Christian ethos. It enables them to make good progress in both their academic and personal development.

The care, guidance and support provided for pupils are outstanding; as one parent commented, 'they go above and beyond the call of duty, a five star school'. Adults ensure that the pupils feel safe and the needs of each individual pupil are met. Parents are delighted with the support provided and their comments reflect the views of one who said, 'The communication and support has been exceptional, the teaching staff are totally committed to each child reaching its full potential.'

The school's success stems fr...om the strong leadership of the headteacher. He has high expectations of what the pupils can achieve and constantly strives, with his senior leadership team and staff, to make the provision even stronger. Children get a good start in Reception.

The wide range of activities provided means that they learn effectively and make good progress. By the end of Year 6 attainment is broadly average and pupils achieve well. The school has done well to reverse the down turn in attainment seen in 2010.

It takes swift action to address any perceived weaknesses. Through its rigorous monitoring and assessment procedures, the school identified that attainment in mathematics across the school was a weaker area. The decision was taken to remove the deputy headteacher from her class-teacher role in order for her to work with colleagues in all classes to raise standards.

This included working and teaching alongside colleagues in classrooms and focusing on specific skills such as times tables. Pupils now not only reinforce their basic skills more effectively but can also better apply the knowledge they are gaining. As a consequence, underachievement has been eradicated and pupils work with greater enjoyment and confidence.

Attainment in English, particularly reading, has also improved considerably. Writing is often imaginative with wonderful imagery. Punctuation and grammar are good.

However, spelling is not as good as it should be because there is no consistent approach to teaching it and this means that pupils are not developing their spelling skills systematically. Pupils make good progress because they receive consistently good teaching. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive very good support both in class and in small group or individual tuition sessions which enables them to make good progress in their learning.

Teachers take care to ensure that pupils are appropriately challenged in class. The careful matching of task to individual need ensures that all pupils achieve well. They really enjoy school and have positive attitudes towards their learning.

Pupils behave well and say that lessons are interesting and exciting. They tackle tasks enthusiastically and take a pride in their work. Presentation was an area for development at the last inspection and the school has tackled this well.

Pupils have an excellent understanding of what a healthy lifestyle entails. They respond enthusiastically to the many and varied opportunities the curriculum provides for sport and exercise, fully justifying the Healthy Schools and Activemark awards. The curriculum is good and has been recently revised to make it more relevant and exciting.

However, the changes are not yet fully embedded and it has not been reviewed yet to ensure that all opportunities for learning are identified within each theme. The school has a good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses and self-evaluation is accurate. The successful actions taken to improve mathematics, for example, are further proof of the school's good capacity to secure further improvements.

It has extremely good relationships with and the support of its parents. As one commented, 'It is very friendly and professional at all times with a caring approach.'

Information about the school

Court-de-Wyck is a smaller-than-average sized primary school in the village of Claverham.

While most pupils are local, a significant minority travel some distance to school from the surrounding area. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those with a statement of special educational needs, is high. These needs mainly relate to behaviour and moderate learning difficulties.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is above average. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are catered for in the Reception class. The school holds a number of awards including the Healthy Schools, Activemark, and the Bronze eco-award.

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