Goodrich CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Goodrich C of E Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 4 July 2018, 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 March 2014.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You lead the school with calm determination and a clear sense of purpose.

You are rigorous in your checks on the quality of teaching and on pupils' achievement and so you have a very precise understanding of the school's main strengths a...nd those areas that can be developed further. You are well supported by reflective and committed senior staff and together you have strengthened the school since the last inspection. Pupils are at the heart of what the school does every day.

Every pupil is known as an individual. The school's motto of 'achieve, believe, care' is reflected in the day-to-day life of the school. The school has strong Christian values.

It has placed an emphasis on promoting positive learning behaviours, such as teamwork, independence and perseverance. There is an ethos where pupils achieve academically, have high expectations and can thrive in a nurturing environment. One pupil commented that being at Goodrich C of E Primary School was like being part of one big family.

Teachers share your high expectations of what pupils can achieve. Staff morale is high. You have given high priority to providing your staff with regular training to develop their classroom practice further.

Whole school strategies have been put into place to secure improvements, and there is a consistency in approach across all classes. For example, you have worked with staff to raise the quality of questioning. In the lessons we observed, teachers used questioning skilfully to probe and deepen pupils' understanding.

However, pupils could be given more opportunities to record their thinking and reasoning in independent work, especially in mathematics. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They say their children are happy, safe and making good progress.

They particularly appreciate the sense of community that exists within the school and the wide range of opportunities their children are given. All the parents who participated in Ofsted's online questionnaire Parent View said they would recommend the school to other parents. One parent echoed the view of many when she said: 'A fabulous school where the children are actively encouraged, not only academically, but also to be well rounded, kind and helpful members of society'.

The school is well supported by parents, some of whom take an active role in providing extra-curricular opportunities for pupils. This has enabled the school to provide additional experiences such as gardening, pizza-making and art. The quality of the pottery work in the entrance hall is quite exceptional.

The governing body is made up of a committed and experienced group of individuals. You and subject leaders provide the governing body with detailed information about the school's effectiveness. This enables them to offer a balance of challenge and support to leaders.

They strive for improvement, continually seeking ways to improve the school, for example by exploring the viability of pre-school provision. At the last inspection, you were asked to improve the quality of provision in the early years foundation stage, with particular regard to the development of the outdoor space. You have extended the area and refurbished it, providing an excellent range of learning opportunities, which extend across all areas of learning.

The teaching we observed in the early years, along with the evidence in workbooks, demonstrates strong teaching and pupils make good progress over time in all areas of learning. You were also asked to improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that the most able pupils are always given suitably challenging work. You have addressed this by introducing a mastery approach to mathematics, where pupils apply their mathematical skills and understanding.

Tasks are set which are open-ended and pupils are encouraged to challenge themselves. In response to the findings in the previous inspection, you have also ensured that mathematics is taught in the context of other subjects. Older pupils talked to me about how much they were enjoying their project about planning, designing and running a theme park.

They believe that putting mathematics into a real-life context made the learning meaningful and working collaboratively made the learning fun. You have worked to improve literacy skills and have introduced a new approach to reading comprehension, which uses high-quality texts. We observed pupils being challenged with oral questions that required them to use the skills of inference and deduction.

For example, when studying an extract from 'Just William' by Richmal Crompton, pupils were asked to look for clues that would indicate the era the story was set in. To further develop literacy skills across the school, a continued focus on securing standards of spelling and extending pupils range of vocabulary are the next steps for the school. Safeguarding is effective.

School leaders, staff and governors take safeguarding extremely seriously. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Consequently, there is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school, and procedures for keeping pupils safe are consistently applied.

Records kept are meticulous and a chronological overview of cases where pupils are causing concern is carefully maintained. This enables the safeguarding lead to identify emerging patterns quickly and address them swiftly. All staff receive regular training in how to keep pupils safe.

As a result, staff are knowledgeable about safeguarding policies and procedures and are vigilant for any sign that a pupil could be at risk. Leaders and governors are trained in safer recruitment procedures, and all appropriate checks are undertaken on staff and volunteers to ensure that any adults working in the school are suitable. Pupils say everyone knows the importance of treating others in the school kindly and courteously.

They report that bullying is very rare, but any incidents of poor behaviour or unkindness are effectively dealt with. They feel safe in the school. They can explain the different ways the school helps them to keep safe and to care for themselves, including how to keep themselves safe online.

They are taught about safety on the roads and the potential dangers strangers may pose to their well-being. Inspection findings ? I focused some of the inspection on writing. This was because, since the last inspection, it has been an area for development for the school.

Evidence in lessons and in pupils' workbooks demonstrates a strong approach to the teaching of grammar, and pupils are able to apply this knowledge in their writing. There has also been a whole-school focus on developing a piece of writing over time. Oral story-telling techniques and writing frames are used to help pupils structure their writing, so that ideas flow in a logical sequence.

This has been very effective. Evidence in pupils' workbooks shows that writing skills are developed extremely well across subjects and pupils are able to write extensively. To improve the quality of writing further, pupils need to be given more opportunities to explore vocabulary and to experiment with less common words.

This will enable them to select and use vocabulary choices which can have a powerful effect on the reader. ? You correctly identified that it was the spelling element of the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test that prevented more pupils achieving the higher standard in the 2017 Key Stage 2 tests. You have implemented a new approach to spelling which ensures that spelling has a daily focus.

This involves pupils playing games which help them learn the correct spelling of the set of words for the week. This is beginning to show a positive impact. However, this approach is still in its infancy and continues to be a focus for the school.

• Pupils in Year 2 in 2017 performed particularly well, achieving well above the national average of greater depth, particularly in writing and mathematics. The evidence from the 2018 phonics screening demonstrates the strong performance in the Year 1 screening checks since 2016 has been maintained. Observations in lessons and the evidence in workbooks demonstrate that pupils are given tasks which challenge them.

Work is well pitched to pupils learning needs. The attainment and progress data for the school has fluctuated over time because of the small numbers in each year group. However, because the school is small, you know every pupil very well.

You have established effective systems to check, on a regular basis, that pupils are making enough progress. ? We agreed that a further focus for the inspection would be the quality of teaching in mathematics, particularly to consider how the school provides learning opportunities that ensure girls make as much progress as boys. Leaders have worked to ensure that there is a consistent approach in mathematics lessons across the school.

They have also looked at the sort of learning opportunities that support girls' learning. Strategies such as collaborative work, real-life problem-solving and open-ended tasks have been put in place across the school. During whole-class teaching, pupils are challenged to think deeply, justify answers and explain their thinking.

However, there are fewer opportunities for them to do this in the written tasks they are set. To ensure that this improvement is sustained, improving teaching in mathematics should continue to be a focus for the school. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? pupils are given opportunities to explore vocabulary and are challenged to extend the range of vocabulary they use in writing ? pupils are given more opportunities to record their reasoning and thinking in mathematical tasks ? teachers continue to focus on improving the quality of spelling across the school.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Hereford, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Herefordshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Helen Davies Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection I met with you, other members of school staff and members of the governing body.

I also spoke on the telephone to the local authority school improvement adviser. Together, you and I planned the key lines of enquiry for the inspection. We jointly visited classes in the school to observe pupils' learning, speak with them and look in their books.

I looked at an extensive range of books currently used by each year group. I also spoke with pupils at breaktime and during the day. I spoke with parents at the start of the school day.

I took into account the views of 36 parents who responded to Ofsted's online questionnaire Parent View. I looked at a range of documentation including information about safeguarding and attendance. I scrutinised and discussed the school's self-evaluation and plans for improvement.