Pirbright Village Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Pirbright Village Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 28 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 March 2012.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since joining the school in September 2015, you have gained the trust and respect of the whole school community, and begun to build upon the school's many strengths.

Staff clearly understand your vision and what you are trying to ach...ieve. You have reorganised and reinvigorated the leadership team to suit the current needs of the school. You are giving new leaders greater responsibility and autonomy.

Meanwhile, you have found sensible ways to reduce teachers' workload. This means that their energy and enthusiasm can be used fully on teaching their pupils very well. Staff who are new to the school feel very well supported.

Your pupils always behave well; however; we agreed that they are not always as active in their learning as they could be. Building on work that has already begun in the Reception classes you and your team are keen to improve pupils' independence and resilience. This important step has not been universally supported by all parents.

However, you are rightly steadfast in your determination to succeed, knowing that these essential skills will serve pupils well in the future. One of your greatest successes to date has been to ensure that staff, governors and pupils have begun to look beyond the school. Staff have benefited from working as part of the Guildford Schools Confederation.

This has helped them to moderate assessment information with colleagues in other schools and to share best practice in teaching and learning. Pupils engage with local, national and international charities such as Comic Relief and the Kalahari Bushmen School. This helps them to understand and value the world beyond the school.

Everyone has the opportunity to experience success at this school, every pupil will have their special moment. You and your staff give pupils the confidence to do so much. This could be a post of responsibility, performing in a leading role, playing a musical instrument, demonstrating delightful manners to a visitor or playing in the girls 'b' team football match on a windy afternoon.

Since the previous inspection, standards of attainment at the end of key stage 2 have been maintained and kept up with the new higher national expectations. Pupils make particularly strong progress in reading. You are now tracking progress more closely and check that all groups, including those who are disadvantaged, are making at least good progress from their starting points.

You recognise that there are some minor inconsistencies in the progress made by some relatively small groups such as the most able disadvantaged pupils. Your governing body are knowledgeable about the school and very well skilled. They can be confident that the school is in safe hands going forward under your leadership.

You are ably supported by a deputy headteacher that knows the school well and has skills that complement yours. One parent commented that the new headteacher has already moved the school from 'good to great'. Your current self-evaluation of the school is accurate and realistic.

You recognise the very many strengths, but also know what could be better still. The new leadership team has many tasks to complete within its areas of responsibility. Leaders recognise that more work needs to be done: to develop pupils' problem-solving and reasoning skills in mathematics; to push more pupils beyond the expected standards; and to check that the very few pupils who fall behind are helped to catch up quickly.

Safeguarding is effective. When you joined the school you thoroughly reviewed all of the safeguarding procedures to check that they met statutory requirements and were fit for purpose. You have built capacity by training other colleagues to share the responsibility for safeguarding pupils with you.

As a team, you understand the specific risks associated with the school's ever-changing community. Staff are extremely well trained. They benefit from in-school expertise as well as receiving regular external training.

They are very aware of their duties and procedures to protect pupils, whatever the circumstances. Checks on staff when they are recruited and on volunteers who work with pupils are rigorous and recorded appropriately. Members of the governing body have significant expertise in safeguarding, and oversee procedures well to ensure that every possible step is taken to keep pupils safe.

Inspection findings ? At the start of the inspection we agreed to focus on: ? how well the new leadership team ensures that teaching challenges all groups of pupils ? how the most able pupils, especially girls, are challenged in key stage 1 ? how the early years curriculum helps boys to make good progress in all areas of learning ? how well pupils' skills are applied in a range of curriculum areas. ? You check the quality of teaching regularly by visiting lessons and looking at pupils' workbooks. When we visited classrooms we saw pupils who were happily engaged in their learning.

Pupils' work in books demonstrates that different groups, including those who are disadvantaged, are making good progress from their starting points. Effective support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities helps them to make good progress or to develop their independence well. ? When we looked in books and spoke to some pupils together, we agreed that in a few places there is some scope for even greater challenge.

This would deepen learning further for the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged. ? New leaders are each taking responsibility for an aspect of school improvement. The current school improvement plan sets out a list of important and relevant actions to complete.

However, the plan does not have clear measurable targets or milestones to enable governors to check the impact of new initiatives on improving outcomes for pupils. ? Attainment at the end of key stage 1 has remained above average. However, you recognise that in 2016 a few of the most able girls could have made faster progress in Years 1 and 2 to build on the successful start they have to school life in Reception.

We saw that current key stage 1 girls are making good progress in English because teachers give them help and advice to improve their writing. However, we identified and agreed that there are not enough opportunities for pupils to develop their problem-solving and reasoning skills in mathematics. As a result, pupils are not challenged to deepen their learning and make more rapid progress.

• In the early years the curriculum is driven by the children's interests. The provision is very strong and there are a wide range of exciting learning opportunities that children enjoy. Adults are very skilled at moving children's learning on by asking challenging questions or providing alternative resources.

Boys are enjoying learning to read and write because of the stimulating environment and the activities they can choose. Outcomes have been good over time. The strength of provision in the early years suggests that with some minor adaptations to the focus of teaching and support, children could achieve even more.

• The curriculum is interesting, stimulating and enjoyable. It is no surprise that attendance rates are so high. Teachers help pupils to develop their skills and knowledge well in a wide range of curriculum areas.

For example, pupils developed their scientific enquiry skills in an experiment to weigh objects in air and water. Specialist teachers of music and French bring an additional level of expertise. Support staff provide sensitive guidance and encouragement to those pupils who need it most.

• The curriculum is enriched further by a wide range of extra-curricular clubs that would be the envy of many other schools. These are run voluntarily by you and your team, and are available to pupils of all ages, demonstrating your dedication to providing the best opportunities for your pupils. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? planned work to develop problem-solving and reasoning is implemented quickly so that all pupils can demonstrate a deeper understanding of their mathematics ? the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged, have further opportunities to be challenged in all areas of the curriculum ? early years teachers plan opportunities that allow children to demonstrate that they are exceeding the early learning goals ? plans for improvement are sharpened so that there are clear milestones and outcomes that governors can check.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Surrey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Lee Selby Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During this short inspection, I met with you and your deputy headteacher to discuss your evaluation of the school's effectiveness.

I met with other leaders to look at a range of pupils' books together and with a group of newly qualified teachers. Together, you and I visited classes and talked to pupils about their learning and looked at progress over time in their workbooks. I met with three members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body, and with a representative of the local authority.

I looked at a range of documentation relating to safeguarding, including the record of recruitment checks. I discussed safeguarding procedures with the leaders responsible for this. I looked at documentation relating to leadership, behaviour and learning, including homework.

I considered 107 responses to the pupil survey and 37 responses to the staff survey. I met with parents at the start of the school day and considered 115 responses to the online survey, Parent View, including several free-text comments. I also considered a letter from a parent.

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