Twyford St Mary’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Twyford St Mary's Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders at Twyford St Mary's are determined it will be a 'village school making a world of difference'.

Leaders' vision for the school and their high expectations of pupils are clear in every aspect of daily school life.

Pupils enjoy learning in this vibrant school, as seen by their high attendance and how hard they work in lessons. They like the many residential trips on offer.

They also love being allowed to wear non-uniform clothes on their birthday, as this makes them feel special. Pupils feel safe in school. They say that bullying is rare, ...and that their teachers would never ignore it.

At the time of the last inspection, leaders were asked to improve behaviour in the playgrounds. Leaders have been very effective here. Pupils play well together.

The popular 'sport of the week' keeps them active and ensures that their skills improve in a wide range of sporting activities.

Pupils have many responsibilities in the school, including running lunchtime clubs for younger pupils. They do this with great maturity and independence.

By the end of their time at Twyford, pupils are well prepared for the move to secondary school.

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

Early reading is taught well at Twyford St Mary's. Right from the beginning, children learn to love books.

In the mixed Reception and Year 1 class, I saw how an advent calendar built excitement for stories, with a different book unwrapped each day. The school's programme for teaching phonics gives children a great start in learning to read. Because of this, they become fluent readers quickly.

The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics screening check is consistently in the top 20% of schools nationally.

Leaders' focus on reading continues into key stage 2. They ensure that pupils have a rich reading diet, introducing them to new authors and books regularly.

Mathematics teaching is also strong. Leaders have made sure that mathematics learning is sequenced well. Teaching builds securely on what pupils have previously learned.

Expectations are clear for all ages. Children in the early years learn early number skills well. For example, Reception children were practising the order of numbers to 20 by making paper chain decorations.

They could recognise the digits well. Pupils also use their mathematical skills in other subjects. Year 4 pupils showed me their loan calculations for their enterprise week initiative, making an impressive £55 profit.

Pupils with special needs and/or disabilities learn well in mathematics, as well as in other subjects, because teachers have a sound understanding of the small steps that need to be taught.

Leaders are currently re-developing what is to be taught in subjects other than English and mathematics. This is because the school has just been reorganised from six classes to five.

Leaders are being highly ambitious here, and rightly taking their time. They are carefully ensuring that knowledge is sequenced so that pupils learn in a logical order. In some subjects, such as science in key stage 1, the knowledge leaders want pupils to acquire is not yet identified in enough detail.

Leaders have not yet fully considered which key knowledge they want pupils to remember for future learning.

The curriculum is well supported by a range of trips and visitors to the school to make learning memorable. Currently pupils are using their scientific skills in a 'real-life' ecology project, trying to improve yellow hammer and skylark numbers in the South Down National Park.

Pupils have learned how to set up and monitor remote cameras in order to observe the impact of their work on bird numbers.Pupils have many opportunities to develop personally. Leaders make sure that there are many occasions for pupils to learn about the wider world and to contribute to their local community.

Pupils display the schools' values of courage, joy, care and respect in everything they do. For example, during the inspection, Year 6 pupils were playing happily with their Reception buddies, showing them great respect and care. Pupils work well together, listening and supporting each other to learn new things.

There is no disruption in lessons as pupils want to learn. They told me about their 'talented teachers'. Pupils know that their teachers will help them if they get stuck.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders know their pupils and listen to them well. Communication is strong amongst the staff team.

This means that staff know which pupils to look out for at a given time. Leaders ensure that staff have regular and useful training. Staff often discuss different safeguarding scenarios in meetings.

This helps them know what to do in a wide range of situations and report any concerns quickly. Recruitment checks and the induction of new staff are thorough.Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations.

For example, they know not to share personal information online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Leaders are in the process of re-developing the wider curriculum following the reorganisation of classes. They are using the high-quality religious education curriculum, which is already in place, as an example to build on.

Leaders should continue their work in this area, ensuring that they identify the most important knowledge that pupils should acquire in each subject. Leaders need to make sure this knowledge is revisited often enough so that all pupils know more and remember more over time.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged Twyford St Mary's Church of England Primary School to be good on 2–3 February 2016.