Vigo Village School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

This is a good school. It has developed some clear strengths under the ambitious leadership of the headteacher and a team of committed staff focused on improving achievement for all. The strengthened governing body also provides clear leadership to sustain improvements made in recent years.

The school's work is appreciated by parents and carers, who value the safe environment and opportunities for communication, particularly when children enter the school at Reception age. The school provides good levels of care, guidance and support. Parents and carers strongly agree with their children that the school cares about their welfare.

Pupils learn about dealing with any potential risks they may fa...ce both inside and outside of school. Their moral and social skills are well developed and they are encouraged to resolve any problems themselves. They have great confidence that adults in school will help them deal with any concerns.

Pupils are extremely positive about the extent to which they enjoy school and their learning, and that teachers help them with their work. This is supported by pupils' engagement in lessons seen during the inspection. However, marking does not consistently make explicit what pupils have achieved and how their work can be improved, nor does it always expect topic work in books to reflect the good presentation and use of skills seen in core subjects.

Pupils attend and enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular activities including French, netball, football, eco warriors, music, film and computer clubs. The school is looking to further enrich these activities and promote pupils' cultural and spiritual awareness within the newly revised curriculum, through more extensive links with other schools and organisations. It is also strengthening the links between the Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 to ensure greater continuity and progression of learning.

Children join the school in Reception where they make good progress in a happy, interesting and high quality environment. Adults work well as a team and help children settle quickly. Activities are well planned and meet the individual needs of children.

Good progress continues across the rest of the school and some pupils make outstanding progress. Attainment has steadily increased year on year for the past three years and last year was significantly above average. There are no significant differences in achievement between subjects or identified groups across the school.

The partnerships between class teachers and teaching assistants have been effective in raising levels of attainment and rates of progress for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, the impact that intervention programmes have on this group of pupils is not always clear, which means that resources may not always be appropriately targeted. Senior leaders analyse assessment data carefully and have a robust staff performance cycle in place.

This is used effectively to identify priorities for improvement. As a result, there has been steady improvement in raising the level of boys' attainment, especially in writing, to that of girls, and in the quality of teaching. However, subject and phase leaders are not yet fully analysing whole-school progress data sufficiently.

Nevertheless, the steady rise in attainment and well-thought-out actions for school improvement show the school's good capacity for further improvement.

Information about the school

Pupil numbers have fallen since the last inspection in this below average sized school. Most pupils are from White British backgrounds, with 5% from Gypsy/Roma backgrounds.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below average. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average, covering a wide range of learning needs. A new special educational needs coordinator joined the school this term.

Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage in Reception from Nursery providers. There is extended provision for pupils both before and after school. The school has received Healthy Schools status.