Adderley CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Adderley CofE Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 12 September 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 January 2014. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since the last inspection, Adderley CofE Primary School federated with Moreton Say CofE Primary School in February 2016 to form the AddMore Federation. You were appointed as the headteacher across the federation from April 2017 and have tak...en on the challenge of leading the two schools.

You have formed a clear direction for the future development of Adderley Primary School and have worked tirelessly to build leadership capacity by restructuring leadership roles across the federation. Staff are keen to make a difference and morale is high. You have created a new middle leadership team and the members are clear about their roles and responsibilities.

You recognise that the skills of middle leaders in evaluating teaching, learning and assessment and in assessing the impact of the school's improvement plan are at an early stage of development. Your self-evaluation shows that you have an accurate view of the strengths of the school and a clear knowledge of where improvements are needed. You provide strong leadership.

Your regular and effective monitoring of the quality of teaching supports teachers in the next stages of their development. Work across the federation enables leaders and staff to network together and share best practice. Staff value the training and partnership within the federation.

Governors are highly committed to the school. They attend regular training and updates. Governors know the school well and provide a good level of challenge and support for leaders.

You have addressed the areas for improvement from the previous inspection in the early years. Children now have good opportunities to develop a range of skills through learning outside. Weaknesses in writing identified in the previous inspection are being addressed effectively.

Attainment in pupils' writing, by the end of key stage 2, has improved over time. Nevertheless, further improvements in writing remain a priority. New approaches to the teaching of writing have been supported with improved resources and staff training.

Pupils now have more opportunities to edit and improve their work. Displays around school highlight current work and celebrate pupils' achievements. It is clear there has been a greater emphasis on pupils taking care in the presentation of their work, letter formation and handwriting.

However, work in books and on display indicate that teachers do not always pick up on basic errors in pupils' work and that pupils do not apply their spelling and punctuation skills consistently in their writing. You have developed the ethos and values of the school. These are underpinned by the school's strong sense of community.

Pupils are polite and respectful; they take great pride in their school. Pupils behave well in lessons and when moving around school. They show great care for one another.

Attitudes to learning in lessons observed during the inspection were very positive. Pupils are proud of their work and are keen to succeed. At lunchtime, pupils across the school play well together, with older pupils engaging with younger pupils in games and activities.

Pupils enjoy school and attendance is above the national average. Pupils' individual talents and interests are shared and celebrated throughout the school. This is a nurturing school community where pupils support and care for each other.

The good-quality curriculum makes a significant contribution to pupils' personal development, behaviour and welfare. Forest school is particularly valued by pupils and is shared with pupils across the federation. Pupils thrive and develop as young citizens in school.

During the inspection it was evident to see the enthusiasm pupils have in the forthcoming school council elections. Most of the parents spoken to during the inspection were positive about the school. Safeguarding is effective.

You have developed a strong culture of safeguarding within school. New systems have been introduced to ensure that record-keeping is robust. All staff receive regular, annual training on safeguarding.

Leaders are swift to follow up concerns. You know your children well. Governors confidently monitor the school's safeguarding procedures.

They have a good knowledge about the risks of extremism and radicalisation. Safer recruitment procedures are followed rigorously to ensure that appointed staff are safe to work with children. Pupils show confidence when talking about online bullying.

They understand about the different forms bullying can take. Pupils are very confident that they know who to go to if they have a concern. Relationships with staff are positive and warm.

During the inspection, pupils talked enthusiastically about the opportunities in forest school to make fires, and to cook meals. They understand the risks involved. The school's curriculum is providing pupils of all ages with a good knowledge of how to keep themselves safe from harm.

Inspection findings ? Outcomes in early years are improving. Historical problems with drainage in the outdoor area have been addressed. As a result, children in both Nursery and Reception can access the full range of activities, including those to promote their physical development.

The early years environment is stimulating and engaging, both outside and indoors. Children get off to a good start in the early years. ? Together with other leaders, you have addressed previous weaknesses in the teaching of phonics.

Outcomes in phonics have consequently improved following a whole-school training focus and the sharing of good practice within the federation. As a result, teachers are more confident in teaching phonics and a uniform approach is now evident across the school. Pupils show confidence in using their phonics knowledge to sound out unfamiliar words.

However, some pupils do not use their phonics knowledge well enough to spell words correctly. ? By the end of key stage 2, outcomes in mathematics are not as strong as in other subjects. Cohort sizes are so small that assessment data cannot be reliably compared with national figures.

However, you do recognise that there is more to be done to build pupils' reasoning and problem-solving skills across key stage 2. You are addressing historical weaknesses in pupils' progress in mathematics at key stage 2 in several ways. You have placed greater emphasis on pupils having access to resources to support their learning of new concepts in mathematics.

You have focused on increasing parental involvement in children's learning in mathematics through home–school activities. Leaders have identified that pupils have stronger knowledge and understanding in their calculation skills than in reasoning and problem-solving. Your evaluation is accurate, and you have rightly prioritised the development of mathematics in your school improvement plan for this academic year.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? middle leaders develop their roles of monitoring and evaluating teaching, learning and assessment and in helping to assess the impact of improvement plans ? pupils correctly apply spelling, grammar and punctuation skills to their writing in all subjects ? teachers further develop pupils' problem-solving and reasoning skills in mathematics. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Lichfield, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Shropshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Pamela Matty Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you and members of your leadership team from the AddMore Federation, members of the governing body, and a representative from the local authority. I visited all classrooms with you, scrutinised pupils' books, listened to two pupils read and spoke to pupils about their learning. I talked to pupils to gather their views about the school, during the school day, at lunchtime and during a visit to forest school.

I reviewed a range of school documents, including the school's own information about pupils' achievements, records of governors' meetings, safeguarding records, self-evaluation and improvement plans. I sought the views of parents at the start of the school day. I took account of the 14 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire Parent View, three responses to the pupil questionnaire and four responses to the staff questionnaire.