Chattenden Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Chattenden Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 6 November 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 November 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, along with your trustees and dedicated staff team, are determined to provide the best possible opportunities for all pupils, regardless of background or starting point. The school's ethos of 'success, no matter what!', alongside t...he school's nine core values, drives your decisions and processes. You lead the school with passion and the desire to ensure that all pupils achieve the best they can.

Since your appointment, you have engaged with the school community to share your vision of how to improve standards even further. You and your senior team have focused on improving teaching, using assessment information to plan opportunities to improve pupils' progress, and on broadening the range of curricular and extra-curricular activities for pupils. For instance, pupils have enjoyed many successes which include winning a national 'The nutcracker' ballet competition and also a local tag rugby tournament.

Leaders' approach to improvement is well considered and strategic. Improvement plans are precise and regularly reviewed to ensure that all remain focused on the key priorities. Leaders' actions are bringing about sustained improvements to all aspects of the school.

The school is a calm, welcoming and nurturing environment. Pupils' behaviour is very good, and pupils are polite both to staff and to each other. Pupils are keen to take on responsibilities around the school and older pupils are excellent role models for others.

Pupils are very proud of their work. It is presented well across the whole curriculum with exemplary handwriting. These presentation skills are developed across the school, including in the early years foundation stage.

Parents and carers overwhelmingly support the work of the school. Many enthused about the way that staff enable pupils not only to achieve well academically, but also socially and emotionally. One said: 'Each and every member of staff is committed to providing the very best for our children and they should be very proud of the results and happiness that they produce.'

This was representative of almost all of the parents who expressed their views on Parent View. Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was above national figures for all key stages in 2017 and 2018. You have identified that while attainment was very good, the progress of some groups of pupils was not as strong as you would have liked.

You have successfully focused on improving the progress of all pupils by incorporating the development of basic skills within all aspects of your improvement plan. School leaders have ensured that the areas for improvement raised in the previous inspection report have been addressed successfully. Your high expectations are shared by all and consistently applied across the school.

This ensures that all staff are clear about what they need to do to improve standards. Staff development includes opportunities to share outstanding practice both within the school and within a local consortium of schools. Members of the board of trustees also form the governing body.

They demonstrate a very genuine and deep-seated commitment to the pupils. Their ambition to provide the pupils with a rich educational experience and a caring and welcoming environment is realised in the school's curriculum and in the relationships between the staff and the pupils. However, the board of trustees is not as effective as it needs to be in robustly holding senior leaders to account.

This is because some trustees hold many roles both within school and on the board, as well as being members of the trust. This structure weakens accountability. Safeguarding is effective.

Safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. The school undertook two recent external safeguarding audits. Trustees have been proactive in responding to any action points raised in these reviews, particularly with regard to issues arising from the shared use of the site with an external nursery provider.

As a result, fencing and electronic gates have now been installed and you have carried out adequate checks to ensure that entry and exit through these gates is strictly controlled. Policies are of good quality and regularly updated. Staff and trustee training is up to date.

You and the deputy designated safeguarding lead work well together, with established systems of communication ensuring that all information is effectively shared and rigorously recorded. Leaders involve external agencies when necessary and follow up concerns quickly. Staff provide strong care and support for pupils.

They apply their knowledge and understanding of safeguarding practice confidently so that pupils' risk of harm is minimised. Staff talk confidently about how to refer concerns should they consider a child to be at risk of harm. Safeguarding records are thorough and well organised.

The school's checks when recruiting new staff are in line with national requirements to ensure the suitability of staff to work with children. The single central record has recently been updated; however, some aspects still require strengthening. You have also ensured that the curriculum supports pupils well in maintaining their own safety.

Pupils learn how to stay safe in a range of situations, including online. They understand how to avoid dangers when using online technology. Bullying, including cyber bullying, is well understood by pupils, who say that it happens only rarely in school and is quickly nipped in the bud.

Pupils have full trust in the adults who look after them and report feeling safe all of the time. Inspection findings ? During our initial discussion, we firstly agreed to look at the attainment and progress of disadvantaged children in key stage 2. Leaders use the pupil premium funding effectively to support disadvantaged pupils in all aspects of school life.

Funding is appropriately allocated, and leaders evaluate its impact with rigour. The trustees monitor this aspect of the school's work through information provided by leaders. ? The vast majority of disadvantaged pupils make good progress during their time at the school.

However, in the past fewer most-able disadvantaged pupils have reached the higher standards they should. You are rightly focusing on the progress of most-able pupils across the school. Teachers are ensuring that they provide appropriate challenge.

Pupils respond well to this challenge and told me that there is always an adult to help them if they need support. ? My second line of enquiry focused on what actions leaders are taking to challenge pupils to make stronger progress in key stage 2, particularly in reading. You have introduced robust systems to set targets and review progress regularly.

Middle and senior leaders meet with class teachers routinely to look at how well pupils are progressing. This has helped focus discussions on evaluating the effectiveness of the provision and what the next steps should be to make further improvements. Interventions are appropriate, timely and evaluated by teachers to gauge their impact.

As a result of these measures, the vast majority of pupils are making good progress across key stage 2 in all subjects. ? Leaders recognised the need to make reading a focus of development last year. Senior leaders have engaged in a research-based project to develop understanding and to raise the profile of reading.

Across the school, teachers in all classes have focused on developing pupils' reading skills and promoting reading for pleasure. Teachers routinely read to pupils in class and select interesting texts for pupils to study. The school library has been improved and developed and pupils treasure opportunities to visit.

More detailed reading records have been introduced and pupils and parents regularly contribute comments and reviews. The impact of these measures is clear in the progress that pupils are making. ? My final line of enquiry examined to what extent leadership systems, particularly governance, are well established and making a discernible difference so that there is strong and sustained school improvement.

I also considered how well trustees are fulfilling their statutory duties and are holding leaders to account. ? Trustees visit the school regularly and work with you to identify priorities for improvement and determine how you are going to monitor these throughout the year. They have developed an understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development through the information you provide to them.

Trustees' minutes show that they ask questions, but they do not always check further the responses they receive. ? Trustees understand their responsibilities. However, some required information is not published on the website and trustees were unable to provide this information during the inspection.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the leadership of the school is robustly held to account for all aspects of the provision of education. I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Medway. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Marcia Goodwin Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection I met with you and your deputy, other members of school staff, and members of the board of trustees. Together, you and I planned the key lines of enquiry for the inspection. With you and your deputy, I visited all the classes in the school to observe pupils' learning, speak with pupils and look at their books.

I spoke with pupils at breaktime and took into account 29 responses to the online pupil survey. I considered 23 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, including 20 written contributions by parents. I spoke with staff during the day and took account of 17 responses to the online staff questionnaire.

I also examined a sample of pupils' work. I looked at a range of documentation, including information about the work of trustees, safeguarding, attendance and behaviour. Additionally, I scrutinised and discussed the school's tracking of pupils' progress and attainment, and the school's self-evaluation and development plans.