Dave, Siobhan, Elaine, Here is the SEF in editable form: please use the 'Insert > Comment' menu above if you want to make changes or add comments and I'll incorporate them into the live doc online on the Ofsted site. Thanks, Mark
A2.1 Pupil Attainment The school assesses its performance in this category as GOOD because: • Key Stage 2 performance has exceeded all targets for all groups for three years. See RAISEonline and Fischer data. • Reading, Writing and mathematics FFT D band targets have all been exceeded at Level 4 and at level 5. • Two full levels progress took place in English and mathematics for 75% of all pupils against a FFT band D target of 66%. • 50% of all pupils achieved level 5 in English and mathematics against a FFT band D target of 29%. These standards, as a five year trend and in 2009, are significantly above national standards in all cohorts and groups. • Girls who were below level 2 at KS1 perform slightly below the level, on average, of other groups but were still above national expectation at KS2. RAISEonline and FFT. • Key Stage 1 overall performance in all subjects improved for the 2 years 2007/ 2008. • The quality of judgements of levels at KS1 has improved with the new teacher for year R and 1. (See EYFS profiles) The judgements made at KS2 have been sound. • Target setting and APP practice and training has sharpened our abilities to advise on specific part levels for transition to high school. • Tracking this term is showing average progress for all groups at KS1 with some individuals making more than expected progress in year 1. (See internal Tracking tool.) • Target setting and the implementation of VCOP has improved writing progress and attainment at KS1 and 2. • In our SATs 2009, all KS2 pupils made 2 full levels progress in all core subjects and in two cases have made three full levels progress with specific differentiation (i.e 4a, 4b, 4c). • As of Christmas 2009, all pupils are on track to make expected progress in all subjects in SATs 2010. Three current SEN pupils have made 5 sub levels progress up to Autumn 2009 in the core subjects. Elements which prevent the school from evaluating its performance in pupil attainment as outstanding are: • 2009 results are disappointing against national standards - see RAISEonline. Mathematics has a five year declining trend against national standards and writing has been in decline for two years. Reading was good until 2008 and results were poor in 2009. See RAISEonline and FFT. • Teaching observations indicate satisfactory teaching at KS1 compared with good or outstanding teaching at KS2. • At KS1 girls performed less well across all subjects than boys particularly in reading and writing. SEN pupils at KS1 do better than other groups on average. See FFT and RAISEonline. • KS1 teacher assessments in 2009 were relatively weak, but the work scrutiny activities within the school and with our pyramid and cluster schools now indicate a more reliable ability to level work.
A2.2 The quality of pupils' learning and their progress The school assesses its performance in this area as GOOD because: • On average, all lessons observed across the school during 2008/9 have been good. KS2 lessons have been judged as closer to outstanding than KS1 lessons. This includes observations by local authority and by the interim head teacher. • Peer perception interviews with current Year 6 by assistant head teacher at feeder high school. Very positive perception of school. (See written feedback) Changes fed into liaison practice and teaching and learning planning for this year. • Peer perception of lessons trialled in year 5/6 class with direct feedback to the teacher. (See pupil feedback sheets). • CVA for the school as a whole has been high and this has been continuing across a three-year trend. • Establishment of weekly Pupil Council meetings with teaching assistant holding responsibilities. All positions run and held by pupils including chair and secretary. All pupils, governors and staff informed of outcomes by email. Representatives feed back to all pupils weekly and suggestion boxes established. Changes to lining-up and improvements in the pupil toilets have been suggested and addressed through student council. • Daily bulletin produced by gifted and talented pupils in Year 6 on display in reception. • Visits have been made to three other settings and new practices in outdoor learning and learning journey practices have been introduced. • More able pupils writing is a priority as part of our whole school writing initiative and will be tracked as a group throughout the year. Progress made by these pupils to Christmas 2009 indicates more than expected progress. (See pupil tracker) • All staff have an expectation of at least expected progress in all subjects as part of performance management. This is monitored and reviewed termly. Elements which prevent the school from evaluating its performance in this category as outstanding are: • There has been underachievement at KS1 in class 2. Despite separate provision, progress has been less than average expectation in all subjects. Whole school work on writing began in September 2009 and link adviser working directly with class 2 teacher and with all staff on moving pupils teaching from good to outstanding. • There is underachievement by pupils in KS1. Vulnerable groups are being monitored and tracked and progress this year is starting to show improvement over last year. (90% of pupils made expected progress in Christmas term in writing) • Weakness in letters and sounds and girl's reading in the Early years as identified through Raise online and Fischer (FFTlive) is being addressed this year and first tracking evidence indicates above average progress. A2.3 The quality of learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their progress. The school assesses its performance in this category as GOOD because: • SEN pupils make above average progress in all groups at Wetheringsett at KS2. This is also reflected in the three-year trend. (See RAISEonline and Fischer data). English progress has been less than that of mathematics or science but has still been above national average. • Pupil tracking data shows that these pupils continue to make good progress in all subjects this year. Staff have had appropriate training that enables them to track specific groups like lower-ability girls, who are now making at least expected progress.
• All staff meetings are learning meetings and we review progress of individual progress using work scrutiny and our pupil tracker. • CVA for all groups of pupils was above national average. Percentile rank has been in single figures for all three past years and, while dropping this year, is still well above national average in all subjects. • At KS2 SATs 2009, 100% of pupils made 2 levels progress in mathematics and science last year which continued an outstanding performance at KS2. A very large majority of pupils made 2 levels progress in English and mathematics. • The interventions established, through breaking down into smaller groups for learning and setting for core subjects, have produced progress above national average for all groups of SEN pupils, except girls in English. Elements which prevent the school from evaluating its performance in this category as outstanding are: • SEN progress at KS1 is less assured and intervention is slow to take effect. • English, particularly writing is the weaker area for progress and is a priority in the school development plan (SDP) this year. • Girls who started below level 2 after KS1 tests made less than expected progress at KS2 in English. A2.4 Pupils' achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learningThe guidelines for this section say "Please note that this is a summative grade based largely on the grades you have decided upon for attainment, learning and progress and learning and progress for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. You do not need to repeat the information you have provided in those sections. In most cases, you will need to refer only to the grade descriptors for how well do pupils achieve and enjoy their learning and state which one best fits your judgements.." I don't think we're doing that. The example from another school which Joanna Wells gave us had a very short entry for this section: "Attainment is good and learning and progress are good, quality of learning for pupils with SEN and/or disbilities is satisfactory but moving towards good because progress is not inadequate in any way (2.1, 2.2, 2.3)". -Mark Allen 07/02/2010 11:05 The school assesses its performance in this category as GOOD because: • Our focus on writing and our building APP skills allows us to accurately plot progress and intervene early. • Pupils confirm through student council and peer perception interviews that they enjoy their learning. • Pupil/parent survey (Ofsted model) in October indicated 80% plus satisfaction in all aspects of school including pupil enjoyment. The two questions on pupil enjoyment scored positively at 96% and 100% respectively. • All pupils are making progress and are being tracked carefully. Where progress is below expected levels our intervention programme is providing additional support and a program of learning adapted for need. • Setting and small group work is proving to accelerate learning. • Our vision statement sums up our view that We Learn - Together. A2.5 The extent to which pupils feel safe The school judges its provision to be good overall because: • All staff training is monitored and updated appropriately. Safeguarding training and officers are all in place and arrangements are clearly understood by all staff and pupils. • Pupil/parent survey reveals pupils feel safe and parents support that view. They praise the school in writing for the care and support for pupils. • Pupil council surveyed the pupils and identified two areas where pupils feel unsafe which we have begun improving - the cloakrooms and the toilets. They also identified lunches as a time when they feel uncomfortable with the noise in the building and the manner of supervision. We have introduced new routines
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and opportunities for changes to seating, groupings, use and supervision of the building which is the village hall. All pupils and staff have signed the user protocols for ICT and appropriate use of ICT is covered in PSHE and in ICT lessons. The fire and rescue service visit regularly and came this September giving all pupils the opportunity to understand the importance of smoke detectors and knowing what to do in the event of an incident at school. We have new arrangements for health and safety and pupils share in those arrangements. We do this through the school council and staff training. We have also worked in PSHE lessons looking at school safety and modified the school grounds and our daily routines to take on board suggestions from pupils and parents. We have introduced a behaviour reporting form to record all incidents that cause concern. We monitor these forms and use the evidence to review our practice. We changed how we set up our lunchtime activities as a result of reviewing these forms.
A2.6 Pupils’ behaviour The school believes pupils' behaviour is very good and on the border of outstanding because: • There have been no exclusions in the last 12 months and only one incident that required separate learning for a pupil. • Our incident report forms have been well used by all staff and pupils have commented positively on the rules that we now have available in all learning rooms. • We have linked our high expectations for pupil behaviour to our Christian ethos using our intention to "love our neighbour as ourselves" as a mission statement for behaviour. • Pupils and parents report to us that they believe expectations for behaviour are clear and supported in all learning sessions. There are clear rules and codes for school which are publicised in all learning areas and pupil council have all contributed to putting together these expectations. Reviewed behaviour policy and new reporting form agreed with governors in October 2009 • Peer-perception interviews indicate that pupil behaviour has not been a major concern for pupils, although: ◦ Pupils had expressed concern that some pupils with specific SEN could disrupt learning. (3 statemented pupils in class 4) Staff have been made aware of this and strategies for working with pupils are developed. ◦ Pupils had expressed concern at the behaviour when we had teachers visiting the school as supply or part time teachers. As a result we have appointed a new part-time teacher and appointed a new regular supply teacher. • 83% of parents and pupils reported that they believed pupils behaved well in class. (Survey September 2009). There are written commendations by parents and members of the public, commenting very positively on the behaviour of our pupils. • The majority of pupils' behavior is self-disciplined and on the occasions when intervention is required, we do so consistently and fairly as supported by parent forum and questionnaire evidence. • We have had one racist incident in the last 12 months and bullying and harassment is carefully record and supported by our learning mentor, and parents are involved. • We use the resources of the behaviour support services where necessary (two pupils in the last 12 months) and pupils followed an appropriate programme and made progress to be able to move away from support. • Pupils report that they feel this is a family school,and we all support each other. (Pupil survey September 2009)
A2.7 The extent to which pupils adopt healthy lifestyles • We currently have over 30% uptake of school meals and are one of the highest uptake in the county. Our cook received a regional award for her work in school and in the community which we all celebrated in a school assembly. We have 10% Free School meals which has been a massive increase this term. We have held publicity events and opportunities for parents to see and taste the food on offer. We have our menus published on our school website and the school cook is coming into school to work with pupils as part of our PSHE programme and our science work. • We have after school physical activities four evenings per week with choices of activities on two days of the week. These opportunities are provided by teachers, local organisations such as Ipswich Town FC, local sports clubs like netball and football and parent volunteer helpers who have interests in particular physical activities. Opportunities for outdoor learning are planned with the six pyramid schools who work together to visit Thetford forest and engage in orienteering, high and low wire activities and climbing walls. • We began an initiative this term to work with our pre-school to provide school meals. We have had more than a 50% uptake and our preschool have now regularly attended special meal events and our Christmas meals. • The school is working towards the National Healthy School Standard to validate our work in this area. • The school takes part in an eating fruit initiative and has healthy breaks every morning. • There are water facilities inside and outside the school and pupils are aware and able to articulate the benefits of regularly drinking water. Lunch box contents have been influenced by an after school meeting for parents and pupils. • The school day begins twice a week with Wake and Shake and the vast majority of all pupils participate. This programme is overseen and planned through a sports partnership with the feeder high school. We access the services of the sports partnership provided by Ipswich Town football club and all pupils have access to a full two hours of physical activity on the timetable that includes dance and a range of games and activities. Our sports education program includes team building skills, collaboration and personal responsibility. The years 5 and 6 attend an outdoor learning facility in the summer term to enhance the work carried out in the year in these areas. • All pupils attend swimming in the summer term and we have a 95% success rate with swimming learning. • We hold cycling proficiency and road safety awareness sessions in the summer term. The police community officer attends assembly and helps in the scrutiny of bicycles and safe use of roads. We encourage pupils to cycle and walk to school and in our last travel plan survey we had over 50% of pupils attending school by methods other than vehicles. 15% of pupils regularly used their bicycles to get to school. • Children can talk confidently and knowledgeably about healthy schools matters. A2.8 The extent to which pupils contribute to the school and wider community The school assesses its performance in this category as GOOD because: • Pupils play a full part in our local community. The village hall forms part of our site and the local community events regularly include our pupils in the vast majority of their community events like the Summer Fair and the pantomime. • This year we have begun working with the village hall committee, the Church of England, the pre-school and the parish council on play facilities for the village. We are also all working on a statement of vision for educational provision within the local community to include the school. We held an open day with a visiting speaker from Cambridge University, to launch our thinking. Our vision document
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first draft was published in November and is due for ratification in February 2009. There are two representatives for each year group in the school who meet every Thursday and record their minutes and deal with suggestions. They have an annual budget to spend and make recommendations to the head teacher. The council have recommended successful changes to lunchtimes and are reviewing the school bullying policy and our equality policy. They have produced a learning opportunity for all classes for the Easter term. They are going on to look at our engagement with sustainability and will be working directly with an appointed governor. A Teaching Assistant has responsibility for school council as part of her NVQ training. The school works with a wide range of charities. Pupils arranged the Children in Need day and raised over £150. They also organised Christmas fundraising and we also raised over £30 for the poppy appeal. We have links with schools in London and Gaza and will be doing joint work with them later in the year. Our residential visit will be focussed on providing safe water for some African communities. We are applying for Artsmark Status this year and will be taking part in the Celebration of School Music at Snape Maltings in March 2010. We have a ukulele orchestra in class 4 who will be playing and taking part in workshops with parents and the local community. We have established a family and community learning opportunity on Tuesday evenings where pupils and community ,may learn together. We are currently offering music and ICT on our program and over 20% of the school population attend. We have established two new planting areas at the front of school which we are developing with the assistance of members of the local allotments association. We are about 300 metres from the Mid Suffolk Railway and have been involved in activities with this group that have included fund raising and re-enactments. We are actively engaged in a sustainability program at the school led by the school council. We are working with mid-Suffolk County Council to provide outdoor learning opportunities, developing our school pond and garden in a sustainable way. We have appointed two new governors to the governing body who have experience of sustainable school and NHS projects in London and are to advise us on the best way forward. The school has a close relationship with the church of England. Our local vicar is on a program of two weekly visits and we use the church twice a term for services. We worked on the Big Crib project at Christmas 2009 and were one of nine schools to exhibit our work in local churches. We take seriously our need to link to other cultures and faiths and are linking with schools in Gaza and Deptford with visits being made to our sites from Deptford and internet links established with our Gaza school. Our visit to Sizewell will also permit a wider engagement with alternative faiths and cultures.
A2.9 Pupils' attendance The school has an outstanding record for attendance. Our attendance is significantly above national averages and we have no persistent absences. (Raise Online 2009) (Fischer 3 year data 2007-2009). While trends are slightly up this year, the school has applied a rigorous line and is effectively keeping authorised and unauthorised absences below national levels. A2.10 The extent to which pupils develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being The school assesses its performance in this category as OUTSTANDING because: • Basic skills are actively encouraged and pupils are given roles to run these activities for themselves - such as the Christmas Card collection or the Children in Need events.
• Pupils in class 4 run a Kid's Café where they provide a refreshments stall for all those attending the family and community learning sessions. Pupils are working to produce a profit and regularly provide items that will sell. There is a pupils' manager and a different team of pupils work on this project on a weekly basis. • Pupils have a budget for the school council and are running the Kid's Café for a profit. • Our gifted and talented pupils organise the daily bulletin published on a monitor in reception and have their work recorded daily online on our school website. • Our school council represents us all in making decisions for the school which include direct financial decisions and contributions to planning for equality and sustainability. • We regularly hold events where we work together as a school in vertical groups. We held a tree planting of a Christmas tree and worked as a community to produce home-made decorations. • The community organises a large pantomime in January and encourages the school to take part. 25 children will be part of the pantomime in 2010. • We have been working with learning styles in class and giving opportunities for pupils to teach and lead learning. Pupils engage in our drama activities such as the KS1 school play at Christmas 2009 and the music club production of Snow White in December 2009. • We have a program of assemblies where members of the community such as police and fire crew visit to explain the world of work and begin children's interests in work and the skills involved. • Our punctuality rates and attendance are well above national and regional levels. We encourage pupils, through assemblies and class sessions, to be punctual. We follow a timed day and stick to our timings to permit us to use groups and ability levels in our learning. • Where any pupils have been absent we have followed up on a daily basis and provided support and feedback on return to school. We have had the Educational Welfare Officer in school this term to oversee our practice and advise on any improvements. We were commended on our rigorous approach. A2.11 The extent of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development The school assesses its performance in this category as OUTSTANDING because: • The vast majority of our pupils arrive at school early to enjoy their learning. We have only had one school refuser this term who now attends school happily. Pupils say they look forward to the day and don't want to miss time at school. (Peer perception to governor visit) Even during illnesses, pupils are keen to learn and want to know what they are missing. (parent feedback at school gate) • Our pupils are encouraged to attend visits outside school and we strongly promote outdoor learning, including visits to places like West Stow to visit an Anglo-Saxon village in December 2009. We welcome visitors regularly to school such as an RAF pilot who brought uniforms and equipment for pupils to try. Governors regularly visit the school and are part of our learning program engaging with pupils, particularly in ICT. • Visits by outside adults confirm through peer -perception interviews, both formal and informal, that pupils enjoy their learning and feel engaged in what they do. For instance, the chair of governors visited the school in December and met with the Chair of the school council and our gifted and talented writers to gauge the effect of our interventions and see how well school was going. A very positive governors report was produced by the Chair. • Children tell us they feel the school is a community and the best bit is that they all get on and support each other. • Philosophy for children was introduced to the school in October after governor training with Will Ord. The sessions have been excellently planned and received by pupils.
• The school has received regional and national recognition for the sports work which involves the school, local community groups and other national groups. Pupils are therefore exposed to a much wider range of experiences. • We are engaged with a ukulele initiative with a local arts body and a music company (Music Sales in Bury St Edmunds) offering a ukulele workshop for pupil, parents and members of the community which will lead to a performance at the Celebration of Schools Music at Snape Maltings. We will also take part in the Suffolk Music Festival in the summer term. • Pupils are working with different cultural groups such as schools in Deptford and Gaza to build an understanding of the world which can be heard in the way pupils articulate their experiences and thoughts. A3.1 The quality of teaching The school assesses its performance in this category as GOOD, bordering on outstanding, because: • We evaluated progress at the end of the term and in our focus for learning for this term (writing), we found that over 90% of pupils had made expected progress or better and 20% had made more than nationally-expected progress. We have also seen a more-than-expected rate of progress in speaking and listening. This has all been recorded in our electronic data collection system and is updated at the beginning of the new term. • Over 75% of all lessons were judged to be good or outstanding with 25% being satisfactory with some good elements. The teaching at KS1 is noticeably weaker than KS2 so we are all working on developing our teaching to move the whole school from good to outstanding teaching. • Teaching is judged to be outstanding predominantly at KS2. We want to spread the good practice at KS2 and thereby influence the teaching at KS1. We have established a new responsibility for teaching which, over time, (Summer 2010) will develop into a responsibility for teaching, learning and assessment. • We have involved our Suffolk Link Adviser in our work and she has delivered two sessions and monitored teaching at KS1. We have introduced tiered target setting, and electronic data collection which has enabled all teachers to know where pupils are and how they will move to the next level. • Teachers have adopted a new reporting system and we now have individual target cards for every pupil. These were evaluated at the end of last term and are improved for this coming term. Every child receives a personal target when they need it but minimally once every half term. • Our marking policy was reviewed and adopted and reporting to parents now includes targets and levels for every subject. • Teachers have visited three different settings to enhance their pedagogy and have adapted their practice as a result for instance by asking pupils to evaluate a lesson at the end of a session. • All our staff and teaching assistant meetings are learning meetings. A3.2 The use of assessment to support learning The school assesses its performance in this category as GOOD because: • The school's arrangements for assessment of learning are robust. When the new arrangements are embedded and evaluated at the end of the year, we believe that we will be able to move this judgement to outstanding. • We have matched our new, robust electronic data collection systems to our target-setting with pupils. We collect data formally every half term and recirculate every child's levels and targets to all staff, so that we all own all pupil data. • All of our staff meetings are learning meetings and staff know that we want to report on any failings in learning by pupils so that we can intervene and offer support. Every pupil has a personalised picture target card, renewed halftermly, and these cards are gradually being linked to APP. Our pupils have given very positive feedback to these new target cards and know the levels they are
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working at. They can also play an active part in planning how they can move their own learning on. After data collection times, our provision mapping is adapted to support all our learners, so that, for instance, our English setting now works as a class in class 4 at the beginning of the lesson and then breaks down to smaller groups so pupils experience all working together and moving away as supported learners to differentiated tasks according to need. Assessment for learning is being embedded and linked to our teaching training. Tiered targets and Bloom's taxonomy support are all leading to improved speaking and listening and individual learning for all. Marking and feedback to all pupils is beginning to reap dividends. We are no longer seeing marking as a chore and we are involving our learners in their own assessment. Pupils are planning targets and responding lesson by lesson. Their talk partner arrangements are promoting an atmosphere where we all want to learn together. This is reported to us through peer perception interviews. Our new reporting arrangements have been well received by parents. We only had one parent negative comment after our launch night in November. We had over 90% of parents attend our first new style parents' evening and all parents received an interim report which they had agreed with the staff and included levels for all subjects and new agreed targets.
A3.3 The extent to which the curriculum meets pupils' needs, including, where relevant, through partnerships The school judges curriculum provision to be outstanding because: • We provide a broad and balanced curriculum which meets all statutory needs and provides a range of learning experiences and enrichment activities that meets the needs of all of our learners. We are innovative in our curriculum in that we are setting for core subjects across age ranges and breaking down our learners into smaller groups to maximise adult interventions. • We take pride in our work in the arts and have an application pending for ARTSMARK SILVER this year. Our pupils now have a full range of experiences in their music and arts programmes that include dance and music workshops including singing and a ukulele orchestra and have performed for parents in three concerts in the Christmas term. Pupils will have the opportunity to take part in Music for schools at Snape Maltings, a ukulele workshop with parents and the Sudbury Festival for the spoken voice in the summer. Suffolk Music Service provide tuition on stringed instruments and we offer piano lessons and a community music school once a week. • We pride ourselves on the enhancement we can bring to our curriculum through outside visitors and every week a visitor is in the school. Our curriculum is customised to take account of the academic and pastoral needs of all of our pupils and we are using our outdoor learning facilities more and more. This will be supplemented by an outdoor classroom to be installed this year. • We also pride ourselves on the ability to offer a residential stay for a week in Sizewell Hall in the African Huts. This exposes our pupils to a broader curriculum and permits all pupils to engage in thinking activities related to African Culture that are not possible at the school base. • We also cater for pupils gaining access to outdoor learning such as high and low ropes and climbing walls which we do with our cluster and pyramid schools. Mid Suffolk County Council are involved in environmental learning opportunities with the school in the spring and we are becoming an eco and a forest school. Crosscurricular links between subjects are constantly being developed and the delivery of basic skills, literacy, numeracy and ICT are underpinning all we do. i.e. we are using VCOP techniques to boost our writing across the curriculum. • We have achieved Sports mark status and our sports work means that we have a huge range of activities on offer despite the lack of a school sports hall. There are sports clubs and activities available most lunchtimes and four evenings per week. Pupils also organise their own club programme which they run themselves
at lunchtimes. The school council is engaged in planning the next stage, aimed at providing improved play facilities at the school. • We have a vast range of clubs and activities as reported through our extended school audit. We have achieved our core offer and we are now building further links with our community in providing up to three clubs per night on four nights a week. We have community Music activities, ICT with a Kid's Café on one evening and this is opening up to provide adult learning opportunities in the coming term - Spring 2010. Our parents and local community sports are providing 75% of our club opportunities. A3.4 The effectiveness of care, guidance and support The school assesses its performance in this category as GOOD because: • All learners are supported and guided very well. • All school staff have responded well to our training in Safeguarding and Every Child Matters. • There is feedback through our surveys that we are a caring, family-orientated school where pupils feel supported. • Our new tracking system and use of target cards enables pupils and parents to share pupil progress and know what pupils need to do to improve. • Our new interim reports include levels for all subjects and make targets explicit for core subjects. Pupils enjoy their own picture-based target cards and these are being evaluated and upgraded every half-term or when the need arises. • Pupils are supported in their learning by a well-trained staff and by the support team that come into school to support individuals such as our ADHD and Asperger's pupils. • Pupils report through peer-perception interviews that they feel happy and supported at the school. • Guidance extends beyond the school gate through our community and family learning and by being available to work with parents at all times. Problems that arise are discussed openly and we do not rest until a resolution to difficulties has been constructed. • Pupils make visits outside school such as visits to the new Apple store in Norwich in October 2009 or the visit to West Stow Anglo Saxon Village in December 2009. Pupils enjoy their educational visits and we never have behaviour issues. We have feedback from the general public that our pupils are positive and hard working learners. All visits are encouraged for all pupils and are supported by a rigorous heath and safety audit and records are carefully kept in the school office. We evaluate our visits so we can always learn new things. • We have robust induction and transition arrangements in place. For instance our pupils come to us from pre-school on three days before the new term of entry to the school. We speak to all parents and pupils at the end of the day to adapt our arrangements and pick up on any problems as early as possible. Our recent induction had only one pupil in tears by the second day. • When children reach Year 6, they are able to visit the high school on three occasions during the year and we also hold special events where staff visit the children in their own classes. Projects are devised that allow pupils to mix and socialise at outdoor centres or sports facilities. The Assistant head at Debenham High school visits the feeder schools throughout the year and does peerperception interviews which feed into our plans and pupils arrive at their new schools well-prepared. Vulnerable children have specific individual transition plans devised. For instance, we have two autistic pupils who will be visiting their new schools throughout the year regularly with a support worker from the learning support centre in Halesworth. A4.1 The effectiveness of leadership and management in embedding ambition and driving improvement The school assesses its performance in this area as GOOD because:
• The new headteacher is leading the drive to improve standards across the school while building on strengths in KS2 SATs performances. • Using the strengths of our stakeholders we are driving a new vision for the school in the form of a 5-year vision statement. This began in September 2009 with a launch event led by the Dean of Homerton College Cambridge and attended by representatives from all stakeholders. We have now written a draft plan ready for approval by governors in February 2010. Our Vision statement is known in draft form to all our stakeholders including our school council and is open to change and comment. • Our church ethos and heritage is valued and now forms an intrinsic part of our daily routines. • We are mindful that our gifted and talented learners must be stretched both in school and outside. We have produced opportunities for this through our radiostation, our bulletin arrangements and our Kid's Cafe. • Our learner groups are now tracked with an electronic data-collection system which is being spread to being used across the pyramid of schools. We have evaluated and analysed our data in weekly staff learning meetings focussing on pupils progress every half term. We have addressed the weaknesses in our results, for instance in writing across the school, by bringing in and monitoring VCOP work and BIG Write procedures. We are already seeing progress in writing above national average in over 75% of our pupils. • We have revolutionised our approach to ICT with netbook computers and are running a versatile, vibrant and interactive website through our school VLE. Our work in school is now going out to our pyramid and is being examined by some departments in the county as an exemplar model. A4.2 The leadership and management of teaching and learning The school assesses its performance in this area as GOOD because: • Our teaching and learning policies were adopted by governors in October 2009. This included the appointment of a head of teaching, learning and assessment. This enables us to pass on our outstanding practice at KS2 across the whole school. • We are now using our Suffolk professional development links to improve KS1 and KS2 teaching across the school from satisfactory and good to outstanding with three training sessions led by our link adviser and observations supporting our progress so far. • The school now has an approach to improving teaching that recognises the skills and attributes that make for outstanding teaching and learning experiences for all learners. We have successfully integrated learning targets into our reporting and lesson routines. We are working on criteria led target setting and have adopted APP work in most of our assessment procedures. This is a particular strength at KS1 and we are spreading our expertise to KS2 through our staff training and by visiting and sharing good practice in our local schools. • All pupils have half-termly targets which are evaluated and reset. Lessons now have learning targets and are appropriately differentiated. Our excellent record with SEN learners is supported by our target setting procedures. All staff, including TAs, are empowered, through training, to monitor and reset targets regularly, for instance, through the use of mathematics journals to identify weaknesses and hard to learn aspects of core subjects. This permits us to make our lesson targets more personalised and focussed at weaknesses. • Speaking and Listening is given particular emphasis in our work through our use of talk partners in all classes and we are adopting Philosophy for children in class 4 with the creation of our own radio station. We believe that opportunities for leading learning through good speaking and listening opportunities will improve all learning. Our further work on outdoor learning will offer even more opportunities for our speaking work.
A4.3 The effectiveness of the governing body in challenging and supporting the school so that weaknesses are tackled decisively and statutory responsibilities met The school assesses its performance in this area as good, bordering on outstanding, because: • All governors are pro-active and committed to the school's vision as evidenced by governors' reports and records of visits made (See governors visit reports) • The governing body is full, and all governors are assigned to committees and meet their statutory duties. All governors have had different subject responsibilities. • Specific strategies have been devised to ensure succession to recruit "fresh blood" by the recruitment of associate governors and with a view to the school's current and future needs. • Governors attend local authority-provided training and are proactive in selecting training appropriate to their needs and those of the school. For example. In September 2008, governors attended Philosophy for Schools training to meet the need for improved speaking and listening opportunities in school. The introduction of Philosophy for Schools has had a positive effect. • Governors from finance committee have worked with the head teacher and office manager to make progress towards meeting the requirements for FMSIS. • The chair of governors and the governors health and safety committee receive reports from the head teacher about safeguarding, bullying and racist incidents as well as accident monitoring and site related health and safety/building issues. The governors are proactive in ensuring that any issues that are arising are fully addressed. (i.e. see Building reports) . • Headteacher's reports to governors outline school priorities as indicated by RAISEonline and SEF. The governing body identifies issues relating to school improvement. (See governor reports). Chair and HT work on agendas jointly and request input from relevant contributors. Relationships with staff are very positive, and governors frequently drop into school on an informal basis. • Governors regularly receive the views of parents and always respond. As this is a small school, parents know who the governors are and a new section is being created on the school website to support this. • Governors have an appreciation of data and have been instrumental in shaping overall strategy. The weakness in writing across the school in 2009 is a section for improvement in the current School development plan and the expectation is that all pupils will make at least average progress in writing this year with 10% (informally) making more than average progress. • Governors are aware of the under-performance at KS1 and have been pro-active in monitoring and reviewing progress of all pupils. Expectations of average progress plus by all pupils in writing in core subjects as a minimum, are in teachers' performance management at KS1 and are being actively monitored. • We think we are on the border of outstanding performance but need to embed our systematic processes. • As a result of self-evaluation, the governors were aware that their focus should be more sharply-focussed. Following training arranged by the GB in January 2008 governors took active measures to link governance to the school development plan key priorities which has resulted in more focussed and critical evaluation. The existing model of two governors meetings per term was redefined so as to consecrate one meeting to School Improvement. A4.4 - The effectiveness of the school's engagement with parents and carers The school assesses its performance in this area as good, bordering on outstanding, because: • A recent questionnaire (Oct 09) showed that the majority of parents felt the school took their views into account and responded by way of action. An
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example of previous engagement in 2008 were the changes effected to the car parking and safety arrangements achieved by means of a parent governor group. We sent the results of the survey home to all parents and published the survey on our website with our action plan. We have changed our parent meeting formats, introduced a new report form, held Parent Forum sessions and reinvigorated Assemblies to actively engage parents in seeing and supporting (showcasing) children's actual work. We send the results of surveys home to all parents in our newsletters and publish the surveys on our website with our action plan inviting further comments. The school has a very good reputation locally and is oversubscribed in 4 of 6 year groups. We have a high number of out of catchment pupils (about 35%). We place a high priority on seeking the views of our learners' parents and other stakeholders as shown by our work on the Vision Statement. We wish to be known as a listening school and in our recent survey 90% of parents told us we were. We provide many opportunities for parents to interact with the school through: ◦ Parents' Assemblies (every three weeks); ◦ Parents' Forum (every three weeks); ◦ Newsletters with returns and comment sections; ◦ Questionnaire sent out every Autumn; ◦ Parents' meetings recently on school vision; ◦ Website and online communication with email feedback provided on front page; ◦ Immediate contact by phone and email when things go wrong; ◦ Parent interviews and parents' evening with feedback sheets; ◦ Special events and functions including Concerts; ◦ Working parties and garden work. Parents are encouraged to use pupil diaries and homework books to write comments. For some pupils (about 10%)we have set up pupil journals to aid daily communication. End-of-year reports have comment sections as do interim reports issued termly. Parent return rate approximately 30%. Statemented pupils' annual review documentation and IEPs all involve very close interaction with parents. 95% of our parents attended the November parents' evening and this fits in with the pattern of previous years. We actively encourage parents to raise matters of concern. These are recorded on a report form and agreed and sent home to parents with details of actions taken (See copies of interim reports Nov 2009). When things go wrong, we pride ourselves on being open and available to parents. We keep all parties informed and respond positively to feedback. We see each matter through until there is an agreed resolution. Matters of particular concern regarding sex education or residential visits are handled sensitively with parent meetings and opportunities to preview resources.
Elements which prevent the school from evaluating its performance in this area as outstanding include: • The recent questionnaire (Oct 09) showed that 30% of parents felt the school did not take their views into account and did not respond by way of action. This was disappointing and may reflect the recent transition year. A4.5 The effectiveness of partnerships in promoting learning and well-being The school assesses its performance in this area as good because: • We have partnerships in most aspects of our school work, from our sporting and spiritual links to our community links to Deptford, Gaza and other schools, to our links to our own village with pre-school work and our part in village events. • We are building closer links to the Pre-School, and now provide hot school lunches from our kitchens. We are also developing more active participation with the church as well as the village hall committee and parish council.
• Links to our pyramid have been developed to include better liaison, which includes adopting our school electronic data arrangements. • Links to church by building contacts into our assembly routines and providing appropriate places for prayer in our day. • Links to the village and the village hall and the pre-school include full participation in each others events such as the pantomime in February 2010). • Links to alternative faith groups and their faith centres such as links to faith groups in Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich. • We will continue to link to African village at Sizewell and then to extend our outdoor education opportunities through Eccles Hall and Thetford Forest. • Link online for projects through the British Council (registered January 2010). • The school has developed links with educational support to ensure that no problem for any pupil remains unsolved or unsupported. (For example arranging one-to-one support for SEN pupils in year 5 and 6.) • Our links with WHEB (small primary school group) and our pyramid will be developed to include our school liaison arrangements. • We will look to join head teachers group at Bealings School to share development of the vision for a new curriculum. • We will develop the current range of partnerships that includes links to schools in Deptford and Gaza. • We also will continue to develop the sports partnership work and other curriculum-linked work. A4.6 The effectiveness with which the school promotes equal opportunity and tackles discrimination The school assesses its performance in this area as good because: • We currently have no serious incidents recorded. • September 2009 - Unification of all Equality policies across the school. All of these policies are published and copies shared with all staff and available online. Sessions are held with governors and with staff at meetings. (Achieved by January 2010) Our Action Plan is published on our website and in our reception area. • A regular pattern of pupil perception and pupil questionnaire opportunities is in place for every year. Action plans are produced from each occasion. • The school council and governors play a full part in the construction and evaluation of the schools equality policy and action plan. • An evaluation and review of last year's action plan indicated more contacts needed with differing communities and a more diverse opportunity to experience different cultures and faith groups. • Introduction of new behaviour policy, (passed October 2009) code of conduct and behaviour information sheet. • Use our new electronic data tracking system to identify vulnerable groups and track carefully. • Full Equality Action Plan developed and run by the school council with a lesson for all PSHE lessons devised by the council. • Parent feedback indicated that parents still feel ill-informed and did not feel comfortable with communication. We set up a parents' forum to meet on Fridays after parents' Assembly. A4.7 The effectiveness of safeguarding procedures The school assesses its performance in this area as good because: • All safeguarding policies have been unified and updated. (Achieved October 2009) • Single central record is in place and has been inspected by council officials and link adviser. • Thorough evaluation of current position and procedures has been undertaken. All staff training is in place and two new Senior Designated Professionals are in post. • First aid training was completed Summer 09.
• All pupils made aware of SAFEGUARDING through PSHE and assemblies. Regular reference to self-safety in classes and around school. • Head teacher now on 'training to train' course to support training in pyramid of six primary schools. • Recruitment arrangements in place with full knowledge of governors. Appropriate training and support in place including SAFE training. • An agreed schedule of training agreed with governors to include their own training. • Thorough review of induction arrangements and distribution to all staff to ensure consistency. (New policy in place January 2010) • Training in place for lunchtime supervisors in place by Summer 2010 to ensure safe practice and engagement during the lunchtime play arrangements. Play leaders introduced from partnership high school. • Review and establishment of strong arrangements with outside agencies to ensure support for all pupils. Behaviour support in place to support two pupils in year 2 to ensure we nip problems in the bud. • Social Services case conferences are attended and supported by the school. A4.8 The effectiveness with which the school promotes community cohesion The school assesses its performance in this area as good because: We are a 95% white British with very few groups from different faiths or cultures. We ensure that we value our country's rich cultural and ethnic diversity. We do this by: • Forming links with our regional and national contacts. • Full development of the school council with weekly meetings and budget responsibility. • Works on our links to ensure we overcome our catchment and location by visiting contrasting cultural and ethnic locations, including a week long residential visit in the summer for class 4. • The family focus of the school will be essentially linked to the community and events and activities of a thriving village life. • The principles of Equality and equal opportunities prevail in every aspect of school life. • All pupils, parents and visitors will be made to feel part of our school and that their views will be listened to. • We will respond to local, regional, national and international movements and needs such as Fund raising for the poppy appeal, children in Need and the Haiti fundraising. • We will have members of the community regularly coming into school - the nurse, the forces, the police and the fire and rescue service have all visited this term. • We will achieve healthy schools status and complete our school travel plan by the end of the Easter term 2010 with the practical support of our working governors. A4.9 The effectiveness with which the school deploys resources to achieve value for money The school assesses its performance in this area as good because: • We have costs at present for our services that are below the average yet our results are high. • School has committed to making best use of technology to deliver an efficient, robust, economic school management system. • The school has scrutinised the bursar arrangements and used benchmarking for the school and bought into the Suffolk County Council Bursar service, which has led to efficiencies and access to funding of which we were previously not aware. (We lost our own bursar in June 2009.) • We are using benchmarking to guide all our decisions. The school will achieve FMSIS this year.
• We have revamped the ICT programme of learning and resources according to a newly written vision statement and financial plan. • The state of the building has been improved according to need and some minor works which have been outstanding for some time are now completed. This has been done by fully exploiting our Suffolk County Council contract. • We are on target to meet our budget expectations for the year and have brought new finance in to school to support special areas of learning like one-to-one tuition for our SEN pupils. A5.1 Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage The school assesses its performance in this area as good because: • When pupils arrive from pre-school and several local play groups and nurseries, they come with a varied pattern of experiences and not all have begun the EYFS audit. Last year's performance in the six areas of learning showed that most groups of learners achieved well. • Performance in Communication, Language and Literacy was below expectation and has been a focus for improvement in the school development plan. Current tracking shows that progress is already above national expectation. • We have strengthened reading support by using a team of volunteers with a more structured agenda and a more rigorous approach to phonics with our identified vulnerable groups. • Training for volunteers is now offered and close scrutiny and monitoring of progress takes place regularly (half-termly). • We value highly ECM priorities and this is evident in the way pupils interact and manage difficulties with each other and within learning experiences. While we have a restricted population/catchment we offer opportunities for pupils to share culture and beliefs across the curriculum. For instance we meet regularly with the pre-school for special events such as Divali assembly, Indian dance workshops and art opportunities. • Being part of a school, the strong school code of discipline and expectation sets a powerful role model for all of our pupils including pupils in the early years. Older pupils join in learning activities with our early years pupils. (Assigned child). • Child-initiated learning is encouraged by thorough use of our whole site including our purpose-built garden area and outdoor classroom. A5.2 The quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage The school assesses its performance in this area as satisfactory because: • Our environment is potentially an outstanding setting. We have upgraded the classroom and introduced opportunities for indoor learning journeys to include sand and water and kitchen facilities to encourage the use of food as a learning environment. • TA support and volunteers make for an adult-rich environment where the class teacher ensures opportunities and learning journeys are taking place for all learners. • Monitoring of activities and learning is recorded through our new ICT facilities and the EYFS tracker. This includes video and still images recording of learning. • Differentiation of learning is a strength and thematic learning offers opportunities for every learner. • Play is a major part of our beliefs and practice. We use learning through play to record progress in independence and social interaction. • Our class staff share facilities with the school and this makes for a richer experience for all groups. A5.3 The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage The school assesses its performance in this area as satisfactory because: • Already this term standards are above national average in more than 30% of some aspects of learning. (Scrutiny report December 2009)
• We have introduced new tracking procedures and can now can ensure that all our children make good progress across all areas of learning. • The present leadership is satisfactory, the department being led by a secondyear new graduate. • Last year some girls and free school meal children did not make expected progress. This year expected progress has been made and above average progress is evident in some cases. We have a web of interventions available to support pupils and the leadership focuses rigorous support where needed. • We will explore other settings to share experience and bring even more new ideas back to Wetheringsett. A5.4 Overall effectiveness: how well does the setting/school meet the needs of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage? The signs are already there that above average progress is being made and expected. (Scrutiny and report produced December 2009.) The grade should be able to move to good as the physical provision improves. • All pupils' needs are met to a satisfactory level. • We will be improving by examining and adopting ideas for improvement. • Our physical provision will be updated and repaired. • New plans will be agreed for further works. • A covered area will be built outside and a new shed erected. • Other provision will be made in the school gardens to encourage all our pupils to learn in the classroom and beyond. • Learning will be through play with a strong supportive network of expertise that recognises the needs for a safe but challenging environment. A8.1 Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupilsThe guidelines for this section say "Please note that this is a summative grade based largely on the grades you have decided upon for the separate outcomes. You do not need to repeat the information you have provided in those sections. In most cases, you will need to refer only to the grade descriptors for Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils and state which one best fits your judgements." I don't think we're doing that. -Mark Allen 07/02/2010 11:03 The school assesses its performance in this area as good because: • Our scrutiny and evaluation December 2009 showed good progress. • We are focussed on the achievement of high standards at KS1 and KS2 with good/outstanding teaching across the school. • All progress will be tracked electronically and targets will be set six times in the year. • Parents and pupils will receive termly reports of progress with levels in all subjects. • Constant self-evaluation is a vital aspect of our work and outlook (Our SDP is reviewed three times a year and our Vision statement is a living document). • We will always be looking to benchmark our performance against the highest standards starting this year with ensuring we make progress at better-thannational standards for all pupils, as set through performance management and already monitored and shown to be working in February 2010. • The foundation of our work is that every child will succeed and every need will be provided for. A8.2 The school's capacity for sustained improvement The school assesses its performance in this area as outstanding because: • Self-evaluation is a vital aspect of our work and outlook and we always be looking to benchmark our performance against the highest standards starting this year with ensuring we make progress at better-than-national standards for all pupils.
• We are currently focussed on the achievement of high standards at KS1 and KS2 with good/ outstanding teaching across the school. • We are driven by our agreed vision policy and a strong development framework. • All progress is tracked electronically and targets are set six times in the year. • Parents and pupils receive termly reports of progress with levels in all subjects. • Our philosophy is to strive for excellence in all we do, for every one of our pupils ( see Vision Statement February 2010). • The foundation of our work is that every child will succeed and every need will be provided for. A8.3 Overall effectiveness: how good is the school? • The overall effectiveness will be at least good in all of the categories above. • Our action plan and school development work will enable us to identify our weak areas and promote improvement during the course of this year. • Our links to communities beyond Wetheringsett will be a vital part of our thinking as well as a thorough rigorous knowledge of where each pupil is in their learning. A8.4 Important actions for the school • To raise standards in writing for all children in KS1 and 2, with a particular focus on more able children. • To increase the rate of progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in aspects of Communication, Language and Literacy (CLL). The key areas for improvement are writing and linking sounds and letters (phonics). • To improve the quality of teaching in all key stages to ensure that teachers are making best use of assessment judgements to identify and target children's needs and ensure that they all make at least expected progress.