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|
 |
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Unique
Reference Number |
125039 |
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Local
Authority |
Surrey |
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Inspection
number |
293174 |
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Inspection
date |
16 July 2007 |
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Reporting
inspector |
Marianne Harris |
|
|
This inspection of the school was carried out under
section 5 of the Education Act 2005. |
|
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Type of school
|
Junior |
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School
category |
Foundation |
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Age range
of pupils |
7–11 |
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Gender of
pupils |
Mixed |
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Number on
roll (school) |
611 |
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Appropriate authority |
The governing body |
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Date of
previous school inspection |
3 February 2003 |
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School address
|
Oatlands Avenue,
Weybridge, Surrey
KT13 9TS
|
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Telephone
number |
01932 224 300 |
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Fax number
|
01932 269 796 |
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Chair
|
Mr R Nicholson |
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Headteacher
|
Mrs S Croft |
|
|
Introduction
|
| The inspection was carried out by an Additional
Inspector. |
Description of the school
|
| This is a very large junior school located in a socially
advantaged area. Most of the pupils have a White British
background, with very few pupils who are learning
English as an additional language. The proportion of
pupils who have learning difficulties and disabilities
is broadly average, including those who have a statement
of special educational needs. The school holds many
awards including the Basic Skills Award, Investors in
People, Activemark Gold, Artsmark Gold, Football Charter
Standard, Healthy Schools Award and Working with Parents
Award. |
Key for inspection grades
Grade 1 Outstanding
Grade 2 Good
Grade 3 Satisfactory
Grade 4 Inadequate |
| Overall effectiveness of the school
Grade: 1 |
| One parent wrote 'This is a very exceptional school. I
am not sure the parents and children really know how
lucky they are.' |
| In this excellent school pupils make outstanding
progress both academically and personally. Standards are
very high and all pupils, whatever their ability,
achieve extremely well from their starting points. More
than half of the pupils reach the higher levels in
English, mathematics and science tests and standards
overall are exceptionally high. |
| Since the last inspection there has been a review of the
already excellent curriculum to make it more lively,
vibrant and based on what pupils want to learn. The
senior leadership team have focussed on the core skills
that pupils need in order to be effective learners and
enjoy coming to school. This has been very successful in
involving pupils in their own learning and promoting the
key skills of, for example, independence, co-operation,
thoughtfulness and responsibility. Pupils know that
their views are listened to and that they have a voice
in the school. Consequently their personal development
is excellent. They have a very well developed
understanding of how to keep healthy and stay safe. They
take major roles and responsibilities within the school
and are very enthusiastic about learning. |
| Teaching and learning are outstanding. Pupils are fully
involved in lessons and are very enthusiastic because
they know that they have a say in what they are
learning. They also know that the school provides
excellent care, guidance and support for them. Their
academic progress is tracked very effectively so that
any who are falling behind can quickly catch up. They
talk enthusiastically about the key skills, such as
creativity and cooperation, they are learning, and they
agree with the headteacher that the progress they make
in these skills needs to be assessed as part of the
comprehensive system the school currently has in place. |
| The success of the go-ahead senior leadership team is
due to the visionary leadership of the headteacher. In
her drive to improve the school even more she has
produced cutting-edge education for the pupils. Based on
developing the potential of each child through a very
broad curriculum and outstanding extra opportunities,
she has succeeded in creating pupils who are
self-motivated, eager to learn and become very good
citizens. Governance is excellent. Governors support the
school very well but are not afraid to ask probing
questions about any initiative the headteacher wants to
introduce. They actively work with the pupils in order
to help create a unique school that seeks to become even
better by broadening the experiences that pupils have
and involving them fully in the life of the school. As a
result the school's evaluation of its work is accurate
and there is excellent capacity to improve further. |
What the school should do to improve further
|
| • Track the progress made in the key skills. |
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Achievement and standards
|
| Grade: 1 |
| When pupils join the school their attainment is above
average. By the time they leave school at the end of
Year 6 standards in
English, mathematics and science are
exceptionally high and more than half the pupils reach
the higher levels in national tests. Current standards
remain very high and this has been the trend over many
years. Not only are standards very high in the subjects
that are tested, but pupils also reach very high
standards in other subjects, including information and
communication technology, music and performing arts.
Pupils' achievement is excellent. Those with learning
difficulties and disabilities receive outstanding
support so that they achieve as well as they can and
most pupils reach the nationally expected standards. |
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Personal development and well-being
|
| Grade: 1 |
| Pupils' personal development and well-being are
exceptional. There are groups of pupils throughout the
school who have responsibility for making sure that, as
one child put it, 'The pupils have a voice'. The school
council take responsibility for day- to-day decisions
and seek the views of their peers at every opportunity.
Mentors make sure that all pupils have friends to play
with and those new to the school can settle quickly.
Peer mediators take responsibility for sorting out any
minor disagreements in the playground and for making
sure that only serious cases are taken to the teachers.
Most outstanding are the associate governors. These are
pupils who are elected for two years and work alongside
the governing body. They attend governors meetings and
have asked some searching questions about the budget.
Behaviour throughout the school is exemplary and pupils
say that 'problems are sorted out quickly by peer
mediators or teachers'. Pupils really enjoy coming to
school because they are involved in planning work and
making important decisions, consequently attendance is
well above that usually seen. Pupils have a very good
understanding about keeping healthy and staying fit
because the school plans activities that promote these.
The recent Year 6 project on making a 'Smoothie' to sell
gave the pupils a very good opportunity to experience
the world of work and they talk enthusiastically about
what they learnt from the activity. Most importantly,
they said that they learnt to work together and be
committed to the project. All aspects of pupils'
spiritual, moral, social and cultural are excellent and
appreciate how their children grow and flourish. |
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Quality of provision
|
Teaching and learning
|
| Grade: 1 |
| Teaching and learning are excellent. Planning is of a
very high quality and pupils are often involved in
deciding what it is they want to learn. The purpose of
each lesson is clearly displayed and referred to during
activities. All pupils are fully involved because
teachers use the interactive whiteboards very
effectively, for example, to show short video clips that
enrich learning, or to explore ideas the pupils may have
by recording their thoughts for all to see. Pupils
report that all lessons are interesting and based on
what they want to learn. Learning support assistants
work very well in class to support pupils with learning
difficulties and disabilities to make sure that they
make as much progress as possible. |
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Curriculum and other activities
|
| Grade: 1 |
| The school provides a dynamic and exciting curriculum
for all pupils. This has recently been reviewed in the
light of a pupil survey where pupils said that they
learnt best when they were exploring themes and finding
out for themselves. As a result the staff decided to
look at the skills that pupils need, such as independent
research, in order to be effective learners and planned
the curriculum around these. Pupils speak very
enthusiastically about learning and are very involved in
planning the curriculum and activities they want to
pursue. There are residential trips for all year groups,
and many more are planned. Many special theme weeks have
been organised, for example, pupils in Year 3 have had a
'sculptor in residence' and have created some very
unique benches for one quiet area in the playground.
There has been much work of an International Dimension,
working with Chinese schools and hoping to organise a
school visit to the country. Pupils comment on the very
wide range of sporting opportunities both in and out of
lessons. Every year group has a selection of sporting
teams that competes in the local area and abroad. The
choirs sing on many occasions, including in Italy where
they sang with a local choir and performed in churches.
There is a huge range of visitors into the school,
including the local police that support the excellent
programme for personal, social and health education so
that pupils know the issues they will face as they grow
up. |
| |
Care, guidance and support
|
| Grade: 1 |
| The school provides outstanding care, guidance and
support for all pupils. 'Pastoral support is excellent',
commented one parent, as there is a dedicated member of
staff who makes sure that there is always someone the
pupils can go to if they have a problem. Pupil mentors,
elected in Year 5, ensure that pupils new to the school,
particularly in Year 3, are looked after and have an
older child they can go to if they feel a little lost.
Academic guidance is excellent. All pupils know their
targets and how to improve their work. They are very
involved in reviewing these and know exactly what they
are aiming for. Child protection procedures are robust
and every precaution is taken to protect pupils both on
site and when working away from the school. |
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Leadership and management
|
| Grade: 1 |
| The leadership and management of the school were summed
up accurately by one parent who wrote, 'The headteacher
is marvellous, with a very supportive team, extremely
dedicated and enthusiastic.' The headteacher has
organised the senior leaders into very effective teams
who work together extremely well to make sure that all
pupils make excellent progress. Governors are very
supportive of the school and are very keen that it
continues to improve and build on its many successes.
There has been excellent improvement since the last
inspection. Standards have remained very high and there
have been many changes to the curriculum, making it even
more lively and relevant. The teaching of key skills is
innovative and successful. The school now wants to track
the progress pupils make in these skills in order to
fully evaluate the success of this initiative. |
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| Annex A:
Inspection judgements |
|
Key to judgements:
grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3
satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate
|
School
Overall |
Overall effectiveness
|
|
| How effective, efficient and inclusive is
the provision of education, integrated care and
any extended services in meeting the needs of
learners? |
1 |
| How well does the school work in partnership
with others to promote learners' well-being? |
1 |
| The effectiveness of the school's
self-evaluation |
1 |
| The capacity to make any necessary
improvements |
1 |
| Effective steps have been taken to promote
improvement since the last inspection |
Yes |
Achievement and standards
|
|
| How well do learners achieve? |
1 |
| The standards1
reached by learners |
1 |
| How well learners make progress, taking
account of any significant variations between
groups of learners |
1 |
| How well learners with learning difficulties
and disabilities make progress |
1 |
1
Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high;
Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below
average;
Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average;
Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. |
Personal development and well-being
|
1 |
| How good is the overall personal development
and well-being of the learners? |
|
| The extent of learners' spiritual, moral,
social and cultural development |
1 |
| The behaviour of learners |
1 |
| The attendance of learners |
1 |
| How well learners enjoy their education |
1 |
| The extent to which learners adopt safe
practices |
1 |
| The extent to which learners adopt healthy
lifestyles |
1 |
| The extent to which learners make a positive
contribution to the community |
1 |
| How well learners develop workplace and
other skills that will contribute to their
future economic well-being |
1 |
The quality of provision
|
|
| How effective are teaching and learning in
meeting the full range of the learners' needs? |
1 |
| How well do the curriculum and other
activities meet the range of needs and interests
of learners? |
1 |
| How well are learners cared for, guided and
supported? |
1 |
Leadership and management
|
|
| How effective are leadership and management
in raising achievement and supporting all
learners? |
1 |
| How effectively leaders and managers at all
levels set clear direction leading to
improvement and promote high quality of care and
education |
1 |
| How effectively performance is monitored,
evaluated and improved to meet challenging
targets |
1 |
| How well equality of opportunity is promoted
and discrimination tackled so that all learners
achieve as well as they can |
1 |
| How effectively and efficiently resources,
including staff, are deployed to achieve value
for money |
1 |
| The extent to which governors and other
supervisory boards discharge their
responsibilities |
1 |
| Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet
current government requirements? |
Yes |
| Does this school require special measures?
|
No |
| Does this school require a notice to
improve? |
No |
|
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| Annex B |
Text from letter to
pupils explaining the findings of the inspection 3
September 2007
|
| Dear Children |
| Inspection of Cleves School, Weybridge,
Surrey KT13 9TS |
| Thank you for welcoming me into your excellent school
recently and for spending so much time telling me all
about your work. I really enjoyed my time at Cleves and
am now writing to let you know what I found out. |
| There were many things that really impressed me. The way
you take responsibility in the school and know that
teachers listen to your views is outstanding. You spoke
so confidently about staying healthy and keeping safe
and I know that Year 6 worked very hard on their 'Smoothie'
making to show that they understood about healthy
eating. Sir Alan Sugar had better watch out, as some of
you will be after his job soon. The number of visits and
residential trips you have is far more than is normally
seen. I looked at many exciting pictures of you in
France, Italy and other places in this country. You all
seemed to be enjoying yourselves and joining in
enthusiastically. |
| I know that you all work hard because you make fantastic
progress in your lessons. You are very good at reading,
writing, mathematics and science. I also saw some very
good information and communication technology skills
being used, making films and presentations that probably
deserve an Oscar! |
| When I spoke to some of you, you explained very clearly
about the core skills that run through all of your
lessons. You talked about how much progress you make and
about the targets you have. I have spoken to your
headteacher and she said that it was now time to assess
how much progress you make in these key skills so that
you know how successful you have been. I am sure that
you will be involved in this and I know that you will
think very carefully and give your honest opinion on how
well you think you have done. |
| Once again, thank you for being so friendly polite and
extremely well behaved. I wish you good luck in the
future and hope that I will be invited back soon to see
you all again. |
| Marianne Harris |
| Lead inspector |
| © Crown copyright 2007
|
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| Further copies of this report are obtainable from the
school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must
provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain
categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full
cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies
supplied. |
| Any complaints about the inspection or the report should
be made following the procedures set out in the guidance
'Complaints about school inspections', which is
available from Ofsted's website:
www.ofsted.gov.uk |
|
|
Links:
Cleves School Weybridge Surrey |
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