This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

Inspection Report: Kingham Primary School , 28 and 29 February 2008

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

Description of the school

This average sized school serves the rural village of Kingham near Chipping Norton. Pupils come from a variety of social backgrounds and are almost all of White British heritage. The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is well below the national average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties is below that found nationally. The school

has received the Healthy School Award and Sport England Active mark. It is also a Football Association Charter School and has Eco status. The school is lead by a new headteacher, in post for less than a week.

Key for inspection grades

Overall effectiveness of the school - Grade: 2

This is a good school where pupils achieve well and attain standards that are significantly above average overall. They enjoy coming to school, say their work is interesting and challenging and that teachers help them to succeed. The overwhelming majority of parents believe their children make good progress and are impressed by the quality of the teaching and learning.

Good provision in the Foundation Stage helps young children settle quickly and effortlessly into school life. This provides a very good preparation for their future life and learning in school. Standards overall are significantly above average at age 7 and 11 years and have been for a number of years. Pupils achieve well because the quality of teaching is good.

Teachers make good use of assessment information to match work to individual pupil's needs and to set targets to help them to improve. This is particularly effective for those identified as higher attainers.

The curriculum is of good quality and enriched through a very good range of out of class activities. Across the school, activities are usually challenging and exciting, which motivates pupils to engage willingly in lessons, concentrate well and produce a good amount of work. Teachers are linking subjects so that pupils can see how the different aspects of their learning fit together.

Pupils' personal development is good. They thoroughly enjoy coming to school and excitedly participate in all activities. They treat each other with respect, behave well and genuinely want to learn. Attendance is excellent and is further evidence of pupils' enjoyment. Pupils are well cared for and feel secure and happy. Marking and target setting help pupils understand exactly what they need to do to improve and is exceptionally well developed for the older children, with many opportunities for self-assessment. However, this is not yet as effective in all classes and consequently some pupils have less guidance on how to improve.

Leadership and management are good. All adults are working hard to secure further improvements to this good school so that it can be outstanding in every way. A review of the systems for monitoring the school's performance and communicating this to others is under consideration. This will enable leaders to broaden their overview of provision within their areas of responsibility, so they can quickly identify any underachievement and accelerate further the rate at which pupils make progress. Governors are very much part of school life and discharge their responsibilities well. The school has continued to improve since the last inspection and the drive and enthusiasm of school leaders ensure that it has good capacity for further improvement.

Effectiveness of the Foundation Stage Grade: 2

Provision is good overall. Children typically start school with skills and abilities that are above those normally expected of four year olds. They make good progress in the Foundation Stage because teaching is good, and most children exceed the goals expected of them by the time they move into Year 1. The quality of planning in the Foundation Stage, previously a weakness, is now good. Tracking procedures are used well to plan challenging and enjoyable activities to boost children's rate of progress. Self-assessment is helping to raise children's awareness of what they can do and achieve. A new Foundation Stage unit is about to open and this will enable the school to make more effective use of the outdoor environment to extend all six areas of learning, which is currently restricted during building work. Children socialise well with each other and their behaviour is good.

What the school should do to improve further

Achievement and standards Grade: 2

Pupils achieve well and make good progress throughout the school. The standards reached by the age of eleven are significantly above average overall and have been for a number of years. Higher attaining pupils do well and, in 2007, more than half reached the higher level 5 in English, mathematics and science. Standards at the age of seven are also significantly above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Again, more than half of the pupils reached the higher level 3 in all three subjects. Pupils who struggle, particularly with reading and writing, make good progress as a result of the good support they receive.

Personal development and well-being Grade: 2

Pupils' good spiritual, moral and social development underpins all aspects of school life. The Comenius Project develops the pupil's knowledge and understanding of European cultures well, but they have less awareness of non-western cultures.

Pupils have an excellent understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. This has been recognized through the ' Healthy School ' accreditation and the 'Sport England Activemark' award. Pupils also show a good awareness of personal safety and the well-being of others. A few parents have expressed concerns about specific instances of unacceptable behaviour, but inspectors found that pupils behaved well during lessons and on the playground.

Pupils attend extremely regularly and make useful contributions to the day-to-day running of the school by sensibly undertaking responsible jobs and organizing the school council. They also show a responsibility towards the wider community, for example, by raising money to landscape the new village car park with bulbs, plants and shrubs.

Pupils really enjoy learning, are able to organize their work independently, and have very good levels of competence in basic skills. This is good preparation for future life and learning.

Quality of provision

Teaching and learning Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good because teachers know pupils well, have high expectations of them and plan work that matches their individual needs and capabilities. They use questioning skills well to discover the full extent of pupils' understanding. They use pupils' responses successfully to consolidate previous learning, clarify new ideas and to move pupils on to more challenging work. For example, Year 4 pupils were encouraged to explain to their friends the methods they used to solve a mathematical problem. Fired with enthusiasm, they went on to see if they could find different methods of performing the same calculation. Pupils really enjoy working in this way because it is challenging and they are able to work independently at their own level. However, this is not yet constant across all classes and some teachers do not always give them sufficient opportunities to work in this way or be responsible for their own learning.

Curriculum and other activities Grade: 2

Throughout the school, provision for the development of basic skills is good and ensures that pupils achieve well. The extensive range of enrichment activities allows pupils to develop their talents and interests on a range of fronts, and makes a considerable contribution to their personal development. Additionally, there are good links with other schools, providing a wide range of musical, dramatic, dance and sporting activities as well as workshops for gifted and talented pupils. The school is developing a thematic approach to planning so that pupils can see how the different aspects of their learning fit together. The school recognises that more work needs to be done on this aspect before it is firmly established.

Care, guidance and support Grade: 2

The support, care and guidance of pupils are of a good standard and actively promote equality and individuality. Health and safety arrangements and child protection procedures are robust and reviewed regularly. Pupils have confidence in the staff and say that adults will quickly deal with any worries or concerns pupils may have. The quality of academic guidance is good, and is particularly effective for the older pupils who have an exceptionally good understanding of their targets and what they need to improve. One older pupil summed up the views of the others in saying, 'our teachers are really enthusiastic and help you to learn from your mistakes'. However, this is not consistent in all classes. Marking of work usually provides a good guide on how to improve, but is less effective for younger pupils. Consequently, some pupils do not have such a comprehensive understanding of how well they are doing or what they need to improve.

Leadership and management Grade: 2

The school is undergoing a period of rapid change with the very recent appointment of a new headteacher and the imminent opening of a new purpose built Foundation Stage unit. The management of these changes is effective and there is minimum disruption to the smooth running of the school. Challenging targets are being set to maintain high standards. Moreover, the new headteacher is already investigating ways for leaders to broaden their overview of their areas of responsibility so they can further accelerate pupils' progress across the school and quickly pinpoint any underachievement. He is also exploring new ways of communicating with parents, a significant minority of whom seek improvements in this area of the school's provision. Governors contribute to decisions about the strategic direction of the school and carefully monitor progress towards agreed targets. They are very good at holding the school to account for its performance.

Any complaints about the inspection or the report should be made following the procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

* 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.

Letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

13 March 2008

Dear Pupils

Inspection of Kingham Primary School , Chipping Norton, OX7 6YD

Thank you for being so welcoming and helpful when we came to inspect your school. We were very impressed with your friendliness and your sensible and helpful attitudes towards each other.

Here are some of the other things we liked best about your school.

You attain standards that are very much better than most other schools and you achieve well.

We think that you have a good education, which prepares you well for the next stage of your learning. All of the adults in your school want it to be even better. To help them to do this we think that there are two things to do next.

Yours sincerely,

John Earish

Lead Inspector

March 2008