Caddington Village School
Five Oaks
Caddington
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU14JD

Phone:01582 726058
Headteacher: Mrs Sue Teague

Visit school website 

547 pupils, Mixed

ofsted.gov.uk

© Crown copyright 2009

Introduction

This inspection was carried out by four additional inspectors. The majority of the inspectors' time was spent in lessons observing learning. Thirty lessons were observed, taught by 24 teachers. Meetings were held with pupils, the headteacher and senior leadership team, teachers and representatives of the governing body. The inspectors looked at a wide range of documentation and a sample of the pupils' work. Questionnaire responses from pupils, staff and 202 parents were analysed.

The inspection team reviewed many aspects of the school's work. It looked in detail at:

• how well the school meets the needs of specific groups, such as boys and Travellers
• the effectiveness of assessment, marking and target-setting in ensuring that teachers accurately match work to pupils' abilities, so that they know what they are expected learn and how to improve their work
• the systems to monitor and evaluate the quality of provision and its impact on pupils' progress.

Information about the school

The school opened in September 2008. It is an amalgamation of three schools with the addition of a nursery. Pupils are taught by their class teachers until the end of Year 4. In Years 5 to 8 there is more specialist teaching and the pupils are taught in ability sets for English, mathematics and science lessons. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The proportion of pupils who take free school meals is less than half of the national average. The great majority of pupils are from White British families. A very small proportion of pupils are from Traveller families. 20 pupils join the school at the start of Year 5 from a lower school. There is considerable inward mobility, resulting in a rising school population.

Main findings

The warm welcome given by Robin Hood to Harry Potter, Tracy Beaker and Horrid Henry at the start of the World Book Day celebrations illustrated well the strong relationships between the teachers and pupils. With all of the school community in costume and ready to 'drop everything and read', the profile and importance of reading was strongly promoted. Events such as this have united this new school, and created a caring ethos and an expectation that pupils will work hard and succeed. Equally, they enhance the school's good curriculum and show its determination to provide all pupils with interesting and enjoyable opportunities.

Much has been achieved since the school opened to ensure that it is now providing a good education for the pupils. The school's popularity and the number of pupils on roll are rising because most parents are very pleased with its work. Pupils behave very well, have positive attitudes to learning and show considerable pride in their school. They have an excellent understanding of how to stay fit and healthy and the school carefully records the pupils' participation in activities that promote a healthy lifestyle. Pupils are achieving well; most are making good progress so that, by the time they reach the end of Year 8, the majority are attaining or exceeding the levels expected for their age. The school keeps a careful check on the progress of all groups of pupils and this shows that most, including some from the Traveller families, are doing well. It also identifies that boys are not making the same rapid progress as girls in writing.

Most teachers explain things clearly, question pupils thoughtfully, and set interesting tasks that engage and interest the pupils. Occasionally, tasks are not demanding enough for some groups. The school has successfully introduced the national approach to assessing pupils' progress, and the information that the teachers gather forms the basis of their well-planned lessons. However, a few pupils feel they do not know how well they are doing. This is because the quality of marking varies considerably and does not always give the pupils sufficient guidance on how to improve their work.

The headteacher, senior leaders and governors have carefully planned, implemented and monitored a range of developments and improvements since the school opened. Many have been successful and instrumental in building the unity, ethos and high expectations that are prevalent in the school. Others have been successful in tackling initial inconsistencies, for example in the pupils' progress in mathematics in some year groups. The senior leadership team extensively monitors the quality of teaching. Although this is detailed, the consideration given to the impact of teaching on pupils' learning and progress is insufficient to raise the school's performance to the highest level. Nevertheless, the school is well placed to build on the strong start it has made, and has demonstrated a good capacity for sustained improvement.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Increase the rate of boys' progress in writing so that it matches that of the girls by 2012, by ensuring that:

• all writing activities, across the curriculum have a clear purpose and an identified audience
• feedback to pupils is frequent and generates improvement.

• Ensure that marking is consistently effective in helping pupils to improve their work and to know what they need to do to move rapidly to the next level.

• Extend the monitoring of the quality of teaching to take greater account of the impact that it has on pupils' learning and progress.

Throughout the school, pupils are achieving well and they clearly enjoy their lessons. They are keen to do well, listen carefully to their teachers, and learn and practise new skills enthusiastically. In Years 1 and 2, they make good progress and build on the effective start that they make in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The teachers emphasise the importance of speaking and listening to increase the pupils' vocabulary. In one lesson in Year 2, the pupils made rapid progress in their understanding of alliteration. Two boys with special educational needs and/or disabilities were well supported, and one confidently read a lengthy tongue-twister, to the applause of his classmates. In Years 3 to 6, the pupils continue to make good progress. In many lessons, such as those in history in Year 3, information and communication technology (ICT) in Year 5, and English in Year 6, pupils extend their knowledge and enhanced their skills at a good pace. In a few lessons, progress is not as rapid because the tasks set by the teachers did not take sufficient account of what some groups of pupils were already capable of.

The school's analysis of progress shows that in Years 7 and 8, pupils are making good progress. Attainment at the end of Year 8 last year was well beyond that expected for pupils of this age, and even that expected by the end of Year 9. Currently, A sample of pupils' work in English, mathematics and science shows that currently, attainment exceeds expectations. All groups of pupils are well supported, and most of them are making good progress. The school removes many obstacles to learning, and so allows individual pupils to make increasingly good progress as they get older and to attain levels close to their peers. However, there are occasions when a very few older boys need encouragement to play a full part in lessons.

The pupils say they feel very safe in school, and are confident that any problems are dealt with swiftly and effectively. Pupils have adopted eco-friendly and healthy attitudes to life. The Eco Committee, made up of pupils, staff and governors is influencing school policy. The pupils take considerable responsibility for their own community. Older pupils enjoy responsibilities such as the positions of peer mediator and prefect. Rates of attendance, although broadly average are increasing. Pupils' cultural development is good. This was well illustrated through Year 6 pupils' discussion of The British (serves 60 million) by Benjamin Zephaniah.

These are the grades for pupils' outcomes

¹ The grades for attainment and attendance are: 1 is high; 2 is above average; 3 is broadly average; and 4 is low

How effective is the provision?

Most lessons are lively and interesting, ensuring that the pupils concentrate on the tasks they are set. In turn, most pupils produce the volume and quality of work expected of them by their teachers. Teachers make good use of a range of resources. Interactive whiteboards are used well to provide a good focus for learning. For example, in a Year 6 English lesson the teacher used examples of the pupils' work to discuss with the class how the text might be improved. Specialist teaching of older pupils is effective and in some of the lessons seen, for example in a physical education and an ICT lesson, it was outstanding. Learning support assistants are usually well deployed and briefed to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

The assessment of pupils' progress is good, and most of the teachers use the information they collect very effectively to plan what the pupils need to learn next. The marking of the pupils' work, however, is inconsistent. There are examples of teachers' comments that offer an extensive analysis of the pupil's work. Conversely, there are also examples that do not provide the pupils with sufficient guidance on how they could improve.

The curriculum is well organised and extensively enriched by visits to places of interest, events at school and a wide range of extra-curricular activities. Many of these opportunities add to the good progress that pupils make in their broader personal development. The curriculum builds strongly on the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. It continues to promote the links between subjects in Years 1 to 4 before providing older pupils with a more defined subject curriculum in readiness for upper school. However, there are occasions when opportunities to write in purposeful contexts are not fully exploited. Themes such as ethnic diversity, ecological awareness and an international dimension are interwoven in the curriculum.

Care, guidance and support are strong features of the school's provision. The most vulnerable pupils are well supported through effective links with external agencies. The school works particularly closely with support services for children from Traveller families. Those who have a special educational need or disability receive carefully tailored support.

These are the grades for the quality of provision

How effective are leadership and management?

The headteacher has moulded an ambitious senior leadership team with high expectations. They in turn engender a strong commitment among the rest of the staff 'to work together to ensure pupils achieve high academic standards'.

The school takes concerted actions to make sure all groups of pupils do equally well. Arrangements to check every pupil's progress are rigorous, and the school's analysis of all the information that the teachers collect is increasing refined. The performance of all groups within the school is carefully evaluated. This has resulted in the gap between the performance of boys and girls narrowing; although, in writing, more work is needed to ensure that boys do as well as girls.

Monitoring is extensive, and evaluation provides an accurate picture of the school's performance. Records of the monitoring of the quality of teaching for example are accurate and provide helpful points for development. However, lesson observations focus heavily on the quality of teaching rather than its impact on the learning and progress of the pupils. Consequently, these activities are not providing a sharp insight into how the school might build on its good performance and achieve excellent outcomes for all pupils.

There is a comprehensive improvement plan that clearly outlines the school's priorities. Progress toward reaching the goals within the plan is monitored by the governing body. The school has positive relationships with parents and keeps them well informed through the pupils' diaries and frequent newsletters. Wider partnerships, such as those developed through the Comenius Project have generated a number of links with schools in other countries and form an important part of the school's promotion of community cohesion. The school prides itself on being at the heart of its local community. Arrangements to ensure the safety of the pupils are satisfactory. The school carries out checks on all personnel in line with current requirements as part of the recruitment procedures.

These are the grades for leadership and management

Early Years Foundation Stage

Most children start school with the skills expected for their age. They get off to a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage because they are well-taught and are encouraged to be independent. They participate in an interesting range of well-planned activities in the Nursery and Reception classes, some led by adults and some chosen by themselves. The children's welfare is particularly well promoted. As a result, they grow in confidence.

The children make good progress in all areas of learning. The standards reached by the children frequently meet and, for some exceed expectations for the end of the Reception Year. The children are well prepared for Year 1. Throughout the Early Years Foundation Stage, the children are encouraged to participate in a wide range of activities, often associated with role play, to promote their personal and social development. There is an appropriate emphasis on the teaching of phonics, and the celebration of World Book Day was used effectively to promote an appreciation of books. The outside area is used well, but the time available is currently shared between the Nursery and Reception classes and this hampers the free flow of activities from indoors to out during some sessions. Improvement of the outdoor area adjacent to the Nursery and Reception classes has been identified as a priority for the Early Years Foundation Stage leader and the senior leadership team. Adults are very thorough in their assessments of each child's progress, carefully observing and noting steps in their development. All assessments are shared with parents through the children's home/school books.

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage

Views of parents and carers

The very large majority of parents have very positive views of the school. Many commented very favourably about the quality of teaching, the good care and attention that their children receive and the wide range of opportunities available to the pupils. Several parents commented on the success of the new school, the effective leadership and the commitment of the teachers. A few parents expressed concerns about communication between home and school. A number of these comments related to a recent temporary change of teacher. The school acknowledges that parents were given short notice in this instance, but inspectors found that, generally, parents receive a good range of information.

Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at Caddington Village School to complete a questionnaire about their views of the school.

In the questionnaire, parents and carers were asked to record how strongly they agreed with 13 statements about the school. The inspection team received 202 completed questionnaires by the end of the on-site inspection. In total, there are 519 pupils registered at the school.

The table above summarises the responses that parents and carers made to each statement. The percentages indicate the proportion of parents and carers giving that response out of the total number of completed questionnaires. Where one or more parents and carers chose not to answer a particular question, the percentages will not add up to 100%.

Overall effectiveness of schools inspected between September 2007 and July 2008

8 March 2010

Dear Pupils

Inspection of Caddington Village School, Caddington, LU1 4JD

It was a pleasure to be in your school last week, to see you all in costume to celebrate World Book Day, and to see how well you responded to the opportunities to 'drop everything and read'. It was also good to see the positive relationships you have with your teachers.

You go to a good school which is very welcoming and supports you very well to make good progress. However, boys are not making quite as much progress as girls are in writing. I have asked the teachers to take steps to help the boys to make faster progress. You also make good progress in many aspects of your personal development. You behaved very well in most of the lessons we visited. Those of you we spoke to told us how much you enjoy school and how safe you feel at playtimes. Some of you also said that the school provides lots of opportunities, particularly to play sport, that help you to keep fit. You have a very good understanding of the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

The teachers make most lessons interesting, and you respond by being attentive and concentrating on the task they set. You are given a lot of help and guidance to reach you targets, but sometimes your work is not marked in a way that helps you to improve it. I have asked the teachers to mark your work so that you know what you need to do next. You can help by responding to teachers' comments in your books and by using them to improve your next piece of work.

The headteacher and teachers have achieved a lot since the school opened in 2008. The senior leaders do a lot of checking to see that lessons are going well, but are not always checking that the teaching is helping you to learn and make progress at a good pace. I have asked the senior leadership team to look closely at your learning and progress in lessons so that they can make the school even better.

I hope that you continue to really enjoy all that you do at school, and that in the future you achieve as well as you possibly can.

Yours sincerely

Christopher Parker

Lead inspector