West Wittering Parochial Church of England School
Pound Road
West Wittering
Chichester
West Sussex
PO208AJ

Phone:01243 513015
Headteacher: Mrs Susan O'boyle Bed, Ma Ed, Npqh
Diocese of Chichester

103 pupils, Mixed

ofsted.gov.uk

© Crown copyright 2009

Introduction

This inspection was carried out by two additional inspectors. The inspectors visited 13 lessons, and held meetings with governors, staff, groups of pupils and a group of parents. They observed the school's work, and looked at documentation for pupils' attainment and achievement, management, planning, safeguarding of pupils, teaching and the curriculum. Inspectors analysed 50 parental questionnaires.

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

• how effectively the school promotes improvements in teaching, assessment and the curriculum, particularly in supporting pupils' writing skills in Years 3 to 6
• the extent to which the most able pupils are challenged in English and mathematics in Years 3 to 6
• the extent of pupils' appreciation of those from differing backgrounds and cultures represented nationally and globally
• The robustness of leadership at all levels in improving teaching and learning and in raising pupils' achievement.

Information about the school

In this small village school, the proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is well below that found nationally. Most of these pupils have cognition and learning difficulties. The school has provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage in a mixed Reception and Year 1 class. The school has experienced significant staffing changes including at leadership level. An acting headteacher was in place from September 2008 and the current substantive headteacher took up the post in January 2009. The school is accredited as a 'Dyslexia Friendly School' and has gained various awards in recognition of its work, including its commitment to active lifestyles. A range of extended after-school activities is managed by the governing body.

Main findings

West Wittering is a good school. At the heart of its work is a warm and caring atmosphere where all are welcome. The excellent attention given to pupils' care, guidance and support results in pupils who are happy, increasingly confident and keen to do well. This is also reflected in their good behaviour and attitudes. Pupils say 'we really enjoy school now it's so much better'. Nonetheless, attendance is satisfactory because, although proactive, the school has yet to secure the cooperation of all parents in ensuring that their children do not miss school unnecessarily. Parents are very positive about the many changes brought about by the new headteacher, typical comments being, 'we feel the school is moving forward now' and 'you can physically see the changes'. The headteacher, with good support from senior leaders, staff and governors, has renewed the focus on 'learning'. She quickly established a strong ethos of teamwork and a belief in the school's continuing success. The effectiveness of the school's leadership in driving improvement is evident in the accurate and critical view of its work. Recent improvements and the many positive responses to the parent, pupil and staff questionnaires indicate that the school has a good capacity to move on.

Attainment is average but rising fast and areas for development are being tackled successfully. The whole-school focus on lifting pupils' reading and writing skills, especially for those in Years 3 to 6, has successfully led to rising standards. The new library is vastly improved and pupils are really excited about reading again. The curriculum has improved significantly with a thrust on improving pupils' basic skills, through more creative and practical learning tasks. Pupils especially like the 'learning journeys' whether making Saxonology books or performing their play scripts about Helen of Troy. They develop and apply the skills learnt across a range of topics and subjects well. Teaching and learning are now good and on occasion outstanding. Improved data about pupils' progress are used effectively to pinpoint where any gaps in learning are and whether pupils are making sufficient progress from their starting points. Better focused support for identified pupils has led to marked improvements and pupils have quickly made up for 'lost ground'. Good progress and for some, outstanding, is evident in all year groups and especially in Years 3 to 6. Average pupils and those who find learning more difficult are well supported and challenged in lessons, but opportunities are at times missed to challenge more able pupils in English and mathematics.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Make sure more able pupils achieve as well as they should in English and mathematics by:

• increasing teachers' expectations of what these pupils can do and achieve
• increasing the opportunities during lessons for pupils to work independently and use their initiative by
• providing more complex and diverse reading texts to foster their ability to express personal views, and analyse information from various sources.
• providing more opportunities to write at length and for different purposes
• providing greater challenge and opportunities to develop their everyday mathematical problem-solving skills.

• Improve the attendance of the few who miss school unnecessarily by:

• working more closely with those parents who withdraw their children from school during term time and help them to understand the importance of their child's good attendance at school.

In lessons, pupils are eager to learn and are motivated. They are developing greater independence in their learning. They make good progress in the development of their speaking and listening skills and use 'talking partners' to help them to share and discuss their ideas. By the end of Year 2, pupils attain above average standards, but up until last year pupils in Years 3 to 6 had not built on this good start. Older pupils were also most affected by the significant staff changes. By the time they leave, pupils' attainment in reading, writing, mathematics and science is average and is rising quickly. This represents good achievement, including for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pupils are quickly making up lost ground and some have made outstanding progress from their starting points. Nevertheless, those who are more able are not consistently challenged.

The improved progress in reading and writing was evident in a Year 2 lesson about growth. Pupils talked about how chicks grow, using photographs before writing sentences in the right order using different connectives. In a Year 3 and 4 lesson, prompted by a real air raid siren going off, pupils responded well to the challenge to write interesting and engaging accounts as evacuees in their Second World War diaries. They set about evoking the sights and sounds of bombs dropping and used powerful descriptive words such as 'frightening' and 'terrified'. Pupils also develop good skills in information and communication technology, seen in their super topic books about 'The Magic Bed Stories' and reviews of 'Alice in Wonderland'. These and their sound basic skills prepare them appropriately for the next stage of their education and the world beyond. Attendance improved in 2009 but remains broadly average.

Pupils are proud of the contribution they make to the safe and happy environment in their roles as 'playground buddies'. They take their responsibilities seriously and had a say in the design of the new school entrance and library. They are aware of the needs of the wider community and raise funds for charities home and abroad. Pupils helped raise funds to build a school in Bo, Sierra Leone; a few who visited talked enthusiastically about how different life was there and shared this with other children.

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?

The majority of pupils achieve well because of effective and consistent support from teachers and other adults. Teachers use a wide variety of modern, attractive resources to motivate pupils to learn. Questioning techniques are used effectively to promote learning and assess pupils' understanding. Teachers give clear guidance and demonstrations so that pupils understand what they have to do and why. On a few occasions, 'teacher talk' went on for too long, limiting the time for active learning. Those with cognition and learning difficulties succeed because they are identified at an early stage and tailored help is given by well-trained support staff. More able pupils' needs are not always so well met in class. Pupils are clear about how they might improve work. Younger ones have their 'star books' while older ones know their targets and what to do next.

The curriculum is exciting and interesting, and is still being modified. For example, Years 5 and 6 engrossed in their 'maths challenge' - to make a cuboid container for various 3-dimensional objects - commented: 'With these prototypes, it's trial and error and really challenging'. Year 2 children loved weighing out ingredients before making hedgehog truffles and were very excited by their 'take away task' to make a hedgehog habitat. Years 3 and 4 knew all about ration books having weighed and costed a typical weekly ration. As one pupil said, 'learning is fun and more challenging now'. Pupils who are identified as gifted and talented access additional programmes through the 'Manhood locality', and local authority workshops ranging from philosophy to fashion, for example. Many clubs including sports, visitors and use of the local beach and village enrich pupils' learning.

The high quality care, support and guidance are evident in the school's very good support for vulnerable pupils. Identification of and provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities has improved. The school's work with families, pupils and a wide range of agencies support those facing challenges very well. The caring actions of staff and robust safeguarding arrangements are seen in the pupils' confidence that any concerns they might have would be dealt with promptly. One parent wrote that 'the school is extremely supportive and caring'. Transition arrangements from Reception to Years 1 and 2 are now good because many of the basic elements of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum continue to be part of pupils' learning experience. In a Year 1 lesson, for example, pupils consolidated their understanding of early writing through practical and play situations before making their own books about 'Funny Bones'.

These are the grades for the quality of provision

How effective are leadership and management?

Leaders consistently demonstrate high expectations; this has driven and secured rapid improvement. One teacher, typifying the views of others, commented: 'There is good direction and fantastic support from the head.' Leaders at all levels routinely play their part in raising standards and in improving provision in their areas. They analyse the school's performance accurately and set challenging targets for improvement. Governors are supportive, are increasingly knowledgeable and hold the school to account well. They have sought pupils' views about reading and learning and have a clear grasp of where the school needs to go. Leaders and governors take their responsibility to promote equal opportunities and tackle discrimination seriously. The school does a great deal to promote community cohesion within its own locality and further afield. Although not yet fully implemented, leaders and governors acknowledge that their plans to link with an urban school will further strengthen pupils' awareness of the diversity in Britain today. All groups within the school community have worked together to improve the school and its facilities.

Safeguarding arrangements at the time of inspection were robust. Evaluating the school's performance is systematic and the school's determination to bring about needed change is seen in the many improvements noted in this inspection, the impact of which is evident in the better academic achievement, particularly for Years 3 to 6 pupils.

These are the grades for leadership and management

Early Years Foundation Stage

Children's welfare needs are met effectively, which is why they settle quickly and make good progress in their learning. Children really enjoy learning and discovering through play because adults encourage them to make their own independent choices right from the start. The much improved provision has ensured that children are actively engaged. One child videoed earlier talking to his friends about 'Funny Bones' was delighted when it was played to the whole class and used as a talking point. They count their ribs, learn to take turns and are reminded to be polite when eating healthy snacks, and like the 'fun' blending letters and sounds sessions. They start school with broadly average skills and by Year 1 most reach above average levels.

Children behave and play well together and are considerate of each other. The balance between activities chosen by the children and those planned for them by the teacher is good. The school is improving the provision for outdoor learning and has plans for developing a covered outdoor area, to further support the development of children's coordination and physical development. Leadership and management are good. Staff accurately record children's achievements and use these to plan next steps in learning. The improved tracking system is embedding; this and ongoing observations and individual progress journals all help to pinpoint those areas where children need extra support, such as the focus on improving children's relative weaker understanding of numbers as labels and for calculating, reading and writing.

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage

Views of parents and carers

The large majority of parents are happy with their child's experience of school. They say their children enjoy school and they value the support that they are given. A small minority felt that their children were not making enough progress or that they were not well prepared for the future. A few felt incidents of unacceptable behaviour were not always dealt with effectively and a few parents also wanted more information about their child's progress. Inspectors judged pupils to be making good progress now, though there is still scope for more able pupils to be consistently challenged in English and mathematics. Inspectors judged pupils' behaviour to be good and procedures to manage any unacceptable behaviour are very clear. Pupils themselves said how much behaviour had improved. The school sends information to parents about what their children will be learning and how well they are getting on. The school offers more parents' meetings about pupils' progress than they are required to and say that they are keen to meet parents at other times.

Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at West Wittering Parochial CofE 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 12 statements about the school.

The inspection team received 50 completed questionnaires by the end of the

on-site inspection. In total, there are 99 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

16 October 2009

Dear Pupils

Inspection of West Wittering Parochial CofE School, Chichester PO20 8AJ

We really enjoyed talking to you. Thank you for being so friendly and helpful. Your school is providing you with a good education. We share your view that the care and support you are given by staff is excellent. We were impressed with your behaviour and how well you get on with each other, especially looking after and playing with the younger ones. We were very impressed at how much you knew about keeping fit and healthy. You told us about the many recent improvements in your school and how much you enjoyed your learning now and all the different clubs and activities.

Your headteacher, staff and governors work hard and we can see lots of improvements. Teaching is good and those of you in Reception and Years 1 and 2 make good progress to attain above average standards. Those of you in Years 3 to 6, because of the many improvements in school, are now making much better progress than before and some of you are making outstanding progress. Well done! You are making up for the previous gaps in your learning and attain average standards, and more of you reach higher standards. You can help too by keeping up the good work.

To maintain your school's improvement, we have asked your headteacher and her staff to:

• make sure those of you who find learning more easy are really challenged and helped to always achieve your very best in English and mathematics, and we have suggested some ideas to help them do this
• work more closely with those parents who take their children out of school during term time so that they know how important it is that you do not miss school unnecessarily.

Yours faithfully

Sheila Browning