Strengths identified, but inspectors find room for improvement at two rural schools

Shefford Church of England Primary School in Great Shefford and Chaddleworth St Andrew's Church of England Primary School in Chaddleworth recently had their Ofsted inspections.

Issued on: 14 February 2013.

The two schools are federated and share the same headteacher, governing body and senior leadership team. The inspections were concurrent with inspectors working closely together.

Throughout both schools, pupils were observed to behave well in lessons, and to be courteous and considerate. Pupils were also found to feel safe and very well cared for. Attendance levels for Shefford C of E had also improved significantly and were now above average.

However, both schools were found to 'Require Improvement', although both have supportive governors who are now, guided by the school leadership team, taking positive action to raise achievement and improve teaching.

The inspection found that though pupil's achievements were improving they were not consistently good over time, particularly in mathematics and writing. The expectations of what pupils could learn, and the amount of work they could produce, were not always high enough. In some lessons, work was found to sometimes be too easy or too difficult.

Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs seen to be taught and supported well.

The Inspectors found that for the schools to improve further they needed to raise expectations, set tasks appropriate for the ability of individual pupils and that learning should move on at a brisk pace. Teachers also needed to raise the level of achievement for pupils particularly in maths and writing.

The report also found that the leadership and management of the school could be strengthened by extending the leadership roles and responsibilities of staff other than the headteacher and assistant headteacher in raising achievement and improving teaching.

Remus Sawyerr, head teacher of both the schools said, 'I am extremely pleased that the dedication and hard work of the staff, children, parents and governors has been recognised in the reports. We strive to achieve the consistency that will enable us to demonstrate our improved standards over time. The action points given by the reports were already included in our 2012/13 School Improvement Plan.'

West Berkshire Council's Executive Councillor for Education, Irene Neill said, 'Despite the Ofsted report finding the school to have areas for improvement, I am confident that the strong teams in both schools will achieve this.'

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