Awards

School Awards List:

Active Mark Gold (x2)

Arts Mark Gold

Investors in People

Healthy School Status

Quality Mark (x3)

NACE Challenge Award

PSA Achievement Award

Report for the Challenge Award assessment of Moseley C of E Primary School

Summary of Strengths:

Portfolio Scrutiny, Interview and Work Sample

There is very effective co-ordination for Able, Gifted and Talented pupils which is strongly supported by the headteacher and all of the staff team. The Governing Body take a keen interest and provide valuable support and challenge to the school.

There is a strong whole school ethos of success and pupils experience a broad, balanced and enriched curriculum which promotes challenge. Success is celebrated well by the school e.g. pupil of the week and celebration assemblies; personal achievements outside of school are also recognised.

Parents and pupils believe that all staff are committed to providing the best possible education and that the enrichment / extension programme for Talented and Gifted pupils has led to a “broadening of children’s minds” and a “huge increase in confidence which has led to pupils being fired up by their learning”.

The curriculum offers a very wide range of learning opportunities which covers academic subjects; art and design, drama, music and sports. There are many opportunities to take part in a range of enrichment activities beyond the school day.

The monitoring and evaluation of the pupils’ learning is an exemplar of good practice. The database is comprehensive and well used by the school. This ensures that all pupils’ progress is closely tracked and any underachievement is identified and addressed immediately.

Pupils are very involved in setting their own targets and monitored progress towards achieving them, Pupils are very aware of what they can do well and what they need to do to improve. Able, Gifted and Talented pupils have Individual Education Plans which they use as a basis for discussions with staff.

Parents are supported well by the school. They are well informed about the school’s approaches to meeting their children’s need and comment very favourably on the approachability of all the staff and the open door policy which enables them to have regular contact with teachers and members of the senior management team.

Teaching

Where teaching was good, strengths observed were:

Lessons were observed across the school from Foundation Stage to Year 6. There is a consistent approach to planning across the school which highlights the differentiation in learning activities for the more able and also those who are gifted and talented. This leads to challenging learning activities which extend, broaden and deepen pupils’ understanding.

Pupils are fully involved in assessing their progress during a lesson and have a good understanding of themselves as learners. They recognise their successes and also what they need to do to improve further. They use learning logs in a reflective manner.

Pupils showed extremely positive attitudes to learning. They are eager to learn and demonstrate mature attitudes to working collaboratively and on their own. Of particular note was the Year 5 Dance lesson where pupils were learning the waltz. They were able to offer constructive comments for improvement and also identify the criteria required for a good performance and in the extension work for a Year 6 Mathematics lesson where pupils were engaged in activities from the Year 7 key objectives of the Secondary Mathematics Framework.

Questioning is used to good effect. They are used to extend pupils’ thinking and show that the teachers have good subject knowledge which enables them to challenge pupils understanding.

Summary of areas of development:

Portfolio Scrutiny, interviews and work scrutiny

Update the policy to reflect current practice. Ensure that the strategies for working with the exceptionally able pupils are highlighted and develop links with local and national organisations to provide appropriate support to meet their needs.

There is a consistent use of the school’s marking and assessment policy. Aim to have the same consistency in the use of formative marking throughout the school to ensure that pupils are clear about the next steps in their learning and why pieces of work have been judged to be good. Able Pupils need more opportunities to respond to teacher’s marking comments.

Develop the Individual Education Plans even further to ensure that pupils and parents are clear as to the actions that pupils need to take to improve. The use of “I can” statements would enable pupils to evaluate their success in a more focused manner.

Further develop the support for parents through the planned redesign of the school’s website to include guidance support and links to national / local support organisations

Teaching

Development areas in teaching include:-

Develop independent learning opportunities further in lessons through the planned curriculum innovation developments.

Extend the very good practice that is evident in the pupils’ writing targets to mathematics

Create learning walls in classrooms which support the good practice in target setting and target getting that is in the school. This would create a visual stimulus for pupils in understanding why a piece of work has been judged to achieve a particular National Curriculum level and what they would need to improve to move to the next level.

Ensure that formative marking is used consistently across the school.

Date of the Award Achieved 29 th March 2007

Auditor: Maxine Slade

Date of Reassessment: by March 2011 Signature: M. Slade