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What have been our successes this year?

The school had a very happy year with staff, parents, governors and adult volunteers all trying to do their very best to ensure the children were well motivated and successful. 

Helping the children to learn well was a strong feature in school development, with staff working effectively to enable the children to thrive and develop.

The school yielded some very positive successes over the year. For example, we became one of the first schools in the country to be awarded with the new national ICT Mark.

Neil McLean, Executive Director for Becta said “Clifton Green School thoroughly deserves the accolade of an ICT mark. They clearly demonstrate how important it is to take a holistic approach to using ICT in schools. Their investment in new technology has contributed to substantial improvements in learning.”

We were also awarded with the York Inclusion Certificate and the regional Advanced Inclusion Award for our outstanding provision and our very effective use of resources targeted to meet the children's needs.  

We also celebrated the opening of a new Integrated Children’s Centre: a centre which enables all the services that support young families to work closely together for the benefit of the children in the community.

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What are we trying to improve?

We are always looking to make improvements so we can provide the best for the children.

Over the course of this year 2007/08 we want to further improve:

• Children's reading and writing. The standards in reading and writing are in line with national standards but we want to get better than this. We will continue to closely monitor the children’s progress in these areas and use personalised learning strategies to strengthen skills.
• ICT  We want to help the children understand that ICT is used as a tool for learning. We want all staff to feel confident and competent in using ICT resources, so they are better able to help the children to learn effectively.
• School attendance Attendance figures were just within the national average range (5.6%) with punctuality being much improved than in previous years. We want to maintain these levels through the School Home Support Worker's involvement with key families.
• Mathematics Standards have become better because we have focussed on developing consistent teaching approaches across the school, which aim to help children apply their skills to solve problems. We want to further improve the use and application of number and promote the purpose of learning maths.

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How much progress do pupils make between age 7 and 11?

Our school

Confidence interval

The pupils make good progress between the age of 7 to 11.

The contextualised value added score of 100.2 for 2007, reflected pupils’ rates of progress from the end of KS1 to the end of KS2 to be as expected for this group of children.  

Although value added had been significantly better in 2005 and 2006, the reason for the high CVA scores reflected the history of the school.  Children in 05/06 had been in a neighbouring (now closed) infant school until the age of 7. That school had had issues with the quality of provision which resulted in children achieving very poorly in relation to ability at the end of KS1.  On transfer to Clifton Green, these children made accelerated progress through KS2, leading to high CVA scores by the end of Year 6. The CVA score for end of KS2 in 2007 is, therefore, based on “real” and appropriate attainment at the end of KS1.

Children in 2007 made better progress in maths and science than in English.  We were disappointed that three children failed to achieve their targets in English, although these targets were aspirational, given their Special Educational Needs profiles.

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How well do pupils achieve at age 11?

In 2007, we were very pleased with the achievements of the children in Y6.

The above average ability children performed exceedingly well with their attainment being above the national average (level 5) in Reading, Writing, Mathematics and Science.

Equally, the children with Special Educational Needs achieved better than national averages in all core subjects.

In 2007, while attainment in English was a little below national average (level 4), it represented good progress for this group of children, being above the estimated attainment expected of similar pupils in similar schools and within 2% of the attainment that would have been expected in the top 25% of similar schools.

In maths, attainment was above national averages and performance was in line with what would have been expected in the top performing schools.

These outcomes reflected success for the school, given the children’s “low attainment on entry” (Ofsted 2005).  Average points scores between 2003 to 2007 show a rising trend, overall, for attainment in English and maths.

The school will continue to be fully committed to maintain the effective approach of personalising the learning so every child is targetted and has the chance to flourish and succeed.

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How have our results changed over time?

Foundation Stage - From start of Nursery to the end of Reception, results show very good progress.  

KS1 - Standards achieved in reading, writing and mathematics show improvement and are in line with national averages.

KS2 - Year on year, standards continue to improve.

Boys and girls -  At KS1 the attainment of boys and girls is generally similar.  In 2007, the Y6 girls did a little better in literacy and boys in maths. Y6 girls outperformed boys and achieved better than national averages in all three core subjects.  Analysis reveals little in the way of gender issues across the school.  In some cohorts boys’ performance is better than girls, in others girls do well.

 Higher attainers - The percentage of children attaining L5+ at the end of KS2 was above national averages in maths and science and in line with the national average in English but a very strong performance over 2 years.  Maths performance was close to that expected of the top 25% of schools!

Lower attainers - Children designated as having Special Educational Needs attained better than other similar groups of children throughout the country.

 Children from ethnic minority communities make good progress once they master English.

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How are we making sure that every child gets teaching to meet their individual needs?

We recognise and value pupils' diverse backgrounds, different starting points, distinct learning needs and the need for equal opportunities. We use Assessment for Learning to diagnose and identify individual needs to ensure the children are learning well.

Individual Educational Plans are used for children with Special Educational Needs which are regularly evaluated to check progress and plan new targets.

Reviews take place for the Gifted and Talented children to ensure their needs are also being met.

The deployment of a large number of teaching assistants has enabled better learning support for individuals or groups of children.

Close partnership with parents is fostered, to encourage constant informal discussions with parents regarding their children's learning and well-being.

The achievement of the children is very good because of the high quality individualised planning and the extra support they receive.

This successful inclusion policy ensures every child to be valued, respected and supported. This caring ethos promotes everyone to accept, help and share with each other.  We were really thrilled to have this recognised recently by beng one of the first schools in York to receive An Advanced Inclusion Award.

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How are we working with parents and the community?

The positive relationship we have nurtured with our parents and carers means that the majority tell us they feel informed and know about their child's education. Daily contact with many of our parents and making ourselves easily available enables us to respond quickly to enquiries. This less formal approach helps to make good partnerships so that both school and home are working positively together to help the children succeed. 

An established Parents' Forum enables ideas to be shared to help improve any existing arrangements for the pupils and makes parents feel very much involved in the life of the school.

The school runs a Staff Parent Association which enables parents to organise fund raising and social events for all the families to enjoy fun activities.

The school continues to strengthen its links with the community through charity fund raising, social events, working with artists and volunteers, (many are retired residents).

The school has earned an excellent reputation and it is respected by the local community and the Local Authority. Community Newsletters e.g. Grapevine, help to communicate what the school is trying to achieve and enables local residents to contact school, if issues need addressing.

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What have pupils told us about the school, and what have we done as a result?

Our pupils tell us that they feel happy and proud of their school. They like the facilities, the school clubs and sports, the library, the computers and their teachers and teaching assistants.

When we monitor the learning and the teaching we listen carefully to what the children tell us. This helps us to gauge their understanding and whether we are creating the right conditions to support their learning.

We listen to ideas from the School Council and together plan improvements for the school eg new adventure play area.

Small group work and a lunch-time club facility create chances for the children (particularly the shy children) to be more open and expressive of their view points.

We take children's views seriously so that any concerns are immediately addressed eg bullying, anxieties about moving to secondary school. We want all the pupils to feel happy and safe at school.

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How do we make sure our pupils are healthy, safe and well-supported?

The school promotes the importance of adopting healthy life styles through the Healthy School Scheme, Science teaching, PSHE, Drug Education, Citizenship and PE.

Plans are developed each year from evaluations made about the existing provision. These include:-

• Healthy Eating.  The children know why they should eat and drink healthily through the school’s Healthy Lifestyle promotions eg free daily fruit for all the children.
• Emotional health and well being. We seek guidance from other agencies and set up programmes to support children with difficulties.
• The PE Leader ensures the staff teach lessons that optimise exercise. 
• The PSHE Leader has involved the school in events and training to ensure PSHE is effectively taught.
• Sex and Relationships Education staff, governors and parents know what is taught. They are pleased that KS2 children learn about puberty.
• Drug Education and the dangers of smoking are taught, particularly in Y6.
• Child safety - Taught through the PSHE Curriculum with specific training from the Local Authority e.g. pedestrian training.
• Induction and transfer - Procedures help new children settle into the school or help those moving on to secondary school.  

The school received a Healthy Schools Award in October 2006.

 

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How do our absence rates compare with other schools?

Authorised absence means the child is absent from school because of illness or taking up to ten days holiday in term time. The school has authorised the absences if the parent has given an explanation as to why their child is absent from school. Unauthorised absence means there is truancy or no explanation from the parent why their child is absent. Fortunately, the school has very little unauthorised absence and attendance levels in 2006/07 were much better than the previous year.

Each year the school makes an action plan which is aimed at promoting good attendance through giving rewards to the children. We were very pleased when we noted the school's Attendance figures in the summer term 2007 were just within the national average range. 

Unauthorised absence is tackled through using a School Home Support Worker.  For this reason, the school has very little truancy problems showing that this targetted home support is effective. 

We deal with lateness as well, by rewarding the children if they arrive on time to school. The School Home Support Worker has helped some families who found punctuality a difficulty. Punctuality has become much better over the last couple of years. 

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What activities and options are available to pupils?

We provide a curriculum that:
- is appropriate for age and ability.
- meets the needs of special groups - SEN, gifted and talented.
- is enriched by opportunities for first hand experience.
- has a strong emphasis on teaching the basic skills.
- uses visits to enrich the curriculum and support personal and social development.
- has community links, with members of the community supporting us eg school choir.
- has extra-curricular provision eg sports clubs, dance club. After school provision is anoutstanding feature of the school. (OFSTED).
- curriculum-enrichment activities - peripatetic instrumental music lessons are offered to Y4 and Y5 children; swimming to Y3 and Y6 children; French to Y3 and Y4 children; special singing lessons for talented pupils; chess events for talented chess players.

The school also provides opportunities:
- for pupils to work in teams and with different groups of children.
- for pupils to have their say through School Council work.
- for pupils to develop enterprise skills through fund raising schemes.

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What do our pupils do after leaving this school?

The majority of pupils transfer to the local feeder Secondary School - Canon Lee.

During the summer term the Y6 pupils undertake a project about their city, York. This project is continued during the first couple of weeks when the children start their secondary schooling. This "Y6/Y7 project" enables the secondary teachers to understand what each child is capable of achieving so that they can plan appropriate work which is carefully matched to the child's ability.

In the Autumn Term, the Y6 teachers visit the pupils to check on how the Y7 pupils have settled and to look at and discuss the work being done. The children really enjoy our visits to the secondary school and proudly show us the work they have started!

Sometimes older children return to help at a school club eg Dance Club.

Children who have achieved well at Clifton Green continue to succeed at Canon Lee. It is always good to hear about the success of individual pupils! eg in sport and music.

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Ofsted's view of our school

This is a good school with some outstanding features. It provides a good education for its pupils and gives good value for money. The inspectors agree with the school's self-evaluation. The headteacher supported by the deputy headteacher and a highly effective governing body, has outstanding vision for improvement and has raised standards and the quality of provision considerably since the school was formed in 2001. Teaching and learning are good. Provision for children in the nursery and Reception classes is good. Given their starting points children make good progress and most work just below the expectations for children of this age by the end of their Reception year. This good progress is continued throughout school and results in standards that are broadly average in English, mathematics and science by the end of Year 6. However, in Key Stage 2, the development of pupils' writing skills is a weakness. In information and communication technology (ICT), although pupils have learned the expected skills, they do not consistently apply them in all subjects. Pupils' personal development is good. The pupils enjoy school and take pride in their exceptionally good learning environment. The school takes good care of them all equally well. The school looks after vulnerable pupils extremely well. There is an interesting curriculum with outstandingly good opportunities for pupils to follow their interests. Based on the school's progress since it opened it has good capacity to improve.

Date of last inspection: 16-Nov-2005

Ofsted graded our school as good

Inspectors made judgements on a scale: outstanding (grade 1); good (2); satisfactory (3); inadequate (4).

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What have we done in response to Ofsted?

The OFSTED Inspection  said," This is a good school with some outstanding features. It provides a good education for its pupils and gives good value for money. The inspectors agree with the school's self-evaluation. The headteacher supported by the deputy headteacher and a highly effective governing body, has outstanding vision for improvement and has raised standards and the quality of provision considerably since the school was formed in 2001.

The school has already identified that it needs to:

• improve pupils' skills in writing in Years 3 to 6.
• provide more opportunities for pupils to apply their ICT skills in subjects.

What we have done:-

Writing. We have developed focussed action plans, which we are contining to use in 2007/08 to maintain standards. School writing results in the summer 2007 were good, particularly for the number of children achieving above average grades.   

ICT. We have provided more computers for the children in classrooms. We have also reviewed ICT teaching so the schemes we use are more appropriate to the children's needs. Staff have been trained to make the teaching and learning effective.

We were thrilled to receive a national ICT award in Spring 2007 in recognition of our ICT achievements!

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More Information

If you would like more information about school policies, including our policies on special educational needs and disability, admissions, finance, school food and our complaints procedure, please contact us:

By telephone: 01904 627270

Our website: http://www.cliftongreenschool.co.uk

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