OFSTED and SIAMS
OFSTED report - September 2021
Our latest OFSTED report - please click here (updated 16.12.21)
Letter from Mrs Woods and the Chair of Governors in relation to OFSTED inspection - please click here
OFSTED framework - 2021 (this has subsequently been updated on 1.10.21)
SIAMS Report - November 2017
Our latest SIAMS report - please click here
What have external professionals said about Roger de Clare 2021-2022
"The adult directed teaching across early years was strong. Children were engaged in whole class adult directed teaching activities. Each classroom and the outside space had clearly defined activity zones that children accessed independently. There were many opportunities throughout the morning for children to access the outdoor learning environment and interactions in the outdoor area were supportive of children’s stage of development. Teaching staff were using a range of teaching skills outside to scaffold children’s learning. Children were encouraged to be independent in their learning and self-care. Children were confident to talk to unfamiliar adults, sharing their learning and asking questions. Adults were deployed effectively during adult directed tasks and supported children with their learning." Early Years Advisor, January 2022
"The children were engaged and enthusiastic in each class taught. They were keen to share their ideas, able to use the sentence frames to clearly articulate their responses and listened well to each other. They were able to use the vocabulary associated with each concept and used the word banks provided." Maths Advisor visit 1, March 2022
"In the same way as during the previous visit, the children were engaged and enthusiastic. They were keen to share their ideas, able to use the sentence frames to articulate their responses and listened well to each other. By the end of each session, they were beginning to use the vocabulary associated with each concept, supported by the word banks provided." Maths Advisor, visit 2, March 2022
"It so great to be back visiting schools again, none better than the superb @RogerdeClare school. Helping to inspire the pupils and teachers to be even more creative is a privilege!" Martin Impey, Illustrator, April 2022
"They were both good classes. Very attentive and enthusiastic. Good knowledge, too. Always a pleasure to work with children like this. " Visiting Owl specialist, May 2022
"Leaders have prioritised early reading. They have a clear rationale in place for their decision to invest in a systematic, synthetic phonics programme (SSP) ‘Little Wandle’. As a result, teachers in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 (KS1), know what to teach, when and why.
Leaders have provided training to ensure that all teachers and teaching assistants have the knowledge and skills needed to implement the chosen SSP as intended. As a result, despite being in the early stages of implementation, pupils are receiving phonics sessions delivered by the class teachers and teaching assistants with fidelity to the programme. In lesson visits resources were consistent across all phonics sessions, all teachers and teaching assistants used the same vocabulary to teach pupils to blend to read and segment to spell and all adults corrected pupils immediately when pronunciation of phonemes was not accurate.
Leaders have provided workshops for parents to explain the benefits of the chosen SSP and how it will be delivered in school. Leaders say the workshop was relatively well attended and the feedback they received from parents was positive. The information delivered at the workshop is available on the school website.
In the best practice, time was used effectively to engage all pupils in learning for most of the time. For example, the reception class teacher and Year 1 teachers asked pupils to blend or segment altogether and then followed up asking individuals to check their understanding.
Of the lowest 20% of readers heard read to a familiar adult, all six pupils had an independent reading practice book that matched the phonics being taught, including those pupils in Year 2 and KS2 who have not yet finished the SSP programme. It was evident that the accuracy and fluency of reading was developing as pupils progress through the school despite them needing additional phonics interventions/ support to catch up. Teaching assistants encouraged pupils to decode words when they were stuck and used a range of questions to check pupils understanding of the text. All pupils were able to apply their decoding skills to read words and sentences in an unseen or relatively new practise reading book.
Pupils spoken to during the visit reported that teachers provide many opportunities for them to read in school. This includes time to read independently, teachers reading a class book to them and encouraging them to read the ‘mystery’ book. One pupil said they ‘enjoy reading a lot more now as they do more reading in school than they did before.’ They spoke confidently about their favourite authors and books. Pupils were clear that teachers supported them to learn to read by making sure they had an appropriate independent reading book and KS2 pupils explained how the ‘book banded’ system works. Pupils said that they think the school has a good stock of books that interest them especially in the library which they visit once a week." Hertfordshire Improvement Partner Visit, April 2022