Kirk Ella St Andrew's Community Primary School

Kirk Ella St Andrew's Community Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 10–11 January 2012 Inspection number 379487 Unique Reference Number 117881 Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire Inspection number 379487 Inspection dates 10–11 January 2012 Lead inspector Derek Pattinson

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 508 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Linda Hibling Headteacher Sue Bush Date of previous school inspection 20 October 2008 School address West Ella Road Kirk Ella Hull HU10 7QL Telephone number 01482 657208 Fax number 01482 657208 Email address kirkella@eastriding.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child's school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Derek Pattinson Anthony Kingston Additional inspector Additional inspector David Matthews Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Inspectors visited 22 lessons, spending 10 hours observing the teaching of 20 teachers, and held meetings with members of the governing body, staff and groups of pupils. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, looked at the school improvement plan, a report to the governing body from the Area Improvement Adviser, the most recent national and school data on attainment and progress, safeguarding policies and records, assessment information, the latest attendance information and pupils’ work in most classes. The 276 questionnaires returned by parents and carers were analysed, as were those completed by staff and pupils.

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Information about the school

This is a much larger than the average sized primary school. The percentages of pupils from minority ethnic groups and who speak English as an additional language are much smaller than what is typical nationally. The percentage of pupils who have special educational needs and those with disabilities is below average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below the national average. The school has achieved the Quality Mark for the fourth time, a gold level Inclusion Award, Healthy School status, Artsmark (silver level), a Sports Active Award and has retained a bronze level Sustainable Travel Award. It is currently working towards an Investors in Pupils Award. The school meets the current government floor standards. From 2010, admission limits have been reduced in order to meet the local authority’s objective of reducing the number of pupils on roll from its present number to 420.

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Information about the school

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key Findings

■ This is a good school. Pupils, including those who have special educational needs and those with disabilities, make mostly good progress as they move through the school. Progress is not as consistently good in Key Stage 2 as it is elsewhere because some teaching is satisfactory and progress slows. Nevertheless, attainment is above national levels by the time pupils leave the school and above average attainment has been maintained for the past five years.

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Key Findings

■ Teaching is mostly good, especially in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1. Strengths in teaching significantly outweigh areas for development. All lessons are typified by warm, caring relationships with much use of encouragement and praise, which provide a successful platform for effective learning. In a small number of lessons pupils are not always challenged sufficiently and do not always have enough time to work independently to develop their skills.

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Key Findings

■ Pupils’ behaviour is typically outstanding in lessons and around the school. Pupils cooperate very sensibly, show keen interest in their work and undertake assigned tasks with great enthusiasm. Their considerable enjoyment of school is shown through their well-above average attendance. Pupils’ safety is high priority. They like and trust their teachers and say that teachers always listen to their concerns. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe.

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Key Findings

■ The headteacher and staff know what works well and what needs doing to improve further. Priorities for development are the right ones and rigorously pursued. The governing body increasingly holds the school to account for what it achieves. Systems for tracking pupils’ progress are established. Morale is high and team spirit is strong. However, subject leaders are not yet fully accountable for standards and progress. The monitoring of teaching focuses more on how teachers teach than on how pupils learn. Assessment is not used sufficiently effectively to help secure best possible progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Eliminate the small amount of satisfactory teaching and ensure that the mostly good teaching becomes outstanding in order to accelerate progress and raise standards further, especially in writing and mathematics in Key Stage 2, by:  ensuring that work given to more-able pupils is always challenging  restricting the time teachers spend on lesson introductions and explanations so pupils have enough time to practice their skills and apply their knowledge  ensuring pupils always know what they are learning in lessons and have clear steps to success to help them understand how well they are doing  ensuring pupils always have opportunities to share what they have learnt, and how challenging they found their work, to help inform teachers’ planning for the next lesson.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  using the wealth of data the school accumulates on individual pupils to compare the performance of different groups and measure more effectively how well they are learning to help secure best possible progress for all  developing further the roles of subject leaders to ensure they are fully accountable for standards and progress  focusing more clearly on the impact on learning when checking on the quality of teaching to establish an accurate view of its quality.

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Achievement of pupils

Achievement is good. Pupils are keen to learn, acquire knowledge quickly and are secure in their understanding of different subjects. Children enter their Reception Year with knowledge, skills and understanding that are broadly typical with what is expected. They make a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage because of good teaching and provision. Good progress is maintained across Key Stage 1 by all groups of pupils, including pupils who have special educational needs and those with disabilities, because of consistently good teaching. For example, in Year 1 where pupils were learning about three-dimensional shapes, were enthused by the teacher’s lively approach.

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Achievement of pupils

Attainment in English and mathematics is above the national average by the end of Year 6 and has been for a number of years. Where progress slows, such as in mathematics, it is because work is not at the right level or pupils do not have enough time to work independently.

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Achievement of pupils

The teaching of linking letters with the sounds they make to help pupils acquire early reading skills is well planned and taught with lively presentations ensuring Reception children make good progress. For example, the teacher uses a range of successful methods to teach children the ‘sh’ sound, including successfully modelling correct letter formation. As a result of the high profile given to reading throughout the school, with pupils given increasing opportunities to read for pleasure and information, attainment in reading is above average at the end of both key stages. Attainment in writing is not as high as in reading. The school has implemented an action plan to raise standards but it is too early to evaluate its impact. Most parents and carers believe rightly that their children are achieving well.

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Quality of teaching

Most teaching is good ensuring pupils make good progress. It is mostly good in Key Stage 2, with teaching in Year 5 especially strong. Most teaching in Year 6 is satisfactory rather than good. This is because lesson introductions are too long which restricts the time pupils have for independent work and work is not always challenging enough, especially in mathematics, which slows progress.

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Quality of teaching

Lessons are typified by strong relationships and much use of encouragement which underpin learning. When work is challenging, subject knowledge secure, resources well matched to pupils’ needs and presentations lively, pupils achieve especially well. High quality lessons contribute to pupils’ excellent behaviour and very positive attitudes to learning. This was evident when Year 5 pupils identified with characters in ‘The Highwayman’ and wrote diary entries responding to ideas of love, betrayal and deceit. The high levels of maturity shown, pupils’ excellent behaviour and positive attitudes provide evidence that exceedingly effective spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is at the heart of the school’s work. Support staff are deployed sensitively and ensure pupils with complex needs are fully included, such as in a Year 3 physical education lesson on improving ball skills by throwing and

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Quality of teaching

catching them. Marking increasingly helps pupils to improve as well as celebrate what they have achieved and pupils have targets in English and mathematics to help them learn.

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Quality of teaching

In a small number of lessons, pupils are unsure of what they are required to learn or how to measure how well they are doing. Pupils do not always have opportunities to show what they have learnt and how challenging they found the work because time is not always used well to promote best possible learning. Planning ensures that knowledge, skills and understanding are developed through an increasing emphasis on real-life experiences to help bring learning to life and promote good progress. A very large majority of parents and carers rightly believe that their children are taught well.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The excellent relationships at all levels underpin pupils’ outstanding behaviour and very positive attitudes to learning, and are strengths of the school. High levels of respect, care and consideration for others and a very strong emphasis on meeting the needs of all pupils are at the heart of the school’s work. Pupils talked freely and spontaneously to inspectors as they moved around the school engendering a genuine warmth and welcome, illustrating clearly the high profile given to values, such as courtesy and politeness. Pupils speak highly of all adults, who pupils say are always friendly and approachable. As a result, pupils thoroughly enjoy all that the school provides. Pupils fully understand the impact their actions have on others. For example, Year 4 pupils comment that bullying is very rare because their school ‘is a smiley face school and smiles should be shared and never taken away.’

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

A very large majority of parents and carers agree that behaviour is good and that lessons are rarely disrupted by bad behaviour. Many parents and carers rightly comment about ‘the caring, supportive atmosphere’, the ‘warm, welcoming and dedicated staff’ and ‘the blossoming of their children’ because of the school’s strong, inclusive ethos. On the rare occasions, when pupils with very complex needs respond inappropriately, this is handled firmly and sensitively, following agreed procedures, so that the behaviour does not impinge on the learning of other pupils. Pupils are enthusiastic learners, cooperating sensibly; they develop well as responsible citizens and take great pride in their achievements. The strong features are valued and celebrated, such as through a ‘St. Andrew’s Stars’ display helping further to promote confidence and raise self-esteem.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Almost all pupils say they feel safe. They like and trust their teachers who always listen to their concerns. Teachers not only act swiftly to resolve the few issues that arise but successfully equip pupils with skills to enable them to sort out their own differences, one pupil typically commenting that ‘it helps us to become independent and be responsible for our own behaviour.’

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Leadership and management

Key features of the very experienced headteacher’s effective leadership include the ability to enthuse others leaders, to promote a good team spirit, to establish and sustain high morale and to support professional development. As a result, priorities for development, such as the need to secure further improvements to writing, are well judged. Systems to track pupils’ academic achievement have led to the amassing of considerable amounts of data to show the progress individual pupils are making. Senior leaders do not yet have a clear overview to enable them to accurately measure, compare and contrast the progress of different groups to help ensure all pupils are making the best possible progress.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is good, well liked by pupils and all subjects are securely represented. It is being carefully adapted to ensure that barriers between subjects are broken down in meaningful ways to help bring learning to life. Personal and social development is very high profile, resulting in pupils’ outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Strong local links and partnerships contribute well to pupils’ development and well-being. A good range of visits, visitors and after-school clubs extends pupils’ learning. Equal opportunities are embedded in the school’s way of life and discrimination is not tolerated. The school places strong emphasis on keeping pupils safe and its safeguarding arrangements are good.

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Leadership and management

Subject leaders are becoming increasingly involved in rigorous and regular monitoring to give them the clearest possible view of what works well and what needs doing. They are not yet fully accountable for standards and progress. Although teaching is good and is monitored regularly by senior leaders, it focuses more on teaching than on learning. Most issues from the last inspection have been tackled decisively with good teaching and above average standards maintained. Increasingly challenging targets are set and often achieved. The school improvement plan sets a clear direction for the school’s work and priorities are well judged and rigorously pursued. The good governing body is increasingly involved in holding the school to account. Capacity for improvement is therefore judged as good.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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ate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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ate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously.

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ate

The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ).

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ate

The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools.

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ate

Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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ate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school's overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's main

findings from the inspection of their school.

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7QL

Thank you for your very friendly welcome and for sharing your views of the school by talking to the inspectors and returning the questionnaires. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit. You told us that you go to a good school and we agree with you! Here are some of the positive things about your school.

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7QL

■ You make good progress as you move from the Reception class to Year 6. ■ You behave very well and are keen to learn and work and play well together. ■ The curriculum is good and you enjoy most lessons. ■ Teaching is good and you like your teachers and other adults who help you. ■ All staff provide good care so that you are safe and happy in school. ■ The leaders of the school know well how to make your school even better.

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7QL

Here are the most important things we have asked your headteacher and teachers to do to make your school even better.

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7QL

■ Ensure all lessons are at least good by making sure that teachers give you enough time to work on your own, that work always challenges you and that you know what you are learning and what steps to look out for in all lessons. ■ Ensure all leaders know as much as possible about how well you are learning so that you are making the best possible progress.

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7QL

The inspectors wish you all the best and hope that you continue to try hard, enjoy your learning and keep following the message in your school motto to always ‘treat others as you wish to be treated’.

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7QL

Derek Pattinson Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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