Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 14–15 May 2012 Inspection number 379521 Unique Reference Number 118026 Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire Inspection number 379521 Inspection dates 14–15 May 2012 Lead inspector Andrew Swallow

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 65 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Aileen Secker Headteacher Jane Elliot Date of previous school inspection 27 March 2009 School address Main Street Sutton-on-Derwent York YO41 4BN Telephone number 01904 608440 Fax number 01904 608440 Email address suttononderwent.headprimary@eastriding.gov.uk Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 2 of 12

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 3 of 12

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspector took account of the six responses to the on-line Parent View survey in planning the inspection. The inspector observed teaching and learning in nine lessons, taught by four teachers, including three observed jointly with the acting headteacher. In addition, meetings were held with pupils, members of the governing body and school staff. The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school development plan, the safeguarding and equality policies, and minutes of the governing body meetings. Also, the inspector analysed 39 parental and carers’ questionnaires and others completed by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school, although numbers are rising rapidly. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low. The number of pupils who have special educational needs, (supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs), is similar to the national picture. A smaller than average proportion is from minority- ethnic backgrounds, with none who speak English as an additional language.

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Information about the school

The school meets the current floor standards, which sets the government’s minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. Among the school’s awards is National Healthy Schools status.

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Information about the school

Recently, there has been a change in headteacher and an acting headteacher was in place at the time of the inspection. A breakfast and after-school club have also been recently introduced, both managed by the governing body. These were observed during the inspection. Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 4 of 12

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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. Adults provide outstanding pastoral care for all pupils and create an inclusive climate in which pupils’ specific needs are well met. Pre- and after-school clubs are particularly well managed. Parents and carers are highly supportive of the school’s work. Pupils say how much they enjoy coming to school and the many outdoor learning experiences. These help to promote well pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The school is not yet outstanding because teaching is not outstanding, particularly for cultivating pupils’ writing skills.

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Key Findings

 Pupils achieve well. They make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage, particularly in calculation and in their creative development. Across Years 2 to 6, most pupils achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics, and reach overall above average standards by the time they leave school. Outcomes in writing are not as high as they might be, due to some inconsistencies in teaching.

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Key Findings

 Teaching is good overall. The inspector saw many examples of good teaching, although there is a very small proportion that is not as effective. In some lessons pupils are not involved in their learning soon enough, and activities are not tailored sufficiently to meet all needs.

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Key Findings

 Behaviour and safety are good. Pupils are friendly, polite and eager to learn. Parents, carers, pupils and staff believe that the mutually respectful relationships promote a culture of safety. Attendance is rising, and is now above average.

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Key Findings

 Leadership of teaching and management of performance are good. Teachers frequently share good practice to improve the quality of pupils’ learning. The checking of pupils’ progress is systematic and self-evaluation procedures ensure that governors understand how well the school is performing. Decisive actions to improve teaching are taken, although the monitoring of lessons does not Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 5 of 12

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Key Findings

always focus sufficiently on the impact of teaching on all pupils’ learning. Subject leaders are not yet fully involved in this process.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

  Ensure teaching becomes outstanding and eliminate any inadequacies in teaching by: - reducing the amount of talking by teachers in some lessons, and generally increasing the time spent by pupils learning alongside each other and thinking for themselves - providing activities and experiences better suited to the needs of all pupils, as a result of more astute checking of their progress during lessons - refining the monitoring of lessons by focusing more on the impact of teaching on the quality of pupils’ learning experiences and how well these are supporting their achievements, and by involving subject leaders in this process.   Accelerate progress in writing across Years 2 to 6 by: - planning regular opportunities across all subjects for pupils to write for a range of audiences and purposes - checking more astutely pupils’ progress in spelling, punctuation and use of language in subjects other than English.

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Achievement of pupils

The small number of pupils means that starting points vary on entry to the Reception each year, but are broadly those expected for their age. Most children make good progress across the Early Years Foundation Stage because of the consistently good teaching. As a result many work securely within almost all of the learning goals by the time they begin Year 1. In particular, they learn to collaborate very well indeed, and to explore, investigate and work out things for themselves. Low attainers also make good progress to acquire writing and calculation skills at least in line with expectations when they leave the Reception Year.

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Achievement of pupils

Almost all of the parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire think that their children are making good progress. The vast majority of the pupils think that they learn a lot, most or all of the time. Across Key Stages 1 and 2, pupils make generally good rates of progress, reaching overall above average standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Most teachers take account of pupils’ abilities to challenge them sufficiently in key mathematical skills such as oral calculation, and in applying basic number operations in ‘real-life’ contexts. The teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters represent) and promotion of reading skills, is a strength. By the end of Key Stage 1 many pupils read with increasing confidence so that attainment is at least average. By the end of Key Stage 2, they read with fluency and interest, so that attainment is above average. Although most

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Achievement of pupils

pupils attain increasingly above average standards in writing by the time they leave school, not all progress as evenly as they might across Years 2 to 6. This is because Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 6 of 12

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Achievement of pupils

not all teachers take sufficient advantage of the different contexts and purposes for writing, presented across all subjects, or monitor astutely enough pupils’ progress in forming complex sentences and experimenting with new and unfamiliar language.

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Achievement of pupils

In many lessons pupils show a keenness to deepen their understanding, readily sharing ideas in small groups and pairs, listening carefully to each other’s viewpoints. For example, Year 1 pupils eagerly collaborated in applying basic multiplication to solve simple number patterns. Year 5 pupils compared enthusiastically their changes in pulse rates, following outdoor health-related activities, to determine which had the greatest effect and why. Pupils with special educational needs and children who are looked after achieve particularly well. This is because activities and experiences are planned carefully to meet their needs, and formal targets are reviewed and updated regularly.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching is good overall, especially in the Early Years Foundation Stage. In many lessons teachers provide imaginative opportunities for pupils to collaborate in small groups, to share and extend each other’s emerging ideas. For example, Year 1 and Reception pupils were enthralled to discover buried treasure, with individual letters to form key words, as part of their ‘castles’ theme; they were equally excited in writing invitations to the Queen to attend the school’s Silver Jubilee celebrations. In a Year 6 lesson on Olympian and Paralympian values, excellent visual resources, and stimulating questioning and interactions by the teacher, enthused pupils of all abilities in their discussions about personal values and moral principles. Targeted support by adults in lessons, and in small groups out of lessons, is effective in improving the confidence of children who are looked after, and in supporting those

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Quality of teaching

with special educational needs. The monitoring and regular review of their achievements are especially strong. The teaching of reading is good. It helps pupils to identify and understand unfamiliar words and phrases, and develop the skills to retrieve facts and interpret situations.

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Quality of teaching

Parents, carers and pupils say that teaching is good and that pupils make good progress. The use of information and communication technology for research, the teaching of Spanish, and the innovative use made of the school’s stimulating outdoor environment, help to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well, and implement the planned curriculum successfully.

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Quality of teaching

Where teaching is less effective, opportunities are missed to check on how well individual pupils are learning and to provide astute comments about what they need to do to improve. On occasions, pupils are not involved soon enough in well conceived, collaborative activities that challenge them to think and find out things for themselves.

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Quality of teaching

The quality of marking is generally good in providing most pupils with a clear view of their attainment and how they can improve. Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 7 of 12

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils say that they feel very safe in school and that adults are always there to advise. As a consequence, they have a good understanding of the risks to which they may be exposed, both within and outside of school. Parents and carers also believe that the school takes good care of their children. They appreciate especially the thoughtfulness shown by play leaders and workers in the breakfast and after-school clubs. As a result, around the school and in lessons, behaviour is typically good. Scrutiny of behavioural records shows that this is the case over time too. A very large proportion of parents, carers and pupils express confidence in the school’s systems for dealing with the very rare instances of bullying. Pupils are aware of different forms of bullying, especially homophobic and cyber-bullying. Through their work on the school council and friendship team, they actively encourage all pupils to

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

be supportive of each other. They make a good contribution to a safe, positive learning environment, readily celebrating the achievements of others in assemblies, and working willingly in different groups in lessons. On occasions, behaviour can lapse and pupils become restless, particularly in the very small proportion of lessons where teaching is uninteresting, and when pupils are not involved soon enough and challenged in their learning.

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Leadership and management

The acting headteacher exudes high aspirations for all pupils. Teachers work effectively as a team to ensure success for all and are keen to share and learn from good practice. The school has suitable systems in place for continuous, accurate self- evaluation and the management of teachers’ performance. Senior leaders have responded appropriately to the key areas for improvement in the previous inspection. Good provision has been maintained in the Early Years Foundation Stage and achievement has improved in mathematics. Teaching is good and enables pupils to reach overall above average standards by the end of Key Stage 2. This demonstrates strong capacity for further improvement.

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Leadership and management

Arrangements to check the quality of teaching sometimes concentrate too much on teaching, rather than its effectiveness on the quality of pupils’ learning, and achievements by different groups. Consequently, outcomes of monitoring are not used as successfully as they might be to promote consistently good or better practice across all year groups. The roles of subject leaders are not yet developed sufficiently to enable them to play a part in these processes.

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Leadership and management

The impact of the curriculum on pupils’ academic outcomes is good and their needs are well met. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, there is a good balance of adult- led and activities that children choose for themselves. Across Years 1 to 6, an increasingly thematic approach to the teaching of key communication and mathematical skills offers opportunities for pupils to practice key skills in different contexts and for different purposes. Not all teachers yet take advantage of these opportunities to reinforce and extend pupils’ writing skills. Specialist linguists and environmental teachers regularly visit the school to complement the daily teaching, and to inspire pupils with outdoor learning experiences and references to people from different countries and cultures. Carefully chosen visits to museums, the coast and local places of interest, bring to life the planned curriculum. Extra-curricular Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May

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Leadership and management

activities, including gardening, film and craft clubs, and fun experiences such as decorating biscuits and pizza nights in the breakfast and after-school clubs, promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

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Leadership and management

The governing body discharges its statutory responsibilities and ensures that safeguarding arrangements meet requirements. It ensures that the school promotes well equality of opportunity through rigorous tracking of pupils’ achievement, bespoke support for individuals at risk of underperforming, and close monitoring of pupils’ behaviour to tackle vigorously any discrimination that should arise. Governors have an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and play a confident part in supporting the school’s strategic direction. Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 9 of 12

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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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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

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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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The data in the table above are for the period 1 September to 31 December 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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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

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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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

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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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100. Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 10 of 12

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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

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school's efforts to encourage good attendance.

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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

Floor standards the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures

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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. Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 11 of 12

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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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Controlled Primary School, York YO41 4BN

 Thank you for talking to me when I visited your school recently. I spoke with you in lessons, around the school and in groups, looked at your work, read the results of questionnaires filled in by you and your parents and carers, and spoke with some of your teachers. Here are some of the school’s particular strengths.

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Controlled Primary School, York YO41 4BN

 The school provides you with a good standard of education and outstanding levels of care and support.  You achieve well in the Early Years Foundation Stage, and make good progress in most lessons, reaching overall above average standards by the end of Year 6.  Most of you behave very well and are polite to visitors and respectful of each other.  The quality of teaching is good overall, and the experiences provided for you to learn outdoors are of a particular good quality.  The school provides good support to those of you who have specific learning needs.  The acting headteacher and governors know what needs to be done to bring more rigour in evaluating how well the school is doing, and to make teaching even better.

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Controlled Primary School, York YO41 4BN

I have asked the acting headteacher and the governing body to make sure that more teaching becomes outstanding by ensuring that all lessons challenge you as much as possible to develop your skills; and all teachers letting you know regularly how well you are doing. I have also asked that all staff are more rigorous in evaluating the quality of the teaching. You can help by continuing to attend regularly, participating enthusiastically in all lessons, and telling your teachers when you find your learning to be too easy or too difficult.

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Controlled Primary School, York YO41 4BN

Andrew Swallow Lead inspector Inspection report: Sutton Upon Derwent Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 14–15 May 2012 12 of 12

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Controlled Primary School, York YO41 4BN

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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