East Ravendale CofE Primary School Academy

East Ravendale CofE Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 04–05 July 2012 Inspection number 393414 Unique Reference Number 137811 Local authority North East Lincolnshire Inspection number 393414 Inspection dates 4–5 July 2012 Lead inspector Stephen Fisher

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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 Converter Academy Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 113 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sean Chesman Headteacher Allie Majer Date of previous school inspection 31 March 2009 School address East Ravendale CofE Primary School East Ravendale Grimsby DN37 0RX Telephone number 01472 825999 Fax number 01472 825264 Email address office@eastravendale.co.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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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. The inspector observed teaching and learning in eight lessons taught by five teachers. The inspector held meetings with members of the governing body, staff, pupils and parents and carers. The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a range of school policies and documentation relating to safeguarding and strategic planning. The inspector listened to pupils read and looked at samples of their work. He examined pupils’ progress data, school leaders’ monitoring records and took account of the information on the school website. The inspector examined 42 questionnaires returned by parents and carers, as well as questionnaires from pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

East Ravendale Church of England Primary School is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. Very few of the pupils live in East Ravendale. The vast majority live in surrounding villages. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low. The proportion who are supported at school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is above average. In 2011, the school met the government’s floor standard, which sets minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. The Early Years Foundation Stage children are taught in one Reception class.

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Information about the school

The school became an academy on 1 January 2012. The Board of Directors has chosen to be referred to as the governing body. The school is part of the Athena Learning Alliance, a group of eight North East Lincolnshire primary schools that have been working closely together for over a year. 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’ achievement is good; the school has a curriculum that motivates and interests pupils, who are cared for very well. The school is not outstanding because teaching is not outstanding. Pupils express very positive views about their school.

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Key Findings

 Pupils in each key stage make good progress over time. Attainment varies with small cohorts but at the end of Key Stage 2 is usually broadly average. This represents good progress from their starting points.

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Key Findings

 Teaching is good. Reading is taught effectively and teachers usually develop pupils’ writing skills well. On some occasions, pupils are not provided with clear enough guidance about how to develop their writing and the use of strategies such as modelled and guided writing is not firmly established.

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Key Findings

 Pupils know how well they are achieving and say that they appreciate being told how they can improve their work. However, pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 are not always given clear guidance about how to improve their work or provided with time to respond to their teacher’s spoken and written comments. Pupils are given many opportunities to work in small groups and to carry out practical investigations, something which they say they enjoy very much.

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Key Findings

 Pupils say that they feel safe at school. Their behaviour throughout the school is good. They say that where there is misbehaviour, it is dealt with properly by their teachers. Pupils are enthusiastic about their school and have good attitudes to learning.

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Key Findings

 Leadership and management are good. The management of performance is good. Senior leaders and members of the governing body have high expectations. They are sharply focused on improving pupil achievement. However, subject leader roles are not developed well enough to ensure that they monitor provision and outcomes effectively and that they act on their findings.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to consistently good or better in order to raise standards by: - giving pupils clear and consistent guidance about how to improve their work and providing time for them to do so - making greater use of strategies such as modelled and guided writing in Key Stages 1 and 2 - ensuring that lesson summaries provide pupils with opportunities to explain and demonstrate what they have been doing and have learnt, and opportunities for them to question each other.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by: - strengthening the roles of subject leaders, so that they regularly and rigorously monitor the quality of provision and take effective steps to improve pupils’ learning.

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Achievement of pupils

Children’s skills and knowledge vary from year to year on entry to Reception, mainly due to the small size of each cohort. Currently, they are broadly those expected for their age but the current Year 6 cohort entered with skills below those expected for their age. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are curious about the world around them, engage well with each other and with adults, and show high levels of interest in their surroundings and in the activities provided for them. The indoor environment enables them to explore, move around and play successfully but the design of the building restricts children’s ability to move freely from indoors to play, explore and learn outside. The governing body is investigating ways in which the accommodation can be enhanced in order to improve outdoor provision.

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Achievement of pupils

Attainment at the end of Year 6 varies because of the differing prior attainment of small cohorts which is accentuated when there are a high proportion of pupils with special educational needs. Nevertheless, achievement from starting points in the school is consistently good. The ability profile has improved in recent years. As a result of good progress, pupils’ attainment in Years 1 to 3 is above average but this has not fed through to older year groups yet. Attainment in writing, reading and mathematics follow this pattern. Currently, attainment in each of these is above average by the end of Year 2 but average for Year 6. This does not reflect a decline in standards from Year 2 to Year 6 but the different composition of these cohorts. Findings from lesson observations, scrutiny of pupils’ work and hearing pupils read confirm the school’s tracking data that all groups of pupils are making good progress from their starting points.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils in Key Stage 1 are keen to learn and they work with great interest in lessons. They respond very positively to the many opportunities they have to work cooperatively and to talk about what they are doing. For example, in a Year 1 literacy lesson, pupils used a wide range of interesting adjectives to describe what they could smell, taste and feel. They wrote down their findings clearly and with accurate spelling. By the time they reach Year 2, pupils write for a range of purposes and in different styles. They structure their stories well; write imaginatively and with technical accuracy. Pupils enjoy reading. As a result of good teaching, they make good progress in their reading development. They have a good knowledge of number facts and can solve word problems involving the use of addition and subtraction. Pupils of all levels of ability make good progress in their learning and social development.

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Achievement of pupils

Lessons in Key Stage 2 are busy, with pupils either working independently or in groups. Pupils have good opportunities to find things out for themselves and are encouraged to do so. For example, in a Year 3/4 lesson, pupils used the interactive whiteboard, laptop computers, hand-held mobile devices and books to find information for their designs for £100 notes. They showed great interest in what they were doing and worked productively and responsibly to create their designs.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils with special educational needs make good progress as a result of well-targeted support. Though some of the parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire did not agree that their children were making good progress, the majority indicated that they are happy with their children’s progress.

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Quality of teaching

The atmosphere in lessons is positive and purposeful. The teaching of reading is effectively organised and enables pupils to make good progress. Teachers plan interesting and appropriately challenging tasks and activities for pupils of all abilities and make good provision for pupils with special educational needs. Teachers give clear instructions, though not always sufficient direct support before and while pupils are working, such as modelling and guiding what is expected. In the better lessons, pupils have opportunities to talk to each other about how they might proceed, to explain their thinking and to present their ideas, as in a Year 2 mathematics lesson where pupils’ learning was good as they discussed how to make an accurate scale in order to measure the capacity of a container. Lesson summaries do not always provide pupils with sufficient opportunities to explain and demonstrate what they have been doing and have learnt, and additionally, to enable the teacher to assess how

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Quality of teaching

Support staff are usually deployed effectively to work with groups of pupils of different abilities, as in a Year 3/4 mathematics lesson, where pupils were asked to calculate percentages. Teachers praise pupils well for their efforts, but do not routinely give them guidance as lessons proceed about how they can improve their work. Marking in Key Stages 1 and 2 is thorough and highlights where pupils have achieved the intended objective. Where teachers do give next steps guidance, pupils’ books reveal that they do not routinely respond to the marking and improve the quality of their work.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers have very good relationships with pupils and manage them well. In the most effective lessons, pupils are expected to work cooperatively and, such is their enthusiasm, they usually need little prompting to do so. Teachers make meaningful links between subjects and pupils spoke about how much they enjoyed the topics such as the Second World War, which gave them opportunities to meet people who were evacuated at the time and to enjoy role play rather than ‘just writing and listening’. Teachers provide pupils with good opportunities to use information and communication technology (ICT) resources to help them learn.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils appreciate the way that the staff care for them and many parents and carers commented very positively about this; for example, one said, ‘The school has a view of developing the whole child...my boys love good work assembly as it builds self-esteem and recognises achievement.’ Creativity and an appreciation of the richness and diversity of society are promoted well.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils say that behaviour at school is good, a view confirmed by the inspector. The behaviour seen in lessons, in play areas and around the school was good. Pupils of different ages were seen working and playing together happily. Pupils understand types of bullying, including cyber-bullying. They say that bullying is rare at school and that when incidents do occur; they are promptly and properly dealt with. Evidence from school records indicates that this is the norm and that disruptive incidents are infrequent. The school is a very calm, orderly and friendly community and pupils say that they know what to do if they have a problem at school.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

A minority of parents and carers expressed concerns about the standards of behaviour and how the school deals with cases of bullying. The inspector examined the issues, including speaking with pupils, some of the parents, school leaders and with a group of governors. The inspector found that the school promotes good behaviour effectively and deals appropriately with any incidents. Governors and school leaders are committed to achieving consistently high standards of behaviour and are carrying out a review of communication, procedure and practice in this aspect of the school’s work.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils have a clear understanding of how to keep safe, including road safety issues and the safe use of the internet. Pupils’ enjoyment of school is indicated by their above average attendance.

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Leadership and management

Senior leaders and governors have high expectations of what pupils can and should achieve, spiritually, socially and academically. Governance is good and the school is clearly focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning throughout the school, using appropriate training and staff development to good effect. The school has a clear system for tracking pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics which helps to ensure that almost all pupils make good progress and that any who are at risk of falling behind are given appropriate support. There is a clear emphasis on staff assessing pupils’ attainment levels against national criteria and then using the information to accelerate their progress. School staff and governors have benefited from working with teachers, headteachers and governors in the ‘Alliance’ in areas such as improving the accuracy and use of assessment information and monitoring the quality of teaching and learning.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is good. It promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively and the topics enable pupils to apply their literacy, numeracy and ICT skills effectively across the curriculum. The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum provides a good balance between adult-led activity and activities that children choose for themselves. The school promotes equality of opportunity well and has proper procedures for tackling any form of discrimination. The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils, staff and visitors are good.

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Leadership and management

Monitoring by school leaders is effectively helping to improve school performance. However, the roles of subject leaders are not developed to the extent that they regularly and rigorously monitor the quality of provision and take effective steps to improve pupils’ learning. School self-evaluation is accurate; school leaders and governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development and the school has a good capacity to improve.

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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.

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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.

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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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Inspection of East Ravendale CofE Primary School, Grimsby, DN37 0RX

Thank you very much for the welcome that you gave me when I visited your school recently. I enjoyed my visit very much and it was a pleasure to see you at work and to talk with you in lessons and at play times. I came to evaluate how well East Ravendale Primary School is performing. Part of that process included taking your views about the school into account and I am grateful to you for talking to me. I have judged that your school is good. This means that it does many things well but that there are some things that could be made even better.

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Inspection of East Ravendale CofE Primary School, Grimsby, DN37 0RX

The good things about your school include:  your good progress in developing your reading, writing and mathematics skills  you behave well in lessons and around the school  the staff take good care of you and so you feel safe  your lessons challenge you and involve you in finding things out for yourselves  the curriculum is good; you find the topics interesting and enjoy the visits and visitors connected with them  your attendance is above average.

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Inspection of East Ravendale CofE Primary School, Grimsby, DN37 0RX

I have asked your headteacher and the governors to do a number of things to help make the school even better. The two most important ones are to make sure that:  teachers give you good guidance about how to improve your work, time for you to do so and more opportunities in lessons for you to talk about what you have learnt  each of the subject leaders monitors how well you are doing and takes effective steps to make your learning even better. 

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Inspection of East Ravendale CofE Primary School, Grimsby, DN37 0RX

I hope that you enjoy your summer holidays and when you return to school, that you keep up the good work!

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Inspection of East Ravendale CofE Primary School, Grimsby, DN37 0RX

Yours sincerely, Stephen Fisher 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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