Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School

Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 05–06 July 2012 Inspection number 395619 Unique Reference Number 121592 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 395619 Inspection dates 5–6 July 2012 Lead inspector Jane Hughes

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 109 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Louise Bruce Headteacher Paul Griffiths Date of previous school inspection 14 May 2009 School address School Lane Spofforth Harrogate HG3 1BA Telephone number 01937 590655 Fax number 01937 591078 Email address admin@spofforth.n-yorks.sch.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

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. The inspector observed the teaching of five teachers in nine lessons or part-lessons, of which one was a joint observation with the headteacher. Meetings were held with pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and school staff. The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, development plans, safeguarding and child protection policies, attainment data and assessment information. She listened to pupils read and looked at pupils’ work. The inspector analysed questionnaire responses from 38 parents and carers as well as those completed by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is smaller than average. Almost all pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is smaller than average. The school meets the current floor standard which sets the minimum standards expected by the government for attainment and progress. The school has achieved the Inclusion Mark, Arts Mark, Eco-School Bronze, Basic Skills Quality Mark and Special Needs Quality Mark. The school is part of the Harrogate and Rural Teaching School Alliance.

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Information about the school

Following the departure of the last headteacher to a new post, the school had an acting headteacher for one term. The new headteacher was appointed in January 2011. Since its previous inspection, staffing has been disrupted by a series of lengthy medical absences which have affected three of the four classes at different times. 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. It is not yet outstanding because some variability in teaching stops pupils from consistently making better than good progress over time. Pupils’ outstanding behaviour, personal and social skills have been maintained. Pupils, parents and carers have highly positive views of the school, describing it variously as ‘brilliant’, ‘fantastic’ and ‘any child would be lucky to go there!’

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Key Findings

■ All groups of pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics. Attainment is above average in English and mathematics by the time pupils leave school, sometimes significantly so. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage learn and develop well.

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Key Findings

■ Teaching is well-led and is typically good with some outstanding practice, particularly in the Early Year Foundation Stage and in Years 5 and 6. Where teaching is satisfactory rather than good, some inconsistencies remain relating to the time pupils take to start independent work, the presentation of their work, the impact of marking and to the development of speech and language skills in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Key Findings

■ Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school is exemplary. They have highly-positive attitudes to learning. They are always supportive of each other and work with determination in pairs or small groups. The school keeps pupils secure and they say that they learn how to stay safe. Attendance is above average.

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Key Findings

■ Leadership and management are strong, securing on-going good achievement for all groups of pupils. The management of performance is good and consistently improves the quality of teaching. Staff are valued and morale is high. The outstanding curriculum engages pupils fully in purposeful learning through memorable experiences. The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding and encourages pupils to thrive academically, emotionally and socially.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure all teaching is consistently good or better by:  providing more guidance for pupils through marking on how to improve their work and ensuring that pupils have time to read these comments and amend their work before moving on  encouraging all pupils to start work quickly when they move to independent activities in lessons  encouraging pupils to set themselves consistently high expectations in the presentation of their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Build on existing strengths in the Early Years Foundation Stage by:  encouraging support staff to follow more closely the example set by the teacher to stimulate children’s speaking and listening skills still further.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils collaborate well and enjoy the many opportunities they have to work together in lessons. Although some pupils take too long to set to work on independent activities, most engage in purposeful activities once teachers complete their introductions. Pupils listen carefully to instructions and produce a good quantity of work, although some of this is untidy. Pupils relish problem-solving opportunities. For instance, pupils in Years 5 and 6 showed great resilience in an outstanding mathematics session as they sought to find a solution to a problem based on consecutive numbers and to record their findings systematically. Pupils worked tenaciously and rehearsed a range of possible solutions before explaining their successful methods to others.

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Achievement of pupils

Children make good progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage from typically expected starting points. Over the past three years, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of Reception has risen and is above average. Lively and fun approaches to the teaching of the sounds that letters make (phonics) engage children well. For instance, they participated well thumping out the syllables in their names on a drum. This also helped three new children to learn some of their new classmates’ names in readiness for next term.

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Achievement of pupils

Attainment in reading is above average by the end of Year 2 and when pupils leave the school. Some pupils are three terms in advance of the national average in Year 6 and most become accomplished readers. Year 6 pupils’ current work in English and mathematics shows a rising trend, particularly at the higher levels. Pupils make good progress overall and accelerated progress in Years 5 and 6. Close individual tracking highlights any emerging gaps in performance between different groups, although small pupil numbers in some cohorts result in greater fluctuations. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs learn as well as other groups of pupils because appropriate support programmes are implemented and some outside expertise is sought. This effective learning continues at home as parents and carers are encouraged to liaise closely with the school about how to support their children’s development. Pupils with particular gifts and talents rise successfully to the

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Achievement of pupils

challenge of the higher-level tasks they are set. All parents and carers who returned the inspection questionnaire say that their children make good progress whatever their individual needs. Inspection findings support these views.

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching is good. Teachers have good subject knowledge. Parents and carers agree that their children are taught well, including in the basic skills of communication, reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils comment that they learn a lot in lessons and that teaching is good. Some outstanding teaching was observed during the inspection and evidence of this was also clear from the school’s monitoring records of the quality of teaching and in pupils’ work over the year. Teachers encourage pupils to work productively, often in pairs, groups or teams, to organise their joint thinking and to learn efficiently. These approaches help to develop pupils’ social skills well. Adults do not spoon-feed information to pupils but instead encourage them to find answers themselves. All staff provide strong role models for treating others with respect and consideration and for being inclusive in everything they do. Established home-school partnerships ensure that disabled

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Quality of teaching

pupils and those with special educational needs are very well supported.

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Quality of teaching

Some inconsistencies occur when teaching is not securely good. Expectations of the standard of presentation of pupils’ work are variable. Some staff do not ensure that all pupils get off to a prompt start when tackling independent work. Some marking does not offer sufficient pointers for improvement. Also, pupils do not regularly have time to consider feedback from staff before moving on to their next piece of work.

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Quality of teaching

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, planning is meticulous and meets children’s needs so that many outcomes are of a high order. Teaching provides high levels of challenge for children. For example, when the teacher practised Noah’s story song, her careful explanation and high expectations resulted in children managing to ‘sing’ impressively in six parts, as hissing snakes, snippy-snappy crocodiles, hop-and-stop rabbits, roaring lions, chitter-chatter monkeys and stomp-a-long elephants. They were rightly proud of this achievement. However, despite excellent modelling from the teacher, when children work independently, some support staff do not consistently make the most of every opportunity to extend children’s speaking and listening skills through questioning or modelling of language.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

From the very start of their time in Nursery, children develop first class social skills and soon display excellent attitudes to learning. The behaviour of pupils is outstanding over time, as evidenced during the inspection, questionnaire responses and school logs which record pupils’ behaviour over the years. Inspection evidence reflects the views of parents, carers and pupils that behaviour is typically excellent and that pupils feel safe in school. Pupils are highly respectful and show maturity and trustworthiness as they carry out duties around school. School ambassadors serve the school community well and represent the school’s ethos in an exemplary manner as they go to other schools for meetings and to plan events. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage have great affection for their older ‘buddies’ ‘because they are very kind to us’ and say they can go to them if they are ever upset.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

There are no recorded instances and no other evidence of bullying, name-calling or racism. The school is highly harmonious and pupils respect differences. All stakeholders are confident that the school would tackle speedily and successfully any bullying or harassment. Pupils learn to recognise potential hazards both in and out of school. For example, they are clear about the inherent dangers associated with accessing information on the internet. They explain unhesitatingly how to avoid cyber-bullying. Pupils’ attendance is above average and they arrive on time.

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Leadership and management

Parents and carers are thoroughly pleased with the impact of the headteacher. They typically describe him as ‘dynamic and an excellent role model for our children…and we are impressed with his professionalism.’ Inspection evidence confirms these positive views. The governing body is experienced and led well. It provides clear direction and strong community links as well as good levels of challenge and support to the leadership. The management of performance links clearly to school priorities. Accurate self-evaluation, strong leadership and sustained good and improving achievement, despite many temporary changes to the teaching profile, show that the school has strong capacity to improve further. The small staff team works effectively together on all aspects of the school’s performance and development. Staff feel well-supported in their professional development and regularly collaborate with colleagues in other small schools to

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Leadership and management

share practice and develop skills. The headteacher monitors rigorously the quality of teaching and provides clear feedback on strengths and points to develop. Teachers collate and analyse assessment data regularly to ensure that they have a current picture of each pupil’s attainment and progress. They share this regularly with the headteacher and with parents and carers. Each pupil is tracked individually and any required additional support is identified and supplied either by teaching assistants or outside agencies. Parents and carers are impressed with the school’s external partnership work and recognise the benefits these bring to their children. They typically comment, ‘Each child is treated as an individual and learning is tailored and structured to suit.’ The school meets requirements with regard to safeguarding, giving it a high priority. All the adults, including administrators and lunch staff, pay

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Leadership and management

close attention to pupils’ safety and well-being. Strong commitment by the whole staff team to promoting equality of opportunity ensures that no discriminatory practice is tolerated. As a result, all groups of pupils, including disabled pupils, those with special educational needs or with particular gifts and talents flourish and achieve well.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is outstanding because it supports the development of pupils’ basic skills extremely imaginatively. It also provokes thoughtful reflection and curiosity among pupils. Through close links with the church and creative topic work the school successfully promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. They learn the value of honesty, independence, moral principles, respect for difference and self-respect as key elements of their future success.

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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 up 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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Harrogate, HG3 1BA

Thank you for your friendly welcome when I inspected your school. I enjoyed hearing some of you read and listening to your views about school. You told me how much you enjoy your lessons and I saw that for myself. You all behave beautifully, are kind to each other and help Spofforth to be a real family.

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Harrogate, HG3 1BA

Spofforth is a good school. You achieve well in English and mathematics so that your attainment is above average by the time you leave. You read well and develop a love of books. Young children in the Nursery and Reception classes thoroughly enjoy all the activities on offer. Their enthusiasm to learn and play outside is infectious – it was such fun to see them playing tennis in wellies in the torrential rain with the cheery support staff!

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Harrogate, HG3 1BA

Part of my job is to see what your school could do even better. I have asked your headteacher and teachers to make sure that they give more improvement pointers when they mark your work and that you have some time in lessons to check these and use them to improve your work. Your teachers will also be checking that your work is neater and that you all start work quickly when you go back to your places after the teacher’s introduction to a lesson. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage will have even more challenges from adults to develop their speech and language skills.

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Harrogate, HG3 1BA

Thank you all once again for making my visit so enjoyable. Carry on working hard and enjoying school!

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Harrogate, HG3 1BA

I send you my very best wishes for the future.

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Harrogate, HG3 1BA

Jane Hughes 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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