Crich Carr CofE Primary School

Crich Carr CofE Primary School Main Road, Whatstandwell, Matlock, DE4 5EF

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils achieve well. They make good progress and reach high standards by Year 6. They make the best progress in reading.  The headteacher’s leadership is excellent. It is highly effective in encouraging outstanding relationships between all members of the school community.  Pupils’ outstanding behaviour and safety, particularly their mature attitudes to learning, contribute to the school’s highly positive family atmosphere.  Pupils, parents and staff are unanimous that the school provides a safe environment.  The headteacher and governing body make good use of information about pupils’ progress. They use it to measure the success of teaching and to plan how to improve achievement.  Teaching is good. Pupils enjoy their lessons. They appreciate the way that teachers make lessons interesting and demanding for pupils of all ages and abilities.  Pupils show great confidence. They hold good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

conversations with adults and each other and read aloud very confidently and competently.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Observations of teaching do not routinely include those of the headteacher. This means that possible areas for improvement cannot be regularly identified.  Adults are not always used well enough to support learning or to check that pupils make progress throughout a lesson.  In the Reception class, opportunities for children to learn through play are limited, mostly because of a lack of outdoor space.  The school’s improvement plan is ambitious but includes too many routine tasks. This makes its review unnecessarily time- consuming.  The school cannot fully identify the impact of its use of pupil premium funding.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector visited six lessons or parts of lessons. None of these were joint observations as the headteacher was teaching for most of the time during the inspection. Short visits were made to a further three lessons to observe learning.  Formal meetings were held with the headteacher, and teachers responsible for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage and for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. The inspector met with the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative of the local authority. Brief informal discussions were held with three parents, including a parent governor.  A formal meeting was held with eight pupils in Years 3 to 6. There were many informal discussions with pupils at playtime and during lessons, when pupils’ work was scrutinised and discussed with them.  The inspector read a range of written information linked to the school’s safeguarding

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Information about this inspection

arrangements, including records of checks on staff and governors, attendance figures and logs recording accidents and incidents. Other documents, such as policies, teachers’ planning and records of pupils’ progress were examined.  The inspector took account of 23 responses from parents and carers on Parent View, the online questionnaire. The responses on eight completed staff questionnaires were analysed.

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Inspection team

Susan Aldridge, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average sized primary school situated in a village. Some parents who live outside the area choose to send their children to Crich Carr.  Most pupils are White British and all speak English as their first language.  The proportion of pupils eligible for additional government funding (the pupil premium), such as those who are entitled to free school meals, is below average.  The proportions of pupils who need additional help to learn by school action, and those at school action plus or who have statements of special educational needs, are all above average this year.  The governing body runs a before- and after-school club in a house on the school’s site.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations of pupils’ attainment and progress.  Pupils are taught in two classes. One has Reception children and pupils in Years 1 and 2. The second has pupils in Years 3 to 6.

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Information about this school

 No pupils are taught by the staff of any other educational establishment (alternative provision) for part of their school week.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that:  all adults actively support pupils’ learning, including checking to make sure that they are productively engaged, throughout all lessons  there are more frequent opportunities for children to learn through play in the Reception class.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management to ensure that:  the school improvement plan identifies only those developments that are most important, so that leaders and managers can easily review the effect of the actions they have taken to improve  the school is able to identify the impact on their achievement of the additional funds it receives for certain pupils  the headteacher’s teaching in lessons is regularly observed and evaluated to give her the same support and guidance as other teaching staff  the school continues to explore ways of funding improvements to the outdoor play area.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The knowledge and skills of the small number of children who enter Reception vary each year according to individuals’ development. In the main these are at or slightly above those expected at this age. In the last three years, standards in Year 6 have been consistently high, showing that pupils make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children in Reception settle well because many have previously attended a weekly pre-school session. As a result of good teaching, they make good progress and all reach a good level of development, with high proportions exceeding this by the end of the Reception year.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In Years 1 to 6, boys, girls, pupils eligible for free school meals, and those who need extra help to learn all make good progress. This is because the school assesses each pupil regularly and quickly provides additional help where this is needed. The high quality of extra support, both in class and in small groups, helps to boost pupils’ progress. By the time they reach Year 6, all pupils achieve at least as well as expected for their age (Level 4) in English and mathematics. High proportions achieve more than this and reach Level 5.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ achievement in reading is very good. By Year 2, pupils competently read books they choose themselves. They have a good range of ways of tackling words they do not immediately recognise. This includes good skills in linking sounds and letters. They have preferences for types of books and authors.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 By Year 6, pupils read a wide range of books frequently, and with very good expression when reading aloud. They write regular reviews of the books they have read and present these well, including suitable illustrations.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Writing standards are not quite as high as those in reading. Older pupils’ written work is very well presented and handwriting is neat and correctly formed. However, occasionally, poor spelling spoils the quality of written work. The school is working on this and uses a good range of ways to support pupils to spell words correctly.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement in mathematics is good. More-able pupils benefit from being given the same work as older pupils. Pupils are very well motivated, working independently and with minimal support during lessons. This prepares older pupils particularly well for secondary schooling.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 There have been no pupils eligible for free school meals in Year 6 in the last two years. This means that the school has no way of comparing how well these pupils do in relation to other pupils on a national basis. Although the school makes suitable use of extra funding for these pupils, it cannot show the difference this makes because it does not include this comparison when it checks on pupils’ progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers know their pupils very well. They make good use of their accurate assessment of pupils’ skills to plan activities that are well suited to pupils’ ages and abilities. As a result, pupils have tasks that appeal to them and make them think hard in every lesson.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Excellent relationships between staff and pupils result in confident learners who are not afraid to have a go. Pupils fully accept that some are better than others at certain things. They readily accept additional help and do not mind working in groups with younger or older pupils. This works particularly well in mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils’ learning is maximised because they work well together and on their own. In a design and technology lesson, older pupils worked in small groups to design, test and modify a moon buggy so that it could move a set distance over a rough surface. They listened effectively to one another, took turns, shared ideas, reflected on the teacher’s prompts and achieved a great deal together in relatively a short time.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Children in Reception are taught well and have good support from teaching assistants. Outdoor learning is limited by the lack of facilities outside and the location of the playground away from the classroom. Opportunities are occasionally missed to enable children to learn through play indoors, especially through role-play. Some children find it hard to concentrate for long on more formal tasks.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In several lessons pupils were seen to work for long periods on their own. They concentrate well, make use of reference texts and only ask for help when absolutely necessary. Those who need adult support do not become over-reliant on this because adults encourage the pupils to work without help as much as possible.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Marking is good. Pupils respond well to adults’ comments and suggested areas for improvement. Each understands what aspects they need to improve.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils’ high motivation to work and learn extends to completing homework tasks regularly. For instance, all pupils systematically learn their times tables, which supports their mental mathematics skills very well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In most lessons, adults circulate round the class well to check each pupil’s work and give support when necessary. However, occasionally, pupils lose concentration, repeat an error or fail to see a pattern in mathematics and this is not quickly picked up by staff. This slows pupils’ progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Adults are generally used well to ensure that they support learning. Sometimes, though, they do not interact with or support pupils when a teacher is leading whole-class work. This is a waste of a valuable resource.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Good use is made of part-time teachers, parent volunteers and coaches to provide special subject expertise and variety for pupils, such as in science and French. As a result, pupils benefit from being taught by a number of different teachers with good subject knowledge, particularly as they prepare for the move to secondary school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 It was a pleasure to visit this school. The pupils are exceptionally welcoming, polite and courteous. They are brimming with confidence, but are not arrogant or cheeky. Their manners are exemplary.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils discuss their work and school life with great maturity and enthusiasm and are proud to be members of the school community. Pupils’ enjoyment of school is demonstrated by consistently high attendance. They willingly take on responsibilities, such as planning and organising the sale of produce grown on the allotment. Through the Friday Forum and school council, pupils’ views are made known and have an impact on what happens at school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school’s records show a very low incidence of accidents, and no instances of bullying or prejudice, such as racism. Pupils understand well the different forms that bullying can take, including cyber-bullying on mobile phones and the internet. They are adamant that this is not even an occasional occurrence. Relationships between pupils are very good and older pupils take good care of younger ones.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Older pupils are exceptionally well behaved in lessons. They do not need any encouragement to get on with their work. Younger pupils occasionally need reminders. However, even those who find it hard to behave well all the time respond well to the school’s clear boundaries and the staff’s well-developed skills in managing behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Behaviour at playtime and lunchtime is very good. Pupils have a well-developed grasp of how to play safely in the rather small playground. They explain the need for separate playtimes for young and older pupils, and fully appreciate the need for rules to protect their safety. As a result, for example, they kept off an icy section of the playground without reminders.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils develop an excellent understanding of how to be safe at school, when using the internet and in the community. They wear their high visibility jackets to keep themselves safe when walking to school. They know in some detail the dangers and necessary precautions to take when using electricity and in case of fire. Pupils demonstrate good hygiene habits when preparing food; they understand and explain the reasons for these well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 All the staff, parents and pupils who expressed a view indicated that they were fully confident in the school as a safe environment.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher’s excellent leadership sets the tone for the school. All staff and pupils are equally valued and show a strong commitment to, and pride in the school. All parents who responded on Parent View say that they would recommend the school to others.

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The leadership and management are good

 Through the analysis of information on pupils’ progress, teachers are held accountable for how well the pupils do. Teachers attend a good range of training courses to ensure that they are up to date with changes in education. Observations of teachers at work are regular and frequent, and support them in making improvements. However, the headteacher’s teaching is observed less frequently so that ways improving this, so that it is consistently of the highest standard, are not regularly identified.

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The leadership and management are good

 There is a wide range of other activities to check on the work of the school, such as looking at pupils’ work. This self-evaluation enables the school to pinpoint areas for development. These are incorporated into a well-constructed improvement plan. However, the plan includes a large number of other activities that would be routinely carried out each year, such as ongoing monitoring of teaching, and this makes the review process unnecessarily long.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils are given a very wide range of interesting subjects and activities, extended well through productive partnerships with other organisations. The headteacher’s detailed reports to governors show frequent visits, visitors and themed events, such as ‘Africa Week’. These experiences promote pupils’ personal development well. There are good opportunities, for instance, to encourage pupils’ awareness of the diverse nature of society, and pupils are justifiably proud of their fundraising efforts that support an African boy’s education.

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The leadership and management are good

 Effective use is made of external links to ensure that pupils have experiences that the accommodation does not allow for. These include use of a leisure centre for physical education.

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The leadership and management are good

 The location of the school’s small playground does not make it possible for outdoor learning to be provided all the time for children in the Reception class. Nonetheless, children learn out of doors when they engage in Forest School activities and grow produce in the allotment.

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The leadership and management are good

 There has been good improvement since the last inspection. Pupils now have a clear idea of precisely what they each need to do to improve their basic skills. Governors are well informed about this aspect of improvement as they seek pupils’ views personally when they meet with them each year to ask them about their progress and experiences in school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority provides suitable ‘light touch’ support for this good school. This includes a termly review and support, such as in checking the school’s own evaluation of teaching. Local authority training for governors has given them a better understanding of information about pupils’ progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school: This has improved since the previous inspection. As a result of training in understanding progress data, governors now ask informed questions about this. They also visit the school regularly to check its work first-hand, such as the behaviour of younger pupils. Governors are highly supportive. They have, for example, managed projects such as the internal building alterations, on behalf of the headteacher. The renting of the ‘school house’ and local field has extended pupils’ opportunities for learning. For example, it has enabled the school to provide before- and after-school clubs. Governors are currently investigating how they can fund an extension to the playground area in order to provide better learning and play facilities for young children. They ensure that requirements for safeguarding are met, that targets are set each year for teaching staff and that salary increases are approved only where the targets are

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The leadership and management are good

successfully met. They monitor the school’s budget well. However, they are not able to identify how effectively the pupil premium funding is spent as the school does not measure the impact of this.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 112866 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 403190

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 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 57 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Roger Keeling Headteacher Anne Punchard Date of previous school inspection 27 March 2008 Telephone number 01773 852070 Fax number No fax number Email address info@crichcarr.derbyshire.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

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. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

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

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