Yearsley Grove Primary School

Yearsley Grove Primary School Yearsley Grove, Huntiongton, York, North Yorkshire, YO31 9BX

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Achievement has risen quickly to the point where it is now good. In the Early Years Foundation Stage achievement is outstanding.  The quality of teaching has improved rapidly as a result of far higher expectations of pupils and a culture of sharing good practice. Some teaching is outstanding, particularly in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Pupils’ behaviour and their understanding of how to stay safe are good. All pupils say they feel safe and emphasise how much behaviour has improved over the past year.  The inspirational headteacher has made impressive improvements in a remarkably short space of time. School leaders at all levels comment that ‘it is a different school entirely’ as a result of the raised expectations of pupils, improved teaching and higher standards of behaviour.  Members of the governing body offer a good level of challenge. Their understanding of data has improved well as a result of high-quality

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

training and support from the headteacher and local authority.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not all leaders and managers, as yet, have the skills to analyse data incisively to quickly improve teaching.  In Key Stage 1 there are some inconsistencies in how well reading and writing are taught.  Sometimes pupils are prevented from making better progress by teachers giving over-long instructions or missing opportunities to let pupils learn through group work or problem solving in teams.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 17 part lessons, taught by 13 teachers, of which two were joint observations with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with groups of staff, pupils, three members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority. Pupils were heard reading.  Inspectors took account of the 53 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  Inspectors scrutinised a number of documents including school improvement plans, minutes of the governing body meetings and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Robert Jones, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Peter Evea Additional Inspector Baljinder Khela Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is larger than the average-sized primary school.  An average proportion of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for those pupils in local authority care, for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children from service families.  The proportion of pupils with special educational needs who are either supported through school action, school action plus or a statement of special educational needs is below average.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  In 2012 the school met the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  A new headteacher took up post in September 2012.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and raise achievement further, so that they become outstanding, by ensuring that:  the quality of teaching reading and writing in Key Stage 1 is always at least good.  in all lessons pupils are motivated to learn by being given ample opportunities to solve problems and work collaboratively rather than spending time listening to overly long instructions.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management at all levels, so that they become outstanding, by:  ensuring all leaders are able to use data very precisely to target, address and improve remaining areas of weakness in the quality of teaching.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 By the end of Year 6 pupils reach above-average standards and have made good progress during their time at school.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage children make outstanding progress both in Nursery and Reception. Staff insist on very high standards of reading and writing and careful records are kept of their progress. As a result, the standards reached by children by the time they enter Year 1 are impressive, with many writing sentences confidently using correct grammar and punctuation.  In Key Stage 1 a well-thought-out curriculum for mathematics ensures that pupils understand the basics of times tables and can calculate well.  Their progress in reading and writing, however, is inconsistent in Key Stage 1. This is because pupils’ understanding of how sounds relate to words is sometimes not as secure as it could be. However, this does not hold pupils back since good-quality teaching over time ensures that they

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The achievement of pupils is good

catch up.  In Key Stage 2 pupils develop a love of literature and make good use of the excellent library facilities. There are good opportunities across the curriculum for pupils to improve their vocabulary and their writing skills. In mathematics pupils in Key Stage 2 make good progress.  In 2012 there was a gap in attainment of one year in English and six months in mathematics between pupils who were and those who were not eligible for the pupil premium. Inspection evidence indicates that for the current Year 6 this gap has narrowed considerably as a result of high expectations of pupils and better use of data to track pupils’ achievement.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs made slow progress prior to 2012, particularly in English. They now make good progress in all subjects because teachers have a better understanding of how to meet their needs in lessons. Moreover, teaching assistants

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The achievement of pupils is good

provide high-quality support when needed while also helping them to become confident, independent learners.  The pupil premium is used effectively to make sure those pupils who are at risk of underachieving do as well as they can. This has led to those who are eligible for the pupil premium making as much progress, and sometimes more progress, than their peers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching has improved across the school and this is reflected in the improved progress pupils are making in all subjects.  Some teaching, notably in the Early Years Foundation Stage, is outstanding. In one lesson children concentrated hard for a long period of time, writing sentences based on their work around the topic of pirates. Pupils were given the opportunity to look over each other’s work and correct it, reading it to each other confidently.  Teachers ask questions so that pupils are able to answer in full sentences and are made to think hard about their answers. This develops their speaking and reasoning skills well.  Good-quality training has enabled teachers to use data well to match work to pupils’ different abilities. This has been a significant factor in pupils’ rates of progress increasing rapidly over the past year.  Most teachers mark pupils’ work carefully, including in the Reception class where detailed

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The quality of teaching is good

feedback is given to children. In the best feedback teachers ask questions on the feedback to make pupils respond to the comments and improve their work.  Sometimes teachers talk for too long, giving overly long instructions. This prevents pupils from making better progress by working collaboratively or from solving problems in teams. This is particularly the case in Key Stage 1 during reading and writing lessons.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Inspectors were impressed with pupils’ behaviour around the school and in lessons. The school keeps careful records of behaviour, which confirm that behaviour over time has improved.  In the playground pupils play with each other, look out for those who have nobody to play with and use play equipment sensibly. They describe lunchtimes and playtimes as ‘lots of fun’.  A new, simpler system has been introduced to manage pupils’ behaviour and to reward them for good work. All teachers follow this system consistently so that pupils are very clear of the high expectations of behaviour. Pupils say that they now know exactly how they should behave both in and out of the classroom.  Pupils say they feel very safe in school and that, since the headteacher arrived, bullying has stopped and behaviour has improved ‘massively’. As a result, they feel very safe and secure in the school.  A good programme of assemblies and visitors to the school ensures that pupils have a good

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

understanding of how to stay safe when using the internet and are clear about what they must do if they receive threatening messages either from social networking sites or on their phones.  Attendance has now improved to the point where it is average. The school takes robust action to improve the attendance of those few pupils who are persistently absent from school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The new headteacher knows all the pupils well, is highly visible around the school and has very successfully raised standards and the quality of teaching to the level where they are now good and improving. She has managed to galvanise the enthusiasm of all staff very well and, consequently, there is a palpable sense of shared responsibility among teachers, school leaders and the governing body.  Teachers are now held to account very rigorously for the progress of pupils. This ensures that, if pupils fall short of their challenging targets, measures are put into place quickly to ensure their needs are met. Consequently, no groups of pupils are disadvantaged and, therefore, the school promotes equal opportunities well.  Subject leaders are very clear as to how they contribute to the school’s improvement and they make a good contribution to checking the quality of teaching and tracking of pupils’ progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 While leaders have a good understanding of data, some have gaps in their understanding of how to use data very precisely to inform them of what to check in the quality of teaching so that they are able to address and improve weaknesses quickly.  Teachers’ performance is managed rigorously. Any who underperform are supported well and a robust programme of training is put into place for them. There is a clear link between teachers’ performance and their pay progression.  The good curriculum is enhanced well by an imaginative programme of visits and visitors to the school. A good link with York University music department gives pupils the opportunity to perform early music and to take part in operatic productions.  Parents are superbly engaged in the life of the school and are supported through ‘the bungalow’, a building on the school site offering advice, support and internet access for parents on a flexible

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The leadership and management are good

basis.  The local authority has supported the school and new headteacher well with improvements, particularly by providing expert consultancy services to check on the improving profile of achievement and teaching.  The governance of the school:  The governing body has benefited from the high-quality training provided to its members from the local authority and external consultants. This has enabled them to ask challenging questions of school leaders to support them in improving teaching and raising achievement. Moreover, training is giving members a better understanding of how to interpret complex data. A new code of practice for the governing body has clearly laid out high expectations of its members in relation to visiting the school and contributing to meetings. The governing body now challenges the school well on its spending of the pupil premium and this has helped to ensure that those pupils who are eligible for the funding make good and sometimes

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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 132228 Local authority York Inspection number 406487

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 343 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Debbie Bargewell Headteacher Eve Morris Date of previous school inspection 6 July 2011 Telephone number 01904 656681 Fax number 01904 675290 Email address yearsleygrove.primary@york.gov.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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