Thorpe Willoughby Community Primary School

Thorpe Willoughby Community Primary School Londesborough Grove, Thorpe Willoughby, Selby, North Yorkshire, YO8 9NX

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Overall effectiveness

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

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils’ progress is not consistently good across all year groups, particularly in mathematics.  Teaching is not leading to all pupils achieving well over time because not enough lessons are good or better.  The most-able pupils are not given work in mathematics that is sufficiently demanding to enable them to achieve the highest levels.  Teachers expectations of what pupils can achieve are not always as high as they could be, and marking does not always give pupils enough guidance on how they can improve their work.  The skills of subject leaders are not yet sufficiently developed so that they can robustly drive improvements in their areas of responsibility.  Performance-management arrangements are not robust enough. Teachers are not yet held fully to account for the progress their pupils make.

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The school has the following strengths

 Leaders, including the governing body, are well aware of the school’s strengths and where improvements need to be made.  Governors are now asking the right questions about the quality of teaching and the progress that pupils are making so that they can hold leaders effectively to account.  Recent improvements to the teaching of reading and writing are beginning to raise achievement in these subjects. This shows the positive impact of leadership and governance.  Children in Reception make good progress because of effective teaching, an exciting and broad curriculum and the good support and guidance they receive.  Pupils’ behaviour is good and they display positive attitudes to learning and to each other. They feel safe and speak highly of the adults who work with them.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 16 lessons, one of which was a joint observation with the headteacher, looked at work in pupils’ books and listened to pupils read.  Meetings were held with four members of the governing body, staff, pupils and four parents who asked to speak to the inspectors, as well as a representative of the local authority.  Parents’ views were taken into account through the 46 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, the school’s most recent survey of parent views and speaking to parents during the inspection.  Documents looked at included the school’s self-evaluation summary, information on pupils’ recent and current progress, documents relating to behaviour and attendance and those relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Angela Shaw, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Alan Chaffey Additional Inspector Peter Alan Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Thorpe Willoughby Community Primary is an average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are White British with a minority of Gypsy/Roma heritage.  The school is an Enhanced Mainstream School for Communication and Interaction with on site specialist provision. It is part of North Yorkshire’s special educational needs provision for local schools, with staff providing outreach support. In the two years that it has been open only a very small number of pupils have received specialist support within this provision.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding (pupil premium is additional funding provided by the government to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, those in local authority care and the children of service families) is well below average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported through school action is below average. The proportion of pupils supported at school

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Information about this school

action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is broadly average.  The number of pupils joining or leaving the school at times other than the start of the year is lower than usual.  The school has a range of awards including UNICEF Rights Respecting School level 2.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good or better in all classes, in order to raise pupils’ achievement to good, particularly in mathematics, by ensuring that:  all teachers have consistently high expectations of what all pupils can achieve in lessons  the most-able pupils, especially in mathematics, are given work that is sufficiently demanding  pupils are clear what they have to achieve in lessons and teachers regularly check their progress, for instance through questioning  teachers’ marking of pupils’ work in mathematics consistently shows pupils clearly what they need to do to improve and they are given opportunity to respond  the work already started to improve pupils’ mental-calculation skills and provide opportunities for pupils to develop their problem-solving skills in other subject areas is built upon.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that:  teachers’ performance targets are closely linked to pupils’ achievement within a rigorous system of performance management that is closely monitored by the governing body  teachers are given suitable training to improve their skills in the teaching of mathematics  the skills of subject leaders are developed so they can rigorously drive forward improvement in the areas for which they are responsible.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because pupils’ progress, particularly in mathematics, is not consistently good across Key Stages 1 and 2.  Most children enter the school with skills below those typical for their age, especially in the aspects of communication and language, where there is significant variation in children’s skills. The high priority the school places on developing children’s communication and language skills means that children make good progress and their achievement is good when set against their individual starting points.  In Key Stages 1 and 2, although progress is still uneven, more pupils are now making better than expected progress in reading and writing than in the recent past because the quality of teaching is improving. However, pupils do not make as much progress in mathematics as they could because they do not have enough opportunities to develop and use their mathematical

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

problem-solving skills in other subjects.  In mathematics, at both key stages, the most-able pupils do not achieve as well as they should because the level of work they are given is not consistently or sufficiently challenging.  By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils’ attainment is broadly in line with the national average in English and mathematics.  Leaders’ successful strategies have improved pupils’ reading skills. New books that inspire and motivate pupils have been bought for use in guided reading sessions. The teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters and combination of letters make) is more structured, which is helping pupils learn to read more rapidly. In 2013 the proportion of pupils now meeting national expectations in the Year 1 phonics screening test was above national levels.  Pupil premium funding is being used effectively to raise the achievement of the targeted groups through a series of on-going initiatives designed to boost pupils’ attainment and progress in

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

reading, writing and mathematics, although some gaps in performance between these pupils and others in the school remain.  The school provides effective additional support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs so they make at least similar and often better progress as others in the school. Staff have a thorough understanding of each individual pupil’s particular needs and use this to provide specific help where it is needed. This is supported by the staff from the on-site resource provision.  The school’s data and inspection evidence shows that, over time, the achievement of Gypsy/Roma heritage pupils is good as a result of a range of well-targeted support actions and is better than that for similar pupils nationally. The achievement of pupils who attended the resource unit in 2012 was good.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although teaching is improving, it is not yet strong enough in Key Stages 1 and 2 to raise pupils’ achievement to good because too many lessons require improvement, especially in mathematics. Over-time, teaching has not been good enough because pupils’ progress over time is not consistently good in all year groups.  Teachers do not always give the most-able pupils work that ‘stretches’ their skills and knowledge, especially in mathematics, so that they can achieve the highest levels.  In some lessons, teachers do not make clear to pupils what they are to achieve in the lesson and do not check their understanding and progress in doing so, for example, by asking searching questions.  In the Reception classrooms there is an animated atmosphere. The children’s enjoyment of learning was clearly evident in activities relating to the theme Little Red Riding Hood. They are thriving as a result of good teaching, care and a rich curriculum. Reception is an exciting place to

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

be with a good range of experiences available to children indoors and outdoors. Some of these are formally structured but others are designed to promote curiosity and creativity. Emphasis is placed on giving children opportunities to develop their skills in speaking and listening in a range of subjects.  In the best lessons no time is wasted, teachers introductions are brief and explanations are focused; consequently, pupils settle quickly to tasks and understand exactly what they are expected to achieve. As a result all pupils make good progress. Teachers regularly check pupils’ progress and understanding through a range of strategies including effective questioning. However, this practice is not consistent in all classes.  As a result of action taken by the school, the teaching of reading skills, including phonics, is now effective. Pupils are taught through a discrete, regular and well-structured programme. Those

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

who need it receive additional support to accelerate their progress in reading. The positive involvement of parents is adding to the momentum of improvement with pupils becoming enthusiastic readers.  Teachers’ marking in English provides good feedback to pupils for their next steps in learning and time is given for them to respond and improve their work. However, in mathematics marking does not give enough guidance to pupils on what to do to improve or time to respond to teachers’ suggestions.  In some lessons teachers expect the very best from pupils in terms of what pupils can learn and achieve, but this varies from class to class.  Teachers promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. They form good relationships with pupils and create a positive classroom atmosphere for learning.  Teaching assistants are used effectively to provide additional support for disabled pupils, those

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

who have special educational needs and those known to be eligible for the pupil premium, both in whole-class and smaller-group work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school presents itself as a caring and happy place that has a calm atmosphere with an inclusive ethos. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and behave well in lessons and at break and lunchtimes; this has a positive impact on their learning and progress.  Pupils have a clear understanding of bullying and the different forms it can take, including cyber bullying. They are justifiably proud that their school is a UNICEF ‘Rights Respecting school’ and say that, as a result, bullying of any type is rare and would be dealt with promptly if it did happen.  The vast majority of parents who responded to Parent View and the school’s questionnaire agree that behaviour is good, well managed and their children are safe at the school. The school’s records confirm this.  The school’s effective management of behaviour over time is reflected in the fact that there have been no fixed-term or permanent exclusions in the last five years and the rarity of any major

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

incidents of misbehaviour.  Overall attendance is close to national levels and the school works hard, with both families and outside agencies, to improve the attendance of pupils and reduce the impact any absence has on pupils’ learning.  Pupils are appreciative of all the enrichment opportunities that the school has to offer. The school places high priority on pupils’ physical well-being by providing them with opportunities to develop healthy lifestyles, this includes a wide range of well attended sporting activities linked to specialist input from local sports clubs and coaches. Its targeted use of the primary sports funding is raising pupils’ performance levels in gymnastics. The school also provides a variety of creative activities.  The school promotes pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Through the school and class councils pupils’ views are effectively represented. Pupils are keen to talk about

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

their role in the creation of the school’s mission statement ‘It’s our Time to Shine.’

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s leaders are beginning to secure improvements in pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching, especially in English. However, overall leadership and management are not good because the achievement of pupils and the quality of teaching still require improvement.  Training is needed to improve teachers’ skills in the teaching of mathematics in order to effectively address gaps in pupils’ knowledge of key facts, such as number bonds and place value, and to enable them to provide sufficient challenge to all pupils.  Robust performance-management procedures have not been implemented, teachers’ targets are not appropriately linked to pupils’ outcomes and do not hold teachers sufficiently to account for the progress pupils make.  Key subject leaders are developing their roles. They are making an increasing contribution to checking and improving their areas of responsibility and to driving improvement. For example,

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The leadership and management requires improvement

through their drive to improve pupils’ communication skills, teachers now promote speaking skills well through questioning and group work. This helps pupils clarify the language they need for writing. However, the skills of subject leaders are not yet sufficiently developed to enable them to have a consistently good impact in driving improvement in their subjects.  Leaders know the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Development plans are closely linked to school self-evaluation and accurately identify areas requiring improvement to drive the school forward. They are well understood by staff and members of the governing body. They have contributed significantly to recent improvements in the teaching of reading and writing.  Leaders’ monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning has improved and is now more focussed. Better monitoring identified the need for specific training to increase teachers’ skills in

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The leadership and management requires improvement

the teaching of phonics and of grammar for writing. Action taken has been successful and improved teaching in English is securing better progress. As a result pupils’ achievement is rising.  Pupil premium funding has been used carefully to support improved pupil progress in both English and mathematics, for example, through helping to provide additional targeted intervention programmes for pupils eligible for the funding  Leadership of the resource provision is good with effective out reach supporting improvements in the quality of teaching of communication skills across the school and in providing a communication rich environment to support those pupils with speech and language difficulties.  The curriculum has been improved to link subjects together in meaningful ways so as to ensure it provides more real-life opportunities to develop pupils’ reading and writing skills. For example, pupils were highly motivated by a school-wide project to write their own versions of traditional

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The leadership and management requires improvement

tales to send to their link school in Zambia. However, there are insufficient opportunities to develop pupils’ problem-solving and investigative skills across other subjects.  Partnerships with parents are strong and the vast majority are pleased with the school.  The school is a positive and harmonious community that promotes equality of opportunity well. Discrimination is not tolerated and all pupils have access to the full range of activities provided.  Safeguarding procedures meet requirements.  The local authority provides support that is appreciated by the school.  The governance of the school:  Governors have high aspirations for the school and are now providing significant levels of support and challenge to school leaders. They have attended a range of useful courses to develop their knowledge and skills. As a result they have become increasingly effective in asking questions which hold the school to account. For example, governors could talk in great

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The leadership and management requires improvement

detail about the school’s performance and the actions the school is taking to raise pupils’ attainment. They acknowledge that implementation of rigorous systems for the management of teachers’ performance is now a key priority in order to raise the quality of teaching further. They oversee the spending of pupil premium funding and are aware of the positive impact it has had on pupils’ achievement.

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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 121436 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 425835

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 252 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Jan Tetley Headteacher Sue Brown Date of previous school inspection 2 November 2011 Telephone number 01757 703996 Fax number NA Email address headteacher@thorpewilloughby.n-yorks.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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