Paull Primary SchoolOfsted inspection, 13 Nov 2013

Paull Primary School Main Street , Paull , Hull , HU12 8AW

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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 Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Paull Primary is a school where every pupil matters. As a result, they enjoy school, feel safe and are extremely happy.  Achievement is good. Pupils make good progress from their starting points so that by the end of Year 6 their overall attainment is generally above average. It is particularly good in writing.  Teaching is consistently good so that pupils make at least good progress across all year groups.  Pupils’ work is carefully marked and teachers give very precise suggestions for improvement.  Pupils who are entitled to the pupil premium funding make good progress. Their attainment is often above that of their national counterparts and their classmates.  Pupils behave exceptionally well in this school. Pupils describe it as being like ‘one big cosy family’. Pupils of all ages work and play extremely well together.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

exciting, topic-based curriculum, together with well-planned extra-curricular activities and involvement with the local community.  The headteacher provides highly effective leadership and management. He has created a happy and harmonious school, with an ambitious vision which is shared by staff and governors.  The governing body plays an important and successful role in supporting and challenging the school and this is helping the school to continually improve.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Although teaching is good overall, it is not of a consistently high quality to bring about outstanding achievement.  Work planned for the most-able pupils is not always hard enough. This sometimes limits the rate at which they make progress.  Teachers do not always check and assess learning during lessons sufficiently quickly to ensure that all pupils make good or better progress.  Pupils are not always given sufficiently challenging reading activities to help them make the progress of which they are capable.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 10 lessons of which one observation was carried out jointly with the headteacher. In addition, the inspector made a number of short visits to lessons and listened to pupils read.  Meetings were held with pupils from Year 3 to Year 6, with two members of the governing body, with senior leaders and with a representative from the local authority. Informal discussions were also held with pupils at break times and lunch times about their work and play in the school.  The inspector took account of 13 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View), analysed 6 staff questionnaires, and had discussions with parents at the beginning of the school day to ascertain their views of the school.  The inspector observed the school at work and scrutinised the work in pupils’ books, the school’s own data on pupils’ current progress, the school’s improvement plans, planning and monitoring

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Information about this inspection

information and minutes of governing body meetings. Records relating to behaviour and attendance and documents relating to safeguarding and child protection were also scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Anthony Kingston, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Paull Primary is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is well below average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is well below average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium (additional funding for those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, those from service families and those looked after by the local authority) is average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups or who speak English as an additional language is well below average.  The proportion of pupils who join the school other than at the usual time is well above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching and raise pupil attainment by:  ensuring that there is always sufficient challenge in the work provided in lessons, especially for the most-able  ensuring that teachers check the learning and progress pupils make during lessons sufficiently quickly to allow time to intervene and where necessary, make changes to move pupils on more rapidly  providing more well-planned opportunities for pupils to develop their reading skills with more challenging and purposeful activities in guided and reciprocal reading sessions.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Levels of attainment at the end of each key stage can vary widely year on year. This is because of the small numbers of pupils within each year group, their different composition and the high proportion of pupils who join the school at various times throughout the year.  The majority of children start school with skills that are below those typically expected for their age, especially in communication, reading, writing and mathematics.  Children get off to a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage. From their individual starting points children make good progress across all areas of learning so that by the time they enter Year 1 their attainment is closer to, but still slightly below, average.  Pupils make good progress throughout Key Stage 1. As a result standards in reading, writing and mathematics are average.  Throughout Key Stage 2 pupils continue to make good progress so that by the end of Year 6

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The achievement of pupils is good

standards are generally above average in writing and mathematics but slightly below average in reading.  The school has responded to pupils’ lower achievement in reading and inspection evidence shows that current pupils are making good progress.  Reading is a priority throughout the school. The systematic teaching of linking letters and sounds is enabling younger pupils to tackle new and unfamiliar words with greater confidence. Pupils quickly move on to gain personal enjoyment from reading books independently and show a mature ability to discuss moral and ethical issues within the text such as human rejection and humiliation as portrayed in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’.  The school promotes and checks that all pupils have equal opportunities. Different groups, including those who are disabled or who have special educational needs, make similarly good progress. This is because of the good quality adult support and the programmes of work which

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The achievement of pupils is good

are carefully matched to pupils’ needs. However, sometimes the most-able pupils do not achieve as well as they could because work in lessons is not always challenging enough.  The income received by the school to support pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is spent judiciously on a range of well-considered interventions including one-to-one tuition and additional teaching assistants. As a result, these pupils flourish. They make good progress in English and mathematics and their performance in these subjects is equal to that of, and often better than their fellow pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good with some that is outstanding. However, not enough teaching is outstanding to ensure that more pupils make outstanding progress from their individual starting points.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are helped to settle into school life by staff who have a thorough understanding of children’s needs. The thoughtful use of space and resources help to create vibrant indoor and outdoor learning environments which capture children’s imagination. A particular strength is the focus all staff place on developing pupils’ social, reading, speaking and listening skills.  Teachers use assessment information well to take account of what pupils already know, understand and can do. This ensures that activities are suitably demanding for most pupils. However, at times, some pupils, especially the most-able, are not always offered work that is hard enough and this limits the rate at which they make progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In lessons where teaching is outstanding, teachers plan work and activities that are exciting and which are well-matched to pupils’ abilities. They use questioning effectively to gauge learning and where appropriate, move pupils on rapidly to more challenging activities without unnecessary repetition. This practice is not reflected in all lessons and as a result the progress of some pupils is not always as rapid as it could be.  Reading for pleasure is promoted well throughout the school. However in some lessons, teachers do not provide enough time for pupils to engage in a wide or challenging enough range of reading activities through which they can apply and develop their reading skills. As a result, while pupils read with fluency, they do not always fully appreciate the information in the texts they read because they do not know the precise meaning of some less common words.  Marking and feedback across the school is good. It informs pupils what they have done well so

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The quality of teaching is good

that they can check the progress they make towards meeting challenging targets. It provides clear guidance on what they need to do to improve and often sets a fun activity to extend or consolidate their learning. Pupils’ enthusiastic responses to teachers’ comments and feedback make a significant contribution to the good progress they make.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school places the pupils at the centre of all it does. It provides an exceptionally caring and supportive environment in which all pupils are valued.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding because the school has high expectations of how well they conduct themselves. Behaviour is characterised by pupils’ very strong relationships, exemplary manners, respect for one another, the way in which they conduct themselves around the school and their extremely positive attitudes to learning.  Pupils have a good awareness of how to stay safe when, for example, they use the Internet. They are aware of all the different forms of bullying, reflect on the impact of their actions on others and take full responsibility for their personal conduct. Consequently, the use of unpleasant language and incidents of bullying are extremely rare.  Parents who contributed their views during the inspection were overwhelmingly positive about

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

pupils’ behaviour, adding that it made a significant contribution to their children’s happiness, safety and love of school.  Teachers are highly skilled in managing pupils’ behaviour and are very successful in bringing about marked improvements for those pupils with behavioural needs.  Pupils of all ages work and play together exceptionally well and say they all get on well with each other. This was exemplified by one pupil who said, ‘we’re small enough to be just one big cosy family’. Older pupils support younger ones at playtimes.  Pupils understand their rights and responsibilities and willingly take on jobs around the school. Many pupils respect their classmates for the roles they take on and say, ‘it’s a good way of giving something back for all the things our teachers do for us.’  Attendance is average.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides the school with robust and successful leadership. He has high expectations that are shared by all staff, ensuring a strong sense of teamwork. The staff questionnaires reflect their resolve in supporting the headteacher’s ambitions for the school.  Leaders know the school well. Their sharply focused and rigorous checks on teaching and learning give staff clear guidance on how to improve, driving improvement forward by tackling weaknesses quickly and successfully through well-planned training for teachers and teaching assistants. This process has been supported by effective appraisal systems to review teachers’ work.  The local authority provides effective support to the school. It has an accurate understanding of the school’s performance and has confidence in its ability to improve even further.  The curriculum is exciting and takes into account the needs and interests of pupils, especially

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The leadership and management are good

boys. It rightly focuses on the teaching of skills in reading, writing and mathematics. These are threaded imaginatively throughout a range of well-thought-out topics which capture pupils’ interests and fires up their imaginations.  An extensive range of opportunities for pupils to participate in music, art, drama, and sports clubs enriches their lives and enhances their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils enjoy many opportunities to perform in school presentations such as ‘Rock Challenge’ and these further enhance their personal development and confidence.  Although pupils already have numerous opportunities to participate in a wide range of sports, the school is using the additional physical education funding provided by the government to train teachers in coaching skills and to increase opportunities for pupils throughout the school. As a result more pupils access a wider variety of after-school activities.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school engages extremely well with parents. Parents hold the headteacher in very high regard. All parents who volunteered their views or completed the on-line (Parent View) questionnaire expressed their complete faith in the school’s leadership and staff, saying that they would recommend the school to other parents.  The governance of the school: The governing body has an accurate picture of how well the school is doing compared with other schools through their regular visits to see the school at work and their clear understanding of data on pupils’ progress. They are very clear about the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Governors undertake training, for example in data analysis, and this means they are able to question school leaders knowledgeably about the progress of different groups of pupils and the quality of teaching. For example, they are taking a keen interest in pupils’ progress in reading to identify and resolve any concerns. Finances are well-managed and

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The leadership and management are good

governors are able to account for the way extra funding, such as the pupil premium and the government’s funding for sports, is spent. Governors carefully assess the headteacher’s performance annually and link salary progression to teachers’ performance. Safeguarding and child protection have a high priority and governors ensure that all their statutory duties are carried out and requirements are met in full.

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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 117862 Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire Inspection number 425810

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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 60 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Graham Shaw Headteacher Paul Rowe Date of previous school inspection 24 January 2012 Telephone number 01482 898352 Fax number 01482 898352 Email address paull.primary@eastriding.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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