Sharow Church of England Primary School

Sharow Church of England Primary School Berrygate Lane, Sharow, North Yorkshire, HG4 5BJ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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

 By the end of Year 6, standards are not as high as they could be in writing and mathematics.  Teaching is not consistently good enough to make sure that pupils make the progress of which they are capable.  The most able pupils are not always given work that challenges them sufficiently, particularly in upper Key Stage 2.  Pupils do not have a deep enough understanding of how to improve their work by learning from their mistakes.  A lack of continuity in staffing has held back the impact of leadership and management’s plans to secure improvements in upper Key Stage 2.  The need to raise the achievement of the most able pupils is not fully embedded in the minds of some staff.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children make a good start to their education in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Pupils enjoy school and benefit from an enriched and exciting curriculum.  Behaviour is good and pupils are safe and secure at all times. Pupils grow to be confident and mature youngsters.  Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding.  The vast majority of parents value the school and are keen partners in their children’s education.  The headteacher, governors and staff have the energy and skill to restore the achievement of all pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 Teaching and learning were observed in six lessons, including five observed jointly with the executive headteacher.  A review was made of samples of pupils’ work, discussions were held with a cross section of pupils and some pupils read to the inspector.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, all staff, representatives of the governing body and with an educational development adviser from the local authority.  Account was taken of 48 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. A sample of parents offered views in the playground at the beginning of the school day and an open meeting attended by nine parents was conducted during the morning of the second day.  The views of staff were evaluated by analysing nine questionnaire responses.  A range of documentation was referred to, including information about the progress of groups of pupils, the school’s evaluation of how well it is doing, school improvement plans, safeguarding information and

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Information about this inspection

records relating to the management of teachers’ performance.

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Inspection team

David Byrne, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Sharow School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  In September 2012, the school federated with a local school by amalgamating the two governing bodies and appointing an executive headteacher. It is now part of the ‘Skelton Newby Hall CE and Sharow CE School Federation’.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, for whom the school receives additional funding (pupil premium), is low.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is well below average. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at Year 6.  Since the previous inspection, there have been a number of changes in the school in addition to its

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Information about this school

federation. A Nursery class was opened in 2011. There have also been important staff changes and a period of significant staff disruption. A newly qualified teacher took up a post in September 2014.  The school works in alliance with a number of other schools in the locality.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that the most able pupils, particularly in upper Key Stage 2, achieve well and reach the standards they should by ensuring that: - teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are consistently high for all pupils by making sure that tasks and activities challenge the most able pupils - teachers’ skills are refined and developed further to encourage pupils’ high expectations for writing and mathematics so that their progress improves swiftly - approaches are devised and implemented to deepen the pupils’ understanding of their own achievement, of how to respond to their mistakes and how to reach higher standards.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the impact of leadership and management on the achievement of pupils by ensuring that: - leaders’ work is more strongly focused on promoting the achievement of the most able pupils, particularly at upper Key Stage 2 in writing and mathematics - staff at all levels take advantage of opportunities to learn from the best practice within the local schools’ alliance.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because the actions to achieve consistently good progress for all pupils in upper Key Stage 2 are not yet secure.  Strong leadership by the headteacher has minimised the impact of staffing disruptions on the day-to-day welfare of pupils and the morale of staff. The headteacher, governors and staff have the vision and energy to restore the achievement of all pupils. They are working with some urgency to achieve this.  There is a robust emphasis to school development although it does not give enough focus to boosting the achievement of the most able pupils. New staffing arrangements in upper Key Stage 2 are having a positive impact. Although some of the approaches introduced are too recent to demonstrate a sustained effect, there are clear signs of improvement.  Staff work together as a dedicated and cohesive team. They are keen to improve outcomes for pupils but

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The leadership and management require improvement

not all staff are fully aware of the school’s most important priorities for improvement and their roles in making these happen – for example, making sure the most able pupils consistently do as well as they can.  The headteacher values all staff and has an effective model for appraising the performance of teachers and teaching assistants. Staff say this is a positive process which enables them to highlight training needs to improve their skills. Pay progression is linked closely to additional contributions made by individuals.  The school’s curriculum is innovative and excites pupils. A wide range of activities contribute to the pupils’ outstanding level of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils’ experiences are enhanced well by an unusually wide range of residential visits for pupils from Year 2 upwards. These, coupled with other educational visits, give pupils a mature understanding of British values and the

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The leadership and management require improvement

diversity within modern society. Good progress is underway to ensure breadth and balance in the new curriculum for this academic year.  Parents work closely with the school. They receive good information about their children’s achievement and are welcomed to seek additional information if they require this. The parent forum is one effective system to establish the views of parents in order to meet their needs.  Partnerships with an alliance of local schools are beginning to enable staff to grow their own skills, for example in securing the accuracy of the assessments of their pupils’ work. Strong links with the community, including the village church, enhance the learning of pupils in many aspects of school life.  The school has used additional government funding to promote equality of opportunity by helping pupils to join in all school activities. The primary school sport funding has effectively enhanced opportunities for

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The leadership and management require improvement

pupils to take part in physical activity. Training has developed the skills of key staff so that they can promote among pupils the confidence to participate more frequently in a wide variety of sports and activities.  The local authority regularly monitors the school’s performance and has an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Its regular reviews support the school’s development and identify its areas for improvement.  The governance of the school: - Governors have given strong support to the headteachers and staff throughout the period of creating the federation and have ensured the process ran smoothly. The governing body has undertaken appropriate training with the local authority to review its work. As a result, governors visit the school regularly and are knowledgeable about its strengths and weaknesses. They know how the school’s performance compares to others nationally and have taken steps to help to address pupils’ recent

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The leadership and management require improvement

slower progress in Key Stage 2. They hold staff to account for pupils’ achievements and have been very active in creating strategies to arrest the decline in results at Year 6 last year. Governors understand the staff performance management system and strive to make sure that only good performance is rewarded and hard decisions are made where performance is not good enough. Governors plan for and monitor the effectiveness of the activities supported by additional government funding for disadvantaged pupils and the primary school sports premium. They ensure that statutory requirements for securing safeguarding are robustly met.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Parents who gave an opinion on Parent View are unanimous that the school makes sure its pupils are well behaved. Some parents were keen to point out to the inspector that their children loved school and ‘were bursting with enthusiasm for school each morning’.  Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning. They are capable of working on their own, take pride in what they do and usually apply good levels of concentration. Behaviour is not outstanding because sometimes pupils are not given work that is hard enough to secure the best possible progress. This can lead to occasions when pupils lose attention and their progress slows.  The school is a calm and orderly place and relationships are respectful and strong. Good attention within the curriculum to developing pupils’ personal and social education contributes to the good and often exemplary way pupils socialise and play and learn together. In lessons, they work effectively together in

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

pairs and small groups to share ideas maturely and extend their understanding. In the playground, during lunch and in lessons, pupils are considerate towards one another, reflecting the very harmonious school community.  Pupils maturely take on roles of responsibility such as playground leaders, helping each other at playtimes. They have an advanced understanding for their age of environmental issues through their involvement in caring for the school hens and by planting, tending and harvesting vegetables in the excellent school garden. Pupils’ views are valued. They make a vital contribution to the school’s regular audit of health and safety risks in and around the school.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say that they feel cared for and safe and the vast majority of parents are of the same opinion. They are aware of how to deal with the dangers they may face in their lives, including those connected with the internet, mobile phones and cyber

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

bullying. Incidents of bullying are rare. Pupils say adults deal swiftly with any inconsiderate behaviour. They understand other forms of bullying such as name calling or racial harassment and what to do should they occur.  Attendance is good and reflects the pupils’ enjoyment of school.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are strengths in the teaching team, which makes learning fun for pupils. Pupils are enabled to explore the world outdoors and develop artistic, sporting and musical skills to a good level. They are instilled with good attitudes to learning, encouraged to speak confidently in front of an audience and offer their ideas and opinions about a range of things.  However, in writing and mathematics at upper Key Stage 2, weaknesses in teaching over time have reduced the achievement of the most able pupils. While pupils enjoy learning and thrive on the opportunities to explore a wide range of subjects, in writing and mathematics teachers do not always have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. Sometimes, pupils are capable of taking on greater challenges, for example, to apply their talents to solve problems in mathematics and develop their full potential in writing.  Reading has a high profile across the school and so pupils make consistently good progress and enjoy

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

books. Pupils are encouraged to read a wide range of texts and are, from time to time, inspired by working alongside children’s authors.  The quality of learning for pupils is enhanced by the contribution of teaching assistants. They skilfully support pupils of all abilities but particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities. Pupils needing additional academic support or help with accessing learning benefit from tailored interventions.  Pupils’ work is marked regularly and they say that it helps them to improve. Analyses of work show that the quality of marking has improved noticeably this year. It is stronger in writing than mathematics. Although teachers ask pupils to respond in books to their marking to improve their work, pupils’ knowledge of how they can improve and raise their own standards is too superficial to help them improve their writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ progress is assessed regularly and enables work to be matched to the needs of pupils, except

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

where the most able pupils need more challenge.  Pupils are very aware about how well they learn in lessons and they communicated this knowledge eloquently to the inspector. They do not, however, have a deep enough understanding of what they need to do to raise the standard of their work in the future.  Homework is provided regularly. Both pupils and parents have a mixed view of whether the current model is the best – although there is general agreement that it prepares pupils well for secondary school.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because progress in writing and mathematics is not consistently good. Better teaching is leading to improved progress but this is not yet rapid enough to overcome previous underachievement at Year 6.  Children enter the Nursery and Reception with skills that are typical for their age. Progress there is accelerating; it is consistently good, enabling children to be well prepared for learning when they move onto Year 1. This is because activities are carefully planned and well matched to the abilities of the children.  Pupils’ abilities to read and spell using the sounds that letters make (phonics) at Year 1 are generally above the levels expected for their age. Recent improvements in the teaching ensure that any pupils missing expectations at Year 1 catch up by Year 2. At Year 2, standards are typically in line with or slightly above expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 At Year 6 standards are typically average; however, in 2014, the unvalidated results from national tests show that standards dipped significantly because of a lack of continuity in teaching over recent times and low expectations for pupils. Given the individual starting points of pupils, such outcomes indicate that achievement requires improvement.  Across the school, pupils read regularly and benefit from home support. Progress in reading is generally good and above expectations.  The school is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and keeps a close eye on the progress of all pupils but recent disruptions to staffing have hindered the school’s ability to fully secure this aim. The most able pupils do not achieve as well as they should by the end of Year 6. This is because the work they are given is not always sufficiently demanding in writing and mathematics. In conversations with the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

inspector, some older pupils described their work as being too easy.  The progress made by disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good. Teachers are aware of their needs and their progress is monitored closely. These pupils progress well because they are ably supported in lessons by additional adults who skilfully question them, helping them sustain good learning.  There are very few disadvantaged pupils; too few to draw secure conclusions about their comparative performance with others nationally or in the school. Staff help these pupils to access their work and to learn as well as their classmates.

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The early years provision is good

 All children in Nursery and Reception have a good start to their school life. Disabled children, those with special educational needs and also the most able, achieve well. From the children’s starting points to school, which for most are typical and for some better than typical, a higher proportion than is the case nationally achieve a good level of development. This means that children are well prepared for moving on to Year 1.  Children are immersed in a variety of activities that attract their attention, inspire learning and develop their ability to make their own choices. Effective evaluations of the abilities and skills of each child give staff a good insight into their needs. Skilfully, staff create plans to make sure children make at least good progress in all areas of their development.  Children respond positively to the good opportunities given by staff to talk and interact with them to

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The early years provision is good

develop their language. Reading and writing are encouraged through play and adult-led activities. Regular adult-led reading activities, for example using the story of The Gruffalo, develop in the children a good understanding of the sounds that letters make (phonics). Well-thought-out learning activities enable children to develop their understanding of number, shape and ideas about big and small objects.  Children reach good levels of personal and physical development. They respect others, play well together and include any children who need additional support. Parents are encouraged to come to school in preparation for their child joining school; high-quality records of each child’s progress and key experiences are shared with parents who can make their own contributions.  At all times, children are safe and secure and through playing outdoors and exploring the environment, they learn to manage risk and act safely.

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The early years provision is good

 The provision is well led and managed. There are effective reviews of children’s progress, and frequent evaluations by staff of how effectively they work to seek ways of improving.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 121588 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 448166

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 89 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mrs J Feltham Headteacher Mrs L Taylor Date of previous school inspection 20 May 2010 Telephone number 01765 604362 Fax number Not applicable Email address sarahjones@sharow.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 and 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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