Hayton CofE Primary School

Hayton CofE Primary School Hayton, Brampton, Cumbria, CA8 9HR

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Hayton CofE Primary School provides exceptionally rich and varied learning experiences for all its pupils. The school is deeply embedded in the life of the local community, which in turn, contributes in many ways to the success of all.  Children arrive in the early years with skills that are broadly typical for their age. They receive a firm foundation to learning, through a varied and stimulating indoor and outdoor environment, with good teaching. Their progress builds through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, so that by the end of Year 6, pupils reach high levels of attainment.  Pupils are very well supported by highly skilled staff so that the disabled and those with special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils rapidly catch up with their peers.  The curriculum is a significant strength in bringing about successful learning in many subjects, promoting excellent attitudes to learning. The school is well prepared to meet the requirements

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

of the new National Curriculum.  The outstanding provision for pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is a key factor in school life, with the ’8 secrets of success’ underpinning all teaching and learning.  Teaching is outstanding, because all teachers know their subjects very well, and communicate this knowledge to pupils in ways that make learning a stimulating experience. Middle leaders are playing an increasing part in ensuring that the high quality of teaching is maintained.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding; they show great care and respect for one another, and demonstrate mature and responsible attitudes from the earliest ages. As a result, all pupils feel very safe.  Leadership and management are outstanding. The inspirational headteacher has secured improved teaching and achievement. Standards are high in all areas of the school life. Staff, pupils and governors are inspired by her example to strive for further

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

improvement.  Governors make sure all the statutory requirements for keeping children safe are met. Although some of the information provided for governors is not easy to follow, it does not prevent them knowing the school well. They are welcome and frequent visitors.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 11 lessons and parts of lessons.  Meetings were conducted with governors, the staff team and two groups of pupils. A meeting was also held with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of 38 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  Evaluations of a range of school documentation contributed to the inspection judgements. These included details relating to safeguarding (keeping pupils safe and making sure they are protected), the school’s improvement plan, procedures for gaining an accurate view of the school’s performance and records of pupils’ attainment and progress. Samples of pupils’ work were scrutinized.  Inspectors listened to two groups of pupils reading.

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Inspection team

Jean O'Neill, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller in size than most other primary schools. Nearly all pupils are from White British backgrounds, with a very small proportion from minority ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is above average. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is well below the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress in English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Provide governors with more detailed written information that it is easy to follow and enables them to offer more challenge to leaders.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is unswerving in her dedication to ensuring that all receive the best possible education. This has ensured that high standards of achievement have been maintained and strengthened, especially for the most able pupils. Her attention to detail ensures that all staff are held to account, so that all groups of pupils make the best progress.  Self-evaluation is accurate; action plans have been successful in securing improvement, because priorities have been very carefully selected. This results from detailed assessment practices, moderated by colleagues within and beyond the school.  Tracking of pupils’ progress is very precise and when pupils do not make the expected progress action is taken. Teaching assistants are deployed with great precision to provide the right support so that pupils rapidly catch up. Parents are well informed about the progress their children make.  Teaching is rigorously checked and support offered where it is most needed, with staff working very well

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The leadership and management are outstanding

together as a team. Teachers’ performance management targets are based upon the school’s key priorities and on leaders’ findings from their checks on teaching. Expectations for teachers are high and linked clearly to the government’s nationally expected standards for teachers and to salary progression.  Middle leaders are very effective and have grown in confidence as they have taken responsibility for more key aspects, as part of the school’s planning processes. Their impact is clear in, for example, high standards in writing and in the improved progress of key groups of pupils in mathematics.  The curriculum is strength of the school, with a rich variety of learning experiences, including the outdoor areas, all of which inspire and stimulate pupils. The, ’secret garden’ is beloved by all pupils, and enables all ages to work together and develop tolerance and care for one another, contributing strongly to their

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The leadership and management are outstanding

spiritual and social development. Excellent links with the local community enhance the children’s learning experience; the village pub provides the school meals, using the school’s own prize-winning vegetables. Pupils have learnt at first hand the benefits of working together in different contexts, sharing in church and village life, but also looking beyond, to make friends with pupils from schools in different cultural settings.  Pupils’ cultural development is further enhanced by a wide range of clubs, which include sport, music, art and drama activities for all abilities and interests, as well as many visitors to school. The ‘8 Secrets to good life choices’ pervade all aspects of school life, and give exceptionally strong support to pupils’ social, moral development and their spiritual well being. Pupils are extremely well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The school ensures that finances are used economically to ensure that all pupils, including those

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The leadership and management are outstanding

supported by pupil premium funding, regularly go on educational trips and visits that provide experiences to meet their needs and interests.  The primary school sport funding is being used effectively, through employing a specialist teacher to enhance teachers’ own skills, and to provide extra sports to increase rates of participation. Take-up by pupils has risen significantly as a result.  The school makes good use of the advice of the local authority, which provides light touch support. The headteacher has provided very effective support for a neighbouring primary school through a recent period of executive leadership.  The governance of the school:  Governors know the school well and are highly ambitious for the pupils, and the staff. They share a bold strategic vision for the school with the headteacher and senior leaders based on a shared understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.  Governors are vigilant in ensuring that pupils are safe and demand high standards of professionalism

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The leadership and management are outstanding

from all members of the school community. They play an active role in ensuring that pupils are very well prepared for life beyond their primary school experience, understanding and respecting all faiths, cultures and lifestyles.  Governors use a range of data to check on assessment and teaching, but this is not always presented clearly enough to enable them to provide the highest levels of challenge and support to the school’s leadership.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils behave impeccably, both within and beyond lessons. They respond very well to the school’s clear guidelines, based on the ’8 secrets of success’ and their good manners and confident demeanour are a credit both to the school and their families.  Pupils are exceptionally keen learners, who from the earliest ages are eager to learn and concentrate well when working in groups or on their own. They take pride in their work; a pupil showed a book to an inspector ‘because I am so proud of how my presentation has improved’.  Attitudes to learning are equally strong across all subjects. In order to improve the achievement of girls in mathematics, a girls’ group has been set up. This has proved highly successful in building their confidence; as one girl said ‘it’s a bit like tutoring with your friend’.  The school’s proactive approach to dealing with behaviour issues has led to the recent setting up of the

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

red and yellow card system. This has been very effective in helping pupils recognise and control their own behaviour, and has been adapted for use with the younger children. Pupils understand and appreciate the new system.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is highly effective. Pupils understand very well how to keep themselves safe on the Internet, for example, and of the dangers of social networking sites. They have listened carefully to messages about the dangers of misusing alcohol and drugs.  Pupils are fully aware of all types of bullying. They say that it is rare and quickly sorted out by staff and pupils themselves. The school’s records confirm the absence of racism. A recent programme on tackling hate crime was well received by pupils and adults.  The school helps pupils to consider life from others’ point of view, for example, the recent opportunity to see life from a wheelchair user’s perspective. Thought-provoking questions on display in the hall at

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

lunchtime also challenge ideas and reflection. For example, ‘is one pound worth more to a rich person than a poor one?’  Parents are confident that their children are kept safe and have very few concerns about their behaviour.  Attendance has improved steadily so that it is well above the national average.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The school has successfully improved teaching in all aspects to ensure that teaching is consistently good and often outstanding. As a result, pupils make strong progress year on year, with outstanding progress from their various starting points.  Expectations of learning and behaviour are very high and pupils readily rise to meet this challenge. In a Year 6 lesson, pupils were keen to improve on past performance and enjoy the challenge of quick fire mental calculations. In Year 3, pupils worked with impressive maturity and independence to check their own work, and took great pride in their beautiful handwriting.  Teachers regularly check the progress of all pupils and use this information to make changes to tasks to help pupils make the best progress. Pupils are clear about their own progress, and one pupil new to the school said, ‘Being here has really helped me with my learning.’  Teaching of writing has improved strongly so that pupils now achieve very high standards. Very good

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

attention is given to using imaginative vocabulary so that pupils have the skills to reach higher levels. This reflects the school’s focus on training and development in this area, including staff visits to another school with excellent practice.  Precise and challenging questions draw out pupils’ own ideas and teachers use pupils’ answers effectively to check on learning, and adapt their teaching accordingly. Pupils say this ‘builds your confidence’.  Pupils are clear about how to improve their work, following a whole school focus on this aspect. They are given time in class to respond to teachers’ marking, and use the new red pen system with confidence to correct or improve their work.  Pupils have great respect for their teachers and really appreciate their strong subject knowledge and skills. They enjoy the fact that learning is interesting. As one boy said ‘It’s not just work, work, work, but it’s still

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils make rapid and sustained progress across the school to reach high standards by the end of Year 6, from broadly typical levels of development at the start of Nursery.  Attainment in Key Stage 1 has been maintained at well above national levels in reading, writing and mathematics over a number of years. Standards in phonics (letters and sounds) have risen recently, so that nearly all pupils now meet the requirements of the Year 1 check on their phonics skills. These skills are taught well and Year 1 pupils are confident and inquisitive learners, working together to solve challenges in computing, listening carefully to stories, and joining together in enthusiastic singing about letters and the sounds they make.  Year 2 pupils are becoming confident readers and enjoy a good choice of reading books, plus a wide selection of other reading material from the school library. Strong teaching has raised attainment and

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

more than two thirds are now attaining above national levels. They investigate mathematics problems with obvious enjoyment, and record their findings with the support of skilled assistants. Writing shows significant improvement, with more than half of the pupils now achieving the higher level.  Progress in all subjects in Key Stage 2 is outstanding, and gaps between boys and girls have been closed in recent years. A high proportion of pupils make more than expected progress in mathematics and writing; and every pupil makes the expected progress in these subjects. Achievement in reading has improved so that almost all pupils make expected progress as a result of the school’s concerted action in this area.  Attainment by the end of Year 6 has been significantly above national levels for a number of years. At least two thirds of pupils now attain at above the expected level for their age, in all subjects, and an

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

increasing number of pupils are attaining at the very highest levels.  Pupils are skilled and keen readers, and discuss their preferences with maturity. Year 6 pupils can consider the pros and cons of e-readers, and express opinions about the works of different popular authors. They enjoy the learning quizzes and other activities, which are part of the school’s active reading programme.  Mathematics is taught well, and pupils apply their skills successfully in a range of activities. They enjoy all aspects of mathematics, and make excellent progress because tasks are very accurately matched to their abilities; this has been a recent focus for the school.  Pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, including those known to be eligible for free school meals, form a very small proportion of the school’s population. Insufficient numbers are represented in the results of national tests to report on attainment. They make similar progress to that of their peers because

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

of the school’s clear focus on adapting teaching to meet the learning needs of all pupils. Staff and other resources are deployed very precisely, as in a Year 6 lesson where a group of pupils was given exactly the support they needed to succeed in some challenging mental calculations.  The most able pupils make very good progress, especially in writing, where concerted action by the school has ensured that all pupils are challenged to strive for their very best. Thus pupils delight in creating imaginative writing, as in a Year 5 lesson, where great enjoyment was had by all in re-writing a comic poem with new characters.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make strong progress because of the highly effective support they receive from skilled teaching assistants. This shows good promotion of equality of opportunity.  Additional sports funding is having a good impact on standards, with pupils enjoying a much wider range

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

of sporting opportunities, and enjoying greater success both in school and in local competitions.

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The early years provision is good

 Pupils make good progress in the Nursery and Reception classes, so that by the end of the Reception Year, children have closed any gaps in their skills, and their skills, knowledge and understanding are above those expected levels for their age in reading, social and emotional development, and understanding the world. Fewer children, however, exceed the expected levels in writing and mathematics.  Children with special educational needs or for whom the school receives additional funding make equally good progress, and the most able are developing their own ideas and thinking critically, at a high level.  Activities are carefully planned to reflect the different ways children learn, and include a wealth of high quality outdoor activities, in which all aspects of learning are represented. Children enjoy stories and counting activities outside, and relate these to real life experiences through opportunities to care for the

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The early years provision is good

chickens, grow food and flowers, and investigate the natural world at first hand.  Teaching is consistently good, and sometimes outstanding; all adults have high expectations and plan meticulously to ensure that learning is secured and sustained. To do this, all staff use well-designed systems of assessment, which ensure that learning experiences are suitably challenging for every child.  Children are encouraged to be keen and attentive learners from the youngest ages, and they respond well to the skilful encouragement they receive from all adults. They listen to one another and co-operate well. Many will chat happily with adults about their play, and have the confidence to take risks because they feel safe in the exceptionally rich outdoor environment.  Safeguarding practices are of a high standard, and are regularly reviewed.  Parents are enabled to be fully involved in their children’s learning and progress from the earliest days,

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The early years provision is good

contributing information to initial assessments and being very well informed about assessments.  The Early Years leader is ambitious for the children, is highly knowledgeable and leads her team with imagination and flair. This has ensured that provision has continued to improve. There is now, for example, greater emphasis on promoting achievement in writing and mathematics and this already is helping to accelerate children’s progress in these areas. All staff have the necessary skills to secure strong progress for all children.  Monitoring of children’s progress is meticulous, and all of them benefit from well-designed programmes of learning, which meet their needs and engage their interest. Good partnerships with other agencies provide additional support for children and families where needed.

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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 112402 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 448433

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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 Foundation Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 171 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Chris Roberts Headteacher Sue Lingard Date of previous school inspection 2 March 2010 Telephone number 01228 670491 Fax number 01228 670081 Email address admin@hayton.cumbria.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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