Danby Church of England Voluntary Aided School

Danby Church of England Voluntary Controlled School Ainthorpe Lane, Danby, Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO21 2NG

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 There is a tangible sense of community at Danby. As the pupils explain, ‘Everybody knows everyone else really well here’. Relationships are first rate and this helps pupils feel very safe and secure.  The headteacher is passionate about improving the school and is well supported by a very committed and hardworking staff team.  The school’s leadership has been significantly strengthened by its growing collaborative practice with the ‘teaching alliance’ of local schools. The school has benefitted from the sharing of expertise in many key areas. Middle leaders are enhancing their skills as they work alongside leaders in other schools.  Children settle very well into the early years, because staff are very supportive and caring.  Pupils behave well and attendance is above average. The school supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development particularly well.  Teaching is good. The school is developing an

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

interesting and engaging curriculum that makes pupils want to learn.  Pupils achieve well from their individual starting points. They make the most progress in reading and mathematics.  The school has a strong sporting heritage. Pupils enjoy a wide range of sporting activities and take part in many local and regional competitions, with a good degree of success.  Governors are closely involved in helping the school to improve further. They visit regularly and know what is going on.  All parents who responded to Parent View at the time of the inspection said they would recommend the school. Parents, who made their views known to the inspector, typically spoke about the level of care being exceptional and emphasised that ‘each individual child really does matter here’.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not yet outstanding. Some of the most able pupils, including those in the early years, do not do reach the standards of which they are capable.  The school’s website is not kept fully up to date. Some parents say they are not always kept well informed.  Pupils do not make quite as much progress in writing as they do in mathematics and reading.  Pupils do not always produce their best written work in subjects other than English.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed eight lessons and made several other short visits to lessons to observe teaching and learning. Three lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher.  The inspector spoke with governors, a representative from the local authority, senior leaders and staff.  The inspector scrutinised pupils’ work from every class and observed break times.  A discussion was held with some Year 6 pupils and the inspector listened to some pupils read.  A number of documents were examined. They included the school’s own view of its own performance, records of the checks made on teaching and learning, the school improvement plan, information about pupils’ progress and records relating to attendance, behaviour and safeguarding.  The inspector took account of the views of parents through informal discussion with parents, analysis of the school’s own questionnaire to parents and the 22 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).

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Inspection team

Fiona Gowers, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average sized primary school. Numbers in each year group are sometimes very small. For instance, there are only two pupils in some year groups.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is smaller than that found nationally. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.  There are currently no pupils from minority ethnic groups at the school and none of the pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportions of pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs supported at school action, school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs are below average.  In this very small school the government’s current floor standards do not apply.  The school works in collaboration with a number of local schools in a teaching alliance.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching from good to outstanding so pupils’ achievement continues to improve rapidly, particularly in writing and amongst the most able pupils by:  swiftly moving the most able pupils onto more difficult work as soon as they are ready  ensuring pupils’ written work in other subjects is of the same quality as in discrete English lessons  improving the learning activities in the early years so they challenge and inspire children to extend their basic literacy and numeracy skills even further.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure the school’s website is updated so that parents, pupils, governors and the public can access information to which they are entitled.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has a very clear view of the school’s strengths and aspects in need of further improvement. He has successfully harnessed the support of the staff team. All are determined to provide the best education for pupils at Danby. Discrimination is not tolerated and overall, the school successfully ensures that all pupils have an equality of opportunity to succeed, including in their participation of sporting activities.  Middle leaders are growing in confidence. They have the chance to work directly with middle leaders from other schools within the teaching alliance of schools, such as sharing expertise, receiving training and conducting research together. The impact of this can be seen in many key areas, such as in the rising standards in mathematics, improved assessment procedures and recent curriculum developments.  A rigorous check is kept on the progress made by each individual pupil. Pupils at risk of falling behind are

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The leadership and management are good

quickly picked up and support provided. As a result, progress has speeded up in reading and mathematics in particular.  The leadership of teaching and learning, again helped by the sharing of expertise across the alliance of schools, has led to a great degree of consistency throughout classroom practice. Staff are all trained student mentors and have been able to improve their own work by seeing good practice in other schools. The headteacher is quick to identify any aspects in need of improvement and ensures additional coaching and support is provided, where necessary.  Performance management is used well to promote high-quality teaching and to increase teachers’ accountability for the progress made by pupils in their class.  The school carefully checks that the pupil premium funding is helping pupils who are supported by it to learn at a faster rate than they would otherwise.  Sport is a fundamental part of school life. Most pupils take part in one sort of extra-curricular club or

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The leadership and management are good

another. Indeed, the school has had a marked degree of success in many local and regional competitions. The primary school sports funding has been used to build on this strong sporting heritage and encourage pupils to try sports they have not tried before, such as karate and judo, as well as improving fitness and performance levels through additional gymnastics and skipping activities. A group of pupils agreed, ‘We are a really sporty school’.  Parents who made their views known to the inspector were overwhelmingly supportive of the school and are fully satisfied with almost all aspects of its work. Nevertheless, some parents felt they were not kept well enough informed about their child’s learning and progress. The school website is currently under review because at present parents are not able to use the website to find up-to-date information about the most recent standards attained in school or up-to-date information about the curriculum. The local

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The leadership and management are good

authority considers the school only needs light touch support and has full confidence in the school’s leadership to maintain the trend of improvement. The headteacher has been diligent in seeking an external check on the school’s work to help ensure that pupils benefit from its actions. Links with the diocese in turn have made a significant contribution to pupils’ good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The governance of the school:  Many governors bring professional skills in finance and education, as well as strong Church and community links to the governing body. The governing body has reviewed the impact of its work and to this end has engaged in additional training to ensure it keeps up-to-date in matters of safeguarding and finance, for example. This ensures it has the necessary skills to both support and challenge the school in its drive for improvement.  Governors have an accurate view of pupils’ achievements and of the quality of teaching. They are aware

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The leadership and management are good

of the use of performance management to reward good teaching and develop leadership roles.  The governing body provides a good deal of support and challenge in equal measure. For example, it was fully involved in a recent staffing restructuring and ensured pupils benefited from a recent rescheduling of swimming instruction.  The governing body ensures that current safeguarding requirements are met and regularly reviews that the school’s safeguarding procedures are fit for purpose.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils are thoughtful and caring. They work extremely well in groups together, with older pupils readily looking after and encouraging the younger ones.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a real strength. A high degree of tolerance and empathy for others is evident. This is both within the school community, for example, trying to ensure other pupils do not feel excluded from games, as well within the wider community, by collecting for a local foodbank.  Pupils respond very well to the school’s behaviour policy. They are very polite and their conduct is often exemplary.  Many pupils try hard with their work and complete it to the best of their ability. However, this is not always the case. A scrutiny of pupils’ work books throughout school from this year and last year show that some work is not as well presented and that some pupils tend to be rather slapdash in the way they

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Behaviour

complete their work, and do not complete their work as well as they might.  Opportunities to discuss news items, as well as issues relevant to pupils’ day-to-day lives, are helping to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  Pastoral care is a particular strength of the school’s work. The vast majority of parents, who responded to Parent View, consider their children are happy, safe and well looked after at school.  Attendance is above average and the school works successfully to ensure all pupils attend regularly; helped by good relationships with parents.  Pupils say they feel very safe and secure in school. They said they would find an adult in school to help if they had any worries or concerns. They feel that they are treated with respect and that their views are taken seriously. A group of older pupils agreed, ‘We are treated like an adult, not just like a little child. Adults in school really ask what we think’.  Pupils have the opportunity to work and play alongside other pupils from local schools across the teaching alliance. This helps them settle when they move onto the next stage of their education.

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Safety

 Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe and avoid unnecessary risk. They are informed about the potential dangers of using the internet and social networking sites.  Pupils say that bullying almost never happens, but that if any unkind behaviour does occur then it is dealt with quickly. Parents, who made their views known to the inspector, confirmed that the school deals with any issues or concerns sensitively and thoroughly.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most teaching is good. A scrutiny of pupils’ work from this year and last year and the school’s own records confirm this is typical.  Relationships are positive throughout the school. There is often a hard-working ‘buzz’ in the classrooms. Indeed, on occasion during the inspection, pupils were heard to subtly cheer when they found what they were going to be learning!  Pupils are encouraged to talk about their work and explain how they have worked something out and this helps them gain a thorough understanding of key concepts in mathematics.  Marking has improved. It is now more interactive, with pupils directly responding to the teachers’ comments, and so leading to improvement over time. Lessons are well planned and generally show pupils how to improve their work.  Pupils commented that they think ‘lessons are fun!’ For example, they say it really helps them to learn and remember their times-tables when they have the chance to practise them whilst playing a game.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The school is working effectively to help ensure the curriculum interests pupils and motivates them to learn. An emphasis on incorporating local themes is helping make the curriculum meaningful and relevant to pupils.  Younger pupils had the opportunity to go on visits to several different castles in the locality and particularly enjoyed dressing up as knights and princesses. They enthusiastically explained, ‘It was really good. It helped us find out about what it would have been really like to live in a castle a long time ago’.  Older pupils enjoyed working in groups to design a leaflet to attract people to visit different parts of Yorkshire. They thought carefully about the language they were going to use. One group explained they were going to include some good descriptions, eye-catching illustrations and interesting facts, so people would read it and think, ‘Wow! I want to go there’.  Some of the work provided really challenges the most able pupils. For example, some older pupils had to

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The quality of teaching is good

work really hard as they tried to calculate how long the sides of a rectangle were, when they had been told the value of its perimeter and area. However, too often the most able pupils are not moved onto more difficult work quickly enough and so they fail to reach their full potential.  There has been a clear focus on providing more opportunities for pupils to discuss and structure their ideas before they write them down. The quality and technical accuracy of pupils’ writing is improving, particularly in discrete English lessons. However, pupils do not always apply the same care to their writing in other subjects and do not always complete enough written work in lessons.  Teaching assistants provide a strong contribution to pupils’ learning. They know each individual pupil well and also provide helpful pastoral support to boost pupils’ self-esteem and confidence in their own ability.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The small number of pupils in every year group makes comparisons with national data difficult. However, the school keeps a careful check on the progress made by individual pupils and these data show pupils make good progress.  At Key Stage 1, attainment is generally at or above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils at Key Stage 1 are gaining a good understanding of phonics (letters and the sounds they make). The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard for their age in phonics generally matches that found nationally. This helps pupils to have a go at reading and writing unfamiliar words with confidence and an increasing level of accuracy.  At Key Stage 2, attainment has also generally been average or above average since the last inspection. Standards dipped in 2013, particularly in mathematics and writing. However, the 2014 results show a marked rise again. A scrutiny of pupils’ work shows most pupils achieve well and many make more than

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The achievement of pupils is good

expected progress, relative to their starting points.  Reading is a real strength of the school. Most pupils clearly love reading and many read with good expression, fluency and understanding.  Many pupils are making faster progress in mathematics because of strong subject leadership and an emphasis on improving the speed and accuracy of pupils’ mental mathematical calculations.  The quality of some pupils’ writing is also improving, particularly in their English books. However, pupils’ writing in other subjects is sometimes spoilt by poor presentation and the quality of their writing declines.  In 2013, the proportion of pupils reaching above-average attainment was less than that found nationally. However, in 2014 this rose in mathematics and reading, in particular. Nevertheless, there is still some way to go before all of the most able pupils reach their full potential. Expectations of what the brightest pupils

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The achievement of pupils is good

can achieve remain too low in some classes and they are too often given work that is too easy for them.  Pupil premium funding is used well. There are very few disadvantaged pupils in the school and so this makes comparisons from year -to year difficult. The school keeps a careful check on the progress made by each individual and carefully diagnoses the individual needs of each pupil. Appropriate support is provided to help each pupil make faster progress, relative to their starting points. Pupils sometimes have additional support to prevent them from falling behind. Any comparison between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and non-disadvantaged pupils in the school and nationally would be statistically unreliable given the very small numbers involved. Pupils with special educational needs are well supported, both when working in the classroom and when they are given additional support to help them catch up with their learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

Staff are very skilled in adapting the approach used to suit a particular pupil. This helps pupils who find learning more difficult, to fully engage with and benefit from all the school has to offer.

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The early years provision is good

 Many children enter the early years with skills typical for their age. However, this varies significantly from year to year due to the very small numbers in each class. They achieve well relative to their differing starting points. In 2014, over two-thirds of the children reached the age-expected levels when they started Year 1.  Children settle very well into the early years because of the very warm and positive relationships in the classroom. To a large extent, parents report that for a child starting school it feels rather like joining an ‘extended family’, because the school is a very close-knit community where everyone generally knows each other already.  The setting is well-organised and children quickly become very familiar with the classroom routines.  Children benefit greatly from working alongside pupils in Key Stage 1, both in their academic learning and in their personal and social development.

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The early years provision is good

 In 2014, children achieved particularly well in their personal, social and emotional development and in their physical development. Children do not always do quite as well in literacy and mathematics. This is because expectations of what the most able pupils can achieve are not always high enough.  The early years leader, working closely with the headteacher and colleagues from the teaching alliance, is working increasingly successfully to ensure that children are provided with more stimulating and challenging activities to help them extend their literacy and numeracy skills even further.

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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 121486 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 449287

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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 5–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 48 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair E Pickard Headteacher C Hellawell Date of previous school inspection 30 April 2008 Telephone number 01287 660345 Fax number Not applicable Email address admin@danby.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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