Yohden Primary School

Yohden Primary School Windsor Terrace, Horden, Peterlee, County Durham, SR8 4HP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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

 The headteacher, the governors and the whole school team have high aspirations for every pupil. A clear focus on learning, together with close attention to individual needs, has ensured that pupils’ overall achievement is good.  Children starting in the Reception class thrive. They enjoy making new friends and learning to work together. The interesting, stimulating environment captures their curiosity and guided by staff, they make good progress.  The school provides a very caring, supportive environment where pupils feel secure and safe. Behaviour is good and pupils are friendly, well- mannered and polite. Incidents of bullying are rare and swiftly managed.  The quality of teaching is good and pupils want to learn. They are enthusiastic about reading and hungry for knowledge. Carefully planned, creative lessons capture this interest so that pupils work hard and make good progress over time, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe is outstanding. Leaders are pro-active in responding to the individual needs of pupils who are then able to learn so that they are able to thrive in this caring and secure environment.  The school is improving after a period of turbulence. Learning is at the heart of everything the school seeks to achieve. Good leadership and governance is ensuring that pupils are well cared for and are ready to learn and that teaching is good.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not yet of an outstanding quality. Some pupils, especially the most able, are not able to achieve as well as they might and would relish additional challenge and difficulty in their work.  There is not enough teaching of correct spelling as pupils progress through the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 14 lessons. Two of these were observed jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher who provided feedback to the teachers.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, members of the governing body, including the Chair of the Governing Body, and a local authority representative.  Inspectors listened to pupils read from both Key Stages 1 and 2 and talked to them about their wider reading and books they chose from the library.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils and talked with them at play times and lunchtime. .  Pupils’ work was closely analysed, including some from the last school year in order to ascertain pupils’ achievement over time.  Inspectors took account of the views of parents using the school’s own survey. There were insufficient responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) to be considered.  A range of documents including those relating to the attainment and progress that pupils have made over

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Information about this inspection

time were analysed.  Inspectors looked carefully at how pupils supported by the pupil premium have been helped in their learning, and how pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs are supported.  Inspectors examined records monitoring safeguarding, attendance and behaviour and held meetings with the inclusion team.

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Inspection team

Janice Gorlach, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is very much higher than the national average for those supported at school action, school action plus and those with a statement of educational needs.  The majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those supported by the pupil premium, is very high and nearly double the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  Most children begin school attending full-time in the Reception class.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Key Stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics.  The school holds a number of awards which include the Enhanced Healthy School status (2012), the

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Information about this school

Unicef Rights Respecting School Award Level 2 (2013) and the Eco Green Flag Gold (2013).

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the attainment and accelerate the progress made by the most able pupils, by:  increasing the level of challenge of activities in all areas of the curriculum  ensuring that teaching extends and deepens pupils’ knowledge and understanding, providing them with rich opportunities to apply their skills, so enabling learning to proceed at a rapid pace  providing opportunities for pupils to develop the capacity for more sustained, longer pieces of work, particularly in writing.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, by:  developing highly skilled questioning so that pupils learn to listen to others carefully, think deeply and respond thoughtfully to new learning and concepts  developing a consistent approach to teaching spelling, particularly in Key Stage 2.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is determined in her pursuit of excellence and the removal of barriers to pupils’ learning. For many pupils in the school, these are formidable. As a result, overall pupils have equal opportunities to succeed and are free from discrimination.  The headteacher leads careful monitoring of the quality of teaching, providing incisive and in-depth evaluations to support improvement. She works closely with staff so that there is a clear understanding of data and a clear identification of any difficulties. As a result, most pupils are given additional help quickly so that they do not fall behind in their learning.  Leadership and management at all levels are good. Staff provide excellent role models and relationships with pupils are clearly based on mutual respect.  Teachers’ high aspirations for pupils are evident in their thoughtful preparation and teaching of lessons. Their desire to improve the life chances of pupils is seen through their own drive and commitment to

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The leadership and management are good

improve their own practice. One member of staff reported, ’Although we are a young staff, we have a thirst for learning.’ and another, ’Staff have extremely high expectations of both themselves and the children’.  The deputy headteacher and a number of middle leaders are new to the school. Already, they are having a clear impact on raising the quality of teaching and further developing the curriculum.  The school’s curriculum is broad, balanced and outward facing. It contributes strongly to pupils’ academic achievements and provides many opportunities for their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The curriculum has a strongly international flavour and also firmly develops understanding of fundamental British values. It is particularly strong in developing a very practical understanding of the ‘rights’ of the child and hand in hand with this, ‘personal responsibility’. The religious education curriculum, together

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The leadership and management are good

with themes running throughout the year in assemblies, proactively teaches pupils about other faiths and belief systems building both respect and tolerance of others who may be different from themselves.  Understanding the right for other pupils to learn and respect for other pupils, underpins the good behaviour seen throughout the school. Some pupils find managing their behaviour difficult from time to time. The school is sensitive to the individual needs of pupils, which often result in challenging behaviour, and is effective in bringing about improvements over time.  The headteacher, working closely with the inclusion team, is highly effective in working with outside agencies, including the local authority, in seeking to keep pupils safe and attending school regularly. Procedures for safeguarding pupils meet statutory requirements.  Attendance is currently in line with the national average.  The local authority provides support that is well matched to the needs of the school. It provides

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The leadership and management are good

appropriate challenge, clear guidance and an external ‘view’ of the school. Advice given has been acted on with a consequent rapid rise in the standards reached by children, notably in the Reception class. The governors and staff regularly access additional training through the local authority, in order to meet their own identified needs.  The primary school sports funding has been used to enrich and broaden the sports curriculum though a local sports partnership. Many different sports take place after school and pupils now have opportunities to compete with other schools where they enjoy meeting other children. The headteacher notes that pupils have noticeably improved in fitness, engagement with sports and, importantly, have learned how to both win and lose with grace and celebrate others’ achievements.  The school supports parents in helping their children to learn. Increasing numbers of parents are engaging

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The leadership and management are good

and working with the school and enjoying ‘Family Learning’ sessions, including cooking together.  The governance of the school:  Governors have a very good understanding of the quality of teaching in the school and the impact this has on pupils’ learning. They seek to ensure that staff are given every opportunity to improve and develop. They are proactive in supporting the headteacher in improving teaching further. They make very good use of additional funding for those supported by the pupil premium, ensuring that additional teaching time is given to pupils when needed and that these are taught by suitably qualified staff.  Governors have a clear understanding of performance management systems and ensure that these are used with equity to reward good teaching and address any under-performance. Performance targets set are rigorous, detailed and place a very clear emphasis on high-quality teaching and learning.

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors regularly ask questions, so providing challenge to the headteacher as well as robust support. They understand the school well and ensure effective deployment of staff and efficient management of financial resources. Their understanding of the performance of the school in the wider, national context, however, is less developed.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils are both polite and considerate. They work very well together, enjoying each other’s friendship. Pupils are confident in asking teachers for help and disputes are rapidly settled.  Parents, children, staff and governors all believe that behaviour in the school is at least good and on many occasions, is better than this. When Year 6 visited Sunderland University in the summer of 2014, feedback from the University commented on their outstanding attitudes and behaviour.  Pupils are very well behaved and sensible in the dining hall and in their movement around corridors. Outside they enjoy playing ball games and playing with equipment such as space hoppers. They take great care and pay attention to the needs of others in their play.  Pupils are very keen to learn. They are both interested and curious about their work. However, when the pace of learning slows, particularly when sitting on the floor, they can become distracted and restless.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  Pupils enjoy learning and coming to school. Staff work successfully with a number of families to help improve attendance. As a result this improved last year, particularly for those who were persistently absent the previous year.  Very thorough procedures to safeguard pupils together with effective work with the local authority and other agencies, is helping to keep pupils safe.  Pupils have many opportunities to learn about how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, including using the internet. The school welcomes outside organisations to talk with pupils to develop their understanding and awareness of danger and how to look after themselves and others.  All pupils have a very good understanding of different forms of bullying. They say that it rarely happens and that their school is a very safe place.  The school is vigilant in recording all incidents of poor behaviour, including bullying. They are careful in

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Safety

monitoring further incidents and are successful in supporting pupils in managing their own behaviour over time.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching over time is consistently good across the school and some is better than this.  Pupils who are supported by the pupil premium and those with special educational needs make rapid progress compared to their peers, as a result of careful and well-planned additional teaching.  Teachers and teaching assistants have very high expectations and work successfully together to make learning interesting, relevant and purposeful. Some pupils, however, are restricted in the progress they are able to make because of grouping arrangements. This is particularly the case for the most able who would enjoy greater challenge.  All pupils learn in calm, peaceful, constructive and purposeful classrooms, in which they are valued and their efforts are welcomed.  Pupils greatly enjoy mathematics and the practical application of their learning. In Year 6, for example, pupils explored all the possible half-time scores of a football match given only the final score. Systematic

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The quality of teaching is good

thinking led on to early development of algebraic concepts. Pupils worked successfully on the problem with real interest and confidence. In Year 3, pupils had fun weighing and measuring each other. They were very secure in taking measurements and making estimations. That pupils were able to work confidently was the result of the careful demonstration and explanations given by the teacher.  The children’s novel, ‘The Tunnel’, by Anthony Browne was used to capture the imagination of young writers in Year 3, who made good progress in writing their own stories. Examination of older pupils’ writing showed that they would benefit from being given more opportunities to write longer pieces and so develop both capacity and fluency in writing.  The teaching of spelling, particularly at Key Stage 2, is not as strong as other areas of writing and pupils need further strategies on how to improve this skill.  Pupils greatly enjoy reading and see this as very important. The school has made very creative use of

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The quality of teaching is good

space so that there are many reading ‘areas’ and a very wide range of books available. Pupils read regularly for pleasure. They love to share stories and talk to each other about what they have read, offering advice to others on what to choose as their next book.  Pupils’ work is regularly assessed. Teachers’ feedback during class sessions is constructive and helpful. Marking in books often gives guidance on how to improve, with some opportunities to do so. Middle leaders work with teachers in checking the accuracy of their work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The proportion of pupils who reach the expected standard in the phonics (letters and the sounds they make) screening check at the end of Year 1 is very slightly below that seen nationally. Most pupils who need additional support subsequently meet the expected standards in phonics by the end of Year 2. The school is rigorous in the teaching of phonics so that pupils develop a confidence in reading and a love of stories. This is developed further as they progress through the school.  Standards reached at the end of Key Stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics are broadly average and have improved over the last three years. Good progress was made last year. Many pupils had entered the key stage with very low starting points and a significant number were disadvantaged and had complex learning needs. Others faced very difficult circumstances. Potential barriers to learning were reduced and these pupils have already made a good start in their learning at Key Stage 2.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most able pupils achieve well at the end of Key Stage 1 and the proportion of pupils reaching Level 3 in reading, writing and mathematics was in line with the national average.  At the end of Key Stage 2, the proportion of pupils attaining Level 4 in reading, writing and mathematics is above average. The most able pupils also achieve well overall, with the proportion attaining Level 5 in writing slightly above average and that in reading and mathematics, slightly below.  In 2014, every pupil made the progress expected of them in mathematics and almost everyone did so in reading and writing. The proportions making more than expected progress was similar to the national average.  In Year 6 in 2014, disadvantaged pupils achieved similar standards to other pupils in the school in mathematics and were a term ahead in reading and a term behind in writing. Disadvantaged pupils attained as well as other pupils nationally in reading and writing but were a term behind them in

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The achievement of pupils is good

mathematics.  Gaps in the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the school have steadily closed over the last three years. Compared to other pupils nationally, they have closed in reading and writing but widened a little last year in mathematics.  Across the whole school, pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs make very good progress, although often from significantly lower starting points. Very careful identification of needs and a precise understanding of what each pupil knows and can do, enables highly effective targeting of support by teaching teams.

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The early years provision is good

 Most children in the Reception class are learning rapidly and making good progress in their development of speech and language, early understanding of phonics, literacy and mathematics. They play happily together and are learning to manage their feelings and emotions. Many enter the Reception Year with levels of development substantially below those typical for their age but they make good progress so that they are well prepared for learning as they move on to begin Year 1.  Some children with complex needs struggle to make good progress but are responding well to the wide range of stimulating and imaginative activities, well guided by an effective and committed teaching team. Inspectors visiting the Reception class were immersed in ‘pirates’ activities including a ‘pirate ship’, treasure chests and maps, books full of pirate stories, phonics teaching of ‘pirate’ words and making shapes with ‘pirate’ modelling materials. Children were entranced by the activities and absorbed in

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The early years provision is good

imaginative play that led directly to good learning.  Children played very well together and moved happily amongst other groups of children. Their behaviour was at all times safe and productive. They were very ready to talk about what they were doing and very interested in what inspectors were doing!  Assessments of children’s starting points are accurate and carefully documented. Parents contribute to initial assessments and children enjoy talking about pictures of themselves in their learning journals, showing what they can do and have learned.  Provision is carefully planned around themes and the next steps in learning that children are ready to make.  The leadership and management of the early years provision is good, seen through effective, thoughtful teaching that provides children with a good beginning to learning in the school. The teaching team is proactive in working with children where additional input and guidance is needed and governors have

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The early years provision is good

specifically made additional resources available to support this work.

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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 114197 Local authority Durham Inspection number 448753

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 168 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair G Robinson Headteacher A Smith Date of previous school inspection 14 June 2010 Telephone number 0191 5863096 Fax number 0191 5863096 Email address yohden@durhamlearning.net 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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