Ewanrigg Junior School

Ewanrigg Junior School Ennerdale Road, Ewanrigg, Maryport, Cumbria, CA15 8HN

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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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher, other leaders and governors ensure that pupils receive good teaching and achieve well. Leaders are focused on improving teaching to move the school forward.  Governors know the school well, including how well pupils are learning. They support and challenge the headteacher and other leaders effectively to ensure that the school continues to improve.  Teamwork is strong and all staff make every effort to improve the school and do their very best for the pupils.  Pupils benefit greatly from being able to take part in a wide range of sporting activities that promote their physical well-being and their enjoyment of school.  Pupils feel safe at school and very well looked after by staff. The school is a happy place for pupils to learn.  Behaviour is good in lessons and around school. Pupils enjoy their learning and are keen to do well.  Pupils get on well together and with their teachers. They are polite and friendly, and are proud to take

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

on a wide range of responsibilities.  The quality of teaching is good. Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to make activities interesting and sustain pupils’ interest.  Teachers check effectively how well pupils are doing in lessons through asking questions that challenge their thinking.  Teachers guide pupils’ learning well. Pupils know how to improve their work and are keen to do so.  Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics, often from very low starting points.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to write at length.  The presentation of pupils’ written work is not always of a high standard.  Skills learnt in mathematics are not developed enough through other subjects.  The work planned for pupils does not always match their ability closely enough.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed nine teachers teaching.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, staff, pupils, parents and governors.  The inspectors observed break time and talked regularly with pupils as they moved around school.  The inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work and listened to a sample of pupils read.  A wide range of the school’s documentation was checked, including systems for tracking pupils’ progress, safeguarding arrangements, the school development plan and pupils’ work in their books.  The inspectors took account of responses to the school’s most recent questionnaire for parents alongside 23 responses from the online questionnaire (Parent View).  The inspectors analysed 26 questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

Sue Sharkey, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Ewanrigg Junior School is an average-sized primary school.  The school accepts pupils from a range of local infant schools.  Almost all pupils are of White British heritage. Very few pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is almost three times above the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above the national average. This is additional government funding that the school receives 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 set the minimum expectation for attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Year 5 and Year 6 pupils work together in three mixed-aged classes and Year 3 and Year 4 children are

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Information about this school

also taught in three mixed-aged classes.  The breakfast club on the school site is not managed by the governing body. It is subject to a separate inspection and a report of its quality is available on the Ofsted website.  The school has been awarded Kidsafe, the Sainsbury Sports Gold award and the Rock Challenge award for drama and entertainment.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching further and increase pupils’ progress by:  increasing the number of opportunities pupils have to produce longer pieces of writing  ensuring that the presentation of pupils’ written work is more often of the highest standard  ensuring that pupils have enough opportunities to regularly practise the skills they are taught in mathematics through problem-solving activities in a range of subjects  making sure that work planned for all pupils matches their ability more sharply.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has a commitment to support every pupil in achieving well in relation to their starting points. All leaders share the headteacher's vision for the pupils and support change so that the school is well placed to move forward.  Robust systems are in place to check the performance of the school. The headteacher, who is also the coordinator for special educational needs, and the English and mathematics subject leaders monitor every aspect of the work of the school in order to identify its strengths and development needs. This ensures an accurate view of the school’s strengths and also sets priorities for development.  Middle leaders are effective because they are also involved in rigorous checks of the quality of teaching by visiting lessons, checking work in pupils’ books and analysing their progress. They drive effectively improvements in their areas of responsibility.  Information from leaders at all levels provides a clear picture of the quality of teaching. Support and

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The leadership and management are good

training are provided where needed. Recent training to help improve pupils’ punctuation and grammar is having a positive impact on progress. However, a few weaker aspects in teaching remain and leaders are checking how to tackle these.  The school’s system for checking pupils’ progress is rigorous and ensures that all groups of pupils make good progress. This information is used effectively to check if any pupils are falling behind; where this is the case, support and intervention are swiftly put in place.  The information from monitoring teaching and pupils’ progress is linked closely to teachers’ performance management as well as teachers’ salary awards and training.  Pupil premium funding is used effectively so that disadvantaged pupils achieve well. All pupils have full access to the learning opportunities provided. The school ensures that pupils have equal opportunities. Staff promote good relations and discrimination is not tolerated.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has a good relationship with the school, providing light-touch, effective support.  The school works hard to engage all parents. Communication is good and parents who responded to Parent View, as well as the school’s recent questionnaire, indicate that they are very positive about all the school provides for their children.  The additional primary school physical education and sport funding is used well to ensure that there is a wide choice of activities for pupils to choose from. This has resulted in more pupils enjoying sports and more successes for the school in competitive team games.  The curriculum is good and takes full account of the skills and knowledge pupils need to learn with a clear focus on reading, writing and mathematics. It provides opportunities for pupils to practise reading and writing across different subjects, but not enough opportunities to develop mathematical skills. The

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The leadership and management are good

curriculum is enriched by a wide range of activities and clubs after school.  The school’s ethos of a calm and caring community supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development strongly. Pupils enjoy a range of subjects, positive relationships, celebrations of success, and educational visits and visitors.  The school actively encourages the promotion of British values. For example, during one lesson seen, pupils demonstrated that they were aware of the basic rules of democracy and the process of voting. Through probing questioning pupils discussed the advantages and disadvantages of building a swimming pool for the school. Pupils sensibly discussed the idea, listening carefully to each other’s suggestions while debating the issue before voting.  School leaders ensure that the arrangements for safeguarding pupils meets statutory requirements, are effective and contribute to the school’s good work to keep pupils safe.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors are effective and very supportive of the school. They work closely with the headteacher and senior leaders. The governing body knows the school well through receiving information and reports from the headteacher. Governors visit the school regularly to check its performance and review data to gain an oversight of the progress of pupils in different groups.  Governors are aware of the quality of teaching and the links this has to pay awards and training. They support the headteacher in tackling any underperformance in teaching. Governors closely monitor how additional funding is spent to ensure that there is a positive impact on pupils’ progress. They check that the primary school sports funding is spent wisely to fully engage pupils in different sporting activities. They ensure that safeguarding meets requirements.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils show good attitudes to learning. They are usually keen to learn and listen carefully to what adults have to say.  Around school and outside pupils behave sensibly and safely. They are considerate and caring towards one another. Pupils say they enjoy school because they learn new things, lessons can be fun and they like to see their friends. Behaviour during lessons is good. However, there are occasions when a few pupils lose their concentration and they do not always ensure that their work is presented neatly.  Pupils are keen to take on responsibilities and help the school. They do this effectively. Pupils in each group with a responsibility wear a different coloured cap so that they are easily identified. For example, the ‘black caps’ organise and look after the sports equipment while the ‘red caps’ are older pupils and help staff to look after younger or worried pupils at play or lunchtimes. Four pupils take their role as school

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Behaviour

ambassadors very seriously, talking confidently about the school’s many strengths.  Each class has a representative on the school council. It suggests ideas to improve the school and is pleased that its suggestion for a parking area for bikes has been taken up and is well used. The school council has joint meetings with councils in other schools and corresponds by email. Members enjoy working with other schools to organise joint events in the town.  The school works closely with parents to ensure that their children attend school. Over the last few years attendance has gradually risen and is now broadly average.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. All parents who responded to Parent View, as well as all parents who responded to the school’s most recent questionnaire, say their children feel safe in school and they are well looked after.  Pupils say they feel safe in school because they know that adults in school will look after them. They are pleased that school has various security arrangements in place to keep them safe.  Pupils are well aware of the various forms of bullying, such as cyber-bullying, physical or verbal abuse and say that bullying in school is rare. Pupils know what to do if bullying takes place and are confident that any adult in school will deal with it promptly and effectively.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is checked carefully by leaders and is consistently good. Teachers use their skills well to make learning exciting and interesting, which helps pupils to make good progress. All parents who responded to Parent View agree that teaching is good.  Teachers mark work regularly and consistently. Pupils know how well they are doing and know what they need to do to improve because of teachers’ clear and helpful feedback. Pupils check their marked work at the beginning of lessons and respond to the comments teachers have made. They know and understand what the colour coding means to correct spellings or to challenge each other. At the beginning of a Year 3 and 4 lesson during the inspection pupils quickly settled, checked their books and acted immediately. Pupils wrote their mathematics challenges for each other and set about solving them.  Although the marking of pupils’ work challenges pupils and points out inaccuracies, the expectations of

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The quality of teaching is good

presentation are not high enough. It is not always made clear to pupils the importance of writing neatly and presenting their work well.  Teachers plan work for pupils carefully. However, there are occasions when work does not always match pupils’ individual needs and pupils of all abilities carry out the same work. When this happens their learning slows down because at times pupils are ready to move on to more demanding work and others need more support as the work is too hard.  Teachers have established good relationships with pupils and high expectations of behaviour ensuring that lessons move along swiftly engaging all pupils fully. Working in pairs or small groups is encouraged and this helps pupils to share their thoughts and contributes well to their social development.  Teachers work closely with teaching assistants to ensure that all pupils play a full part in classroom activities. During lessons, teaching assistants work alongside individuals or small groups of pupils to make

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The quality of teaching is good

sure they fully understand the work, giving praise as well as challenge. Teaching assistants work effectively with very small groups of pupils in quiet areas around the school so that pupils can concentrate, not be distracted and so do well.  Reading is taught successfully. Phonics (letters and their sounds) are taught each morning when pupils swiftly move around the school to work with others in smaller groups, often from different classes. A group of five Year 6 pupils enjoyed a one minute challenge when they had to identify the words with three syllables while a group of six Year 3 and 4 pupils were carefully spelling words ending in ‘ed’.  Teachers mark work regularly and consistently. Pupils know how well they are doing and know what they need to do to improve because of teachers’ clear and helpful feedback. Pupils check their marked work at the beginning of lessons and respond to the comments teachers have made. They know and understand

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The quality of teaching is good

what the colour coding means to correct spellings or to challenge each other. At the beginning of a Year 3 and 4 lesson, pupils quickly settled, checked their books and acted immediately. Pupils wrote their mathematics challenges for each other and set about solving them.  Although the marking of pupils’ work challenges pupils and points out inaccuracies, the expectations of presentation are not high enough. It is not always made clear to pupils the importance of writing neatly and presenting their work well. Writing is taught well. Pupils have opportunities to write for a range of purposes in different subjects. For example, pupils in Year 3 and 4 had written stories linked to their pirate theme, but there are not enough occasions for pupils to apply their skills in a longer piece of writing.  The teaching of mathematics is good. In a Year 5 and 6 class, pupils were working out how long it took

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The quality of teaching is good

for a train to travel to and from different stations. Pupils enthusiastically worked out the times as the teacher moved them on swiftly to the next challenge. Pupils shared their working out with the whole class while the teacher emphasised different methods of calculating the answer. Although pupils learn these basic skills well in mathematics lesson, they do not have enough opportunities to develop these skills further through problem-solving activities in other subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils’ work, learning in lessons and data on achievement show that pupils of all groups make good progress from their different starting points which are usually below average attainment and very low in writing and mathematics.  Good progress means that most pupils reach at least the expected Level 4 by the time they leave school at the end of Year 6. In the 2014 Year 6 national tests, most pupils achieved Level 4 in reading and mathematics and made good progress. Despite this good progress from their low starting points, attainment at the end of Year 6 in writing and mathematics has been below average overtime. Although standards dipped in reading in 2014 they have, in the past, been average. An increase in the proportion of pupils currently working at Level 5 indicates standards are returning to average.  Staff promote enjoyment in reading. Pupils choose from a wide range of books graded for different

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The achievement of pupils is good

abilities. They know that when they have successfully read a book and been assessed they can move onto the next level of difficulty. Older pupils read confidently to research in other subjects.  The school has had a focus on improving pupils’ spelling and grammar in their writing which is proving to be successful. Pupils understand that writing changes for different purposes as when writing poems, stories or factual information, but they do not regularly apply these skills or write neatly in longer pieces of writing.  Pupils gain a secure knowledge of the basic skills needed in mathematics. However, not all pupils are confident when applying their skills to solve problems.  Pupils benefit from additional support in the classroom. Teaching assistants give good quality guidance and pupils value this. The school takes care to ensure that the support and challenge given to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs fully meets their needs and is based on identifying

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The achievement of pupils is good

their specific needs rather than just achievement. Targeted help offers the level of challenge and range of work which these pupils need in helping them to make good progress.  Although there are gaps between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in school, the school spends the pupil premium funding effectively to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make good progress. In the 2014 Year 6 national tests, disadvantaged pupils were two terms behind other pupils in school in mathematics and three terms behind in reading and writing. The gap between these pupils and other pupils nationally was three terms in reading, writing and mathematics. The school has a wide range of support activities in place, for example in reading, spelling, handwriting, mathematics and confidence building to help close the gap.  The most-able pupils achieve well and make good progress because work is usually matched to their

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The achievement of pupils is good

needs. There are occasions when challenge is missing but overall progress is good by the time they leave school. In a Year 5 and 6 lesson pupils gathered information to record on a pie chart. The most-able pupils were using protractors successfully to work out the amount of space they could allocate for each item of information gathered.

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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 112136 Local authority Cumbria Inspection number 456168

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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 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 175 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sandra Birkett Headteacher Yvonne Craig Date of previous school inspection 6 March 2012 Telephone number 01900 812330 Fax number 01900 812982 Email address admin@ewanrigg.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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