Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School

Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School High Street, Holme-upon-Spalding Moor, York, North Yorkshire, YO43 4HL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 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

 Leadership and management are good. The headteacher and governors have responded positively to the outcomes of the previous inspection. Expectations about the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievements have risen.  As a consequence, teaching has improved and is now good. Pupils now make good progress in all years and achieve well.  Pupils generally start school with skills typical for their age. By the end of Key Stage 1, their attainment is above average.  Since the previous inspection, standards at the end of Key Stage 2 have increased significantly. They are now well above average, particularly in reading and mathematics, for many pupils.  The early years provision is good. Outdoors and indoors, children play cooperatively and learn well.  Teaching is good because most lessons capture pupils’ interests and encourage them to think for themselves.  Pupil premium funding is used successfully to promote the achievement of disadvantaged pupils.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve well. Adults understand individual pupils’ needs and provide timely support.  Pupils behave well and enjoy their lessons and the many extracurricular activities and visits. They are proud of the history of their school.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. All of the planned experiences and activities promote an understanding of British values and the importance of respect for others.  Arrangements to keep pupils safe and secure are good. Pupils are knowledgeable about how to keep themselves and others safe.  Governance has been transformed. Governors are now well informed about the school’s work and understand precisely how well it is doing. The training that they have undertaken since the previous inspection has equipped them well to hold school leaders to account.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 A minority of pupils do not make enough progress in writing in order to reach consistently well above average standards by the end of Year 6.  Occasionally, the progress that all pupils make in lessons is not checked on by teachers. Consequently, activities are not adapted to meet some pupils’ changing needs, especially the most able.  On occasions, a very small minority of pupils are insufficiently motivated to give of their best. Not all respond readily to teachers’ comments about how to improve their work.  When making judgements about the effectiveness of teaching, not all middle leaders pay enough attention to the understanding and skills that different pupils develop in lessons and in their work.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in a range of lessons, two of which were observed jointly with senior leaders.  Pupils’ work was sampled informally in lessons in a wide array of subjects. In addition, English work and work from a range of other subjects from Year 6 were sampled separately by inspectors.  Inspectors also scrutinised a number of documents, including the school’s own data relating to pupils’ current progress, planning and monitoring documentation, minutes of meetings of the governing body, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents pertaining to safeguarding.  Inspectors held meetings with: pupils in Years 3 to 6; governors; and school staff, including those with management responsibilities. Discussions also took place with representatives from the local authority.  Inspectors evaluated the 35 responses of parents to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View), as well

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Information about this inspection

as parents’ responses to a recent school questionnaire. Inspectors also took account of the views of 26 members of the school’s staff through the inspection questionnaires they returned.

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Inspection team

Andrew Swallow, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (5) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement.

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  Almost all pupils are of White British heritage, with a small minority from other ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported through the pupil premium is below the national average. The pupil premium is additional government funding that schools receive to support those known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below the national average.  Part-time Nursery and full-time Reception provision is made in the early years.  In 2014, the school met the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics.  Since the last inspection, there have been changes to the membership of the governing body.

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Information about this school

 The school receives support from the local authority and from Bacon Garth primary school, Cottingham.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching further by:  ensuring that all lessons engage pupils fully in their learning, including the most able, so that they achieve consistently well  giving all pupils opportunities to respond to teachers’ comments about how to improve their work  ensuring that pupils’ understanding in lessons is checked on by teachers and that activities are adapted accordingly to meet the needs of all pupils, including the most able  honing the skills of middle leaders in checking on the effectiveness of teaching over time by paying more attention to how well different groups of pupils acquire knowledge, show understanding and develop key skills in lessons and in their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Speed up pupils’ progress in writing, to reach even higher standards, by:  encouraging the use of a wider range of language and punctuation for effect, especially when writing in a formal style and about non-fictional events  building pupils’ confidence to express their ideas in increasingly complex sentences and better thought- out paragraphs.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has responded positively to the findings of the previous inspection. He has shown strong commitment to improving the quality of teaching and raising pupils’ achievement through strong partnership work with the local authority and a local outstanding school.  Governors have also transformed their working practices. They have risen to the challenges posed by the external review of their work following the previous inspection. As a consequence, expectations of key leaders and all staff across the school have risen. Ineffective teaching has been tackled vigorously and successfully, and pupils’ achievements improved.  The headteacher is now supported well by senior and middle leaders who are suitably ambitious for pupils’ achievements. They achieve a good balance between providing support for colleagues and checking on the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning. However, not all middle leaders are rigorous

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The leadership and management are good

enough in making judgements about the quality of teaching. This is because they do not all pay sufficient attention to the impact of teaching over time on individual pupils’ progress and achievements when they visit lessons and look at pupils’ work.  A range of training opportunities is matched well to the needs of individual staff. Much of the training comes from Bacon Garth Primary School and the local education authority. This training has supported good improvements in the quality of teaching and governance, and has resulted in increased gains in pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding.  Arrangements for the management of teachers’ performance are thorough. They ensure that all teachers are held to account for their contributions to improving pupils’ achievement. Governors are appropriately informed of, and included in, all of this work.  The school has an accurate picture of its strengths and areas for development. There are appropriate

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The leadership and management are good

plans in place to enhance the school’s work further. For example, the headteacher has identified the work still to be done to improve some of the most-able pupils’ progress and attainment in writing.  Teachers know pupils well. They make increasingly good use of the school’s arrangements to check on the progress of all pupils, identifying and addressing successfully shortfalls in achievement. As a result, the school makes sure that pupils have an equal opportunity to do well.  The well-planned curriculum is enhanced by regular sporting, musical and drama opportunities, and visits to museums and local places of interest. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the gardening club and about opportunities to learn about sustainable developments in the environment. They also talk about activities that have inspired their learning, such as the Royal Society science project on investigating sound in the natural world, designing motorised vehicles and making pan pipes and bongo drums.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s ‘special mentions’ assemblies value pupils’ all-round contributions to school life and their peers, underpinning their good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Through the daily formal and informal learning experiences, staff help all pupils to behave well and become confident young people.  The school promotes equality of opportunity well and there is no evidence of discrimination. Appropriate use of additional government funding has helped to close gaps in the achievements of disadvantaged pupils and their classmates successfully.  Good use is made of the primary school sport funding. Pupils enjoy good experiences in physical education and sport. They participate in a wide range of activities, competitive and recreational, funded from the primary school physical education and sport initiative.  Safeguarding arrangements are effective and meet requirements. School leaders identify quickly any

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The leadership and management are good

pupils at risk of harm. They engage well with the local children’s safeguarding board and other partners to respond as necessary.  Partnerships with parents are good. Most parents express confidence in the work of the school and the impact that it has on their children’s lives.  The fundamental British values of freedom, law and equality of opportunity are promoted well. This can be seen through the work of the school council, work on remembrance with the Second World War 76 Squadron, links with local churches, and the annual, whole-school mock citizenship ceremony carried out by a local registrar and attended by council dignitaries. Well-planned assemblies also contribute to the concept of good relations at all times.  The local authority knows the school well. It provides and commissions good support from other schools to enhance the quality of teaching and the work of the governing body, and to help to moderate the

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The leadership and management are good

school’s own judgments about its overall effectiveness.  The governance of the school:  The governing body has overhauled its working practices since the previous inspection and its membership has changed substantially. It is now effective in providing a good balance of support and challenge for the school’s leaders.  Governors have supported the headteacher well in tackling successfully all underperformance since the previous inspection.  Governors receive detailed information about the school’s work. This is presented in an accessible way. Consequently, governors have the necessary understanding that helps them to hold the headteacher and senior leaders to account for the impact of actions to improve pupils’ achievement.  Steps to commission reviews by the local authority and other school leaders help governors to understand the data about how well the school compares to schools nationally.  Governors have detailed discussions about major spending decisions, in particular the allocation of pupil

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The leadership and management are good

premium and sport funding. For example, they have authorised additional staffing and resources to support teaching literacy and numeracy in small groups. They have appointed sports coaches to improve the teaching of physical education.  Governors have been rigorous in the arrangements that they have put into place to review the performance of the headteacher annually.  Governors receive appropriate information about the performance targets set for teachers and check potential links with salary progression. They know that the headteacher will ensure that teachers receive financial reward only if pupils reach their challenging targets.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. The vast majority enjoy positive relationships with one another and all of the adults who work with them.  In the playground, dining room and in lessons, pupils are helpful and considerate. They know and follow school rules and, as a result, school is a calm and orderly place.  Pupils are most welcoming of visitors and proud to talk about their school and its history. They enjoy learning about people from different cultures and backgrounds, and emphasise how important it is to treat everyone fairly and courteously.  Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and join in activities with enthusiasm. Their ability to work collaboratively starts in early years and develops well across the school. They work well together, sharing ideas and resources to complete given tasks.  Pupils take pride in their learning. The presentation of their work in books and on display is of a high

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Behaviour

order.  Pupils have numerous opportunities to become involved in the running of the school. Older pupils act as buddies and team captains, and there is a very active school council. Pupils are proud of the work they do in the local village and of the money they raise for national charities. These examples demonstrate a strong school community.  Pupils are eager to talk about one another’s achievements. They are especially keen to acknowledge their friends’ successes in the ‘special mentions’ assemblies.  Pupils know of the different types of bullying, particularly racist, homophobic and cyber-bullying. Records show that the rare incidents of inappropriate behaviour are dealt with effectively and quickly by staff.  On occasions, a very small minority of pupils lose concentration in some lessons. This is particularly the case where their needs and interests are not always met.  Staff work hard to make parents aware of the importance of regular attendance and, as a result,

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Behaviour

attendance is rising and is at the national average.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  The vast majority of parents who responded to the online inspection questionnaire (Parent View) and to the recent school’s questionnaire agree that the school keeps their children safe.  Outdoors and indoors, pupils work and play sensibly and are well supervised. On the rare occasions when pupils can be unkind and fall out, these disagreements are swiftly dealt with by staff and soon forgotten.  Pupils say they feel safe at school. The ethos of the school encourages pupils to share their thoughts openly and to value one another’s viewpoints.  Pupils are confident that should they have problems, there is always someone with whom they can share their concerns. They know about organisations such as Child Line and who to contact should they have worries away from school.  Pupils know how to keep themselves and others safe when learning outdoors and during visits, for

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Safety

example. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe when using public transport, the internet and mobile phones.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is improving rapidly. Staff readily share ideas about their teaching with other staff in school and with staff from Bacon Garth Primary School. As a result, pupils achieve increasingly well.  Most teachers plan relevant experiences to interest and stimulate pupils. For example, in a Years 5 and 6 English lesson, pupils were engrossed in preparing to write a newspaper article about the forthcoming retirement of their headteacher, using journalistic conventions with confidence. Similarly, pupils in a Years 1 and 2 class persevered very well indeed, independently of the teacher, to add accurately single, two- and three-digit numbers.  The teaching of reading, in particular of phonics (the connections between letters and the sounds they make), is good. A high proportion of pupils indicates how much they enjoy reading. They read regularly at home and in school and show good understanding of fictional and non-fictional texts.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of mathematics is also effective. Pupils enjoy the many opportunities to test their mathematical skills in solving real-life problems.  The teaching of writing is increasingly effective. The handwriting of most pupils is of a high quality. Written work is presented with high levels of care, with good attention paid to the spelling of common words and phrases. However, there are inconsistencies in the ways that some teachers model a range of punctuation and grammar for effect and encourage pupils to build increasingly complex sentences, especially when writing for formal purposes and about non-fictional issues.  Relationships with pupils are good. The atmosphere created in lessons is one in which most pupils are keen to help and encourage one other.  The skills of teaching assistants are generally well developed. The vast majority make a real difference in supporting individual pupils to succeed.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most teachers know their pupils well. In general, teachers plan effectively to meet pupils’ needs.  In a small minority of lessons, teaching does not motivate all learners or check carefully whether all pupils understand sufficiently what they are learning before moving on to new activities. At times, some teachers are not flexible enough to adapt activities to meet some pupils’ changing needs, particularly the most able.  Opportunities are provided by all teachers for pupils to respond to marking that invites them to improve their initial written work. However, not all teachers insist that pupils take full advantage of these opportunities to stretch themselves fully and improve their work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The majority of children join the school with skills and understanding typical for their age. In the early years, they make good progress. In 2014, an above average proportion of children reached a good level of development by the time they joined Year 1.  Pupils’ rates of progress are good throughout Key Stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics. This is due to the good teaching. As a consequence, standards by the end of Year 2 are above average.  Across Years 3 to 6 pupils’ rates of progress are rising quickly, as teaching is rapidly improving. The progress made by the vast majority of pupils in reading, mathematics and writing is now good. In 2014, attainment in all three subjects improved. Current Year 6 standards are well above national averages, especially in reading and mathematics, for most pupils.  Progress evident in lessons and in pupils’ books is good. Handwriting is a real strength. Pupils take great

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The achievement of pupils is good

pride in writing in ink, and in carefully organising and setting out their work.  Progress across the school is good in reading. Pupils are taught to read effectively in their earlier years. Many read often in school and at home, and read with confidence and meaning. In the phonics screening check carried out at the end of Year 1, above average numbers of pupils reach national expectations for six-year-olds.  Progress is also good in mathematics. Pupils benefit from the daily practices in calculating mentally. They persevere well to apply their well-developed calculation skills to a variety of everyday problems in different scenarios.  Most pupils are competent writers. As early as Year 3, for instance, pupils write fluently to provide a modern interpretation of the Noah’s Ark story. As they move through school, many pupils increasingly experiment with a range of language to write in the style of different authors and poets, and produce

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The achievement of pupils is good

thought-provoking versions of well-known myths and legends.  Not enough pupils achieve as well as they might to reach the highest standards in writing by the time they leave school, however. This is largely because their use of more formal language and punctuation for effect when writing about non-fictional events and issues is not developed sufficiently well. Opportunities are missed in some classes to underpin pupils’ confidence in using complex sentences and writing well- planned paragraphs to sequence their ideas.  The attainment and progress of disadvantaged groups are rapidly improving. In 2014, disadvantaged pupils at the end of Year 6 were typically twelve months behind in their attainment in reading and writing compared with other pupils nationally, and eighteen months behind in mathematics. They were twelve months behind their classmates in reading and mathematics, and six months behind in writing.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Senior leaders have taken effective action through daily, targeted, one-to-one activities and small-group work to reduce these gaps. The school’s information and inspection evidence show that attainment gaps in reading, writing and mathematics in Year 6 are now within twelve months of other pupils nationally.  Rates of progress made by disadvantaged pupils have similarly improved and are increasingly approaching those of other pupils nationally in all three subjects. In school, they are often higher than their classmates in most years and at least in line.  Pupils with special educational needs make progress similar to that of their peers. This is because they benefit from targeted support from adults who are trained to meet their needs. This shows the school’s good and effective commitment to equality of opportunity.  The most-able pupils generally achieve well but not all are challenged sufficiently in all lessons. As a

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The achievement of pupils is good

result, the proportions making more than expected progress and attaining the highest levels, especially in writing, are not as high as they should be.  Pupils enjoy good experiences in physical education and sport. They participate in a wide range of activities, competitive and informal, funded from the primary school sport initiative.  Pupils have many opportunities to develop analytical and evaluative skills across a range of subjects, particularly in science, geography, history and design and technology.

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The early years provision is good

 Children join the early years provision with skills and understanding typical for their age. They make good progress so that a larger number than seen nationally achieve a good level of development by the time they enter Year 1.  The early years classes are vibrant places for children to learn. Teachers and other adults are sensitive and caring, enabling children to develop confidence and independence. This means that children quickly settle into school life. They behave well and soon learn to concentrate on activities and share equipment and ideas.  Teaching is good. Teachers plan activities which motivate children, developing their enthusiasm for learning, especially in the Nursery Year.  Teachers usually make sure that tasks build on what children already know or skills they have recently acquired. For example, during the inspection children made sunglasses from an array of coloured lenses and put out an imaginary blaze as fire-fighters, using complex language and building thoughtful narratives

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The early years provision is good

around their interactive play.  Adults constantly ask searching questions, and regularly make informal and formal observations. They record how well children are doing, and their next steps, in each child’s learning journey frequently.  Well-organised induction procedures include parental visits to school which help to provide detailed pictures of each child’s needs.  There are good opportunities for parents to contribute to their children’s development. Staff keep them well informed about how they can support learning at home.  Leadership and management are good. The early years leader has developed a cohesive team which works together effectively so that all children are safe at all times.  The team is briefed clearly about the learning planned for each activity. This means that staff check accurately how well children are developing their skills and use this information to plan future activities.

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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 117852 Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire Inspection number 462625

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 291 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Chris Lemming Headteacher Mark Alston Date of previous school inspection 26 February 2014 Telephone number 01430 860287 Fax number 01430 427815 Email address hosm@eastriding.gov.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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