Canon Pyon CofE Academy

Canon Pyon CofE Primary School Canon Pyon, Hereford HR4 8PF

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is an outstanding school

 Inspirational leaders and governors have ensured that teaching and outcomes for pupils have continued to improve strongly.  Pupils currently at the school are making exceptional progress from their different starting points in reading, writing and mathematics.  The proportion of pupils who have reached or exceeded the expected levels for their age at the end of Key Stage 2 in recent tests and assessments has been consistently well above average, especially in reading and mathematics.  Children get off to a very rapid start in early years, where they are very well taught and supported by all the adults who work with them.  Teaching is of a consistently high quality as teachers plan lessons that challenge pupils to do as well as they possibly can.  Pupils‟ behaviour and attitudes to learning are of a very high standard in lessons and around the school.  The extent to which pupils feel safe is very high.

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This is an outstanding school

All parents who responded to the survey said their children are safe and happy.  Leaders promote pupils‟ spiritual moral social and cultural development very well, especially through the school‟s Christian ethos and respect for the local woodland environment.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that teaching and support staff are well trained to meet the needs of those new arrivals who speak English as an additional language and have had no previous schooling by: – building on and sharing the expertise in early years – assessing accurately new arrivals‟ starting points and prior experiences – providing effective strategies to support these pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

 Leaders and governors have made sure that the school has continued to improve. They have successfully tackled, with determination, the challenge to make sure pupils do as well in writing as they do in other subjects. Through systematic monitoring, training and the introduction of new strategies based on talking about their writing, pupils in all year groups are now making very rapid progress across all subjects.  The quality of teaching has also improved. An extensive induction and training programme ensures that teachers and support staff are well equipped to plan high-quality lessons and meet the needs of different groups of pupils including the most able, disadvantaged pupils, pupils who have special educational needs or disability and pupils who need to catch up.  Leaders check the quality of teaching rigorously through observation of lessons, scrutiny of pupils‟ work and analysis of pupils‟ outcomes. They hold teachers to account for the outcomes of every individual pupil

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

in their class.  They analyse information on pupil performance in great detail by individual and pupil group. Although groups are too small to be reported on publicly, leaders know exceptionally well how the very small numbers of pupils in each identified group are doing.  Leaders know their strengths and areas for development in the school very well. They also ensure that they are subject to external support and challenge through school improvement partnership arrangements which include a regular objective review of outcomes for pupils.  All members of the school community – parents, staff and pupils – are overwhelmingly positive about the ethos and direction of the school taken by leaders. Almost all parents who responded to Parent View said they would recommend the school to another parent.  The new curriculum has been very well designed to make sure that over the course of the two years that

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

pupils are in each of the classes in Key Stages 1 and 2, pupils benefit from an extensive breadth and depth of subjects including music, humanities, art and languages. Pupils spoken to were overwhelmingly positive about the subjects and topics studied, although a few said they would rather be studying Spanish than French. To enhance the curriculum pupils have access to a wide variety of clubs. In addition to sports there are clubs for dance, film, drawing and music.  Leaders make sure that additional funding such as the sports premium is used very well to increase pupils‟ participation in sport. Sports coaches provide inspiration to staff and pupils. The range of sports clubs provides boys and girls with a rich diversity of sports and access to specialist equipment. Uptake of girls‟ sport is improving rapidly. Teachers have received high-quality training from the sports coaches. This has led to them developing the confidence to teach physical education themselves.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

 The pupil premium provides for excellent support in the classroom, particularly in writing for the very small number of disadvantaged pupils. It also ensures that pupils have all the equipment they need for learning and that they can participate in additional activities and trips which enhance their learning. Leaders evaluate the impact of the grant and make changes in its allocation accordingly.  Leaders promote universal values including British values very well through the Christian ethos of the school. These values are reflected in lessons and assemblies. For example, mutual respect and tolerance are encouraged through multi-faith trips and a „focus on faith‟ week. Pupils get the chance to learn about contrasting locations such as Australia and have taken part in disability awareness activities. Such activities contribute significantly to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

 Leaders are beginning to respond to the more recent challenge of training staff concerning those pupils at a very early stage of learning English as an additional language who have little or no previous experience of school.  The governance of the school – Governors have a very accurate view of how well the school is doing. They hold leaders to account through regular scrutiny of information linked to pupils‟ performance. They also conduct regular visits to the school to see work in class and meet leaders. They make sure that the school‟s systems for managing the performance of the headteachers, teachers and teaching assistants are rigorous and check that the school is fulfilling all its statutory responsibilities. – Members of the governing body are especially assiduous in evaluating the impact of support for the very small number of disadvantaged pupils, and pupils who have special educational needs or

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

disability. They check that pupil premium and sports funding is used effectively. – They are well trained to fulfil their safeguarding duties and they make sure that the school is doing all it can to keep its pupils safe by requiring regular updates and reports on safeguarding at all of its meetings.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff receive up-to-date and high-level training to ensure that all requirements are met. All staff and pupils look out for each other in an environment where safeguarding is on every one‟s agenda, including the youngest pupils. Parents who responded to Parent View and pupils spoken to were unanimous that the extent to which children are kept safe is very high.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

 Teachers make sure that work is planned very well to take account of pupils‟ different starting points, especially as pupils are placed in mixed-age classes from Year 1 upwards.  Teachers are skilful at asking thought-provoking and challenging questions to extend the learning of the most able pupils. One pupil was able to demonstrate their knowledge of the meaning of the Greek word „chronos‟ in a discussion on non-chronological reports. Teachers and additional adults also provide highly structured support to those who need additional help with their work.  Younger pupils respond with enthusiasm to practical activities in numeracy such as measuring the length of objects in the playground. Older pupils tackle challenging problem-solving numeracy tasks with relish when there is more than one solution to the problem.  Teachers give pupils the opportunity to talk about their work to each other, particularly in writing, and to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

give reasons for their answers to the whole class. Pupils also have the chance to evaluate each other‟s work and provide feedback.  Teachers have ensured that all pupils, both boys and girls, make very rapid progress in writing by providing activities that enable them to produce a wide range of extended pieces of writing ranging from non-chronological reports to fictional stories. They have successfully motivated pupils to write at length with sustained concentration.  Additional support is almost always used effectively to provide additional support or enable pupils to work in smaller groups.  Assessment of pupils‟ work is accurate and provides detailed feedback on how pupils can improve it. Work in pupils‟ books shows that areas identified for further improvement earlier in the academic year have often been successfully addressed. Teachers check the accuracy of their assessments through sharing their marking with other teachers across the federation.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

 Teaching of science allows pupils to conduct a wide range of their own experiments, predicting outcomes and then writing up their own conclusions, for example older pupils have observed the impact of rusting on different types of metals and younger pupils measured their heartbeat and pulse.  Phonics (letters and the sounds that they make) is taught well. Consequently pupils apply the skills they have learnt to their reading very effectively.  An overwhelming majority of parents who responded to Parent View agreed that their children are taught well.  Some staff have had limited experience to date of working with those pupils who are both new to learning English as an additional language and have had little or no previous experience of school.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school‟s work to promote pupils‟ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils have a strong sense of universal values including British values. They get to experience democracy through voting for the school council and taking part in a recent mock election.  Pupils have contributed to devising the school rules on behaviour. Pupils are gaining increasing experience of cultural diversity as a result of the school‟s membership of a federation of schools. They respect others‟ differences and are very welcoming to the small number of newly arrived pupils.  Pupils know about the similarities and differences in a number of different religions other than their own.  They thrive on the regular responsibilities they are given. They learn to make choices through the choosing club, where they can select the topics or activities for the club. They look out for each other‟s welfare constantly.

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Personal development and welfare

 All pupils spoken to said that bullying was extremely rare. Any previous isolated incidents were dealt with effectively by leaders and did not lead to repeat occurrences.  Pupils are particularly well informed about the different types of bullying that can occur and what to do if it happens. They know how to respond to cyber bullying on social media and the steps they should take.  All pupils including the youngest know how to keep themselves safe on the roads and when out on trips away from school.  All parents who responded to Parent View agreed that their children were safe in school.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. They are very polite and friendly towards visitors and play safely and sensibly in the playground.  In the classroom pupils have very positive attitudes towards their learning. They are keen to ask and answer questions and demonstrate enthusiasm and pride in their work. They work well with each other in pairs and groups and sustain concentration for long periods of time in lessons.  Pupils have excellent relationships with all the adults who work with them.  Pupils reported that incidents of misbehaviour are very rare and do not go beyond “a few boys arguing”.  There have not been any exclusions of pupils over the last few years.  The inspector did not see any incidents of misbehaviour in lessons, in the playground or around school during the inspection. Pupils confirmed that this behaviour seen was typical.  The current rate of attendance is broadly in line with the national average. Patterns of attendance are

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Behaviour

monitored very closely. As part of the federation the school is able to access education welfare officer time to pursue the very small number of incidents of persistent absence which impact disproportionally on the school‟s overall figures.  Pupils reported that they enjoy coming to school and all parents who responded to Parent View said their children were happy at school.  A very large majority of parents who responded to Parent View agreed that the school makes sure their children are well behaved.

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

 Pupil performance information and work seen in pupils‟ books confirm that pupils currently in the school are making exceptional progress across a range of subjects in all year groups, particularly in writing. Pupils in the older year groups in Key Stage 2 are making even more rapid progress.  Close tracking of individuals in each class by leaders indicates that almost all pupils in school are making accelerated progress. The numbers of pupils who have special educational needs or disability, disadvantaged pupils, most-able pupils or pupils who speak English as an English language are all too small to be statistically significant.  Outcomes in tests in reading and mathematics and assessments in writing are consistently above the national average at the end of Key Stage 2. The proportion of pupils gaining the highest possible levels was particularly high in reading and mathematics in the most recent tests. As a result pupils are well

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

prepared for the next stage of their education in secondary school.  In the most recent tests and assessments in Year 6 the proportion of pupils making expected and more than expected progress was very high overall and especially in mathematics and reading.  Pupils‟ outcomes have also continued to rise quickly over time by the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics.  An overwhelming majority of parents who responded to Parent View agreed that their children make good progress in school.  The number of pupils who reach the expected standard in phonics in Years 1 and 2 is too small to be statistically significant.

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Early years provision is outstanding

 Children in early years are making very rapid progress from their typical starting points. They receive highly effective provision from the well-qualified leaders and other adults who work with them. Additional adults work well with children who require additional support, including those at an early stage of learning English as an additional language.  The proportion of children who reached a good level of development by the time they left Reception in 2015 was above the national average. This means that children were well prepared for the next phase of their education in Year 1. In the previous year the number of pupils in Reception was too small to be statistically significant.  The setting for early years, especially the stunning outdoors woodlands environment, is particularly conducive to children‟s development in experiencing the natural world.  Children are developing their early phonics skills well to read and write unfamiliar words.

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Early years provision is outstanding

 Additional adults consistently record what children have said and done as supporting evidence for their progress and as a means to identify next steps in their learning. Evidence to support children‟s progress is presented well in their learning journals.  Routines in the classroom are well established. Children move sensibly around the room, putting equipment away after activities such as „go-disco‟ and moving to the carpet. During freeflow activities they make informed choices about their learning. They enjoy taking part in discussions and offering their opinions.  There were not enough disadvantaged children in the early years to be statistically significant.

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School details

Unique reference number 139308 Local authority Herefordshire Inspection number 10011178

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 60 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Hugh Patterson Headteachers Peter Box, Paul Whitcombe Telephone number 01432 830334 Website canonpyon.hmfa.org.uk Email address admin@canonpyon.hereford.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 8–9 November 2012

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Information about this school

 Canon Pyon is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is about one in 11, below the national average. The proportion with a statement of special education needs or an education, health and care plan is well below average.  The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well below the average nationally. Very few pupils have been identified whose first language is not English.  The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority) is well below average.  The proportion of pupils who join or leave the school mid-way through a key stage is well above the national average.  Canon Pyon converted to become an academy in February 2013. It is a stand-alone academy but is also part of a federation of schools, led jointly by two executive headteachers, which make up the

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Information about this school

Herefordshire Marches Federation of Academies. When its predecessor school, also known as Canon Pyon CofE Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be good overall with outstanding leadership and management.  The Chair of the Governing Body was in post in the previous school. Special educational needs is coordinated across the federation of schools.  Pupils are taught in four mixed-age classes.  The school is supported by a school improvement adviser.  There has been a falling number of pupils on roll since the last inspection.  Based on their unvalidated 2015 results, the school meets the government‟s 2014 floor standards. These are the minimum standards expected for pupils‟ learning and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching and learning in six lessons or parts of lessons, all of which were jointly observed with the headteachers. In addition, the inspector made a number of other short visits to lessons and other activities, for example to look at pupils‟ books.  The inspector heard pupils read during lessons and also observed a phonics session.  Meetings were held with the headteachers, deputy headteacher, other members of staff, a group of pupils and two members of the governing body including the chair and the vice chair.  There were 25 responses for the inspector to take account of through the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View .  The inspector observed the school‟s work and scrutinised a number of documents, including the school‟s own self-evaluation, improvement plan, information on pupils‟ recent attainment and progress, behaviour and attendance information, policies and procedures including special educational needs, pupil

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Information about this inspection

premium, sports premium, safeguarding, child protection and behaviour.  The inspector reviewed the minutes of the recent governing body meetings .

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Inspection team

Mark Sims, lead inspector Her Majesty‟s Inspector guidance „Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted‟, which is available from Ofsted‟s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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