The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Simon Morley Headteacher The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School Wharf Lane Kirkby-on-Bain Woodhall Spa Lincolnshire LN10 6YW

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Short inspection of The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 20 September 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in June 2012.

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Short inspection of The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The headteacher and staff provide a caring and supportive environment for Kirkby-on-Bain pupils, where the school ethos of hope, peace, trust, friendship, respect and forgiveness underpins all that they do. ‘Learning together for life’ is part of the pupils’ daily routine and you endorse this ethos through the effective leadership and management of your staff team.

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Short inspection of The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

Successful collaboration with other schools has been key to your continued success. For example, you have formed a network of local schools called ‘Small Aspiring Schools’. You have garnered support from the KYRA Teaching School Alliance, as well as being a representative on the Lincolnshire Learning Partnership Board. These partnerships have ensured that the school is at the forefront of developing a rich curriculum as well as being able to share good practice with other schools. You have communicated your ideas clearly to your team, which has resulted in the development of confident middle leaders who are able to lead their subject areas decisively. Your enthusiasm and determination has created a school where everyone is learning together.

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Short inspection of The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum which effectively supports both the pupils’ academic learning as well as their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The rich curriculum and the high expectations that leaders have of pupils is clearly evident through the work displayed throughout the school. Pupils are keen to talk about their learning and value the enrichment activities that the school offers. Older pupils commented on how their teacher taught writing through a science topic and how they had the opportunity to be a ‘world expert for the day’ by researching topics linked to diseases. You have ensured that the use of information and communications technology (ICT) is integral to the learning. For example, children in the early years were keen to label numbers using a mouse and older pupils received verbal feedback on their writing through a headset. Pupils respond positively to their learning as teachers provide activities that are engaging

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Short inspection of The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

Supportive and nurturing relationships between pupils and staff enrich pupils’ experience of school. These relationships are exemplified by the range of opportunities that pupils have to contribute to the life of the school, by being members of the school council or path monitors, for example. Pupils are willing to support and care for each other. They report that they feel safe at school. Opportunities to learn about fundamental British values are well embedded in the curriculum. For example, pupils explained ‘democracy in action’ when they had the opportunity to vote to name the new after-school club. Pupils spoke enthusiastically about the range of visitors who come to school to help them to learn about different religions. In your school, pupils have a broad understanding of other cultures and faiths. They understand the wide variety of beliefs and cultures in the world. Pupils celebrate difference and are respectful of others.

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Short inspection of The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

You have successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection, for example by establishing a rigorous tracking system in order to assess pupils’ progress. Nevertheless, further moderation of assessments is still required as teachers become more familiar with the new school assessment system. The new feedback and marking policy has directed teachers to check more closely on pupils’ understanding. Pupils now respond more quickly to teachers’ feedback. This is enabling pupils to make faster progress, particularly in English.

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Short inspection of The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

You have an accurate understanding of what needs to improve. You have improved the progress of the disadvantaged pupils through effective use of funding, but there is more to be done to ensure that they make consistently good progress throughout the school. Your evaluation of the achievement of these pupils does not always state precisely what the impact of the funding has been. You have correctly identified that progress in writing is not as good in key stage 1 as it is in key stage 2.

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Short inspection of The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

You have ensured that your team is well informed about the school’s safeguarding arrangements. They know about the risks posed by extremism and the different types of safeguarding concerns to look out for.

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Short inspection of The Kirkby-on-Bain Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of a high quality. You ensure that staff continue to keep a close eye on those pupils whose welfare has been a cause for concern. You have a tenacious approach to the management of pupils’ welfare and understand the needs of pupils and families well.

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Inspection findings

 You have a determined approach to ensuring that the pupils’ academic, social and welfare needs are met at your school through providing an environment that is welcoming and inclusive. You lead by example and promote the ethos of the school through your actions, showing great interest in the pupils and staff at your school.  You accurately evaluate the overall effectiveness of your school and harness middle leaders to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and learning. You listen carefully to their views and this has enabled you to continue to identify the ways in which you can improve the school further. Your approach to school improvement is effective. However, reporting on the extent to which your actions have made a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes needs to be more incisive.  You have used the pupil premium funding well to improve the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils through additional adult support. However, your

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Inspection findings

reporting of the impact of such funding is not as precise as it could be.  Pupils continue to make good progress, including those who are disadvantaged. Teachers understand how to match activities to pupils’ abilities and support them well in class. There are odd occasions where staff need to be more responsive to the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities to ensure that they do not stall in their learning and become distracted in class.  The school’s broad and balanced curriculum provides rich opportunities for pupils to build on their knowledge and understanding. This is especially the case in the early years, where children were observed buying sweets in their ‘shop’. Children were able to express that they needed ‘one penny more’ so that the sweets could be purchased. The ‘shopkeeper’ ably wrote down the amounts and the teaching assistant supported the children through expert

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Inspection findings

questioning.  You have established a clear tracking system in order to assess pupil progress at key points throughout the year. There are a range of monitoring activities within the school to check that assessments are accurate. You use other schools within your area to moderate your assessments. However, more work needs to be done so that teachers feel confident in assessing pupils’ progress using this system.  Teachers use creative and innovative approaches to capture pupils’ interest and stimulate their imagination. Pupils eagerly told me about the ‘spotty cup of destiny’, a way in which pupils were selected to complete an independent research task using the internet. Pupils were keen to share what they had found out and applied it well to their science topic on the human body.  Teachers in key stage 2 are aware of pupils’ specific needs and tailor writing opportunities across the curriculum so that pupils can practise their skills

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Inspection findings

regularly and make faster progress. This is less consistent at key stage 1.  Teachers match pupils to appropriate books and regularly fill in the reading record to monitor progress. Where pupils need additional support, teaching assistants read often with pupils. Most-able pupils have access to a broad range of reading material and clearly enjoy the challenge of reading substantial texts. During group reading activities, teachers question pupils effectively to ensure that they have understood the meaning and context of the stories the class are reading.  Teachers ensure that the planning of the curriculum meets the needs of the most able and disadvantaged most able pupils with well-planned activities that challenge them and enable them to use and apply their knowledge. For example, pupils are provided with ‘challenge’ tasks in lessons so that they have the opportunity to extend and apply their learning. The most able pupils

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Inspection findings

use their reasoning skills and show resilience in their approach to tackling mathematical concepts. The disadvantaged most able pupils have especially benefited from the introduction of the ‘growth mindset’ approach, which has taught them to be tenacious in their approach to learning.  Disadvantaged pupils have their reading needs met well through adult support. Pupils have the opportunity to reinforce their reading skills through the careful selection of reading books that build on the pupils’ skills as well as new books that move the pupils’ learning on.  You are aware that in the past, girls have not achieved as well as boys in mathematics. You made this a key priority in your improvement plan and introduced new teaching methods. During the inspection girls were highly engaged in their mathematics learning because teachers used a range of resources to capture their interest and make the learning real. In-school

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Inspection findings

information suggests that, at key stage 2, girls have now caught up with boys in this subject.  Pupils behave very well, however, occasionally staff need to correct behaviour more promptly. Pupils said that there is no bullying and that they feel safe at school. You keep behaviour records that show that there are few incidents of bullying and record-keeping shows what actions have been taken and the extent to which these have had a positive impact on improving the behaviour of individual pupils.  You make the most of opportunities to promote pupils’ health and fitness. For example, during breaktimes, sports coaches organise a range of activities for pupils. Pupils enjoy playing together and using a range of play equipment. Staff show high regard for the welfare of pupils during such times.  Throughout the school, teachers use ICT innovatively and creatively. Pupils in year 1 and 2 adeptly partitioned numbers on the interactive whiteboard in

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Inspection findings

order to understand the value of each digit. This activity was part of a range of fun ways to understand and learn the value of numbers.  The new marking and feedback policy has had positive impact on teaching and learning. Teachers are able to inform pupils of next steps and use a range of symbols that support pupils to make progress. One class responded well to the end of lesson, where the teacher announced that it was ‘FAB time’ which means ‘feedback, applause and best way forward’. The range of assessment approaches enables teachers to gauge pupils’ understanding and plan future learning.  In the early years, staff assess children regularly and build up an accurate picture of children’s knowledge and understanding. As a result, the team is able to plan activities so that children can make good progress. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development is typically above the national average.

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Inspection findings

 Phonics skills are taught well in the early years. Sounds taught to the whole class are followed up during independent activities. Children had the opportunity to sort the ‘s’ sound from other sounds through putting objects in to two groups; the ‘s’ group and non-‘s’ group. Children particularly enjoyed meeting their new class puppet called ‘Moth’, who will help them to learn phonics skills over the forthcoming year.  This year the school has experienced a fall in the number of pupils passing the national phonics check at the end of Year 1. The school has had three years of phonics check results that have been higher than the national average. You are aware of this dip and you are closely monitoring pupils’ progress to determine where additional support may be required for individual pupils.  Year 6 pupils are good ambassadors for your school and they spoke enthusiastically about the range of opportunities that the school offers to

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Inspection findings

enhance the curriculum. They particularly enjoyed their visits to an aquarium and Burghley House. Pupils also felt well prepared for their secondary schools and reported that transition days had been positive.  You have reduced the high levels of persistent absence and improved attendance rates through drawing on support from the education welfare office. Information has been sent to parents and home visits conducted where required. You are aware that reducing persistent absenteeism remains a priority for the school along with improving attendance rates.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should:

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Next steps for the school

 ensure that support for disadvantaged pupils is targeted effectively so that pupils make faster progress  continue to develop writing across the curriculum to support pupils to make good progress, especially at the end of key stage 1  ensure that senior leaders’ evaluations of their work focus precisely on the difference their actions are making to outcomes for pupils, including pupils for whom the school receives additional funding through the pupil premium.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Lincoln, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Lincolnshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I held meetings with the headteacher, who is also responsible for safeguarding, the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. I visited a series of lessons with the headteacher. I examined examples of pupils’ work and looked at teachers’ assessments of that work. I held a range of discussions with a wide variety of pupils, informally, when observing lunchtime and during lessons, and formally with a group of pupils. I listened to pupils read. I observed pupils’ behaviour around the school at the start of the day, at breaktimes and during lessons. I met with parents at the beginning of the school day and looked at the views of parents posted on Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. I examined a range of documents, including safeguarding records and policies, behaviour policies, the latest achievement information for the school, including the school’s data, the school’s improvement plan and self-evaluation summary, records

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Information about the inspection

of meetings of the governing body and information relating to pupils’ attendance and behaviour. I considered the areas for improvement that were identified at the previous inspection in June 2012. These related to: improving the quality of teaching and learning by checking on pupils’ progress more closely and providing them with precise guidance on how to improve the quality of their work, and raising pupils’ achievement in English and mathematics. I also considered how well the school was supporting disadvantaged pupils and the extent to which this is having a positive impact on their progress. In addition, I considered how well girls were being taught in mathematics and the effectiveness of the school’s strategies in improving the rates of pupils’ attendance. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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