Pattishall Church of England Primary School

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

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Mr Lee Wood Headteacher Pattishall Church of England Primary School School Road Pattishall Towcester Northamptonshire NN12 8NE

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Short inspection of Pattishall Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 12 October 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 May 2012.

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Short inspection of Pattishall Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your leadership team have created a culture where pupils, parents and staff feel valued and supported. You and your staff show commitment to pupils’ needs, and this is evident from the warm and caring relationships between adults and pupils.

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Short inspection of Pattishall Church of England Primary School

Leaders understand the strengths of the school and have a clear strategy for further development. You communicate well with other senior leaders and you motivate them to achieve the school’s priorities. They ensure that staff provide opportunities for pupils to develop into good citizens through effective provision for their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Short inspection of Pattishall Church of England Primary School

Pupils enjoy the broad range of enrichment activities on offer. They are, overall, enthusiastic and confident learners who are keen to do their best. Pupils’ behaviour shows that they are taught the school’s values well. Pupils feel safe in school and know that adults are there to support them.

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Short inspection of Pattishall Church of England Primary School

You have created a school where sharing expertise is part of the norm. You encourage staff to incorporate new ideas from training to improve teaching and learning. The school has effectively addressed the areas for improvement since the last inspection. Teaching is consistently good. Across the school, teachers deliver lessons at a brisk pace and pupils participate eagerly overall. However, teachers do not inspire boys effectively enough to do their writing. As a result, boys do not get sufficient enjoyment in this subject. All pupils develop their skills in information and communication technology well, however, starting in the early years where children use the interactive whiteboard to find the initial sounds of words.

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Short inspection of Pattishall Church of England Primary School

You have restructured the senior leadership team to meet the needs of the school. The welfare of pupils is a high priority in the school and is led well by the inclusion manager, who has introduced new initiatives to support pupils’ emotional well- being. Staff have attended professional development courses which have helped them to meet the needs of vulnerable pupils more effectively.

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Short inspection of Pattishall Church of England Primary School

Although pupils’ overall outcomes are good, boys in key stage 1 do not make sufficient progress in their writing. As a result, their attainment in this subject is below that of girls. In addition, you recognise that there is not enough challenge in writing and mathematics lessons to ensure that the most able pupils make the progress of which they are capable.

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Short inspection of Pattishall Church of England Primary School

You have ensured that your team receives regular training on the safeguarding of pupils. Staff are confident about the procedures for reporting concerns and understand the importance of safeguarding in the school.

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Short inspection of Pattishall 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 have diligently recorded actions of all key staff and outside agencies in managing child protection concerns. You follow up any issues assiduously and ensure that relevant outside agencies actively contribute to the welfare of pupils in your care. You are incisive in your approach to managing pupils’ welfare and ensure that adults are trained in recognising and addressing the needs of pupils as early as possible.

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Inspection findings

 You and your senior leadership team lead the school confidently. You understand each other’s strengths and these are used to good effect to improve the school. Staff feel valued because they are involved in contributing to the school’s priorities and improvement planning.  A committed and dedicated governing body further enhances the quality of leadership. Governors foster positive relationships with you and your staff and support you with the strategic overview of the school. Governors share expertise well among the governing body. New governors are becoming more knowledgeable about the school’s assessment information so that they can monitor standards effectively.  You and the early years team have improved the outside learning environment. Children enjoy the range of activities and adults assist their learning ably. For example, during a task I observed, an adult supported children with building a ‘bungalow’, enabling them to use their knowledge of

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Inspection findings

mathematics to decide on the shape of bricks to be used.  Adults are knowledgeable about pupils’ individual needs and ensure that provision is effective. Consequently, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported very well and this is a strength of the school’s work. Training of school staff is effective in helping them to meet the needs of pupils who require extra help with their learning.  You track the attendance of individual pupils and ensure that, where it is below average, you support those families effectively to improve their child’s attendance.  Pupils’ workbooks show that pupils make good progress by the end of key stage 2. However, boys attain less well than girls in writing by the end of key stage 1 because their progress is not as rapid. This difference in attainment is reduced by the end of key stage 2. Leaders acknowledge that more work needs to be done to reduce the differences in progress and

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Inspection findings

attainment between boys and girls, starting from the early years.  Leaders have implemented a new scheme to support pupils with their early phonics and spellings. The school’s current assessment information shows that pupils’ attainment in reading, at the end of key stage 1 and in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1, is continuing to improve. Leaders are aware that there is a greater difference between reading and writing attainment at the end of key stage 1 compared to key stage 2.  Reading is a strength of the school, with strong outcomes at the end of key stage 1 and 2. Pupils enjoy reading and have books that are matched appropriately to their reading ability. Staff support disadvantaged pupils effectively and, as a result, these pupils read well. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities also receive extra support with their reading and make good progress with their learning. Reading records show

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Inspection findings

that staff monitor pupils’ reading development closely.  The most able pupils enjoy challenging books and have strong reading preferences. They use their reading skills well to discuss and predict what might happen next and why.  You understand that more challenge is required in lessons to ensure that the most able pupils have an opportunity to extend their learning through suitably challenging work. This was not evident in pupils’ workbooks in writing and mathematics activities.  The pupil premium funding is used well. The recent appointment of an inclusion manager is ensuring that there is sharper monitoring and assessment of the progress of disadvantaged pupils. The inclusion manager also ensures that there is support in place for pupils with emotional difficulties. There is a successful lunchtime club to provide a quieter space for pupils to play. You have used some of the funding for a new mathematics scheme to improve the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in

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Inspection findings

mathematics. Although you are monitoring this closely, it is too soon to note if it has had significant impact.  Leaders have redesigned the curriculum and teachers now teach subjects through topics and themes. You are working closely with teachers to ensure that writing opportunities in the curriculum capture boys’ interests. Boys I met with told me that they preferred learning mathematics. They find writing activities more difficult.  You have ensured that school visits for pupils link closely to their learning. A group of pupils explained to me that they enjoyed learning about pirates and staining treasure maps with tea bags to make them look old and authentic. Other pupils were eager to share their knowledge of the Victorians and understood how influential they were in building a local sewage system, for example.  Pupils understand the school’s values, and they are regularly discussed in school assemblies. Pupils’ positive behaviour demonstrates that they have

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Inspection findings

understood the core values of the school. They receive information about keeping themselves safe and understand the importance of online safety. Pupils therefore understand the importance of keeping safe, as well as how to manage their safety in a range of situations.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the teaching of writing, from the early years upwards, captures boys’ interest more and encourages them to develop a love of writing  the rate of boys’ progress in writing at key stage 1 accelerates so that it is at least broadly in line with that of girls  teaching provides the most able pupils with sufficient challenge in writing and mathematics.

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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 Peterborough, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Northamptonshire. 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 deputy headteacher and the inclusion manager. I also had a meeting with the 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 spoke with pupils, informally, during lunchtime and lessons, and formally during an interview. 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 I took account of 39 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and the 37 responses to the Ofsted free text service. There were no responses to the staff or pupils’ survey. I examined a range of documents, including safeguarding records and policies, behaviour policies, the latest achievement information for the school,

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Information about the inspection

the school’s improvement plan and self-evaluation summary, records 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 May 2012. These related to raising achievement through increasing the proportion of teaching and learning that is outstanding. I considered the pace of lessons, and whether pupils are fully involved in consolidating the gains made in their learning since the last inspection. I assessed pupils’ progress through the improved assessment and setting arrangements that show pupils, when marking their work, how they can move up to the next level. I considered pupils’ making more use of information and communication technology skills in different subjects. In addition, I considered the effectiveness of safeguarding and how leaders have addressed absence for specific groups of pupils. Further, I looked at how leaders

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Information about the inspection

have addressed attainment at key stage 1, particularly in writing and mathematics. I considered how leaders have improved the difference in attainment between boys and girls, particularly in writing. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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