The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

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

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Mrs Imogen Addy Headteacher The Boyle and Petyt Primary School Beamsley Skipton North Yorkshire BD23 6HE

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 18 October 2016 with Kirsty Godfrey HMI, 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 November 2011.

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

I shared with you the key lines of enquiry I formulated from my pre-inspection work. These included the area for improvement at the last inspection. The key lines of enquiry centred on:

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

 how effectively you had addressed the area for improvement, which concerned the teaching of writing  the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning and progress in key stage 1  how effectively teachers had developed their knowledge and skills in the teaching and assessment of the new national curriculum, in particular in reading, writing and mathematics  the effectiveness of teaching and provision for some key groups of pupils, such as those who have special needs and/or disabilities, the small number of disadvantaged pupils and the most able.

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

Although not an area for improvement at the last inspection, the lead inspector had written about improving the outdoor provision in the early years, so we looked at this too. We scrutinised and evaluated all aspects of safeguarding.

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

You and the governors have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. As a teaching headteacher, you lead by example. Your measured, thorough and effective approach to school improvement means that all staff take responsibility for this. They talk about ‘our pupils’, not just ‘my pupils’. This is a key factor in the school’s success and sustainability as a small, rural school.

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

You have ensured that the teaching, and provision, of the curriculum is a strength and contributes significantly to pupils’ success in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils are provided with amazing opportunities both in and outside of the school curriculum to grow and learn, so they leave school as well-rounded and confident young people, ready for the next stage of their learning.

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

You instil in all who are part of this school a sense of pride in its heritage and place in the community. You ensure that pupils contribute fully to community life and beyond. This helps them to know and understand their responsibilities as members of society and prepares them well for life in modern Britain.

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

A strong feature of this school is how it welcomes all new pupils, including those who have special needs and/or disabilities, some with complex needs. You and your staff ensure that these pupils make excellent progress from their starting points. Parents and pupils value this. Many parents took time to comment on Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and contacted me personally to express their gratitude to the school. They are overwhelming in their praise of your leadership and the work of the school.

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

You have successfully addressed the decline in pupil outcomes in key stage 1. You were honest with inspectors that this has taken you longer than anticipated. You have brought this about in two ways. Firstly, over time, you have appointed two newly qualified teachers to take forward new and more effective ways of working in key stage 1 and the early years. You have quickly developed their teaching in order to ensure that pupils now make good progress from their starting points. Secondly, you, governors and the school community have worked tirelessly to fund and develop a high-quality early years unit where children get off to an exceptional start. These actions have had a tangible effect on pupils’ progress in key stage 1 after a period of decline. Pupils are once again outperforming pupils nationally, at the end of both the early years and key stage 1.

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

You have also successfully dealt with the area for improvement that was identified at the last inspection. The school’s approach to writing is effective. It ensures that pupils have numerous opportunities to write for a purpose and they understand the importance of it. The work pupils produce, both in English and in a range of different subjects, is of high quality, is displayed in abundance across the school and is a joy to read. Teachers demonstrate good subject knowledge and the synthesis between reading and writing means that pupils know and understand how authors and writers work. Teachers provide timely and constructive feedback that enables pupils to improve and redraft their work. Pupils know how important it is to check their own work and, as they progress through school, they develop the strategies necessary to do this. Their pride in their work is seen in the high standard of handwriting and presentation in their books and displays. Older pupils provide an

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

excellent role model for younger pupils to aspire to. The relatively new early years provision is making a strong contribution to children’s readiness to read and write. Nevertheless, you recognise that further work is needed to ensure that pupils, particularly in key stage 1, have access to reading materials and resources that enable them to focus on, practise and hone their phonics skills.

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Short inspection of The Boyle and Petyt Primary School

You and the governing body have ensured that there is a strong culture of safeguarding. Everyone takes their responsibility for the safety of pupils seriously and follows procedures thoroughly. This helps you to identify early concerns and bring about positive change for pupils. You draw upon the support of external agencies in a timely manner when and where needed. The curriculum is used as a vehicle to make pupils aware of safeguarding matters, and this ensures that they make the right choices and understand the consequences of their actions. This was seen in how effectively you have dealt with the rare incidences of bullying and quarrels, resulting in no repeat behaviour. The outdoor curriculum, including in the early years, enables children to assess risk in their decision making. In this respect pupils live out the school’s motto, ‘FAB’, which stands for ‘friendly, brave and ambitious’.

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Inspection findings

 Your and governors have an accurate view of where the school is at. Careful analysis of the school’s work means that you are developing exactly the right things. The school’s action plan is realistic and sets clear time frames and measurable outcomes so that close checks can be made on the progress you are making against your aims. The governing body, and in particular the standards and curriculum committee, provide effective challenge. They make sound financial decisions to ensure that the budget and additional funding, such as the pupil premium and sports funding, is spent effectively.  You and governors have robust and effective systems in place for developing and checking on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. You employ a full range of monitoring activities to provide a very accurate view of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning. This is all the more remarkable, given that you are

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Inspection findings

also the Year 5/6 class teacher and spend a good proportion of your time teaching.  You provide staff with appropriate opportunities for professional development. This not only enables them to improve their teaching, but also ensures that they take responsibility for and contribute fully to school improvement and the development of the curriculum. Consequently, teachers have quickly adapted to the changes and raised expectations of the new national curriculum.  The tasks teachers plan and their use of questioning ensure that there are increased opportunities to challenge and deepen pupils’ thinking and learning. We saw how one teacher had quickly taken note of very recent feedback from you to use her questioning to greater effect by giving pupils time to think and talk about their responses. This ensured that pupils gave more considered and full responses, which supported improvements in their writing about a character.

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Inspection findings

In a mathematics lesson, we saw how pupils were using and applying their knowledge and understanding of the properties of different types of triangle while exploring the use of coordinates. This was stimulating some deep thinking and enabling these pupils to take their learning further than just practising how to use coordinates.  Assessment is accurate and you ensure that careful checks are made in school and with external partners, such as the local cluster of schools and the local authority, to ensure that assessment is as accurate as it can be.  Although standards in key stage 1 dipped in recent years, standards at key stage 2 remained at least in line with that seen nationally and, more often, above. Pupils make good and better progress from their starting points, including the most able, disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who have special needs and/or disabilities. You agree that there is scope in mathematics for teachers to deepen

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Inspection findings

the learning of the most able pupils sooner. We saw that this could be done by reducing the time these pupils spent doing things they have already grasped and moving more quickly onto the problems and challenges teachers have set for them.  The transformation in the provision and quality of teaching in the early years is a notable improvement. It goes well beyond the recommendation in the last inspection report that asked the school to improve outdoor provision. Children in Nursery and Reception years are now taught in a purpose-built foundation unit with excellent outdoor provision. This has enabled children to make even better progress and ensured that the proportion of children now reaching a good level of development is well above that seen nationally. Almost all children are ready for the next stage of their learning, including those that are disadvantaged. Those children who have special needs and/or disabilities also make good

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Inspection findings

progress from their lower starting points.  The leadership of provision for pupils with special needs and/or disabilities is highly effective. The leader has developed robust systems and procedures to assess, record, track, support and review pupil progress. This close monitoring and the collective responsibility teachers and teaching assistants take ensure that these pupils are well provided for in the classroom and through a number of timely, short-term interventions. You draw quickly upon external support where and when needed, so pupils with more complex needs are supported effectively. Pupils’ work and observations of teaching show how well these pupils are provided for and the good and better progress they make. This is also the case for those pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium funding.  You and your staff have rightly identified reading and the teaching of phonics as a continued area for development. You have recognised that pupils, particularly

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Inspection findings

young boys and the least able, lack the motivation, skills and confidence to read fluently and with expression and that they are not always supported well at home. You have put into place a number of actions that are making a difference. We agreed that sometimes the books pupils are given to read do not enable them to focus on and practise the letters and the sounds they make well enough, because pupils rely too heavily on picture cues. This is slowing the pace of their learning in phonics.  The approaches you adopt to the teaching of literacy and the wider curriculum ensure that pupils have access to a broad and interesting range of texts. This stimulates their interest in books, deepens their understanding of what they read and supports developments in their writing, including the accurate use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

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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 recent improvement seen in standards of achievement at the end of key stage 1 are sustained  pupils’ reading books and home reading activities in key stage 1 allow pupils to focus more on using and applying their phonics knowledge  in mathematics, the most able pupils reduce the time they spend doing things they have already understood so that they move more quickly onto the problems and challenges that teachers set, so that more of these pupils reach the high standard they are capable of sooner.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

During this one-day inspection inspectors were able to discuss the work of the school with you, three governors and other staff. We talked with pupils about what it feels like to be a member of the school community and looked at the responses to Ofsted’s online parent, staff and pupil surveys. We also took note of emails from parents and hard copies of the Ofsted questionnaire, as some parents were unable to access the online survey during the inspection. We observed and spoke with pupils during lunchtime and at other times during the day and in a more formal meeting. Discussions with three school governors, including the chair of governors, helped to provide additional information. School documentation, assessment information, policies and information posted on the school website, were taken into account. We were able to visit all classrooms with you to observe teaching and learning, and looked at pupils’ books to consider the quality of teaching over time

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Information about the inspection

and its impact on pupils’ learning and progress.

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