Willerby Carr Lane Primary School

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

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Mr Sean Smith Headteacher Willerby Carr Lane Primary School Carr Lane Willerby Hull HU10 6JT

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Short inspection of Willerby Carr Lane Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 9 November 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 Willerby Carr Lane Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You successfully fulfil the school’s aim to give pupils a rich diet of sporting, artistic, musical and creative opportunities. This is evident in the range and quality of work displayed throughout the school and showcased through the school’s website and regular Twitter feeds. Your commitment to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development ensures that pupils are being well prepared for life in modern Britain. Along with the varied out-of-school-hours activities, many parents value these strong features of the school.

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Short inspection of Willerby Carr Lane Primary School

At the last inspection, inspectors identified one area for improvement. This was to ensure that more pupils reach the highest levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Following the inspection, you did indeed manage to increase the proportion of pupils reaching higher standards to above the national average, pupils overall making exceptional progress in 2013 and 2014 especially. In 2016 the government introduced tests that are more challenging. The proportion of pupils reaching a high standard in reading and writing in 2016 was in line with the provisional national average, but below the national average in mathematics. Progress overall was disappointing in mathematics.

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Short inspection of Willerby Carr Lane Primary School

This slower progress was in part due to the legacy of some weaker teaching (now eradicated) and the fact that it took too long for leaders and teachers to begin to get to grips with the requirements of the tougher national mathematics curriculum. However, along with the mathematics leader, you have taken effective action to begin to turn this around; pupils’ progress in mathematics across key stage 2 is beginning to speed up. Across both key stages, pupils currently in the school, including the most able pupils, achieve well in reading and writing and in a range of other national curriculum subjects. Children also make good progress in the early years.

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Short inspection of Willerby Carr Lane Primary School

You recognise that the achievement of disadvantaged pupils, of whom there are fewer in your school than found nationally, is variable. Along with the need to improve outcomes in mathematics, this is one of your highest priorities. Your focus on making sure that all pupils develop basic literacy and numeracy skills and continually checking their progress is making a difference. An increasing proportion of disadvantaged pupils make at least as much progress as other pupils.

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Short inspection of Willerby Carr Lane Primary School

Governance is strong. Governors ensure that they only appoint to the governing body individuals who have the relevant knowledge, skills and experience to make a difference. They look carefully at the information you provide and ask insightful questions. Governors recognise where there are weaknesses and make no excuses; nor do they accept excuses. They keep a close eye on pupils’ academic outcomes, including the achievement of disadvantaged pupils, while maintaining commitment to pupils’ personal and social development. A sharp school improvement plan and regular assessment information help governors to check whether leaders’ actions make a difference. Governors fulfil their statutory duties, such as making sure that they base decisions about teachers’ pay on each teacher’s performance. The named safeguarding governor regularly checks safeguarding arrangements, including by questioning staff to make sure that they know their duties.

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Short inspection of Willerby Carr Lane Primary School

As the designated safeguarding leader, you make sure that every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed when it comes to ensuring that policies and procedures are as they should be. You make sure, when recruiting staff, that they are subjected to proper safety checks. You have ensured that staff are well trained, including for example in how to spot pupils who may be at risk of exposure to extremist views. Adults know the signs to look for that pupils may be at risk of harm or actually suffering harm. Staff diligently report their concerns, making detailed records. These records are stored securely and in a way that makes it easy for you to keep an eye on each case. Where appropriate, you contact local social care services and follow up to make sure that something happens. You keep a meticulous record of all contacts and conversations.

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Short inspection of Willerby Carr Lane Primary School

Pupils show a good knowledge of how to stay safe when using the internet. One pupil shared his experience of how he had taken a screenshot of some trolling behaviour on a gaming site and shown it to his parents, as teachers have taught him to do.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders make regular and thorough checks on the quality of teaching by dropping in to lessons from time to time to observe learning, and by looking in pupils’ workbooks. These checks are systematic, as is the feedback that teachers receive, resulting in continual small improvements to practice. Teachers value this challenging but supportive approach.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils achieve well in a range of subjects. Teachers plan interesting topics that include science, geography and history, for example. Specialist teachers teach music and sports, and pupils learn to speak in French. Pupils enjoy producing quality artwork and enjoy projects such as making and designing Egyptian cartouches. Many children enjoy creating models at home as part of their extended homework projects.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils practise and apply their reading and writing skills in a range of subjects. Pupils write at length for various purposes and audiences. The quality of writing in topic books is as good as it is in literacy books because teachers insist on this. However, teachers provide too few opportunities for pupils to use and apply their mathematics knowledge, understanding and skills in subjects such as science and geography.

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Inspection findings

 The large majority of pupils take advantage of additional enrichment activities at lunchtimes and after school. For example, pupils were observed enthusiastically and independently practising singing and dancing with much gusto in the drama club. One teacher supported Year 5 pupils as they used their initiative to plan and run their own ‘Minetest’ club. The Muddy Boots club works all year round to tend the garden and has won a prize for its fine vegetables. These activities broaden pupils’ cultural experience and further their knowledge and skills beyond the national curriculum.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders and teachers actively and effectively promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. Older pupils discussed with me how they had visited a synagogue and learned about Jewish religious traditions. Pupils are knowledgeable about important figures who have stood up for individual liberty, such as William Wilberforce and Mary Seacole. Older pupils have written about the meaning of justice and freedom in religious education lessons and debated rights and wrongs, for example of using force to defend one’s home. Pupils demonstrate open-mindedness about gender issues.

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Inspection findings

 The school’s commitment to pupils’ personal and social development is seen clearly in how pupils conduct themselves. Adults trust pupils to move around the school with minimal supervision. Pupils hold doors open for adults and each other without being asked. Many older pupils have formal responsibilities, such as librarian. Some Year 6 pupils were observed serving salad to the younger pupils at lunchtime. They showed great care and used their initiative to help small children carry their large lunch trays safely.

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Inspection findings

 The most able readers in Year 6 read with fluency and expression and enjoy reading for pleasure. They are able to interpret the subtleties of text, make guesses at the meanings of unfamiliar vocabulary and read between the lines. The least able readers in key stage 2 are developing fluency and make successful attempts to work out words they do not know. This is because most pupils meet the required standard in phonics by the end of Year 1, and those who do not manage to do so by the end of Year 2.

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Inspection findings

 The standard of pupils’ writing across the school is good. Teachers in key stage 1 have high expectations of pupils’ basic handwriting, spelling and punctuation. Most pupils therefore become accurate writers. Pupils learn to write in paragraphs with some stamina. Pupils, especially the most able pupils, learn to use a variety of sentence structures, using commas, semicolons and a range of other punctuation accurately. The standard of cursive handwriting and presentation across the age range is high because this is what teachers expect.

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Inspection findings

 Children in the early years make good progress from mostly typical starting points on entry to the Reception Year. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development in 2016 was some way above the provisional national average. Many pupils exceeded the early learning goals in many areas of learning in both 2015 and 2016.

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Inspection findings

 You and governors make no excuse for the dip in pupils’ progress in mathematics. You have put in place a range of measures to improve mathematics teaching. You know exactly where you are up to with these developments and what remains to be done. There is not an ounce of complacency among leaders and teachers.

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Inspection findings

 You have quite rightly prioritised basic arithmetic skills to get pupils up to speed. For example, fewer than half of the pupils on entry to Year 6 could instantly recall division and multiplication facts in the eight times table. Already, 80% of pupils can now do this.

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Inspection findings

 Teachers are getting to grips with a ‘mastery’ approach to teaching mathematics. They are giving pupils more opportunities to reason and problem-solve. Teachers could challenge the most able pupils yet further by providing pupils with even trickier ‘curve-ball’ problems.

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Inspection findings

 Differences in achievement between the small number of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally at key stage 2 remained in 2016, though small numbers make it difficult to generalise about achievement. The achievement of disadvantaged pupils across the school varies. However, the most able disadvantaged pupils make good progress.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  the teaching of mathematics continues to improve so that pupils do at least as well in mathematics as they do in reading and writing, especially the most able pupils  differences between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally diminish further.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the director of children’s services for East Riding of Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I came to your school with a few lines of enquiry. I wanted to make sure that the outcomes for children in the early years represent good progress. I also wanted to be sure that pupils currently in key stage 1 are making good progress. I was especially interested to explore the reasons for the downturn in mathematics outcomes at key stage 2 and how effectively you are addressing this. I particularly wanted to check how well disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils are doing in key stage 2. My pre-inspection analysis suggested that the breadth and richness of the curriculum might be a strength of the school. I wanted to check if this was indeed the case.

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Information about the inspection

We visited most classes in key stage 2 together and looked in pupils’ mathematics workbooks. I looked at a sample of workbooks in key stage 1 classes and briefly dropped in to the early years. I listened to two of the most able and two of the least able pupils in key stage 2 read aloud. I questioned pupils about what it is like to be a pupil at the school. I observed pupils as they moved around the school and in the hall at lunchtime. We had several discussions together and I met with the mathematics subject leader. I met with several governors. I looked at a range of documents, including those relating to safeguarding, and the school improvement plan. I carefully considered the school’s information about pupils’ attainment and progress. There were 34 responses to the staff questionnaire, 99 responses to the pupil survey and 52 responses to the online questionnaire for parents, which I analysed.

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