Normanby Primary School

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

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Mrs Emma Negus-Hill Headteacher Normanby Primary School Main Street Normanby-by-Spital Market Rasen Lincolnshire LN8 2HE

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 22 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 September 2011.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since your arrival in January 2016, you have raised the expectations of teachers to improve the outcomes of pupils. The outcomes at the end of key stage 1 for the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics in 2016 were above the national average. Pupils’ progress in key stage 2 is broadly average. The current progress of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics is good in every year group.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

The quality of education is good in the early years. The children make a good start in the Discovery class. They enjoy learning phonics and are encouraged to sound out the letters to learn to read and spell. The children are enthusiastic about the topics they study. In the Endeavour class (Years 4, 5 and 6), pupils are researching about famous explorers and are preparing their presentations to inform parents about what they have learnt. The pupils have a real sense of purpose to their learning and as a result, they are highly engaged.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

At the previous inspection, the inspector praised:

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

 the good progress made by the pupils  how teachers meet the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities  the pupils’ positive attitudes to school and to their learning. You have ensured that these strengths have been maintained.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

The inspector also identified, however, that the most able pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The most recent outcomes at the end of key stage 2 show the school has had varying success in improving the attainment of this group of pupils. In 2015, outcomes at the end of key stage 2 showed that the proportion of pupils who attained the higher Level 5 was above the national average for all subjects. However, in 2016, no pupils attained highly at the end of key stage 2 in any subject. Consequently, I have asked you to focus on the learning and achievement of this group of pupils throughout the school.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

The inspector also asked the school leaders to improve the leadership and management of the school by monitoring teaching more closely and by developing the role of the governing body. You and your senior leaders have responded well in resolving these issues.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

The programme you undertake to check on the quality of teaching is comprehensive. It pinpoints precisely the strengths and areas for development to improve teaching. Consequently, the quality of teaching is improving and the progress made by pupils is accelerating. In addition, subject leaders complete regular reviews about how their subjects are taught. They review teachers’ planning, pupils’ work and speak to pupils about their learning. Subject leaders now have a better understanding of how well pupils are achieving.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

The governing body is well informed about the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. Governors visit the school regularly to gain first-hand evidence of how the school is progressing. They ask school leaders challenging questions about the outcomes of pupils. Their scrutiny is helping the school to improve even further.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

I have asked you and your team to continue to improve the teaching of mathematics. The pupils do have a good understanding of how to complete written calculations. However, the pupils’ ability to reason mathematically is not developed as well as it could be. In addition, I have asked you to improve the pupils’ ability to spell.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

You lead safeguarding well. You have improved the systems by which you record any safeguarding concerns and the action leaders take in response. Both the staff and the governors receive regular training. The staff and governors have received ‘Prevent’ duty training to help safeguard pupils from being at risk of radicalisation. The teachers respond well to the individual needs of pupils through targeted intervention. Consequently, teachers and support staff support pupils well with both their pastoral and their academic needs.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

The governors discuss safeguarding matters at every meeting. The link safeguarding governor reviews the school’s procedures and reports to the full governing body. All the necessary checks have been completed on the adults who work at the school. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are stored confidentially.

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Short inspection of Normanby Primary School

You are analysing the pupils’ attendance more closely and regularly inform parents if there are any concerns about their child’s attendance. The attendance rate has increased in the current academic year for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, and is broadly in line with the national average.

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Inspection findings

 You lead the school well. You have established a positive ethos for both pupils and staff. The staff are highly committed and work well together as a team. They are passionate about improving their own practice and raising standards. They have observed each other’s teaching and discussed their findings to improve their practice further. As a result, the quality of teaching is improving. The staff morale is high.  The staff quickly analysed the end of key stage assessments completed by the pupils in the summer term and wrote action plans to address any weaknesses in the pupils’ responses. The staff felt some pupils underperformed in mathematics when answering questions related to space and shape. Current pupils’ understanding of space and shape is now much more secure, because of the work teachers have undertaken in response to this concern.  However, teachers are not developing pupils’ mathematical reasoning skills as

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Inspection findings

well as they could, particularly for the most able pupils. Pupils are given some opportunities to problem-solve. However, these opportunities are not sufficient to enable pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the different aspects of mathematics.  Since the previous inspection, standards at the end of key stage 2 have remained above or broadly in line with the national average in all subjects. Outcomes at the end of key stage 2 in 2016, for the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard in reading, were above the national average.  Teachers challenge pupils well in their reading. Older pupils read high-quality texts, such as ‘Varjak Paw’ and ‘Skellig’. Teachers ask challenging questions to explain how the authors create the mood of the stories and portray the characters’ feelings. Consequently, pupils have a good understanding of the texts that they are reading.  The pupils use their phonic knowledge well to learn to read and new words.

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Inspection findings

Teachers and support staff provide younger pupils with appropriate texts to develop their reading skills. Pupils read regularly and are making good progress throughout the school.  In 2016, pupils in key stage 1 made good progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. The proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard at the end of Year 2 was above the national averages in all three subjects. However, the proportion of pupils who achieved highly in reading, writing and mathematics was below the national average.  Teachers plan interesting themes to stimulate pupils’ writing. The children in the Voyager class were highly engaged in writing newspaper headlines for an article about pirates and using alliteration to attract the readers’ attention. Older pupils have written non-chronological reports about different environments, including the savannah grasslands. Most pupils are making good progress in their writing.

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Inspection findings

 However, the most able pupils are not always constructing their sentences as effectively as they could to write to a higher standard. Although the most able pupils have learnt a range of grammatical techniques, they are not consistently using them well enough to write at a high standard.  The pupils do not take enough care to improve their spelling skills. Some pupils write the incorrect spellings down to learn at home and teachers have not corrected these. In addition, some pupils do not correct their spelling mistakes in their work. This limits their ability to learn to spell words correctly. Outcomes in the key stage 2 spelling test in 2016 show that pupils’ attainment in this skill was below the national average.  The provision in the early years is good. Teachers and adults have created a positive and purposeful environment where the children are thriving. The current topic poses the question, ’What do you need to live happily ever after?’

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Inspection findings

The children have focused on the fairy tale of Cinderella and are writing invitations to parents to invite them to an end of term ball. Outside, the children were constructing a carriage with materials to develop their creative skills. The children are able to focus on a task for a sustained period and make good progress.  The adults in the early years regularly check what the children know and this informs the next steps of learning. Parents also have the opportunity to contribute on a regular basis to the children’s learning journeys. Children are progressing well from their starting points. In 2016, the proportion of children who achieved a good level of development was above the national average.  Disadvantaged pupils are supported well in school. You carefully use the pupil premium funding to ensure these pupils develop their skills and knowledge. Extra support is planned on an individual basis or in small groups to meet these pupils’

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Inspection findings

needs. This group of pupils are making good progress through the school.  The pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are also making good progress. The coordinator for the provision for this group of pupils is highly skilled and completes early assessments for those pupils for whom the school has learning concerns. Intervention programmes are then tailored to meet the pupils’ needs. The progress of this group of pupils, particularly in reading, is good.  The pupils learn about British values, such as democracy, through the election of pupils to the school council. The school council leads a weekly school assembly to communicate their ideas. This assembly is inclusive. The members of the council carefully supported a younger pupil reading out her class rules when the focus was on behaviour. All pupils in the hall listened carefully to the ideas of others to promote good behaviour. Pupils’ behaviour, both within lessons and breaktimes,

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Inspection findings

is good. Almost all parents who spoke to me or completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire reported that behaviour was good and that school staff respond well to any concerns parents raise.  The school has good links with the local community. Some pupils worked with the parish council to help tidy up the local environment. All pupils attended the local cenotaph and read out the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ as part of a remembrance service for those who have lost their lives in war.  Pupils learn about different religions and can recall knowledge that they have learnt. You have recently set up a link with another school to enable pupils to expand their knowledge further about different cultures and religions.  The governing body holds leaders to account well. Governors have challenged leaders about the teaching of mathematics and have asked what skills pupils need to develop to be achieving more highly. Members of the governing body

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Inspection findings

visit the school to speak to staff and pupils about their work, as part of their efforts to check the actions within the school development plan are being implemented effectively. The school is making good progress to improve the outcomes of pupils.  The large majority of parents are supportive of the school. The parents particularly comment on their child’s enthusiasm for learning and how the staff know the children so well.

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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 most able pupils are challenged more to improve their writing in key stage 1 and key stage 2  the pupils’ achievements in mathematics improves, particularly the most able, by developing their mathematical skills to reason and problem-solve  pupils’ ability to spell words is developed further by ensuring pupils correct their mistakes.

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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 Lincolnshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection I met you, all the members of the teaching staff, the coordinator for the provision for pupils who have special educational needs, and two governors, including the chair of the governing body. I visited every classroom and looked at pupils’ work. I spoke to pupils from key stages 1 and 2. I also listened to pupils read. You and I reviewed records about behaviour, bullying, attendance and keeping children safe. I studied your self-evaluation, the school development plan, subject action plans and the minutes of the governing body. I looked at your information related to the monitoring of teaching and to teachers’ performance. I considered the 23 responses to Parent View, the 17 responses to the Ofsted free- text service, the one pupil response to the pupil survey and the seven responses to the staff survey. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. The key lines of enquiry for this inspection focused on:

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Information about the inspection

 the effectiveness of school leaders, including governors, to promote better outcomes  why more pupils had not achieved highly at the end of key stages 1 and 2  how well the school was teaching mathematics  the standard of provision for disadvantaged pupils  the effectiveness of the school’s safeguarding arrangements.

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