New Earswick Primary School

New Earswick Primary School Hawthorn Terrace, New Earswick, York, North Yorkshire YO32 4BY

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Outcomes for pupils Inadequate Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires Improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders, including governors, have not tackled the areas for improvement found at the previous inspection effectively. As a result, pupils’ outcomes have not improved quickly enough, especially at key stage 2. Too few pupils make the progress they are capable of from starting points that are often below those typical for their age.  Leaders do not evaluate the quality of different groups of pupils’ learning well enough to bring about the urgent improvements required in teaching.  Teaching does not always meet the needs of different groups of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged. The progress of pupils at key stage 2 is inadequate.  Across the curriculum, pupils do not always apply their reading, writing and mathematics skills well enough. As a result, opportunities are missed to consolidate and improve these fundamental skills.  The additional funding for disadvantaged pupils has not been used in a sufficiently targeted way to

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

best support this group of pupils. Consequently, disadvantaged pupils make the same inadequate progress as their peers.  Despite the work of the school, attendance of some pupils is below average.  Governors have not, until recently, had access to information to challenge leaders about the underperformance of pupils and key aspects of the school’s work.  Early years teaching does not ensure that children make good progress.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Teaching staff have responded positively to advice from leaders, as a result they are determined to improve their practice.  Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Pupils are safe and feel happy in school.  Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning.  The sports funding is used well to support the teaching of physical education (PE). Pupils benefit from participation in regular and varied sporting activities.  Phonics teaching is effective. As a result, an above- average proportion of pupils meet the expected standard in phonics at the end of Years 1 and 2.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Urgently improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by: – more accurately matching the work of all groups of pupils to their level of ability so that they make good progress, especially at key stage 2 – ensuring that pupils accurately apply their grammar, spelling and mathematical skills when appropriate, across other curriculum areas – ensuring that all pupils take pride in their work and complete tasks to the best of their ability in all curriculum areas – ensuring that leaders and teachers have high aspirations for all pupils so pupils make good progress.  Rapidly improve progress of all groups of pupils, especially at key stage 2 by: – further reducing the differences in outcomes between disadvantaged pupils and other non-disadvantaged pupils nationally – accelerating the progress of all groups of pupils so that they make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Improve the capacity of leadership at all levels by:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– accelerating progress urgently, strengthening action plans so that they sharply focus on areas for improvement and include precise measures for governors to check the intended impact of actions on the progress of all groups of pupils – improving the monitoring and evaluation skills of leaders so that they have an accurate view of teaching and use this information to improve progress for all groups – continuing to develop subject leaders’ skills so that they are fully involved in evaluating school-wide priorities and address poor outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics robustly – ensuring that governors receive accurate assessment information so that they can challenge leaders at all levels about the progress that different groups of pupils make.  Improve leadership and teaching in the early years by ensuring that: – all children, including those who are disadvantaged, make the good progress they

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

are capable of in all areas of learning – activities match children’s needs so that key groups, including boys, make at least good progress.  Improve personal development, behaviour and welfare by ensuring that: – attendance of key pupils continues to improve.  An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.  An external review of the school’s use of pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders and managers, including governors, have not done enough to address the urgent issues raised at the previous inspection. As a result, Year 6 pupils who left the school in 2016 made inadequate progress. Over time, progress for different groups of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, the more able and those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, has been inadequate because teaching is inadequate.  The school lacks a robust system to record and check the effectiveness of teaching across the curriculum and the impact it has on different groups of pupils’ learning and progress. The school’s system to check the quality of teaching is in the early stages of development. As a result, leaders’ records of the quality of teaching lack precision and the rate that different groups learn at is inadequate.  The school’s plan for improvement is not sharply focused enough to address weak

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

aspects of teaching. The plan lacks challenging, clear milestones for governors to measure the success of the actions undertaken.  Leaders and governors have not ensured that the additional funding for pupils eligible for pupil premium has been spent effectively. As a result, progress of disadvantaged pupils lags behind other pupils nationally and, overall, disadvantaged pupils make inadequate progress. Recent changes to spending have started to show green shoots of success but the impact is too early to measure.  The funding that the school receives to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used to provide additional help for pupils. The most recent test outcomes and school records indicate that progress is inconsistent for this group of pupils. Inspectors saw pupils supported well by teaching assistants to achieve in some classes, but this is variable across classes.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Performance management targets lack challenge and have not been effective in bringing about the rapid improvement needed to eradicate inadequate teaching and improve outcomes quickly enough.  Pupils do not always have the opportunity to apply their skills in any depth because opportunities have not been planned well enough. Books show an inconsistent approach to pupils applying their writing, spelling and mathematics skills.  Subject leaders’ understanding of progress towards whole-school targets is muddled because their plans lack rigour. There is a lack of urgency about the planned actions.  The curriculum incorporates all of the subjects that it should. Educational visits and the use of historical objects in the classroom add some moments of inspiration and engagement within the wider curriculum.  The primary PE and sports funding is used well to provide a range of sporting activities, including football, dance and Zumba. Teachers have increased the quality of their

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

teaching by working alongside a specialist coach. Pupils understand the importance of being fit and healthy and say, ‘We should eat vegetables because they are good for us.’  Parents are positive about the school and say that their children are safe and well cared for.  The local authority has been aware of the school’s weaknesses in leadership, teaching and outcomes since the previous inspection. They have provided some challenge and have brokered support from a local school to help the acting headteacher to develop the school further to tackle weaknesses. The acting headteacher has been receptive to the support but the support has not helped the school to fully tackle the issues raised at the previous inspection.  In a short time, the acting headteacher, with her acting deputy headteacher, has identified some of the key issues that need tackling in the school. She has started to address the legacy of poor progress and weak teaching. She has the full support of the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

teaching staff, parents and pupils.  Newly appointed subject leaders are keen and committed to improve standards throughout the school. The leadership of phonics has been effective in bringing about above average attainment in phonics.  Newly qualified teachers may not be appointed.

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Governance of the school

 Governors ensure that statutory responsibilities around safeguarding are met.  Governors are aware of the school’s lower-than-average attendance, fragile results and weaknesses which were found at the previous inspection and have not been dealt with. Until very recently, governors were not provided with concise information to enable them to challenge the school over the performance of different groups of pupils, including that of disadvantaged pupils, middle-ability pupils, boys and girls.  Governors are aware of the weak progress of disadvantaged pupils and the limited impact the pupil premium funding has had over time. However, the plans in place do not ensure that the urgent improvements needed will be made.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff know how to keep pupils safe and when to raise concerns, should the need arise. Staff have access to regular training and staff meetings keep everyone abreast of local and national updates. Leaders, including governors, ensure that are all staff and volunteers are recruited safely and that statutory responsibilities are met.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 As a result of staffing turbulence and weak teaching over time, teaching is inadequate. Consequently, all groups of pupils across key stage 2 make inadequate progress.  Over time, particularly in key stage 2, teachers have not consistently provided work at the right level of challenge. As a result, some work is either too easy for the most able pupils or too hard for the less able pupils. Too often, pupils spend too long on repetitive skills and have fewer opportunities get to grips with problems. As a result, pupils make inadequate progress.  Over time in key stage 1 not all teaching has effectively met pupils’ needs. This is because there is too much variation in the teaching of writing and the progress of middle-ability pupils. At key stage 2, pupils’ written work across the curriculum does not match the better standards seen in pupils’ English books. Pupils’ efforts in theme books vary depending upon the demand and quality of task set.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Some teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. These high expectations, combined with the effective leadership of phonics mean that, in key stage 1, pupils apply their phonics skills well in spelling and reading.  In key stages 1 and 2, not all teachers give pupils sufficient opportunities to apply their basic skills of writing, number, spelling and grammar across the curriculum. As a result, pupils do not always apply their skills well enough and pupils are not able to use these skills consistently well in all their writing.  The deployment of teaching assistants is variable. Effective examples were seen when they gave help to pupils new to English and worked in tandem with the teacher. At times, some adults do too much for pupils, resulting in pupils making slower progress.  Evidence in pupils’ books shows that in some classes, the most able pupils get knotty problems to solve in mathematics. This was well exemplified when a pupil had to grapple

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

with whether they would ‘prefer to have 60% of two cakes or 26% of five cakes’.  The very recent changes to the teaching of reading are too early to evaluate. In key stages 1 and 2, pupils have a positive attitude to reading and are motivated by the school’s reading challenge.  Homework is regular and helps to consolidate skills learnt in school. The school’s information shows a considerable improvement in the number of pupils completing homework. As a result, pupils consolidate some skills in reading and handwriting.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. The curriculum does not fully capitalise on opportunities for pupils to learn about how British values prepare them for life in modern Britain. For instance, pupils’ knowledge of significant people in history is limited.  The school’s work to promote British values and pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is evolving but not fully effective. A recent poignant remembrance service at the school was observed respectfully. Older pupils could talk with some conviction about the sacrifice soldiers make, the cost to life and the moral dilemma of war.  Older pupils are good role models for younger pupils, as seen in their role of lunchtime meal servers. In turn, manners observed across the lunchtime were often exemplary, with pupils saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ for the food they receive.  Pupils value and enjoy the array of activities on offer, including sports matches and

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and are keen to learn. Pupils behave well in lessons, taking the opportunity to cooperate with one another harmoniously.  Pupils understand the school’s system for behaviour and behave well at different times around the school. The school has a calm and orderly environment.  Pupils understand the different forms of bullying and say that bullying is infrequent and that any incidents are dealt with swiftly by adults. The school’s own records for behaviour show that incidents are low in number and are addressed effectively.  Older pupils act as peer mediators and help to sort out problems that may occur. They also teach younger pupils different games to play.  Pupils know about keeping themselves safe in a range of situations, including on the internet.  Attendance overall is improving. The school, including its parent support worker, are

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Behaviour

working hard to promote attendance by working with families and providing regular updates in newsletters. However, although attendance is improving as a result, a higher than average number of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, are persistently absent.  There have been no exclusions this academic year and exclusions over time have been dealt with in line with the statutory guidance.  A large majority of parents expressed their satisfaction at pupils’ standard of behaviour and had very few concerns about incidents of bullying. Lapses of concentration and interruptions are dealt with swiftly by teachers.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 The progress of all groups of pupils in key stage 2 is inadequate. An unacceptably high number of pupils underachieve considering their individual starting points. Outcomes have not risen quickly enough over time, especially in key stage 2. As a result, pupils are behind their peers when they start the next stage of their education.  In 2016, pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of key stage 2 was considerably lower than expected given their Year 2 starting points. Progress has been held back by a lack of continuity in teaching and a legacy of poor teaching over time.  Standards in writing in key stage 2 are often limited by pupils’ ability to use their spelling, punctuation and grammar skills across all curriculum areas. Teachers have not ensured that pupils fully apply these key skills in other subjects. As a result, the quality of work in science, history and geography is too variable.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 The school’s own performance information is not fully reliable or backed up by evidence seen in pupils’ books. It does not match inspection evidence or support the school’s optimistic view of improved progress for all groups of pupils, including the most able, since September 2016.  The progress made by disadvantaged pupils is inadequate because pupil premium funding has not been used effectively enough to bring about rapid improvement. The school’s own records indicate that pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, in key stages 1 and 2 do not make enough progress.  The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, do not reach the highest standards they are capable of achieving. Tasks set for the most able are not always challenging and do not provide enough stretch. As a result, over time these pupils have made inadequate progress.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported sensitively

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

by the individual and additional adult support they receive. However, this support is not sufficiently focused on improving the progress these pupils make and, as a result, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make inadequate progress. The school’s own performance information is not fully accurate and secure and is not supported by inspection evidence.  Leaders, including governors, recognise that outcomes are simply not high enough. The underachievement of groups means that pupils are not given the equality of opportunity to succeed and are not well prepared for their next stage of education.  The number of pupils in Year 1 meeting the expected standard in the national phonics screening check has increased over the past three years. As a result, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in 2016 is above the provisional national average. The leadership of phonics has been stable and effective and has brought

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 Children enter Nursery with skills and abilities below those typical for their age and development, particularly in speech and language. Since the previous inspection, a similar proportion of children leave the early years having made the typical progress expected in relation to national averages. Too few children leave the early years having made better than expected progress.  Boys make less progress than girls from their starting points. Not enough has been done over time to address the gender differences in almost all areas of learning. As a result, fewer boys have the skills they need to get off to a flying start in their next stage of education.  Teaching does not always cater for the most able children. Progress for these children slows because teachers do not have appropriate strategies or high enough expectations for those who can achieve more highly. As a result, these children are stopped from making good progress.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 Leaders have not used additional early years funding effectively to make a difference to children’s progress. Suitable strategies to remedy learning gaps have not been identified.  Children generally behave well and engage positively in activities. Some lapses occur when a small minority of children misuse resources in the early years environment. Adults do not always follow up on this behaviour.  All groups of children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, generally concentrate well and enjoy the activities on offer. A group of children were bursting with excitement when they went to learn outdoors and made a rocket to go and catch some stars.  Adults focus well on developing basic skills including speaking, listening, reading and writing. The children enjoy using their knowledge of sounds to read and write simple words.  Children are kept safe and are well looked after during their time in the early years.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

Risk assessments are in place to keep pupils safe in and outdoors. All welfare requirements are met assiduously.  The school forges strong relationships with parents so that children settle quickly into school life. Home visits and ‘stay and play’ opportunities are well received by parents.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address new-earswick.school@york.gov.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11–12 March 2015

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  Almost all pupils are of White British heritage.  A higher than average proportion of pupils are disadvantaged and supported through the pupil premium.  Children enter the school in Nursery on a part-time basis. They move into Reception on a full-time basis.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is average.  Provisional data for 2016 suggests the school will not meet the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The acting headteacher was in post at the time of the previous inspection as deputy headteacher. A temporary deputy headteacher was appointed in September 2016. The substantive headteacher takes up post in January 2017.  A small number of pupils from key stage 2 attend Danesgate Community behaviour

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Information about this school

provision.  The school meets the requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in a range of lessons. Four lessons were observed jointly with the acting headteacher and acting deputy headteacher.  In addition, inspectors looked at examples of pupils’ work and listened to pupils read.  There were meetings with groups of pupils, the acting headteacher, acting deputy headteacher, subject leaders, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  The inspectors took into account the 24 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) and discussions with parents.  The inspectors examined the school’s own information on pupils’ recent and current progress; the school’s evaluation of how well it is doing and its records of monitoring the quality of teaching; records relating to behaviour and attendance; and documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Brian Stillings, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lesley Bowyer Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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