Geddington Church of England Primary School

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

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Mr Martin Adamson Headteacher Geddington Church of England Primary School Wood Street Geddington Kettering Northamptonshire NN14 1BG

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Short inspection of Geddington Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 21 February 2017, 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 March 2012.

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Short inspection of Geddington Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since that inspection, there have been significant changes to the leadership team, including your appointment in 2014. You quickly established an aspirational culture for all and prioritised improving the quality of teaching and learning in all classes. Leaders and governors share your high aspirations for pupils. You have worked together to create a school action plan designed to bring about further improvements.

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Short inspection of Geddington Church of England Primary School

The pupils enjoy coming to school and are rarely absent. They are proud of the school and their achievements. You have created a purposeful climate of learning around the school, which enables pupils to grow in confidence and resilience. The Year 6 pupils I spoke with told me that they are looking forward to secondary school because their teachers have helped them prepare for the new challenges ahead.

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Short inspection of Geddington Church of England Primary School

Pupils’ attainment has been consistently in line with national averages. You have identified that you want to improve the progress which pupils make by the end of key stage 2. You have revised the curriculum, so that pupils can regularly apply their learning and deepen their knowledge, to address this. For example, pupils have lots of well-planned and meaningful opportunities to develop their problem- solving and reasoning skills in mathematics. You have ensured that this starts in the early years. We saw many examples of this together in pupils’ books. As a result, pupils have a better understanding of how to tackle and solve problems independently.

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Short inspection of Geddington Church of England Primary School

Pupils are very clear about what they are learning in lessons. Leaders have introduced a new, whole-school approach to writing. Most pupils now have a clearer understanding of the features of different types of writing and how to plan and organise their work. Pupils’ writing is improving as a result. For example, a pupil in Year 3 was able to write his own opening to a Greek myth: ‘Macheus and his father Dachese lived on the Isle of Shamadeo and were sent away to Magaddio as a punishment in a barrel.’

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Short inspection of Geddington Church of England Primary School

You acknowledge that the proportion of pupils who attain the higher standards at the end of key stage 2 in writing and mathematics needs to improve. Leaders have provided additional support to help pupils achieve this. Current school data indicates that the proportion of pupils on track to achieve at the higher standard is at least in line with national expectations in all subjects this year.

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Short inspection of Geddington Church of England Primary School

You are the designated safeguarding leader and you are supported in this role by two other senior leaders. You are all suitably trained and keep your knowledge current through regular online updates. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. Leaders and the governing body complete annual audits to check that safeguarding arrangements continue to be robust. A recent review of the school’s procedures and practices has resulted in further improvements to the care and protection of pupils. All statutory checks on staff are carried out and recorded carefully. All staff receive regular and appropriate training and have a good understanding of their responsibilities to ensure children’s safety and well-being. The files you showed me indicate that staff make prompt referrals when they have any concerns and that leaders are vigilant in following up with external agencies

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Short inspection of Geddington Church of England Primary School

Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe. You have provided opportunities for them to learn about issues such as e-safety. You and your team know each pupil and their family well and this ensures prompt action should the need arise. The welfare officer provides effective early support for pupils and their families to ensure that problems do not escalate.

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Inspection findings

 You and the deputy headteacher joined the school in 2014. You were quick to strengthen leadership capacity by extending the senior leadership team. Leaders now have greater accountability for the areas which they oversee to support whole-school improvement. Consequently, staff are flourishing and pupils’ outcomes are improving.  Since the last inspection, children’s attainment in the early years and the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 have risen to above national averages. Pupils are confident readers and are well prepared for key stage 2.

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Inspection findings

 The deputy headteacher supports you in developing teaching and learning across the school. All staff now receive training appropriate to their professional development needs and whole-school priorities, such as mastery in mathematics. You also work with the Inspire Teaching School Alliance to share best practice externally.

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Inspection findings

 You and your leadership team have introduced an effective tracking and assessment system that provides you with clear analysis of the progress and attainment of each pupil. You have worked with other local schools and the local authority to ensure that your assessments are accurate. Teachers use assessment information about pupils to plan learning that extends pupils’ skills and knowledge.

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Inspection findings

 Teachers and teaching assistants deliver effective programmes of additional support. These are increasing the rates of progress for pupils of all abilities. Leaders have identified that the most able pupils are not making enough progress at the end of key stage 2 in writing and mathematics. You have put in place additional support to address this. However, it is too early to judge the impact of this yet.

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Inspection findings

 The governing body provides you with effective support and challenge. Governors rightly make safeguarding their highest priority and have recently campaigned to the local council to introduce safer parking at the school entrance.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils have a good understanding of British values, such as individual liberty, and can apply this to their learning. For example, pupils explained how some girls had to fight to be entitled to a school education in Third World countries.

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Inspection findings

 You have provided a range of exciting learning opportunities for pupils at the ‘Geddington University’ after-school club. This enables pupils to develop their artistic, academic and sporting talents, as well as trying new activities. You have ensured that disadvantaged pupils can benefit from this by funding their places.

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Inspection findings

 You have planned opportunities within the curriculum for pupils to learn about other cultures. Pupils are kind, considerate and respectful of diversity. As one pupil said, ‘Everyone is welcome at the school.’

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  more of the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, reach the higher standard in writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the diocese of Peterborough 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 met with you and shared my key lines of enquiry. I also met with the deputy headteacher and representatives from the governing body, including the chair and vice-chair of governors. I spoke with parents before school and met with a group of pupils in key stage 2 to talk about their school experience. You and I visited classes and examined pupils’ workbooks as well as talking to pupils, to evaluate the quality of their learning. We also looked at a sample of pupils’ writing and mathematics books from Year 6. In addition, I scrutinised the school’s safeguarding arrangements and records, including the school’s record of safeguarding recruitment checks on staff. I evaluated the school’s documentation in relation to pupils’ attainment and progress and reviewed the school’s own evaluation of its work, improvement plans and minutes of the governing body. I took account of 81 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, the 79

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Information about the inspection

responses from parents to the Ofsted free text service and 15 responses to the online staff survey. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online pupil survey.

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