Beswick and Watton CofE (VC) School

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

p.1

Mr Steve Woodhouse Executive Headteacher Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School Beverley Road Beswick Driffield YO25 9AR

p.1

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 22 March 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 February 2012.

p.1

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. Since your appointments, you and your head of school have worked relentlessly to build on the strengths noted at the last inspection and create a school that reflects your aims and ambitions. Your school motto ‘Love, live, laugh and learn’ informs the day-to-day working of staff and pupils and drives your school improvement priorities. You remain a highly inclusive community where pupils thrive, particularly those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

p.1

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School is a small, rural school that offers a nurturing and inclusive community atmosphere. Pupils and parents are rightly proud of the school and all that it achieves. As executive headteacher, you have secured excellent working relationships with staff, governors and parents. One parent’s comments encapsulated the endorsement of many others: ‘A lovely caring school, where children are encouraged and acknowledged for all their achievements both within and away from the school setting. A very important community based school.’

p.1

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

Along with other senior leaders, you share your time between Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School and two other schools in the federation. Cohorts at Beswick and Watton School are usually very small, comprising fewer than 10 children. This means that there is often considerable variability in each year group and therefore it is difficult to make comparisons with national averages. You recognise both the opportunities and challenges that your small school presents. Following the school’s rapid response to the disappointing results in reading and mathematics in 2016, a higher proportion of pupils are now reaching higher standards in both subjects.

p.1

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

The points for improvement identified in the report following the 2012 inspection have been addressed well. You have worked hard to ensure that teachers learn from one another and that they are using questioning more effectively to promote and foster pupils’ thinking skills in mathematics.

p.2

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

Your self-evaluation is accurate. You identify what is working well and those areas of the school that need to be strengthened. You have worked with leaders, governors and the local authority to ensure that priorities for improvement are accurate and achievable. You are aware that there is still more to do to ensure that more pupils reach the highest standards of which they are capable in all subjects.

p.2

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

All staff know each and every one of the pupils in their care and passionately strive to provide high-quality support for their academic and pastoral development. Supporting pupils’ personal development is clearly a strength of the school, demonstrated by initiatives such as ‘pets as therapy’. Leaders take pride in the fact that this is a small school with high aspirations for all pupils to be the best they can. Innovative curriculum design and the use of the school’s additional physical education and sport funding provide valuable opportunities for pupils to enrich and extend their learning. Pupils enjoy participating in a range of activities and competitions including dance, archery, swimming, football, netball and even mobile skateboarding.

p.2

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

Your school is a very happy place where adults and pupils enjoy working and learning together. Staff who responded to the Ofsted online questionnaire said that they respect you and feel respected by you. Pupils enjoy school. Those I spoke to during the inspection were unanimous in their praise for this ‘happy family’. Pupils learn about responsibility and are exceptionally well supported in their development into caring and sensible citizens.

p.2

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

Governors provide a high level of support for you and your staff. They have a regular presence in the school and consequently have good knowledge of what is working well and what needs to improve.

p.2

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

You, your staff and governors appropriately place a strong emphasis on pupils’ safety and welfare. All safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You are meticulous in your checks to ensure that systems to keep pupils safe are effective. Staff receive regular and relevant training on safeguarding, with an appropriate focus on maintaining awareness of the indicators of radicalisation, and e-safety. Documentation seen during the inspection demonstrates that training is effective because it shows that staff know the signs to look for that may indicate that a child is at risk of harm. Pupils’ attendance continues to improve. You routinely monitor absence rates and have worked closely with external agencies and families to reduce unauthorised absence. In a school where ‘everybody knows everybody’, the children mix and socialise across year groups and so bullying and discrimination are extremely rare. Pupils and parents and carers say that e-safety is dealt with ‘really well in this

p.2

Short inspection of Beswick and Watton CofE Primary School

school’. Your approach ensures that there is a culture throughout your school in which all staff recognise and act on their safeguarding responsibilities.

p.3

Inspection findings

 You and your staff have taken robust action to improve rates of attendance, particularly for those pupils whose circumstances make it difficult for them to attend school regularly. In working closely with families and the local authority, you have been successful in raising rates of attendance, which are now closer to the national average for all pupils.  Pupils’ conduct is extremely positive in classes, around school and in the playground. Pupils are cheerful and confident, and display very positive attitudes towards learning. They apply themselves diligently to the tasks they are given and they enjoy opportunities to make a contribution to the work of the school. Pupils are taught well, and from an early age learn how to be very respectful towards one another and to adults.  Small numbers of children enter the Reception class with below age-related expectations in significant areas of learning, particularly those related to literacy,

p.3

Inspection findings

numeracy and social development. Children settle quickly to become proficient and mature young learners. Accurate baseline assessments enable staff to quickly identify children in need of specific intervention and support and, where necessary, children are referred for specialist assessment to determine any potential area of need.  Teachers in the Reception class benefit greatly from the guidance provided by the early years leader who is based in a partner school. This support ensures that teachers have high expectations of children. Teaching is highly effective, particularly in phonics, and children make rapid progress toward reaching a good level of development. We agreed that although it is used well, the outdoor learning area is a little neglected in appearance. Consequently, there are fewer opportunities for children to complete stimulating activities outside.  Last year you were disappointed with the performance of the small number of

p.3

Inspection findings

pupils in the tests at the end of Year 6, particularly the results of the most able pupils. Having previously been above national expectations, published information for 2016 shows that the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was much lower than national averages. Your detailed records evidence the exceptional circumstances faced by some of these pupils and the positive impact of various interventions which supported pupils to make progress. This fall in achievement does not represent a decline in standards over time.  You and the head of school wasted no time in implementing an effective, bespoke assessment system to monitor the progress of individual pupils more closely. Increasingly, teachers are using this assessment information to inform their planning and they often set work that stretches pupils’ thinking to the full. You recognise that this is not yet consistently enabling pupils to reach the highest

p.3

Inspection findings

standards in all subjects, but the situation is improving. Progress information and the achievement in pupils’ books clearly demonstrate that current pupils are making strong progress in both key stages and that a greater number of Year 6 pupils are on track to attain a high standard in writing.  Effective team working across the two mixed-age classes in the school is providing more opportunities for teachers to monitor the progression of individual pupils according to their age and ability. During my visit, we observed pupils in classes and looked at a range of work. We agreed that there are occasions when pupils’ learning slows because they are unsure of what to do, or when the work set is slightly too hard or too easy for them. Sometimes in lessons, teachers persist with their set plan when the pupils show they are ready for something different or even more challenging.  You have devised a very broad and interesting curriculum with lots of additional

p.3

Inspection findings

opportunities for outdoor learning. Pupils demonstrate good skills in many subjects, such as science, geography, art, music, physical education and French, because they are given interesting tasks which they enjoy. The school’s involvement in a range of exciting initiatives enables pupils to extend their understanding of and respect for environmental and global issues. Pupils are inspired to create memorable experiences and to make a valuable contribution to their school environment through the garden, pond and ‘saving pollinating insects’ projects.

p.4

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.4

Next steps for the school

 more pupils reach the highest standards of which they are capable in all subjects  teachers make more effective use of assessment information to inform their planning, so that pupils of all abilities are consistently challenged in lessons  teachers maximise opportunities for deeper learning by recognising when pupils are ready for different or more challenging tasks  the external learning environment in the early years is improved to provide a rich level of challenge and engagement and so promote outstanding progress.

p.4

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 the East Riding of Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.4

Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you and the head of school to discuss the school’s self-evaluation, information about pupils’ progress and improvements since the previous inspection. Together, we observed learning in both classes and looked at a large number of pupils’ books. I heard pupils of differing abilities read and talked to pupils about their experience of school. Meetings were held with teachers, the designated leader for safeguarding, the special educational needs coordinator and with three governors, including the chair of the governing body. I held a short meeting with a representative from the local authority. I scrutinised a range of documents, including information on pupils’ progress, safeguarding, development planning and attendance information. I took account of seven responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including the free-text opinions provided. I considered the

p.5

Information about the inspection

eight staff responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire and the 14 responses to the pupil survey.

p.5