Cambois Primary School

Cambois Primary School Cowgate, Cambois, Blyth, Northumberland NE24 1RD

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Governors’ knowledge and understanding of the school’s work to secure good progress and outcomes for all groups of pupils are weak.  Leaders have not secured teaching, learning and assessment that are consistently good.  Several subject and middle leaders are new to post. Their skills and abilities in leading, evaluating and monitoring their areas of responsibility are insecure.  The quality of teaching across key stages is inconsistent. Teachers and additional adults do not use skills of questioning and explanation effectively.  Pupils in key stage 2 are not challenged and supported effectively to think deeply about mathematics. Pupils in key stage 1 do not make sufficiently good progress in writing.  The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are not challenged sufficiently in reading, writing or mathematics.  Teaching and learning in the early years are of variable quality. Some adults’ expectations are

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

too low, resulting in slow progress for children.  Children in the early years do not readily practise and apply the basic skills in mathematics, reading and writing.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher has gained the respect of staff, pupils and the vast majority of parents. Her clear vision and direct, honest approach to school improvement are highly valued.  Leaders use the sports premium funding to good effect. Pupils now access cross-school competitions and a wide range of extra- curricular sporting clubs.  Adults across key stages have strong, positive relationships with pupils and their families.  The personal, social and emotional needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are met effectively. Strong links with external agencies have been forged.  Pupils enjoy school. Attendance and punctuality are good. Pupils’ rates of attendance are consistently above the national average.  Pupils behave well. They are friendly, polite and have the utmost respect for adults and visitors in school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the effectiveness of leaders and governors by: – developing governors’ ability to evaluate the work of leaders, and the extent of progress that all pupil groups make, accurately – securing consistency in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across key stages and the curriculum – refining assessment systems to secure a clearer picture of the rates and extent of progress and attainment for all year groups and pupil groups – equipping subject and middle leaders with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to lead, monitor and manage their subjects and areas of responsibility well – holding senior and subject leaders fully accountable for the progress and attainment of all groups of pupils within their areas of responsibility – maintaining the site to a higher standard.  Improve the quality and consistency of teaching across key stages so that all pupils make strong progress and are stretched to reach their full potential by:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– honing adults’ skills of questioning and the clarity of their explanations when supporting and challenging pupils in their work – enabling pupils in key stage 2 to reason logically and tackle increasingly complex problems in mathematics – stimulating pupils in key stage 1 to write with progressively greater skill and improved composition – providing the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, with work that challenges and inspires greater depths of understanding in reading, writing and mathematics – making sure that all adults in the early years have consistently high expectations and are able to motivate children to practise and apply their skills of reading, writing and mathematics. An external review of governance 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 Requires improvement

 Since taking up post in 2015, the headteacher has earned the respect of the school community. Instability in staffing has been addressed and a clear vision for improvement has been communicated. Good-quality teaching and learning, however, have not been secured across key stages.  Several subject and middle leaders are relatively new to post. Skills and confidence in observing teaching and learning, assessing pupils’ work in books and tracking the progress of some groups of pupils are building. Nonetheless, leaders’ contributions to improvement across key stages are lacking, particularly in English and mathematics.  Leaders’ assessment systems are imprecise and do not help governors or staff to see exactly where weaknesses and strengths lie. The rate and extent of progress being made by pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and the most able pupils in each year group, for example, are not captured clearly.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Senior leaders have improved provision at the school in terms of its safety and appeal for pupils. A secure entry and exit system is in operation; pupils know that visitors will wear badges. The outdoor environment has benefited from additional equipment. New reading materials and additional resources for mathematics have been purchased.  The headteacher guides and challenges middle and subject leaders to hone their skills. Good-quality professional development is central to her vision for improvement. She models effective practice, secures cross-school partnership opportunities, demonstrates teaching techniques and leads staff training events. These measures are steadily growing leadership capacity.  Leaders make good use of the sport premium funding. Fitness and healthy lifestyles are promoted well. Pupils now attend more inter-school competitions. Teachers’ skills are developing well through their work with sports experts and coaches. A greater

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

range of extra-curricular sporting activities have been made available and enjoyed by pupils.  Leaders use the special educational needs funding with careful consideration. They are zealous in their endeavours to secure all possible financial support and additional expertise for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Work with external partners, such as speech and language therapists, occupational health experts and educational psychologists, is well embedded. Pupils’ personal, social and emotional needs, therefore, are met effectively. Variability in the quality of teaching and weaknesses in assessment, however, mean that inconsistencies in pupils’ academic progress in reading, writing and mathematics are currently evident.  Leaders use the pupil premium funding soundly to some extent. The majority of pupils at the school are eligible for support through the funding. Disadvantaged pupils have,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

for example, benefited from increased one-to-one or small group support because additional adults have been employed. In this way, the social, emotional and behavioural needs of vulnerable pupils have been managed effectively. Furthermore, in 2016, disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 made progress that was in line with others from similar starting points nationally across subjects. This said, inconsistencies in teaching mean that some disadvantaged pupils, including some of the most able disadvantaged pupils, do not make the accelerated progress that is needed for them to catch up with their peers nationally in reading, writing and mathematics.  The headteacher has created a positive ethos. The school is warm and welcoming. It has a distinctively inclusive feel. Pupils experience this first hand. During the inspection, several pupils were keen to explain that ‘everyone here is treated the same… everyone

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

is welcome.’ Staff are incredibly proud of their ‘lovely little school’ and the vast majority of parents agree.  Leaders have enriched the curriculum, making sure that pupils have a wide range of exciting opportunities to whet their appetites. Visits to churches and other places of worship develop tolerance and respect for others, while colourful visitors, such as science specialists, broaden interests and develop pupils’ curiosity about the world around them. Leaders ensure that core British values are instilled through themed Topic weeks and assemblies, as well as the many responsibilities that pupils hold such as ‘dinner prefects’ or ‘tuck-shop directors’.

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Governance of the school

 Governors currently lack the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to identify strengths and weaknesses in the school’s performance accurately. They are beginning to ask more challenging questions of leaders, but have insufficient expertise to dig deeper and get to the heart of matters presented. Their knowledge about the principles of assessment, national measures and the rationale behind the school’s own assessment system is limited. Leaders at all levels are not, therefore, supported or challenged effectively to secure improvements in terms of pupils’ outcomes.  Governors support the school. They regularly visit and volunteer, reading and talking with pupils or ‘getting hands-on’ with aspects of grounds and building maintenance where appropriate. This enables governors to experience for themselves what it feels like to be a pupil at Cambois. More formal monitoring and reporting to shape and

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Governance of the school

inform the school’s strategic direction is less well established.  At the time of the inspection, the governance section of the website omitted some required information. Governors were unclear about statutory requirements in this regard.  Governors bring a range of skills to bear on their work and are fully prepared to give their time and energy to school matters. They have strong community links, which strengthens the school’s partnership with the local community.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The school’s work to protect pupils from harm and campaign for their rights is a core strength. Pupils’ well-being and welfare are at the centre of leaders’ ambitions for the school.  There is a strong culture of respect. Adults take the rights of the child and their duty of care seriously. This comes to the fore when leaders and staff are protecting and caring for the most vulnerable. Adults are vigilant and give particular consideration to any additional issues that disadvantaged pupils or pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities may face. Adults are active in their efforts to identify and tackle any added risks, and work well with other agencies and experts to support and protect pupils and their families.  Adults are trained in child protection regularly. Weekly staff briefings as well as formal training events keep everyone up to date with the most recent guidance and statutory

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Safeguarding

information. Records are well maintained so that any adults who are absent during training sessions or meetings do not miss out, and are quickly given the necessary information.  Leaders have undertaken safer recruitment training. Information submitted during staff appointments is carefully vetted and questions asked at interview ascertain the extent of the candidate’s knowledge and understanding about keeping children safe. The school’s record of checks on the suitability of adults to work with pupils meets requirements. Such measures help protect pupils from harm.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is inconsistent across key stages. Some teachers and additional adults do not use questioning skills effectively to challenge and support pupils in their learning across the curriculum. Pupils’ strengths are not built upon and their misconceptions are not addressed in a timely manner.  Teachers and other adults do not explain new vocabulary, authors’ techniques and writing tips consistently well. As a result, pupils are not able to develop and acquire knowledge, skills and understanding swiftly. This weakness inhibits the teaching and learning of writing in key stage 1.  In key stage 2, not all teaching staff help pupils to become fluent in their application of number knowledge, to make links with other learning or to think deeply about their mathematics work. Mathematical concepts are not explained clearly and succinctly. Pupils’ progress is therefore hampered.  Teachers do not reliably plan work that matches pupils’ existing capabilities. The most

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

able pupils in each key stage are insufficiently challenged in their learning, particularly across the core subjects of reading, writing and mathematics. Too often they tackle work that is undemanding, repeat tasks they can already do or have to wait for others to catch up.  Some teachers make good use of additional adults to meet pupils’ needs. These teachers plan carefully to ensure that the intended learning is clear and potential barriers to learning are spelled out. They organise resources well and provide clear guidance to support less experienced colleagues. This effective practice is not yet consistent.  Teaching, learning and assessment in phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) are improving apace. Teachers and additional adults have received specific training to support pupils to pick up this essential early reading and writing skill. Therefore, most staff now have increased confidence and expertise. Pupils are encouraged to articulate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

sounds and letter names clearly and precisely. This means that current pupils in Year 1 are better equipped than previous pupils to manage some of the English curriculum demands in Year 2 and beyond.  Staff have strong relationships with pupils and growth in terms of pupils’ personal, social and emotional development is a key strength of adults’ practice. Staff and pupils, for example, work together to address any derogatory language or negative points of view. Vulnerable pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are particularly well supported in this area of the curriculum.  Pupils enjoy and benefit from an increasingly broad range of enriching experiences that staff plan and deliver. Staff provide extra-curricular clubs based on pupils’ interests and needs. Pupils’ social, moral, cultural and spiritual development is enhanced through these additional opportunities. Staff also arrange trips to different places of worship

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

and/or visits to local sites of interest. They use such opportunities to prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain and to encourage pupils to take pride in their own cultural history.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils are certain that adults can be trusted to listen, look after them and help them if they have worries or difficulties. Pupils told the inspector that Cambois Primary School has ‘the friendliest teachers ever’.  Pupils’ physical and emotional well-being are central to the work of adults. An ethos of care, respect and vigilance is tangible. Several parents commented that the school ‘goes the extra mile’ and offers an inclusive environment ‘where children thrive through encouragement’.  Staff work diligently with other agencies and external experts to secure additional resources and guidance for pupils. Vulnerable pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are particularly well supported in this area of their development.  Pupils say that teachers deal effectively with any rare instances of bullying. Pupils

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Personal development and welfare

understand different types of bullying and can explain the difference between bullying and having a fall-out with friends. Pupils work well with staff to tackle unacceptable or intolerant attitudes and behaviours.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Adults have ensured that pupils understand how and why they are expected to behave in a particular way. As a result, pupils have a firm belief that everyone is responsible for managing and improving their own behaviour. Such mature attitudes among pupils contribute to the good behaviour that is evident across the school.  Pupils are completely confident that good effort and behaviour are rewarded in a fair and consistent manner. This was expertly explained by pupils who justified the fact that green trips, which are special excursions, need to be earned. Pupils understand that these rewards for good behaviour, academic effort and positive engagement are not an automatic entitlement.  Pupils’ good attendance and punctuality attests to their enjoyment of school. One parent explained that her child is ‘excited to go to school every day’, but ‘is upset when the school holidays are on and she cannot go’. This is characteristic of the views of

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Behaviour

others, and is borne out by the fact that no groups of pupils are disadvantaged by persistent absence. Pupils’ attendance remains above the national average.  Occasionally in lessons pupils’ attitudes to learning wane and their behaviour deteriorates. This is the case when learning tasks are not well matched to pupils’ needs and interests and so their attention drifts and their progress slows.  Some boisterous behaviour emerges during outdoor play or during transitions between lessons. Nevertheless, teachers and other adults usually manage these situations promptly and so calm and order is restored quickly.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Current pupils are making variable progress due to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. The capabilities of the most able pupils in each key stage in reading, writing and mathematics are not fully capitalised upon. In 2016, no pupils reached a greater depth of learning in reading, writing or mathematics in key stage 1. In key stage 2, no pupils reached a greater depth of learning in the reading, writing and mathematics combined standard.  Work in current pupils’ books and in lessons show that pupils’ progress in writing in key stage 1 is not consistently good. In 2016, writing outcomes in key stage 1 were well below the national average. Pupils’ attention to the technical features of writing, their ability to apply an increasingly good and complex use of vocabulary and the overall quality of their work do not develop steadily or effectively over time.  Currently in key stage 2, some pupils across year groups are making slower progress in

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

mathematics than they are capable of. Pupils’ ability to apply their understanding to increasingly complex problems as they move on to more demanding topics within mathematics is too variable.  Pupils’ attainment in key stage 1 and key stage 2 has been below national averages over time in reading, writing and mathematics. This means that not all pupils are well prepared for their move to key stage 2 as they leave Year 2, or their move to secondary school as they leave Year 6.  The use of additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is very effective in terms of securing good progress in pupils’ personal, social and emotional development. Furthermore, in 2016, the progress of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities from their particular starting points was not significantly below other

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

pupils nationally in any subject. As with other groups, current pupils’ progress is variable due to inconsistencies in teaching.  Pupils who read to the inspector said they enjoy books and reading. Pupils’ outcomes in phonics are improving. Although fewer than 70% of pupils in 2016 met the expected standard in phonics in Year 1, current pupils are doing better. Pupils are benefiting from adults’ improved skills in this area and the proportion of pupils meeting expected standards is rising. Pupils are becoming increasingly confident in using and applying their phonic knowledge and skills.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 Some adults in the early years have suitably high expectations of what young children can do and achieve. These high expectations, however, are not consistent across the department. Consequently, some children do not make the progress that they should, particularly in developing their writing skills.  Staff do not provide sufficiently challenging, stimulating work and play for the most able children in either the Nursery or Reception class. As a result, too few are inspired to read, write and use numbers to the best of their ability. For these children, progress is too slow and early learning in the basic skills is lacklustre.  A significant proportion of children enter the Nursery class with skills and abilities that are below those typical for their age. This is particularly evident in children’s language, speech, interpersonal and emotional skills. Staff use external advice and expertise, and

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Early years provision Requires improvement

deliver additional interventions to support some children to progress and acquire knowledge and skills effectively. The variability in terms of adults’ expectations and in teaching quality, however, render children’s rates of progress inconsistent. Too few are well prepared for the demands of the Reception or key stage 1 curriculum.  Outcomes for children in the early years vary over time. Historically, few children have reached a good level of development compared to the national average. Outcomes for the very small cohort in 2016, however, were above the national average. The current group of children, including disadvantaged children and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, in Nursery and Reception are making inconsistent progress from their different starting points.  All adults in the early years have positive, caring relationships with children. Staff are trained and vigilant in keeping children safe and free from harm. Children who have

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Early years provision Requires improvement

special educational needs and/or disabilities or those with particular vulnerabilities are especially well supported in their basic needs and social and emotional development. Pupil premium funding and special educational needs funding are used well in this sense.  Personal hygiene and keeping healthy are actively promoted by adults in the early years and so the children are developing the associated skills well. For example, staff make sure that children know why and how to wash their hands carefully after play and before eating food.  Most children behave sensibly indoors and outside. Children are encouraged by adults to talk about how they and others show their feelings. They know that some behaviours are unacceptable and they strive to follow class and school rules. Pupils listen attentively in different situations and take heed of adults’ requests promptly.  The headteacher and staff have recently worked with early years advisers from within

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Early years provision Requires improvement

and outside the local authority to enhance the learning environment. Children thoroughly enjoy exploring the improved indoor and outdoor provision.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.cambois.northumberland.sch.uk

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School details

Email address admin@cambois.northumberland.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 17–18 April 2013

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about governance or special educational needs on its website.  This is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium is well above average.  The proportion of pupils who have support for special educational needs is above average. The proportion of pupils who have education, health and care plans is also above average.  The proportion of pupils who join or leave the school at times other than the start of the school year is higher than that found nationally.  The school runs a breakfast club and offers a range of after-school clubs.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching and learning on both days of the inspection. The headteacher conducted observations jointly with the inspector on the first day of the inspection.  Meetings were held with pupils, senior and subject leaders, five governors (including the chair of the governing body) and representatives from the local authority. The inspector also spoke with a third representative of the local authority via the telephone.  A range of documentation was examined, including the school’s self-evaluation, monitoring and assessment information about the quality of teaching and learning, school improvement plans, governance, attendance and behaviour records, policy documentation and information about the curriculum and safeguarding.  The inspector listened to pupils read, spoke with pupils formally and informally and examined pupils’ work. There were no responses from pupils to Ofsted’s questionnaire.

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Information about this inspection

The behaviour of pupils was observed in lessons and during transitions and break times.  Parents’ views were gathered from Ofsted’s online surveys; 32 parents responded via Parent View and 29 via free text. Inspectors also met face to face with a number of parents at the school gates.  Fifteen responses from staff to Ofsted’s online questionnaire were taken into account.

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Inspection team

Fiona Manuel, lead inspector Her Majesty’s 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

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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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