North Duffield Community Primary School

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

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Mr Andrew Russell Headteacher North Duffield Community Primary School Broadmanor North Duffield Selby North Yorkshire YO8 5RZ

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Short inspection of North Duffield Community Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 5 July 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 April 2013.

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Short inspection of North Duffield Community Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your governors have carefully and determinedly managed staffing changes so that the continued focus on improving outcomes has been maintained. A very strong sense of teamwork and collaboration exists because of your honest, trusting and open leadership. One member of staff summed this up by stating, ‘The school goes to great efforts to understand and accommodate the needs of parents and the community in which we live. This also contributes to an ethos which is welcoming and a pleasure to be a part of.’ Most importantly, pupils emulate these qualities in the way they conduct themselves, act towards each other and adults, and tackle their work.

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Short inspection of North Duffield Community Primary School

Pupils learn in a safe and caring environment where adults tailor activities to meet most pupils’ individual needs well. Because your school values and ethos are acted out by adults and pupils alike, all challenge injustice and learn or play together at ease with one another. Pupils demonstrate a strong ‘moral compass’ of right and wrong. Your strong pastoral focus is supporting pupils to overcome emotional and social barriers to learning. It is also providing rich experiences for developing the skills required to enable pupils to face any future challenges with confidence. Parents are supportive of your approach.

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Short inspection of North Duffield Community Primary School

At the previous inspection, you were asked to improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that work is well matched to the age and ability levels of different groups of pupils. You have been largely successful in this work. As a result, standards throughout the school have exceeded the national average and progress has been good. However, you correctly recognise that the challenge for the most able is still not always demanding enough and more pupils could reach higher levels if teachers raised their expectations. This is particularly the case in writing.

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Short inspection of North Duffield Community Primary School

Since the previous inspection, you have strengthened your teaching team and through robust monitoring, another area for improvement from the previous report, there is now no inadequate or weak teaching. However, you rightly identify, and have already started to develop, a range of strategies to ensure that all staff have the same high expectations. This is especially the case for improving pupils’ spelling, presentation and the feedback needed to improve writing in subjects other than English. You accept that although pupils write in a variety of styles, in subjects other than English, they need to show greater precision in their spelling, use of vocabulary and punctuation.

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Short inspection of North Duffield Community Primary School

During this inspection, I found North Duffield Primary School to be an industrious hive of learning. Pupils engage enthusiastically in their learning and are very proud of their school. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school and every parent who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, would recommend the school. One parent, typical of many, commented, ‘It is a very community-focused school and gives its students not only a superb start to their education but teaches them great lessons for life.’

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Short inspection of North Duffield Community Primary School

You and your leadership team ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Policies and practice keep abreast of recent legislation The procedures for keeping pupils safe are good. Good relationships with a wide range of external agencies are supporting pupils when they face particular challenges in their lives. Your team is assiduous in its work to ensure that pupils and families are well supported.

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Short inspection of North Duffield Community Primary School

Adequate checks are in place for staff and volunteers who work at the school. Your regular briefings to all staff are informative and timely. Consequently, staff are well aware of the risks children can face and know the signs to look out for, including from extremism. However, you agree that some of the practice could be tightened further. For example, although staff have all signed that they have received and read safeguarding documents, there is no further check to confirm that these have been understood. You recognise the need to communicate more clearly to parents and visitors about the named safeguarding personnel in school. You also know that parents and visitors need to be more aware of their own responsibilities in relation to safeguarding when they visit school.

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Short inspection of North Duffield Community Primary School

Pupils are well prepared to face the wide range of situations they may encounter in the future, including when using the internet. Pupils whom I spoke to are confident that there is an adult at school whom they can talk to if something worries them. They all feel safe at school.

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Inspection findings

 The first area I looked at during this short inspection was how well the most able pupils throughout school are challenged to reach the highest standards they can. The proportion of pupils making the expected rate of progress is high in both key stages because staff are clear about their expectations and provide pupils with sufficient support. Those few children who do not achieve a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year catch up quickly to meet the expected standards for their age by the end of key stage 1. However, the proportion of pupils achieving a higher standard at the end of Year 6 is low when judged against their prior attainment. This is because pupils do not make rapid progress. They make expected progress, especially in writing. This is because teachers do not have high enough expectations of pupils’ writing in subjects such as history, religious education and geography, and do not

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Inspection findings

challenge sufficiently pupils’ errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. There is little constructive feedback to enable pupils to improve their writing. Teachers’ feedback in topic books is not consistent or in accordance with the marking and feedback policy.  There are a small number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and a similar number of pupils who are entitled to the pupil premium. I wanted to check how well the school provides for these pupils and that they make good progress. I found that disadvantaged pupils thrive in your school and you use the pupil premium funding well. Your open, nurturing and caring approach ensures that all pupils are happy and confident to ask for help, no matter what the issue. Adults quickly check and intervene where necessary, liaising closely with parents, who appreciate the care their children receive. Cultural experiences and your rich curriculum serve all pupils well, but especially

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Inspection findings

disadvantaged pupils.  Support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is very effective. Again, you spend the funding wisely. Adults deliver high-quality guidance and use techniques that ensure that pupils’ needs are fully met. Your use of resources and practical approaches support pupils’ learning effectively and ensure their full access to the curriculum. As a result, pupils make good progress, are fully included and feel exceptionally well supported at the school.  I wanted to check that the school had a broad and balanced curriculum and prepared pupils well for life in modern Britain. I found that your team has developed a vibrant curriculum to provide pupils with a wide range of exciting opportunities for learning in a range of subjects, as well as from frequent school trips and events. Just before the inspection, pupils had visited a sea life centre in Scarborough and a Viking museum. Pupils excitedly described their learning and

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Inspection findings

how these experiences bring alive the subjects they are studying. The curriculum promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well and encourages good behaviour.  Pupils develop a good understanding and appreciation of many different faiths and cultures. In one class, for example, pupils turned their classroom into a mosque and their work provided them with a fascinating insight into the Muslim faith. Pupils learn to respect all cultures, religions and lifestyles. This prepares them well for life in modern Britain.  An area to develop emerged during the inspection which I examined further. When children join the school in the Reception Year, they generally develop well. Indeed, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development exceeds the national average. However, while children receive focused adult attention to improve their phonic, reading and writing skills, they have limited opportunities

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Inspection findings

to develop their independence and investigative learning outdoors. This restricts the development of all children, but especially the most able, to find things out for themselves and to learn from others.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and governors should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the quality of teaching improves so that it is outstanding and enables pupils to make rapid progress by ensuring that:  the most able pupils are always challenged in lessons  feedback to pupils is of a consistently high standard so that pupils use punctuation, grammar and, especially, spelling more accurately in all subjects  children in the early years are provided with more opportunities to develop their independence and investigation skills  staff understand the safeguarding documentation provided for them, and all visitors, including parents, are aware and reminded of their responsibilities to keep pupils safe.

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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 North Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, you joined me observing learning in all classrooms and we looked at a number of pupils’ books. I also discussed the progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities with your special educational needs coordinator. I spoke with pupils in lessons and held a separate meeting with a further group of pupils to ascertain their views of the school. Meetings were held with you, a senior leader, your safeguarding team and four members of the governing body. I also met with some parents. I held a meeting with a school improvement adviser from the local authority. I scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation and development plan, monitoring and assessment information, and safeguarding records. I considered the views of 37 parents who responded to Parent View and the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire of 18 members of staff.

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