Kirkby and Great Broughton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

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

p.1

Mrs C Wilson Headteacher Kirkby and Great Broughton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Kirkby Lane Kirkby-in-Cleveland Middlesbrough TS9 7AL

p.1

Voluntary Aided Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 28 November 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 2013.

p.1

Voluntary Aided Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

p.1

Voluntary Aided Primary School

Your ambitious, determined and thoughtful leadership of the school has ensured that pupils continue to thrive. A strong sense of values, centred on love, friendship and forgiveness, permeates the school. These values are clearly promoted through displays and acts of worship and upheld by pupils in their day-to-day behaviours, both in classes and at social times. Pupils enjoy coming to school because they are well cared for and appreciate the stimulating and interesting curriculum you provide. Their attendance is well above that seen nationally for primary schools and there are very few incidents of poor behaviour. Parents are very supportive of the school’s caring ethos and many choose to bring their children to the school despite living outside the catchment area. More than nine out of 10 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, recommended the school.

p.1

Voluntary Aided Primary School

In the last inspection you were asked to further improve teaching so that more was outstanding. Since then you have improved the curriculum and developed a broad range of interesting topics that include many artistic and creative opportunities. Good examples of pupils’ work are displayed across the school, including portraits and modelling linked to a study of the Tudor period. Teachers are also adept at asking probing questions that make pupils think deeply. Many pupils are keen to answer questions and reply with well-considered and clearly articulated answers. The quality of classroom discussion we observed was of a high order in each phase of the school. Although you have had to manage some turbulence in teaching, strong teaching has been sustained because members of staff have been trained appropriately and have had regular opportunities to work with colleagues in other schools. The work in pupils’ books reflects their keen interest and motivation to

p.1

Voluntary Aided Primary School

learn. They generally try hard, although some teachers allow the standard of handwriting and presentation to slip, especially in topic books, where some work is untidy and incomplete.

p.2

Voluntary Aided Primary School

You have secure systems in place to assess pupils’ progress. However, these systems are relatively time-consuming, which makes it difficult for staff to analyse, in detail, the progress made by different groups of pupils. The assessment information you gather shows the relatively small number of disadvantaged pupils, and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress. Most are working at age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics, reflecting your thoughtful and effective use of additional funding. You ensure that these pupils receive good additional teaching across the day to help them with skills they find more difficult. The pupils I spoke to really appreciate this extra help. You have begun to improve your assessment procedures and have installed a better data management system that will allow staff to assess pupils’ progress more frequently and take greater ownership of assessment information.

p.2

Voluntary Aided Primary School

Particular progress has been made in improving the quality of pupils’ writing. Outcomes in writing were weaker than those in other subjects in recent years, particularly at the end of key stage 2. By targeting this area, you have successfully raised everyone’s expectations. Teachers now consistently apply new strategies that have helped pupils to develop and extend their ideas and to structure their writing more effectively. The independent writing in pupils’ ‘Star Work’ books successfully captures their strong progress over time. Day-to-day work in English books also shows that pupils are now more able to sustain their writing, and there are many good examples of writing at length in a range of styles.

p.2

Voluntary Aided Primary School

You ensure that all members of staff understand the duty upon them to protect children in their care and provide all necessary training so that they know what actions to take if they have a concern. Staff are vigilant and report any issues to you quickly. You keep good records and take advice from external agencies where necessary. Fortunately, however, you have relatively few child protection cases to manage.

p.2

Voluntary Aided Primary School

The school is a safe and secure site. You ensure that all necessary checks are made on adults who work in or visit the school. Your curriculum also helps pupils to consider their own safety. For example, good work is done to help pupils and parents appreciate the risks children face when online.

p.2

Voluntary Aided Primary School

You and the governors ensure that safeguarding procedures are reviewed annually and you provide a thorough annual report to governors to keep them all fully informed about safeguarding work.

p.2

Inspection findings

 As headteacher, you provide very professional oversight of the school. Your thorough self-evaluation is accurate and your plans for improvement provide clear guidance for the staff. At Kirkby and Great Broughton Primary School everyone is expected to be a leader and the clarity of these plans ensures that everyone knows their role and understands how to contribute to improving the school. You and your influential middle leaders make frequent checks on the quality of teaching and learning and provide staff with regular helpful feedback. Where necessary, you challenge and support your staff and are prepared to deploy them into different classes if it will improve pupils’ progress across the school.  Although there have been several changes to the membership of the governing body, governors are well organised and provide effective scrutiny of the school. Sensible succession arrangements are in place for the role of chair of the

p.3

Inspection findings

governing body. Committees provide effective oversight of the school. Governors are kept well informed through the high-quality reports they receive and through the regular focused visits they make. New governors undertake induction training and increasingly ask probing questions about the progress of different groups of pupils. Governors are well informed about how additional funding is used and the effect it has on improving outcomes.  Children enter the Reception class with skills that are broadly typical for their age. Some children are more advanced, with well-developed speech and language skills that allow them to make rapid progress. During my visit, children demonstrated an excellent grasp of numbers when playing with an abacus. They could confidently count up to, and down from, 10, and could count on and split numbers into halves. Other children showed how they could accurately write their

p.3

Inspection findings

friend’s name and use their knowledge of sounds to write unfamiliar surnames. Over recent years, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development has consistently been well above the national average, with several children exceeding the standards expected for their age.  Good progress continues across key stage 1. The proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check has also been consistently above the national average. Pupils read confidently from Year 1 onwards and quickly progress to become fluent readers. By the end of key stage 1, good teaching ensures that the proportion of pupils attaining the expected and higher standards are both above the national picture in reading, writing and mathematics.  Progress rates across key stage 2 have been less secure in recent years, particularly in writing. However, prompt action to improve the school’s approach

p.3

Inspection findings

to the teaching of writing has done much to address the issue. Pupils currently in the school are now challenged more and better teaching helps pupils to develop their skills more systematically. Evidence in books shows that the vast majority of pupils are now working at or above age-related expectations and many write with flair. Some pupils do not give enough attention to the quality of their handwriting, however.  A high proportion of pupils also make good progress in mathematics. Teachers place emphasis on ensuring that pupils have a very secure grasp of numbers and practice their fluency regularly. Good activities in lessons ensure that all pupils actively participate and are challenged to apply their knowledge of times tables, fractions and decimals. Teachers ask probing questions and ensure that the most able pupils are extended through more challenging questions. Some opportunities are missed, however, to make sure disadvantaged pupils are also challenged and

p.3

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.4

Next steps for the school

 the new assessment system is quickly embedded and information is used to identify and target any pupil who falls behind with additional support as early as possible  staff maintain the highest of expectations for handwriting and the presentation of work across the whole curriculum  teachers use questioning to keep disadvantaged pupils actively involved and to check their level of understanding during lessons.

p.4

Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the co-chairs of the governing body, the director of education for the diocese of York, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for North Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.4

Information about the inspection

During this one-day inspection, I met with you, a group of governors, including both of the co-chairs of the governing body, and a representative of the local authority. I also met with a group of pupils and listened to some of them read. Together, you and I visited lessons in each phase of the school to look at the effect of your work to develop the quality of teaching. During lesson visits I sampled pupils’ books and talked to pupils about their learning and progress. The English and mathematics leaders looked in detail at some pupils’ work with me, in order to evaluate the progress that pupils had made over time. I also walked around the school to look at pupils’ behaviour and conduct at social times. I looked at the 55 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View). I looked at a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement planning, policies and other

p.4

Information about the inspection

information available on the school website. I focused particularly on the progress of pupils currently in key stage 2, especially in writing and mathematics. I scrutinised how effectively the pupil premium was being used and the quality of leaders’ work to accelerate pupils’ progress. I also looked closely at the work of governors and the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements.

p.5