Little Weighton Rowley Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

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

p.1

Miss Susie Varley Headteacher Little Weighton Rowley Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School White Gap Road Little Weighton Cottingham HU20 3XE

p.1

Controlled Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 30 January 2018, 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

Controlled Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are a determined and successful leader who has the respect of all staff and pupils in the school. Governors are dedicated and work hard not only to understand issues, but also to challenge school leaders to ensure that pupils get the best possible experience.

p.1

Controlled Primary School

The school is a very happy place. Pupils thrive in the safe environment you have created and are pleased with their school. One Year 6 girl described the school as ‘one big, happy family’ and governors are proud of pupils’ participation in the community. Pupils behave well as they move around the school and are disciplined and hard-working in classrooms.

p.1

Controlled Primary School

Numbers of pupils in each year group are small, making meaningful comparisons with national figures difficult. You, your staff and governors welcome all pupils and have built a reputation in the community for meeting the needs of individual pupils well. One quarter of pupils have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities; this is twice the national average. One third of pupils in key stage 2 and one quarter of pupils in key stage 1 did not start Little Weighton Rowley in Reception. Despite these challenges, at the end of key stage 2 in 2017, a higher proportion of pupils than seen nationally achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils made better than average progress in reading and writing but below average progress in mathematics. At the last inspection, you were asked to continue to improve pupils’ progress and to further improve the quality of teaching so that more is outstanding. You and your

p.1

Controlled Primary School

senior teacher use all of the information available to you to consider the quality of teaching and learning taking place in school. You have analysed assessments of pupils’ work, looking for gaps in their learning, and have used this information well to make changes to the curriculum. You have also introduced a coaching model to enable staff to reflect upon their teaching and this is leading to further improvements in teaching. Consequently, teaching, over time, is consistently effective. However, in some classes, teachers are not ensuring that the most able pupils develop and practise higher-order mathematical skills and some of the least able pupils have not mastered basic skills in phonics and letter formation.

p.2

Controlled Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You and your governors have ensured that the site is secure and safe for pupils. You have assessed the risks to pupils and taken appropriate steps to manage those risks. You have made sure all staff are trained well to identify signs and symptoms of abuse and have attended regular training to keep your own knowledge current. The safeguarding information you hold on staff is up to date. Safeguarding records show attention to detail and timely interventions by staff to help pupils overcome any difficulties.

p.2

Inspection findings

 During this inspection, I wanted to find out whether teaching is leading to improved outcomes for pupils in both key stages, including for those pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. I was looking to see if pupils are able to learn through a broad curriculum that enables them to make strong progress in subjects other than reading and writing. I also wanted to know how successful the teaching of mathematics is and whether the teaching of phonics is effective.  In the main, teachers reflect upon what works and adapt learning well to meet the needs of different groups of pupils. You and your staff have reviewed assessment processes and regularly discuss how well pupils are doing in reading, writing and mathematics. Overall, current pupils are achieving standards appropriate for their ages and where they are not, you have put successful strategies in place to help pupils plug gaps in their learning. Most children and

p.2

Inspection findings

pupils are currently on track to meet the standards expected for their age in the early years and at the end of key stages 1 and 2 this year.  You and your staff have worked very effectively to ensure that pupils learn practically through a broad range of subjects. Pupils love their lessons. They say teachers ‘make learning fun’. Teachers plan very effectively to enable pupils to learn about different families, faiths and cultures. Pupils’ work shows, for example, that key stage 2 pupils have delved into the creation stories from a whole range of different faiths, including Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. Pupils spoke enthusiastically about the upcoming residential visit to the Lake District and about attending ‘dodgeball’ lessons. Work in pupils’ books shows they take pride in presenting their learning about different subjects and enjoy the links in learning made for them by their teachers. Examples seen included the making of

p.2

Inspection findings

a poppy from clay, writing instructions on how to make the poppy and undertaking research about the early 20th century, all leading to pupils developing a sensitive understanding of what it was like for soldiers during the First World War.  The leader for SEN works closely with teachers to ensure that pupils receive the support they need. She ensures that pupils are regularly assessed and that teachers use the assessment information to ensure that the tasks they are given are sufficiently challenging. You have ensured that pupils in need of speech and language therapy receive bespoke teaching in school, and you employ a specialist teacher to support pupils with specific learning difficulties. Although these pupils are not always working at standards expected for their age in reading and writing, they are making progress, albeit sometimes in small bursts.  Phonics is taught daily in the early years and key stage 1 and the majority of

p.3

Inspection findings

pupils are able to use phonics to read and write new words. However, work in books shows that some of the least able pupils have gaps in their basic skills, particularly in phonics and handwriting, and this is preventing them from making the rapid progress they need to make to enable them to meet the expected standards.  You and your governors recognised that pupils were doing less well in mathematics than in reading and writing. Together with your staff, you looked in detail at areas of mathematics where pupils appeared to do less well. You knew that pupils were capable in number and arithmetic but less confident with using and applying mathematics. Thus, you have allocated more time to mathematics lessons and teachers have amended their planning to enable pupils to gain greater experience in working with shape, space and measures. This is leading to pupils making better progress this year and more pupils are working at standards

p.3

Inspection findings

expected for their age. However, some of the most able pupils work through similar mathematical problems and are not consistently challenged to explain their reasoning or to develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.

p.3

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.3

Next steps for the school

 the teaching of phonics and handwriting is better structured to enable all pupils, but particularly the least able pupils, to consistently use and apply their learning in reading and writing  teaching for the most able pupils is more precisely focused and offers sufficient challenge so they are able to apply their knowledge in mathematics in order to reach the higher standards. I am copying this letter to the chair 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 the East Riding of Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3

Information about the inspection

During this one-day inspection, I was able to discuss the work of the school with you and your senior leader. We visited classrooms together to observe teaching and learning. I was able to look at pupils’ work in books and to speak with pupils throughout the day. I spoke with a representative of the local authority and four members of the governing body. School documentation, assessment information, policies and information posted on the school website were also taken into account. I looked at the 15 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, to gather parents’ and carers’ views about the school. I also took into account the views of seven staff through their response to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire.

p.4