Driffield Junior School

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

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Mrs Linda Laird Headteacher Driffield Junior School Bridlington Road Driffield YO25 5HN

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Short inspection of Driffield Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 6 February 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 December 2012.

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Short inspection of Driffield Junior School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have the trust and respect of governors and the local authority to continue to improve education at your school. With your staff, you have made sure that Driffield Junior School is a friendly place where all pupils, regardless of their needs, are welcomed and included in the school community.

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Short inspection of Driffield Junior School

At the last inspection, your predecessor was asked to improve the quality of teaching overall and to ensure that more pupils reach the higher standards by the time they leave your school. You and your senior leaders have worked successfully to ensure pupils receive consistently effective teaching. Senior leaders regularly monitor the quality of teaching and are highly visible around the school. You have ensured that pupils are learning well through regular visits to classrooms and through checking pupils’ books. Overall, effective teaching over time is leading to the majority of current pupils making strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Short inspection of Driffield Junior School

Pupils’ books show that teachers are spotting when pupils are confused and are stepping in to support them with additional teaching. Where pupils have quickly acquired new skills, teachers are asking pupils to revise or improve their work. Your own assessment information is showing that more pupils are achieving higher standards but you acknowledge even more could be done, particularly in challenging most-able pupils to develop reasoning skills and to show the depth of their understanding in mathematics.

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Short inspection of Driffield Junior School

In 2017, at the end of Year 6, the progress and attainment of pupils was broadly in line with national figures in reading, writing and mathematics. Two thirds of pupils attained the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined. This represented an improvement from 2016, when just over half of pupils attained the combined standard. The differences between disadvantaged pupils and others diminished during this time, because of very precise teaching to meet the needs of these pupils. Your own assessment information and work in pupils’ books show that pupils’ attainment continues to rise and more pupils are on track to attain the expected standard this year.

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Short inspection of Driffield Junior School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You have taken appropriate actions to keep pupils safe, including ensuring that robust follow-up with the local authority when you do not hear back from referrals. All staff are trained to recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse and to spot potential radicalisation of pupils.

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Short inspection of Driffield Junior School

You have introduced efficient systems to record any incidents of concern and closely monitor pupils’ behaviour, enabling you to intervene quickly when patterns start to emerge. Pupils value the help that staff give when pupils visit the ‘sorting’ room, where pupils discuss friendship or bullying issues as they arise. Pupils say that these issues are quickly resolved.

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Short inspection of Driffield Junior School

The work of the attendance officer to support pupils’ attendance and punctuality has been effective. Pupils’ attendance is now above the national average and the attendance of disadvantaged pupils, although slightly below that of others in school, is in line with national figures.

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Inspection findings

 During this inspection, I wanted to find out what leaders do to ensure that current pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities, make the best progress possible. I also wanted to know if pupils are able to learn well through a wide range of subjects.  The deputy headteacher has a secure understanding of the progress that pupils are making and shares this information with all staff in school. Teachers adapt their teaching according to this information to help pupils make at least expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics. You carefully track the progress of groups of pupils from their starting points and your assessment information shows that almost all groups are making expected or above-expected progress. Disadvantaged pupils, although making less progress than others, are now making more rapid progress in reading and mathematics. However, some

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Inspection findings

disadvantaged pupils are not making the progress of which they are capable in writing, sometimes because they have not mastered basic skills in handwriting and spelling.  You and your staff have looked closely at pupils’ responses to reading and identified the aspects of reading that pupils have struggled to demonstrate. You and your governors have purchased additional resources that enable pupils to take greater responsibility and encourage them to read widely and often. Together, you have reviewed the teaching of reading across the school and worked effectively to ensure that pupils acquire the higher-order reading skills necessary to reach expected standards. Consequently, a higher proportion of pupils are now working at expected standards in each year group and a large majority are on track to achieve the expected standard at the end of key stage 2 this year. The progress of pupils who are disadvantaged, although slightly below

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Inspection findings

that of other pupils, is much improved this year.  Your leader for SEN has developed a strong nurture provision that enables pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities to learn in a safe space with staff who are skilled in building their confidence. Pupils with an education, health and care plan are making strong progress due to the bespoke teaching they receive in the nurture class. You carefully track the progress of other pupils who have SEN and although they are attaining standards below others, pupils’ books show that they are making secure progress in reading, writing and mathematics due to the sensitive support and precision teaching offered to them on the same day when misunderstandings have arisen.  Teachers plan effectively together to ensure that classes in the same year group experience a similar learning diet. This is leading to consistency and strong progress in most subjects, particularly in the teaching of geography for example.

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Inspection findings

However, teaching in science is less effective because teachers have not fully considered how pupils will acquire new scientific concepts and how they will record their investigations to show their findings in a scientific manner.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 provision for disadvantaged pupils is honed further so they are able to make more rapid progress in writing  teaching for the most able pupils is sufficiently challenging so they are able to develop reasoning skills and apply their knowledge in mathematics in order to reach the higher levels  teachers more routinely plan lessons in science that enhance pupils’ scientific knowledge and enable them to use and apply their scientific skills.

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

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Information about the inspection

During this one-day inspection, I was able to discuss the work of the school with you and your senior leaders. Together with the leader for teaching and learning, I visited classrooms and looked at pupils’ books. I was able to speak with pupils throughout the day and took into account 47 responses to Ofsted’s online pupil questionnaire. 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 online questionnaire (Parent View) to gather 46 parents’ views about the school. I also took into account the views of 21 staff through Ofsted’s online questionnaire.

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