Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs Sally Cowling Headteacher Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School St John’s Road Bishop Monkton Harrogate North Yorkshire HG3 3QW

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England 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 June 2013.

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

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

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

You lead the school with a calm resolve, and a determination to ensure the very best for every pupil. This is a school whose values are firmly rooted in its Christian ethos. You make sure that staff and pupils are well supported and treated with kindness and respect. Staff and governors share your high expectation that every pupil can succeed and share your vision for a ‘quality education for all children in a caring environment’. They are proud to be members of this school community and have confidence in your leadership.

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

The caring, inclusive and family ethos is a thread running through all aspects of school life at Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School. Pupils enjoy coming to school, they enjoy learning and their attendance is above average. Pupils behave well in and around the school and they develop into confident, polite, thoughtful and respectful individuals. Pupils all agree that the school is friendly and welcoming. As one pupil told me, ‘We welcome everyone at our school and treat everyone equally.’ During the inspection, we visited classes and saw pupils cooperating happily and sharing ideas so that they could learn together.

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

The majority of parents and carers agree that the school provides a good standard of education. They appreciate the nurturing ethos that allows their children to thrive. One parent captured this by telling me, ‘This school is a family where every child is unique and cared for.’ Another parent commented that, ‘This school is fantastic. We are really pleased with the progress our children are making.’

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

You and other leaders have a clear and realistic understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. You ensure that information about pupils’ standards and progress is carefully analysed. You and your staff know every pupil individually and have an in-depth knowledge of their needs. As a result of regular discussions, you know which pupils are at risk of falling behind and what support is needed to help them progress.

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

You have successfully tackled the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. You have introduced new approaches to the teaching of spelling, which include a greater emphasis on pupils learning specific spelling patterns and then applying these in their writing. Pupils’ books show that older pupils routinely identify their own spelling mistakes and correct them independently.

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

By the end of key stage 2, standards are above the national average as a result of pupils making good progress over time. However, you have rightly identified that the progress made by boys in reading and the most able pupils in mathematics has previously not been as strong as it could be. Although the progress of these pupils is now improving, you are aware that more work still needs to be done.

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

Governance is strong. Governors bring a range of skills and experiences to their role and share the same passion and determination to excel. They take their duties seriously, hold leaders to account for the school’s performance and are closely involved in the life of the school. They achieve this by means of formal and informal visits, and by making sure that they access the appropriate governor training courses. Together, governors and leaders provide a strong sense of purpose and direction.

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Checks on the suitability of all those who work, or volunteer, in the school are carried out rigorously. Staff and governors have undertaken training in keeping pupils safe. Staff know that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. There are clear procedures in place for them to share any concerns they may have about a pupil.

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Short inspection of Bishop Monkton Church of England Primary School

The caring relationships that have been established between staff and pupils mean that pupils feel safe. Pupils have confidence that adults in school will help them if they have a problem and they know that it will be dealt with quickly and effectively. Pupils told me that bullying very rarely happens in school. If incidents did occur, they are confident that an adult would deal with it for them, swiftly and successfully. You have put in place effective arrangements to ensure that pupils use the internet safely. Enthusiastic ‘digital leaders’ advise their peers about online safety by designing posters and leading assemblies. Pupils know to click on ‘Hector the Dolphin’ if something worries them while using the internet.

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed on the key lines of enquiry. The first key line of enquiry looked at how effectively leaders are improving progress in reading for boys by the end of key stage 2. This was because, in 2017, boys’ progress was weaker than girls’ progress.  Pupils, including boys, read accurately and fluently. Throughout the school, boys are enthusiastic about reading, and their skills are well developed. The pupils who read with me said that they enjoy reading. As one boy told me, ‘Reading helps me to imagine another world.’ Boys told me about their favourite authors, such as Roald Dahl, Michael Morpurgo and David Walliams. They appreciate the variety of books on offer in their classrooms and in the school’s library.  You have recently changed the way reading comprehension is taught across the school. Whole-class reading sessions take place each day. Pupils read challenging texts and use these to answer a range of questions that develop

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Inspection findings

their reading skills well. We agreed that you would continue to monitor the impact of the changes you have introduced closely, as, on occasions, pupils are not always given work that challenges them enough or enables them to use a range of more complex reading skills.  Following a review of mathematics outcomes in 2017, your analysis has resulted in changes to the teaching of mathematics from the start of this academic year. Pupils are progressing well in mathematics, as a result of thorough planning, good subject knowledge and effective teaching. Teachers ensure that appropriate practical materials help pupils understand ideas behind mathematics effectively. Recent whole-school training has resulted in teachers providing more opportunities for pupils to talk about their learning in mathematics.  Work in books shows that pupils’ confidence and skills in number, operations and calculation are very secure. At times, however, most-able pupils spend too

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Inspection findings

long practising mathematical operations that they have already grasped. Teachers do not always ensure that these pupils are given sufficient opportunities to reason or to apply their skills in solving problems.  Children in the early years join in enthusiastically with well-planned activities, both indoors and outdoors. Learning areas are well organised and provide children with a broad range of opportunities across the different areas of learning. Adults skilfully develop children’s communication, language, literacy and number skills. For example, I observed children enjoying role-playing the story ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ in the outdoor mud area, while, indoors, children were recognising numbers to telephone ‘Batman’ and ‘Superman’ as part of ‘Superhero Day’. By the end of Reception, most children achieve a good level of development, with more children exceeding the early learning goals than found nationally. Consequently, children are well prepared for Year 1.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  actions to improve the teaching of reading are embedded across the school to further accelerate the progress of all groups of pupils, especially boys  all teachers plan more regular opportunities for the most able pupils to develop their mathematical skills through reasoning and problem solving.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Leeds, 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, I met with you, six parents, seven members of the governing body, including the chair, and a representative from the local authority. I talked with small groups of pupils informally in lessons and during playtime and lunchtime. Along with you, I visited all classes and looked at current English and mathematics books from pupils in all year groups. I also listened to some pupils read.

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Information about the inspection

I examined a range of documentation, including documents relating to attendance and safeguarding. I took account of the minutes of the governing body meetings, two peer review reports, the school’s evaluation of how well it is doing, the school’s developing excellence plan and the school’s pupil assessment information. I reviewed the school’s website. As part of the inspection, I considered the 48 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I also considered 15 responses to the staff survey and 89 responses to the pupil survey.

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