Fylingdales Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

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

p.1

Mrs Claire Barber Headteacher Fylingdales Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Thorpe Lane Fylingthorpe Whitby North Yorkshire YO22 4TH

p.1

Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 22 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 June 2013.

p.1

Primary School

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

p.1

Primary School

Over time, you have maintained the high standards of education. Teachers feel well supported and pupils are confident to talk about the progress they are making. You have acted on the areas for improvement from the previous report. For example, you have strengthened the mathematics curriculum across all key stages, which is leading to pupils developing a greater understanding of mathematics and applying their mathematical skills across the curriculum. Pupils in key stage 2 were confidently calculating an average in science and there are more opportunities for pupils in the early years to learn about numbers.

p.1

Primary School

Pupils and staff are proud to be members of the school. Pupils appreciate the opportunities they have and the relationships they have with teachers. Parents and carers value the education their children receive and the unlimited support that you provide to them in times of need. Parents cannot speak highly enough of the work you and your staff do. You and your school are very important features of the local community.

p.1

Primary School

Current pupils make strong progress in their learning. Information and work in pupils’ books shows that pupils are on track to achieve more than other pupils have in the last two years. This is because, through external links and sharing good practice, the quality of teaching is continually improving. Pupils are receiving greater challenge to aim high and achieve all that they can. We agreed, however, that the most able pupils in key stage 1 could receive greater challenge in their learning.

p.1

Primary School

You, the governors and the local authority have identified appropriate areas for school improvement and are taking effective action to tackle them. We agreed that the evaluation of these actions could be sharper and more precise. We also agreed that while the quality of teaching is good and improving, teachers’ questioning could improve to ensure that pupils are challenged to think more deeply to further develop their learning.

p.2

Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Pupils, parents and staff say pupils are safe in your care at school. Safeguarding records are detailed and clearly show the steps leaders take in working with external agencies to support pupils.

p.2

Primary School

Leaders ensure that staff receive appropriate training and have clear systems and accountability in place, which ensures that pupils are safe. If safeguarding concerns arise, leaders take timely action to resolve issues and support pupils and their families. Records show that you continually monitor pupils to ensure that previous issues are fully resolved. Bullying is rare, but when it does occur, leaders and teachers tackle it effectively so that it does not continue.

p.2

Primary School

You have created an open culture in the school. Pupils are confident in explaining how school is helping prepare them for life in modern Britain and to face risks as they grow up. For example, pupils are knowledgeable about the dangers associated with drugs and alcohol and being online. Pupils are respectful of others and say that everyone should be treated equally.

p.2

Inspection findings

 Leaders’ and teachers’ actions to improve the quality of teaching in the school, but particularly in key stage 1, are beginning to improve pupils’ progress. Through the effective use of support from the local authority and staff expertise from the Esk Valley Teaching School Alliance, the quality of planning and range of activities for pupils in Reception and Year 1 are improving.  You are ensuring that tracking of pupils’ progress is accurate and continuing to improve. This is allowing intervention to take place so that pupils who fall behind quickly catch up.  Baseline assessments of pupils as they enter the school in Reception are increasingly accurate as leaders ensure that moderation is taking place with teachers from other schools.  Leaders carefully analyse pupils’ performance and where they identify gaps, they take action. For example, it was identified that pupils were struggling to complete

p.2

Inspection findings

tests under time pressure. Pupils now complete regular timed tasks to ensure that their time management improves.  Leaders spend additional funding for pupils who are disadvantaged effectively. For example, as a result of employing teaching assistants to support pupils with areas they are struggling with, purchasing appropriate resources to improve reading and writing and by ensuring that pupils in Year 6 receive high levels of support, disadvantaged pupils are making as much progress as their peers. Leaders expect almost all pupils in Year 1 to pass the phonics check this year.  Governors and the local authority provide high levels of challenge and support to you. Strong relationships ensure robust conversations, which support the development of the school. Governors are skilled, knowledgeable and passionate about the school and the community.  Leaders are effectively tackling pupils’ attendance, which has been slightly below

p.2

Inspection findings

the national average for the past three years. Through working with pupils and their parents and tackling term-time holidays, attendance is currently above the national average. Over time, persistent absence has declined and is now very close to the national average. You ensure that attendance is a priority and take every opportunity to promote good attendance to pupils and their parents.  Parents are exceptionally positive about the work of the school and of school leaders. Through Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, parents said that their children feel happy, safe and really enjoy coming to school. Parents value the ethos in the school, where every child can achieve, and the commitment of you and your staff.

p.3

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.3

Next steps for the school

 they continue to strengthen teaching and learning for pupils in key stage 1 and the early years to ensure that all pupils reach the highest standards, particularly those who are most able  teachers have opportunities to further develop their questioning skills to challenge pupils to think hard about their learning  evaluations of actions taken to improve the school are sharper and more evaluative so that the impact on pupils’ progress is clear.

p.3

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 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.3

Information about the inspection

During this one-day inspection, I met with you and your teachers-in-charge. I also met with governors and the school improvement advisor from the local authority. I visited classrooms and observed teaching and learning jointly with you. I spoke to pupils during their lessons and at lunchtime. I reviewed pupils’ work in a range of subjects in a sample of their workbooks. I reviewed information detailing pupils’ progress and attainment, the school self-evaluation document, the school development plan and your arrangements for checking on the performance of teachers. Documents relating to your work to safeguard pupils, including safeguarding incidents, were also checked. I reviewed the information and policies on the school’s website. I considered the 30 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View) and 22 free-text responses, 11 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and 66 responses to the pupil survey.

p.4