Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs Zoe Hyams Executive Headteacher Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School Vicarage Lane Grasby Barnetby Lincolnshire DN38 6AU

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 27 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 September 2013.

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since the last inspection, there have been considerable changes in staffing in all areas of the school. The school has also formed a formal federation with Caistor Church of England and Methodist Primary School. Following your appointment as interim headteacher in September 2015, and executive headteacher in January 2017, you have brought much-needed stability.

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

You have high expectations of staff and pupils and are aspirational for pupils’ success. Staff know pupils as individuals and relationships between staff and pupils are very good. You have created a culture where all feel valued. Parents and pupils describe the school as a ‘family’ and the community spirit is clear to all. You have developed strong working relationships with parents, who are extremely appreciative of the support that they and their children receive. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school.

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Leaders and governors have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They are taking appropriate action to bring about the necessary improvements. Action plans are focused and specific. Leaders do not, however, routinely evaluate the impact of their work precisely enough to ensure that all aspects of the school’s work are as effective as they might be.

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Pupils are happy and enjoy coming to school. They recognise that their teachers want them to do well and are keen to meet teachers’ expectations. Pupils are confident and articulate. During the inspection, pupils were keen to talk about their experiences at school. They spoke highly of their teachers and said that they enjoy their learning. Pupils understand diversity. They learn about different religions and recognise that others have beliefs that differ from their own. They are respectful of others’ differences. Pupils are kind and considerate. They collaborate well and are supportive of each other. Older pupils take responsibility for their younger peers.

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The formal federation has provided opportunities for staff to develop their practice. You have ensured that teachers have the opportunity to work together by timetabling common preparation time. Teachers are thus able to share best practice and learn from one another. You have also introduced a new approach to sharing good practice within the school. Teachers conduct ‘lesson studies’, where they agree an area in which they would like to develop, plan lessons together, then observe each other’s practice. This informs discussion and helps teachers to identify the next steps in their professional development. Teachers are extremely positive about these approaches, which they say help them to improve.

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Teachers have worked across the federation, and with other schools, to moderate their assessments of pupils’ work. You have also introduced a new system for target-setting, which has raised expectations of pupils’ achievement. This, alongside accurate assessment, has strengthened the existing ‘challenge and support’ meetings. During these meetings, you discuss individual pupils’ progress and agree actions to ensure that pupils are appropriately challenged and supported.

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Since the last inspection, you have amended the school’s assessment and feedback policy. In addition, you have used staff meetings to provide staff with training to improve the effectiveness of their feedback to pupils. Teachers now provide explicit opportunities for pupils to reflect on their learning and to improve their work. Pupils told me that they regularly and frequently apply the ‘green pen’ approach to improving their work, which helps them to learn. Your monitoring indicates that pupils are making more rapid progress as a result of the consistent application of the policy. Work in pupils’ books also demonstrates this.

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The last inspection identified the need to ensure that the most able pupils are provided with appropriately challenging tasks. You have shared high expectations of what all pupils, including the most able, are able to achieve. Teachers use their knowledge of individual pupils’ abilities to plan activities which meet their needs. During the inspection, you and I observed pupils in Years 5 and 6 grappling with different tasks in mathematics. They were keen to persevere and were proud of their achievements when they managed to work out the answers. Pupils told me that they feel challenged by their work in most lessons. Pupils with low prior attainment are very well supported and the most able are challenged effectively.

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

Since the last inspection you have undertaken significant refurbishment of the facilities in the early years outdoor area. This means that children are able to make use of the outdoor area throughout the year. It is a safe, welcoming and comfortable environment. During the inspection, children used covered areas to participate in a variety of activities, despite the fact that it was snowing. You have taken action to improve the quality and quantity of information you provide to parents. You have increased the frequency with which you communicate with parents. For example, you send regular newsletters. You have also sought parents’ views, via questionnaires, and considered their requests in your planning of events. In addition, you have introduced an electronic means of communicating with parents. The vast majority of parents who made their views known said that this has helped to keep them informed about what is happening at school and how

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Short inspection of Grasby All Saints Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Staff have received up-to-date training and understand their responsibilities. Relationships between staff and pupils, and between staff and parents, strengthen safeguarding arrangements. Leaders involve external agencies when necessary and follow up referrals when they have concerns. This means that pupils receive the help they need quickly. Records are detailed and of high quality. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe. They know who they can speak with, at school, if they have concerns. Pupils understand the difference between bullying and unkindness. They say that bullying is rare but are confident that staff would deal with any instances that occurred.

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Inspection findings

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good throughout the school. Teachers plan activities that interest and enthuse pupils, who enjoy their learning. Teachers have a very good understanding of individual pupils and use this knowledge to plan activities that meet their different needs. Teachers ask probing questions which help pupils to develop their reasoning skills. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported.  Pupils make good progress in all subjects. In 2017, all pupils reached the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2. An increasing proportion of pupils reach the higher standards. Ensuring that the most able pupils achieve the higher standards remains a priority.  You have introduced a new approach to teaching mathematics. Teachers provide plenty of opportunities for pupils to develop their problem-solving and reasoning

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Inspection findings

skills. The amended feedback policy is particularly helpful in supporting pupils to make progress in mathematics.  Leaders have communicated the clear expectation that pupils will attend regularly. The small number of pupils who have legitimate medical reasons for not attending are supported well. Leaders take appropriate action to challenge poor attendance on the rare occasions that it is necessary. Pupils recognise the importance of attending school and are keen to do so. Current attendance is above the national average.  Leaders have ensured that the pupil premium funding is allocated to appropriate activities to help disadvantaged pupils to make rapid progress. Leaders track pupils’ progress and intervene when necessary. However, they do not evaluate their strategies with precision. They are therefore unable to determine which strategies are effective. Nevertheless, disadvantaged pupils make good progress

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Inspection findings

because the quality of teaching is good.  The refurbishment of the early years outdoor area has supported children to develop their independence. Teachers set up activities to inspire and interest them. Children are encouraged to practise the skills they have learned in teacher- led sessions, when learning independently. For example, children were observed drawing scenes from a book they had read with their teacher. Children were able to identify pictures which had been placed in the outdoor area and explain how they related to the story. They then went on to practise their writing using equipment that teachers had strategically placed outdoors. Work in children’s books showed that they were making very rapid progress in their writing.

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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

 strategies to ensure that the most able pupils achieve the higher standards are embedded and developed further  all aspects of the school’s work are evaluated with precision in order to adapt and amend strategies accordingly.

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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 Lincoln, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Lincolnshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

 Meetings were held with the executive headteacher and the deputy headteacher. The inspector also met with members of the governing body and spoke with an adviser from the local authority by telephone.  The inspector visited all classes with senior leaders and discussed the strengths and weaknesses observed. They also visited the outdoor areas.  The inspector spoke to pupils formally and informally in their lessons. She considered the 22 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  Fourteen responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and 13 free-text comments were considered. The inspector also looked at the results of a survey of parents’ views conducted by the school. She spoke with a number of parents at the start of the day.  The inspector met with a group of staff and considered the 13 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  A range of school documents were scrutinised, including the school’s self-

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Information about the inspection

evaluation and action plan, minutes of meetings of the governing body and information about pupils’ attainment and progress, behaviour, attendance and safety. Documents relating to safeguarding were checked and the inspector looked at the information published on the school’s website.  The inspector looked at a sample of pupils’ English and mathematics books with leaders. She also looked at pupils’ science and topic books.

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