Terrington Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

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

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Mrs Sarah Moore Headteacher Terrington Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School North Back Lane Terrington York North Yorkshire YO60 6NS

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School

Following my visit to the school on 5 June 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 your school was judged to be good in September 2013.

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School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. After a period of staffing instability, you now have a more stable leadership team, whose members share the same vision of school improvement. You have worked hard to develop middle leadership, which has strengthened the capacity for improvement. You have created a positive learning culture within the staff team by sharing responsibilities, increasing accountability and giving staff opportunities to develop their leadership skills. As a result, staff morale is high and, together, you take collective responsibility for pupils’ outcomes. Work across the federation is very strong. Both schools work extremely well together, and use their combined knowledge to develop the skills of all staff members.

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School

This is a small school with a strong feeling of community. Leaders, staff and governors are determined to give pupils a broad, enjoyable education. School is a vibrant, happy place where pupils display great enthusiasm for learning, behave well and are keen to share their achievements. They are, rightly, proud of their learning and are eager to discuss it. Pupils speak very highly of how the school engages them in their learning through fun trips and extra-curricular activities. The pupils are clearly pleased at being able to choose a theme which they study for a half term and focus upon weekly on ‘Fantastic Fridays’. The pupils talked enthusiastically to me about this aspect of the curriculum and gave examples of topics chosen such as ‘weapons though the ages’, ‘art through history’ and ‘Egyptians’. The pupils told me that the classes are mixed from Nursery to Year 6 and so this allows them to work with other pupils to learn new skills.

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School

At the last inspection, leaders were asked to improve leadership and management by improving the quality of the school’s monitoring of teachers’ planning and marking. Effective monitoring is now used to identify strengths in teaching and identify how teaching can be supported to be even better. When teaching needed to be developed, rapid and effective support was put in place to ensure that teaching improved. Leaders hold teachers to account for improving pupils’ standards. In addition, you were asked to ensure that teachers have higher expectations of the quality of work pupils produce when working by themselves. We saw that pupils of all abilities were challenged well. However, at times some pupils lacked the independence to be able to access resources to support their learning effectively.

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School

You have established effective data-tracking systems to track progress across the school. Pupil progress meetings are held half-termly and as a result, all leaders, including governors, have a strong understanding of the progress of all pupils and pupil groups. Leaders hold class teachers to account to ensure that interventions are being used effectively.

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School

When we looked at books together, we saw that all pupils make strong progress from their starting points. Work set is challenging and interesting. Pupils talked with enthusiasm about their learning, and were proud to show us their work. You did agree with me that there is still some work to do to ensure that pupils’ presentation and handwriting is the best it can be.

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School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You, leaders and governors have established a strong culture of safeguarding. Staff know the pupils very well and, as a result, any needs are identified quickly. Procedures are embedded and day-to-day routines are secure. Any necessary actions are completed without delay. There are strong links with other agencies so that pupils and their families receive appropriate help when needed. Safeguarding training is regular. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities well.

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School

Pupils say that they feel safe in school, and that their teachers always listen to them if they have a worry. They told me there is no bullying, but if there were any, ‘it would get sorted that day’. Pupils have a strong understanding of how to keep themselves safe online. Pupils are taught to keep safe including through cycle training, road safety lessons and support from the NSPCC.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils behave very well. At playtimes, pupils from Nursery to Year 6 play together in a kind and caring way. One pupil said the school is a ‘big family’. Attitudes towards learning are generally good. However, at times pupils lack the skills to be independent, and therefore are not able to access classroom resources that would support their learning further. This leads to some loss of learning time.  At the start of my visit, we agreed a number of key lines of enquiry for the inspection. First, I looked at the quality of pupils’ learning in phonics. I was especially keen to see how the school helps pupils who do not reach the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check to catch up by the end of Year 2. Pupils are making good progress in phonics because of good teaching. Adults have a good understanding of the teaching of phonics and reading and these skills are being reinforced throughout

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Inspection findings

school, for example through encouraging pupils to practise their phonics skills by reading text in the outdoor area. Focused interventions enable pupils to catch up with their peers quickly.  I looked at whether pupils are making good progress in mathematics. Evidence from the inspection clearly shows that all groups of pupils are making strong and rapid progress in mathematics. Your leader for mathematics has worked tirelessly to implement a curriculum that encourages pupils to have a deeper understanding of problem solving and reasoning. Pupils are methodical and think carefully about how to solve challenging problems. Pupils thrive because they are challenged. They can work for a sustained period, showing resilience and determination.  Activities in mathematics are imaginative and pupils throughout the school are challenged well in this subject. In key stage 1 in particular, pupils present their work

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Inspection findings

well. However, pupils are at times overdependent on their teachers and lack the independence to select for themselves the resources and equipment that will help them. Consequently, learning time in lessons is lost unnecessarily.  I also focused on how the curriculum is preparing pupils for life in modern Britain. The school’s curriculum is motivating and exciting. It is well matched to the needs of the pupils and you and your leaders ensure that pupils learn about British values. The pupils have a strong understanding of democracy and the rule of law; they could talk with confidence about recent elections. One child said, ‘We learn about politics. We learn loads about the wide world, in fact we probably know more than other schools, because they make sure they teach it here as we don’t live in a city.’ The pupils spoke with enthusiasm about meeting children from other faiths and backgrounds, which is

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Inspection findings

something made possible through your strong links with other schools in Hull and York. Your pupils said ‘anyone would be welcome here’. One added, ‘If a child was from a different religion, for example Islam, we would make sure they had a time and a place to pray.’  Pupils spoke with enthusiasm to me about the ‘Young Apprentice’ project, telling me that each child in Year 5 and Year 6 was given the chance to create and run a business to raise money to buy new play equipment for the school. They told me that the project had allowed some pupils who were previously reluctant to take part in out- of-school projects to shine. They enjoyed having their efforts judged by a local councillor and local business people. This again is evidence of the exciting and motivating curriculum you provide.  Finally, I looked at how the early years provision enables the children in Reception and Nursery to make good progress. Children in the early years progress well. They

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Inspection findings

are supported well by very able adults who engage them in their learning through effective questioning. Lessons are planned to fit with the interests of the children, for example the song ‘Old MacDonald’ was adapted to be about sharks, because a child had drawn one. This really motivated the children to learn.

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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

 pupils are encouraged to use their initiative in lessons in selecting resources independently to support their learning, so as to ensure that time is not wasted in waiting for instruction  all staff have high expectations of pupils’ handwriting and presentation.

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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 York, 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 held meetings with you, two senior teachers, a group of pupils, governors and a representative from the local authority. We evaluated documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation, the school development plan, information about pupils’ progress, minutes of governing body meetings, behaviour and attendance records and information about safeguarding. I considered the 20 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I listened to some pupils read. You and I visited every classroom together to observe teaching and learning and to scrutinise pupils’ work in their books.

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