The Gonerby Hill Foot Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs Claire Stylianides Headteacher The Gonerby Hill Foot Church of England Primary School Gonerby Hill Foot Grantham Lincolnshire NG31 8HQ

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School

Following my visit to the school on 13 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 the school was judged to be in good in September 2014.

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School

The leadership team has maintained a good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are determined to build on the school’s many strengths. You are able to do this because you have a good understanding of what the school needs to improve, including the need to develop the curriculum further. Yours is an inclusive school, underpinned by strong values, where pupils feel valued. Parents and carers and pupils all commented on the willingness and dedication of staff to deal with issues that arise. One parent said, ‘Could not fault the school. Always approachable and issues dealt with quickly.’

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School

Leaders have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and areas for development. You collaborate effectively with other schools in your cluster of schools to evaluate your performance and provide helpful challenge. Governors visit the school regularly and have a range of skills that enable them to provide challenge and support. All aspects of the school improvement plan are monitored carefully through governor visits and meetings. Governors have taken up a wide range of training opportunities and engage in an annual skills audit when they consider the effectiveness of their practice.

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School

Effective systems for staff development have played a key part in the school’s success at improving standards since the last inspection. This is particularly evident in the improvement in pupils’ reading skills across the school. Well-trained staff have successfully introduced a range of effective intervention programmes across all year groups, helping to accelerate pupils’ reading achievements. However, you are rightly planning to develop your leadership capacity further to make sure that pupils do as well across all subjects as they do in English and mathematics.

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School

The behaviours and attitudes of pupils are a strength of the school. You are preparing pupils well for the next stage of their education and for later life. Pupils have a range of responsibilities including being school council members, sports leaders, librarians and play leaders. Pupils show care and concern for one another; all the pupils I spoke to said that bullying is very rare or non-existent. Discussions with parents and responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, support this view. Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning and stay on task, working hard when they are unsupervised. I saw good examples of independent work on several occasions. In one class, pupils were writing extended book reviews and then providing constructive feedback to each other. In the Reception class, pupils were practising counting basic numbers while creating an imaginary veterinary surgery.

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School

You ensure that safeguarding has a high profile across the school and have worked hard to create a climate in which pupils feel safe. Staff receive regular safeguarding briefings. Safeguarding policies are up to date, and record-keeping is meticulous. The checks made on the appointment of staff are comprehensive and updated regularly. Any concerns that the school might have are recorded systematically and followed up where necessary.

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School

Pupils I spoke to informally around the school told me that they feel safe in the school. They could explain how they can safely use the internet. Parents’ views were also positive. The vast majority agreed that pupils are safe and well cared for at school, and many chose to express how secure and assured their children feel.

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Inspection findings

 In 2017, outcomes dipped at the end of key stage 2 compared with previous years, with progress in reading and writing falling below the national average.  During the inspection, we visited classrooms and observed teaching across key stage 2. It was clear that pupils are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils were engrossed in their work, reading complex texts with confidence and often undertaking practical activities, which helped them apply their skills in solving problems.  When I looked in pupils’ books, I saw clear evidence of an appropriately broad and challenging curriculum in English and mathematics. Pupils are acquiring the appropriate skills. They are given opportunities to extend their thinking with additional challenges, and many achieve greater depth in the core subjects as a result. Pupils present their work carefully, take pride in doing their best and meet

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Inspection findings

their teachers’ high expectations about what they can achieve.  The school receives specific funding to support disadvantaged pupils and their progress is tracked carefully. Nevertheless, the last set of key stage 2 results, at the end of 2017, showed that a small number of disadvantaged pupils had not achieved as well as non-disadvantaged pupils.  Leaders are working hard to accelerate the progress made by disadvantaged pupils currently in the school, and a good range of social, emotional and academic support is in place. Imaginative reading and ‘talk for writing’ intervention programmes provide regular opportunities for pupils to consolidate their basic skills if they have fallen behind. Leaders of English, mathematics and special educational needs (SEN), for example, ensure that pupils are assessed before and after each intervention programme, which ensures that disadvantaged pupils are making good progress.

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Inspection findings

 The school development plan has identified the wider curriculum as a priority for improvement. In subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics, there is good evidence to show that the curriculum is being covered well. The school publishes plans for all subjects, which shows how learning is mapped out across the school in different year groups. Evidence from time spent in class, work scrutiny and discussions with pupils show that a wide range of stimulating activities is taught across the whole curriculum.  Pupils have not made the same rapid progress in other curriculum subjects as they have in reading, writing and mathematics. Until recently, subject and senior leaders have not tracked what was taught in these foundation subjects, or assessed accurately enough the progress pupils made across the wider subjects of the curriculum. This remains a priority for the school.

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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

 they further develop systems for assessment in foundation subjects, so that this information is used to enable pupils to make progress as well as they do in reading, writing and mathematics  they continue to build the capacity and accountability of the middle and senior leadership teams to ensure that pupils make consistent and rapid progress in all subjects.

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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

During the inspection, I held meetings with you, other school leaders, the chair of governors and pupils. We visited all classrooms together. I examined a range of documents, policies and assessment information. I considered the 43 responses from parents to Ofsted’s questionnaire, Parent View, and the 24 free text responses. I also spoke to parents in the playground before school. I also noted responses by pupils and staff to their respective questionnaires.

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