Haverigg Primary School

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

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Mrs Mel Narongchai Headteacher Haverigg Primary School Atkinson Street Haverigg Millom Cumbria LA18 4HA

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Short inspection of Haverigg Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 11 September 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 October 2014.

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Short inspection of Haverigg 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 Haverigg Primary School

Since the previous inspection, there have been significant changes in staffing following the retirement of several teachers and teaching assistants. Following your appointment as headteacher in September 2015, you formed a new senior leadership team. With the agreement of governors, you created a new post in the summer of this year leading to the appointment of a deputy headteacher. During the past two years, there have been unavoidable staff absences, which saw a dip in the end of key stage 2 results in 2017. You and your senior leaders ensure that staff morale is high by valuing all that the staff do. Together, your reformed leadership team has stabilised staffing, making sure that everyone works together as a team, and made moves to overcome the 2017 dip in outcomes.

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Short inspection of Haverigg Primary School

You, senior leaders and governors have an accurate and reflective view of the school’s strengths and priorities. There has been an increase in the proportion of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. This group accounts for almost a third of all pupils in school and is more than twice the national average. Leaders have effectively adapted the curriculum and support available to cater for the needs of this increase. This is evident in the school’s future plans that include precise actions to meet the needs of all pupils and ensure that they are well prepared for the next stage in their education, and for life generally. At the previous inspection in 2014, inspectors asked the leadership team, including governors, to improve the quality of teaching to raise pupils’ achievement, particularly for the most able pupils. Leaders ensured a stronger focus on the needs of these pupils. Teachers now provide activities for the wide range of abilities in

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Short inspection of Haverigg Primary School

each class. They work closely with teaching assistants to build on what pupils already know so that they are challenged to learn as much as possible. Training has improved their knowledge and skills of many subjects so that the curriculum is richer.

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Short inspection of Haverigg Primary School

Inspectors also asked the leadership team to improve the opportunities for learning in the early years outdoor area. You have recently appointed a new early years leader who ensures that there are plenty of opportunities for children to play and learn, both in the classroom and outdoors. A fire station, a police station, literacy and numeracy sheds and a sandpit are just some of the amazing examples of how children are stimulated through engaging with outdoor resources. During the inspection, I observed how effective questioning by staff helped children playing on the outdoor climbing frame to think hard about whether they were on top of, underneath or beside the equipment. This reinforced and extended previous learning.

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Short inspection of Haverigg Primary School

Inspectors also asked for improvements in leadership and management by setting precise targets for teachers and ensuring that targets in the school improvement plan are challenging and measurable. Regular checks on pupils’ progress is reflected in whole-school planning and, in turn, individual teachers’ targets. You provide transparency for all staff on how everyone contributes to continually improving every aspect of school life. Your staff told me how inspirational you are as you lead by example while holding them to account in providing high-quality opportunities for pupils to be the best they can.

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Short inspection of Haverigg Primary School

You and your staff ensure that children get off to a good start in the early years. Many children have skills that are lower than you would expect for their age, particularly in speech and language, and in personal development and social skills. Pupils make good progress throughout their time at school and are well prepared for the next stage in their education. You have set new targets to increase the proportion of Year 6 girls reaching the higher standards in mathematics by the end of the academic year. The focus on reading throughout the school has seen more than half of the Year 6 cohort reaching higher standards in reading in 2018, which is well above the national average of 2017.

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Short inspection of Haverigg Primary School

Pupils enjoy coming to school and develop a love of learning. Some of the older pupils told me that they are ambitious for their future careers and have their sights set on becoming vets, sports coaches, musicians and other professional careers. Parents and carers commented on how appreciative they are of the work of you and your staff. During the inspection, parents commented that you and your ‘amazing team not only deliver top notch academic education … attention to pastoral care and guidance goes above and beyond’. You state on your website that ‘we are unique; we are aspirational; we are a family’, and you certainly are. Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of Haverigg Primary School

You and your deputy designated safeguarding leaders ensure that all safeguarding arrangements meet requirements. Together, you make sure that staff fully understand their duties and follow the new online systems and procedures for logging concerns. You ensure that all necessary checks are made on the suitability of staff to work with children. Close scrutiny is given to visitors to the school. You make sure that the promotion of safeguarding throughout the school has a high profile. Staff attend regular, up-to-date training, so that they and members of the governing body understand the current guidance. You and the safeguarding team are prompt in making referrals to the local authority. Together, you diligently follow up all concerns and make sure that pupils are kept safe. You work well with a range of external agencies to secure expertise to support pupils’ welfare, as and when necessary. You and your staff provide exceptional care and support for pupils and

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Inspection findings

 As part of this inspection, I focused on several agreed aspects. We looked at how effectively your staff plan a curriculum that promotes children’s personal, social and emotional development. This caters well for the increase in pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. I was impressed to see how quickly all children in Reception had settled into school routines, given that this was only their second week in school. This is a direct result of the emotional support you and your staff provide to ensure a smooth transition into school life by working very effectively with children and their families. Staff leading the nurture groups in both key stages 1 and 2 are highly skilled in building the emotional resilience of those boys who are potentially vulnerable. Staff allow pupils space and time to understand and manage their emotions and develop empathy for how others around them feel. As the special educational needs coordinator, you work very effectively with

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Inspection findings

a wide range of external agencies to provide bespoke support when necessary. You timetable yoga sessions, which benefit pupils’ physical and mental well- being. Teachers provide a raft of opportunities through sports, the arts and a wealth of trips and residential visits, including to outdoor centres, York and London. These experiences ensure that pupils are well prepared for life beyond their isolated rural village. Parents who have moved their children to this school told me how their children have ‘become more confident, can show more resilience and have developed their social skills’ while at Haverigg. This is a direct result of how well your staff provide a well-balanced curriculum that promotes both pupils’ personal and academic development.  I also explored how you link the new phonics scheme, which was introduced last year, to the development of writing skills, particularly among the boys. You

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Inspection findings

ensure that teachers and teaching assistants provide opportunities for writing in every phonics session. The early years leader has been swift to fully engage children in learning letters and the sounds that they make. After learning the letter ‘m’ and copying the teacher in making the sound, children then enjoyed writing the letter. Early years staff provided a raft of opportunities following the phonics session which engaged boys and girls alike in writing their new letter using chalk, paints and sand. Books from last year demonstrate how well the new phonics system is being used by teachers and teaching assistants to develop reading and writing skills. As a result, good progress was made by both boys and girls in writing and spelling skills in the early years and key stage 1. Across all key stages, teachers provide activities that enable pupils to draw on their experiences. This promotes pupils’ writing skills. Pupils told me how much they

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Inspection findings

enjoy learning outdoors in a local wood and on the beach near their village. Their experiences are reflected in the quality of writing in their books.  Next, I explored the strategies leaders and managers use to check on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment of mathematics. The mathematics leader has recently implemented a new whole-school approach to the teaching of mathematics. It is providing more structure and ensures that pupils build on their skills from year to year. Leaders frequently check that teachers effectively plan activities for the range of abilities in their class using this new approach. Teachers and teaching assistants are still gaining confidence in using new resources. Through observations of teaching and scrutiny of pupils’ books, leaders are supporting teachers to focus more on challenging the middle- attaining and most-able girls in upper key stage 2. Currently, there are still

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Inspection findings

shortcomings in the confidence of some girls to apply their skills to solve more complex mathematical problems. You and the leadership team remain focused on increasing the proportion of girls reaching the higher standards in mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Finally, I explored how leaders monitor the attendance of pupils. I was concerned about the increase in the number of pupils who had been persistently absent last year. You know your families very well, particularly the most vulnerable. You provided detailed evidence of how effectively you analyse punctuality and attendance. Your analysis provided explanations for unavoidable persistent absences of a small number of pupils during the last academic year. Attendance overall is in line with the national average, which has a positive impact on improving the progress that pupils make. Pupils’ regular attendance benefits their learning and development.

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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

 teachers and teaching assistants have opportunities to develop further their confidence in mathematics to adapt new resources to meet pupils’ individual needs  teachers increase the confidence and ability of girls in upper key stage 2 to apply their skills to solve more complex mathematical problems. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Cumbria. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I observed teaching and learning jointly with you and senior leaders. I held meetings with subject leaders, senior leaders, the chair and vice chair of the governing body and with you as the designated safeguarding leader and one of your deputy safeguarding leaders. I spoke to a representative from the local authority. I also spoke informally with parents at the school gates and took account of the 18 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I took account of 17 free-text responses from parents. There were no responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire. However, I spoke informally to staff during the day and held a meeting with several staff after school. There were no responses from pupils to Ofsted’s online pupil questionnaire. I held a meeting with pupils and spoke informally with pupils during breaktimes and in lessons. During the inspection, I reviewed a range of school documents. These included: the school’s development

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Information about the inspection

plans and self-evaluation documents; minutes of the governing body’s meetings; safeguarding documentation; records relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance; the school’s website; school policies; and pupils’ work and their reading logs.

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