Ormsgill Nursery and Primary School

Ormsgill Nursery and Primary School Mill Bank, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 4AR

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher has high expectations of staff and ambition for pupils. He has inspired staff to secure improvements, following a period of decline in pupils’ outcomes and behaviour before his appointment.  Staff and pupils uphold the school’s aims, to ‘Be kind. Be calm. Do your best.’ The school is inclusive, and pupils are kind and considerate towards each other. They feel safe and are extremely happy at school. Behaviour in lessons is good.  Personal and social development is a strength. Personal support for vulnerable pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is outstanding.  The broad curriculum and extensive enrichment opportunities support pupils’ personal and academic achievement effectively.  Leadership of English, mathematics and early years is effective. Leadership of science, history, geography and the arts is not as well developed. Subject leaders ensure that pupils

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

develop their skills progressively, but their role in improving teaching and learning is limited.  Teaching and learning are good. Teachers have welcomed opportunities for training and implemented new approaches with skill and enthusiasm.  Pupils’ progress has improved significantly at key stage 1 and in writing across the school.  Leaders have improved teaching in reading and mathematics and pupils’ progress in these subjects is improving across the school. However, changes are not fully embedded and have not yet had an impact on standards at key stage 2.  Keeping pupils safe is of utmost importance to all staff. They are vigilant and promote pupils’ awareness of how to keep safe and healthy tirelessly. Bullying is rare.  Children in the early years make good progress. There is a relatively high proportion of children with SEND, and while they do not reach a good level of development they make good progress from their starting points.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Children are motivated by the range of exciting activities. There are times, however, when adults do not make the most of opportunities to develop children’s language and literacy skills.  Governors and leaders have a good understanding of the school’s performance. They have secured improvements to teaching and behaviour, which are having a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes. They have the skills and capacity to secure further improvements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to improve pupils’ progress and raise standards in reading and mathematics at key stage 2 by: – ensuring the most effective practice in teaching in reading and mathematics is embedded across the school – ensuring that pupils’ misunderstandings in mathematics are addressed promptly – embedding the new approach to ensuring that pupils understand what they are reading.  Develop leadership in science, history, geography and the arts, so that subject leaders can support further improvements in teaching to secure learning at greater depth.  In the early years, ensure that all staff extend children’s language and literacy skills in all areas of learning.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The headteacher provides the school with a clear sense of direction, based on high expectations of staff and ambition for all pupils. Staff are inspired by his leadership. They are keen to play their part in improving the school and are highly committed to bettering the life chances of pupils.  Since the last full inspection, there has been a period of decline in pupils’ outcomes and behaviour. These issues have been firmly addressed since the headteacher took up the post three years ago. The improvements noted at the school’s short inspection in April 2018 have been embedded. Leaders know where further improvement is needed and have suitable plans and the capacity to continue these gains.  Leadership and governance have been strengthened with new appointments and training. Leaders’ accurate evaluation of the school’s strengths and weaknesses informs improvement planning. Leaders’ actions to improve teaching and learning are having a

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

positive impact. The success of actions can be seen in the improvements to pupils’ progress in writing across the school and at key stage 1.  Teachers’ training is planned thoroughly to develop their skills and support school improvement. Leaders check pupils’ progress carefully and ensure that pupils who need extra support receive it quickly.  Leadership of pastoral support and provision for pupils with SEND are strengths. The school has a high proportion of pupils with complex needs, who are vulnerable. The assistant headteacher ensures that support for their needs is comprehensive and successfully targeted. Engagement with external agencies is highly effective. This ensures that pupils’ learning, physical and mental health needs are supported and addressed as well as possible.  Leaders use additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND effectively. Targeted support helps pupils to develop positive behaviours and make

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

good progress. Teaching assistants are trained to a high standard to support pupils’ specific needs.  Leaders of English and mathematics make a good contribution to school improvement. These subject leaders give useful feedback to teachers following their checks on teaching and detailed analyses of pupils’ work and progress. The impact of their work can be seen in the pupils’ improved writing and improvements to teaching in reading comprehension and mathematics.  Leadership of science, history, geography and the arts has developed since the last inspection but is not as advanced as leadership in English and mathematics. Subject leaders are knowledgeable and enthusiastic. They ensure full coverage of their subject in line with the national curriculum and check that pupils are building on their skills progressively. However, their role in improving teaching and deepening pupils’ learning in their subjects is limited.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The curriculum is broad and relevant for pupils. It supports them to develop their knowledge and understanding of their local community and the world beyond. Topics are planned carefully to ensure that pupils build on their knowledge and skills sequentially. At times, however, pupils’ learning in science, history, geography and the arts is not deep enough.  Extensive extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities support pupils’ personal, cultural and academic achievement effectively. The breakfast club and after-school activities are well attended. Pupils enjoy a range of events including ‘Book Day’ with visiting authors, themed weeks, trips out and residential visits to places such as York.  The physical education (PE) and sport premium is used effectively to broaden the experience and participation of pupils. For example, pupils enjoy improving their golf and tennis skills and participating in boxing and fitness classes.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Pupils are taught about British values, which are endorsed in the work of the school. The promotion of pupils’ social development and moral understanding are particular strengths. Pupils have a good understanding of moral issues and develop the confidence to interact successfully in a range of social situations. Pupils have limited experiences of different faiths and cultures, but their understanding is developed effectively across the curriculum.  The school is highly inclusive. Promoting equality of opportunity is integral to all the school’s work and pupils are aware that discrimination is not acceptable. Parents and carers are extremely positive about the school’s approach to helping all children to integrate into the school community.  Leaders and governors are outward looking. They encourage staff to attend external training and professional networks. They work effectively with the local authority and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

other schools to develop effective practice. Local authority support has had a good impact on the school’s early years provision and governance.  The school is at the heart of the local community. Staff know the community extremely well and parents value their work highly. Workshops for parents, to help them develop their children’s learning at home, have been well attended. All parents who made their views known to inspectors feel their children are happy, safe and make good progress. All would recommend the school to others. ‘I believe this is the best school and I highly recommend anyone with or without special needs to check the school out and apply,’ is typical of the comments made.

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Governance of the school

 Governance has improved since the last inspection. There is a knowledgeable new chair of governors and all members have benefited from a range of training, including support from a national leader of governance.  Governors are now fully informed of the school’s strengths and areas for development. They receive detailed reports from leaders and have a good understanding of performance data. They ask challenging questions and are monitoring progress with the school’s development plan closely.  Governors ensure that additional funding is used as intended and make a positive difference to pupils. The use of the pupil premium and funding for pupils with SEND is closely monitored. There are detailed strategies in place, focused on improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Keeping pupils safe is at the top of leaders’ priorities. Staff are extremely knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures and are vigilant in ensuring that pupils are safe.  Comprehensive procedures to protect and safeguard pupils are in place. Records relating to safeguarding are thorough and fit for purpose. The procedures to recruit staff safely meet current government requirements.  All staff have completed training in safeguarding to an appropriate level. They have completed additional training to help them support the complex needs of some pupils. Support staff make an excellent contribution to keeping pupils safe in school.  Leaders work very effectively with external agencies to support the safety and well- being of vulnerable pupils.  Parents describe the school as a ‘haven’ for their children. The inspection endorses their views that pupils are safe, well looked after and nurtured.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 New staff have joined the school and all teaching staff are deployed effectively to make the most of their skills and abilities. Teachers are enthusiastic and committed to improvement. The reorganisation of classes and introduction of new approaches have brought a renewed energy to teaching and learning. Training has developed staff’s skills in teaching reading, writing and mathematics.  Teachers have good subject knowledge and a full understanding of how the curriculum develops across the school. They assess pupils’ learning carefully and plan teaching that builds on their prior learning progressively.  Teachers and teaching assistants know pupils extremely well and positive relationships ensure that pupils are eager to try hard. Staff are skilled at adapting teaching to accommodate pupils’ social and emotional needs as well as their learning needs.  Teachers cater effectively for pupils’ wide range of abilities and needs in their classes.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

The most able pupils are challenged with activities and extension tasks that develop their thinking skills in reading, writing and mathematics. At times, however, pupils are not given the opportunity to learn at greater depth in subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics.  The teaching of pupils with SEND is good. Individual education plans are detailed and shared effectively with all staff. Pupils receive well-targeted teaching in lessons, with activities tailored to meet their needs. They also benefit from additional small group or individual support that meets their needs precisely. Support staff are deployed effectively to make the most of their skills and abilities. They make a huge contribution to the learning of pupils with complex needs.  Pupils say they enjoy learning because teachers make lessons fun. Teachers take account of pupils’ interests and experiences and plan activities that motivate and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

enthuse them. Pupils enjoy learning across a broad curriculum.  Writing is taught effectively across the school. The features of different types of writing are taught in a range of subjects. Grammar, punctuation and spelling are taught successfully.  The teaching of reading is improving. Phonics teaching is effective at key stage 1 and teachers develop pupils’ reading well. The introduction of a more explicit approach to teaching comprehension skills has improved teachers’ skills in asking questions and prompting pupils to read for deeper meaning. However, this approach is not embedded fully across the whole school.  Mathematics teaching has improved and is now good in key stage 1 and getting stronger in key stage 2. Leaders have ensured a strong focus on developing pupils’ fluency with number and computation. Pupils have good opportunities to apply their knowledge and they develop effective reasoning and problem-solving skills.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

Occasionally, however, teaching in key stage 2 does not address pupils’ misunderstandings.  Parents are highly satisfied with the quality of teaching. They say, ‘The teachers go above and beyond for their students, not only in school time but also after school too.’

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Staff have attended a wide range of training and are skilful in supporting pupils’ varied personal and welfare needs. A sizeable proportion of pupils have complex social and emotional needs and barriers to learning. Leaders are skilled at targeting and managing support and teachers and teaching assistants support these pupils’ needs extremely well.  Pupils develop increasingly positive attitudes to school and appreciate the care they receive from their teachers. They say that teachers do everything they can to help them in their learning and personal needs. They feel able to talk with staff and approach them for help.  Pastoral care and support for the welfare needs of vulnerable pupils and those with SEND is exceptional. Parents value the work of the school highly. Parents said, for example, ‘My child has grown in confidence and is relaxed in this environment.’

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils say they feel safe. They are confident that inappropriate behaviour is dealt with fairly and quickly. They say bullying does not happen often, but if it does teachers resolve it really well. Leaders work closely with external agencies to ensure that pupils are safe and their welfare needs are met both in and out of school.  Pupils make a good contribution to their school. Their happy and enthusiastic approach adds to the school’s welcoming and friendly ethos. Pupils are keen to talk about their work and proud of their school. They enjoy taking responsibility, for example as ‘mini police’, anti-bullying ambassadors, members of the school parliament and as lunchtime and reading buddies.  Pupils also make a good contribution to their local community. For example, they enjoy serving food and chatting with older people at the ‘Friday Lunch Club’ and singing in the various venues in the local community.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils are tolerant and understanding of groups of people who have protected characteristics under the Equalities Act. They are respectful of different races and backgrounds. They say that bullying based on people’s gender, sexual orientation, disability or beliefs is not tolerated in the school and does not happen.  Pupils are knowledgeable about risks to their health and safety. The promotion of physical, emotional and mental health and safety features prominently in the school’s curriculum. Pupils enjoy being in the multi-sensory room, which provides an area of peace and tranquillity.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Parents, staff and pupils say it has improved significantly after a period of some turbulence before the current headteacher took up post.  Pupils are kind and considerate towards each other. Older pupils enjoy supporting younger children with their reading. Pupils help their friends with SEND in and around the school.  Pupils have a good understanding of the expectations for their behaviour. They do their best to uphold the school’s behaviour code. They recognise that there are times when some pupils struggle to manage their own behaviour but are confident that teachers will minimise disruption and keep everyone safe.  Teachers manage pupils’ behaviour skilfully. They know pupils very well and use positive strategies to help them to stay calm and get the maximum benefit from their schooling.  Leaders do everything possible to improve pupils’ attendance. They track pupils’

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Behaviour

attendance carefully and follow up absence every day. Their targeted support to families has reduced persistent absence and their work with external agencies has ensured there are no safeguarding concerns. A relatively high proportion of pupils have complex needs that require authorised absence from school. Attendance is improving, but it remains below the national average.  There have been no permanent exclusions over three years. Fixed-term exclusions are used rarely and pupils’ return to school is planned well to ensure there are no repeat occurrences.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Outcomes are improving, particularly in key stage 1 and in writing, but require improvement overall. Improvements to teaching are enabling pupils who are currently in school to make better progress than previously was the case. However, the legacy of past, less effective teaching in reading and mathematics means that many older pupils still have omissions in their learning. These pupils are not making enough progress in reading and mathematics to catch up to the standards expected for their age at the end of key stage 2.  At key stage 1, pupils make good progress and standards have improved significantly. In 2018 the standards attained by Year 2 pupils were close to the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Achievement in the phonics screening was also close to average.  Pupils currently in key stage 1 continue to make good progress from their below- average starting points at the start of Year 1. The work in their books shows that good

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

standards in writing and mathematics have been sustained. Pupils’ progress in reading is also good.  At key stage 2, pupils make consistently good progress in writing. In 2018, pupils made above-average progress and attained average standards in writing at the end of Year 6. The school’s assessments were moderated by the local authority and found to be accurate. Evidence in pupils’ books indicates that pupils’ above-average progress is being sustained. Pupils write for a range of purposes across the curriculum and develop increasingly accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation.  Pupils’ progress is more variable in reading and mathematics at key stage 2 and requires further improvement. In 2018, pupils’ progress and attainment were below average in reading at the end of Year 6. Although pupils had developed a love of reading and were able to read fluently, they had not acquired the skills to answer

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

comprehension questions in the standardised tests.  Reading is improving and pupils are increasingly able to retrieve, explain and summarise information and infer and predict from their reading. However, the highly effective teaching approaches to improve reading for understanding are not embedded fully across key stage 2 and pupils still have gaps in their learning.  In mathematics, pupils’ books show that standards have improved, especially in relation to pupils’ ability to reason and solve problems. However, progress is not yet consistently good for older pupils.  Pupils experience a wide curriculum and work at broadly age-related expectations in subjects such as science, history, geography, and the arts. However, their learning lacks greater depth in these subjects.  Pupils with SEND make good progress, usually from starting points that are much lower than are typical for their age. In some year groups, this represents a high proportion of

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

the cohort. The most able pupils are making better progress than they have previously, with the increased focus on extension tasks that challenge thinking.  Disadvantaged pupils are in the majority and typically make progress that is in line with or better than their peers in school. The difference between disadvantaged Year 6 pupils in school and other pupils nationally was wide in 2018. The difference is diminishing, particularly at key stage 1.

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Early years provision Good

 Staff changes and intensive support from the local authority have secured improvements in the early years provision. The early years leader is knowledgeable and is leading further improvements successfully. Teachers and teaching assistants work together to plan activities that motivate children. Staff are enthusiastic and capable.  Children enter the early years with knowledge and skills that are below those typical for their age. Their communication, language and literacy abilities are particularly low. Children settle in well in an atmosphere that is calm and conducive to learning. They feel safe and grow in confidence. They were very keen to talk to inspectors, for example, and tell them all about the wonderful things they are learning.  Children are happy and well behaved. They enjoy playing with and alongside each other in the Nursery and Reception. Their love of school can be seen clearly in their

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Early years provision Good

smiling faces and engagement in a range of exciting activities. Outdoors, children love exploring the nature trail, tending to the plants and observing minibeasts. They develop their physical skills on the climbing frame and enjoy imaginative play in the mud kitchen, on the ‘train’ and in the shed. Indoors, they enjoy a range of construction or read quietly in the book corner.  Teaching is effective and sessions led by adults are managed successfully. Children are keen to participate and answer questions enthusiastically. They were engrossed, for example, in role-playing parts of a familiar story.  Adults supervise children closely during all activities. They know the children extremely well. There are times, however, when adults do not make the most of opportunities to develop children’s language and communication skills during play. Their reading and writing skills are not promoted as well as they could be in different areas of learning.

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Early years provision Good

 In 2018, 50% of children achieved a good level of development at the end of the Reception year. This was below average but was an improvement on the previous year and shows improved progress from children’s starting points. Staff are not complacent, and they are continually striving to help children make better progress.  The school’s reputation for helping children with SEND has grown in the locality. Nearly a third of children currently in the early years have complex needs and many others have communication difficulties. This has had an impact on current attainment in the early years. Children with SEND make good progress in their learning and excellent progress in their personal, social and emotional development, but do not reach an overall good level of development.  Staff make sure children’s learning in the early years is embedded and secure. Although many children do not all reach a good level of development, they have strong

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Early years provision Good

foundations on which to build further learning. These strong foundations support the good progress now being seen across key stage 1.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address head@ormsgill.cumbria.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 21 March 2018

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Almost all pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above average.  The proportion of pupils receiving support for SEND is well above average. The proportion of pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans for complex needs is five times the national average.  The number of pupils on roll has increased significantly in the last three years. A higher than usual proportion of pupils joined the school after the start of the Reception year.  The headteacher is in his third year at the school. A number of new teaching staff have also joined the school since the last full inspection in 2013.  The local authority has provided support for improvement in the early years provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes. They carried out a detailed scrutiny of pupils’ written work in a range of subjects across all year groups.  Inspectors spoke with pupils during lessons, around school and in meetings about their learning and personal development. They took account of their opinions on the school.  Inspectors looked at documentation, including self-evaluation, improvement planning, school policies, data on pupils’ progress, assessment information and performance management. They examined the school’s procedures for safeguarding and records relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.  Inspectors met with school leaders, governors, teaching staff and a representative of the local authority.  They took account of 21 responses to Parent View, the Ofsted online questionnaire for parents and carers, 16 responses to the staff survey and 11 responses to the pupil

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Inspection team

Jean Olsson-Law, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Stephen Rigby Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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