Masham CofE VA Primary School

Masham Church of England VA Primary School 1 Millgate, Market Place, Masham, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 4EG

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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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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Since her appointment in April 2017, the headteacher has won the trust and confidence of pupils, staff, parents, carers and governors.  The experienced governing body has a broad range of skills and experience. Governors know the school well and they provide a high level of challenge to secure further improvement.  Leaders have designed a broad and balanced curriculum that prepares pupils very well for the next stage of their education and for life in modern Britain.  Staff have benefited from professional development that has helped them to improve their leadership skills. This means that leaders are well equipped to lead their subjects well.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good, and some is outstanding, so most pupils are making good progress. This is the case in a wide range of subjects.  Leaders identified the teaching of phonics as an area for improvement this year. The teaching of phonics is now consistently good.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

As a result, pupils are making good progress in phonics now, and outcomes are rising.  Leaders used additional funding effectively to improve the phonics resources available to teachers. This helped to improve the quality of the teaching of phonics quickly.  Teachers have not matched all reading books carefully enough to the sounds and letters that pupils know. This is slowing pupils’ development of confidence and fluency.  Leaders have used additional funding to purchase age-appropriate Stonewall resources for use across the school. This is one of the reasons why pupils’ personal development is a strength of the school.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They behave very well in lessons and around the school. The last line of the school’s vision: ‘We are forgiving, accepting, outward thinking and above all, kind’ is palpable in this school.  Most pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

disabilities (SEND), are making good or better progress. Teachers’ expectations of the most able pupils, however, are not consistently high.  Children are making good progress in Reception. Teachers successfully build on children’s interests to develop high-quality areas for learning.  This school is at the heart of the community. Many groups from the village and beyond come in to speak to pupils on a wide range of topics. This greatly enriches the wider curriculum.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to improve the teaching of early reading by ensuring that all reading books in Year 1 and Year 2 are well matched to pupils’ phonics skills and knowledge.  Continue to improve the quality of teaching to ensure that teachers have consistently high expectations of the most able pupils in English and mathematics.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Leaders identified that a period of turbulence in recent years, with many staff changes, caused some inconsistency in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. This had a negative effect on pupils’ progress at that time. Following her appointment in April 2017, the headteacher worked quickly to stabilise the staff team and successfully get pupils’ progress back on track.  The headteacher has developed a professional culture where all staff are given the opportunity to develop their leadership skills and interests. Many staff have completed, or are studying for, nationally recognised school leadership or Masters-level qualifications. This has resulted in highly effective subject leadership across the whole curriculum.  English and mathematics subject leaders have had the opportunity to work with national and specialist leaders of education. They are also working with a local teaching school. Specialist leaders of education have led training for all staff to improve

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

teachers’ knowledge and the quality of their teaching. As a result, teaching is now good or better across the school and in all subjects.  The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) holds the nationally recognised professional qualification for this role. She tracks pupils’ progress carefully and reports frequently to governors. Parents of pupils with SEND say that they are very happy that their children’s needs are identified accurately, enabling pupils with SEND to get the extra help they need quickly. As a result, pupils with SEND are making good progress from their individual starting points.  Middle leaders are passionate about the subjects they lead. They plan carefully to ensure that pupils’ knowledge and skills are developed incrementally year-on-year. This is helping pupils to make good progress in subjects like history, geography and science.  Leaders employ specialist teachers, for example in music, to further improve the quality

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

of teaching across the wider curriculum. Leaders are very creative in ensuring that the curriculum is enriched by visitors with expert specialist skills and knowledge. The curriculum is further enhanced by educational visits that enrich pupils’ first-hand experiences. In interviews with pupils, the breadth and depth of their learning across the wider curriculum shines through.  Leaders, including governors, say that raising pupils’ aspirations is one of the underpinning principles of their curriculum. They have introduced a wide range of methods to achieve this. Pupils vividly recall career aspiration events that have widened their horizons and ambitions.  Leaders use additional funding very effectively. Given their proximity to the river, leaders decided to take pupils in each year group swimming every year. As a result, 100% of pupils left Year 6 able to swim at the expected standard in 2018.  Pupils have a say in how additional sport funding is used, so the extra sports clubs that

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

are provided interest pupils. Over the autumn and spring terms, 62% of pupils took part in extra-curricular sporting activities.  Leaders used additional funding for disadvantaged pupils to provide one-to-one tuition for pupils who had fallen behind. They also fund enrichment opportunities, such as music tuition, to raise disadvantaged pupils’ aspirations and their self-esteem.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school. In June 2019, the diocese of Leeds inspected this school. The report following that inspection describes pupils as ‘confident learners, who readily discuss ethical, social, cultural and global issues’. The diocesan evaluation matches the findings of this inspection. Pupils are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Governance of the school

 The experienced and reflective governing body is very ambitious for the school’s continuing improvement. Governors have a broad range of skills and each governor is matched strategically to specific areas of improvement.  Several governors held senior posts in education prior to their retirement, and they use this knowledge and experience to challenge school leaders. Governors’ visits are frequent, documented and reported to the full governing body.  Minutes of meetings of the governing body record a high level of challenge from governors to school leaders. Although individual governors hold specific leadership responsibilities, all governors question leaders across the whole range of school improvement priorities.  Following the senior teacher’s recent promotion to the post of headteacher in another school, governors report that the subsequent recruitment process attracted a very strong field of candidates. Governors believe that the school’s reputation for providing

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Governance of the school

excellent training opportunities and career development is part of the reason for this.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Policies and procedures are reviewed and challenged to make sure that they are fit for purpose.  Several governors have been trained in safer recruitment. The experienced school business manager is meticulous in keeping records of thorough recruitment and employment checks. This ensures that all adults are suitable to work with children.  Staff at all levels are well trained, and there is a strong culture of safeguarding. There are monthly meetings with lunchtime staff that include safeguarding updates.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Following a period of turbulence where teaching was variable, the quality of teaching in reading, writing and mathematics is now good. Although most teachers have high expectations of the most able pupils, this is not consistently the case for every teacher in writing and mathematics. Leaders had already identified this, and raising attainment outcomes for the most able pupils is a priority on the 2019/20 school improvement plan.  The teaching of phonics has improved markedly and is now good. Teachers and teaching assistants have good subject knowledge. They have high expectations. Pupils are enjoying the increased level of challenge and learning quickly. Pupils have a secure grasp of their letters and sounds. As a result of good teaching, pupils were better prepared for the Year 1 phonics check this year.  Most Year 1 and Year 2 pupils are confident and fluent readers. Pupils are well supported by their parents, who hear them read frequently at home. However, the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

reading books teachers give to lower-attaining pupils are slowing their progress. This is because some of these books are too difficult for pupils to read. Leaders plan to reorganise the reading books in key stage 1 to make sure that all reading books are matched more carefully to the letters and sounds that pupils have learned.  Leaders have changed the way that reading is taught in key stage 2. Instead of guided reading groups, pupils now read together as a whole class and they also read individually to their teachers. All pupils are now making good progress in reading, and early indications show that a higher proportion of the most able Year 6 pupils reached the higher standard in the 2019 reading test.  The teaching of writing is good throughout the school. Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ handwriting and presentation, and pupils develop a neat, joined handwriting style in Year 1. High-quality children’s fiction is often used as a stimulus for writing,

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

and there are a wide range of different types of writing evident in pupils’ English books. Improving spelling was a focus this year, and this has worked. Year 6 pupils’ results in the grammar, punctuation and spelling tests improved dramatically this year.  Now that basic skills have been secured, leaders plan to further improve the teaching of the necessary writing skills that help the most able pupils reach the higher standard in the Year 2 and Year 6 writing tests.  Weak teaching in previous years meant that key stage 2 pupils have some gaps in their mathematical knowledge and skills. The quality of teaching of mathematics is good now, so current work shows that pupils are catching up quickly. Some recently introduced changes to the teaching of mathematics are being refined and embedded. Leaders have identified mathematics as a key area for improvement in the 2019/20 school improvement plan.  The quality of teaching across the wider curriculum is good. Teachers plan creatively to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

ensure that pupils have vivid experiences that bring learning to life. For example, in science, Year 4 pupils learned about sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rock formation by squeezing grated chocolate into tin foil and pouring melted chocolate onto ice-lollies. Pupils recalled being allowed to eat the chocolate at the end, but more importantly they had gained knowledge about rock formation that they were able to remember months later.  Learning is also brought to life using links with the village. Various history topics are enriched by visitors from the Mashamshire History Society or guided walks with volunteers from the Masham Community Office. Pupils are knowledgeable about fallen heroes from the village and they are rightly proud of their cultural heritage.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils say that there is no bullying in this school and that they feel safe. Pupils know how to stay safe online.  Leaders have fostered in pupils a love of learning. Current and ex-parents wrote to the inspector to comment on this. Despite pupils’ excellent attitudes to learning, they are not yet excelling at the higher standards of attainment. This means that the most able pupils are not developing their full potential.  Leaders have a clear and active commitment to supporting pupils’ emotional health and well-being. Each term starts with a focused mental-health activity, such as mindfulness or yoga. Leaders promote ‘the five ways to well-being’ throughout the school.  Pupils in key stage 2 can speak with confidence about what this has taught them. One pupil told the inspector, ‘This school teaches us, in collective worship, to be nice. As

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Personal development and welfare

well as teaching you education, and teaching you mentally, it also teaches you emotionally how to react to things and how to resolve a problem.’  The curriculum is inclusive and pupils complete topics that prepare them well for life in modern Britain. For example, the whole school participated in ‘refugee week’, studying a wide range of age-appropriate biographies ranging from Mo Farah or Judith Kerr to Paddington Bear. The depth of pupils’ learning was evident during the inspection when Year 6 pupils discussed ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan. Pupils showed great empathy and compassion.  The school’s use of age-appropriate Stonewall resources helps pupils understand different types of relationships, and pupils are very respectful of these. This helps to ensure all pupils’ good personal development and welfare.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils behave impeccably on the playground and around the school. Pupils are kind to each other and welcoming to visitors. Pupils have good manners.  Pupils behave well in lessons and there is no disruption to learning. Pupils’ good behaviour is a credit to their families and to the school.  A very small proportion of pupils have unacceptably high rates of absence. Although some of these absences are unavoidable through illness, this is not the case for all absent pupils. Minutes of meetings of the governing body show that governors are challenging school leaders to reduce the rate of persistent absence.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 The small numbers of pupils in this school mean that the school’s published data can swing by comparison to primary schools of a typical size, because each pupil represents a greater percentage of results overall. This means that the published data is not statistically significant.  In recent years, outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check have been below the national standard. Following recent improvements to the teaching of phonics, results have risen in 2019.  Outcomes at the end of Year 2 in 2018 improved in reading and writing and declined in mathematics. Results in mathematics in the 2019 test improved significantly. Reading and writing results have remained broadly in line with the national standard. Results at the higher standard remain variable.  Results in the Year 6 tests have been variable in recent years. Pupils are still catching up from weaker teaching in previous years. Results at the higher standard remain

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Outcomes for pupils Good

variable, though they have improved markedly in reading. The work in pupils’ books shows that pupils across key stage 2 are making good or better progress now, including across the wider curriculum.  As a result of consistently good teaching, and effective interventions, pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are making good or better progress from their individual starting points. Some of them have made such good progress that they are now achieving in line with the national standard.  Pupils’ secure grasp of basic skills, their attitudes to learning and the knowledge and skills they have learned across the wider curriculum ensure that pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Early years provision Good

 There is no Nursery in this school, so children enter Reception with different pre-school experiences. The attainment of children in reading, writing and number is variable when they start school. In some aspects of learning, children’s knowledge and skills are typical, and in others, it is above or below that typically found for their age.  Outcomes in Reception are consistently above the nationally expected standard. Most children are making good progress from their individual starting points. However, too few children exceed the early learning goals in reading, writing and number.  Leaders have an excellent professional partnership with the school’s main pre-school provider. The plans for transition include frequent visits, and children return to the pre- school ‘jungle’ once they have started school. This resource helps to develop children’s physical development and their knowledge and understanding of the world.

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Early years provision Good

 The teaching of phonics in Reception is good. Teachers and teaching assistants have good subject knowledge and they have high expectations. Children leave Reception at or above the expected standard for their age in phonics, so they are well prepared to fly as early readers in Year 1.  The progress children make in reading is enhanced by daily reading with an adult in school. Leaders have established a strong partnership with parents, some of whom volunteer to come in and hear children read daily. The opportunity to practise their reading skills daily is helping to build children’s confidence and fluency in reading.  All adults in Reception are skilful at identifying and building on children’s interests. Adults enhance the areas where children play and learn, and as a result children are very confident and eager to join in. Children are good at taking turns and sharing.  Children’s writing is valued and displayed around the classroom. Most children can hold

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Early years provision Good

their pencil correctly, form letters and write some words legibly when they are writing on their own. Some opportunities are missed to encourage children to write when they are playing outside.  Relationships are very secure, and this helps children to feel safe and happy. One parent told the inspector that her child loves Reception so much that she cries at the weekend when she cannot come to school.  There is no additional funding for disadvantaged children in Reception. However, additional sport premium funding was used to purchase some balance bikes to help Reception children’s developing experience of different ways of moving and balancing.  Staff are well trained, and all children’s care and welfare needs are met.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address admin@masham.n-yorks.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22–23 October 2013

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Information about this school

 This school is much smaller than typical and is located in a small market town.  A new headteacher was appointed in April 2017.  This school is voluntary aided. The last section 48 inspection by the diocese took place in June 2019.  Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well below the national average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is much lower than average.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching and learning in all year groups from Reception to Year 6. Most of these observations were undertaken alongside the headteacher.  The inspector reviewed children’s learning journeys and pupils’ written work across the curriculum. For most of the time, pupils’ learning was evaluated alongside the headteacher or senior teacher. The inspector met with some pupils individually to discuss their learning with them in the absence of school leaders.  The inspector held discussions with pupils throughout the inspection and heard several pupils read. The inspector also met pupil representatives of the school council.  The inspector reviewed 61 responses recorded on Parent View and talked to several parents before school.  Three personal letters that were written for the attention of the lead inspector were considered.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, the early years leader, English and

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Information about this inspection

mathematics subject leaders and the leaders of science, history and geography. A meeting was also held with the safeguarding officer and the school business manager.  Meetings were held with a group of seven representatives of the governing body and with a local authority representative.  The inspector reviewed several documents, including minutes of meetings of the governing body, records of local authority monitoring visits and the section 48 inspection report. The school improvement plan, leaders’ monitoring records, the pupil premium and sport premium expenditure plans, and attendance and behaviour records were also evaluated.

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Inspection team

Tracey Ralph, lead inspector Her Majesty’s 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

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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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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