Osmotherley Primary School

Inspection of Osmotherley Primary School School Lane, Osmotherley, Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL6 3BW

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement 18–19 September 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

In this small, rural village school, staff and pupils know each other well. Staff have created positive relationships with pupils and parents. Pupils say they feel safe and well cared for. Staff expect pupils to be polite and well behaved. Pupils respond well. They display good manners, without being prompted by staff. Leaders deal with any bullying concerns quickly and effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The headteacher ensures that pupils are taught all the national curriculum subjects. Many pupils also join clubs and extra-curricular activities. These opportunities help to enrich their curriculum. Pupils told inspectors that they enjoy the clubs and find new interests. The range available to them includes chess, yoga, running and Minecraft.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are encouraged to take an active part in the life of the school. They are proud to take roles such as playground buddies, school councillors, eco leaders and fundraising leaders. Pupils recognise the importance this plays in helping to prepare them for adult life. They are eager to come to school and attendance is high.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders’ expectations of pupils’ academic achievement are not high enough for all pupils. In reading, for example, pupils do not become fluent readers as quickly as they should.

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better?

Leaders and governors are committed to improving the school. However, the curriculum does not give all pupils a flying start. This is especially the case in how well pupils learn to read. Pupils at the early stages of learning to read do not read with accuracy as soon as they should. Pupils who struggle with reading or those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are particularly affected. This limits them from reading with fluency and understanding, which affects how well they can achieve in other subjects.

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better?

Leaders do not prioritise the teaching of early reading sufficiently. A mix of different phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) schemes and a lack of clear planning leads to confusion about what staff should teach and when. In Reception, children already know some of the letter sounds. Teachers do not build on this knowledge quickly or systematically enough. For example, during the inspection, staff expected children to practise listening to sounds in the environment. The children can already do this well.

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better?

Some aspects of the Year 1 national curriculum for word reading do not feature in the teaching of phonics. For example, books are not well matched to pupils’ phonic knowledge. They require some words to be memorised by sight. Also, teachers do not expect pupils to reread books to help build their reading confidence and fluency. 18–19 September 2019

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Staff are well trained in some subjects, such as science and mathematics. However, training in other important areas of the curriculum, such as reading, is not up-to- date. This results in staff not giving pupils sufficient practice to become fluent readers. For example, pupils who need to practise blending sounds to read words spend too much time drawing pictures or waiting for their turn. Staff are aware what pupils struggle with. However, they do not have the expertise to address these issues precisely and with urgency.

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The curriculum beyond English and mathematics, and in the early years, is taught mainly through cross-curricular topics. Pupils say they enjoy the topics they study. However, staff have not considered which parts of the curriculum they want pupils to remember over time. Curriculum planning does not make the necessary links between one topic and the next. For example, pupils do not build on their prior knowledge of rivers when they study coastlines. This means that pupils do not make the gains in their knowledge of which they are capable.

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Leaders prioritise pupils’ personal development well. Visits from local artists, authors and various specialists broaden and enrich the curriculum. A recent example includes a visit from a past pupil who talked to pupils about her job as a shark guardian.

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Staff have created a nurturing environment where children feel safe and behave well. They settle quickly into Reception and work with good levels of concentration. Warm relationships mean that pupils are keen to learn as they continue through school. The headteacher encourages a healthy lifestyle by example. Many pupils run with the her and some parents before school. Pupils appeared energised and raring to go as they entered the school to begin lessons.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a well-established culture of keeping pupils safe. Training makes sure that staff know how to spot signs of concern. Staff are of the view that ‘it could happen here’. The designated safeguarding leader contacts external agencies when necessary. This makes sure that vulnerable pupils get the right support.

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Safeguarding

Staff know all the pupils well. They give pupils’ welfare high priority. Pupils say that the adults in school keep them safe. Pupils also appreciate learning about how they can keep themselves safe. For example, pupils learn how to be safe when they are online and how to contact Childline. 18–19 September 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The teaching of early reading, including phonics, needs urgent attention. While most pupils meet the expected standard in the phonics screening check, they are not reading with fluency, confidence and understanding quickly enough. A lack of rigour in the approach to the teaching of phonics means that it is even more difficult for pupils who have fallen behind, including those with SEND, to catch up. Leaders should ensure that all staff follow the national curriculum for teaching reading. To achieve this, they should prioritise the necessary training for staff.  Leaders have not put clear plans in place to support teachers in knowing what to teach and when. Planning in many subjects is based on assessment objectives. These describe the end points pupils should reach, rather than the specific knowledge pupils should gain along the way. Leaders need to make sure that plans identify the critical knowledge, understanding and skills which pupils should

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

develop. Plans should ensure that pupils can build on their knowledge over time. Pupils should know more and remember more so they can reach the ambitious end points defined in the national curriculum. In early years and key stage 1, in particular, this means building on what pupils know and can do more swiftly to better prepare all pupils for the next key stage.  In some subjects, teachers do not have the subject expertise to make appropriate choices about the resources and activities needed to secure pupils’ understanding effectively. While teachers have a good awareness of what pupils are struggling with, they do not use this well enough to address the gaps in pupils’ learning. Leaders need to the determine what training staff need and in which subjects, in order that staff have the necessary subject knowledge for all the subjects they teach.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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 18–19 September 2019

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years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route.

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Inspection number 10110572 Type of school Primary

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Appropriate authority The governing body

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Date of previous inspection 9–10 May 2017

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The headteacher was the acting headteacher at the time of the last inspection.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, a local authority representative and six governors (including the chair and vice chair).  Reading, mathematics, science and geography were considered closely in order to evaluate the quality of education. In each of these subjects, inspection activities included: lesson visits; discussions with staff and pupils; meetings with subject leaders; and work scrutiny. The lead inspector also listened to pupils read.  A range of documentation was considered. This included the school’s self- evaluation, plans for improvement and information relating to the attendance and behaviour of pupils.  The 19 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were taken into consideration. Inspectors also spoke to parents informally at the start of the school day. There were no responses to the staff or pupil surveys. 18–19 September 2019

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 Many of the inspection activities gave inspectors the opportunity to evaluate the culture of safeguarding in the school. Additionally, inspectors asked staff about the impact of the safeguarding training they have received. Child protection records and the single central record were also scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Kirsty Godfrey, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Adrian Fearn Ofsted Inspector 18–19 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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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