Follifoot Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Follifoot Church of England Primary School Main Street, Follifoot, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 1DU

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Outcome

Follifoot Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that standards may be declining, as set out below.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils flourish in this close-knit community. They learn a great deal about diverse peoples. For example, they are knowledgeable about different faiths. Teachers help them to develop open-minded attitudes. Pupils are polite and respectful. They behave very well in and out of class. Pupils say that bullying is very rare. If it does happen, adults nip it in the bud.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the varied, well-attended clubs, such as choir, sports and gardening. They enjoy interesting topics. They experience all the subjects required by the national curriculum. Most pupils achieve well in reading, writing and mathematics by the time they leave. They also do well in religious education (RE) and in physical education (PE). This is because leaders plan these subjects well. The curriculum for history, geography and science is not as well planned. Pupils do not achieve well enough in these subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The teaching of early reading is not as effective as it should be. This means that too many pupils do not become confident readers as quickly as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff generally support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. This helps these pupils to learn alongside their peers. Sometimes the curriculum for these pupils is not as challenging as it needs to be.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Over the last few years, pupils have achieved well in both English and mathematics by the time they leave the school. Most pupils are well prepared for secondary school. Leaders have planned the mathematics curriculum well. Teachers are well trained in mathematics. They prioritise pupils’ understanding of how numbers work. Each sequence of lessons helps pupils to make steady progress, one step at a time. As they practise, pupils become increasingly confident in calculating. 7 November 2019

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In 2019, a large proportion of pupils did not meet the national expected standard in early reading at the end of Year 1. The teaching of phonics is not effective. The books given to pupils to practise their reading are not matched to the sounds that pupils know. This prevents pupils from developing fluency in their reading. Some pupils do not get enough practice reading aloud. Leaders have not addressed these weaknesses with enough urgency. Despite this, leaders and teachers have nurtured a love of reading in most pupils. Pupils enjoy the books adults read regularly to them. Many pupils enthuse about their favourite books and authors.

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The planning of the curriculum in several subjects is not well developed. This is the case in history, geography and science. Leaders have made a promising start on revising the curriculum plans. Teachers are clearer about what pupils need to learn by the end of each topic. However, the order in which topics take place is not always most helpful to pupils. For example, in history in Years 5 and 6, teachers intend pupils to learn about the climate and terrain of ancient Egypt. But leaders have not considered what pupils will need to learn before this, in geography and science, to help them better understand the topic. These weaknesses in the sequence and depth of the curriculum limit pupils’ progress.

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For such a small school, the number of pupils with SEND is high. Leaders plan well to make sure that these pupils are settled and included. Adults help these pupils to develop the ability to socialise and learn. However, staff are not always clear about how they will adapt curriculum plans to help these pupils learn as well as their peers.

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The RE curriculum helps pupils develop much knowledge about major world faiths. This makes a strong contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils value the plentiful opportunities to take part in a wide range of sports. Leaders make very effective use of extra funding for PE and sports. Most pupils, including those with SEND, attend after-school clubs.

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The headteacher and governing body make the most of the federation with a partner school. Individual staff expertise in each school benefits both schools. Wider partnership with other local schools has contributed to school improvement. Teachers value the leadership that the headteacher provides. They appreciate that the headteacher is mindful of their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and governors make sure the required recruitment checks are carried out on adults’ suitability to work with pupils. Teachers are properly trained in safeguarding and child protection. They understand their duties. They watch out for the pupils. Where concerns arise about the welfare or safety of any pupil, adults take action to secure help through the local authority. Leaders have assessed the risks posed by the open site. Staff are vigilant. 7 November 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Weaknesses in the teaching of early reading mean that the lowest-attaining pupils, including those with SEND, fall behind and do not catch up quickly enough. Some pupils do not get to practise their reading enough with books that are well matched to their developing knowledge. Leaders should ensure that all staff, especially those in the early years and in key stage 1, become experts in the teaching of phonics. Leaders should ensure that reading books are more carefully matched to children’s developing knowledge and that children practise reading them often enough to become accurate and fluent, so all pupils meet the expected standard by the end of Year 1.  The content of some subjects is not sequenced in a way that best facilitates the cumulative acquisition of knowledge from Reception to Year 6. Occasionally, some of the identified content is not sufficiently challenging, especially for older pupils.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Adaptations to the curriculum sometimes limit what pupils with SEND achieve. Leaders should ensure that all subjects are coherently planned to prepare pupils for their future learning. Plans should be ambitious in terms of what all groups of pupils should learn and by when. Leaders should ensure that adaptations to the curriculum help pupils with SEND to make strong progress from their starting points in every subject.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged Follifoot Church of England Primary School to be good on 19–20 April 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 7 November 2019

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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 years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 7 November 2019

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body David Harrington

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19–20 April 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. Almost all pupils are White British. A larger-than-average proportion of pupils have education, health and care plans.  Follifoot Church of England Primary School and Spofforth Church of England Primary School form a statutory hard federation. Both schools are governed by a single governing body and share the same headteacher.  Reception aged children are taught at the Spofforth school site alongside other children aged 3 to 5.  The federation shares a special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) with two other local schools.  The most recent inspection by the National Society Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) took place in December 2015.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with the headteacher, lead teacher and other teachers. Discussions were held with some teaching assistants. Inspectors met with the SENCo. 7 November 2019

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 The lead inspector met with the chair and vice-chair of governors. He met a representative of the local authority and held a brief telephone discussion with a representative of the diocese of Leeds.  Inspectors visited lessons and scrutinised pupils’ workbooks. They met with pupils to discuss their work and to find out what it is like to be a pupil at the school. Inspectors met with teachers to discuss the lessons visited. Inspectors looked particularly closely at early reading, mathematics and history. The lead inspector listened to pupils reading aloud to a teaching assistant.  The written responses of eight parents to the Ofsted parent survey, Parent View, were considered.  Inspectors examined a range of documents including the school self-evaluation document, school improvement plans, governing body minutes and curriculum plans.  A range of safeguarding documents and records were also scrutinised. Inspectors

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checked that leaders take timely action on behalf of pupils at risk of harm. They questioned staff about their safeguarding and child protection responsibilities. An inspector scrutinised the record of checks on adults’ suitability to work in school. Inspectors checked a sample of risk assessments and considered the safety of the school site and building.

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Inspection team

Philip Riozzi, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Lynne Selkirk Ofsted Inspector 7 November 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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