Stamford Bridge Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Stamford Bridge Primary School Church Road, Stamford Bridge, York, North Yorkshire YO41 1BP

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Outcome

Stamford Bridge Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and enthusiastic learners. Behaviour is excellent. At breaktimes, pupils are lively and exuberant and, if ever needed, take on the role of ‘peace maker’. They ensure that everyone has someone to play with and that any minor disagreements are quickly resolved. Pupils told the inspector that they feel safe. They know what bullying is and say it rarely takes place at their school. Adults take great care of pupils’ emotional needs. They do this well. Those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are looked after well. Teaching assistants who support these pupils are well trained in meeting their individual physical and emotional needs. They meet these needs well. However, sometimes, teaching assistants do not always meet the pupil’s educational needs as well as they could.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers have high expectations of both pupils’ learning and their behaviour. Pupils at the school learn well and reach high standards. However, in some subjects, such as history, teaching is disjointed. At times, pupils do not remember what it is they have learned. This is because teachers do not make the most of opportunities to revisit learning when it is connected to new learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Physical education (PE) is a strength of this school. The pupils enjoy being active. Pupils get the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities in lessons, after school and at breaktimes.

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

Pupils love to read. They learn to read well, and this helps them learn effectively in all subjects. There are books everywhere in school. Pupils get lots of opportunities to read and for adults to read to them. Phonics is taught well. Teachers and teaching assistants model the sounds well and help pupils to blend them together to make words. However, some teaching assistants do not always take such care when modelling and teaching letter formation. These errors are not being picked up by senior leaders and teachers. 19–20 November 2019

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Curriculum leaders have good subject knowledge. Pupils’ learning in some subjects, for example reading, mathematics and PE, is well planned. Curriculum leaders make sure that whatever pupils learn in these subjects is learned securely. For example, how to dodge in PE is practised regularly and then used in games. The PE leader ensures that pupils can take part in a wide range of competitive and non-competitive activities. Tennis matches with other schools in the trust, swimming galas, yoga and dance are just a few of the activities that take place. All pupils, regardless of ability, are welcomed and encouraged to take part. The PE leader has also spent time training teachers and teaching assistants in keeping pupils active at breaktimes. This has worked very well as pupils use up lots of energy and play well together.

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Senior leaders know that in some subjects learning is not sequential, such as in history. Pupils will learn about something, for example the 1066 Battle of Stamford Bridge, but this learning is not revisited when it may link to other historical events pupils later learn about. Pupils therefore forget what they have learned. Pupils do not learn where this event fits in history compared to the other historical events they learn about. Senior and curriculum leaders have already rewritten the curriculum planning. However, there has not been time to see the implementation of these plans, nor how well they help pupils achieve.

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Pupils behave well and are polite to each other and adults. In lessons, pupils are lively, inquisitive learners and listen well. Teachers rarely need to intervene to curb any unwanted behaviours. When they do, pupils are quick to respond. Rates of attendance are high as pupils like coming to school. Pupils confidently talk about how teachers would help them if they were worried about anything, including bullying.

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Senior leaders work extremely well together. They share the same vision of excellence. Staff from the Wolds Learning Partnership schools meet and work regularly together. They learn from each other and share their expertise. Staff in the school feel incredibly valued. They know that leaders care about their well-being. They receive lots of opportunities to learn. Senior leaders work well with the local authority and other external consultants. They use this help to learn from others and to have someone from outside the school evaluate how well they are doing. Senior leaders quickly act on advice given.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have a thorough knowledge of safeguarding issues. They know they can raise any concerns they may have and that detailed electronic records are kept. Governors take a very active part in ensuring that pupils are safe. They have areas of expertise that they use to support the school. Thorough checks are made on staff before they start working at the school. Great care is taken to ensure that pupils are safe. For example, leaders make regular and frequent checks on safety arrangements across the school’s two separate sites. 19–20 November 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, teaching assistants are not putting into practice the training that they have received. This leads to them misleading pupils. For example, some teaching assistants do not model correct letter formation. Others ask pupils to identify words they do not know by using pictures in the book instead of using their knowledge of phonics. Senior and middle leaders and teachers need to monitor the work of teaching assistants more carefully. They need to ensure that teaching assistants implement well the training they have received, or support them more effectively with appropriate training.  Pupils demonstrate that knowledge is firmly embedded in their long-term memory when subjects are well planned. For some subjects this good, sequential planning has been in place for some time. This is evident in the pupils’ good achievements, for example in reading, mathematics, science and PE. Other subjects, such as history, are

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

not yet being taught so that learning is sequential and builds on prior knowledge. Leaders are developing curriculum plans for these subjects, but they are not fully implemented and so pupils are not achieving well enough in these subjects.

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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 the predecessor school, Stamford Bridge Primary School, to be good.

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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. 19–20 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. 19–20 November 2019

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School details

Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire

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School details

Inspection number 10110753 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected as an academy

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Information about this school

 Stamford Bridge Primary School converted to become an academy on 1 January 2017. When its predecessor school was last inspected by Ofsted in 2013, it was judged to be good overall.  The school is part of the Wolds Learning Partnership Trust. There are three primary schools and one secondary school who form this trust.  The school is located on two sites within very close proximity of each other.  The current acting executive headteacher has been in post since September 2019.

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Information about this inspection

 I considered in depth pupils’ learning in reading, mathematics and physical education. Pupils’ learning across other areas of the curriculum, for example in writing, science and history, was also considered.  I held discussions with curriculum leaders, the acting executive headteacher and the deputy headteacher.  I spoke with pupils throughout the inspection in lessons, at breaktimes and in more formal discussions. I asked them about their learning and their opinion of behaviour in 19–20 November 2019

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the school.  I held meetings with the chief executive officer, the chair of the trust and the chair of the governing body. I also met with the local authority school improvement partner.  I spoke to at least 10 members of staff during the inspection and received 41 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire. Their views on safeguarding and workload were considered. Sixty-nine responses to Parent View were received, along with a letter from a parent. All opinions were considered.  Several discussions were held, and documents considered, regarding safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Jo Sharpe, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 19–20 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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