Filey Church of England Nursery and Infants Academy

Inspection of a good school: Filey Church of England Nursery and Infants Academy Padbury Avenue, Filey, North Yorkshire YO14 0BA

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Outcome

Filey Church of England Nursery and Infants Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Filey Nursery and Infants is a happy place to learn. Pupils’ experiences are planned to engender compassion, community and friendship. Adults build nurturing relationships with pupils. Pupils are keen to be play leaders, lunchtime monitors and collective worship leaders. They behave sensibly and are kind to each other. Bullying is very rare.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum for pupils’ personal development is strong. Well-planned visits and events give pupils a wide range of experiences. For example, pupils enjoyed watching a ballet performance at the theatre. They also created and performed their own opera. Pupils develop their musical and sporting talents through clubs and competitions. Projects encourage pupils’ sense of community. For example, pupils take part in local beach cleaning. They also benefited from an intergenerational project on dementia.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This year, leaders have started to improve the academic curriculum. Their work on subjects outside of English and mathematics is ongoing. Pupils are excited about the topics they study. Yet they do not consistently build their knowledge of the more complex aspects of a subject. English and mathematics teaching is effective in giving pupils the knowledge they need.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders foster partnerships with parents very well. Leaders and parents work together to make a positive difference to pupils. Many parents attend sessions to support their own learning. Others work alongside their children creating stories together. The family reading club is also popular. Parents appreciate the opportunities on offer.

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

By the time they leave, pupils typically have the English and mathematics knowledge they need for junior school. Yet in 2019, across year groups, pupils’ published outcomes were not as good as they should be. Leaders were new to their roles this year. With the support of the trust, they have improved the education that pupils receive. Teaching in English and mathematics is effective in building pupils’ knowledge. 14–15 January 2020

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Leaders have made a strong start in developing the curriculum. Subjects are coherently linked together. Leaders have plotted out what they expect pupils to learn in each half term. These expectations become more demanding as pupils move through the school. However, outside of English and mathematics, the plans are not detailed enough. Due to this, teachers are not consistently passing on knowledge in enough depth. Also, leaders are at the early stage of sequencing pupils’ learning within each topic. Pupils have secure knowledge of some aspects of their topics, yet their understanding of more complex concepts is underdeveloped.

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Teachers often plan exciting first-hand experiences to support pupils’ learning. This helps pupils to understand and remember what they are taught. For example, when learning about environmental issues, pupils created a fashion show using single-use plastic items. Working with a costume designer, they developed their understanding of design and technology. This topic was also used to develop pupils’ knowledge in other curriculum areas, including geography, science and English. Pupils sold tickets for the fashion show as a part of a business enterprise.

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Reading is a high priority in the school. Pupils love their class story times and book swap events. Leaders have swiftly addressed the dip in Year 1 pupils’ phonics outcomes in 2019. They have improved phonics teaching considerably this year. All teaching staff have suitable expertise. They all use the same teaching strategies. This helps pupils to decode words. Teachers check regularly to see which sounds pupils remember. Pupils who are struggling have extra daily opportunities to practise with an adult, yet the books pupils use to practise their early reading sometimes contain sounds they do not know. This hinders their confidence and fluency. Leaders are ordering new books to address this.

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Children’s learning in the early years is well thought out. Adults model new language and extend children’s learning well. Children have lots of chances to practise their new reading, writing and mathematics knowledge. Their learning in other areas is also well planned to prepare them for Year 1. For example, to get ready for learning in history, children each have an album of events from home and school. They revisit this with adults to develop an understanding of their own history. Similarly, children learn about the passing of time through building knowledge of days, weeks, months and seasons.

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High-quality support is in place for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff have a detailed understanding of pupils’ specific needs. Teachers adapt lessons well so that pupils with SEND work towards ambitious goals. Pupils with SEND have extra sessions to consolidate crucial knowledge. Leaders check thoroughly on the difference they make to pupils’ progress.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are fully aware of their responsibilities in safeguarding. They know the pupils and their families well. Leaders have prioritised the support for vulnerable families. Where necessary, referrals to external agencies are swift. Checks are in place to ensure that adults are suitable to work with children. 14–15 January 2020

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The addition of a pastoral support worker has made a crucial difference to many. The support for pupils’ social and emotional needs is strong. Pupils benefit from a programme of support. This includes mindfulness sessions, yoga and caring for the school ducks and the school rabbit, Bonnie. Pupils feel safe in school. They learn about how to stay safe in a range of contexts, including online and in water.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have made considerable improvements to phonics teaching. However, the books pupils use to practise early reading often contain sounds they do not know. This hampers pupils’ confidence and fluency. Leaders are aware of this and have plans in place to order new books. They should ensure that they act swiftly so that pupils have books to practise that contain only the sounds they know.  Leaders have recently redesigned the curriculum. Their work in this respect is well under way. However, outside of English and mathematics, whole-school plans are not sufficiently detailed. Sequencing of learning within a topic is not yet carefully thought out. This means that teachers do not have the guidance they need. As such, they do not consistently teach a suitable depth of knowledge. Pupils’ knowledge is then not secure in all subjects. Leaders should further develop their plans to provide teachers with more detailed information about what knowledge should be taught and in what

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

order. Leaders should then check that pupils remember important knowledge and concepts.

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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, Filey C of E VC Nursery and Infant School, to be good on 26–27 September 2013.

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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. 14–15 January 2020

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

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If you are the school and you are 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 years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 14–15 January 2020

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school opened in April 2017 and is part of the Ebor Academy Trust. The predecessor school, Filey C of E VC Nursery and Infant School, was last inspected in September 2013. It was judged to be good.  The school is designated as having a Church of England character. It is a part of the Diocese of York. It has not yet been inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 I met with the headteacher, senior leaders and other members of staff. I met with trust representatives and a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body.  I observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school, including at playtimes and lunchtimes. I gathered pupils’ views about the school through formal and informal discussions.  I scrutinised a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans, records of governors’ work and safeguarding documents. 14–15 January 2020

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 I considered the responses to Ofsted’s parent questionnaire, Parent View, and the staff survey results.  I looked in depth at the following subjects: reading, mathematics and history. In doing so, I visited every class and reviewed pupils’ work. I spoke to pupils about their learning and listened to them read. I also met with teachers.

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Inspection team

Karine Hendley, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 14–15 January 2020

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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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