Yohden Primary School

Inspection of Yohden Primary School Windsor Terrace, Horden, Peterlee, County Durham SR8 4HP

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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 Good Previous inspection grade Good 7–8 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Yohden is a friendly and caring school. Pupils value the care they get from adults. Pupils like coming to school. Their attendance is improving.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Recently, there have been many changes in staff. The quality of education pupils receive is not good enough. This is particularly the case in key stage 1, where pupils’ achievement in reading and mathematics has declined.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the trips and events that staff organise, including after-school clubs, visits to the university and parliament. These activities build on what pupils are learning in class.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils work hard in lessons and want to achieve. They take pride in their work. Pupils behave well. They like the rewards they receive for good behaviour. Pupils are polite and respectful. Most listen well to their teachers. Some pupils are less attentive when they are not clear about what they are learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know how to keep safe, including online. Pupils are not worried about bullying. They are confident that staff deal with any incidents that happen. Pupils told inspectors that they can speak to staff, including the school counsellor, if they have any worries.

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better?

Senior leaders have not acted quickly enough to improve some aspects of the quality of education since the last inspection. Leaders have improved achievement at key stage 2 and in some areas of the curriculum. However, the quality of learning in subjects varies. Senior leaders do not check the quality of education well enough to be sure that pupils are achieving well in all subject areas.

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better?

In mathematics, teachers now follow well-designed curriculum plans. Pupils have good opportunities to practise and secure their understanding. Mathematics is now taught well. Some older pupils struggle with complex calculations because they do not know their times tables well enough. This is due to inconsistent teaching in the past.

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better?

In some subjects, teachers do not cover the curriculum that leaders have devised. In science, for example, teachers do not consistently teach the right things in the right order. This leads to gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Leaders have not made sure that teachers have the subject knowledge they need to implement the school’s curriculum plans.

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better?

Leaders want all pupils to do well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The new leader for SEND assesses and identifies pupils’ 7–8 January 2020

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needs well. However, because of leadership instability, provision for pupils with SEND has not been consistently well planned. Leaders recognise that there is further work to do. They have plans in place to tackle the most important priorities. This includes improving individual support plans for pupils with SEND.

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Leaders have prioritised reading. They effectively promote pupils’ enjoyment of reading. Older pupils spoke to inspectors with enthusiasm about books and authors. Pupils study texts such as ‘The War of the Worlds’ and ‘Macbeth’. This is helping them develop their love of reading. Phonics is taught effectively in the early years. However, in key stage 1, phonics teaching is not well planned or delivered. Pupils are not making the progress they should. Some staff do not have the expertise they need to teach the phonics programme.

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Early years provision is good. The early years leader assesses what children already know and builds on this. Adults support children to improve their vocabulary. Children develop their knowledge and skills because teaching is purposeful and engaging. During the inspection, a group of children used number tiles to count and order to 25. Children learn happily together.

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Pupils’ wider personal development is strong. Staff provide pupils with a range of opportunities to learn outside the classroom. Pupils appreciate their visits to places such as Durham Botanical Gardens and the Laing Gallery. Leaders have ensured pupils understand the importance of healthy relationships and friendships. Pupils show respect to each other. They develop their understanding of being a good citizen. This is reflected in pupils taking part in a local beach ‘litter pick’.

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Governors know the school well. They have been receptive to recent external support. This has enabled them to better challenge leaders to improve the school. Governors have helped to improve some aspects of the school’s work. For example, their close monitoring of leaders’ work to tackle pupils’ low attendance has been very effective. Governors recognise that there is much more to do to improve the quality of education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is an effective culture of safeguarding. Leaders ensure that all relevant recruitment checks are carried out. Staff receive up-to-date safeguarding training. Adults are aware of the reporting procedures if they spot signs that there may be a concern about a pupil. Staff with designated responsibility for safeguarding know pupils and their families well. They work closely with other agencies to ensure that vulnerable pupils and families get the support they need. Staff generally maintain suitable records of the school’s work to keep pupils safe. Occasionally, these could be sharper in recording how incidents are followed up by staff. 7–8 January 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils do not consistently achieve as well as they should in reading and phonics. While there is a clear curriculum plan for phonics, some staff have not received the necessary training and support so that they can implement this effectively. Leaders should act quickly to ensure that staff are well trained to teach phonics effectively. They should ensure that pupils gain the knowledge they need to become fluent readers by the end of key stage 1.  There are inconsistencies in the implementation of the curriculum in a number of subject areas. In some classes, staff are not following the planned curriculum. Some staff do not have the subject knowledge they need. This has an impact on how well pupils achieve in subjects such as science and music. Leaders should take steps to address inconsistencies in teaching and teachers’ subject knowledge so that the curriculum plans in all subjects can be implemented effectively.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The many changes in the leadership of SEND have impacted negatively on the quality of education for pupils with SEND. Pupils with SEND have not received the support they need to help them to achieve well. Support plans do not consistently provide adults with the precise information required so that they can meet pupils needs fully. Leaders should implement their plans to address this so that they meet the needs of pupils with SEND effectively.

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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 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. 7–8 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10110622 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 18 December 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is smaller than an average-sized primary school.  Since the last inspection, there have been several staff changes.  Over a third of pupils are identified as receiving support for SEND. This is higher than the national average.  The proportion of pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding is above the national average.

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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

 We met with the headteacher, deputy teacher, who is also the special educational needs coordinator, curriculum leaders and other members of staff. We spoke to the local authority representative. We spoke to members of the local governing board, including the chair.  We explored the curriculum by carrying out deep dives in reading, mathematics, science and music. This involved meeting with curriculum leaders, visiting lessons, 7–8 January 2020

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speaking to pupils and looking at their work and speaking to teachers. We heard pupils read.  We observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school, including at breakfast club, playtimes and lunchtimes. We gathered pupils’ views about the school through formal and informal discussions.  We scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans, minutes of governing body meetings and safeguarding documents. We also evaluated information relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance.  We gathered the views of parents at the start of the school day. We also took account of the views of 17 parents who submitted free-text responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.  We carried out a range of activities to check the arrangements for safeguarding pupils. Inspectors scrutinised the school’s policies relating to safeguarding, spoke with the designated safeguarding leader and considered records of the pre-

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employment suitability checks the school makes on its staff. Inspectors asked many pupils for their opinions about safety, behaviour and bullying. Inspectors considered parents’ responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey.

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Inspection team

Jean Watt, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie McGrane Ofsted Inspector 7–8 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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