Silkstone Primary School

Inspection of Silkstone Primary School High Street, Silkstone, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S75 4LR

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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 Outstanding 29–30 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very happy and safe at this school. They are well behaved and friendly. They are welcoming to new comers. They show respect for adults and each other. There are times when they fall out, but trusted adults are on hand to help them to rebuild their friendships. Bullying is rare, and leaders deal with it effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff care about all the pupils. They give them lots of opportunities to be creative. Most pupils achieve highly in statutory assessments. However, leaders do not make sure work across the curriculum is of a consistently high quality. Teachers do not always insist that pupils do their best. Most pupils’ work is poorly presented. Many pupils are unable to remember knowledge and skills from previous learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils are proud of the wide range of responsibilities they take on. Roles include: school council representatives, eco-warriors, librarians, outdoor assistants, play leaders, lunchtime assistants and well-being warriors.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say one of the best things about their school is being able to take part in lots of different things. They speak with enthusiasm about how they learn from visits, visitors and clubs. Many enjoy taking part in competitive sport and playing in the school band.

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better?

Leaders have designed a well-sequenced curriculum. However, most pupils have gaps in their knowledge and skills from curriculum shortcomings in previous years. Current plans do not show what these gaps are or how teachers intend to fill them. The quality of the teaching of the curriculum varies. Many teachers do not deal with pupils’ errors and misconceptions. The quality of pupils’ work is not as high as it could be. Many pupils struggle to remember knowledge from previous teaching.

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better?

Most children start school with knowledge and skills that are typical for their age. They settle in quickly and enjoy learning. Staff encourage them to investigate and explore their environment. They use questioning well to extend play. Children are able to select the things they want to use, and most are able to tidy them away when they have finished. Teachers’ plans are regularly adapted to meet children’s needs and extend their interests. Daily work on reading, writing and mathematics ensures that most pupils are ready for the demands of the Year 1 curriculum by the time they leave Reception. However, many pupils do not form letters and numbers correctly.

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better?

Leaders have made sure that reading has a high priority. The introduction of a new scheme is helping to make phonics teaching more consistent. Teachers and teaching assistants are well trained. Books which pupils use to practise their skills are mostly well matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge. As a result, most pupils quickly gain the skills they need to become fluent readers. Pupils who fall behind get the support 29–30 January 2020

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they need to catch up. However, this was not the case in the past. This means some older pupils still lack the skills they need to read fluently. Most pupils say they like reading. They look forward to listening to the books their teachers read to them.

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Work in mathematics is well structured. Pupils have opportunities to apply their developing skills in different contexts. The use of resources and pictures is helping pupils to gain a deeper understanding of mathematics. Teachers help pupils to understand and use the correct mathematical vocabulary. Pupils can talk with confidence about their learning. Work to improve reasoning skills has been effective.

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Pupils enjoy coming to school. Attendance over time is high. However, the number of pupils missing lots of school time has increased dramatically recently. Leaders are working with parents to address this. Lessons are not disrupted by poor behaviour. However, there are too many occasions when pupils are not fully engaged in their learning. The standard of work in pupils’ books shows that many do not take pride in their work.

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Work on promoting pupils’ personal development is strong. Work on culture, diversity, mental well-being, citizenship and responsibility is woven throughout school life. One of the pupils who acts as a well-being warrior was keen to explain his role. If a pupil has a worry, they can feed a message to one of the worry monsters. Well-being warriors then offer support. Pupils say this system is helping them.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported to learn alongside their peers. The small number of disadvantaged pupils in the school are also well supported.

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Leaders have developed effective ways to engage with parents and the wider community. Most parents are very positive about this work. For example, they support their children with community events such as raising money for charities

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make appropriate checks to ensure that staff in school are suitable to work with children. Staff are well trained and therefore know what to look out for. They are vigilant and report any concerns. Records show that, when necessary, leaders take appropriate actions. They make sure vulnerable pupils get the support they need. Pupils learn about healthy relationships and how to deal with peer pressure. They know about potential risks in many different situations. For example, near roads, railways and water and when using the internet. Parents told inspectors that they believe their children are safe and well cared for in school. 29–30 January 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The implementation of a well sequenced curriculum is at an early stage. Most pupils have gaps in knowledge and skills where content has not been covered in previous years. Leaders need to ensure that all teachers have the subject knowledge and skills to identify and fill the existing gaps.  Some teaching is focused on tasks rather securing effective learning. Many pupils remember the tasks but struggle to remember knowledge from previous learning. Leaders need to make sure the curriculum is implemented in ways that help pupils to know and remember more over time.  Teachers do not insist that pupils present their work well. Pupils’ work is often very untidy. Letter formation is incorrect, and handwriting is poor. Leaders need to make sure teachers’ expectations for the quality of pupils’ work are high. They need to encourage pupils to take more pride in their work.  Teachers do not always check pupils’ work for errors and misconceptions. This

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

means that mistakes, especially in basic skills, are repeated and reinforced. Leaders need to make sure errors and misconceptions are routinely picked up and addressed.  Attendance, over time, has been very high. However, in this academic year too many pupils have been persistently absent from school. This means some pupils are not learning as well as they could. Leaders need to continue to develop effective strategies to make sure more pupils attend school regularly. They need to continue to work with some parents to help them to understand the importance of regular school attendance.

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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. 29–30 January 2020

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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. 29–30 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10121894 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body James Hinchliffe

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School details

Date of previous inspection 18 November 2008

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Information about this school

 The current headteacher was appointed in September 2017.  The school has breakfast and after-school clubs.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the headteacher, assistant headteacher and some subject leaders.  We met with three members of the governing body and looked at the minutes of governing body meetings.  We held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.  The arrangements for safeguarding were checked. This included checks on the single central record, staff training and safeguarding records.  We discussed the school’s records on attendance and behaviour with leaders.  We analysed the school’s self-evaluation document and plans for improvement. 29–30 January 2020

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 We talked informally with pupils in lessons, in breakfast club and at breaktimes.  We talked to a number of parents as they dropped their children off at the beginning of the school day. We also took account of the 75 responses to Ofsted’s survey, Parent View.  The subjects considered as part of this inspection were reading, mathematics, Geography and art. We carried out deep dives in these subjects. This entailed meeting with senior leaders, subject leaders and teachers, looking at curriculum plans, visiting lessons, speaking to pupils about their learning and scrutinising pupils work. We also listened to pupils read and observed a teacher listening to pupils read.

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Inspection team

Chris Cook, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Marcus Newby Her Majesty’s Inspector 29–30 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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