Middleton-on-the-Wolds Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Inspection of Middleton-on-the-Wolds Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Station Road, Middleton-on-the-Wolds, Driffield YO25 9UQ

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good Primary School 28–29 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders make sure that pupils and children in this small rural school receive a good quality of education. The school’s motto, ‘Love, Laugh, Live, Learn’, is underpinned by Christian values. Staff are determined that pupils will have a special experience as they become ‘agents for change’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations for all pupils and work hard to help them achieve their very best. Teachers know pupils well. Teachers nurture, develop and challenge pupils so that they achieve well. The curriculum has helped to raise pupils’ aspirations and resilience. Most pupils behave very well in lessons and when moving around the well-kept environment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a friendly school. All are welcomed. Pupils enjoy school because they enjoy their learning. They feel safe and well looked after. Bullying is not tolerated and incidents are rare in the school. Pupils say that when bullying happens, they are confident that teachers will sort it out quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love starting their day at the breakfast club. There is a wide range of clubs for pupils to join, including sports clubs and the very well-attended reading café at lunchtimes. Trips and visits, for example an overnight stay in London, provide pupils with memorable experiences.

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better?

School leaders have carefully thought about and designed an ambitious curriculum. Pupils study a broad range of subjects. The curriculum is well planned so that pupils build their knowledge and understanding in each subject. Teachers use questions skilfully to revisit prior learning. This helps children to remember key facts and concepts.

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better?

Leaders have designed the curriculum in a way that pupils can draw upon a wide range of prior knowledge. For example, in design technology, when pupils create a bag to carry fossils, they use what they know from history and science about the size, weight and shape of fossils. In reading, writing and mathematics, teachers use assessment well to identify what pupils know and remember. However, in some subjects, including science and history, the use of assessment is at the early stages of being embedded across the whole school.

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better?

The mathematics curriculum has recently been reviewed. The content is sequenced logically so that knowledge builds up over time. Most pupils can describe how they apply what they know to solve difficult problems. Most teachers deal with pupils’ misconceptions effectively. However, pupils in upper key stage 2 have some gaps in their existing knowledge. Some staff do not have the necessary mathematical expertise to help pupils close and fill the gaps. Primary School 28–29 January 2020

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Leaders have made the teaching of reading a high priority. Staff are clear about what they expect pupils to know and do each term. Children start to learn phonics as soon as they join the Reception class. They quickly learn how to use their knowledge of letters and sounds to help them to read and write. Well-trained staff provide extra help to the small number of pupils who need to catch up quickly. Books that pupils read in school are matched to the sounds they have been learning. By the end of Year 1, almost all pupils are confident and resilient readers. In the older classes, pupils deepen their reading skills as they study a wide range of good- quality books. Staff encourage pupils of all ages to develop a love of reading. Almost half the pupils in the school attend the recently introduced reading café at lunchtimes. However, some pupils in upper key stage 2 do not read widely or often.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Teachers identify any learning needs early and adapt the curriculum to meet each pupil’s needs. Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils have full access to all extra-curricular activities.

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The early years curriculum is carefully planned and sequenced. Leaders adapt it to take into account children’s interests. Children in the Reception class make the most of the exciting outdoor area. Adults plan the environment and resources well. As a result, children practise independently what they have learned in more formal lessons. Parents and carers appreciate opportunities to be involved in their children’s learning.

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Pupils behave well in and out of the classroom. They move around the buildings with care and open doors for visitors. They are proud of their environment. The relationships between teachers and pupils are positive. Pupils are very well cared for.

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Leaders use trips and visits to bring learning to life. When learning about dinosaurs, pupils were excited when they dug an area of the school grounds and found ‘fossils’. This was followed by a visit to the Natural History Museum where pupils had the opportunity to tour the museum at night, using torches.

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Governors know the school well. They challenge and support leaders in equal measure. The headteacher, supported effectively by the local authority and the Diocese of York, is working tirelessly to improve the school. Staff value the training they receive. They agree that leaders consider their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The school’s designated safeguarding leaders are dedicated and make sure that there is a strong culture of keeping children safe in the school. Leaders ensure that safeguarding records are accurate. They carry out appropriate recruitment checks to make sure that all adults are safe to work with pupils. Pupils know how to stay safe at school, outside school and online. They also know whom to go to if they are worried. Staff receive regular training and understand any issues in the local area, Primary School 28–29 January 2020

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including children’s criminal exploitation, also known as county lines. They know what to do if they have any concerns.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Reading has a high priority across the school. Pupils, especially in key stage 1, are enthusiastic readers. This is not the case in upper key stage 2. These older pupils do not practise and improve their reading skills often enough. Leaders should promote pupils’ love of reading more in upper key stage 2.  Some staff do not have the subject knowledge to help pupils who have gaps in their existing knowledge of mathematics. These pupils find it difficult to solve problems, carry out investigations and reason mathematically. Leaders should ensure that all staff who teach mathematics have the necessary subject knowledge to do so well.  Assessment has only recently been revised and implemented in some foundation subjects. Teachers do not assess as well in these subjects as they do in English and mathematics. As a result, teachers do not have an accurate picture of what pupils know and can remember. Leaders should continue to embed the revised

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

assessment systems in science and foundation subjects.

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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. Primary School 28–29 January 2020

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School details

Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire

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School details

Inspection number 10134908 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.middletononthewoldsprimary.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 16–17 June 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Middleton-on-the-Wolds Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school is a Church of England faith school. Its religious character was last inspected in November 2015.  The school is federated with two other schools, Beswick and Watton Primary School, and Bishop Wilton Primary School, to form the Wolds Federation. The federation shares a headteacher and a governing body.  The headteacher was appointed in September 2017 and has an overview of all three schools in the federation. A new assistant headteacher joined the school in March 2019.

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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, the assistant headteacher, senior teachers, subject leaders and teachers. We also met with members of the governing body, including Primary School 28–29 January 2020

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the chair. We met with representatives from the local authority and the Diocese of York.  We held informal and formal discussions with the vast majority of pupils and observed interactions during playtime and lunchtime. We also spoke to a range of parents.  We observed the work of the school and scrutinised a wide range of evidence, including the school’s evaluation of its overall effectiveness, action plans, attendance and behaviour records, safeguarding files and recruitment checks. We talked to staff about their role in keeping pupils safe.  An inspector listened to pupils read.  We talked to staff, including the newly qualified teacher, about their workload, and about the amount and quality of the training and support they receive from leaders.  We took into account the 17 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. We also took into consideration the four staff responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey.

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 We undertook deep dives into the following subjects: reading, mathematics, science and history. This involved meeting with the leaders of these subjects, joint visits with them to a sample of lessons in their subject areas, and joint scrutiny with them of the workbooks and other work produced by pupils from the classes visited. Discussions were held with teachers and groups of pupils from the lessons observed. We also took a broad overview of the curriculum plans in modern foreign languages, physical education and religious education.

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Inspection team

Dimitris Spiliotis, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Zoe Lightfoot Her Majesty’s Inspector Primary School 28–29 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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