Wykeham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Wykeham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Main Road, Wykeham, Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO13 9QB

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Outcome

Wykeham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that standards may be declining, as set out below.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There has been a high turnover of leaders in this school. The current headteacher is the fifth in post since the previous inspection. This instability has had a negative impact on staff and pupils and on the running of the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have had to adapt to a range of new initiatives implemented by previous senior leaders. These were not in place long enough to embed before new leadership changed direction. This means that some pupils have not been accessing a well-planned curriculum. Also, pupils who are struggling to learn to read have not received the support they need.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Some pupils struggle with following the rules and expectations regarding their behaviour. This is particularly the case for older pupils who have experienced turmoil for a longer period. The new headteacher has worked hard to tackle low-level disruption, yet there is still more work to be done. Pupils say that bullying does happen, but staff are now tackling it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and enjoy the range of after-school clubs and enrichment activities on offer, for example ‘Glee Club’. Pupils also develop their independence skills by organising events for the local and global community. Pupils decided to raise money for the Australian bushfires by organising games, baking and dressing up. They agreed to split the money between care for the animals and fire-fighters. 4 February 2020

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

The new headteacher has tackled how teachers plan and teach mathematics with determination. This is despite being without a subject leader. Staff have all received training. Mathematics is now sequenced to build on pupils’ prior knowledge. This includes pupils in the early years and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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

Leaders have started to tackle weakness in the teaching of early reading. Children in reception get off to a very fast start. Staff focus on what sounds they need to learn as soon as they start school. However, pupils who struggle to read by the time they are in Year 1 and Year 2 are not supported well enough. These pupils are being taught phonics with other pupils who are in the same year group but at a faster pace. As a result, they do not have enough time to practise the sounds they need to. This includes pupils who did not pass the phonics screening check in Year 1. Furthermore, the books they are taking home to practise reading are too hard for them. They contain sounds they are not familiar with, or they cannot remember. Staff have received recent training. However, leaders have not checked the effectiveness of this training. They have not picked up on the incorrect teaching methods, pronunciation and vocabulary being used.

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

Curriculum development in other subjects is at a very early stage. Leaders have recently carried out reviews of history and geography. Plans now include links to other curriculum areas, with consideration given to investigating the local area. They also contain opportunities for forest school activities and trips. This includes visits to Eden Camp and Space Dome. However, there has been little consideration given to how curriculum content builds on what pupils already know. Teachers are also not checking what pupils know and remember. Pupils are not taught explicit content in some subject areas, for example in history. This is because some pupils have not made as much progress as they should in writing. Teaching has focused on this instead. Leaders are aware of this and have plans in place to address it.

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

Parents and carers are happy with the school and are confident that their children are being nurtured and looked after. Many pupils agree. However, some do not. Some staff members do not share the headteacher’s high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and attitudes. A few of the older pupils do not behave as well as they should. Their peers worry about this. These pupils are not demonstrating positive behaviour and attitudes for younger pupils to follow. Leaders share these concerns. The headteacher has put in place a range of strategies to deal with bullying. Pupils agree that this are working. Consequently, the number of negative behaviour incidents recorded has dropped significantly. There is still much work to be done to further improve this area.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are placed at the very heart of all safeguarding practices. Leaders and governors have robust procedures in place for their protection. Staff receive high-quality training which is regularly updated. This includes recent training on county lines and up-skirting. Leaders use an electronic system to record important information about pupils. This enables them to 4 February 2020

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analyse patterns and historical information if concerns arise. This means that they are able to act quickly, as and when necessary, to keep pupils safe. Where appropriate, staff work and liaise with outside agencies. They also seek support and guidance when needed. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, particularly from the dangers they may face online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Not enough consideration is given to pupils who struggle to read. There are not enough opportunities for them to practise sounding out and blending at the phase they are working at. They spend too much time being taught with pupils in the same year group who are more fluent readers. Books they take home to read are too difficult as they contain sounds that pupils are unfamiliar with or cannot remember. Leaders must take immediate action to ensure that those pupils are exposed to teaching which matches their ability. They also need to carefully match reading books with sounds that pupils know and can use.  Not all subjects offer the breadth and ambition equal to the national curriculum. Plans do not sequence learning to build on pupils’ prior knowledge and teachers do not ensure that pupils are remembering specific content relating to discrete subjects. This means that pupils are not prepared well enough to move on to the next stages of

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

education. Leaders must carefully consider what specific content is being taught, when and how it builds on prior learning, as well as preparing them for future learning.  Changes in staffing and leadership have resulted in staff having mixed expectations regarding pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning. Some pupils do not behave as well as they should in lessons and during unstructured times. This is disrupting others’ learning. Leaders have already started to address this with a range of strategies. Leaders must now ensure that all staff members have shared, high expectations, and that pupils understand the importance of good attitudes to learning.

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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 school to be good on 24–25 February 2016. 4 February 2020

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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.

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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. 4 February 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10110791 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.hacknesswykehamcefederation.co.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection 24–25 February 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school became part of a hard federation with Hackness Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School in September 2016. The federation shares the same headteacher.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below average.  Most pupils speak English as their first language.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the headteacher, senior teacher and other members of staff.  We also spoke with three members of the governing body, including the chair of governors, and a representative from the local authority.  We took account of the five responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  We observed pupil’s behaviour in lessons and around the school, including lunchtime. We gathered pupils’ views about the school through formal and informal discussion. We also considered the 33 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey. 4 February 2020

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 We scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans. We also evaluated information about safeguarding and pupils’ behaviour.  We took account of the 18 responses to Ofsted’s parent questionnaire, Parent View, as well as the free-text responses.  We looked in depth at reading, mathematics and history. In doing so, we visited every class and reviewed pupils’ work. We spoke to pupils about their learning and listened to them read. We also met with teachers.

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Inspection team

Suzanne Dunn, lead inspector Senior Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Catherine Precious Ofsted Inspector 4 February 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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