Penruddock Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Penruddock Primary School Penruddock, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 0QU

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Outcome

Penruddock 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?

Pupils are cared for well in this small village school. Staff nurture warm relationships with their pupils. Pupils show respect for each other and their teachers. They work and play with friends across year groups. Pupils thoroughly enjoy their time in school. Pupils we spoke to told us that the school was like a happy family. The school lives out its vision to be a caring community, where every child is nurtured.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils behave well in lessons and around school. Pupils told inspectors that bullying is rare. Pupils say that if bullying does happen, they tell an adult and it stops. Most parents and guardians agreed with this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils work hard and take pride in their work. They enjoy their learning in a wide range of subjects. However, in many of these subjects, learning is not planned carefully enough. Over time, this is impacting on what pupils know and remember

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive on the many opportunities to develop their individual interests and talents. Pupils take part in sporting activities like golf and cricket, and those with musical talents learn to play an instrument or join the school choir. Pupils are proud to have won the local annual rounders tournament for the past four years.

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

The new headteacher has quickly established what the school does well and what it could do better. In 2019, there was a dip in the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics at the end of key stage 2. The headteacher has acted swiftly to introduce a well-ordered curriculum for mathematics, that sets out clearly what pupils need to learn. Pupils described to us how their learning in mathematics was now more structured. 4 February 2020

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Children settle well into the Reception Year. They get off to a quick start with their reading. Staff use a carefully sequenced programme of phonics to teach letter sounds. Children learn to write the letters alongside the sounds that they make. They apply this knowledge when they write independently. If children fall behind, they receive the support they need to catch up quickly. Staff are well trained. However, some of the books that pupils read are not well matched to the sounds they are learning. Most pupils attain the expected standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1.

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Older pupils are avid readers. They talk passionately about reading. Several pupils told inspectors that they find it hard to put their book down. While pupils enjoy reading, they sometimes find it hard to answer more complex questions about the text. Pupils’ comprehension skills are not developed systematically across key stage 2. In 2019, there was a dip in the proportion of children meeting the expected standard in reading at the end of key stage 2.

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Leaders and staff are working together to improve the curriculum. In all subjects, they are setting out the details of what needs to be taught, and the order in which it needs to be taught. Teachers have made links between different subjects which help pupils to develop a deeper understanding and recall information more easily. For example, pupils told us that work in drama lessons had helped them remember words like ‘erosion’ and ‘deposition’, which they linked to their learning about rivers in geography.

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Leaders promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. Well- established links with local primary schools enable pupils to socialise and play sport with their peers. Pupils know about democracy. Older pupils spoke of their individual rights and responsibilities. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Older pupils take on responsibilities like house captain, sports leader and school councillor. School councillors organise charitable events. They are proud of the money they have raised for cancer research. Pupils thrive on these responsibilities.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Staff know these pupils well. They know when to give support and when to stand back. Pupils with SEND make steady progress through the targets on their plans.

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Many governors are new to the role. They are supportive of the headteacher and her ambitions for the school. Governors are knowledgeable about the curriculum in reading and mathematics, but less so in other subjects.

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Pupils, parents and staff recognise the positive changes that the headteacher is making. Staff are appreciative of the opportunities they have to improve their own learning. They know that the headteacher is mindful of their workload and well-being. Staff say that they are proud to work at the school. 4 February 2020

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff and governors receive regular training and updates on safeguarding. Staff are vigilant. They know what to do if they are concerned about a child. Records are detailed and show the actions that leaders have taken. Leaders make the right checks on adults and volunteers who work at the school.

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Safeguarding

Pupils say that school is a safe place to be. They know that adults care about their safety. Pupils learn to recognise risks. For example, they know the dangers of working online. They know not to share their personal information when online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In 2019, standards in reading declined. Pupils in key stage 2 enjoy reading, but they do not always understand what it means to infer or retrieve information from the text. Leaders should ensure that there is a rigorous, systematic and consistent approach to developing reading comprehension across key stage 2.  In foundation subjects, leaders have developed plans that outline the national curriculum objectives that need to be taught each term. These plans do not identify the sequence of learning so that pupils can learn and remember more in each foundation subject. Leaders should build on these plans to identify the most important knowledge to learn and the order in which it is taught.  Sometimes the books that pupils use to practise their reading are not well matched to their phonic knowledge. This hampers their fluency and enjoyment of reading. Leaders should ensure that the books that pupils read are carefully matched to their phonic

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged Penruddock Primary School to be good on 7–8 February 2012. 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 10122109 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Information about this school

 The current headteacher took up her appointment in January 2019.  The chair of the governing body was appointed in September 2019.  The school offers nursery provision; there are three children currently on roll in the nursery. All three children were absent from school on the day of the inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 During the inspection we met with the headteacher, curriculum leads and other members of staff, including the school bursar.  We spoke with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body.  We spoke with a representative of the local authority.  We looked at a range of documentation relating to safeguarding, including the single central record. We met with the headteacher, who is responsible for safeguarding, to discuss how the school keeps its pupils safe.  We did deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and geography. We visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and talked to them about their experiences of school. 4 February 2020

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 We spoke to members of the school council.  We considered the views of 40 pupils who responded to the pupil survey.  We spoke to several parents at the start of the school day. The views of 15 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were considered.  We observed pupils reading and spoke to many pupils about their reading.

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Inspection team

Garry White, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Lisa Crausby 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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