Cartmel CofE Primary School

Inspection of Cartmel CofE Primary School Aynsome Road, Cartmel, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6PR

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Good

The previous ‘outstanding’ judgement reflected the school’s overall effectiveness in November 2012 under the relevant inspection framework at that time.

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Overall effectiveness Good

The new judgement of ‘good’ reflects the current inspection framework as well as any changes at the school since the last inspection.

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Overall effectiveness Good

The school has not been inspected for seven years, which is longer than the five- year maximum interval between inspections. Changes in school effectiveness may have happened at any point in that period. The long time between inspections is because the law changed in 2011; it made outstanding schools exempt from routine inspection. 3–4 March 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending school. Those that we spoke to told us that they are happy. Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They are polite and courteous. They conduct themselves well in lessons and at playtimes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for the pupils. The school’s core Christian values underpin the school’s mission statement, ‘Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.’ By the time pupils leave Cartmel they achieve well. Pupils do better in reading and writing than they do in mathematics.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils said that bullying did not happen in this school. There have been incidents of name-calling. These have been dealt with quickly and have not been repeated. Leaders consulted pupils, parents and carers about the new behaviour policy. Pupils said that it is fair. They understand the rewards and consequences.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a good understanding of how to stay safe. They are highly alert to the dangers of crossing the road each day to access the hall. Pupils enjoy their informative assemblies and computing lessons. They learn how to stay safe when using the internet and social media. Pupils enjoyed visiting a local fire station. They learned a lot about safety and the law when the police visited school.

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better?

Leaders have planned a broad and rich curriculum. It meets the needs and interests of the pupils. Leaders have considered the skills and knowledge they want pupils to acquire. They map these out considering the demands of mixed-age classes.

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better?

Leaders have continued to develop the school curriculum. Recent improvements have related to development of the arts. Pupils have benefited from visits from pianists, florists, artists, dancers and authors. High-quality learning is evident in the many wonderful displays around the school.

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better?

Governors know the school well. They work alongside subject leaders. This helps them to better understand what is working well and what needs to improve.

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better?

Pupils are fully involved in village and community life. They visit the local church regularly to have lunch with the elderly. Older pupils visit major cities to help them learn about life in modern Britain. Pupils enjoy having a say in how the school is run. They put themselves forward for election to become a ‘champion of change’. Pupils raise funds for a number of charities. Recently they have supported a school in Uganda.

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better?

Leaders promote reading well. Teachers read to their pupils every day. Pupils enjoy reading. Older pupils have a secure knowledge of a wide range of genres and 3–4 March 2020

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authors. Younger pupils are limited to reading books from the reading scheme. They do not have the opportunity to select books to read for pleasure.

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The teaching of phonics is effective. It enables children to recognise the sounds that letters make. In the early years, children practise these sounds through well-planned activities. Teachers deliver phonics lessons systematically. This enables children to learn new sounds in a logical order. Those who struggle receive extra help to enable them to catch up. The books that children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 read are not always appropriate. Too often, the books that these pupils are given to read are too hard. They do not build upon the sounds that pupils are learning in class.

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Leaders have considered the mathematics curriculum. Content is logically sequenced within each year group. This helps pupils to apply recent learning well. In the early years, children explore mathematics through a range of well-planned activities. Children communicate and share ideas as they measure and compare objects. Older pupils remember recent learning about division and multiplication. They use this to calculate inverse operations.

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Through the music and physical education curriculum, pupils engage in regular performances and competitions, both near to school and further afield. Pupils enjoy their music and dance lessons. The standard of singing is exceptional. Pupils benefit from regular music lessons. They are knowledgeable about a wide range of musical styles and composers. They explore genres through their music and their dance lessons. They make links between keeping healthy and physical activity. Pupils regularly engage in a range of clubs and extra-curricular activities. This helps to develop their competitive skills. Physical education is enhanced through interesting activities such as yoga. This helps pupils to consider their mental health.

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The few staff share the many subject leadership roles between them. Most teachers lead several subject areas. In these roles, leaders do not regularly check how well subjects are planned and delivered. For example, pupils have had limited experiences composing their own music. Leaders are not checking that teachers plan lessons that build well upon prior learning.

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Staff who we spoke to told us that they enjoy coming to work. They said that the senior leaders look after their well-being. However, staff have had few opportunities to engage in subject-specific training.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have given safeguarding a high priority. Staff receive regular training. This helps them to remain alert to potential signs of neglect or abuse. Staff know how to record and report concerns. School leaders work with a number of partner agencies to keep pupils safe. They work with the local safeguarding hub, school health and 3–4 March 2020

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several national charities. This enables leaders to provide targeted support to vulnerable pupils and their families when needed.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have implemented a systematic approach to the delivery of phonics. Children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 know a range of sounds that letters make. The books that these pupils take home to read do not help them develop their fluency. This is because the books contain sounds the pupils do not know. Leaders should improve this so that pupils take home books that match their interests and the sounds they learn in class. Doing so would enable pupils to develop their love of reading alongside their reading fluency.  Teachers plan lessons that help pupils to recall recent learning. Teachers do not build well upon prior learning. As a result, some pupils do not do as well in mathematics as they do in reading and writing. Leaders must ensure that pupils continue to build upon their prior learning so that they know more and remember more of the mathematics curriculum. Leaders should investigate ways to

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

strengthen the mathematics curriculum so that pupils are better prepared for the demands of key stage 3.  Leaders should investigate ways to further develop subject leadership skills and knowledge. Presently, subject leaders have few opportunities to check on the quality of the curriculum in the areas that they lead. Engaging in professional training and regular monitoring activities would enable these leaders to support teachers to teach the curriculum with higher levels of expertise.

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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. 3–4 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10133549 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 8–9 November 2012

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Information about this school

 The headteacher is new to post since the previous inspection.  The majority of governors, including the chair of governors, have been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school had a section 48 inspection on 3 May 2018.

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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

The previous ‘outstanding’ judgement reflected the school’s overall effectiveness in November 2012 under the relevant inspection framework at that time.

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Information about this inspection

The new judgement of ‘good’ reflects the current inspection framework as well as any changes at the school since the last inspection.

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Information about this inspection

The school has not been inspected for seven years, which is longer than the five- year maximum interval between inspections under section 5 of the Education Act 3–4 March 2020

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2005. Changes in school effectiveness may have happened at any point in that period. The long time between inspections is because the law changed in 2011; it made most outstanding schools exempt from routine inspection.

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 We met with the headteacher, subject leaders and teachers throughout the inspection.  We met with seven members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  We held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.  We spoke with parents and considered the 29 responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire.  We listened to pupils read.  We spoke to pupils about behaviour and safeguarding.  We observed pupils’ behaviour at playtimes and during lessons.  We examined the school’s approach to safeguarding. We examined the single central record and documentation relating to safer recruitment. We scrutinised leaders’ safeguarding records. We spoke to staff about their safeguarding knowledge to check how effective safeguarding is in school.  We spoke to staff about their workload and well-being.  We considered reading, mathematics, music and physical education as part of the

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inspection. We met with subject leaders, spoke to teachers and visited lessons. We spoke with pupils about their learning and viewed examples of their work.

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Inspection team

John Donald, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Chris Metcalfe Ofsted Inspector 3–4 March 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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