St Bega's CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Bega’s C of E Primary School Longrigg Lane, Eskdale Green, Holmrook, Cumbria CA19 1TW

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Outcome

St Bega’s C of E Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and confident learners. They are proud to be part of St Bega’s school community. Every pupil who responded to the online questionnaire said that they would recommend this school to a friend.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are hardworking. Most pupils listen attentively in lessons. They know that adults will help them to improve their learning and achieve their goals. Pupils know that making mistakes helps them to learn. They are passionate about their local environment. Pupils make regular visits to the forests, rivers and hills that surround the school. They say that this makes learning more interesting.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take an active part in their local community. They visit local churches to worship. Pupils told us that once a year, leaders transform the school into an art gallery. They appreciate the opportunity to display and sell their art work next to the work of professional artists.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that they feel safe and well looked after. They value the warm relationships that they have with adults. Pupils know that the school’s Christian values underpin these relationships. Adults expect pupils to get along with each other. As a result, most pupils behave exceptionally well. Pupils are adamant that bullying doesn’t happen. If pupils fall out, they say that adults sort it out quickly.

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

Leaders and governors know their school well. They know what needs to improve to make it even better. Leaders are ambitious for all pupils. They have maintained the good standard of education since the last inspection.

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

In all subjects, leaders have developed detailed plans that set out the knowledge that pupils need to learn and the order that they need to learn it in. Teachers plan activities that build on what pupils already know. They keep a careful check on the progress that 3 March 2020

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pupils make. As a result, most pupils achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2.

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Younger pupils have a daily phonics lesson. They learn letter sounds quickly. Adults check the progress that pupils make through the phonics programme. If pupils fall behind, effective support is in place to help them catch up quickly. Each day, pupils read text that is matched carefully to the phonics knowledge that they know. This helps pupils to practise the skills they need to read fluently. However, some books that pupils read are not well matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge. This hinders their fluency and enjoyment of the book.

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Older pupils read widely. Pupils talk about their favourite authors and types of story. In their reading lessons, pupils share well-chosen books to develop their comprehension and fluency.

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Pupils enjoy their learning in mathematics. Leaders have developed a well-ordered curriculum from nursery to Year 6. This ensures that pupils acquire the mathematical knowledge that they need for future learning. Teachers have good subject knowledge. They are well trained to spot the errors that pupils make. Pupils apply their mathematical knowledge in other subjects, like science. In experiments, they take careful measurements and present information using different sorts of graphs.

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In all subjects, pupils produce a lot of work. However, in workbooks some pupils are careless with their handwriting and how they present their work. Adults do not always model the school’s handwriting style. Presentation of work in books is not as good as it could be.

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Teachers adapt the curriculum well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils with SEND receive effective support from well trained staff. Pupils with an education health care plan make good progress through the targets on their plan.

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Children in the early years settle quickly into school. Staff take every opportunity to develop children’s spoken language. Nursery children learn to count and write their numbers. Reception children add numbers to 10. They learn to write while learning their letter sounds. At the end of the Reception Year, most pupils achieve a good level of development.

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Leaders plan a wide range of interesting experiences to broaden pupils’ understanding of the world around them. Pupils stay in York to experience life in a city. They attend the ‘big sing’ in Newcastle. Pupils attend a wide range of after-school clubs to develop their personal interests.

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Parents and guardians we spoke to are happy with the work of the school. Leaders and governors are mindful about the well-being of everyone in school. Staff know that the headteacher cares deeply about their well-being and workload. Staff are happy and proud to work at the school. 3 March 2020

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and governors ensure that the procedures for checking new staff and volunteers are robust. All staff receive regular safeguarding training. Staff are vigilant. They know what to do if they have any concerns about a pupil. The headteacher keeps careful records on the school’s electronic system. She is tenacious in seeking the right support for pupils.

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Safeguarding

A carefully planned programme of personal, social, health and economic education helps pupils to recognise risk and keep themselves safe. Younger pupils learn about road safety. Older pupils learn to ride their bike on the road. Pupils know how to use the internet safely.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Reading books for younger pupils are sometimes too difficult for them to practise their decoding and blending skills. This hinders pupils’ fluency and enjoyment of books. Leaders should ensure that reading books are more closely matched to the phonics knowledge that pupils already know.  Teachers’ expectations of handwriting and presentation is too low. Teachers do not model the cursive handwriting that pupils are taught in their handwriting lessons. As a result, the quality of pupils’ work, including handwriting and presentation, is not as good as it should be. Leaders should raise teachers’ expectations of the quality of work in all subjects.

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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 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 the school to be good on 17–18 May 2011. 3 March 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. 3 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10122104 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 10 May 2016, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a Church of England voluntary-aided school. It is part of the Diocese of Carlisle. It was last inspected under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 in May 2016.

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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 administrator.  We spoke with a group of governors, including the chair of governors.  We spoke with a representative of the local authority.  We looked at a range of documentation relating to safeguarding, including the single central record and the school’s electronic record-keeping system. 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 science. We visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and talked to them about their experiences of school.  We also looked at pupils’ work in history. 3 March 2020

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 We met with members of the school council.  We spoke to several parents at the start of the school day. The views of three parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire were considered.  We considered the views of 12 pupils who responded to the pupils’ survey.  We listened to pupils read and spoke to many pupils about their reading.  We considered the views of seven members of staff who responded to the survey for staff.

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Inspection team

Garry White, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Paul Edmondson Ofsted Inspector 3 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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