Coppice Valley Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Coppice Valley Primary School Knapping Hill, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG1 2DN

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 October 2021

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Outcome

Coppice Valley Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The core values of ‘Aim High, Be Kind, and Work Hard’ are the bedrock of the school’s ethos. Pupils model this daily, with their positive attitudes to their work and in their consideration of others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders leave no stone unturned in making sure that pupils are cared for and supported to do their best. Expectations for and of pupils are high. Leaders know that pupils learn best when they feel happy and safe, and this is their goal. The comprehensive support given to pupils for their mental health and well-being is particularly impressive and has received regional accolades.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The daily ‘emotion board’ is a simple yet highly effective means of capturing how pupils are feeling. Over time, it supports pupils’ growing awareness of themselves and others. As an older pupil said, ‘I know if initials are on the sad side, it’s important that I ask them if they are ok and make sure they join games at playtime.’ This support, given by the pastoral lead and wider staff team, has been pivotal to the school’s successful response to the challenges of COVID-19.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Such strong relationships provide the secure environment in which pupils can flourish. As a result, pupils behave well and are respectful to others. Incidents of any form of bullying are extremely rare.

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

Since appointment, the headteacher has worked hard to improve the curriculum. She and her leaders are rightly proud of the work they have done. The curriculum clearly sets out what leaders want pupils to learn. Detailed schemes of work build pupils’ knowledge and skills step by step. Content choices are carefully considered. The ‘Coppice 50’ supplements the curriculum offer. These are experiences and challenges for pupils to 19–20 October 2021

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aspire to throughout their time at school. Such activities range from paddling in the sea to creating a musical score to accompany a book passage.

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In art and design, leaders identify where there are gaps in pupils’ learning. For example, the Year 5 art and design curriculum expected pupils to do needlecraft. At no point before this were pupils taught how to thread a needle. This is no longer the case. Key knowledge and skills are built sequentially from Year 1 to Year 6. For example, drawing skills are built from mark making to detailed observational drawing. This careful mapping of content is supporting pupils to build their skills securely. Teachers use precise vocabulary to explain art and design techniques. In Year 4, pupils practised hatching and cross-hatching to build shade and tone in their drawings. When asked, however, pupils found it difficult to explain why this is important in their work.

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In mathematics, curriculum planning builds pupils’ knowledge and skills well. Teachers’ subject knowledge is secure. They use assessment information to adjust their lessons, to tackle pupils’ misconceptions and to consolidate learning when needed. Teaching assistants provide pre- and post-teaching sessions to help pupils. This is improving pupils’ mathematical fluency. Leaders are prioritising the development of pupils’ reasoning skills to deepen understanding. They are right to do so.

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Approaches to the teaching of early reading are secure. Leaders have planned the sounds that pupils should learn and when. Teachers have good subject knowledge. They check regularly that pupils are keeping up. Those in need of extra help are heard read by their teachers and have extra sessions to help. Teachers read daily to pupils to mitigate against the impact of disrupted schooling. Leaders make sure that pupils experience a wide range of authors and genres. Pupils say that they enjoy reading.

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Children get off to a great start in the early years. The early years leader prioritises improving children’s language and communication skills. All adults model speaking in full sentences. They use precise terms to describe and explain, and they expect the same of children. Staff are painstaking in their planning and preparation. They make sure that every day counts with stimulating and relevant activities. The early years curriculum is thoughtfully considered and detailed. It covers all areas of learning, but it is not yet fully linked to the wider school curriculum.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Leaders are quick to seek the support of professionals to help them with their SEND offer. Individualised programmes of support help pupils with significant need well.

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Staff feel very well supported by senior and subject leaders. They value the extensive training and ongoing professional development they receive.

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Parents are supportive of the school. Those who responded to Ofsted’s questionnaire, Parent View, were full of praise for the school. They feel listened to, and their opinions valued. 19–20 October 2021

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Regular training gives staff confidence to undertake their role in keeping children safe. They feel well supported to do this. Staff know the signs they need to look out for.

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Safeguarding

Detailed records reflect effective record-keeping and strong partnership working to keep pupils safe.

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Safeguarding

Any pupil absence is followed up quickly. Leaders can demonstrate how they have supported families to improve attendance. Leaders tackle some of the difficult aspects of peer abuse and online safety. Relationships in school are strong. Pupils are confident to talk about their feelings and concerns. They view all staff as trusted adults.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils are not fully confident to talk about their learning and explain their thinking. This means that pupils struggle to explain why they are doing certain things and the impact on their work. Leaders should ensure that pupils have the right vocabulary to enable them to talk confidently and accurately about their work.  Not all schemes of work identify children’s starting points in the early years. This means that some early developmental milestones are missing within schemes of work. Leaders should continue to strengthen further all schemes of work so that they consistently identify starting points for children in the early years and identify how learning builds sequentially through to the end of key stage 2.

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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 outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Harrogate Coppice Valley Community Primary School, to be good in March 2015. 19–20 October 2021

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 19–20 October 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200615 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.coppicevalley.com Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan is below the national average. The proportion of pupils with identified SEND need is higher than the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is slightly below the national average.  The school is part of the Red Kite Learning Trust.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in her evaluation.  Meetings were held with senior leaders from the school, three members of the governing body, the primary lead from the trust and the chief executive officer.  The inspector carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, and art and design. As part of these, the inspector held discussions with 19–20 October 2021

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leaders, pupils and staff, visited lessons, completed a review of pupils’ work, and listened to pupils reading.  Pupils’ behaviour was observed during lesson visits and lunchtimes. Pupils shared their views on behaviour in discussions.  Safeguarding records, including the single central record, were reviewed. Discussions with staff and pupils were held to determine their understanding of safeguarding.  The results from 73 responses to the parents’ survey and 43 free-text comments were taken into consideration as part of this inspection.

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Inspection team

Diane Buckle, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 19–20 October 2021

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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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