Ripley Endowed Church of England School

Inspection of Ripley Endowed Church of England School Main Street, Ripley, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 3AY

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Inadequate Early years provision Inadequate Previous inspection grade Requires Improvement 3 and 4 November 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Ripley Endowed Church of England School is a warm and caring school. Pupils feel safe here. They support, help and care for each other. Parents value the school and the staff that work here. The quality of education that pupils receive is inadequate. Despite the teachers wanting the pupils to achieve, the curriculum is not designed or planned well enough to support them to do this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have not ensured that there is a suitable curriculum in place which identifies what pupils will learn in each subject and across each year group. This means that teachers plan lessons which do not build on what pupils already know or can do. Often work is too hard or too easy. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not get the in-class support that they need.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils happily attend regularly in this small school and are rarely late. They play well together at play times and say that there is no bullying in the school. They trust staff to deal with issues if they arise. However, in lessons, pupils often struggle to focus on learning. Many pupils find it hard to concentrate and are easily distracted. They achieve far less than they should.

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better?

The curriculum from the very first year of school is disjointed and poorly planned. There is no clear sequence to learning across any subject. Leaders have identified some things that they want pupils to learn, but these are often jumbled and do not link to what pupils have learned before. This means that pupils do not have the opportunity to build on prior knowledge as they progress through the school.

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better?

Leaders have purchased some resources to support teachers to plan for learning in subjects such as mathematics. However, teachers have not had sufficient training to adapt these plans to match the needs of pupils in mixed-age classes. This means that pupils are often given work which is too hard or too easy for them. Teachers do not regularly check if pupils understand what they are learning and if they are able to remember it.

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better?

Leaders have been slow to bring about improvements in early reading. They have recently identified a new phonics scheme to develop a more consistent approach to teaching early reading. This scheme has not been implemented. Pupils who are less confident with reading get extra support at times, but it is inconsistent. Some staff have not had the training required to help pupils catch up.

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better?

Leaders recognise the importance of pupils being able to read fluently in key stage 2. However, they do not provide enough opportunities to enable this to happen. There is no regular time utilised for teachers to help pupils to systematically improve their reading. This means that while pupils read daily, there is no improvement progression planned and their reading does not always get better. 3 and 4 November 2021

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Pupils in the early years have the opportunity to explore and play as they learn. Staff care for them well and plan activities to interest them. However, leaders have not yet sequenced and planned this learning to ensure that pupils are well prepared for the next stage of schooling. This means that while they enjoy taking part in the planned activities, they are not always making progress.

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Pupils in the school are polite and well-mannered. They are kind to each other. Many of the pupils attend the breakfast or after-school club. Pupils attend school regularly and are rarely late. Pupils get on well and play together in the playground. Behaviour is not always as positive in lessons. Pupils often become distracted because work is too easy or too hard. This leads to low-level disruptions. Staff always deal with this. However, it happens too often and stops pupils learning.

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The leaders in the school are proud of the work done around the personal development of pupils. They swiftly started clubs and enrichment activities on return to school in September. They encourage all pupils to attend clubs such as yoga or sports. There are plans in place to enable any pupils who cannot attend after school clubs to go to lunchtime clubs. Leaders give opportunities to pupils to take on roles of responsibility, such as in the worship committee or in the sports crew. These pupils plan the weekly worship sessions in the school and look after the school environment. They are proud to do this work. Pupils are taught about different faiths, beliefs and relationships. However, leaders recognise that this learning needs to be planned more carefully to ensure it is fully understood.

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Leaders have recently changed the way that they identify and monitor pupils with SEND. However, there is still some inconsistency in this. Some pupils do not receive the support that they need in lessons, and they struggle when they are left to work alone.

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There have been considerable changes to the governing body since the last inspection. The new governors recognise that the information used to evaluate the school has not always been accurate. Historically, leaders have not responded to recommendations to improve the school with enough urgency. This view is supported by external support partners such as the diocese and the local authority. Governors acknowledge that leadership is fragile in the school and there is much yet to do to ensure that pupils receive a better education.

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Parents value this school and the staff that work here.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The interim leaders at the school have recently ensured that all adults are fully trained and alert to potential risks to children. They have introduced systems and practices which enable staff to report concerns swiftly. Leaders understand how to engage help for pupils and families if it is needed. 3 and 4 November 2021

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Until recently, records were not adequately kept regarding the suitability of staff to work in the school. At the request of the governing body, the interim leaders of the school have now ensured that all safeguarding concerns and safe recruitment practices are monitored regularly and effectively.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum that leaders have implemented does not currently meet the needs of the pupils in mixed-age classes. It does not clearly identify what pupils need to learn as they move through the school. It does not support staff to plan lessons which meet pupils’ needs and develop pupils’ knowledge. Leaders need to urgently establish a coherent and sequentially planned curriculum. Staff then need training and support to use this to support pupils’ learning effectively in all subjects.  Reading and phonics teaching needs to be planned systematically and regularly. Leaders should ensure that all staff have the knowledge and understanding to follow the new phonics scheme to support pupils to read well. Pupils need the opportunity to practise reading skills regularly through planned, progressive lessons.  Pupils with SEND do not always receive the support that they require to help them to learn. Leaders should ensure that all staff clearly understand how to plan

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

learning which matches targets on pupils’ support plans.  A coherent, progressive curriculum for the early years has not yet been identified. This means that pupils do not have the opportunity to build on prior learning from when they enter the school. Leaders need to establish a clear and coherent curriculum for the early years which ensures that pupils are ready to learn in Year 1.  Governors have not done enough to tackle the weaknesses identified at the last inspection. Leaders have an inaccurate and overgenerous view of the school’s effectiveness. Governors have not always assured themselves that the information they have received about school improvement is accurate. The quality of education has declined. New governors are aware that prompt and decisive action is needed to urgently increase the capacity and effectiveness of the school’s leadership. The fragility of current leadership capacity must be addressed in order

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

to bring about urgent improvements to the quality of education across the school.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 3 and 4 November 2021

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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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 and 4 November 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10202840 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Helen White, Helen Smith

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School details

Date of previous inspection 24 and 25 February 2021, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than an average-sized primary school.  There is a pre-school available for pupils from three years old.  Breakfast and after-school clubs are run by the school.  The school is part of a federation of three schools. The other two schools are Kettlesing Felliscliffe Community Primary School and Beckwithshaw Community Primary School.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. 3 and 4 November 2021

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 During the inspection the inspectors met with the interim executive headteacher of the schools in the federation, the interim headteacher and the base leaders of the school. They also met the reading leader for the federation of schools, the mathematics leader, the leader with responsibility for pupils with SEND for the federation of schools and some subject leaders.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  The lead inspector met with a representative from the local authority and also a representative from the Diocese of Leeds.  The lead inspector met with members of the governing body of the school and looked at minutes from governing body meetings. The school’s self-evaluation documents and plans for improvement were also scrutinised.

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 The subjects considered as part of the inspection were reading, mathematics, geography and computing. The inspectors met subject leaders for these subjects and undertook joint lesson visits to observe learning. The inspectors talked to pupils and teachers about lessons visited.  The arrangements for safeguarding were checked. This included checking the single central record and safeguarding records. The inspectors held discussions with the interim leaders about safeguarding systems and processes. Discussions about attendance and behaviour were also held with the interim leaders.  The inspectors talked informally to pupils in lessons and at break times. The inspectors observed their behaviour at various times during the school day, including break and lunchtime and in the breakfast club.  The inspectors met some parents at the start of the day to gain their views of the school. They reviewed 25 responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and

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25 additional free-text comments. They also took account of seven responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire and 15 responses to the pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Andrea Batley, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Janet Keefe Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 November 2021

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