Grewelthorpe Church of England Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Grewelthorpe Church of England Primary School Cross Hills, Grewelthorpe, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 3BH

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Outcome

Grewelthorpe Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Grewelthorpe School is a place where pupils say that they can trust adults to look after them, ‘like being part of a family’. One parent, whose view reflected those of others, said, ‘The school interacts like a large family and the older children genuinely look out for, and support, the younger members.’ Staff know pupils and their families well, from the early years until pupils leave the school. This helps pupils grow in confidence, learn, and achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know, and live up to, the expectations for behaviour set by leaders. Pupils’ behaviour in lessons is focused on learning. They enjoy supporting each other and the younger members of the school. Everyone is expected to help each other. Pupils say that adults are fair and there is mutual respect shown for the adults who care for them. Pupils say that bullying sometimes happens. Pupils understand what bullying is and say that teachers deal with it, so everyone feels safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of all pupils including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They have designed a curriculum to enable all pupils to achieve well and to develop their wider interests. For example, leaders design projects that involve working with local businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum with content that is well sequenced in most curriculum subjects. It builds towards pupils gaining the knowledge and skills pupils will need for secondary school. Pupils say that they feel well prepared for Year 7 because teachers encourage them to take on leadership roles and responsibilities. Leaders have created a forward-thinking culture. They enable staff to work across the two-school federation so that expertise is shared to the benefit of all pupils. 30 March 2022

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The curriculum meets the needs of all children, including pupils with SEND, from the early years to Year 6. There is a focus on children with SEND learning how to read. Teachers have tackled any gaps in reading knowledge and skills as a result of the pandemic. This is helping pupils to catch up. Pupils with SEND are supported well by teachers and teaching assistants who understand and support their needs.

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Leaders are passionate and knowledgeable about their subject areas. Mathematics is a strength of the school. The leader has adapted the long-term mathematics overview. This enables teachers to plan precisely for pupils in mixed-age classes. Children get off to a strong start in the early years where mathematics learning is linked to real life situations in a purposeful way. For example, a height chart has children’s names on it where their heights have been measured. Staff use opportunities for children to practise counting. For example, some children counted back from 10 when playing with a rocket. Pupils say that mathematics is one of their favourite subjects. They love the challenge of persevering to achieve highly in each lesson.

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In some classes, the science curriculum is not as well sequenced as most other curriculum subjects. Teachers do not use assessment well enough to ensure that lessons are planned to closely match the starting points of pupils. This means that some lessons are too easy for some children. Children get off to a flying start in the early years in ‘understanding of the world’. The indoor and outdoor learning areas are carefully designed to support children to explore and investigate. They learn about scientific concepts that they will build upon when they start the national curriculum in key stage 1.

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Leaders have made reading a priority. The English subject leader is determined that ‘children can access the world if they can read’. In Reception, children start learning to read as soon as they start school. There is dedicated time for phonics to be taught daily. Teachers and teaching assistants demonstrate expertise in their knowledge of phonics. Reading books for pupils who are learning to read are carefully chosen to match the phonics knowledge that they learn. Regular assessment enables teachers to identify pupils who need extra support to practise their phonics and reading. As a result, pupils learn to read with fluency and understanding. All pupils say they enjoy reading. They choose from the diverse range of books selected carefully by their teachers. Pupils study different authors. They learn about different cultures and life in modern Britain.

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Pupils behave well in lessons because they are interested in their learning. They show respect for each other and the adults who look after them. They rarely disrupt the learning of other pupils. On the rare occasion when learning is disrupted, pupils say that adults are quick to sort it.

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Leaders are proud to develop pupils as unique individuals. The school’s Christian values provide pupils with opportunities to ‘believe, learn and flourish’. This is achieved by developing pupils’ musical talents through violin, piano and guitar tuition. Pupils access a range of enrichment experiences. For example, pupils made pasties in a local hotel with the home-grown produce from the hotel garden.

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Although governors are few, they are proud to support the school. They are determined to become more effective. Governors are accessing a range of training to support their 30 March 2022

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development. Teachers say they work hard but feel respected by leaders and know they can approach leaders for support when they need it. All members of staff say they are proud to be a member of staff at Grewelthorpe.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained and know families well. Leaders ensure that staff and governors access training on a wide range of topics linked to safeguarding. The headteacher conducts regular quizzes to ascertain training needs. As a result, staff quickly identify signs of abuse, neglect, or harm. Concerns are reported quickly and records are kept securely. Leaders work well with other agencies when specialist help is needed to provide support for pupils and families.

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Safeguarding

Procedures for ensuring the safe recruitment of staff are thorough. The record of staff recruitment checks meets all safeguarding requirements.

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Safeguarding

The curriculum develops pupils’ knowledge of potential dangers and prepares them well for life in modern Britain. Pupils throughout the school are taught how to recognise situations that may represent a risk to their safety and wellbeing.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The science curriculum does not make clear enough the sequence of learning for teachers to plan lessons so that they are well matched to pupils’ starting points. As a result, some pupils are not able to remember what they have been taught, to enable them to apply their knowledge to more complex scientific concepts. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum for science is clearly sequenced to build on prior knowledge.  In science, teachers do not routinely use assessment information to plan for pupils’ next steps in learning in this core subject. This means that some lessons are too easy for some pupils. Leaders should ensure that once the science curriculum is coherent and sequenced, the assessment aligns with the updated curriculum. This will inform teachers of pupils’ starting points and the next steps pupils need to develop their scientific knowledge. 30 March 2022

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2017.

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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. 30 March 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227133 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 28 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses no alternative provision.  The school’s religious character is Christian. The diocese inspects separately under section 48 of the Education Act 2005.  The last section 48 inspection took place in June 2017. The school was judged to be good. Section 48 inspections are currently scheduled within eight years of the previous inspection. The cycle has been extended to allow for the period when inspections were paused due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met the headteacher and the teacher-in-charge for this school. The teacher- in-charge has responsibility when the headteacher is out of school. The SENCo who works across this two-school federation, also met inspectors. Inspectors met the reading and mathematics subject leader on site and met with the science subject leader virtually. 30 March 2022

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 The lead inspector met virtually with the local authority senior education adviser. The lead inspector also had a telephone conversation with the adviser representing Leeds diocese.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading and phonics, mathematics, and science. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons in all classes, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector met two governors and the chair of governors joined this meeting remotely via a computer link.  Pupils’ behaviour and safety was evaluated as pupils arrived in the morning, in the dining hall and at breaktimes.  The designated safeguarding lead and school administrators met the lead inspector to discuss recruitment and safeguarding records.  Inspectors checked all pupil leavers and their destinations to rule out off-rolling.

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 Several parents spoke to inspectors during the inspection. Inspectors reviewed 14 parents’, 42 pupils’ and 13 staff responses to Ofsted’s surveys of their views.

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Inspection team

Kathryn McDonald, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Alison Aitchison Her Majesty’s Inspector 30 March 2022

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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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