Clifton Green Primary School

Inspection of Clifton Green Primary School Kingsway North, Clifton, York, North Yorkshire YO30 6JA

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 17 and 18 May 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Clifton Green Primary School is a large school with a strong sense of community. Leaders’ values of ‘Better never stops’ are at the heart of everyday school life. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly supportive of this inclusive school. One parent said, ‘My child loves coming to school because the support staff give is fabulous – my child skips to get to school’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. They say bullying is rare. Inspectors found that, if pupils are worried, they know who to talk to. Pupils trust adults to sort out any concerns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The leadership of personal development, its provision and practice are exceptional. Leaders’ focus on developing good character traits is consistently applied. Pupils say they are treated fairly and equally. They respect each other, talk with kindness and compassion and are willing to try their best.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers are ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils rise to the challenge. They are motivated and keen to do well. Strong support and well-planned extra help in the classroom mean that pupils do well. Pupils with SEND, including children in the early years, access the same curriculum as their peers. Leaders identify pupils with SEND quickly. Well- trained staff support them. Leaders work closely with a range of agencies to provide specialist support when required.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers make sure that pupils experience a wide range of subjects. In most of these subjects, pupils develop a solid grasp of basic concepts. However, in a small number of subjects, the curriculum is not sequenced appropriately to help pupils develop their understanding. Pupils do not always remember important knowledge that they need.

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better?

The headteacher and senior leaders are passionate advocates for the pupils. They believe that pupils deserve to have the very best. As a result, the curriculum has been revised, focusing on the knowledge and vocabulary pupils need to understand and remember. Well-planned and relevant activities enhance pupils’ understanding in most subjects. For example, pupils’ recent visit to the Houses of Parliament helped them to understand history, democracy and the rule of law.

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better?

Leaders are focused on providing high-quality teaching of reading, starting in the early years. All teachers and staff receive regular phonics training. There are daily reading sessions which allow pupils to practise their letters and sounds. Teachers are quick to notice when children are not keeping up. Skilled staff provide extra support. This approach continues throughout the school. There are well-chosen books that entice readers of all ages to develop a love of reading. Older pupils are keen to talk about the books they read, both in class and independently. 17 and 18 May 2022

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Pupils develop strong mathematical knowledge and have very positive attitudes to the subject. Teachers have re-designed the mathematics curriculum so that pupils have a range of opportunities to increase their knowledge and understanding, because they are given activities that challenge and engage them. For example, in a Year 3 class, pupils were able to successfully write statements using ‘more than’ and ‘less than’ when comparing fractions.

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Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum that builds upon what children learn in the early years. Here, they learn to develop strong skills that they can use with increasing independence. Children build knowledge in order. Across the school, the broader curriculum engages pupils’ enthusiasm. For example, pupils were looking at dorsal fins on a fish and labelling them on their pictures. Pupils with SEND are successfully included in all class activities.

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In a few subjects, leaders have not identified the important knowledge that pupils need to know to understand and remember important information about the subject. The curriculum is not sequenced. As such, in some subjects, pupils’ learning does not build on their prior knowledge. Pupils are not as confident in recalling information as they are in other areas of the curriculum.

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Pupils are polite and respectful. They work hard in their lessons. At breaktime and lunchtime, pupils take part in a wide range of activities. They wait patiently for their turn if equipment is already being used by others.

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Governance is strong. New governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas to develop. They monitor safeguarding regularly and are frequent visitors to school.

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Attendance for a number of pupils across the school is too low. While there are robust systems in place and a clear strategy to track pupils, these have not had a significant impact on improving attendance. As a result, pupils are missing the quality learning and experiences the school offers.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The school maintains robust systems for recruiting staff and governors. All staff are well trained to identify and report any safeguarding concerns. Teachers keep a careful eye on things to spot signs of concern. They know to report these swiftly to the designated safeguarding leader. Pupils say that they feel safe in school and their parents share this view.

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Safeguarding

Pupils trust the adults in school to keep them safe. The curriculum ensures that pupils know what to do if they are worried. They are taught about the risks of being online and how to keep themselves safe in their community. 17 and 18 May 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, pupils struggle to recall and apply what they have learned previously. This is because the curriculum is not appropriately sequenced and the knowledge and skills pupils should know and do are less clear. This means that pupils do not make as much progress as they could. Leaders need to ensure that they plan and sequence learning which will support pupils to strengthen their application of knowledge and skills.  Attendance is too low and persistent absence is too high. Robust systems have been in place since September 2021 which are making some progress to improve attendance. Leaders now need to raise expectations of good attendance for all and look to intervene as soon as attendance falls.

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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.

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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. 17 and 18 May 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227427 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 12 and 13 September 2018

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Information about this school

 There have been significant changes to leadership, staffing and governors since the previous inspection. The headteacher was previously the deputy headteacher at the school. She became the acting headteacher in September 2019 and was appointed substantive headteacher in October 2021.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector(s) carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and assistant headteachers. They met with the chair of governors and members of the governing body. They also met with the local authority’s school improvement adviser.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and religious education. Inspectors discussed curriculum design with 17 and 18 May 2022

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leaders, carried out lesson visits, scrutinised pupils’ work and spoke to pupils and teachers from the lessons visited.  Inspectors also looked at pupils’ work in other subjects and talked to them about their learning  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors spoke with staff and pupils. Inspectors met with the designated safeguarding lead to examine records and actions. This included sampling case files to explore how the school identifies and supports pupils at risk of harm. A team inspector reviewed checks on the safer recruitment of staff, including governor and staff training on safeguarding.  Inspectors talked to pupils about behaviour in the school and their experiences of school. The lead inspector talked to the special educational needs coordinator and checked the plans teachers had made for pupils with SEND. Inspectors checked how these plans were being used by teachers. Inspectors spoke to parents at the

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school gate and considered 58 responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey, including written free-text comments. They also considered 38 responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff and 164 responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Jen Cave, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Mike Smit Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 May 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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