Warthill Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Inspection of Warthill Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Warthill, York, North Yorkshire YO19 5XL

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 September 2022

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Good

The school was last inspected 14 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous inspection framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Good

From then until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between inspections. Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last inspection. 28 and 29 September 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very positive about their school. Leaders provide opportunities that enable pupils to live out their motto, ‘Be the best you can be’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff are proud of the federation with Sand Hutton Primary School. The fact of the school’s being federated enables pupils and staff to come together for curriculum development, enrichment visits and extra-curricular activities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of pupils. Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school is consistently calm and orderly. Pupils know what bullying is. They give examples of incidents of ‘falling out’ that they know are not bullying. They are confident that if bullying happens, adults will sort it out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have exemplary attitudes to their learning. They show resilience and determination, especially when tasks are tricky. Relationships between adults and pupils are supportive, kind, trusting and respectful.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders plan, in the curriculum and in extra-curricular activities, ways to support pupils’ personal development. Pupils participate in singing events and sports matches with other local schools.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children in early years get the best possible start to their education. The provision, in a mixed-age class, is well organised and is used constructively by the children.

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better?

Leaders want reading to be a life skill that pupils will use to access the whole curriculum. There is a daily story session. Teachers encourage pupils to vote on which story book they read to them. Teachers use this time to instil a love of reading, to develop pupils’ vocabulary and listening skills. Pupils use their phonics knowledge to sound out new words in their reading book. There is a small number of pupils who need extra support in remembering their phonics. These pupils have more time with an adult every day to practise. As a result, all pupils from Year 3 are secure in their phonics knowledge.

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better?

The teaching of mathematics is a strength. There is a clear sequence of learning for each year group in the mixed-age classes. Teachers have high ambition for pupils. They check that pupils are remembering key knowledge through the quick revision lesson starter. Pupils revisit mathematics strategies daily to consolidate the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. This enables them to apply this knowledge to problem-solving and reasoning questions with confidence.

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better?

To meet the needs of the pupils in the mixed-age class, leaders plan the wider curriculum as a cycle. This means that pupils do not repeat the curriculum in the same class. Subject leaders plan the skills and vocabulary for each unit of work. Leaders recognise that some subjects are planned in more detail than others. 28 and 29 September 2022

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Subjects such as art, music and modern foreign languages need further development. In these subjects, leaders have not sufficiently identified the small steps of learning that pupils need to complete in order to meet the intended outcomes. This means that it is not clear how a sequence of lessons develops pupils’ knowledge and skills. Teachers engage in professional dialogue with each other about pupils’ achievements in the wider curriculum. However, this does not check on pupils’ progress in each unit to subsequently influence curriculum thinking.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have support plans that contain targets intended to meet their needs. However, these plans have not been regularly reviewed, updated or routinely communicated to parents and carers. This means that some pupils have targets that are not appropriate.

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Early years staff have exceptional knowledge about child development. They manage the different needs of the children well. Children are highly engaged because the activities meet their needs. Adults skilfully model language for the children to improve their communication skills. Children in early years work and play with older pupils. This helps to improve their personal, social and emotional development.

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Pupils know how to stay physically and mentally healthy, for example by eating a balanced diet, sleeping well and drinking water. They know the features of a healthy relationship and how to stay safe when online. Pupils make a positive contribution to the life of the school by taking on responsibilities such as being a playtime monitor or classroom helper. Leaders have recently introduced a new personal, social and health education programme to help pupils develop the skills they will need as they grow up.

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Governors ensure that they challenge leaders at all levels. For example, through their link governor roles, they hold subject leaders to account. Governors are well informed about staff well-being. They take any concerns raised with them seriously and act alongside leaders to address these.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have recently received training in the latest statutory safeguarding guidance. Leaders currently have no cases open to external services. As a result, leaders are mindful that they must assume that ‘it could happen here’. They explicitly keep safeguarding at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Safeguarding logs are comprehensive. They detail the incident, the outcome and the actions taken by leaders.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have identified risks in the community linked to road safety. They address this by modelling crossing the road when they leave to access the school field opposite the building. Pupils can go to any adult if they have a concern and adults will help them. 28 and 29 September 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some subjects in the wider curriculum are not sufficiently planned well. This means that some subjects do not identify the small steps of learning for pupils. Without this, pupils do not have the right prior knowledge on which to build. Leaders should assure themselves that knowledge, skills and vocabulary build over time in the wider curriculum.  Leaders do not have an effective system for checking on pupils’ knowledge across the wider curriculum. They rely on professional dialogues between colleagues to exchange information. This does not give specific information on pupils’ progress across the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that they use their checks on pupils’ knowledge across the curriculum to influence future curriculum thinking.  Some targets for pupils with SEND have not been reviewed. As a result, the targets are not appropriate as they do not match pupils’ current level of need. Leaders should ensure that targets match the pupils’ needs to help to ensure that

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

they are given the right support to make progress.

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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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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. 28 and 29 September 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Rebecca Jobling (Vice-chair)

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Date of previous inspection

5 March 2008, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Warthill Church of England Primary School is federated with Sand Hutton Church of England Primary School. The federation shares a headteacher and a governing body.  As the school is designated as having a religious character, it is inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The most recent section 48 inspection of the school was in March 2019. The timescales for reinspection have been extended because of COVID-19.  This school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school does not use any alternative providers.  The school is currently in the process of electing a new chair of the governing body.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 28 and 29 September 2022

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 This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders, and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, curriculum leaders, staff and pupils. Meetings were also held with representatives from the local authority, the governing body and the diocese.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, geography and art. For each deep dive, inspectors met with curriculum leaders, spoke to pupils and teachers, visited lessons and looked at pupils’ work. Inspectors heard pupils read.  Inspectors examined safeguarding records, attendance figures, curriculum plans and policies.  Inspectors considered the views of parents from the responses to Ofsted Parent View.  The views of staff were considered from meeting with them and from the

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responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.  The views of pupils were considered from meetings with them.

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Inspection team

Alison Stephenson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Matthew Harrington His Majesty’s Inspector 28 and 29 September 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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