Beverley Minster Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Heidi Whyley Interim Headteacher Beverley Minster Church of England Voluntary-Controlled Primary School St Giles Croft Beverley HU17 8LA

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England Voluntary-Controlled Primary School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection of your school that took place on 1 December 2022, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school has received two successive judgements of requires improvement at its previous graded (section 5) inspections.

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England Voluntary-Controlled Primary School

During the inspection, I discussed with you, governors and representatives from the local authority and diocese, the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also held meetings with subject leaders, the special education needs coordinator (SENCo), staff and pupils. I looked at books, viewed lessons and listened to pupils read to a familiar adult. In addition, I reviewed documentation such as the single central record and your school improvement plans. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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continues to require improvement. Leaders have made progress to improve the

school, but more work is necessary for the school to become good.

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continues to require improvement. Leaders have made progress to improve the

The school should take further action to:

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continues to require improvement. Leaders have made progress to improve the

 monitor the implementation of phonics to ensure that it is consistently and effectively delivered  ensure phonics lessons are pitched at the right level for all pupils  identify the precise knowledge in wider curriculum subjects that pupils should know.

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Main findings

Since the previous inspection, there have been significant changes to leadership. From January 2022, there have been two interim headteachers in post. During the summer term, both interim headteachers worked alongside each other. There is now one full-time interim headteacher. A permanent headteacher has been appointed to lead the school in January 2023. There is a newly appointed SENCo.

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Main findings

The SENCo has clear systems in place to identify and plan support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Every pupil with SEND has a plan that details the exact support they need to access the curriculum. These have recently been developed. Leaders have not yet checked how the support is being delivered in the classroom. However, some evidence shows that pupils with SEND are receiving support and are successful.

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Main findings

You have taken appropriate action to address the weaknesses identified in the previous inspection. Reading has been rightly prioritised. All staff have been trained to deliver your chosen phonics programme. However, the delivery of phonics lessons is not checked. There is variation in this. Some pupils do not have the phonics knowledge they need to access the new and higher content of their lessons. Nonetheless, your checks on the sounds that pupils know are precise. Pupils who struggle are quickly identified and receive timely interventions. They read books that closely match the sounds that they are learning.

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Main findings

Leaders continue with their ‘journey’ to improve the curriculum in wider subjects such as geography and history. While leaders plan the order in which they deliver content, the exact knowledge they want pupils to remember is not clearly defined in all year groups. For example, some pupils learn about the local mill but are unable to describe the purpose of a mill, whereas, in other year groups, such as Year 6, pupils use subject- specific vocabulary and know key facts. They know what the equator is and why it is hotter than other places on Earth.

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Main findings

Governors and leaders have made considerable progress since the school was judged to require improvement. Governors do not accept information on face value. They appropriately challenge and support leaders. They are both mindful of the impact of leadership on staff workload and well-being. They have successfully created a positive culture. Staff feel that there is clarity about what they need to do to improve and how to achieve this.

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Main findings

Leaders have developed an action plan in partnership with Riding Forward Education Alliance. It sets out the actions that leaders are taking, with support from the local authority and other schools within the partnership. Leaders benefit from this support and challenge. Subject leaders, in their early stages of developing the curriculum, have particularly benefited from this support. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the Diocese of York, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for East Riding of Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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