Riston Church of England Primary Academy

Inspection of a good school: Riston Church of England Primary Academy Main Street, Long Riston, Hull, East Yorkshire HU11 5JF

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Outcome

Riston Church of England Primary Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high aspirations for all pupils at Riston Church of England Primary Academy. They work collaboratively with other small schools to ensure that pupils have a wide range of learning opportunities. Consequently, most pupils enjoy coming to school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that they feel happy and safe here. In lessons, they concentrate on learning. Pupils are polite and friendly with each other and with adults. Bullying is not tolerated at the school. If it does occur, pupils are confident that it will be dealt with quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have developed the curriculum to teach pupils about the diverse world beyond Riston. Pupils are taught to respect other people and celebrate difference through visits and by visitors to the school. Pupils talk about diversity and equality with confidence and understanding.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have worked, with the support of the multi-academy trust (the trust), to develop a curriculum that meets the personal and academic needs of pupils. However, parents do not always feel that they have enough information about their children’s learning. Leaders are aware that they have much to do to ensure that parents are better informed about events and changes that occur at the school.

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

School leaders have thought carefully about curriculum design. They have created subject plans which cover all the content set out in the national curriculum. Learning begins in the early years and is built over time in the school. However, in some subjects, there is not enough detail in curriculum plans about the precise knowledge that leaders want pupils to learn. This means that teachers do not always adapt learning well enough to challenge or support some pupils in the mixed-age classes. Leaders are actively seeking ways to address this. They are working collaboratively with a range of other leaders from the trust, and their partner school, to refine the curriculum further. 11 January 2023

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Leaders are passionate about reading being central to pupils’ learning in the school. Classes have inviting reading areas, and the school library is used regularly. Leaders ensure that pupils have the opportunity to read daily on entry to school. Most pupils enjoy the class texts chosen for whole-class story sessions. Reading lessons are well planned to enable pupils to develop reading skills. Pupils complete a range of different activities, such as summarising meanings or identifying new vocabulary, linked to core texts. Leaders are ambitious for all pupils to enjoy reading, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, this ambition is not always achieved. Some pupils say the books chosen are too easy and some feel that they are not interesting.

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Children in the early years settle quickly. Staff support them to develop positive attitudes to learning. The reading curriculum is carefully planned. Staff follow the chosen phonics programme with fidelity and consistency. Staff are well trained and skilled in teaching pupils to read. The books pupils read are closely matched to the letter sounds they are learning. Staff assess pupils’ learning regularly. Any pupils who need extra support are promptly identified. These pupils have extra phonics lessons to ensure that they can catch up quickly.

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Leaders have recently reviewed the mathematics curriculum. They have ensured that teachers have a clear understanding of how to plan lessons which enable pupils to embed learning. Pupils and staff use mathematical language accurately. All pupils, including pupils with SEND, have opportunities to problem-solve and reason in all mathematics lessons.

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Pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as other pupils. Skilled adult support is used effectively to ensure that pupils with SEND can learn alongside their peers. However, some pupils’ support plans include targets which are too broad. These plans do not sufficiently identify pupils’ needs or help staff support pupils effectively.

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Leaders look beyond the school to give pupils rich personal development opportunities. Leaders are proud to promote the Church of England’s teaching in the school. However, they also want pupils to learn about faiths beyond Christianity. Pupils learn about different places of worship, such as synagogues or mosques, through virtual and on-site visits.

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Leaders give pupils opportunities to share experiences with their partner school through joint trips or visits. This enables pupils to develop their social skills with peers beyond the small cohort at Riston. The joint school pupil parliament is in the early stages of development. It aims to give pupils the chance to work on environmental goals with other schools. Sports and music events take place with other schools and at the church and in the community. Pupils have opportunities to be reading ambassadors, organise playtimes and contribute to worship in assemblies.

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Leaders, including those in the trust and on the governing body, have a clear idea about what the school needs to do to improve. They are aware of the pressures on staff in a small school, and they actively seek ways to support them with their workload and well- being. Leaders do not, however, always communicate well enough with parents. Many parents feel that they do not know enough about changes that occur or about their children’s learning. 11 January 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are clear about the importance of ensuring pupils are safe. They have implemented policies and procedures to safeguard pupils in the school effectively. Staff and governors receive comprehensive and regular training about risks to pupils both in and beyond the school. Record-keeping is robust and detailed. Concerns are followed up in a timely manner. Leaders leave no stone unturned when checking that pupils are safe. They work with other professionals effectively and offer support to families when it is needed.

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Safeguarding

Pupils talk with confidence and knowledge about risks linked with online safety.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders have not clarified how the important knowledge that they want pupils to remember should be taught in the mixed-age classes. Therefore, some lessons lack challenge or do not support pupils, including pupils with SEND, to make sufficient progress. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum for all subjects clearly sets out the knowledge that all pupils should know, and that it is taught progressively and with success in the mixed-age classes.  Targets for pupils with SEND are not sufficiently focused on supporting individuals to make progress. They are often too vague and generic. This means that learning cannot be adapted to meet pupils’ needs. Leaders should ensure that the plans designed to help pupils with SEND are detailed and can be used effectively to adapt lessons, to help pupils with SEND make good progress.  Some parents do not feel that leaders communicate with them well enough. This

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

means that they do not always feel informed about events or about their children’s learning. Leaders should ensure that parents receive regular and effective communication about changes, improvements and learning.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately. 11 January 2023

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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Riston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, to be good in November 2014.

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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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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. 11 January 2023

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School details

Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire

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School details

Inspection number 10255789 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average school.  The school joined the Ebor Trust in 2018. The headteacher is also the substantive headteacher at Sigglesthorne Church of England Primary Academy.  There is a nursery provision at the school.  The school runs a breakfast club.

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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.  Prior to the inspection, the lead inspector reviewed documents on the school’s website, as well as published information about the school’s performance and previous Ofsted inspections.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other school leaders. Meetings were held with representatives from the trust as well as the leader for SEND. Inspectors met with subject leaders, class teachers, staff from across the school, and pupils. 11 January 2023

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives into reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors looked at curriculum planning, conducted joint lesson visits with leaders, spoke to pupils about their work and looked at books and samples of work.  During the inspection, a range of safeguarding information was scrutinised, including the school’s policies and records. Inspectors spoke to pupils and observed relationships between pupils and adults.  The inspector observed pupils during playtime and lunchtime. They discussed safeguarding with pupils.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff and Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including comments received via the free-text facility.

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Inspection team

Andrea Batley, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Emily Stevens His Majesty’s Inspector 11 January 2023

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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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