The Gainsborough Parish Church Primary School

Inspection of The Gainsborough Parish Church Primary School Acland Street, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire DN21 2LN

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 16 and 17 May 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well cared for. Staff treat them with kindness and respect. Pupils say that there are lots of adults they can talk to if they are worried or upset. They feel safe in school. Parents appreciate the supportive community the school provides for their children. One parent said: ‘Staff at the school support not only the child but the whole family and have been true diamonds throughout my child’s time at the school.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. Playtimes and lunchtimes are happy times. Lessons are calm. Pupils listen when asked and follow the instructions their teachers give. They work well together. However, their attitudes to learning are not as strong. Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ engagement in their lessons vary. In some classes, some pupils do not actively participate in their learning when asked to give an answer or share an idea.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has been through a period of significant change in leadership. This has slowed the pace of change that leaders have done to improve the school. Leaders’ ambition for pupils has not been high enough. The curriculum is not consistently well organised and thought out. As a result, too many pupils are not ready for the next stage in their education.

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better?

Leaders have prioritised the teaching of reading. Phonics is taught well. The curriculum sets out the order in which pupils learn new sounds. Staff receive appropriate training. The phonics leader makes regular checks to ensure that staff are teaching phonics effectively. Assessment is used well to spot pupils who fall behind so that they can have extra help. This is working well. Children in the early years learn the sounds they need to read and write. Pupils in later years benefit from this firm foundation. Pupils are enthusiastic about reading.

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better?

Many other curriculum plans are not planned out in sufficient detail. Leaders have not set out the specific knowledge that pupils need to learn from the early years to Year 6. It is not always clear how new learning builds on prior learning. In some lessons, teachers are not clear about what they need to teach. Some teachers work this out successfully for themselves, but this is not consistent across the school. Sometimes, learning activities are not well matched to the needs of the pupils. This is when pupils lose interest in their learning. Teachers plan opportunities for pupils to revisit previous learning in lessons, but this is not fully embedded. Too often, pupils struggle to remember what they have been taught.

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better?

Teachers’ checks that pupils remember what they have been taught are not used well enough in much of the curriculum. Teachers do not routinely use this information to identify and fill gaps in pupils’ learning or address misconceptions they may have. 16 and 17 May 2023

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This is an inclusive school. The needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified promptly, and the right support is provided. For example, leaders have identified that an increasing number of children have speech and language difficulties when they start at school. Leaders have provided specific training so that two teaching assistants can support these pupils. Staff make reasonable adjustments and provide additional resources to help pupils with SEND with their learning. Pupils with SEND learn alongside their peers. Leaders are ambitious that they will become independent learners and experience success.

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The personal, social and health education curriculum is well planned and sequenced. Pupils learn about what a good relationship looks like and how to keep themselves safe. They learn how to stay healthy, physically and mentally. There is a strong pastoral offer for pupils who need time to talk about their worries. This work is vital for pupils who may otherwise find it difficult to cope in the busy school environment. However, there is more work to do to strengthen the school’s offer for pupils’ personal development. The opportunities for pupils to develop their talents and interests are limited. Leaders have not thought carefully enough about the characteristics they want pupils to develop during their time at the school. This work does not start quickly enough in early years.

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Governors have steered the school through a challenging time. They fulfil their statutory duties. Governors are beginning hold leaders to account for the ambition of the curriculum and are starting to keep a close eye on the difference that it makes to outcomes for pupils. The many changes that have taken place have unsettled some staff. Despite this, the vast majority of staff say that they are proud of, and enjoy working at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Designated safeguarding leaders are knowledgeable. They have established robust systems to keep pupils safe. Staff receive regular safeguarding training. They are alert to the signs that a pupil may be at risk of harm. Leaders and staff know pupils and their families well. Safeguarding records help safeguarding leaders to build a profile of pupils when concerns are raised. Leaders take the right action at the right time. They work closely with relevant external agencies to help pupils and their families get the support they need.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Overall, the curriculum is not ambitious enough. Leaders, including governors, do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. Too many pupils 16 and 17 May 2023

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do not achieve as well as other pupils nationally and are not adequately prepared for the next stage in their education. Leaders must ensure that the curriculum is sufficiently demanding and provides pupils with the knowledge they need to succeed.  In many subjects, the curriculum does not set out precisely what pupils need to learn, or identify a coherent order in which this knowledge should be taught. As a result, pupils do not build secure subject knowledge that deepens over time. Leaders need to ensure that curriculum plans identify and sequence key knowledge in all subjects, so that pupils from early years to Year 6 know more and remember more.  Teachers do not check that pupils have remembered the intended learning with enough precision. This means that teachers do not consistently provide learning activities that meet the needs of all pupils. Leaders should ensure that teachers use assessment information to check that pupils have a secure knowledge of

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what has been taught, and to plug gaps in their learning.  Staff expectations of pupils’ attitudes to learning are not consistently high enough. Some pupils are disengaged in lessons. They do not participate in their learning with interest, respond to their teachers’ questions or offer their ideas and opinions. Leaders should raise staff’s expectations of pupils’ engagement in their learning so that pupils give of their best in every lesson.  Leaders have not planned carefully enough for pupils’ personal development. Pupils do not consistently develop the characteristics they need to succeed. Leaders must ensure that pupils have experiences and opportunities to prepare them well for life in modern Britain and the next stage in their education.

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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. 16 and 17 May 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10254777 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 10 and 11 March 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a standalone academy.  The school is a voluntary-aided church primary school. Its most recent section 48 inspection took place on 9 July 2019.  Since the previous inspection, a new headteacher has been appointed. At the time of the inspection, the headteacher was absent and an acting headteacher was leading the school.  A new chair of governors has been elected since the previous inspection.  The school uses one registered alternative provider. 16 and 17 May 2023

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Information about this inspection

The inspector(s) carried out this graded 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 met with the acting headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the pastoral leader and four members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, English, history, and art and design. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils about the lessons visited and looked at samples of pupils’ work. For the reading deep dive, the lead inspector listened to pupils in Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 read to a familiar adult.  To inspect safeguarding, inspectors spoke to designated safeguarding leaders,

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Information about this inspection

staff, governors and pupils about the school’s safeguarding culture. Inspectors considered the safeguarding education that pupils receive.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at playtime and lunchtime. They also spoke to pupils to gather their views about behaviour in school.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the start of the day and took note of the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and the free-text comments. Inspectors also took note of responses to the pupil and staff surveys.

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Inspection team

Caroline Poole, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Rachael Snowdon-Poole Ofsted Inspector 16 and 17 May 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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