Sedbergh Primary School

Inspection of Sedbergh Primary School Long Lane, Sedbergh, Cumbria LA10 5AL

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 3 and 4 July 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ smiles show how much they enjoy school. They arrive each morning eager to learn. Children in the early years blossom in the stimulating environment leaders have created. They settle quickly into well-established routines. Pupils know that adults care about them. They know how to report any worries that they may have and are confident that staff will listen to their concerns. This helps them to feel safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils strive to live up to the high expectations that leaders have of them socially and academically. Pupils learn about other cultures and beliefs. They know how important it is to treat each other with understanding and respect.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils play happily with their friends at breaktimes. Any bullying, or hurtful comments, are dealt with appropriately by staff. Pupils behave well and work hard. This helps them to achieve well in a range of subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Older pupils have the opportunity to debate important issues as members of the South Lakes Pupil Parliament. Pupils work together to improve aspects of the local environment. They become responsible active citizens by fundraising for local and national charities. Pupils’ confidence and resilience flourishes through the many opportunities leaders provide. Pupils enjoy the range of sports they can play and clubs that they can join. They proudly represent their school in local competitions.

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better?

The carefully designed curriculum reflects leaders’ ambition for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to achieve well. Leaders have thought carefully about the knowledge that they want pupils to learn and the order in which the knowledge is to be taught in, from the early years to Year 6.

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better?

The training that teachers receive ensures that they have the appropriate knowledge to be able to deliver the agreed curriculum successfully. In most subjects, learning activities meet pupils’ needs well. Pupils begin to make links across subjects. This helps them to apply what they know when they are learning something new.

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better?

Leaders frequently check how well pupils are achieving across a range of subjects. In most subjects, teachers use assessment information to identify what pupils need to learn next. Any misconceptions are corrected quickly. This helps the majority of pupils to achieve well. However, in one or two subjects, teachers do not use assessment information effectively enough. Pupils’ learning does not build sufficiently well on what they already know and can do. This hinders the progress for some pupils in these subjects. 3 and 4 July 2023

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Accurate identification of SEND enables leaders to provide the support needed for pupils to be successful. A range of resources and equipment helps pupils to learn the same curriculum as their friends. Experienced staff provided any additional support required for pupils with an education, health and care plan. This enables all pupils with SEND to access everything that school has to offer.

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A love of reading is fostered across the school from the time children start school in the early years. Pupils enjoy choosing their favourite books from the well-resourced school library and classroom reading areas. Pupils read widely and often across a range of different types of books, including poetry and plays by Shakespeare. Older pupils enjoy researching information across a broad range of subjects and for their personal interest.

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The youngest children enjoy learning traditional songs and rhymes. In the Reception class, children quickly begin to learn the sounds that letters represent. The books that pupils read contain words that match the sounds that they are learning. This helps most pupils to become confident, fluent readers by the end of Year 2. Pupils who struggle with reading, including those at the early stages of reading in key stage two, benefit from the support that they receive from skilled staff. This helps them to catch up quickly.

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Positive attitudes to learning are promoted consistently well by staff. Pupils are polite and well mannered. They conduct themselves well in school. In lessons, pupils work hard. They are able to learn free from disruption in a calm and focused environment.

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Pupils’ personal development is nurtured well throughout school. In the early years, children learn how to treat others with kindness. Older pupils benefit from the broad range of opportunities to develop their resilience and perseverance, for example through dance performances on stage, paddle boarding on Lake Windemere and early morning cross country runs. Pupils’ understanding of different faiths and cultures is enhanced through visitors to school, visits to museums and links with different places of worship. Pupils’ care for the environment is fostered through a range of activities, including a successful gardening club. Pupils explain enthusiastically how they grow their own produce to sell to parents and carers and often cook food to share with each other.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. They value the way leaders support their well-being and are mindful of their workload. Governors use their knowledge effectively when carrying out their roles and responsibilities. They rigorously hold leaders to account for the quality of education that the school provides.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

High-quality training enables staff to quickly identify any changes in pupils’ demeanour. Staff know the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about a 3 and 4 July 2023

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pupils’ welfare. Leaders work with other professionals to ensure that vulnerable pupils and their families quickly receive the help and support that they need.

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Pupils learn about how to use the internet safely. They are taught about how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, for example when they are out in the community.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a very small number of subjects, teachers do not use assessment information effectively enough to make sure that pupils’ learning builds on what they already know. This hinders progress for some pupils. Leaders should ensure that assessment information is used equally well in all subjects so that all pupils have the opportunity to achieve as well as they should.

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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. 3 and 4 July 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10255947 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 January 2022, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the second routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in the evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the lead inspector spoke with representatives from the governing body.  Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, members of the leadership team and staff.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding. 3 and 4 July 2023

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 The lead inspector had a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, art and design and geography. For these subjects, inspectors met with subject leaders, visited lessons and spoke to staff. They also spoke to pupils about their learning and their experiences of the school. Inspectors looked at pupils’ work and the lead inspector listened to pupils read. Inspectors also reviewed a range of documentation relating to science and history and spoke to pupils about their work in these subjects.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online school questionnaire for parents, and the free-text comments. They also spoke with parents at the start of the school day.  Inspectors considered the responses to the online staff survey. There were no responses to the online pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Amanda Stringer, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Cleo Cunningham Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 July 2023

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