Masham CofE VA Primary School

Inspection of Masham CofE VA Primary School Masham, Market Place, 1 Millgate, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 4EG

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Inspection dates: 30 and 31 January 2024

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Inadequate Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 30 and 31 January 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not receive an acceptable standard of education. The curriculum is disjointed and does not meet the needs of pupils. Pupils have considerable gaps in their learning and do not achieve well. This means that they are not prepared well for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not consistently receive the support that they need to access the curriculum. This prevents them from developing the knowledge and skills that they need to succeed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are articulate and many are confident in expressing themselves. They are polite and courteous to visitors. However, on occasions, misbehaviour in lessons by some pupils is not managed well enough. This can prevent pupils from learning. This is because the expectations of pupils’ behaviour are inconsistent across the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Recent changes in early years have improved the learning environment. Children follow the established routines. Staff have begun to develop a stronger curriculum for Reception children and their fellow Year 1 classmates.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy participating in a variety of school clubs, including chess and multi- skills. Some pupils take responsibility for different jobs in school, such as leading playtime sports or being a school councillor. Pupils know that they can turn to any adult in school if they have any concerns.

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better?

The school has found it difficult to address some long-term weaknesses in the structure and the teaching of the curriculum. School improvement has been made more difficult by frequent changes in staffing. The capacity for the rapid improvement needed is limited. Over time, the quality of education that pupils have received has not been checked well enough. Pupils’ performance in reading and mathematics is weak throughout the school. This is beginning to improve in early years. However, there remains much to do.

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better?

Although a phonics programme is in place, pupils are not learning to read quickly enough in some year groups. The delivery of the phonics programme is inconsistent. There is an understanding of the gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge. However, pupils who have fallen behind with their reading do not receive the precise support that they need to improve. Pupils’ weaknesses in reading affects their access to learning across all curriculum areas.

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better?

The school mathematics curriculum is not consistently followed. It does not meet the needs of pupils in mixed-age classes. The school is looking to change the curriculum. In some classes, the teaching sequence is disjointed and lesson content jumps from one concept to another. This means that pupils do not learn important knowledge securely. 30 and 31 January 2024

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Parents appreciate the recent changes made to improve the support for pupils with SEND. They are involved in SEND review meetings. Some parents now have a better understanding of how their child’s needs present at school. Support plans for pupils with SEND are more focused to attend to specific needs. However, the school does not provide the training, time or support to enable these plans to be implemented well enough. This means that, too often, pupils with SEND do not build the knowledge and skills that they need.

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Generally, pupils are polite and respectful towards staff. However, expectations of pupils’ behaviour are inconsistent across school. In some classes, low-level disruption is not addressed well. The school does not track incidents of poor behaviour well enough. This makes it difficult for leaders and governors to determine how well the behaviour policy is working.

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In the early years, some aspects of provision have improved since September. Knowledgeable adults support the children to learn through play. Early mathematics and reading are taught well. However, the impact of children having a poor experience in early years over time is affecting access to the curriculum in older year groups.

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Pupils spoken to value the pastoral support available in school from a wide range of staff. Pupils take part in educational visits and community events. In Years 5 and 6, pupils enjoy reading books carefully curated to reflect diversity and stories from different cultures. Pupils’ knowledge of major world religions and fundamental British values are developed well. However, the school does not provide sufficient opportunity for some pupils to develop a sense of responsibility for their learning or to listen respectfully to the views of others.

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Members of the governing body and the staff team are deeply committed to their roles and care passionately about the school. Although support has been received from improvement partners, this has not brought about the necessary change. There has been a lack of focus on the most pressing areas in need of improvement. The school has not shown the capacity to make a rapid improvement to the educational experiences for pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not had effective practices in place to check the quality of its work. This means that weaknesses in the quality of education, provision for pupils with SEND and behaviour needs have not been spotted or addressed. The school 30 and 31 January 2024

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must develop stronger systems to check the quality of its work, so that the impact of the vital improvements needed can be evaluated.  The curriculum is not implemented well enough. This is reflected in significant gaps in pupils' knowledge of phonics, reading and mathematics. The school should work to rapidly improve the teaching of the curriculum, so that pupils make the rapid progress needed in these subjects.  The curriculums for many subjects are weak as there is insufficient guidance on the important knowledge that pupils need to learn or the order and manner in which this should occur. This means that pupils experience a disconnected curriculum which lacks coherence. The school should improve the curriculum, so that pupils are able to build secure knowledge and skills over time in all subjects.  The school does not manage aspects of pupils' behaviour well enough. This means that on occasions poor behaviour distracts pupils from their learning. The

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school must work with staff to better manage behaviour. Incidents of poor behaviour need to be tracked to identify trends and improvement over time.  Until recently, the early years has experienced staffing instability and a lack of curriculum development. This has meant children in the early years have not achieved as well as they should. This is beginning to improve. The school should continue its effective work to redevelop the early years provision to ensure that all children progress well through the curriculum.  The personal development curriculum has not been successful in developing pupils’ attributes in listening to and respecting each other’s views. Leaders must ensure that this aspect of the school’s curriculum is developed effectively. The school may not appoint early career teachers before the next monitoring inspection.

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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' is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school's pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at 30 and 31 January 2024

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any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 30 and 31 January 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 9 and 10 July 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a member of the Diocese of Leeds and has a Christian character. It is, therefore, also inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The diocese last carried out a section 48 inspection in July 2019.  There have been significant changes in staffing in the past two years.  The school does not use any alternative education providers.

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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

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. 30 and 31 January 2024

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Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school's education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and the special educational needs coordinator. Meetings were also held with subject leaders, class teachers and pupils. Further meetings were held with an early career teacher and some support staff.  The lead inspector met also with members of the governing body.  The inspectors carried out deep dives into reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector looked at curriculum planning, conducted joint lesson visits with leaders, spoke to pupils about their work and looked at pupils’ books and samples of their work.  Prior to the inspection, the lead inspector reviewed documents on the school’s

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website, as well as published information about the school’s performance and previous Ofsted inspections.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in classrooms, around the school and at playtime and lunchtime. They spoke with pupils about their views of the school and their learning, behaviour and safety.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  As well as speaking to parents at the school gate, inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View. The inspectors took the views of staff into account through a number of meetings as well as their responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Mary Cook, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Chris Story Ofsted Inspector 30 and 31 January 2024

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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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