Easingwold Community Primary School

Inspection of Easingwold Community Primary School Thirsk Road, Easingwold, York, North Yorkshire YO61 3HJ

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Good 8 and 9 May 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe at Easingwold Community Primary School. They describe it as a place where everyone is welcome and treated equally. Adults help pupils understand the school’s values of resilience, respect and responsibility. Pupils demonstrate these values well. They talk about the school’s democratic rewards system. Pupils take pride in doing their absolute best and sharing rewards with their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is excellent. From their positive start in the early years, pupils respond enthusiastically to teachers’ high expectations. Pupils’ resilience shines through in all aspects of school life. They support each other to succeed when learning is challenging. Pupils share their ideas with confidence. They are open minded and respectful.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have a sharp focus on attendance. They offer high-quality pastoral support to pupils who have previously struggled to attend. Staff signpost families to the help they need. This removes barriers and, as a result, pupils attend well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school prioritises pupils’ physical and mental well-being. Pupils know they can seek support from any adult and can use the worry button on the school’s website. Staff meet the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They help pupils manage their emotions so that they are ready to learn.

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better?

Inclusivity permeates the school’s curriculum. Leaders adopt a range of approaches to ensure that the support for pupils with SEND is precise and effective. Staff identify smaller steps of learning and adapt classroom environments where necessary. As a result, pupils with SEND access the full curriculum offer.

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better?

In most subjects, the school has chosen the knowledge carefully that it wants all pupils to learn. In mathematics, leaders have tailored the learning well to engage pupils in lessons and strengthen their recall of prior learning. This helps pupils rise to the challenge of solving complex mathematical problems. Pupils benefit from teachers’ effective subject knowledge. Leaders prioritise staff professional development to ensure that they have the right skills and knowledge to deliver the curriculum well. However, in subjects that are at an earlier stage of implementation, pupils do not recall previous learning well.

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better?

Leaders prioritise the teaching of reading. Phonics is taught well from the start of Reception. Any pupils who fall behind receive the additional help they need to catch up. Some children enter school with gaps in their communication and language skills. As a result, leaders prioritise vocabulary development to help all pupils access the curriculum. Pupils love listening to their teachers read. They are keen to retell stories. For example, pupils recreate events in their play using language that they have learned from fairy stories set in other countries. 8 and 9 May 2024

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Leaders ensure that pupils have opportunities to write in every lesson. Pupils are proud of their books. However, pupils’ progress and outcomes in writing were lower than pupils nationally in 2023. Leaders recognise that this needs to improve. A new English curriculum is in place, which provides opportunities for pupils to develop their writing skills progressively from the early years onwards. This is beginning to have an impact.

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Children develop a vast range of life skills in the exceptional early years provision. They thrive in the indoor and outdoor learning environments, demonstrating enthusiasm, independence and resilience. Children demonstrate high levels of sustained concentration, working together to create intricate weaving patterns and making exciting recipes in the mud kitchen. They organise snack time independently, operating the toaster, buttering and cutting bread with their partner. They tidy up together, following embedded routines carefully. As a result, children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning in Year 1.

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The personal development programme is exceptionally well planned and threads throughout the curriculum. Pupils connect their learning through deliberately planned, rich experiences. Residential trips help pupils to develop resilience, organisation and self-care skills in a variety of contrasting locations. Pupils learn about diverse cultures and faiths and visit places of worship. They lead assemblies on values such as individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance. Pupils are prepared extremely well for life in modern Britain.

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Leaders, including governors, wholeheartedly share the vision of ‘excellence for all’. Leaders are tenacious in identifying areas for development. Governors monitor the quality of provision in the school diligently. They are committed to the ongoing improvement of all aspects of the school. Leaders prioritise staff workload and promote well-being. Staff feel well supported. Parents value the school’s support. Most speak positively about the impact the school has on their child.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some foundation subjects are in the early stages of implementation. In addition, some learning tasks do not help pupils to learn the intended curriculum well. Consequently, in these subjects, pupils struggle to recall and build on their prior learning. The school should continue to review and refine the curriculum in each subject to ensure that pupils secure the knowledge they need for later learning. 8 and 9 May 2024

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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 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). 8 and 9 May 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 March 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There have been a significant number of changes in staffing since the previous inspection, including the appointment of the headteacher.  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

 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 the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, senior leaders, curriculum leaders, staff and pupils. Meetings were also held with representatives of the governing body and the local authority. 8 and 9 May 2024

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  Inspectors looked at curriculum plans and pupils’ work in English and DT.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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.  The views of parents were considered from their responses to Ofsted’s parent questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.  The views of staff were considered from meeting with them and from their

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responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.  The views of pupils were considered from meeting with them and from their responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Lisa Ponter, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Gerry Wilson Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 May 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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