Shap Endowed CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Shap Endowed CofE Primary School Main Street, Shap, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 3NL

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Outcome

Shap Endowed CofE Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and enjoy each day spent in this small, friendly and nurturing school. They are greeted warmly by staff each morning with a welcoming smile. The school’s mission to provide pupils with ‘a safe branch from which to soar’ is brought to life by all in the school and its wider community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils strive to live up to the high expectations that the school has for them academically. Most pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. They enjoy learning and are proud of what they can do. This is showcased in the wonderful work on display around school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and well mannered. They treat each other with respect and kindness. These foundations are strongly laid as soon as children enter school in the Nursery class. Children quickly learn to share, take turns and to support one another in their play and learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from the exciting variety of activities that the school provides, such as theatre trips, farm visits and dance workshops. Residential trips to places of cultural significance, including capital cities, help to broaden pupils’ horizons. Pupils proudly represent the school in debating, musical and sporting events. They thoroughly enjoy working alongside other like-minded pupils from an array of local schools.

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

The school has high expectations for pupils’ achievement. In most subjects, the curriculum is well ordered and builds logically from the early years to Year 6. It is ambitious and is designed to give pupils, including those with SEND, the knowledge they need to achieve well. However, in a few subjects, the school has not made it clear what pupils should learn and when this should happen. This hampers teachers from designing learning that builds pupils’ knowledge over time. 16 July 2024

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The school has developed a broad and rich set of experiences that take account of the local area and the community in which it sits. Teachers use these experiences to deliver the curriculum in an exciting and purposeful way. They explain new learning well. Teachers typically check on what pupils know and remember within lessons. However, in a small number of subjects, teachers do not check pupils’ learning in the same timely and consistent way. On occasion, gaps in pupils’ knowledge go unchecked in these subjects.

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Teachers ensure that pupils revisit the important knowledge within each new unit of work. However, at times, opportunities for pupils to recap knowledge from their earlier learning is not as secure. This hinders some pupils from building a secure body of knowledge over time.

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The school has prioritised early reading. Children in the Nursery class enjoy joining in with rhymes and sharing books together. This prepares them well for learning phonics in future years. Pupils practise reading using books that contain the sounds that they already know. Highly trained staff provide pupils with extra support if they need it. Most pupils learn to read fluently and accurately in readiness for key stage 2.

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Reading is threaded through all that the school does. Older pupils enjoy reading and appreciate the range of texts and authors on offer to them. They spoke with sheer joy about receiving raffle tickets and books in front of their parents and carers in celebration assemblies. Pupils value the school library. The Year 6 librarians take responsibility to make this area inviting and welcoming for all.

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Pupils with SEND are quickly identified by skilled staff. Purposeful and well-chosen interventions support individual pupils to access the school’s ambitious curriculum. Pupils with SEND are fully included in all aspects of school life and progress well from their differing starting points.

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Pupils behave well. Older pupils who act as play leaders work with their younger peers to create games and activities for all to enjoy at playtimes. Pupils rarely miss a day in school. The school works in partnership with parents so that they recognise how important it is for their children to attend each day. This has led to a marked improvement in pupils’ attendance rates in recent years.

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Pupils take on various leadership roles, including acting as school councillors and mini police. They plan and deliver assemblies on topics, such as how to keep safe. Pupils also devise and decide whole school events which raise money for local charities. Pupils are well prepared to become successful and active citizens of modern-day Britain.

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Governors understand and fulfil their statutory duties with diligence. They are forward thinking and are ambitious for the pupils and the community of Shap. Staff know that their workload and well-being are considered when any decision is made. They are highly appreciative of the support that they receive to enable them to carry out their roles effectively.

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The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In one or two subjects, the school continues to refine its curriculum thinking. This makes it difficult for teachers to design learning that helps pupils to build on their prior learning effectively. The school should identify the key knowledge that pupils should learn so that they progress well in these subjects from the early years to Year 6.  In some subjects, assessment strategies are not used in a timely and effective manner. As a result, opportunities are missed to check what pupils know and can do. This leads to some gaps in knowledge for some pupils. The school should ensure that staff know how to use assessment effectively in order to maximise pupils’ progress.  In some subjects, staff do not revisit the important knowledge that pupils need to remember long term. This prevents some pupils from building securely on what they know. The school should review its approach to helping pupils to remember key

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

curriculum content over time in these subjects.

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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.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2019.

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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. 16 July 2024

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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). 16 July 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 19 and 20 June 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This Church of England school is part of the Diocese of Carlisle. Its last section 48 inspection, for schools of a religious character, took place in March 2022. The next section 48 inspection is due to take place by July 2027.  A new headteacher and chair of governors have been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school runs a before- and after-school club for pupils.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.

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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. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors spoke with the headteacher, other school leaders and members of staff. The lead inspector met representatives of the governing body, including the chair of 16 July 2024

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governors. She also spoke with a representative of the local authority and of the diocese.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and art and design. For each deep dive, they held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector observed pupils read to a familiar adult.  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.  The inspectors reviewed a range of documents, including records of governing body meetings, leaders’ evaluation of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and

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documents relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance.  The inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school and observed their behaviour at lunchtime. They considered the views of pupils shared through Ofsted’s online survey for pupils.  The inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and well-being. They considered the views of staff shared through Ofsted’s online survey.  The inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Sue Dymond, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Garry White Ofsted Inspector 16 July 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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