Gillamoor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Gillamoor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Main Street, Gillamoor, York, North Yorkshire YO62 7HX

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Outcome

Gillamoor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, in this small moorland school, welcome visitors with smiles and an inquisitive nature. They are polite, courteous and helpful. They embody the school’s aim of enabling everyone to flourish. Pupils at this school grow and develop to become mature and articulate members of the school community. The nurturing environment means that pupils are safe and happy. They benefit from high-quality pastoral support from well- trained staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has established high expectations for all pupils. Leaders expect pupils to achieve well. Pupils generally achieve well from their starting points. This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils take pride in successfully completing tasks in lessons and showing their abilities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour around school is positive. Pupils look out for one another. They are mindful of the needs of individuals, who may experience difficulty from time to time. Bullying is rare. Where bullying does occur, the school takes effective action to deal with this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are very positive about the school. They talk with enthusiasm about the way the school engages with them. Parents appreciate the wide range of curricular and extra- curricular activities that this small school is able to provide.

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

The school has taken swift action to identify potential areas for improvement in the curriculum across school. A new phonics programme and a new curriculum for many of 5 November 2024

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the foundation subjects is in place. These are beginning have a positive impact on pupils’ learning. However, the foundation subject curriculum needs more time to become fully embedded into school practice to ensure that pupils are able to make meaningful links between different subject areas.

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Well-trained and confident staff teach the phonics programme with accuracy. Children in the early years quickly develop the fundamental skills they need to recognise sounds in words and begin to decode. Older pupils build on these skills. They become confident and fluent readers. Through exposure to high-quality texts in reading lessons, older pupils develop a firm grasp of complex linguistic features, such as idioms. They then use these in their own writing.

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Pupils develop secure strategies for solving mathematical problems. Their fluency in recall builds gradually during their time in school. In early years, adults expose children to an exciting mathematical environment. They model specific language that children can then use correctly in their own play and learning. For example, children quickly and accurately recognised different shapes and described them using appropriate mathematical vocabulary. Pupils demonstrate a secure recall of prior learning across the wider curriculum. For example, pupils used their prior knowledge of Ada Lovelace to create effective posters. Other pupils talked with understanding about the formation of the solar system. They outlined the difference between the terrestrial planets and the gas giants, for instance.

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Pupils with SEND get the support they need to flourish. The school takes intelligent action to identify pupils’ needs and to put appropriate support in place. This has noticeable impact.

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The school has overseen significant improvements in attendance and punctuality in school. Fewer pupils now arrive at school late. Pupils’ attendance in general is not an issue. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has been variable over time, however. The school understands the reasons for absence and have worked sensitively with parents to improve attendance where this is necessary. Behaviour beyond the classroom is positive. Pupils of all ages play together well. However, behaviours and attitudes for learning in the classroom are not consistently positive. Sometimes the atmosphere in classrooms is not calm and purposeful. This means that pupils can miss out on important learning.

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Pupils are very well prepared for life beyond the school. Provision for pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is highly effective. The school ensures that pupils are supported to develop a keen understanding and respect for equality. A series of educational visits to different places of worship strengthens their understanding of other faiths and religions. Pupils show remarkable levels of understanding about diversity. There are numerous opportunities for pupils to take on responsibilities in school. These include school council, church council and house captains. Therefore, pupils make positive contributions to the school community. 5 November 2024

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Leaders across the school have taken effective action where necessary to maintain the standards in the school. The school has strengthened its governing body. The governing body has a clear understanding of the school. It uses information well to question, challenge and hold leaders to account. This means there is a coherent approach to school improvement. While there has been significant change in school over a short period of time, this has not been detrimental to staff workload or well-being. Staff feel well supported by leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the curriculum is in its infancy and has not been fully implemented. This means that pupils are not securing their skills and knowledge in line with the school’s intentions. The school should continue its work to embed the new curriculum to ensure that pupils develop a full range of knowledge and skills in line with the school’s intentions.  At times, pupils' attitudes to, and behaviours for, learning do not meet the school's high expectations. This means that the classroom environment is not consistently calm and purposeful. The school should ensure that its high expectations are understood by all so that the learning environment is consistently calm and purposeful.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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. 5 November 2024

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This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in July 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.

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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). 5 November 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Christopher Vowles

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9 July 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection. She took up her post in September 2023.  Two thirds of the school’s current staff were not employed at the school at the time of the previous inspection.  This school is much smaller than average. Pupils are taught in three mixed-age classes, comprising early years and key stage 1, Years 3-4 and Years 5-6.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  As this school has a religious character, it is inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The last Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools was in July 2022. The next inspection is due before August 2027.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 5 November 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 staff, a senior education adviser from the local authority and representatives of the governing body.  An inspector met with some parents at the end of the school day.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their work, spoke with subject leaders and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  An inspector heard some pupils from Years 1-3 reading 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

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safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors analysed the responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and Ofsted’s pupil survey. They reviewed responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including the free- text comments.

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Inspection team

Richard Beadnall, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Rowena Sykes Ofsted Inspector 5 November 2024

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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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