Foston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Inspection of Foston Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Main Street, Foston, York, North Yorkshire YO60 7QB

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Inspection dates: 15 and 16 October 2024

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Outstanding

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Good

Previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 15 and 16 October 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils ‘learn and grow together’ during their time at this small village school. Pupils understand the school values of love, joy, patience and self-control. They know how these contribute to their progress in school. Pupils are keen to meet the high expectations that the school has for their achievement. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school promotes a culture of mutual respect. Positive relationships between staff and pupils are at the heart of the school community from the early years onwards. Pupils are happy and thriving. Pupils are proud of their school and enjoy learning. They are polite and well mannered. Pupils feel safe in school and trust adults to deal with any concerns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

‘Fantastic Fridays’ provide a rich range of thoughtfully planned wider opportunities that enhance and further the curriculum. These experiences both deepen pupils’ understanding and broaden their horizons. Pupils benefit from the different extra- curricular clubs and trips. The sporting offer for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), is a particular strength.

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

The curriculum demonstrates ambition for all, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND. The school’s well-thought-out curriculum allows pupils to build securely on new knowledge and skills from what they have already learned. Staff routinely check pupils’ understanding and ensure that this is secure before applying what pupils know to new ideas. Occasionally, teachers do not identify and resolve pupils’ misconceptions. This leads to gaps in their knowledge persisting.

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

The teaching of reading is a strength of the school. Children in the early years get off to a flying start with phonics. Staff are experts in teaching children to read. Children’s books are closely matched to the sounds that they know. This helps them to master phonics quickly and to become fluent readers. There is strong support for those pupils who find reading difficult. These pupils are quickly identified. Swift action is taken before they begin to fall behind. Teachers read to pupils every day. A carefully compiled list of books to read together is in place across school. The school has a well-resourced library that contains a range of carefully selected books.

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

In the early years, children have an excellent start to their education. They experience an atmosphere where all feel welcome and high expectations are the norm. Children in early years learn through well-sequenced, interesting activities in the intelligently resourced indoor and outdoor classrooms. They are exceptionally well prepared for their learning in Year 1.

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

Pupils with SEND receive the support they need to learn alongside their peers. Staff carefully adapt the curriculum to meet their needs. This approach contributes to pupils with SEND achieving well. 15 and 16 October 2024

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The curriculum for personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education helps pupils to understand how to stay safe online. Pupils know when personal information should not be shared. The school provides pupils with opportunities to develop their citizenship. An example of this includes raising money for a charity based in Uganda. Through this experience, pupils can see how their fundraising efforts are making a positive difference to the lives of others.

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Pupils’ behaviour is calm and orderly. They have positive attitudes to lessons. Behaviour routines and expectations are clearly embedded and consistently applied across the school. Pupils show excellent manners, which extend outside the classroom to the playground. Pupils play harmoniously together and develop strong friendships.

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Attendance is a priority for the school. Highly effective attendance procedures are in place that are consistently applied. As a result of rigorous monitoring and timely actions, attendance is extremely positive.

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Leaders have an accurate understanding of what the school does well and what it needs to improve. Governors work in close collaboration with the school to ensure continuous improvement. The school is highly considerate of staff’s workload and well-being.

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Parents and carers highly value the supportive and nurturing school community ethos. Parents are very appreciative of the care and support the school provides to them and their children.

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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, some pupils’ misconceptions are not addressed in a timely manner. This can lead to gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding. The school should ensure it checks what pupils know and ensure that gaps in their knowledge are addressed before moving on to new ideas.

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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. 15 and 16 October 2024

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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). 15 and 16 October 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15 January 2020

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Information about this school

 The school is significantly smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school shares its governing body with two other schools.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.  The school is within the Diocese of York. Its most recent section 48 inspection took place in January 2024.  The school is led by executive headteacher, Sarah Moore, who has a strategic leadership role over three schools. The school has a head of school, Katie Stringer, who is responsible for the day-to-day leadership and operational running of this school.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector(s) carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 15 and 16 October 2024

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID19 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 spoke to the executive headteacher, head of school and senior leaders including representatives of the governing body.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and art. 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 also spoke to leaders about pupils’ learning in some other subjects.  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

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the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey, and staff survey. They also considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including any free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Jane Clayton, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Shazia Azhar Ofsted Inspector 15 and 16 October 2024

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