Flookburgh CofE Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Flookburgh CofE Primary School Flookburgh CofE Primary School, Winder Lane, Grange-Over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 7LE

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Outcome

Flookburgh CofE 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 are greeted by smiling staff each day. They know that staff care about them, which helps them to feel safe in school. Pupils treat each other with kindness and respect. The school forms strong relationships with pupils and their families. This helps pupils to thrive. The youngest children enjoy exploring and learning alongside their friends. They flourish in the exciting environment the school has created.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), strive to live up to the high expectations that the school has of them. Most pupils behave well, listen carefully to adults and follow the school routines. Many pupils work hard in lessons and try to do their best in everything that they do. This helps them to achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the opportunities that the school provides, for example learning to play a brass instrument and playing rugby. Other activities help to build pupils’ confidence and resilience. Older pupils have positions of responsibility, for example as class monitors and as role models for the younger pupils. Visits to places of cultural interest help to broaden pupils’ horizons. Pupils are ambitious for their future careers. For example, pupils aspire to be nurses, pilots or to run a family business.

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

The school is ambitious for all pupils, including pupils who are disadvantaged, to become successful learners. The curriculum has been carefully designed to meet the needs of pupils who are taught in mixed-age classes. The school’s actions to refine the curriculum have helped to maintain the positive standards of education that all pupils receive. The most important knowledge that pupils need to know has been precisely sequenced from 3 December 2024

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the early years to Year 6. The school has ensured that all staff receive the training and resources that they need to deliver the curriculum well.

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Across the curriculum, the most important knowledge that pupils need to have is explicit. In most subjects, staff check what pupils know and remember frequently. Staff use this information well to identify any misconceptions and to provide pupils with useful feedback. Suitable learning activities help pupils practise what they are learning. This helps them to apply what they already know when they are learning something new. In most subjects, pupils achieve well.

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However, in a small number of subjects, checks on what pupils understand are not fully in place. This hinders staff’s ability to design activities which build on what pupils know and can do. In these subjects, prior learning is not secure. This hinders pupils’ progress through the curriculum over time.

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Inaccuracies in pupils’ writing sometimes go unchecked. As a result, some pupils continue to repeat their errors. This hampers their ability to achieve as well as they should, especially in writing.

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The teaching of early reading is a strength. Children in the Nursery and Reception class get off to a flying start. They enjoy learning new vocabulary and joining in with familiar songs and rhymes. This helps to develop their listening and pronunciation skills. They quickly learn the sounds that letters make. Phonics is taught consistently well. Those pupils who struggle with reading are identified swiftly. Additional help ensures that they catch up quickly. Most pupils are confident, fluent readers by the time they start in key stage 2.

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Pupils read widely and often. They enjoy selecting texts from the well-resourced library. Pupils particularly enjoy the texts chosen by their teachers. Pupils talk enthusiastically about books that encourage them to think about things from another perspective for example, books about disabilities and differences.

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Skilled staff have the knowledge that they need to adapt teaching to meet the needs of pupils with SEND effectively. Pupils with SEND take part in all that the school has to offer. They learn the same curriculum as their classmates, achieve well and are successful in a broad range of subjects.

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Most pupils, including pupils with SEND, attend school regularly. The school works with families to provide further support should a pupil’s attendance need to improve. Most pupils conduct themselves well around school. Pupils’ positive attitude and good behaviour create a calm environment in which to learn. This helps pupils to achieve their best. On occasion, when pupils struggle to manage their emotions effectively, staff work with other professionals to ensure that pupils are supported appropriately.

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Pupils’ personal development is promoted well. Visits to different places of worship help to develop pupils’ understanding of other faiths. Pupils play an active role in the life of the local community, for example litter picking on the beach and fundraising for the local food 3 December 2024

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bank. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, such as when using the internet.

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Governors understand the challenges faced by small schools. They use their knowledge effectively to provide appropriate support and challenge. Staff are proud to be part of the school. They appreciate how their workload and well-being are considered when decisions are made.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school does not routinely ensure that pupils’ errors in their writing are identified and corrected swiftly. As a result, some pupils continue to repeat errors over time. This hinders pupils’ capacity to achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that errors in pupils’ writing are quickly resolved so that pupils write with increased accuracy and fluency across the curriculum.  In a small number of subjects, checks on what pupils understand are not fully in place. In these subjects, gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding are not identified. This makes it difficult for staff to design appropriate learning activities to help pupils remember what they need to know. The school should ensure that checks on what pupils know and can do are fully embedded so that learning activities enable pupils to achieve as well as they should over time.

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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, 3 December 2024

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behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in October 2014.

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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). 3 December 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 18 December 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Diocese of Carlisle. The last section 48 inspection, for schools of a religious character, took place in June 2019. The next section 48 inspection is due to take place within the next five years.  The school currently uses one alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection 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.  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. 3 December 2024

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher, who is also the special educational needs coordinator. They also met with subject leaders and other staff during the inspection. The lead inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. The lead inspector also met with a representative from the local authority and spoke to a representative from the Diocese by telephone.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspectors also considered documents and spoke to some staff about the curriculum, the early years, SEND, attendance, safeguarding, personal development and behaviour.  Inspectors considered the responses to the staff survey and the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. Inspectors also spoke to pupils about their experiences of school.

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Inspection team

Amanda Stringer, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Sarah Price Ofsted Inspector 3 December 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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