Ferryhill Station Primary School

Inspection Report Ferryhill Station Primary School

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114078 Unique Reference Number Durham LEA 279307 Inspection number 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006 Inspection dates Mr Arthur Allison Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Chilton Lane School address Primary Type of school Ferryhill Station Community School category Ferryhill, County Durham DL17 0DB 4 to 11 Age range of pupils

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01740 651291 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01740 655040 Fax number 89 Number on roll Mr Valman Woods Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Valerie Jago Headteacher 1 October 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279307 2 March 2006 - 4 to 11 3 March 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one additional inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a small school with four mixed-age classes. It serves an area of high social deprivation. Attainment on entry is well below average. Mathematics skills are low. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is high, as is the percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. More pupils join or leave the school after the reception year than in most schools. Very few children come from minority ethnic backgrounds. The school experienced staffing problems which affected the pupils in Years 5 and 6 in 2004-5 and the current teaching team is new to the school.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Ferryhill Station Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school with some good features. It gives satisfactory value for money. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The school’s own thorough assessment of its effectiveness is accurate. Most of the previously identified shortcomings have been tackled successfully. The headteacher has a good vision for the school and there is capacity to improve further. The overwhelming majority of parents have confidence in the school. One parent wrote ‘I have had lots of support from teachers and support staff.’ The children are friendly and talk enthusiastically about the range of opportunities provided. They want to do well and know what they have to do to improve in the longer term, because targets have been set. They are not however given enough guidance on how to improve in the short term. The school is committed to enabling all pupils to do their best, drawing on outside expertise well

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Grade: 3

to help. The school provides good levels of care, guidance and support for pupils. The children’s personal and social development is good. Provision in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory. Children are helped to settle into school and make satisfactory progress. Although standards throughout the school are well below average, attainment on entry is also well below average and all groups of pupils, including those who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, make progress and their achievement is satisfactory. In mathematics pupils achieve well. Teaching is satisfactory; it is improving and many pupils have made good progress recently. However, teachers need to provide more planned opportunities for children to write in other subjects. The curriculum is good and provides a rich experience for children, but needs to link work in different subjects more closely The governors fulfil their responsibilities satisfactorily.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise standards in science by providing more opportunities for improving knowledge and investigative skills and giving the lower attaining pupils more help. • Raise standards in English by planning more opportunities to practise and extend the skills of writing in subjects other than English • Improve marking so that pupils are given better guidance on what they have to do to improve

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Grade: 3

The attainment of children starting school is well-below average. Mathematics skills are low. Those who left the Reception class in 2005 attained standards that were well below those expected for children of their age. In 2005 the Key Stage 1 test results were well below those of other schools because few children attained the higher levels. The Key Stage 2 results were well below those of other schools. Despite these low levels of attainment, all pupils make progress and achievement is satisfactory and 2 Inspection Report: Ferryhill Station Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006 good in mathematics. Over 50 per cent of the Year 6 children had learning difficulties and during the year had several teachers because of problems beyond the control of the school. Nevertheless, the results were better in English and mathematics than in 2004 because of a strong focus on these subjects. The results in science showed that

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Grade: 3

children had not made the expected progress. A lower percentage reached the nationally expected standards than in most schools. Achievement is satisfactory, but in mathematics is good because of the lower starting point. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make similar progress to other children because they are identified early and given good help. The school has put strategies in place to raise standards and most children have made good progress recently.

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Grade: 2

The personal development and well-being of all children is good. Children demonstrate a mature approach. They talk confidently about how they enjoy school. Attendance is broadly average. Children are well informed about how to stay safe and lead healthy lifestyles. The School Council, supported by other people, was successful in requesting the local council to provide traffic calming measure outside the school. The members of the School Council are proud of their role and how they represent the views of others. Children take their roles seriously, particularly when helping other children via the ‘buddy’ system. The school prepares the children well for life-long learning and their economic well-being. This is shown by the way they want to do the best they can, work well together and independently and become familiar with a range of information and communication technology equipment. Bullying and racial harassment are not problems.

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Grade: 2

Behaviour is good though a small minority of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties occasionally cause problems. Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. A termly ‘Arts’ weeks, on particular themes, such as China, makes a good contribution to their understanding of other cultures.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning, on the evidence of planning, children’s work and the lessons seen, are satisfactory. In some lessons teaching and learning are good and children make good progress, but this has not yet had time to improve test results. In good lessons the pace is brisk and teachers plan interesting activities that are matched carefully to the different groups and fully engage the attention of all learners. Teachers also make good use of recently acquired interactive whiteboards to promote learning, for example, when teaching the properties of 2-dimentional figures in a Year 5 / 6 class. In all lessons teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to teaching and learning. All teachers expect high standards of behaviour and this contributes to 3 Inspection Report: Ferryhill Station Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006 children’s satisfactory progress. Marking is satisfactory and helps children to know

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Grade: 3

what they have learned, but there is insufficient guidance on what children need to do to improve. Also, teachers do not always write in the style the school teaches so do not provide examples for children to emulate. Planning is satisfactory, but there is a need to plan more opportunities for speaking, listening and writing in other subjects to help raise attainment in English.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum, which fulfils all statutory requirements, is good. It meets the needs of all children, including those in the Foundation Stage. The emphasis on personal development in all activities, not just specific lessons, reflects the school’s determination to drive up standards by enabling children to become good learners. The planned curriculum does not identify clearly enough where skills learned in one subject should be practised and extended in another subject. The curriculum is enriched well by a wide range of visitors and visits, including residential experience, which enhance learning. The ‘Arts’ weeks are a strong feature of the enrichment. Children also benefit from outside expertise, for example, the range of sporting activities provided by a professional football club and the links with a local secondary school. The curriculum helps to prepare children well for life after they leave school.

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Grade: 2

The school provides good care, guidance and support for all children. The school has good procedures to ensure that staff and children are safe, exemplified well by the precautions taken during the current refurbishment of the buildings. Children know that if they have any worries they will be taken seriously so they have the confidence to ask for help when they need it. Child protection systems are appropriate and staff undertake regular training. Children who may be vulnerable or who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities or join the school after the reception year receive good help. The school exceeded its challenging target for English in 2005 and came close to meeting the target for mathematics. The appointment of a learning mentor is a recent example of additional support for children to help them achieve as well as possible. The Family Learning Project enables parents to help their children at home.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. Under the perceptive guidance of the headteacher, the newly appointed deputy headteacher and all other staff are working well together to raise standards. The headteacher saw the need for better planning that matched activities more closely to prior learning and strategies to improve children’s behaviour. As a result most children have made good progress recently, 4 Inspection Report: Ferryhill Station Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006 partly because behaviour is good. Three of the four teachers are new to the school. They have concentrated on their class teaching responsibilities, but are gradually taking on the roles of subject leaders. The school promotes equal opportunities and deploys teachers and teaching assistants to help raise achievement. This is well illustrated by the involvement of all Key Stage 1 staff in guided reading activities in Key Stage 2

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Grade: 3

when children in Key Stage 1 have gone to lunch. Most of the shortcomings identified by the previous inspection have been addressed, illustrating the school’s capacity for further improvement. The main improvement is in the percentage of children who attain the nationally expected level 4 or higher in English. The school’s aims are now clearly focused on raising achievement. Activities are more closely matched to pupils’ prior attainment and what children should know or be able to do by the end of the lesson is made clear. Governors know the school well and contribute to discussions about standards. Systems for self-evaluation are well established and take account of the views of parents and pupils. Governors manage the school’s finances carefully and follow up spending decisions to ensure their effectiveness. 5 Inspection Report: Ferryhill Station Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Ferryhill Station Primary School, 2 March 2006 to 3 March 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 3 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 4 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 3 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 3 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 3 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 3 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 3 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 Ofsted helpline 08456 404045 Ferryhill Station Primary School Chilton Lane Ferryhill Station Ferryhill County Durham DL17 0DB 6 March 2006 Dear Children I really enjoyed my visit to your school last week and I would like to thank you for being so friendly, helpful and polite. I enjoyed talking to you and seeing you at work in lessons. I can see why you are proud of your school and enjoy coming because: you enjoy learning and behave well you listen carefully to what others in your class say and are proud to take on responsibilities you enjoy taking part in a lot of extra activities, including visits your teachers and other adults in the school work hard to help you to do your best your headteacher knows what the school should do to help you to do better and the other teachers and adults fully support her in this. There are three things I have asked the school to do to make it better. The school should:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

help you to do better in science by giving you extra help help you to do better in English by giving you opportunities to practise your speaking, listening and writing skills in other subjects tell you what you need to do to improve when marking your work Thank you again for making me welcome. Keep trying to do your very best at all times. Yours sincerely Mr Allison The inspector

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