North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolOfsted inspection, 22 Mar 2006

Inspection Report North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

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117984 Unique Reference Number East Riding of Yorkshire LEA 280204 Inspection number 21 March 2006 to 22 March 2006 Inspection dates Mrs Kathleen McArthur Reporting inspector

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

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Station Road School address Primary Type of school North Cave Voluntary controlled School category Brough HU15 2LA 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01430 422551 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01430 422223 Fax number 107 Number on roll Mrs Elizabeth Starr Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Robert Long Headteacher 1 October 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 280204 21 March 2006 - 4 to 11 22 March 2006 Inspection Report: North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 21 March 2006 to 22 March 2006

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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 small primary school serves a rural community. The number of pupils entitled to a free school meal is low. None of the pupils have English as an additional language and the proportion with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below the national average. When pupils start school, their attainment is broadly typical for their age. The school has received the Active Mark gold award and is participating in a national pilot scheme for Extended School provision.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 21 March 2006 to 22 March 2006

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Grade: 2

This is a good school and it gives good value for money. The inspection confirmed the school’s accurate evaluation of its own effectiveness. Leadership and management are good. Good teaching ensures that children achieve well and standards are above average overall. Efforts to improve writing are meeting with some success, but spelling is sometimes inaccurate and written work disorganised. Provision in the Foundation Stage is good; children achieve well and many exceed the expected goals at the end of reception. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve well due to the good support they receive. Overall, parents are positive about everything the school provides, and feel ‘the school is small enough to treat each child as an individual whilst offering a good range of experiences and activities’. Children’s personal development and behaviour are good. Children attend regularly, and are happy and caring towards each other and their

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Grade: 2

school. The good curriculum and the exciting range of extra activities and popular clubs ensure that children enjoy coming to school. They are well cared for. Assessment systems provide good academic information, but are not used sufficiently to ensure that there is greater challenge for more able children in English and mathematics. The school has successfully overcome its previously identified weaknesses. Overall, standards have risen since the previous inspection, indicating good improvement. The school has good capacity for further improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Provide more challenging work for the most able children in English and mathematics. • Raise the quality of writing by improving the organisation of written work and spelling.

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Grade: 2

Standards are above average although, because of the small number of children in each year group, the picture varies from year to year. Children achieve well. When the children start school, their attainment is broadly typical for their age, but lower than this in language and literacy. Good provision in the Foundation Stage ensures that children enjoy school and make good progress. Except in language and literacy, most reach the nationally expected standards by the end of reception class and many exceed them. Children build on this positive start and achieve well through Key Stage 1, attaining standards that are consistently above average. Girls’ achieve better than boys in Years 1 and 2, so the school has implemented strategies that are helping to improve boys’ progress. Standards in Key Stage 2 have gradually risen and are above average overall. The children make good progress and achieve well. The achievement of boys and girls is

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Grade: 2

2 Inspection Report: North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 21 March 2006 to 22 March 2006 broadly similar. In the 2005 national tests, the school’s results were particularly good in science but few of the potentially high attaining children exceeded the expected level in English and mathematics. Reading results were better than those in writing. Strategies to improve writing are having some impact, but spelling is often careless and the content of writing disorganised. In information and communication technology (ICT), standards are above average. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are well provided for and make good progress in relation to their capabilities.

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Grade: 2

Personal development is good and makes a strong contribution to good achievement. Parents say the school has ‘the needs of the children at heart’. In the safe, secure atmosphere of the Foundation Stage, the strong focus on personal development ensures that children make good progress. Children think the rules are fair, behave well, and strive to earn weekly ‘Golden Time’. A few parents are concerned about bullying, but children said they feel safe, can seek help from any adult and any issues are quickly dealt with. Good relationships are very evident. Staff and children respect and care about each other and this strongly promotes children’s sense of well-being. The Active Mark Gold award confirmed the commitment to healthy lifestyles. The exceptionally attractive outdoor areas provide challenging and fun activities. Strong involvement with the local community includes participation in a national pilot scheme

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Grade: 2

as an Extended School to support parents and children. Children are responsible members of their community, acting as ‘Playfine’ managers to help younger ones, and school councillors take their role very seriously. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Children reflect on the world around them, protect the environment through the Eco-Club and work as ‘Pet Pals’. They respect other faiths and cultures, and really appreciate and benefit from the annual residential visits. Good academic standards and regular, punctual attendance prepares them well for the world of work.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good overall. Parents say their children enjoy school. Children like the bright, stimulating environment. Typical features of the best lessons are good planning and organisation, with interesting practical and investigational tasks. Teachers have good subject knowledge and use the innovative curriculum well, making meaningful links between subjects. Occasionally, all children are given the same work, resulting in a lack of pace and challenge for the more able children, while others struggle. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are supported well by skilled classroom assistants who make a strong contribution. Good teaching and knowledgeable support in the Foundation Stage ensure that children progress well. 3 Inspection Report: North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 21 March 2006 to 22 March 2006 Throughout the school, teachers keep close checks on children’s progress. Although

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Grade: 2

the resulting information helps them plan the next steps in learning, the needs of more able pupils are not always given close enough attention. Children say teachers’ marking helps them improve their work. Pupils are beginning to be involved in assessing their own and each other’s work, but are yet to be made aware of what targets to aim for.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and meets all statutory requirements. Visits, residential experiences and an exciting range of well-attended after-school clubs and activities provide outstanding enrichment. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are fully included in all activities. The school has led the partnership of local schools to develop an innovative ‘Curriculum for Learning’ to link subjects effectively to make learning more meaningful and interesting. The programmes for literacy, numeracy and ICT have led to good standards overall, although not enough emphasis is given in the English curriculum to spelling or strategies to help children organise their writing. Basic skills are used well in other subjects, for example to write the Christmas story in religious education, record science data and draw portraits.

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support are good. The school has a happy, harmonious environment and children genuinely care about each other. Relationships with parents are good. The great majority are very pleased with the way the school cares for all children and feel well informed about progress. Children feel safe and trust the staff. They know where to get help and this contributes to their good achievement. All health and safety, risk assessments and child protection procedures are used efficiently and regularly reviewed. High-quality induction procedures ensure that children make a good start in the Foundation Stage. The strong partnership between local schools ensures that children transfer to the next stage of education confidently. Early identification and good support for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities ensure that their needs are met well. The school makes good use of all outside support agencies to help

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Grade: 2

pupils learn more effectively. Children are beginning to be involved in assessing their progress, but are not yet made aware of what targets to aim for.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The headteacher’s clear vision for school improvement within a caring ethos is fully supported by staff and governors. Parents are pleased with ‘the community atmosphere’ of the school. Honest self-evaluation and useful assessment information give a clear picture of areas for development and provide a sound basis to prepare plans for improvement. An analysis of standards led 4 Inspection Report: North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 21 March 2006 to 22 March 2006 to the development of strategies to improve writing. Despite some success, work remains to be done to raise standards further, particularly in spelling and the organisation of children’s writing. Equal opportunity is promoted well, and the management of the provision for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is good. Varied teaching styles, the innovative curriculum and skilled classroom assistants meet the needs of most children

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Grade: 2

well, although more able children are sometimes not fully challenged. Governance is good. Governors know the school well and use their knowledge to ask challenging questions. They are fully involved in decision making through the annual conference to prepare the development plan. Strong teamwork between staff, governors and parents means the capacity to improve is good. The school and the governing body seek and act on the views of parents and children, for example reviewing the homework policy. Finances and all resources are very shrewdly managed to support learning and school development. For example, good ICT resources have quickly become valuable learning tools. 5 Inspection Report: North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 21 March 2006 to 22 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: North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 21 March 2006 to 22 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 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 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 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 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 The School Council C/o Mr Robert Long North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Station Road North Cave Brough HU15 2LA 23 March 2006 Dear School Council Many thanks for making me so welcome when I visited your school. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and I am glad you are so happy at school. Please tell all the children what I found about your school: your headteacher, the staff and the governors work hard to provide a good school with lots of interesting activities and visits that you enjoy you work hard, behave well, are helpful and care about each other you know how to be healthy and stay safe; you carry out your responsibilities sensibly, care about the environment and look after your school and the pets well. Some things would make your school even better: more challenging work in English and mathematics to help you reach even higher standards

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

strategies to help you to improve your writing and spelling. Thank you again for your help during the inspection. I hope you all continue to do well and enjoy being at North Cave School. Yours sincerely Kathleen McArthur Lead inspector

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