Goathland Primary School

Inspection Report Goathland Primary School

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121296 Unique Reference Number North Yorkshire LEA 280976 Inspection number 21 November 2005 to 21 November 2005 Inspection dates Mrs Lesley Clark CfBT Lead Inspector Reporting inspector

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

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Beckhole Road School address Primary Type of school Goathland Community School category Whitby, North Yorkshire YO22 5ND 4 to 11 Age range of pupils

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01947 896230 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils - Fax number 29 Number on roll Mrs Sandra Simmonds Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Miss S Chadwick Headteacher 20 September 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 280976 21 November 2005 - 4 to 11 21 November 2005 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 very small school on the North York Moors serves the village of Goathland and outlying farms. Currently 20% of pupils are resident on the local caravan site. Mobility is high with up to 50% coming and going at times other than the usual. Socio-economically the school is a little below average with the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals generally above average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is above average. These are changes since the last inspection. All the pupils are of white British heritage. When children start school their attainment is below average. There was a very small minority of children of Reception age at the time of this inspection, attending part time.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 21 November 2005 to 21 November 2005

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Grade: 2

This is a good school with a friendly, family atmosphere in which children grow up to appreciate their responsibilities within a community. It is well led and managed and gives good value for money. The school's view of itself is largely accurate. However, the curriculum is better than the school believes; it is outstanding because of the full range of learning experiences that substantially enrich pupils' education. Pupils make good progress and by the end of Year 6 standards are above average. Although changes in the school's intake (with a more transient population than formerly) are increasingly reflected in lower standards at the end of Year 2 and in the current Year 6, all pupils make good progress. This is because of good teaching and good provision for pupils' personal development. However, there is a relative weakness in teaching in that writing targets are imprecise and occasionally pupils have to listen for too long. Good provision

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Grade: 2

for children in the Foundation Stage ensures they have many opportunities to choose interesting activities both indoors and outdoors. Throughout the school, pupils are well looked after and work and play energetically. They feel valued and enjoy playing a full part in the school's many local projects. The school has rightly identified a relative weakness in writing and, in conjunction with nearby schools, is also working on developing pupils' thinking skills to make learning more effective. Improvement since the last inspection is good and the school is well placed to continue to improve.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve writing by setting pupils more precise improvement targets and involving them in checking their work against these. • Ensure that the full range of learning styles are catered for by involving pupils actively in lessons so they use different thinking skills.

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Grade: 2

Boys and girls with different needs and capabilities do equally well, including those who join the school part way through the year. Attainment on entry to the Foundation Stage is below average, particularly in communication, language and literacy. The range of abilities is very wide and with extremely small year groups does vary considerably from year to year. Children make good progress, attaining close to average standards at the start of Year 1. This indicates good achievement given that few have three full terms in Reception and many have no formal pre-school education. Pupils continue to make good progress in Years 1 to 2. Results in national tests fluctuate between below and slightly above average, depending on the group of pupils. Pupils tend to do better in mathematics than in reading and writing. Progress accelerates in Years 3 to 6 and standards by the end of Year 6 are usually above average

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Grade: 2

in English, mathematics and science. The trend in the school's results is upwards and there is a good level of challenge in the targets set for pupils. Pupils do particularly well in science with the majority exceeding expected levels. This is because throughout 2 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 21 November 2005 to 21 November 2005 the school, science is taught well by a specialist. There is a relative weakness in writing because pupils' targets are too general and so they do not know, for example, exactly how to 'improve punctuation'.

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Grade: 2

The personal development and well-being of pupils are good. The friendly, caring atmosphere is a notable strength. Behaviour is generally good though occasionally there are undercurrents of restlessness as pupils new to the school find it hard to sit and concentrate for long periods. Older pupils are extremely responsible at moderating over-exuberant play. Behaviour over lunch is exemplary as older pupils serve younger ones and ensure they eat healthily and try unfamiliar foods. Bullying rarely occurs, as pupils are very tolerant of each other's needs and supportive of those who have behavioural problems. In a recent survey, pupils acknowledged there was some unkind name calling but said that they knew their teachers would sort it out and were in absolute agreement that they were very happy at school. Attendance is good and pupils tumbled over themselves to talk about all the interesting things they learn.

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Grade: 2

They particularly enjoy art, playing competitive team games and visiting different places. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They develop a good range of skills that contribute to their future economic well-being; each year, for example, they successfully organise the spring fair, designing games and raising money for different charities.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good overall. Work is well planned to meet the needs of the wide age and ability range in each class and, wherever possible, Reception children and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities learn in small groups with lots of practical activities. Teaching in mathematics and science is strong. New technology is used well to accelerate the pace of learning. In science, pupils relish working in groups where they have jobs such as 'equipment technician', 'data handler' and 'evidence officer' when carrying out investigations. Strengths in teaching literacy lie in good questioning, frequent opportunities to speak and a wide range of writing tasks linked to subjects such as history. Sometimes, pupils listen for just a bit too long and consequently become restless, as they need to learn through doing. Marking encourages pupils but they tend to repeat mistakes rather than learn from them. This is because

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Grade: 2

targets to improve writing quality are imprecise and sometimes teachers miss opportunities to involve pupils in demonstrating good practice. 3 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 21 November 2005 to 21 November 2005

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Grade: 1

The curriculum provides an outstanding range of activities to meet the interest and needs of all pupils. It is planned well to develop skills in communication, literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) while offering additional subjects, such as Spanish in Years 3 to 6. The school copes with limited accommodation extremely well, using sporting, swimming and outdoor pursuits facilities elsewhere. Pupils talked animatedly about 'healthy weeks' and residential visits and how important they are. Links with the local community are very strong and pupils carry out individual research involving industries, archive materials and interviewing local people. Extra-curricular clubs, extensive educational visits, including visits to a mosque and multi-faith centre, and visiting artists and music specialists in school, enrich the curriculum further. The Foundation Stage curriculum offers a wide range

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Grade: 1

of activities both indoors and outdoors for children to choose from, despite problems of having to tidy up so the infant classroom can be used as a dining room.

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Grade: 2

The care, guidance and support for pupils are good. Child protection procedures are thorough. The school values all its community. Monitoring of personal development is informal but effective. Pupils feel secure because of very good relationships with staff and members of staff know the children extremely well. The system for monitoring all pupils' academic progress, based on accurate teacher assessments, is good. From this it is easy to see the progress different groups of pupils make and whether they are reaching their potential. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive good guidance in the form of individual education plans, which are updated regularly. Parents appreciate the care and guidance their children are given. An area for development is to involve pupils more in checking their work against small, achievable targets.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. Management systems, including finance, are simple, effective and efficient. They ensure that best use is made of very limited time resulting from the headteacher's significant teaching commitment. The school improvement plan, criticised at the last inspection, is much more clearly focused on what needs to be improved and how. As part of the school's involvement in a government initiative to improve leadership skills 4 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 21 November 2005 to 21 November 2005 in schools, common goals have been set up with other local schools, such as developing pupils' thinking skills. These goals are incorporated effectively into future planning and have revitalised the school's outlook. The leadership's clear aims are realised through innovative use of relatively limited resources in terms of staffing. Therefore, teaching and learning are enriched by employing specialist teachers for

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Grade: 2

science, Spanish and music. Part-time staff, including a teaching assistant, are used creatively to reorganise classes to better meet the needs of all pupils. This has effectively maintained high standards and given flexibility to cater for the varying needs of those who enter the school for short periods of time. The governing body is very supportive and fully involved. The monitoring of teaching and learning is effective but the headteacher has identified a need to include other staff more fully in evaluating the work of the school. A strength is the open style of management which creates a spirited team committed to giving pupils a really broad education. Parents' and pupils' opinions are canvassed regularly to ensure that they have a say in what goes on. As a result, parents turn out in force to help and pupils do not feel that they need a school council. 5 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 21 November 2005 to 21 November 2005

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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: Goathland Primary School, 21 November 2005 to 21 November 2005

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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

Thank you for welcoming me to your school and for being so friendly and chatty. I enjoyed my visit and want to share with you what I thought about your school. What I liked most about your school. - I think you are well taught and that your teachers plan some extremely interesting things for you to learn about as well as the skills of literacy and numeracy. - I am pleased that you all get on so well together and I enjoyed having lunch with you and seeing you play so energetically outside. - I really enjoyed seeing your art work and talking to a small group of you about what you most enjoyed at school. What I have asked your school to do now. - I want your teachers to set you small targets to improve your writing such as checking whether you have used paragraphs or certain forms of punctuation such as exclamation marks or commas. - I want you to take a bit more responsibility for improving your writing by checking whether

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

you have met your target each time you complete a piece of writing in any subject. - I think that sometimes you listen for a bit too long and so I should like your teachers to think of a few more ways of involving you actively in lessons so you use different thinking skills. I liked talking to you and watching you learn and wish you well for the future.

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