Scarborough, Northstead Community Primary School

Inspection Report Scarborough, Northstead Community Primary School

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121321 Unique Reference Number North Yorkshire LEA 280982 Inspection number 5 December 2005 to 6 December 2005 Inspection dates Mr Peter Howard 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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Maple Drive School address Primary Type of school Scarborough Community School category North Yorkshire YO12 6LP 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01723 362 249 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01723 362 249 Fax number 588 Number on roll Mr B Watson Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr J Scoble Headteacher 7 June 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 280982 5 December 2005 - 4 to 11 6 December 2005 Inspection Report: Scarborough, Northstead Community Primary School, 5 December 2005 to 6 December 2005

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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 three additional inspectors.

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Description of the school

Northstead Community Primary is a very large school set in the North Bay area of Scarborough. It serves a community where levels of social disadvantage are broadly average, but it includes some areas of high deprivation. Pupils are predominantly from a white British heritage and only a very small number are learning English as a second language. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals and the proportion with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are broadly average. The headteacher has been in post since April 2005.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Scarborough, Northstead Community Primary School, 5 December 2005 to 6 December 2005

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Grade: 2

Inspectors agree with the school that this is a good school. Pupils enter reception with attainment that is below the national average and they make good progress to achieve national average standards in English and science and above average standards in mathematics by the end of Year 6. Pupils achieve well because of good teaching and the good climate for learning found in school. Teaching and learning are good overall and in the best lessons, pupils are involved in imaginative activities that make learning fun. The school recognises that it needs to improve standards in writing and make better use of assessment to plan work that consistently challenges all pupils. The curriculum is satisfactory, well supported by a wide range of enrichment activities and out of school clubs, but does not give pupils sufficient opportunities for independent learning or making links between subjects. Pupils are valued greatly by all staff; they relate very well to adults,

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Grade: 2

develop positive self esteem, enjoy school and have good attitudes to learning. As a result behaviour is good. Staff take good care of the pupils. The recently formed school council has had an enthusiastic response from pupils, who value the role it gives them in school life. Children in the Foundation Stage receive a high level of care and staff provide a good range of opportunities for learning. Leadership and management, including governance, are satisfactory. Although the issues from the last inspection have been dealt with satisfactorily, there are weaknesses in relation to the monitoring of teaching and standards, assessment and the curriculum. The recently appointed headteacher has correctly identified the key priorities and he is already taking effective action to deal with them. The school has good capacity to improve further.

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What the school should do to improve further

As it recognises in its development plan, the school should focus on: • improving standards in writing, throughout the school • using data about pupils' attainment more effectively to monitor progress and set challenging work for all pupils that will raise standards further • developing the curriculum further to make learning more lively by: • ensuring that pupils play a more active part and become more independent in their learning • effectively exploiting cross curricular links between subjects.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enter school with below average standards, particularly in communication, language and literacy, and personal and social development. They make good progress in the Reception class and by the end of Reception standards are average. Children make steady progress in Key Stage 1, improving in all area of learning and consolidating 2 Inspection Report: Scarborough, Northstead Community Primary School, 5 December 2005 to 6 December 2005 basic skills to provide a secure foundation for Key Stage 2. For several years, standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 have been broadly average. This continued in 2005, except for reading, where pupils reached above average standards. In recent years, by the end of Year 6, pupils have reached above average standards in English, mathematics and science. In 2005, that standard was maintained only in mathematics; standards in English and science were average. Improvement in

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Grade: 2

the teaching of writing to raise standards, and return to historically higher standards in English, is a school priority. When taking their earlier attainment into account, pupils make good progress in Key Stage 2 in mathematics and science and satisfactory progress in English; overall, progress in Key Stage 2 is good. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities also make good progress because of the good support they receive.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. The very good relationships evident in the school community strongly promote pupils' moral and social development. Pupils enjoy school, are polite and friendly and work hard. Behaviour, in the playground and in lessons, is good. Pupils know that bullying is not tolerated and when any difficulties do arise, they know the school will deal with them effectively. As a result pupils feel safe at school. Parents are highly supportive of the positive atmosphere in the school and say it has a 'friendly, welcoming and calm atmosphere'. Attendance is average and punctuality good. Pupils appreciate the opportunity the school council gives to participate in the development of the school and through it they are learning important lessons about taking responsibility. Pupils are developing awareness of the needs of others by raising money for a number of charities. As a result of the high priority given to multicultural

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Grade: 2

education, pupils are developing respect for beliefs and views that are different from their own. Spiritual development is promoted effectively. Pupils have sensible attitudes to their own health and safety. They are aware of the benefits of healthy eating and take part in a wide variety of physical activities and competitive sport. The school's high expectations in regard to behaviour and teamwork prepare pupils well for the world of work.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good and promote good progress overall. Effective teamwork and creative teaching in the Foundation Stage give pupils a good start to their school life. Throughout school, very little time is wasted in lessons because relationships are good and pupils respond well to teachers' clear expectations of their behaviour. Some outstanding teaching was seen during the inspection. These lessons focused on reaching 3 Inspection Report: Scarborough, Northstead Community Primary School, 5 December 2005 to 6 December 2005 high standards and making learning fun and were driven at a fast pace. They were planned to provide pupils with a variety of challenging, imaginative activities. Pupils' previous learning was reinforced and extended. However, in some otherwise satisfactory lessons, planning took insufficient account of pupils' earlier learning and the needs of different groups of pupils. Consequently, some higher attaining pupils found the

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Grade: 2

work too easy and did not make the progress of which they were capable. The school has made a good start to the implementation of a new system for tracking pupil progress to ensure that in the future the needs of all learners are met. Support staff provide effective support to enable pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities to make good progress. Teachers in all years make good use of the partnership with parents to extend learning through the use of homework.

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Grade: 3

Although the school views the curriculum as good, inspectors judge it to be satisfactory. All legal requirements are met and there is good provision for mathematics and science. The Foundation Stage curriculum is good; it fully covers all the areas of learning and provides pupils with a wide range of active learning opportunities. However, there are aspects of the curriculum in Key Stages 1 and 2 that require improvement. The curriculum provides too few opportunities for extended writing and this limits the development of higher standards in English. Overall, the curriculum is not planned to be consistently lively enough to take advantage of pupils' eagerness to learn, to make learning fun and promote independence. The school is aware of these limitations and has already begun a review of the curriculum with the intention of addressing these concerns. Many pupils take part in the wide range of activities in arts, sports and music

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Grade: 3

that enhance the formal curriculum and contribute much to pupils' personal development.

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Grade: 2

The care, guidance and support offered to pupils are good. The school is an orderly and safe place. Pupils have confidence in staff and know help is always available if needed. This is exemplified by the caring and sensitive way in which staff deal with pupils who are unwell. Child protection procedures are effective in identifying and dealing with any concerns. Health and safety procedures are sound. Rigorous assessments of any risks to safety are conducted as appropriate and action taken promptly to remedy any concerns. The school is developing the emotional and social aspects of the curriculum to support pupils' care and guidance effectively. The school has implemented a plan of action to develop the tracking of pupils' academic progress so that it can better ensure that all pupils have the support they need to do well at school. This is an inclusive school in which pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are supported sensitively and

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Grade: 2

well. The school has good partnerships with the agencies that support learning and 4 Inspection Report: Scarborough, Northstead Community Primary School, 5 December 2005 to 6 December 2005 works well with parents. There are good links with local secondary schools and pupils are well prepared for secondary education.

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Grade: 3

The school has judged leadership and management to be good; inspectors judge it to be satisfactory. The inspection team agrees with the school that there are strengths in the commitment of all staff, the caring ethos and the good progress made by pupils. The issues raised in the last inspection have been dealt with satisfactorily, particularly in regard to the increasingly effective use of information and communication technology. However, a thorough review by the recently appointed headteacher has revealed underlying weaknesses in the monitoring of teaching and standards, the assessment of learning and in the development of the curriculum. The headteacher has a good understanding of the issues facing the school and the vision to bring about improvement. He has instituted an effective programme of action to tackle the identified issues. While these measures are already starting to have a positive impact,

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Grade: 3

it will be some time before they can be judged successful. Inspectors are in broad agreement with most of the school's self evaluation and with the action taken to deal with the identified weaknesses. The deputy head and the senior management team are working successfully to give the headteacher effective support. The school is setting up a new management structure and developing the skills of subject leaders to better meet the school's needs. For example, a new post of assessment coordinator has already been created to ensure that the improvement needed in this key area is achieved. In this context, the school has a good capacity for improvement. Financial management is satisfactory and resources for learning are adequate. Governance is satisfactory. The governing body is committed to the school and supportive of it. However, it does not involve itself sufficiently in understanding the data on standards and therefore is not able to provide effective challenge to the senior

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Grade: 3

management of the school. Parents are very supportive of the school and make a strong contribution to the success that children and the school achieve. 5 Inspection Report: Scarborough, Northstead Community Primary School, 5 December 2005 to 6 December 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: Scarborough, Northstead Community Primary School, 5 December 2005 to 6 December 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 3 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 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 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 3 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 3 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 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

Thank you very much for welcoming us to your school and being so polite and friendly. We enjoyed our visit and we would like to tell you what we thought about your school. What we liked most about your school: - we agree with your teachers that yours is a good school - we are pleased that you behave so well and work so hard - we are impressed by how hard all the staff in school work and how they want you to do well in school - we are glad that you are taught well and make good progress in your learning - we are impressed by how well staff look after you and keep you safe and well - we think that you are offered a good range of after school activities and we are pleased so many of you join in. What we have asked your school to do know: - we want the staff to help you to become better writers - we want the staff to sort out the way they record your progress so they can keep track of how well you are doing and then set work that is just right for each of you

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

- lastly, we want the staff to have a look at all the things they try to teach you to see if they can make it a bit more exciting and help you to be a bit more involved in organising your own work in school. We enjoyed meeting you and seeing you in your lessons and we wish you all well for the future.

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