Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Inspection Report Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

p.1

121473 Unique Reference Number York LEA 281024 Inspection number 5 April 2006 to 6 April 2006 Inspection dates Mr Peter Howard CfBT Lead Inspector Reporting inspector

p.1

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

p.1

Bright Street School address Primary Type of school Leeman Road Voluntary controlled School category York, North Yorkshire YO26 4XS 5 to 11 Age range of pupils

p.1

01904 653 323 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01904 673 051 Fax number 107 Number on roll Rev Canon G Webster Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Helen Davey Headteacher 20 March 2000 Date of previous inspection

p.1

Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281024 5 April 2006 - 5 to 11 6 April 2006 Inspection Report: Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 5 April 2006 to 6 April 2006

p.1

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an Additional Inspector.

p.3

Description of the school

St Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled School is a small urban primary school, recently moved to new premises, close to its original site near to the centre of York. It serves an area of mixed housing, which is changing in character as new building takes place. The proportion of children eligible for free school meals is below average and that of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is average. The proportion of children from minority ethnic groups is low and a small number of children are in the early stages of learning English. The numbers of pupils entering or leaving school during the year varies, but in some years has been above average.

p.3

Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 5 April 2006 to 6 April 2006

p.3

Grade: 3

The effectiveness of the school is satisfactory, which agrees with the school's own evaluation. The headteacher, with the full support of staff and governors, has managed a challenging move to new accommodation successfully. Provision and standards in the Foundation Stage are good. Standards at the end of Key Stage 2 are improving, but those in Key Stage 1 are consistently below average. Progress throughout the school is uneven, being weaker in Key Stage 1. The school has successfully addressed the key issues of the last inspection, including that concerning children's behaviour and attitudes. Children's personal development and well-being are now satisfactory. Teaching is satisfactory. The school is introducing a range of teaching strategies to help children improve their own work. These are effective where they have been implemented, but they are not yet consistently applied across all learning. The school

p.4

Grade: 3

recognises that transition arrangements from Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1 are not fully effective in supporting children as they move from one phase to the next, and steps are being taken to improve this. The curriculum is satisfactory and there is a good range of enrichment activities. Staff are very committed to the nurture of children in school and care, guidance and support are satisfactory. Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. The leadership team is aware of the issues raised during this inspection and is already taking appropriate action. The school provides satisfactory value for money and has good capacity to improve further.

p.4

What the school should do to improve further

As recognised in the school's self-evaluation, it should focus on: • raising standards in Key Stage 1 • improving the consistency of teaching throughout the school.

p.4

Grade: 3

Achievement and standards are satisfactory overall, which reflects the school's own evaluation. As a result of the small size of each year's intake, and occasionally higher than average number of children moving in and out of school, achievement and standards vary from year-to-year. As the social and economic background of the children attending school have changed, their skills on entry to school have also changed, moving from below average to being broadly average now. Following the development of a soundly based Early Years curriculum, children make good progress during Reception. At the end of the year they attain standards that are at or above average, although some weaknesses, particularly in literacy skills, persist. Progress throughout Years 1 and 2 is inconsistent and in some years children have not made the progress expected of them. Standards attained in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 are consistently below average and in 2005, standards were well

p.4

Grade: 3

below average. From this relatively low base, children in Years 3 to 6 make good progress, particularly in mathematics. As a result of increasingly effective teaching, 2 Inspection Report: Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 5 April 2006 to 6 April 2006 standards at the end of Year 6 have improved and in 2004 and 2005 were above average. In the context of uneven progress through school, children do not consistently meet challenging targets. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive effective support and are making satisfactory progress.

p.4

Grade: 3

Children's personal development and well-being are satisfactory, although there are some good features. The school has successfully addressed concerns raised in the last inspection about children's behaviour and attitudes to school. Children's spiritual and moral development is promoted well through the school's strong Christian ethos. The very good relationships evident in school strongly promote children's social development. The great majority of children enjoy school as seen in their friendly and polite manner. Attendance is average. The behaviour of most children is good and improving. However, there is a minority, mainly boys, who become inattentive in lessons when teaching is not finely tuned to meet their needs. Children are learning to support each other well. The 'playground leaders', chosen from Key Stage 2, are valued by the younger children and the role is assumed enthusiastically by the playground leaders

p.5

Grade: 3

themselves, as part of their awareness of the need to keep safe. Pupils' knowledge of beliefs and views that are different from their own is limited, and this is recognised as an area for development by the school. Children understand the benefits of healthy eating and participation levels in the school's good range of clubs are high. Improving basic skills and increasingly positive attitudes to school indicate that their preparation for the world of work is satisfactory.

p.5

Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. In the Foundation Stage, teaching is good and children make good progress. In the transition between Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, a lack of continuity of practice results in teaching being less than fully effective in building on children's prior knowledge and skills. The school has made a start on addressing this by developing more practically based teaching strategies in Years 1 and 2. Where teaching is good, work is well matched to the needs of children and offers them a high level of challenge. Teachers use a wide range of strategies, such as good questioning skills and increasingly effective use of information and communication technology (ICT), to engage and sustain children's interest. Where teaching is otherwise satisfactory, the pace is slower, work is not as well matched to the needs of individual children and not all children are involved in

p.5

Grade: 3

the lesson. The school is working on a range of approaches to help children take more responsibility for their own learning. These include the setting of learning objectives, encouraging children to assess their own work and improvements to the marking of children's work by teachers, to help children understand better what they need to do 3 Inspection Report: Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 5 April 2006 to 6 April 2006 to improve. These are beginning to have an impact, but are not yet consistently applied in all subjects and classes.

p.5

Grade: 3

The quality of the curriculum and other activities is satisfactory overall. The Foundation Stage curriculum is good. The school's new accommodation has had a positive impact on the range of learning opportunities available to children throughout school; for example, in children's access to high quality play and learning opportunities outside. The curriculum in Years 1 to 6 is increasingly well planned to improve children's progress, particularly in mathematics in Years 3 to 6. However, the school recognises that it should place more emphasis on developing children's enquiry and problem-solving skills, and extending links between subjects in order to meet the needs of all learners more effectively. There is a wide range of enrichment activities that enhance the work in the classroom and contribute to pupils' academic and personal development. For example, the teaching of French, visits within the local community

p.6

Grade: 3

and visitors to the school. The Artsmark award reflects the school's commitment to promoting music and dance as well as visual arts. Many pupils take part in the good range of after-school clubs, including, for example, the very popular 'allotment club'.

p.6

Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory. They are not as good as the school suggests because of shortcomings in the way the school uses information from assessments. As a result, children do not consistently know what they need to do to improve, and work set does not always match their needs closely. Staff are dedicated to providing children with a safe and nurturing environment and do so with great success. Pupils have confidence in staff and know help is always available if needed. This is an inclusive school in which pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are supported effectively. The school has good partnerships with the agencies that support learning and works well with parents. Children are supported by effective programmes to introduce them to school, and strong external links help ensure smooth transitions into this school and to secondary education. Health and safety and child protection

p.6

Grade: 3

The quality of leadership and management is satisfactory overall, which reflects the school's own evaluation. The headteacher has managed the move to the new school accommodation very well and, within a short time of moving, the school is a settled and functioning community. The leadership team have been particularly successful in the establishment of strong commitment among the staff, a caring ethos and increasingly high standards in Key Stage 2. The issues raised in the last inspection 4 Inspection Report: Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 5 April 2006 to 6 April 2006 have been dealt with well. However, the uneven progress of children as they pass through the school, and consistently low standards in Key Stage 1, in part reflect some underlying weaknesses in teaching and the curriculum. These are issues that the school's leadership has yet to resolve. The school's self-evaluation is generally accurate

p.6

Grade: 3

and this provides a firm foundation for further improvement. Development planning is satisfactory, but the school recognises the need to introduce greater clarity to its planning practices. A noticeable feature of the school is the strong teamwork among the staff, but the role of middle managers is not sufficiently developed for them to contribute fully to school leadership. Governors are very supportive of the school and have good general knowledge of it, but need a more informed and detailed understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses in order to play their part to the full. The school responds to the needs and views of parents, who give it their strong support. 5 Inspection Report: Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 5 April 2006 to 6 April 2006 .

p.7

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

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Saint Barnabas Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 5 April 2006 to 6 April 2006

p.8

Overall

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

p.9

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

p.9

Achievement and standards

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

p.9

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

p.9

learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 3 The behaviour of learners NA 3 The attendance of learners NA 3 How well learners enjoy their education NA 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 3 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

p.9

needs and interests of learners?

NA 3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

p.9

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.

p.9

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

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for welcoming me to your school and being so polite and friendly. I enjoyed my visit. What I liked most about your school: - how hard all the staff in school work, how well they look after you and keep you safe and how much they want you to do well in school - the conversations I had with you that showed me how grown up most of you are when you talk about school life - that most of you behave so well and work so hard - the wide range of interesting and fun activities that the school provides - the new building and the way everybody has settled in to make it such a warm and friendly place. To help you learn better, I think it is right that your teachers have already started to work together to make sure that: - they explain exactly what they want you to learn in every lesson - you are given more time to think for yourself about what you have done well or need to improve - when they mark your work your teachers give you more guidance on what you need to work

p.11

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

on to get better - children moving from Reception to Year 1 get more help to make the change easier for them. I enjoyed meeting you and seeing you in your lessons and I wish you all the best for the future.

p.11