Kirkby Malzeard Church of England Primary School

Inspection Report Kirkby Malzeard Church of England Primary School

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121570 Unique Reference Number North Yorkshire LEA 281046 Inspection number 27 September 2005 to 28 September 2005 Inspection dates Mrs Margaret Lewis 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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Kirkby Malzeard School address Primary Type of school Ripon Voluntary controlled School category North Yorkshire HG4 3RT 5 to 11 Age range of pupils 01765 658329 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils - Fax number 90 Number on roll Mr David Hall Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs A Peacock Headteacher 12 June 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281046 27 September 2005 - 5 to 11 28 September 2005 Inspection Report: Kirkby Malzeard Church of England Primary School, 27 September 2005 to 28 September 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 an additional inspector.

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Description of the school

The school is a smaller than average Church of England school situated in a village near Ripon in North Yorkshire. It has 84 children, who are taught in a reception class, and three mixed aged classes. All children come from a white ethnic background and none are from homes where English is not the first language spoken. The school has the occasional child who is looked after. The percentage of children eligible for free school meals is very low. Some 20 per cent of children are identified as having learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Two children have a statement of special educational needs. Most of those receiving additional help have behavioural, learning or physical difficulties. About 11 per cent of children joined or left the school in 2004. The school is working towards a Healthy Schools Award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Kirkby Malzeard Church of England Primary School, 27 September 2005 to 28 September 2005

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Grade: 2

The school regards itself as a good school and the inspector agrees. Children enjoy school and say that lessons are fun and interesting. Older children get pleasure from the responsibilities they are given. Parents are very supportive and state that their children are happy and feel secure in school. Attendance is outstanding. Children of all ages are well cared for and are made fully aware of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and how to stay safe. Teaching is best at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, where it is good. In both key stages, children make good progress and, by the time they are aged 11, standards are above average in English and mathematics, and well above average in science. When children start in the reception class, their attainment is what is expected for their ages. However, there is more work to do in the Foundation Stage to ensure that all children make better progress before they reach Key Stage 1. This

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Grade: 2

is an area the school has already identified for improvement. Staff ensure that every child is included in all school activities and is helped to improve their learning and personal development. The school works well with other agencies and organisations to do the best for the children and to help and guide those who find learning difficult. The school is very well led by the headteacher who is focused on raising standards and providing the best education for all the children. She is developing a strong, enthusiastic team of staff who work well together. The school has made good progress in the issues identified at the previous inspection, particularly in target setting for individual children, providing challenge for more able children and raising standards and the provision for information and communications technology (ICT). There is good quality self-evaluation and strategic planning. Priorities are appropriate and founded on analysis. The school

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Grade: 2

improvement plan is of good quality, shared by all and evaluated on a frequent basis. The school is well placed to make further improvement and provides good value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Look urgently at ways to ensure that the teaching of the youngest children in the Foundation Stage accelerates their learning and progress. • Take immediate steps to improve the overall provision in leadership and management of the Foundation Stage in line with the areas of learning and early learning goals.

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Grade: 2

The school data show, and the inspector agrees, that children achieve well and reach above average standards by the time they leave the school in English and mathematics, and well above average standards in science. The school sets realistic, achievable and challenging targets for pupils in Year 6. The number of children who take the tests is smaller than in most schools and varies considerably from year to year. Not all children reach the highest levels because they have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, but 2 Inspection Report: Kirkby Malzeard Church of England Primary School, 27 September 2005 to 28 September 2005 nevertheless all children make good progress from their starting points. The school knows this because children's individual progress is checked and tracked very thoroughly from year to year. However, this is not the case for the youngest children in reception. Most children start school with skills in language and mathematical

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Grade: 2

development that are as expected for their ages, although for some children their personal, social and emotional development is below that expected. Although most children reach the early learning goals expected for their age, not all make the good progress of which they are capable to help them exceed the goals by the time they start Year 1. This means that teachers in Years 1 and 2 have a lot to do to help children catch up to reach the average standard in reading, writing and mathematics, which they almost all do by the time they leave Year 2 and some then reach the higher levels.

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Grade: 2

The school evaluates this area as good and the inspector agrees. The school ensures children's well being with many varied opportunities to take part in sporting activities such as swimming, games, tennis and football, fun runs and fitness days. Fresh fruit, vegetables and healthy snacks are provided daily. Healthy eating is a feature of both school menus and of the twice-weekly tuck shop run by the older children. Children make good contributions to local community and church events. They attend local festivals and also raise money for national appeals and disaster funds. A good recent initiative for children in Year 6 was to prepare and host a themed banquet evening for their parents and local residents. This involved them in using skills of assessing quantities, costing ingredients and table planning. Their enjoyment of school is borne out by their outstanding attendance, by the willingness of older children to help

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Grade: 2

younger ones and the harmony at playtime, which is evident between them. Behaviour is good and the school has effective strategies in place to help those who have difficulty in managing their own behaviour. Children are polite and respectful towards each other and to adults who work with them and visitors. The school's evident Christian ethos contributes well to children's good spiritual development. They have good opportunities to work in pairs or in a team to develop their social skills. Art and design and music have a high profile in the school. Visits to places of interest and visitors into school, such as African drummers, develop and widen children's understanding of local and other cultures well. For several years, the school has sponsored an African child and has been involved in the making of a film by the BBC, which compares the school he attends in Africa with their own.

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Grade: 2

The school judges teaching to be good overall and of satisfactory quality in the Foundation Stage. The inspector agrees with the school that teaching is good overall and results in good progress. However, there are weaknesses in the Foundation Stage. 3 Inspection Report: Kirkby Malzeard Church of England Primary School, 27 September 2005 to 28 September 2005 Teaching is most lively and interesting in Key Stages 1 and 2. Stimulating activities, together with good relationships, confident teaching styles and subject knowledge make sure that the children are keen and eager to learn. The staff know the children well and are careful to set work that matches their needs and so challenges them in their learning. Teachers in Key Stages 1 and 2 assess children's work regularly and guide them to assess and agree the areas on which they need to work to improve. These individual targets are shared with parents, which enable them to be involved

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Grade: 2

with their children's learning. Children with learning difficulties are quickly identified. They receive good help in lessons and they do well. One weakness is the overall quality of teaching in the Foundation Stage which is still inadequate, despite the school's good support. Lessons seen on the visit were satisfactory, but in the reception class, children spend too much time listening to the teacher and do not have enough time to explore and find out how things work for themselves.

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Grade: 3

The school evaluates the curriculum as good overall. However, the inspector judges it to be satisfactory. It is best in Key Stages 1 and 2, where it meets statutory requirements and provides children with a wide range of experiences relevant to their ages and abilities. It provides well for the development of the basic skills children need. However, in the Foundation Stage, the recommended curriculum is not fully established or planned well enough to provide a sufficiently stimulating and imaginative environment where children learn through play and with a carefully balanced mixture of structured activities. Children further up the school are provided with additional curriculum experiences such as French and music tuition. A good range of after school extra-curricular activities, some in partnership with other local schools, such as computing, reading clubs, musical and sporting activities, extend children's learning.

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Grade: 3

Children benefit from visits out of school and older children from residential visits. Further developments in line with recent recommendations of 'Excellence and Enjoyment' are planned to add a wider dimension to the curriculum.

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Grade: 2

The inspector agrees with the school that it has a caring family and Christian ethos. It is committed to ensuring that each child's welfare is safeguarded. Children trust staff and know where to turn for help. They feel safe in school and are free from all forms of bullying and discrimination. The school has excellent systems for tracking children's progress that are well established in Key Stages 1 and 2 and children have challenging and effective targets for improvement. Child protection procedures are very well established. Staff give children of all abilities, ages and backgrounds the confidence to try out new work and ideas. The school is confident to ask for help from, and works closely with, the local authority and a number of outside agencies for the benefit of the children. 4 Inspection Report: Kirkby Malzeard Church of England Primary School, 27 September 2005 to 28 September 2005

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are judged by the school to be good. School improvement is an important aspect of staff development, and self-evaluation is mostly accurate. Parents are consulted on an annual basis as to their satisfaction with the school. Children express their views frequently through a well-established school council and have succeeded in bringing about changes. All children are valued equally and efforts made to help them succeed. There is very well detailed monitoring and tracking of each child's progress in Key Stages 1 and 2, although this is not so carefully carried out in the reception class. The inspector agrees that leadership and management are good overall. The headteacher leads and manages the school well. There has already been successful action to raise standards and the quality of provision, and the headteacher provides a good role model through her own teaching. Most staff share

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Grade: 2

the headteacher's vision for future improvements, including subject leaders, who are rapidly developing their role well. However, although the headteacher and consultants have provided good support, there remain weaknesses in leadership and management of the Foundation Stage. Resources in the school are generally deployed well and used efficiently. Both part-time and full-time staff feel fully valued and the quality of support they provide has a good impact on children's learning. The governing body fulfils its statutory duties. They are very conscientious and closely involved with the work of the school. They are knowledgeable about the school's strengths and weaknesses. They recognise how the school has improved since the appointment of a new headteacher after an earlier period of turbulence. Governors, along with the very positive and effective leadership team, show a strong capacity to improve. 5 Inspection Report: Kirkby Malzeard Church of England Primary School, 27 September 2005 to 28 September 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: Kirkby Malzeard Church of England Primary School, 27 September 2005 to 28 September 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 4 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 1 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 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 very much for welcoming me into your school. I very much enjoyed the chance to meet and talk to you and your teachers. You told me lots about your school, the things you do and how you enjoy it. What I liked about your school. - You were polite, friendly and well behaved at all times. You are kind to each other and play happily together. - You have fun at school and never miss it unless you really have to. There are fun things to do after school. - In lessons, you work hard and listen carefully to your teachers. - Your teachers teach you well and usually give you interesting things to do in lessons. All the adults in school work hard to help you do your best. - Your headteacher runs your school well and is very clever. She cares very much about every one of you and knows exactly how you are doing. To make things even better I am asking your headteacher and teachers to: - Make sure that the children in the reception class have more fun in school in their lessons

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

and have opportunities to learn by doing their jobs with lots of practical apparatus so that they learn more quickly.

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