Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School

Inspection Report Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School

p.1

121592 Unique Reference Number North Yorkshire LEA 281052 Inspection number 6 March 2006 to 7 March 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

School Lane School address Primary Type of school Spofforth Voluntary controlled School category Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 1BA 4 to 11 Age range of pupils

p.1

01937 590655 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01937 591078 Fax number 91 Number on roll Mrs L Bruce Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs J Turner Headteacher 18 September 2000 Date of previous inspection

p.1

Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281052 6 March 2006 - 4 to 11 7 March 2006 Inspection Report: Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School, 6 March 2006 to 7 March 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

Spofforth Church of England Voluntary Controlled School is a small rural primary school serving an area of social advantage. The proportion of children eligible for free school meals is below average. The proportion of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is a little above average. The proportion of children from minority ethnic groups is very low and none is in the early stages of learning English. The numbers of children entering or leaving school during the year is above average. Children start school with skills and knowledge broadly typical for their age.

p.3

Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School, 6 March 2006 to 7 March 2006

p.3

Grade: 3

The school's effectiveness is satisfactory overall. The school's self-evaluation is over-generous in several respects though it rightly recognises its success in promoting children's personal development, making it a happy, friendly school with above average levels of attendance. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The recently appointed headteacher has taken a strong and effective lead to address a range of issues facing the school, including those resulting from a period of unusually high staffing changes. Children's academic achievement is satisfactory. The quality of teaching and learning and the curriculum are satisfactory. As a result of recent improvements, in teaching and the curriculum, standards are beginning to rise. The progress made by children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is good but the progress of more able learners slows when work is not well matched to their needs. A

p.4

Grade: 3

range of strategies to help children improve their work has been initiated, but these are not yet used consistently in all year groups. The quality of provision and standards in the Foundation Stage are good. A strong commitment to providing high quality care and support for all groups of children results in them feeling safe and well looked after. Provision for pupils' personal development is good and pupils throughout the school are given good levels of care, support and guidance. Value for money and progress since the last inspection are satisfactory. The commitment of the staff and the strong leadership of the headteacher indicate that the school has good capacity to improve.

p.4

What the school should do to improve further

• In all classes make sure that work is well matched to the needs of individual learners, particularly the more able. • Ensure that teachers' marking indicates clear points for improvement and that children are involved in checking their work against small, achievable targets so they understand what they have to do to improve its quality.

p.4

Grade: 3

Achievement and standards are satisfactory rather than good as the school believes. Children enter school with skills and knowledge that are broadly average for their age. However, given the small size of each intake, there is variation around the average from year to year. In the Foundation Stage, children achieve well and typically attain standards above the national average. At the end of Year 2 in 2005, standards attained by children in national tests were above average in reading and mathematics and average in writing, indicating satisfactory achievement for this group of children. These results are broadly typical of earlier years. In the Year 6 national tests in 2005 in English, mathematics and science, standards were above average, an overall improvement on previous years and confirming children's satisfactory achievement. The school's actions to improve the quality of teaching and the curriculum are proving effective and resulting

p.4

Grade: 3

2 Inspection Report: Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School, 6 March 2006 to 7 March 2006 in improved overall achievement by most pupils. However, more able learners do not always achieve as well as they should because the work is not sufficiently well matched to their needs in all classes. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive effective support and are making good progress. The school is on track to meet its current targets in English and mathematics.

p.4

Grade: 2

Children's personal development and well-being are good. Children are polite and friendly; they work hard, behave well and enjoy school. Spiritual and moral development is promoted effectively through the school's Christian ethos. The very good relationships evident in school strongly promote children's social development. One child said, 'All the teachers are fair, you are not told off when you are doing your best.' Children know that bullying is not tolerated in school and this gives them the confidence to manage issues that arise. Children value the school council, now organised in 'squads' to allow all children in Key Stage 2 to participate. This and the many other opportunities they have to exercise responsibility, for example by looking after younger children in the playground, contribute to children's increasing maturity and their sense of involvement in school life. Children are developing a growing understanding of beliefs

p.5

Grade: 2

and views that are different from their own. They gain a good awareness of community through links with the church and by taking part in local events. They are aware of the benefits of healthy eating and participation levels in the school's good range of clubs are high. The school's high expectations in regard to behaviour and responsibility prepare children well for the world of work. All of this is reflected in children's above average attendance.

p.5

Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory rather than good, as the school believes, and as a result children's learning is sound. Although children's learning has been adversely affected by the unusually high incidence of staffing changes, children are now beginning to catch up in response to more effective teaching methods. In good or better lessons, work is fun, well matched to the needs of children and offers them a high level of challenge; as a result progress is good. Where teaching is otherwise satisfactory, work is not always well matched to the needs of individual pupils, particularly the more able, and there is an over-reliance on worksheets, resulting in less effective learning. Teachers are beginning to use a range of strategies such as setting targets to help children improve their work but these are not used consistently in all classes and marking does not always give points for improvement. Pupils are not

p.5

Grade: 3

sufficiently involved in checking their work against achievable targets so as to promote better progress. Teaching assistants make an effective contribution to the teaching 3 Inspection Report: Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School, 6 March 2006 to 7 March 2006 of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and consequently they learn well.

p.5

Grade: 3

The quality of the curriculum is satisfactory overall and in the Foundation Stage, where it provides children with a wide range of active learning opportunities, it is good. In Key Stages 1 and 2, provision makes effective use of local and national guidance to meet all statutory requirements. The school makes satisfactory provision for literacy, numeracy and ICT. The recent reorganisation of curriculum planning to strengthen links between subjects adds to the coherence of the curriculum for both teachers and learners, leading to improved achievement. However, the curriculum is not consistently lively enough to take full advantage of children's eagerness to learn by including, for instance, more practical activities, opportunities to learn independently or to carry out research. A strong feature of the curriculum is the opportunity for pupils to learn French. There is a wide range of enrichment activities, including sporting competitions,

p.6

Grade: 3

educational visits, a residential trip and a good range of extra-curricular activities.

p.6

Grade: 2

The quality of care, guidance and support are good. The school is an orderly and safe place. Children have confidence in staff, they know help is always available if needed and as a result, they feel safe. Health and safety and child protection procedures are effective in identifying and dealing with any concerns. The school is developing the emotional and social aspects of the curriculum to support pupils' care and guidance effectively. Improved procedures for the tracking of children's academic progress ensure that children have the support they need to do well at school though target setting is at an early stage. This is an inclusive school in which children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are supported well. The school has good partnerships with the agencies that support learning and works well with parents, who are very supportive of the school and make a strong contribution to the success that children

p.6

Grade: 2

and the school achieve. There are good links with local secondary schools and arrangements to support children as they move to secondary education are effective.

p.6

Grade: 3

The school has judged leadership and management to be good; the inspection judges it to be satisfactory. The headteacher, who was appointed in May 2005, has had to manage an unusually high incidence of staffing change, and also address issues related to achievement and standards, teaching and the curriculum. In her short time in school, she has succeeded in implementing wide ranging improvement; nowhere is that more evident than in the changes to the building and learning environment. School self evaluation is reasonably accurate, but differs from inspection judgements in some 4 Inspection Report: Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School, 6 March 2006 to 7 March 2006 aspects. In particular, the recent upturn in achievement and standards, although auguring well for the future, is not sufficiently secure to support the school's view that this aspect is good at this moment. The headteacher has a good understanding

p.6

Grade: 3

of the issues facing the school and the vision to bring about improvement and she has instituted a programme of action to tackle the identified issues which is starting to have a positive impact. The headteacher has managed the evolving staffing situation well and a new management structure is in place. Appropriate steps are being taken to develop the skills of subject leaders so that they can fulfil their roles more effectively. In this small school, where there are few staff to share the responsibilities of leadership and management, all staff are working well together to achieve the school's objectives. Governors are very supportive of school and committed to helping it to move forward. In this positive context, the school has a good capacity for improvement. 5 Inspection Report: Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School, 6 March 2006 to 7 March 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: Spofforth Church of England Controlled Primary School, 6 March 2006 to 7 March 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 3 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 2 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 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

p.9

needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 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 2 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 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: - I was delighted to see how well you all get on together and how well school council represents your views - the conversations I had with you that showed me how grown up you are when you talk about school life - that you behave so well and work so hard - the improvements to the buildings that have created the outdoor area in the Foundation Stage and to create garden areas in the grounds. What I have asked your school to do now: - I am pleased that your teachers have started to tell you what you need to do to improve when they mark your work and are beginning to involve you in assessing your own work and setting you targets. I would like them to make sure that they do this in all classes - I have also asked them to make sure that the work they plan for each of you is always

p.11

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

interesting and challenging, so that you want to do the best you can with every piece of work.

p.11