Sutton in Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Inspection Report Sutton in Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

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121593 Unique Reference Number North Yorkshire LEA 281053 Inspection number 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006 Inspection dates Mr Roger Hartley HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Main Street School address Primary Type of school Sutton-in-Craven Voluntary controlled School category Keighley, West Yorkshire BD20 7JS 4 to 11 Age range of pupils

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01535 632181 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01535 632181 Fax number 87 Number on roll Mrs M Green Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Armitage Headteacher 30 October 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281053 23 March 2006 - 4 to 11 24 March 2006 Inspection Report: Sutton in Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006

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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 of Her Majesty's Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Sutton-in-Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is a small primary school situated in a village midway between the West Yorkshire town of Keighley and the North Yorkshire town of Skipton, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. Nearly all the 87 pupils aged 4 to 11 years live in the local community and surrounding rural areas. There are no pupils from ethnic minority groups. There are 15 pupils who have been identified with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Eight percent of pupils are eligible for free school meals.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Sutton in Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March

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Grade: 2

Sutton-in-Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled School is a good primary school. The children enter the Foundation Stage with at least average and above average levels of attainment. They settle well, show good levels of confidence and concentration and make good progress towards the Early Learning Goals. The Foundation Stage is generally well organised and managed. Learning takes place through a combination of well-chosen activities directed by adults, and those which children choose. Standards in Key Stages 1 and 2 are good overall and pupils make at least satisfactory and often good progress in their learning. The school has been quick to act on weaknesses identified in writing and some elements of mathematics. The quality of teaching is at least satisfactory, often good and occasionally outstanding. The curriculum is broad and balanced and is enriched by a range of extracurricular activities,

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Grade: 2

although plans to introduce more cross-curricular work are at an early stage. The pupils' personal development and well-being and their care, guidance and support are good. The pupils display consistently positive attitudes to learning, and both behaviour and attendance are good. Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. The headteacher has set a tone for the school which promotes good standards and aims for every child to achieve their potential. A number of initiatives have been, or are being introduced, including curriculum reviews, monitoring procedures and a range of assessment techniques although not all are firmly established. The school does not have a clear management structure. Resources are well used, and overall the school provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Continue to raise standards especially in writing and mathematics. • Review the management structure. • Establish how the school is to achieve cross-curricular learning.

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Grade: 2

Achievement and standards are good overall. Children's attainment when they enter the Foundation Stage is at least average and often above average. These levels are built upon throughout the Foundation year and the children make good progress towards the Early Learning Goals. By the end of Key Stage 1 all pupils reach the nationally expected Level 2 in reading, writing and mathematics and over a third reached higher levels in reading and mathematics. At Key Stage 2 standards continue to improve and are above national levels in English, mathematics and science, with over a half of pupils achieving higher levels in science, and a third in mathematics. 2 Inspection Report: Sutton in Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March The results for both key stages have remained relatively stable over the past three years. In the lessons observed, standards were satisfactory in one and good in the

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Grade: 2

remaining five. The school has its own assessment methods which have highlighted general weaknesses in writing, and mathematics in some year groups; these are being addressed with appropriate measures. The pupils' progress in learning varies throughout the school being good in half the lessons observed and satisfactory in the other half; it is consistently good in Key Stage 2. The pupils make most progress when the teaching is vibrant, work is presented in different ways, and the tasks are well matched to the pupils' abilities. On these occasions, they respond enthusiastically and thrive on challenge. However, occasionally the work proves too easy or too hard although generally, the match of work for the least able is better than that for the most able pupils.

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Grade: 2

The pupils' personal development and well-being are good. The school has created a safe, secure and stimulating learning environment in which pupils are respected as individuals and their work is celebrated through a variety of displays. The pupils are happy and enjoy coming to school, reflected in the good levels of attendance and behaviour. The pupils display consistently positive attitudes to learning. They develop good levels of concentration, work independently and cooperatively from an early age, respect each others' views, and respond well to questions. The staff create an atmosphere of trust and care, and the pupils say they know there is someone to go to if they are worried. The school has suitable measures in place to deal with bullying, although incidents are very rare. The school has introduced a range of measures to promote healthy lifestyles and is actively seeking the 'Healthy Schools' award. Despite the school's size, there is a good

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Grade: 2

range of physical activities for all pupils, led by school staff and also using expertise from the local high school and sporting clubs. There are well-established sex and drug education programmes. The democratically elected school council contributes ideas to improve the school environment, and debates different aspects of school life including healthy eating and how to respond when children feel lonely at break times. The pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered through well planned assemblies, contributing to community events, charity fund-raising and a range of clubs and music groups.

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Grade: 2

Teaching is at least satisfactory, often good, and occasionally outstanding. Lessons are planned carefully and the learning intentions shared with the pupils. In the best 3 Inspection Report: Sutton in Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March examples, the teachers use a variety of ways to promote learning including good questioning techniques; electronic whiteboards; 'talking partners'; using basic skills to solve practical problems; and providing work which challenges the pupils. However, despite small teaching groups, the work sometimes does not match the pupils' needs and some are hesitant to 'have a go' without the teacher giving additional help; on these occasions, the pace of learning falters. Much of the teaching is enthusiastic; teachers display good subject knowledge; and use a variety of teaching resources to good effect. Teaching assistants are well used and make an effective contribution throughout the

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is broad, balanced and meets statutory requirements. Some aspects of the curriculum have been the subject of review, such as information and communication and technology. The work towards gaining the healthy school award has broadened the range of activities taught; for example, in sport, and by using established subjects such as science to study health topics. The school has also introduced French, and there is a number of musical opportunities for pupils to sing and play an instrument. However, the school has begun to consider how to teach the curriculum to better effect; for example, by making better use of essential skills in English and mathematics when teaching other subjects. It is developing 'a theme based approach', but the inspector agrees with the school's own evaluation of the current situation that it is only 'partially in place'. There is still some way to go, especially in reaching common

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Grade: 3

agreement about what should be taught and how.

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Grade: 2

The school provides good quality care, guidance and support. The staff encourages pupils to give of their best, and they feel valued, safe and cared for. The positive relationships between staff and pupils help promote the pupils' self esteem, and adults know them well. Health and safety issues are given appropriate attention and policies are in place. Links with parents are a strength of the school, reflected in the unanimously positive responses in the parents' questionnaire. There are many opportunities to take part in school life and information about their child's progress is readily available. All the pupils have learning targets in English and mathematics and marking of work is often done with the pupil. However, the frequency with which targets are changed, 4 Inspection Report: Sutton in Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March varies.

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Grade: 3

The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory overall. The headteacher has been in post for four years, and has set a tone for the school centred on enabling every pupil to fulfil his or her potential; the school achieves a good measure of success. Parents hold the school in high regard and the pupils work hard. Over time, the headteacher has enabled good standards to be sustained by introducing modifications to the curriculum, tackling the challenge of mixed age classes and small year groups. More recently a review of assessment procedures has taken place to identify curriculum areas which need strengthening and sharpen up the use of assessment results to set learning targets for the pupils. Although the system has yet to be fully embedded, already it has helped identify weaknesses in mathematics in some year groups. Recent staff changes have presented the headteacher with an opportunity to push

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Grade: 3

forward with ideas for enriching the way the different subjects of the curriculum are taught. However, progress is not as rapid as it might be because there is no senior management structure within the school which the headteacher can draw on to help her make major decisions. The headteacher prefers to share decision-making with all the teaching staff; for example, deciding the content of the school improvement plan, and most decisions are taken at staff meetings although these are irregular. As a consequence, developments take time. All teachers have subject responsibilities and have produced action plans, and two have already had a positive impact on the development of ICT and health education. There are a number of monitoring procedures in place to check on the quality of teaching, the development of individual subjects, and the quality of the pupils' work. Lesson observations are of good quality, but the heavy burden of responsibilities taken

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Grade: 3

on by the headteacher has caused her to reduce her own formal monitoring activity. 5 Inspection Report: Sutton in Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March .

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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: Sutton in Craven Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March

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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 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

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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 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 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 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

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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

I would like to say how much I enjoyed spending two days in your school. Thank you for being so polite and helping me. I spent a lot of time finding out how well you are learning by watching you work in some of the lessons and talking to Mrs Armitage and your teachers. At the end of the inspection, I talked to Mrs Armitage about what I had found out. This is what I said. I thought you were very well behaved all of the time. The youngest boys and girls shared things and took turns, and older children acted responsibly, taking care of books and equipment. You told me that you enjoyed coming to school and felt that the teachers were interested in you and that you were happy to talk to them and they took good care of you. All of you work hard, listen to your teachers and try your best to answer their questions. One of the jobs I have to do when I inspect schools like yours is to see if there are any things

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

which could make your school even better. Of course I couldn't think of anything you need to do because you're brilliant already! It was a very difficult job because your headteacher and teachers work so very hard. I suggested that they might help you get better in your writing and mathematics, and to continue finding exciting ways of teaching different subjects. I know you enjoy coming to school. So keep working hard so that Mrs Armitage, your teachers and parents can be proud of you!

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