Kielder Primary School and Nursery

Inspection Report Kielder Community First School

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122233 Unique Reference Number Northumberland LEA 281199 Inspection number 27 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 Inspection dates Mrs Margaret Shepherd Reporting inspector

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

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Kielder School address First Type of school Hexham Community School category Northumberland, NE48 1HQ 4 to 9 Age range of pupils 01434 250257 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01434 250257 Fax number 8 Number on roll Mr Barry Noble Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Michael Broadbent Headteacher 1 May 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 281199 27 April 2006 - 4 to 9 27 April 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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

Kielder First School is a very small school which currently has eight pupils on roll. The school serves the remote village of Kielder in Northumberland. Pupils in Year 2 work with the older pupils in the morning for literacy and numeracy and with the younger children in the afternoon. There are no pupils in Year 4 this year. Children begin their schooling in Reception. Standards vary considerably between year groups because of the very small numbers overall. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Kielder Community First School, 27 April 2006 to 27 April 2006

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. This judgement matches both the school’s and the parents’ evaluation. The school effectively uses the benefits of being so small to ensure that each child receives an education that matches their own particular needs. Teaching and learning are of good quality. Children make a good start in Reception, achieving well due to the good quality provision. Children’s progress builds consistently on this good start and they continue to achieve well as they move through the school. Standards are above average by Year 2. Pupils write confidently across a range of different styles. However, their handwriting is at a lower standard than their grammar and spelling. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve well because they receive well targeted support. Standards in art and design are higher than expected due to the very effective curriculum provision in this subject. Pupils’ personal

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Grade: 2

development and well-being are good with outstanding features in spiritual and moral development. The whole staff know and support each child very sensitively, resulting in good quality care, support and guidance. Staff provide well focused targets for each child every term, but individuals are not confident enough about what they need to do to improve in each of the areas of reading, writing and numeracy. The school provides a good quality curriculum which uses the wider community well to extend pupils’ learning. The indoor curriculum for Reception children is good but the outdoor curriculum does not provide enough variety. Leadership and management are good overall. The headteacher is determined to provide a good quality foundation for the future lives of every child, both in their personal and academic development. The value for money provided by the school is satisfactory due to the high cost per pupil. The school has improved well since the

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Grade: 2

previous inspection and has a good capacity for future improvement.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise standards in handwriting. • Extend pupils’ understanding of what they need to do to improve in reading, writing and numeracy. • Develop the outdoor learning area for Reception children.

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good. Standards on entry are extremely variable because of the very small size of each year group. Children’s standards are monitored carefully on entry to the school and staff then set challenging targets for each individual. Children make a good start in Reception and achieve well across the different areas of learning. The individual attention given to each child ensures that they continue to progress well as they move through the school. In Year 2, standards are above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils write confidently across a good variety of different writing styles, based on their own experiences. Their grammar and spelling standards 2 Inspection Report: Kielder Community First School, 27 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 are higher than expected but handwriting is at a lower level. Standards in art and design are above the expected level, due to the many good quality opportunities for

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Grade: 2

pupils to develop their skills in this subject. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve well because of the sensitive approach adopted by teachers and the additional support that they receive from external experts.

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Grade: 2

Personal development and well-being are good with outstanding features. Pupils’ have very positive attitudes towards their work. They expect to cooperate with each other and tackle new learning enthusiastically. They express their opinions confidently because every adult responds to them so sensitively. The older pupils delight in taking responsibility for looking after the younger children. Pupils respond well to formal occasions like eating their lunch together as one large family. Standards of behaviour are good in the classrooms, around the school and in the playground. Pupils’ spiritual and moral development are outstanding. They show great respect during prayers and have a very clear idea of right and wrong. Attendance is good. Pupils have a good understanding of safe and healthy living. They know that they need exercise, understand that they need to drink water regularly and enjoy eating the fresh fruit

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Grade: 2

and vegetables that are available every day. Pupils have a very clear understanding of their contributions to the small village community. They enjoy the responsibility of serving the visiting pensioners their meal each month. They have a good understanding of the local economy due to the regular visits that they make to businesses, such as a local bed and breakfast accommodation or the salmon hatchery.

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Teachers ensure that pupils are systematically challenged during whole class sessions. They have a very clear understanding of each pupil’s different levels of ability and ask good questions to allow pupils’ to develop their own thinking. Pupils respond well to this approach. Teachers provide interesting tasks that match pupils’ different learning needs well. Each pupil’s learning builds systematically on their previous work. Teachers plan carefully to provide a range of different tasks during lessons. This results in pupils sustaining a good work rate across different types of tasks. Assessment systems are thorough and systematically track pupils’ progress over time.

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Grade: 2

The quality of the curriculum is good. The school works hard to ensure that pupils do not repeat work over time and choose interesting topics that match the pupils’ needs 3 Inspection Report: Kielder Community First School, 27 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 and interests, such as the migration of swallows. The organisation of the different year groups for literacy and numeracy works well. There is a strong emphasis on pupils’ writing from their own experiences; however, there is not enough emphasis on handwriting skills. There are good quality opportunities to extend literacy and numeracy across other subjects. The school provides a strong emphasis on art and design, with particularly good opportunities for observational drawing in different media. Assemblies provide excellent opportunities for the pupils’ spiritual and moral development. The quality of the indoor provision for the Reception is good but the outdoor learning

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Grade: 2

does not provide enough variety. The school works hard to enrich the curriculum and organises a very effective range of visits out of school. This extends the pupils’ experiences very well and develops their understanding of the wider community. The school organises a good variety of interesting visitors into school who extend the range of pupils learning systematically through challenging projects. For example, in one day, an expert supported pupils in producing puppets, writing a play script and then carrying out a performance.

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Grade: 2

The quality of care, guidance and support is good. All staff work as a united team to ensure that every pupil has time to talk about any concerns that they may have. The organisation of staff supervising playtimes and eating with the pupils at the formal lunchtimes extends this provision very well. There are effective systems in place to safeguard pupils’ well-being. The staff and governors’ knowledge of each pupil’s context, both within the school and the village community, contributes well to the school’s systems. For example, staff have a good understanding about each child’s rate of progress and they set well sequenced targets for pupils each term. This includes clear objectives for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. However, individuals do not have a sufficiently clear or consistent idea of what they need to do to improve in reading, writing and numeracy.

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Grade: 2

The quality of leadership and management is good. The headteacher has a very clear vision of how the school should serve each pupil’s particular needs to prepare them for their future lives, both academic and personal. He is committed to ensuring that the pupils’ education is set securely in the context of the wider community. Despite the remoteness of the school’s locality, he ensures that the school’s standards are moderated in order to ensure that targets are challenging enough. He creates strong partnerships both within the village and with the local authority. Having the village library in the school supports pupils’ interests in reading well. The headteacher identifies the needs of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities early and then ensures that the relevant expertise is used to support these pupils’ needs. Self-evaluation is good and matches inspection judgements. Pupils expect to make suggestions about

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Grade: 2

the way that the school is organised. Parents are very confident that their views are 4 Inspection Report: Kielder Community First School, 27 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 taken into account. Governors have worked hard to extend their level of responsibility, which was a weakness in the previous inspection. Improvement since the previous inspection is good. All involved in the school are committed to ensuring that the school systematically extends its provision; this results in a good capacity for future improvement. The cost per pupil is very high due to the small size of the school. Value for money is satisfactory. 5 Inspection Report: Kielder Community First School, 27 April 2006 to 27 April 2006 .

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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: Kielder Community First School, 27 April 2006 to 27 April 2006

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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 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 1 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

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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 3 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

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 Ofsted helpline 08456 404045 The Pupils Kielder Community First School Kielder Hexham Northumberland NE48 1HQ 28 April 2006 Dear Pupils Thank you very much for welcoming me into your school. I really enjoyed talking to you, looking at your work and having lunch with you. The best things about your school are: the way that you work hard and get good standards in your reading, writing and mathematics the high quality art and design that you do, particularly the drawings you make in pencil and pastels the way that you all work and play together so well, with the older pupils looking after the younger children so carefully the sensitive way that you pray and respond to stories in assemblies and the way that you know right from wrong the interesting curriculum that you have, with exciting visits out and interesting visitors into the school the way that every adult works hard to look after you

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

your good headteacher, teachers and all the other staff in your school. I have asked your school to do three things to help you to improve. One is to help you develop neater handwriting. The second is to help you understand exactly what you have to do to make your reading, writing and mathematics better. The last is to make the outdoor area for Reception children more interesting. Best wishes Maggi Shepherd Lead inspector

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