Benton Dene Primary School

Inspection Report Goathland Primary School

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108604 Unique Reference Number North Tyneside Local Authority 288138 Inspection number 15 °16 January 2007 Inspection dates Andrea Lyons HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Goathland Avenue School address Primary Type of school Longbenton, Newcastle upon Tyne Community School category

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Tyne and Wear, NE12 8LH 3 °11 Age range of pupils 0191 2007427 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0191 2007428 Fax number 362 Number on roll (school) Mrs Patricia Woodward Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Sheelagh Tickell Headteacher 1 May 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 288138 15 °16 January 2007 3°11 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 one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Goathland School is a larger than average primary school, situated in an area of considerable social deprivation. Around a third of its pupils are entitled to free school meals, which is above average. It also draws pupils from more affluent neighbouring areas. It has very few pupils from a minority ethnic heritage and no pupils speak English as an additional language. It has a higher than average number of pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The school has a 10 place communication support base, catering for pupils with a high level of speech, language and communication difficulty. It holds a number of awards, including ActiveMark Gold and Artsmark Gold.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Grade: 1

Goathland is an outstanding school. It actively welcomes pupils of all abilities, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and those who are gifted and talented. It provides an exceptional quality of care and education, for all pupils equally. As a result, they make above average progress, and many make well above average progress. The school is characterised by a strong team spirit and sense of shared achievement. The staff are highly committed to the school and to constantly improving it. They know their pupils very well, and the relationships between staff and pupils are excellent. Both staff and pupils clearly enjoy learning. The quality of teaching is outstanding. There is a robust and effective system of assessment and tracking. However, the quality of marking varies across the school so that pupils do not always know what they need to do next to improve. Pupils’ personal development is outstanding. Their behaviour is excellent, and they

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Grade: 1

are tolerant, caring and responsible. The school has a good range of support strategies to develop pupils’ social and emotional skills. Pupils are encouraged to take on responsibility and use their initiative. The school council is highly involved in decisions relating to the school, and pupils feel a justifiable pride in their school community. Attendance is above average. The school sees the diversity of its pupils as a great strength, and tailors work and support to fit individual needs. It also provides an extremely rich experience of extra curricular and cultural activities. Much of this is the result of the inspirational leadership of the headteacher. She ensures that staff throughout the school continually develop their skills both as teachers and managers, so that there is a strong network of support and challenge. The senior management team and the excellent governing body ensure that the large number of

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Grade: 1

staff with responsibilities are well managed and accountable. The Foundation Stage is well managed and effective and gives children a very good start to their school life. The school’s buildings are dilapidated and unsuitable for their purpose, although staff and pupils have nevertheless created a vibrant learning environment through excellent displays of their work. The local authority have successfully bid for funding for a new purpose-built school.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Extend good practice in marking throughout the school.

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Grade: 1

Many pupils enter the school with levels of attainment that are below, and sometimes well below, the average expected for their age. Some pupils, however, enter school with above average skills. Provision in the Foundation Stage is excellent and children 2 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007 make very good progress. Most have made very good progress towards the early learning goals, and many are above the local authority average when they go into Key Stage 1. There is, rightly, a strong focus in the early years on developing pupils’ personal, social and communication skills. Pupils continue this good progress in Key Stage 1, where standards achieved by pupils have been good or better over a long period of time. Pupils consistently achieve above, and sometimes significantly above, the national average in all subjects. Results in Key Stage 2 have been above and sometimes significantly above the national average for

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Grade: 1

the last five years, except in 2005, where there was a decline in results to below the national average. This was a result of a specific cohort of pupils with a high level of need. The school successfully put support in place to raise the attainment of these individual pupils. Results improved again in 2006 to above the national average. The school has set challenging targets for the forthcoming year and is on course to meet them. Given the varying but often high proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and the low level of skills with which many pupils enter the school, these results show outstanding progress.

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Grade: 1

Pupils’ personal development is outstanding. Parents rightly have confidence in the school’s ability to care for their children and help them develop socially and emotionally as well as academically. Behaviour throughout the school is exemplary and pupils say how much they enjoy their time in school. Attendance is good. Pupils accept and benefit from the diversity of abilities and backgrounds in the school, and are respectful towards each other and to adults. They communicate and interact well with each other, and relationships are excellent. The development of pupils’ spiritual and moral is very good. Pupils have an extremely wide experience of cultures and traditions throughout the world, including a recent week’s focus on India, annual residential visits to France and links with Egypt and Romania. The school emphasises the importance of healthy lifestyles. Pupils learn, through cross-curricular approaches and additional activities, how to eat healthily as well as

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Grade: 1

the importance of exercise and play. The school council plays a major part in the school. For example, it asked to be involved in the appointment of the deputy headteacher and wrote its own questions for the interview. Pupils raise funds for the school and various charities, often showing considerable independence and innovation. 3 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Grade: 1

The school judges teaching and learning to be outstanding and inspectors agree with this judgement. Teachers know their pupils extremely well and tailor work carefully to meet their individual needs. Lessons build on what pupils have learned previously and there are extremely good links to other subjects. This is apparent in both the very thorough planning and in teachers’ skilful questioning in lessons. Staff have good subject knowledge across all areas. They are enthusiastic and convey a real enjoyment of learning. They challenge pupils to do their best and give well focused praise for effort and success. Pupils appreciate this very much. Relationships between staff and pupils are excellent. Pupils are well behaved and enthusiastic in lessons. They ask and answer questions confidently and work well both in groups and independently. They have a range of individual targets, some of which are set by themselves and their parents. Pupils know

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Grade: 1

how they are progressing in relation to their targets. However, marking of work across the school is variable. There is some developing good practice, particularly in Year 4, but this is not embedded consistently throughout the school. Although pupils are often shown why they have succeeded or not, they are less often given clear guidance on what they need to do next to improve, and how well they have tried to do this. Pupils say that lessons are fun and that all staff support them well. All pupils are provided with additional support or challenge as necessary, for example, through booster groups or experience of a more demanding curriculum. The school has a particular strength in meeting the needs of pupils who may be experiencing difficulties or who need more challenge. Teaching is well paced and supported by carefully designed, engaging resources. The school’s longstanding team of skilled support staff works very effectively as part of

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Grade: 1

the teaching team to support pupils’ learning.

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Grade: 1

The rich and comprehensive curriculum is a key factor in the high level of pupils’ achievement and personal development. Teachers’ planning is very thorough and benefits all pupils equally. The provision for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is very good, because learning plans are detailed and fine-tuned to meet particular needs. Similarly, pupils with special gifts and talents are very well nurtured through focused support in school and specialised activities beyond. The school rightly focuses on English and mathematics, but provides ample scope for all other subjects, including information and communication technology (ICT) and French. Indeed, teachers use such subjects imaginatively to reinforce and strengthen core skills in literacy and numeracy. In Year 6 science lessons, for instance, pupils have 4 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007 explored evaporation through stories based on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ The school

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Grade: 1

also expands the curriculum through an impressive array of clubs, activities and visits. The samba band, for example, plays in assemblies, there are themed weeks and there is a regular visit to France for pupils in Year 6.

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Grade: 1

The care, guidance and support provided for pupils is excellent. All required procedures for safeguarding and child protection are in place. Pupils feel safe, which helps them to enjoy school. They say there is little bullying, and any rare incidents are dealt with quickly and thoroughly by staff. They trust staff and know who they would turn to if there were any problems. The school has an outstanding record of supporting pupils through difficult times such as bereavement. Pupils are helped to learn to get along together and sort out minor difficulties appropriately. This is recognised by parents. The school’s ethos and atmosphere are both outstanding in their focus on care and mutual support. The school has strategies in place whereby children can support each other. For example, there are buddies for children starting the school, and all pupils know they can approach a member of the school council for informal help.

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Grade: 1

Academic guidance is extremely good overall. Extensive assessment data is well used to monitor and track pupils’ progress to identify any patterns and ensure that each child is given the very best learning support. This is exemplified by the immediate action in response to the predicted 2005 results. However, the quality of marking across the school is variable. There are excellent support arrangements for pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and further provision is well targeted to individuals and small groups as needs arise.

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Grade: 1

Leadership and management are outstanding at all levels of the school. The headteacher is an inspirational leader who has consistently focused on developing staff and pupil skills so as to enable them to participate fully in all aspects of school life. There is a very strong team spirit and sense of aspiration and achievement through shared endeavour. A high proportion of staff take on management responsibilities, and pupils are involved in a range of decisions affecting the school through the school council and other groups. Subject and phase coordinators provide effective leadership and contribute well to whole- school evaluations and strategic planning. The management of data and assessment is a particular strength. The school is highly inclusive. It sees the variety of pupil backgrounds and abilities as a strength and works hard and successfully to ensure that all pupils make good progress. For example, there have been no permanent exclusions for seventeen years, and the

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Grade: 1

school has welcomed a number of pupils excluded from other settings, who have gone 5 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007 on to succeed. The communication support base and the school have successfully included a number of pupils previously educated in special schools. The communication support base is well managed and effective, and has a positive impact on the experience of all pupils in school. Teaching and learning are monitored rigorously. The headteacher is committed to the continuing development of all staff, and this is reflected in their high skill levels and ability to support and challenge each other. Pupils’ progress is thoroughly tracked across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Any potential difficulties are identified promptly and well focused interventions are put in place. Tracking of pupils’ progress is less well developed in the Foundation Stage, as a comparatively new system is being

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Grade: 1

embedded. Nevertheless, staff have a very good knowledge of pupils and provide well for them. Transitions between key stages are well managed. Although staff and pupils work hard to create a positive learning environment through excellent displays of work, the school has struggled for some years against the difficulties imposed by poor quality buildings. It has now received funding for a new build. The school works extremely hard to establish good relationships with parents. Both parents and pupils are consulted regularly and action has been taken about a number of issues. Parents are rightly supportive of the school. The governing body is very strong and provides an exceptional level of support and challenge. The school manages its finances very well. It provides excellent value for money. 6 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007 .

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Grade: 1

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

1 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 8 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 9 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Goathland Primary School Goathland Avenue Longbenton Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne and Wear NE12 8LH 15 January 2007 Dear Children Thank you very much for welcoming us to your school. We very much enjoyed meeting you all. We think Goathland is an outstanding school. This means that it has achieved the best result it is possible to get. More than that, it is outstanding in all areas! This is very rare. There are so many good things about your school that it is difficult to know where to start, but I will try. First, you are all a good team, staff and pupils together. Everyone works together to make sure that learning is fun and that you make good progress. In fact, you make outstanding progress. Well done! Mrs Tickell and your teachers are superb (make sure you tell them so sometimes). Your behaviour and attitudes to work are excellent, and we were impressed by the way you can take responsibility and show care for each other. You have lots of skills in many areas because of

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

the incredible amount of clubs and extra things you do, like French and art. You have an extremely wide experience of lots of different cultures. Your teachers and support staff care very much about you and really put a lot of time and skill into ensuring that you are well looked after and get what you need. This is the main thing that makes your school such a success. Everyone is valued for who they are, and staff are quick to provide any extra help that anyone needs, whether that is in work or behaviour or anything that is troubling you. The communication support base is a real asset to your school. Staff there are very good at helping pupils who find it a bit harder to speak or communicate. Your support staff work really well together with teachers and have a big impact on how well you achieve. The only thing we asked staff to do to improve the school even further is to mark your work better. Staff have started a new system to make sure that you are always told what you need

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

to do next to improve. This is good, but it has to be put in place a bit quicker, and across the whole school. You can help by following the suggestions or instructions teachers write in your books, and then checking with them whether it did work. Please thank your parents for me for sending in so many questionnaires. They are rightly very pleased with the school. We all enjoyed our time in the school very much, and think it is a great place to be. There aren’t many schools in the country which are outstanding in all areas of school life, so you can be very proud indeed. CONGRATULATIONS! All best wishes 10 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007

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Annex B

Andrea LyonsSue SharkeyAndrew Scott Her Majesty’s InspectorAdditional InspectorAdditional Inspector 11 Inspection Report: Goathland Primary School, 15 °16 January 2007

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