Eastoft Church of England Primary School

Inspection Report Eastoft Church of England Primary School

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118043 Unique Reference Number North Lincolnshire Local Authority 291005 Inspection number 15 °16 November 2006 Inspection dates Jackie Barnes 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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Yorkshireside School address Primary Type of school Eastoft, Scunthorpe Voluntary aided School category DN17 4PG 3 °11 Age range of pupils 01724 798274 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01724 798274 Fax number 57 Number on roll (school) Mr Simeon Hill Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Angela Hewson Headteacher 1 May 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 291005 15 °16 November 2006 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 Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a small rural school that serves mainly the village of Eastoft, west of Scunthorpe with a few pupils who travel from further afield. The area’s socio-economic conditions are average. Most families have at least one parent in paid work and free school meals take up is lower than the national average. All pupils are of White British origin and speak English as their first language. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD) is slightly above average. When pupils start school in the Nursery, they have the competence expected for their age, although individuals vary considerably in what they know and can do.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Eastoft Church of England Primary School, 15 °16 November 2006

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Grade: 3

This small school provides a satisfactory quality of education; it is recovering well from a period of staff absence. It has the confidence of its parents and well behaved pupils who enjoy school. Pupils are well cared for and feel safe. Their personal development is good, and they are knowledgeable about how to stay safe and healthy. The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory with strengths in the teamwork of staff and a commitment to continuing improvement. Throughout the school, relationships with staff are strong and help pupils to be confident learners. They settle quickly when they start school and make good progress in the Foundation Stage. Achievement is satisfactory. Standards by Year 2 and Year 6 are about average and most pupils make satisfactory progress. A few attain above average standards and those with LDD make good progress. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Pupils of all abilities work well in small groups

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Grade: 3

where teaching staff provide good support and they benefit from the individual attention they receive. In larger class groups, teaching and tasks are not always well matched to the wide range of pupils’ ages and individual needs, and this slows their progress, especially in English. This is mainly due to limitations in the school’s overall systems for planning and assessing pupils’ learning and progress across the curriculum. This is especially evident in the Key Stage 2 which includes four year groups and a wide range of pupils’ competence. The school’s systems for self-evaluation have already correctly identified this issue. The headteacher has a clear view of where improvements are needed, and is effectively supported by staff and a well informed governing body with a broad range of useful expertise. The local authority’s support for small schools has been used well to provide additional expertise when needed.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve standards in English, especially at Key Stage 2, with particular attention to planning pupils’ continuous progress across the different teaching groups. • Improve staff skills in providing academic guidance for pupils, particularly when marking work and setting targets. • Clarify how the subjects of the National Curriculum are to be organised, planned and taught in Key Stage 2.

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Grade: 3

Achievement is satisfactory and standards are about average overall. This is a small school, so standards vary considerably from year to year when compared with national figures. Pupils make a good start in the Foundation Stage, where good teaching matches their needs and most achieve the goals expected for their age by the end of the Reception year. Over the next two years the pace of pupils’ progress is satisfactory overall, but varies for individual pupils. Pupils in the lower ability range tend to make good progress. The most capable pupils generally make satisfactory progress; some 2 Inspection Report: Eastoft Church of England Primary School, 15 °16 November 2006 could achieve higher standards particularly in mathematics and writing. By the end of Year 2, the school’s 2006 national assessment results indicated that standards were about average with improvements in reading from the previous year. Results for Year

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Grade: 3

6 were close to average overall. In both 2005 and 2006 the results in English were much lower than both the national figures and the school’s targets, with many pupils not attaining the Level 4 expected for their age. This was partly due to a few pupils who needed support with their learning joining the school in the oldest year groups, but also to a small minority of pupils not making enough progress through Key Stage 2. Pupils’ work in lessons and in books, indicate that most boys and girls are attaining average standards. Some have the capacity to make better progress and attain higher standards. Most of the least competent pupils and those with LDD achieve well.

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Grade: 2

The pupils' personal development is good. They have positive attitudes, respect each other and adults, and enjoy school. Most are well behaved in the classroom, about the school and in outdoor play. Occasional misbehaviour is dealt with effectively. Most pupils attend well. They clearly know right from wrong and say they feel safe and secure. As one pupil said, ‘sometimes in the playground we have noisy games and run around but we don’t hurt each other’. Pupils are knowledgeable about how to live healthy and safe lives, and build good relationships. When possible most make good decisions, joining in sporting activities and putting into practice what they have learned about road and pedestrian safety. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Their spiritual development is enhanced through the school’s strong links with the faith community and church. They are aware of their responsibilities to the school and wider community,

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Grade: 2

contributing to charities and taking care of each other. The school council has an understanding of how to represent the views of others and its members are beginning to learn the skills of organising meetings and events. Throughout the school, pupils’ skills in working co-operatively, presenting their ideas in formal situations and occasionally taking leadership roles are a significant contribution to their future well being. Most, but not all, also have sound basic skills.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory with examples of good teaching. The school has three classes, so all have mixed age groups. Relationships between adults and pupils are strong and successfully encourage confident learners. The teaching in the Foundation Stage is well matched to the children’s needs; the regular involvement of the local authority staff provides examples of outstanding 3 Inspection Report: Eastoft Church of England Primary School, 15 °16 November 2006 teaching and learning. Throughout the school most aspects of the deployment of the teaching staff work well. When the part-time and full-time staff are available at the same time they are able to work with small groups of pupils on specific topics or units of work. Pupils’ learning in these groups benefits from the increased amount of individual support, and the opportunity to share their views and consolidate their understanding. The match of teaching to the pupils’ needs is less effective when pupils

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Grade: 3

are taught as a full class, especially when only one adult is available for the full lesson. This is particularly evident in the Key Stage 2 class which is large and includes four year groups. As a result, not all pupils achieve as well as they could. The continuity between the pupils’ learning in small groups and in class lessons is only partially supported by the school’s overall systems for planning learning and progress through the school. When teaching small groups, staff are usually aware of what they expect pupils at different stages to learn, and these expectations are often shared with pupils. However, written planning for lessons rarely includes these expectations, making it difficult to link a pupil’s learning progressively from one group to another.

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Grade: 3

The school has a sound curriculum which meets statutory requirements and provides a good range of additional experiences, including sport, music, French and residential activities. It provides well for pupils with LDD. There is a strong commitment to pupils’ enjoyment and well-being and satisfactory provision for literacy and numeracy. Given the mixed age groups in all classes, the school uses teaching assistants effectively to work with groups of pupils to ensure they have sustained experiences in subjects such as information and communication technology. In other subjects their learning is not always as well planned. There is a lack of clarity about how the subjects of the National Curriculum are to be organised and taught at Key Stage 2, to ensure pupils’ skills are developed systematically in a large, mixed age class. The school has recognised this and is beginning to review the curriculum organisation taking account of national

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Grade: 3

The staff care for pupils well. Support for pupils’ personal development and for those with LDD is good. Teaching staff are very helpful in explaining what pupils can do to improve their work in lessons but longer term guidance on academic progress is less effective. The marking of pupils’ work and the planning to meet targets is not fully in place and this limits pupils’ involvement in contributing to their own progress. 4 Inspection Report: Eastoft Church of England Primary School, 15 °16 November 2006

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory. It is calm, welcoming school which has good relationships with parents. Arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet national guidance. Much of the school’s work is led and managed well. Full- and part-time staff have a positive approach to school improvement and their own professional development. They work well as a team, especially in supporting pupils’ personal development and creating a consistently positive atmosphere for learning. This has helped the school recently to deal with staff absence and the increasing number of pupils who join the school in different year groups, some of whom have learning difficulties or low attainment for their age. As this is a small school, the local authority offers additional expertise which has been well targeted and effective, especially in the Foundation Stage. The headteacher, well supported by staff with responsibilities,

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Grade: 3

carefully monitors teaching in lessons and checks pupils’ attainment. This information contributes to the school’s self-evaluation which is thorough and has accurately identified that pupils’ academic performance varies too widely across subjects and year groups, even for a small school. This is due mainly to the school’s overall arrangements for planning and assessing pupils’ learning not always being effective enough to ensure their progress in different groups and classes is clearly linked and enables them to achieve as well as they can. The school is already working on improving this situation and has satisfactory capacity to improve further. 5 Inspection Report: Eastoft Church of England Primary School, 15 °16 November 2006 .

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Eastoft Church of England Primary School, 15 °16 November 2006

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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 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 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

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 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?

3 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. 7 Inspection Report: Eastoft Church of England Primary School, 15 °16 November 2006

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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? 8 Inspection Report: Eastoft Church of England Primary School, 15 °16 November 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Eastoft Church of England Primary School Yorkshireside Eastoft Scunthorpe DN17 4PG 15 November 2006 Dear Children Thank you for making me so welcome when I visited your school. You helped me to see how much you enjoyed school, appreciated your friends and respected adults. You were well behaved, and especially liked the opportunities you have for sport and visits to places of interest. You say you feel safe in school and the staff take good care of you. Most of you make satisfactory progress with your work and some of you make good progress. You trust your teachers and are confident learners. You work best in small groups mainly because you can ask questions and share your ideas. When you are in a large group, sometimes your work is not matched quite accurately enough to your needs to make sure you all learn really well. I think you can be even more successful, so I have asked your school to plan and check your

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

work carefully so that you each make the best progress you can whether you are working in large or small groups. You can help by making sure you know how you can improve your own work so you can meet your targets as quickly as possible. Best wishes. Yours sincerely J M Barnes Lead inspector 9 Inspection Report: Eastoft Church of England Primary School, 15 °16 November 2006

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