Moor Row Community Primary School

Moor Row Community Primary School Inspection report

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112161 Unique Reference Number Cumbria Local Authority 310802 Inspection number 30 April °1 May 2008 Inspection dates Nigel Cromey-Hawke 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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Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 105 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Peter Storey Chair Mrs Amy Bates Headteacher 1 May 2004 Date of previous school inspection Moor Row School address Cumbria CA24 3JW 01946 810620 Telephone number 01946 814 615 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 30 April °1 May 2008 Inspection dates 310802 Inspection number .

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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 primary school. Almost all the pupils have White British backgrounds with none whose first language is not English. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is slightly below average. The school has Activemark Sports, Eco, Orienteering and Cumbria Wildlife Trust awards. The headteacher has been in post since April 2007.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Moor Row Community Primary School, 30 April °1 May 2008

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory school with some good features and this judgement is strongly supported by parents. One parent reflected the views of many, ‘I can see a major improvement in the school’s performance.’ The new headteacher knows the school’s strengths and weaknesses well and staff share her clear vision of how to improve. She has identified the right strategies to bring about improvements, especially in strengthening the quality of teaching and learning. Although these measures are already improving progress, they have not yet significantly raised standards. Changes made within the Foundation Stage have led to increasingly accurate assessment of progress and improving provision. Good practice is being recognised and shared. Children arrive with typical levels of development for their age in most areas of learning, although a small number are further behind in some elements of language and number development. They

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Grade: 3

quickly acquire confidence and make satisfactory progress in their learning so that they enter Year 1 with standards typically found at this age. This is soundly built upon in both key stages so that by the time Year 6 pupils leave in the school, standards are securely average. Pupils’ overall achievement is therefore satisfactory although few pupils reach the higher levels of attainment except in reading. Teaching is satisfactory and teachers track pupils’ progress regularly. However, they do not yet use these assessments consistently enough to plan work that accurately meets the needs of all pupils. In particular, there is often insufficient challenge to ensure more able pupils reach the higher levels of which they are capable. Pupils’ personal development and well-being is good. This reflects the school’s good levels of care, guidance and support, including a wide range of effective and committed adult helpers.

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Grade: 3

Pupils clearly enjoy their learning, feel safe and their behaviour is good. These positive attitudes are significantly supported by the school’s wide range of sporting, environmental and other activities that enhance the satisfactory curriculum. These activities promote personal independence and teamwork and contribute to pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development. However, pupils’ awareness of the cultural diversity within the modern world is limited. The quality of leadership and management of the school is satisfactory, with good features. Subject leaders monitor on the quality of teaching and learning in their areas well and are beginning to use this knowledge to move the school forward. Governors are highly supportive of the school and are challenging its academic standards and achievement more robustly. Areas identified at the last inspection have been successfully worked upon and the pace of recent

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Grade: 3

improvements suggests that the capacity to improve further is good because standards are clearly rising as a good pace.

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Grade: 3

Children’s achievement is satisfactory. At the start of Foundation Stage, most children have the skills and knowledge that are typical for their age. For those few who are further behind in language and number development the school provides effective additional help to catch up so by the end of Reception most are at the expected levels for their age across all the areas of learning. They are well cared for and swiftly form good relationships with their peers and adults in the school. They learn happily alongside each other and enjoy the range of activities on offer. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The Foundation Stage unit has recently 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Moor Row Community Primary School, 30 April °1 May 2008 been refurbished and the new leader has good understanding of the improvements needed to enable children to achieve well. This includes sharing aspects of the existing good practice to

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Grade: 3

improve the otherwise satisfactory teaching. Adults’ regular observations of children’s learning contribute to more regular assessments of what children can do. Outdoor play is a strength of the provision.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure assessment and tracking information is consistently used to promote the progress of pupils of different abilities, particularly the most able. ■ Broaden pupils’ awareness of the diversity of cultures.

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What the school should do to improve further

A small proportion of schools whose overall effectiveness is judged to be satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Pupils enter Year 1 with skills and abilities similar to those found nationally and overall standards by the end of both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 are broadly average. These standards are reflected in the school’s national test results and represent satisfactory overall achievement. Although many pupils, particularly girls, do well in reading, fewer reach the higher levels of attainment in writing, mathematics or science. This reflects the lack of challenge in some teaching to reach those higher grades. Learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make progress in line with other groups in the school. More robust target-setting and tracking of progress is improving pupils’ progress in English, mathematics and science but has not yet been put into operation in other subjects.

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Grade: 2

Effective personal development reflects the school’s good care, guidance and support. Pupils’ enjoyment of school is demonstrated by their positive attitudes to learning and good attendance. They are attentive in lessons and work hard. From an early age pupils know about the importance of keeping safe and what it means to lead a healthy lifestyle. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory with strengths in their spiritual and moral understanding. However, their awareness of cultures other than their own is limited. Pupils willingly take responsibilities such as in the School and Eco Councils, acting as monitors at lunchtime and by running their own fresh fruit snack shop. Their understanding of their responsibility for the environment is especially well developed through links to the Cumbria Wildlife Trust and other partnerships. Pupils make good progress in developing the personal qualities that will enable

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Grade: 2

them to transfer to later stages of education and eventually the world of work. In this respect the high levels of reading gained are especially effective.

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Grade: 3

Teachers have good relationships with pupils, consistent expectations of behaviour and focus well upon their personal development and well being. Teachers are skilled in generating 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Moor Row Community Primary School, 30 April °1 May 2008 enthusiasm and make good use in their lessons of both interactive whiteboards and the locality. In the best lessons teachers reminded pupils of what they had learned in previous lessons and gave good opportunities for pupils to ask questions and offer their ideas. All too often though expectations are pitched to the middle ability and therefore the work is too easy or too hard for some pupils. As a result progress is no better than satisfactory. Whilst marking in books is often supportive, it does not always help the pupils to know how to improve their work. Progress is therefore often insufficiently structured and guided, especially for more able pupils. Learners

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Grade: 3

with difficulties and/or disabilities make satisfactory progress, helped by the teaching assistants and other adults, who make a valuable contribution to learning.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum meets statutory requirements and has a good range of additional activities. Much has been done recently to develop the curriculum, particularly in using the local environment and ICT. Learners with difficulties and/or disabilities are well served by the curriculum but the work for more able pupils often lacks sufficient challenge. As a result more able pupils do not reach the higher standards other than in their reading. The range of visits, visitors to the school and sporting, music and other clubs are a strength of the school and contribute to pupils’ positive attitudes to learning and their personal development and well-being.

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Grade: 2

Staff’s good quality care for pupils is seen in the ways they encourage them to enjoy work and play, and to look after each other. Arrangements for safeguarding pupils are robust and regularly reviewed. Health and safety is carefully managed both on the site and on visits. Challenging targets have been set across the school and pupils are responding well to them. The school has established very good links with parents who express a high level of support. They particularly note the school’s good regular communications. All learners at risk are identified early and effective arrangements put in place to meet their needs. The school works particularly well with outside agencies and partners to promote learners’ well-being.

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Grade: 3

The headteacher has been in post for a year and has promoted significant changes. Her energy, commitment and expertise have ensured that the staff share her vision. Restructured staffing and resources, alongside new systems and procedures, are beginning to improve achievement and raise standards. The positive impact of these changes demonstrates the good capacity for school improvement. The Foundation Stage accommodation has been significantly developed and its new coordinator is building effectively on existing provision. Tracking progress has been made more robust since the last inspection, but assessments are still too infrequent and not yet established in all subjects. Teachers are, however, increasingly knowledgeable about their pupils’ progress and are planning more effectively to match lessons to individual needs. The school knows its strengths and weaknesses well and has constructed a good development plan

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Grade: 3

to address the most important issues. Subject leaders are making greater contribution to leading school developments. Governors are aware of the strengths of the school and support it well. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Moor Row Community Primary School, 30 April °1 May 2008 They have better knowledge of standards and achievement and are more effectively challenging the school to improve further. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Moor Row Community Primary School, 30 April °1 May 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Moor Row Community Primary School, 30 April °1 May 2008

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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? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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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 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 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?

2 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Moor Row Community Primary School, 30 April °1 May 2008

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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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Moor Row Community Primary School, 30 April °1 May 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

4 May 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Moor Row Community Primary School, Cumbria, CA24 3JW Thank you for the warm welcome you gave me when I inspected your school. You were very friendly, polite and enthusiastic about what you do. You told me a lot of interesting things about your school and you are clearly very proud of it. I spent a lot of time finding out about how you learn in your lessons, looking at your work and talking to your teachers and the headteacher. Moor Row is a satisfactory school. These are the main things I found that are good about your school:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ teachers know what works well and have good plans for how to make it a better place for you to learn in ■ teachers are taking the right steps to make their teaching even better so that you can learn more easily ■ the school offers a very good range of activities outside of normal lessons that help you to develop maturity and responsibilities ■ your school cares for you all and looks after you well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

These are the things your school is going to do to make it an even better place to learn:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ make sure teachers use what they know about how well you are doing to plan work in lessons that will challenge each of you to do your best ■ extend your understanding of the wider world and how people of different backgrounds live together. You can help by telling your teachers if you have any difficulties. You can also help by continuing to attend school every day, behaving well and working hard, as you do at the moment. Yours sincerely Nigel Cromey-Hawke Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Moor Row Community Primary School, 30 April °1 May 2008

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