Beswick and Watton CofE (VC) School

Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Inspection report

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117970 Unique Reference Number East Riding of Yorkshire Local Authority 326726 Inspection number 12 June 2009 Inspection date Derek Sleightholme Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Primary Type of school Voluntary controlled School category 4–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 42 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Simon Fry Chair Mrs Christine Bennison Headteacher 29 March 2006 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Watton School address Driffield East Riding of Yorkshire YO25 9AR 01377 270339 Telephone number 01377 270339 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 12 June 2009 Inspection date 326726 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. 2 of 9 Inspection Report: Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 12 June 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two additional inspectors. Inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues:

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Introduction

■ the progress made by pupils against their individual starting points

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Introduction

■ the effectiveness of actions taken to improve pupils’ writing skills

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Introduction

■ provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage

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Introduction

■ the effectiveness of actions taken to promote an understanding of community cohesion in the school, local and wider settings. Evidence was collected from discussions with senior leaders, the Early Years Foundation Stage leader, special educational needs leader and pupils. In addition, parts of lessons were observed, school documents, samples of pupils’ work and the parents’ questionnaires were scrutinised. Other aspects of the school’s work were not investigated in detail but the inspectors found no evidence to suggest that the school’s own assessments, as given in its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

This is a very small rural primary school. All pupils are White British. None are currently eligible for free school meals. The percentage with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is average. The Early Years Foundation Stage provision covers Reception children. This is the first year when all Reception children are admitted at the start of the academic year. They are taught in a class that also includes Year 1 and 2 pupils. The school is formally federated with another local rural primary school. The headteacher and governors share leadership responsibilities across both schools. Similarly, the teaching staff are deployed to both schools.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 12 June 2009

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. It has outstanding features. One parent summarised the views of many simply as, ‘We are very privileged to have such a good school.’ The school successfully meets its aim to develop pupils as ‘creative, innovative and responsible individuals within a learning community’. Federation has helped it to improve. It has good capacity for further success and provides good value for money. Achievement is good. All pupils achieve equally well. Pupil numbers are very small and vary from year-to-year typically ranging from two to ten pupils. This leads to some variation in standards making comparisons with national results unreliable. Pupils enter Year 1 with variable starting points although these are usually average. Current standards in Year 2 are average in reading, writing and mathematics. These pupils have made good progress because they entered Year 1 below average. Current standards in Year 6 are average. These pupils are making good

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Grade: 2

progress including a minority who joined the school since Year 2. In 2008 only a few pupils, all boys, took the Year 6 national tests. They had made strong progress attaining exceptionally high results in mathematics, science and English. Progress in writing is not yet at the same pace as that in reading and mathematics. School leaders are addressing this through whole-school initiatives such as promoting better knowledge of letters and sounds. Parents are delighted with the progress their children make, one judging her daughter to have improved by ‘leaps and bounds’. Personal development and well-being, including pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development, are outstanding. Cultural development is good. During their school years pupils become polite, confident and mature young citizens very well prepared for the future. They hold conversations politely and express opinions clearly. They speak enthusiastically of their love of school and its

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Grade: 2

activities. Their behaviour is excellent and their attendance is above average. Pupils are in no doubt that daily energetic exercise combined with a balanced diet contributes significantly to being healthy and staying fit. They feel very safe in the school’s family ethos knowing adults are there to provide personal support. Pupils make an excellent contribution to their school and local community. An exemplary feature is how they nominate other pupils for awards presented during ‘Golden Assemblies’. They enthusiastically combine with pupils of the other school into teams for competitions. Their strong commitment to supporting good causes illustrates their deep reflection and care for each other. Teaching is good and consequently pupils make good progress. Strengths of provision are the flexible deployment of pupils to teaching groups and the way activities are planned to match pupils’ individual needs. Teaching engages pupils well and subjects are taught confidently.

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Grade: 2

Although teaching focuses well on most basic skills, the range of writing opportunities is limited. Pupils do not write sufficiently at length or practise this key skill enough across subjects. The curriculum is good. There is a good emphasis on learning from direct experience. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed a recent visit to a local farm and excursion to York Minster. A particular strength is the access pupils have to specialists, for example, science attainment has risen as a result of practical investigations. The combination of staff from the federated schools has led to an improved range of school clubs. A relative weakness, already identified by the school, is developing learning links between subjects more creatively. Care is outstanding because pupils are placed at the heart of this school. Staff implement a very high level of care based on vigilant systems. Safeguarding, child protection and risk assessments meet requirements. More able

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Grade: 2

pupils are challenged well. Those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities benefit from the 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 12 June 2009 skilled and sensitive support provided by teaching assistants. Attendance is monitored well with good attendance celebrated in the annual Governors’ Awards evening. Pupils know their learning targets and receive very good guidance on how to improve. Leadership and management are good. A particular strength is how the leadership successfully promotes links between the federated schools and these practices have gained national recognition. This first-rate clarity of direction can be traced to the enthusiasm of the headteacher who is supported very well by talented senior managers and excellent governance. Governance is excellent. Governors’ rigorous approach to accountability is evident in their termly workshops

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Grade: 2

used to receive curriculum presentations or to review progress with current priorities. This leads to effective challenge and close involvement in decision making. The federation has real impact because pupils make good progress academically and strong progress personally. Pupils are set challenging targets that represent faster than expected progress. Leadership monitors provision well probing for evidence of improvement through trails such as the extent of pupil engagement in lessons. This approach leads, in the main, to accurate self-evaluation and secure identification of development priorities. Leaders’ promotion of community cohesion is satisfactory. They have completed a secure audit and are working with other local network schools to draw up an action plan to improve pupils’ understanding of their place in the wider world.

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Grade: 2

Provision is good. Children’s personal development and their welfare are outstanding. Children are admitted to the Reception Year with skills and abilities that vary from below to above what is usually seen for this age. Starting points in communication and language skills are regularly lower. Children, now benefiting from a full year in Reception, make noticeable gains across all areas of learning. They quickly become confident, independent learners. They enjoy school, play together and behave very well, follow routines and listen to instructions. One managing the ‘travel agents’ politely remarked to another, ‘Just a minute please, I have other customers to see first.’ Learning is good because teaching is good. Children thrive because activities, balanced well between those directed by adults and those self selected, capture their interests and imagination. Children regularly probe and discover things for themselves. They find it exciting to investigate

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Grade: 2

the theme ‘light and dark’ by exploring the ‘Creepy Cave’ in the stimulating outdoor area. The whole-school focus on improving the teaching of letters and sounds starts with activities that benefit Reception children. Progress is good and current Reception children, who were admitted with skills broadly as expected for their age, are reaching the end of their first year above average. The excellent care is built around a warm supportive environment. Adults know each child’s individual needs and they fine tune personal support. Rigorous assessment procedures provide accurate information to track progress and inform planning. The good leadership and coordination of provision has enabled staff to implement new national requirements successfully.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the range of writing opportunities, including those for extended writing, throughout the curriculum. ■ Improve pupils’ understanding of the richness and diversity of the wider world. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 12 June 2009 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 12 June 2009

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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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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? 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

2 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 2 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 1 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 2 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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Achievement and standards

2 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/or disabilities make progress

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Achievement and standards

1 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 of 9 Inspection Report: Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 12 June 2009

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 1 The behaviour of learners 1 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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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 3 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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 of 9 Inspection Report: Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 12 June 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

15 June 2009 Dear Pupils Inspection of Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO25 9AR We enjoyed our recent inspection of your school. You are friendly and courteous; thank you for helping us. We enjoyed meeting you, looking at your work and talking to you. We were impressed by your friendly conversation, outstanding behaviour and good attendance. These are the things we found out about your school during our visit. It is a good school and all of the people who work in school are doing a very good job and it is a really happy place to be. Your personal development is outstanding. You value being fit, taking part in daily exercise and staying healthy. You feel very safe and know how to quickly access help. You love school activities that make up the good curriculum and out-of-school clubs. You have a real voice in school and have helped to improve it. You receive excellent care, support and guidance.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

The school provides you with a good curriculum. You enjoy the stimulating activities you regard learning as fun. You join different classes and groups so that the staff can meet your different needs effectively. This helps you to make good progress throughout the school. You play your part by working hard in lessons. Well done! Currently, the standards you reach are average. This varies from year to year because you have wide ranging starting points. There are two things the school could do better:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ improve the range of writing you do in all subjects especially having more time to produce a longer piece of writing ■ improve your understanding of the richness and diversity of the wider world.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Our very best wishes to you and all the staff who work with you. Yours faithfully Derek Sleightholme and Anthony Kingston Inspectors 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Beswick and Watton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, 12 June 2009

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