Warter Church of England Primary School

Warter Church of England Primary School Inspection report

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117996 Unique Reference Number East Riding of Yorkshire Local Authority 326733 Inspection number 19 November 2008 Inspection date Eric Jackson 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 Foundation School category 5–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 152 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 Matthew Green Chair Mrs Ann Wilson Headteacher 1 October 2005 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Addlekel School address Warter York North Yorkshire YO42 1XR

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5–11 Age group 19 November 2008 Inspection date 326733 Inspection number 01759 302061 Telephone number 01759 302274 Fax number

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5–11 Age group 19 November 2008 Inspection date 326733 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. 3 of 10 Inspection Report: Warter Church of England Primary School, 19 November 2008

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Introduction

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

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Introduction

■ the effectiveness of the school’s evaluation of comparative data to assess pupils’ achievement and attainment, particularly for potential higher attainers ■ the quality of pupils’ personal development and well-being

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Introduction

■ the impact of recent leadership and management initiatives.

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Introduction

The inspectors gathered evidence from lesson observations, looking at pupils’ work, assessment information, documents, interviews and discussions with the headteacher, staff, pupils, parents and governors. 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 smaller than average and popular primary, drawing its intake from a wide area. Almost all the pupils are White British and none are at an early stage of learning English. The large majority are from reasonably affluent backgrounds, and the proportion of them eligible for free school meals is well below average. A much smaller percentage of pupils than average are identified with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Warter Church of England Primary School, 19 November 2008

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. It has built well on its strengths from the last inspection, underpinned by its strong Christian values. The school has some outstanding features. Most parents are extremely supportive of the clear and decisive direction for improvement given by the recently appointed headteacher. With the new senior leadership team and the strong support of the governing body, she has put in train timely and well focused plans to take pupils’ learning forward. A typical parental comment was, ‘My children are extremely happy and are both doing exceptionally well. The school is very well run and the staff couldn’t be better.’ Pupils say that they love the school, really enjoy the scope and variety of lessons and activities, and relish the drive to improve their learning. Year 6 pupils felt that, ‘the school is one big happy family’, ‘the work is challenging and pushes you to get better’, and ‘everything’s good now, and we enjoy

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Grade: 2

it all.’ Pupils’ achievement and progress are good. Standards have been significantly above average for some years, particularly in reading, and current Year 2 and Year 6 pupils are on track to exceed the levels reached last year. New assessment and monitoring systems introduced by the headteacher have given the staff a much clearer picture of how pupils are progressing. Following this revised data analysis, concerns were raised about the achievement of a few potentially high attaining pupils. Effective improvements have been put in place, including changes in staff deployment and the setting of more precise and specific individual learning targets. These have raised the bar so that high attaining pupils in Years 5 and 6 are now flying. This is because expectations are high, teaching is good and occasionally outstanding, and pupils fully enjoy their success in learning through concentrated effort. Their very good attendance

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Grade: 2

attests to their desire to learn. The curriculum is well planned and covers all requirements efficiently. It ensures that pupils develop English, mathematics and science to high standards, preparing them well for their future education. Staff teams are working enthusiastically to implement a more creative approach to bring learning to life even more. For example, an afternoon session offers pupils from Year 2 to Year 6 a carousel of opportunities that cover many aspects of the wider curriculum led by staff in their specialist areas. Pupils rotate round these over a half term and they (and the staff) clearly enjoy themselves, making good progress in a wide range of skills linked across subjects, including learning languages other than English. Two newly qualified staff have brought specific talents in music and sport, and whilst they are at an early stage in their careers the support they receive from the school is effective.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are very proud of the school’s Green Flag Award for their ecological awareness and recycling. They make healthy food choices and join in physical and sporting activities with great spirit. Enrichment activities, including residential visits, themed cultural weeks, and visits to places of worship in Bradford promote pupils’ understanding of the diversity of British life, and add to their excellent spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils make effective use of the school’s small information and communication technology (ICT) suite and other ICT resources. However, neither the scope nor use of these resources is sufficiently embedded as a routine part of learning across the curriculum. Pupils’ personal development is excellent and their well-being is strongly promoted. The school is a very safe and caring environment, and all required safeguarding and child protection measures are in place. Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning are a credit to them, their

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Grade: 2

5 of 10 Inspection Report: Warter Church of England Primary School, 19 November 2008 parents and the school: they show great empathy and respect for others’ feelings and beliefs. They are guided to make good contributions to the school and local community, Year 6 pupils all acting as caring prefects for the younger ones. The support and guidance offered to pupils in their learning is also of high quality, involving them and their parents very effectively. The school is exemplary in ensuring that all pupils have full access to all its learning activities. Those identified with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who are able, gifted or talented are challenged and supported to learn at the level appropriate for them. This ensures that all groups make good and sometimes outstanding progress. The school’s action to promote higher achievement and encourage more girls to reach the highest levels is beginning to have good

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Grade: 2

impact. Leadership and management are good, and the clarity of direction for improvement is excellent. A small minority of parents expressed concern about recent changes, centred mainly on the perceived lack of consultation with them. The inspection found that parents are given reasonable opportunities to share their views on what is happening in the school. The chair of governors expresses great satisfaction with the developments currently progressing, including the agreement to extend the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to include nursery provision. The school is well placed to continue to improve and to make full use of the strong partnerships it has with parents, the church, other local schools and the local authority.

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Grade: 1

Most children have achieved above the levels expected for their age when they start in Reception. They make good and sometimes outstanding progress because the overall provision for them is excellent, as at the last inspection. The setting, shared with some Year 1 pupils, is safe and secure, and supports children’s learning across all the areas of experience very well. Their personal and social development is excellent because the staff promote extremely positive relationships, organising the learning environment very well to support children’s independence and cooperation. Parents and children know what is expected because the strong organisation and routines are made clear for them. Excellent assessment procedures ensure that each child’s needs are understood. This leads to precise and tailored learning tasks and good support to promote children’s progress which is highly valued by parents. The setting is led and managed

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Grade: 1

outstandingly, and regular monitoring and evaluation lead to secure planning and improve practice. Children make good progress and enter Year 1 at above and sometimes well above expected levels.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve pupils’ access to a wide range of ICT resources to better support their learning across the curriculum. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Warter Church of England Primary School, 19 November 2008 .

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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. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Warter Church of England Primary School, 19 November 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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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? 1 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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Achievement and standards

2 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 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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Warter Church of England Primary School, 19 November 2008

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learners?

1 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 1 The attendance of learners 1 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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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 1 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 2 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? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: Warter Church of England Primary School, 19 November 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

20 November 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Warter Church of England Primary School, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO42 1XR Mr Painter and I want to thank you for the pleasant and enjoyable day we spent with you. You made it easy for us to fulfil our task of checking how well your school helps you to grow and learn. Please also thank your parents for sending us their views. You and almost all your parents feel that Warter CE Primary is a great place to learn. We agree with you. If you look at the main report you will see that we have included some of your and your parents’ comments. Your school provides you with a good education that has some outstanding features. Some of the real strengths are:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ how effectively you develop as young people and the way your school includes every one of you, promoting your safety and well-being so well ■ the care, support and help you get to make progress in your learning

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ the excellent start made by the children in Reception

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ the enthusiasm and inventiveness of the staff in making your learning both useful and enjoyable ■ how well the school is led and managed.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Of course, your contribution is very important in all this. Your very good attendance, excellent behaviour and real determination to enjoy your learning are a great help in making your school so good. The staff are going to help you use ICT more in your learning, and is looking into whether it can come up with some more equipment and resources– it might not be MP3 players but you should still enjoy it! May I wish all of you a good Christmas and a happy and exciting 2009. Eric JacksonTony Painter Lead inspectorAdditional inspector. 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Warter Church of England Primary School, 19 November 2008

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