Stanton-in-Peak CofE Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Involve parents more directly in their children’s learning and development in the early years.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The widely respected headteacher has created a culture and ethos which enables staff and pupils to excel. She has kept a sharp focus on improving the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils, while also ensuring that pupils have a broad and rich curriculum. Her relentless pursuit of excellence has meant that the quality of education at the school has improved and pupils’ outcomes and provision are now outstanding.
• The headteacher and governors have a clear and accurate view of the school, informed by the views of pupils, parents and staff. They regularly check and monitor the work of the school, identify the areas they need to improve and implement highly effective actions to secure continual improvements. They are unafraid to challenge and change things when they are not having a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes, and are always looking for ways to further enrich the education of pupils at the school.
• Leaders and pupils are highly appreciative of the family feel and setting of the school. Leaders have ensured that pupils fully embrace the surrounding environment to develop their learning opportunities and inspire their imaginations.
• Staff and pupils embody the school’s values and treat everyone with respect and kindness.
• Leaders carefully track and monitor the progress of every pupil and know their specific learning needs. They implement highly effective support and challenge for any pupil who needs it. As a result, all pupils make strong progress from their starting points.
• The headteacher puts in place individual training programmes to support teachers’ professional development. She makes sure that teaching assistants are included in this process. Teaching assistants work closely with teachers and provide pupils with excellent support in lessons. All staff use skilful questioning to ensure that pupils make excellent progress.
• The headteacher is committed to offering the best opportunities for staff and pupils and actively seeks partnerships with other schools. Staff are encouraged to visit schools to share best practice and to regularly monitor pupils’ work. Staff benefit from highly relevant training, based on their performance management targets and whole-school improvements, for example the successful introduction of a new system to teach phonics. Staff regularly reflect upon and discuss teaching and pupils’ outcomes and this leads to high-quality teaching and learning and accurate assessment across the school.
• Additional government funding for primary school sport is used effectively. Teachers receive training to support their skills. Pupils take part in a wide range of sports, both in school and competitively. The school’s good work in this area has led to them winning the silver School Games Mark this year.
• Leaders make good use of the pupil premium funding to meet the individual needs of the very few pupils who are eligible. Leaders track and monitor the achievement of these pupils carefully to make sure that the funding is used effectively to have a positive impact on pupils’ progress across the curriculum.
• School leaders have skilfully planned an interesting and balanced curriculum that inspires pupils to learn. Topics ignite pupils’ imaginations and the content ensures that their literacy and numeracy skills are continually reinforced. The curriculum offers pupils a wide range of subjects in addition to English and mathematics, including history, geography, science, technology and art. Pupils also have the opportunity to attend the local secondary school to learn modern foreign languages and to benefit from the sporting facilities.
• Leaders provide pupils with excellent opportunities to develop their spiritual, moral social and cultural understanding. Pupils learn about different faiths and beliefs and they understand that this helps them to appreciate the views of others. Pupils visit a mosque, a Hindu temple and a synagogue as part of the religious education curriculum to learn about different religions. Pupils enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular sporting, academic and artistic clubs, as well as trips away to learn team-building skills.
• Leaders do their utmost to prepare pupils for the wider world of life in modern Britain. Year 6 pupils recently went on a residential trip to London where they visited 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament, and learned how to navigate the London Underground.
• Parents are extremely positive about the school. Every parent who responded to the online survey, Parent View, or who spoke with the inspector, would recommend the school to other parents. Parents commented on how happy their children are, what good progress their children make and how impressed they are with the teachers and the headteacher. One parent echoed the comments of many, and described how the school enables pupils, ‘to flourish academically as well-rounded caring, kind and respectful individuals’.
• Leaders involve parents in their child’s education, though not as systematically in the early years as in the rest of the school. Parents praise the school’s communication with them. As well as regular parents evenings, reports home and newsletters, parents are also invited into the school for workshops and coffee mornings to learn how to support their child’s learning at home. Staff welcome parents into their classrooms and the headteacher meets and greets parents daily.
• The local authority has provided effective support to the school. It has helped the school to make accurate judgements about the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.

The governance of the school

• The governing body has a very clear understanding of the school’s effectiveness, including how well each pupil is doing. The headteacher provides governors with regular and appropriate information to help them carry out their role rigorously and effectively.
• The governing body robustly uses the knowledge gathered from visits to the school, communication with parents, staff and pupils and reports from leaders to support the headteacher in taking actions to hold school leaders to account for the quality of education provided.
• The governing body has a clear understanding of how government funding has been used and governors talk authoritatively about the positive impact of this on individual pupils’ outcomes.
• Governors bring a wide range of skills and expertise to support the headteacher. They are very ambitious for the school and systematically check their own training to ensure that they continue to fulfil their roles as effectively as possible and to continually improve the school. They have recently completed training in safeguarding and the safe recruitment of staff, and have considerably strengthened their understanding of how to hold school leaders to account for pupils’ academic performance.
• The governing body rigorously ensures that the school’s performance management practice accurately reflects the school’s policy.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders and governors ensure that staff have up-to-date training, including how to identify ways that pupils may be at risk from hearing extremist views. Staff know what to do if they have any concerns about a pupil’s welfare. Records, including the single central record, are well maintained, monitored and updated. Leaders undertake the appropriate checks before a new member of staff starts working at the school. When it is necessary, the headteacher liaises closely with external agencies to make sure that pupils are safe. Governors carry out the necessary checks to assure themselves that school leaders are meeting statutory requirements.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers have very high expectations of what pupils can achieve. They plan highly effective lessons that motivate pupils and ensure that they make excellent progress. Pupils listen intently in lessons and approach new learning with excitement and enthusiasm.
• Teachers plan work which involves the most able pupils using investigation and higher thinking skills. Pupils are curious learners who welcome challenge. In mathematics, the most able pupils are encouraged to evaluate the best method to apply to mathematical problems and then decide and explain which approach to use. This deepens their knowledge, understanding and mastery of mathematics. In English, the most able pupils are challenged to use sophisticated, descriptive language in their writing. One Year 6 pupil wrote: ‘the evil mountain stood, stubborn, loathing, and deathly deceptive. The eternal bane to foolish humans who are stupid enough to climb him’.
• Teachers have excellent subject knowledge. They make sure that they take into account pupils’ prior learning and then use skilful questioning to constantly check pupils’ understanding and progress throughout the lesson. They use well-planned resources and the vibrant classrooms to stimulate pupils’ thinking. Teachers use time to the maximum effect in lessons, they take every opportunity to develop pupils’ learning.
• Teaching assistants are extremely effective in supporting pupils. They have trained alongside teachers and are skilled in helping pupils to make good progress in lessons. They contribute very well to the excellent progress that all pupils make in multi-age classes.
• Leaders have developed pupils’ love of reading. Pupils are involved in choosing new books for the school and reading is celebrated with whole-school rewards. Pupils read with confidence and expression. They can name their favourite books and authors; their choices include both classic and modern texts. Pupils’ reading journals demonstrate that they read regularly both at home and in school.
• Pupils are highly articulate. They have an impressive vocabulary for their age and can hold thoughtful conversations with adults.
• Leaders have made sure that teachers’ assessments are very accurate. Every pupil’s progress is closely tracked and monitored across a range of subjects. Consequently, it can be quickly identified if any pupil needs extra support and if so, it can be swiftly remedied. Leaders set highly ambitious targets for all pupils. The majority of pupils’ achievement exceeds age expectations by end of key stage 2.
• Pupils’ work in books is of a very high standard and demonstrates the rapid progress pupils make over time in all subjects. Teachers follow the school marking policy. They make the next steps of learning clear to pupils and give them time to respond to feedback. Pupils who spoke with the inspector understood why they had made mistakes and knew how to improve.
• Teachers plan homework that deepens pupils’ knowledge and understanding and is personalised for pupils’ interests and ability. Homework covers a range of curriculum subjects. Pupils enjoy the regular homework they are set and many choose to do additional tasks. A homework wall in the junior classroom displays work which pupils have opted to produce, after being inspired by their learning in school. Examples include pupils producing contour maps, drawing mountains, classifying wildlife and writing poetry.
• Leaders provide parents with regular reports and feedback on pupils’ progress. Parents are also given guidance on how to support their child’s learning on the school website, in pupils’ homework booklets and through newsletters and workshops.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils are confident, resilient and eager learners. Rich and vibrant displays around the school include lots of images of pupils enjoying learning. Pupils told the inspector that they feel well prepared for secondary school because they have been taught to be independent. One pupil said, ‘challenge is good; it helps you acquire new skills’.
• Leaders have introduced a reward system where pupils earn bronze, silver and gold badges. Badges are awarded to pupils when they demonstrate a range of skills such as good listening, responsibility, accepting others’ views, being organised and using their initiative. Pupils talk about and wear these badges with pride. They are motivated to then go on and achieve the school leader award, the highest school recognition for pupils’ leadership. The school’s reward system supports pupils to be full citizens and life-long learners.
• Pupils are encouraged to take responsibility as soon as they start school in the Reception Year. There is a school post box where all pupils post the letters they bring in from home and every morning pupils sign up for their choice of school dinner.
• All pupils benefit from the school’s excellent programme to develop their learning outdoors. Pupils are taught to celebrate nature and to care for and protect the environment for future generations. This has been highly successful in improving pupils’ self-esteem and resilience, as well as developing their spirituality and well-being. For example, when they visit the school camp on the moor, pupils are encouraged to leave behind any bad feelings.
• Pupils feel safe at school. They say that bullying is rare, but they are confident that their teachers would help them if it happened.
• Pupils learn about keeping themselves safe on the roads through the Bikeability scheme. They also know how to keep safe online and from strangers.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding, both in classes and around school. Pupils are courteous, polite and mix together extremely well.
• Pupils are ready and eager to learn in class. They support each other well in lessons. Pupils made a ‘kindness web’ in their personal, social and health education lesson to help them understand how their actions affect others and how they are all responsible for each other’s happiness at school.
• At playtime, pupils make energetic use of the well-supervised school grounds and play happily together. At the end of playtime they return to their lessons promptly, ready to start learning again.
• Attendance is above the national average. Persistent absence is not an issue at the school. Leaders are quick to follow up on the attendance of any pupil, if it begins to fall. Pupils value their education and understand the importance of coming to school.
• Pupils very much enjoy coming to school because teachers make lessons fun. They are proud of their school.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Leaders have taken effective action to improve on the already high standards that pupils achieve. Pupils’ progress is tracked with precision. Leaders work with other schools to ensure that their assessments are accurate. Evidence from these assessments and pupils’ work in class and in their books demonstrate that pupils’ outcomes are outstanding.
• The progress that pupils make across key stage 2 is outstanding. Pupils consistently achieve standards above the national averages for their age in reading, writing, mathematics and English grammar, punctuation and spelling. Pupils in key stage 2 progress equally well in subjects other than English and mathematics.
• School assessment information shows that pupils in all year groups are currently making at least good progress and many achieve more than age expected standards from their individual starting points. This progress matched what was seen in pupils’ books and in lessons.
• In key stage 1, pupils’ outcomes have, over time, been higher than age expectations. Inspection evidence shows that pupils currently make considerable and sustained progress from their starting points.
• Leaders introduced a new system to teach phonics because pupils’ progress had been below the national expectation in this measure. In 2016, all pupils passed the phonics screening check in Year 1.
• The most able pupils make very strong progress across a range of subjects because they are given opportunities to access the higher levels of learning and are taught in a very challenging way.
• There are too few disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities at the school to comment on their progress without identifying them. However, school assessment information and pupils’ books, show that throughout the school, pupils make excellent progress overall.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Leaders have ensured that outcomes for children in the early years have consistently remained above age expectations, despite a number of staff changes. This high level of achievement is continuing.
• Leaders make sure that they meet children and get to know them before they start in the Reception Year so that they settle quickly into school.
• The new early years teacher has a detailed knowledge of what the children can do and where they need support. He is using this information extremely well to make amendments to the curriculum and teaching where necessary. He is working with other schools to share ideas about best practice in the early years.
• The rich and varied curriculum engages children’s imaginations and curiosity. Children have fun when they are learning and make excellent progress as a result. For example, the inspector saw children totally absorbed in the pretence that they were in a time machine travelling to the future; with their eyes closed, their actions demonstrated that they were imagining every movement and noise. This activity was then used as a successful stimulus for children to write a description of what they saw, felt and heard when they opened their eyes.
• Teachers take every possible opportunity to develop children’s key skills of reading, writing and numbers. Talking about topics is encouraged at all times. Teachers and teaching assistants ask questions which help children to speak in sentences and to understand that stories have a beginning, middle and end. Teachers support children’s early reading by sounding out words and using phonics. They give children plenty of opportunities to practise reading and writing words.
• Adults set high expectations for children’s behaviour and children respond exceptionally well. Children listen intently in class, with their ‘magnet eyes’ glued to the teacher. They have forged positive relationships with the older pupils, who they see as role models. Children in the Reception Year work alongside Year 1 and 2 pupils; they work exceedingly well together. As the children are used to working within the same class, they are very well prepared for Year 1 and the transfer is seamless.
• Adults provide a highly caring and supportive environment which very effectively promotes children’s safety, welfare and social skills.
• All adults working in the Reception class contribute to assessments. Teachers use these assessments to plan appropriately for the next steps children need to take in their learning. Children’s learning journals show that they have completed a wide range of different activities covering all seven areas of learning and have already made good progress. Leaders have identified that they would like parents to contribute to assessment in the early years based on home activities, so that every step in a child’s early development is recorded.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 112856 Derbyshire 10019162 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 47 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address William Chandler Caroline Poole 01629 636301 www.stantoninpeakschool.org.uk headteacher@stanton-in-peak.derbyshire.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 24–25 November 2011

Information about this school

• The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school and only has two classes. One class is for children in the Reception Year and pupils in Years 1 and 2, and the other class is for pupils in Years 3 to 6.
• The large majority of pupils are White British, the proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is much lower than average. All pupils speak English as their first language.
• The very few disadvantaged pupils are supported by the pupil premium funding.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is much lower than average.
• In this school, with such small numbers in each year group, government floor standards do not apply.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Meetings were held with the headteacher, members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body, staff and a representative from the local authority.
• The inspector met with a group of Year 6 pupils and listened to three Year 1 pupils reading.
• The inspector took account of 19 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, 15 responses to the Ofsted free text service and spoke with parents when they brought their children to school in the morning.
• The inspector visited four lessons, all of which were seen jointly with the headteacher. In addition, she observed the behaviour of pupils at playtime and as they moved around the school.
• The inspector scrutinised in detail a range of pupils’ books in a variety of subjects.
• The inspector looked at a wide range of the school’s documentation, including the school’s evaluation of its own performance and development plan, information on pupils’ attainment and progress, attendance and behaviour records, safeguarding procedures, evaluations of the quality of teaching and learning, reviews of the pupil premium and sport funding and minutes of the governing body meetings.
• There were no responses to the online staff or pupil questionnaires.

Inspection team

Sally Smith, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector