Deeping St James Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve teaching further by:
  • ensuring that a greater proportion of pupils in key stage 1 make consistently good progress from their starting points.
• Improve leadership and management further by:
  • developing the provision for languages and computing so that these aspects of the curriculum are of the same high quality as other subjects.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher leads the school with determination, enthusiasm and skill. All the areas identified as needing improvement in the previous inspection have been tackled thoroughly. Senior staff provide strong and effective support for the school’s development.
• Leaders check teaching regularly through a mixture of observations and reviews of work in books. They have high expectations. Any areas requiring improvement are identified and further checks are then made to check progress. Targets set for teachers are clear and reviewed regularly.
• Staff are working consistently across current year groups to provide good learning opportunities. The school has a strong culture of staff collaboration and team working. This approach enables pupils to know what to expect as they move through the school and helps their learning.
• Staff with responsibility for subjects and other aspects of the school plan and review progress on agreed areas for development thoroughly. Staff receive regular training in order to keep their skills up to date.
• Leaders have ensured that staff and pupils understand their expectations for tolerance and respect. Pupils are taught about British values and have the opportunity to consider a wide range of faiths and cultures.
• The careful planning of literacy and numeracy teaching across the school means that pupils are confident and secure. Leaders have ensured that there are few differences in the progress made by pupils from different groups.
• Pupils study a good range of subjects in depth. They cover science, history, geography and other topics in some detail. The provision for art, music, sports and the range of trips available is exceptional for the size of school. Additional sports premium funding enhances and extends opportunities for participation well.
• Pupils participate enthusiastically in opportunities outside the school day. The school has a very strong reputation for its sporting and musical activities in the local area. Over half of the school take up the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. School assemblies are a hive of musical activity.
• Additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used effectively. The funding for disadvantaged pupils provides well-planned additional support and resources.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has a good range of skills and expertise.
• Governors have attended additional training where needed and have been successful in holding leaders to account for the performance of the school.
• The governing body has checked that additional funding for sports, disadvantaged pupils and for those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is spent wisely.
• The governing body has checked that the targets set for staff are suitable, ambitious and linked appropriately to pay progression.
• The governing body has made sure that safeguarding arrangements at the school are secure and that staff have had training in their understanding of radicalisation.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• School leaders ensure that all staff are suitably qualified and experienced. Staff receive regular training in how to be alert for any concerns they might have for a pupil’s welfare and they feel confident about how to report anything they are worried about.
• Pupils spoken to say they feel very safe in the school. They feel that pupils get on well with each other and they have no concerns about bullying. The very large majority of parents who completed Parent View, as well as the staff who completed a survey for this inspection, agree that this aspect of the school’s provision is strong.
• Around the school, the culture of tolerance and respect creates a positive and supportive environment where pupils thrive.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching is consistently good across the different year groups and in a wide range of subjects.
• Teachers are confident in their subject knowledge and use this well to plan lessons that enable pupils to make secure progress.
• In mathematics pupils regularly complete tasks to test their knowledge before tackling activities that are designed to close gaps in their current understanding. This enables teachers to plan activities that are appropriate, specific and helpful.
• A systematic approach to the use of common terms is helping pupils to write with confidence and accuracy across a range of subjects.
• Reading is taught with a high level of consistency, enabling pupils to develop secure skills. They develop a good understanding of how to sound out letters in the Reception Year, Year 1 and Year 2. Across the school, pupils read challenging books together and discuss them with enthusiasm.
• All classes cover a wide range of topics and subjects in depth. Pupils are expected to work hard and present work to a high standard regardless of the context.
• Teaching assistants have clear planning to support their work. They are trained well for their roles and the particular aspects of learning they will focus on.
• The school’s policy for marking and feedback about pupils’ work is detailed and staff across the school use this well. Pupils feel they are clear about how well they are doing as well as the things they need to concentrate on next.
• The school’s expectations for behaviour are consistent across the different classes. Relationships are positive and productive. Pupils say that learning is often ‘good fun’.
• Parents receive regular, helpful information about how well pupils are doing. They say they feel confident about contacting the school if they have queries or concerns.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are proud of their work and appreciate the school and its expectations. They are positive about every aspect of the school.
• Pupils are able to discuss ideas with each other in pairs or small groups. They listen well and are prepared to consider different views, cultures and faiths. They have a strong sense of the importance of tolerance and respect.
• Pupils say they feel safe and confident about being at school. Those spoken to say there is no bullying and are very confident that if they had any concerns an adult would deal with them effectively. They have a good understanding of how to stay safe when using computers.
• Pupils have a good understanding of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and know about the contribution made by diet and exercise.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils almost always concentrate well in lessons. Those spoken to said they found much of the learning enjoyable and fun. They are enthusiastic about the school’s approach to developing ‘learning behaviours’.
• Pupils behave very well as they move around the school. They are considerate of each other, respectful and polite.
• All groups of pupils attend regularly.
• Pupils listen to each other well when discussing ideas. In assemblies they give each other encouragement and support when performing. They participate in additional activities with enthusiasm.
• The pupils support the school’s house system by consistently trying to do their best.
• The school’s systems for developing positive attitudes to learning have been increasingly successful. A few pupils occasionally find it hard to maintain their concentration and enthusiasm when topics are difficult. The approach to developing ‘learning behaviours’ developed by the school is helping these pupils to keep going when they find it difficult.

Outcomes for pupils

Good

• Across the school, current pupils are making good progress from their starting points.
• Pupils make strong progress in key stage 2. In 2016 they made above average progress in writing. Their progress in reading and mathematics was well above average. Progress was also strong in 2015.
• Pupils make good progress across a wide range of subjects. They cover a lot of information in detail and with high expectations for the presentation of their work.
• Disadvantaged pupils are making good progress from their starting points, as are those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, make consistently good progress. They often receive additional support or benefit from more stretching tasks during lessons.
• Across the different year groups, pupils are developing secure skills in mathematics. They are confident in their use of calculations.
• Pupils are confident readers and enjoy tackling difficult books with enthusiasm. They develop a good understanding of how to sound out letters in key stage 1. The proportion who met the expected level in the Year 1 phonics check has been consistently above average.
• Pupils are able to write with accuracy and are secure in their use of specific techniques. They have a strong grasp of punctuation, grammar and spelling.
• Pupils are ready for the next stage of their education because they have secure skills and a positive attitude to learning.
• Some pupils in Year 2 did not make sufficient progress when they were in Year 1. Although they are now making good progress, some are still catching up, especially in their writing and mathematical skills.

Early years provision Good

• Children make a good start in the Reception Year.
• They respond quickly to the clear routines and the imaginative learning environment. They behave well and participate in activities with enthusiasm.
• Staff provide good support for learning during independent activities where children are exploring ideas and concepts. Sessions are planned well.
• Children listen well during whole class sessions. They get on well with each other and feel safe and secure.
• The arrangements for safeguarding are secure and thorough.
• Leadership of the early years provision is strong. Staff have a good understanding of strengths and any areas that require further development. Staff have received regular training.
• The outdoor learning area has a good level of imaginative resources. For example, a ‘pirate boat’ provides a focal point for learning.
• ‘Cheeky challenges’ are used to provide engagement with parents. All adults have the opportunity to make a contribution to the learning records that are kept.
• Phonics and numeracy are taught effectively and children develop their skills systematically across their time in the Reception Year.
• Children make good progress from their starting points and are ready for Year 1.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 120396 Lincolnshire 10031137 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 214 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Tim Hutton Ian Wilkinson 01778 342 314 www.deeping-st-james.lincs.sch.uk enquiries@deeping-st-james.lincs.sch.uk Dates of previous inspection 24–25 March 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• This is an average-sized primary school. Almost all pupils are White British.
• The children in Reception attend on a full-time basis.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is average.
• The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• The school site is also the base for ‘Jimmy D’s’. This is a playgroup and after-school club. This setting is not managed by the school and receives a separate Ofsted inspection report.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited 17 lessons, or parts of lessons. One lesson was observed jointly with the headteacher.
• Inspectors also looked at work in pupils’ books and heard several pupils read.
• Inspectors had discussions with pupils throughout the inspection.
• Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, subject leaders, other staff and three members of the governing body.
• Inspectors took account of the 26 responses to the online questionnaire for parents, Parent View, and spoke to some parents during the inspection. Account was taken of 19 responses made to the staff questionnaire and 47 responses to the pupil questionnaire.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documents. This included the school’s information about pupils’ progress, policies, plans, self-evaluation and minutes of meetings of the governing body. They also took account of records kept by the school relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.

Inspection team

David Bray, lead inspector Elizabeth Mace

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector