Grimoldby Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by:
  • developing the role of subject leaders outside English, mathematics and science, particularly in checking how effectively pupils are learning
  • focusing the history and geography curriculum more clearly on developing pupils’ historical and geographical skills.
• Improve the quality of teaching in both key stages 1 and 2, particularly for the most able pupils, by:
  • providing more opportunities for pupils to develop their mathematical reasoning skills
  • checking more carefully that pupils’ mathematical explanations are accurate.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The new headteacher has had a positive impact at the school. He is well supported by the deputy headteacher and other senior leaders. Together they have improved the quality of teaching. As a result, current pupils enjoy their learning and are making good progress.
• Leaders check the quality of teaching robustly. They monitor lessons and scrutinise pupils’ work to check that the quality of teaching is consistently good. Where they find that teaching is not good enough, they put in support to ensure teaching improves. This support has been largely effective to ensure good teaching. Leaders ensure that only good teaching is rewarded through the performance management process.
• Training for all staff is promoted well by leaders and the school has joined the KYRA Teaching School Alliance. This has enabled teachers to learn from specialist leaders in mathematics and special educational needs and to improve provision in these areas. In addition, the strong practice in the school is shared with less experienced practitioners to improve the quality of teaching further.
• The subject leaders for mathematics, English and science monitor the quality of teaching well to support improved standards. Areas for improvement identified through their monitoring have been tackled and, as a result, the quality of teaching has improved. The mathematics leader has rightly identified that pupils did not have enough opportunities to develop their mathematical reasoning skills and training for staff has already started to remedy this. It is too early to judge the impact of this work, however.
• The broad curriculum is complemented well by a range of extra-curricular activities. For each topic, teachers plan a ‘wow moment’ to inspire the pupils to learn. For example, as part of their Misty Mountains topic, pupils in Year 4 learned how to pitch tents and tie knots to learn the skills of a mountaineer. In addition to the core curriculum, there are extra-curricular clubs for gardening and arts and crafts. Pupils in Year 6 have the opportunity to participate in more adventurous activities on a residential visit. These opportunities enable pupils to enjoy school and make good progress.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The school’s charter, drawn up after consultation with pupils, encourages respect for everyone. The charter is discussed regularly in assemblies and, consequently, the pupils know the school’s values well and are respectful to each other. Pupils learn about other religions and demonstrate a good knowledge of faiths different from their own. Pupils recently learned about Hinduism and children in the early years enjoyed listening to the story of Rama and Sita as part of the Diwali celebrations. Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain.
• The school uses the pupil premium funding well for a range of intervention groups that accelerate the progress of all disadvantaged pupils. The school’s current assessment information shows that the vast majority of disadvantaged pupils are making good progress, including those who are most able.
• The new special educational needs coordinator has a good oversight of all the intervention groups provided to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. She reviews the progress that the pupils make in these intervention groups and adapts the provision to meet the pupils’ needs. She has focused the provision to improve the reading comprehension skills of pupils in key stage 2. The pupils have made good progress following this intervention. The school uses its special educational needs funding well to meet the needs of pupils.
• The school has used funds from the primary physical education and sport premium to increase the number of extra-curricular sports clubs and promote pupils’ physical fitness. Currently, 60% of pupils participate in an extra-curricular club from a range including dancercise, football and fitness. The school also uses the funding to develop staff expertise. Recently, a member of staff attended training to teach gymnastics. The sports leader then observed the quality of teaching to check that the pupils’ achievement in gymnastics was improving.
• Parents are supportive of the school. All parents who responded to the online questionnaire said their child was happy and safe at school. Parents who responded to the text service commented that there was a good range of extra-curricular activities and they liked the new termly updates about their child’s progress.
• Staff morale is high. All staff who completed the staff survey feel the school has improved since the previous inspection.
• The local authority has provided good support to the school. The school’s adviser has supported the new headteacher and the governing body well to help improve the quality of provision. In addition, she has brokered support to develop leadership and assessment in the early years, as well as for the new leader of special educational needs. The school has used this support well to improve the quality of education at the school.
• The leadership of subjects outside mathematics, English and science is less well developed. In subjects other than these three, leaders do not robustly check that pupils are learning the knowledge and skills as quickly as they should. The curriculum in history and geography does not develop pupils’ historical and geographical skills sufficiently well.

Governance of the school

• The chair of the governing body leads the governors well. He is very knowledgeable about school improvement and checks regularly with school leaders about the improvements that are being made. This information is shared with all governors. Consequently, they have a good understanding of how well the school is doing.
• Governors have a good understanding of how the school tracks the progress of pupils. As a result, governors ask challenging questions to leaders about the progress that pupils are making, including that of disadvantaged pupils.
• The governing body has worked closely with the local authority to ensure that governors are challenging leaders appropriately, and that they have an external view of how well the school is moving forward. In addition, the governing body has also strongly supported leaders’ work with other local schools to ensure the teachers’ assessments are accurate. This has enabled the teachers and the governing body to have an accurate evaluation of how well the school is performing.
• The governing body manages the performance management process for teachers well. They use the expertise of an external consultant to set targets for the headteacher. They also challenge the headteacher to ensure that they only award pay increases to teachers to reward good performance.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders take prompt action if they have a concern about a child’s well-being. The school’s record-keeping is very detailed and of a high standard. The designated leaders for safeguarding regularly review the school’s records to check that pupils are safe.
• The school works well with external agencies to promote the well-being of vulnerable pupils. Extra funding is used well to meet the pupils’ needs.
• The school staff receive regular training for safeguarding. All staff have had ‘Prevent’ training to help protect pupils who may be at risk of radicalisation and extremism.
• Following the audit from the fire service, the school has acted on the recommendations in the audit report. The vast majority of staff have received fire safety training.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers provide many opportunities, across different genres, for pupils to develop their writing skills. In Year 1, pupils enthusiastically wrote captions for their comic about superheroes. Pupils in Year 5 were observed writing stories. One pupil wrote, ‘In the blink of an eye, a dark figure lurked in the distance.’ The pupils are motivated to write and are making good progress.
• The teaching of phonics is good. Pupils are enthusiastic about learning the sounds of letters and blending the sounds to make words. Pupils become fluent and confident readers. Pupils also use their phonic knowledge well to develop their spelling.
• The teachers are promoting science well. Older pupils are having the opportunity to plan and investigate their own hypotheses. Other pupils are being given the opportunity to record their findings to investigations independently and have opportunities to develop their scientific thinking.
• Pupils are becoming very fluent in mathematical calculations. Teachers use the school’s calculation policy consistently. Consequently, older pupils complete written mathematical calculations well. In addition, teachers provide many opportunities for pupils to solve problems. For example, pupils in Year 6 discussed how to calculate the answer to a mathematical problem systematically. They supported each other well and suggested several ways of solving the problem.
• Pupils are less confident to explain their mathematical reasoning, however. Teachers do not identify well enough when pupils have not been accurate in their mathematical explanations. Pupils are not consistently learning from their mistakes.
• Pupils in Year 5 have used historical sources of evidence to write about the ancient Egyptians. However, there is little evidence of pupils’ skills in historical enquiry being taught throughout the school. In addition, pupils’ understanding of human geography is not as well developed as it should be.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils enjoy the positions of responsibility that are provided. Junior road safety officers help promote road safety in assemblies. The elected school council was asked to visit another local school and to suggest ways how that school could improve. Other pupils help in the daily organisation of the school, for example by operating the technological devices used in assemblies.
• The vast majority of pupils take pride in their work. Pupils have developed fluent styles of handwriting and present their work neatly.
• Pupils cooperate well in lessons. They sensibly read each other’s work and make helpful suggestions for improvement.
• The school’s family support worker has developed good relationships with pupils and their parents. She has helped to support pupils’ emotional well-being, including among those who are anxious.
• Pupils have a good understanding of how to stay safe online. They know not to share their personal details and to report any concerns they have to an adult.
• Pupils say bullying is rare at the school. They are confident that adults will sort out any issues that arise. School records show very few incidents of bullying.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• The pupils walk around the school in an orderly manner. Pupils cooperate well at breaktimes and are kind to each other. In assembly, the pupils’ behaviour is excellent. Pupils listen attentively and contribute questions.
• In the classrooms, pupils’ relationships with the teachers and other adults are mostly very positive. Pupils say lessons are fun and they work hard. In most lessons, pupils are highly engaged and they follow the adults’ advice closely. However, the behaviour of pupils in Year 3 is not as consistently positive as in the rest of the school.
• Pupils’ attendance is above the national average. School leaders have robustly enforced the school’s attendance policy. As a result, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has dropped sharply in the current academic year. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils is also above the latest national average. Currently, no disadvantaged pupils are persistently absent.

Outcomes for pupils

Good

• Pupils are developing a good understanding of their reading. Pupils regularly complete reading comprehension exercises which develop their skills of deduction and inference. Scrutiny of pupils’ books shows that they have made good progress since the start of the academic year.
• The pupils’ ability to complete written calculations using the four rules of number is good. In addition, pupils have many opportunities to complete problem-solving activities. In 2016, the proportions of pupils who achieved the expected level in mathematics at the end of both key stages 1 and 2 were above the national averages. The ability of pupils to reason mathematically is less developed, however. The proportion of pupils who achieved highly at the end of key stage 2 in 2016 was low compared to the national average.
• Pupils make good progress with their writing. Pupils also write with empathy. One pupil in Year 6 wrote, ‘All the passengers were gripped by fear of death as they were put into the lifeboats.’ In 2016, the proportions of pupils who achieved at least the expected standard in writing were above the national averages at the end of both key stages 1 and 2.
• Pupils use a range of punctuation well and use paragraphs accurately in their writing. The proportion of pupils who achieved at least the expected standard in English grammar, spelling and punctuation at the end of key stage 2 was above the national average in 2016.
• The progress made by all pupils from the end of the Reception Year to the end of Year 2 was good in 2016 for reading, writing and mathematics.
• Scrutiny of disadvantaged pupils’ work shows that most have made good progress from their starting points. The achievement of disadvantaged pupils in the current Year 6, including those who are most able, is much higher than it was in previous year groups at this age. In addition, a larger proportion of disadvantaged pupils are achieving higher standards in mathematics at the end of key stage 1 than previously.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make broadly average progress by the end of key stage 2. In 2016, this group of pupils made less progress than other pupils nationally in reading. As a result, the school has focused its provision to improve reading skills for this group of pupils. Scrutiny of pupils’ work shows that most are making good progress with their reading comprehension skills.
• The most able pupils said they feel challenged at school, particularly in mathematics. The school is providing extra tuition for the most able pupils to accelerate their progress in all subjects. The school’s assessment information shows that the majority of these pupils are on track to achieve highly.
• Attainment in phonics at the end of Year 1 is high. The proportion of pupils who achieve the expected standard in the phonics check has been consistently above or close to the national average for the past three years.

Early years provision Good

• The children have a good start in the early years. They are motivated to learn and are highly engaged in the learning activities. The children behave well. Adults readily praise the children’s good work and this promotes a positive climate for learning.
• Teachers and teaching assistants regularly assess children’s learning to check what they can do and to plan what they should move on to next. The adults use questioning effectively to support learning. Teachers regularly check the progress that all of the children are making. If any children are at risk of underachievement, all adults are informed, and extra support is put in place. Children make good progress from their starting points.
• There is close planning between the Nursery teacher and the Reception teacher. This ensures a smooth transition between the two year groups. In addition, the Reception teacher continues to support some pupils after they have moved into Year 1. This enables pupils to receive extra support to meet their needs and ensure a successful transition into Year 1.
• The children’s writing skills are developed well. The children are learning to write in sentences and to add detail to their writing. One child in the Reception Year wrote to Peter Pan, ‘We have found your treasure. We are going to keep it safe while you’re not here. Please come and pick it up from Grimoldby School.’
• Teachers provide children with real-life problems to develop the children’s mathematical skills. Children were asked how many adults are needed to supervise the children on the ‘wellie walks’, if one adult supervised two children. The children used apparatus to work out their answers.
• The children’s creative development is also promoted well. Children learned how to mix colours to create a similar background to a Paul Klee painting. Children were also encouraged to draw their self-portrait in the artist’s style.
• The early years leader uses pupil premium funding well to promote the children’s social and emotional development as well as their speech and language skills. In addition, adults hear disadvantaged children reading daily. This group of children have made good progress from their starting points.
• The school has good links with external agencies to provide extra support to meet the needs of the children. The school works closely with parents to make sure any support is consistently implemented both at school and at home.
• The school staff work very well with parents. Communication is effective. Parents are very complimentary about how school staff have helped their children settle quickly into school routines. They know they can approach their child’s key worker in the Nursery to find out how their child is progressing. Increasingly, parents are checking the online learning journeys to find out more about what their child has learned. In addition, staff organise workshops which focus on phonics, behaviour and reading to enable parents to see how the staff teach their children in these areas of learning.
• In 2015 and 2016, the proportion of children who achieved a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year has been above the national average. The children are well prepared for Year 1.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 120684 Lincolnshire 10023089 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 Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 225 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Andy Craven Simon Clark 01507 327393 www.grimoldbyschool.net/ enquiries@grimoldby.lincs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 9–10 December 2014

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The headteacher has been in post for 12 months.
• The school is smaller than the average primary school.
• Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations at the end of Year 6 for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed lessons in every class, some jointly with the headteacher. The inspectors also observed the headteacher giving feedback to teachers following lesson observations.
• The inspectors looked at pupils’ work in a range of subjects.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the leaders of English, mathematics, physical education and the early years, a representative of the local authority and two members of the governing body. An inspector spoke to the chair of the governing body on the telephone.
• The inspectors spoke informally with parents at the start of the school day. The inspectors considered 30 responses to the online Ofsted questionnaire, Parent View, and 25 responses to the free-text service to parents.
• The inspectors also considered responses to a questionnaire completed by 15 members of the school staff.
• The inspectors spoke with a group of pupils from key stages 1 and 2, listened to pupils read and observed pupils at breaktime, in the dining hall and in assembly.
• The inspectors looked at a range of documentation including the school’s self-evaluation, the school’s improvement plan, minutes of meetings of the governing body, the headteacher’s reports to the governing body, the school’s most recent information on pupils’ attainment and progress and information related to safeguarding, fire safety, behaviour and attendance.

Inspection team

Martin Finch, lead inspector Rebecca King

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector