Stoke Holy Cross Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of leadership and management, by developing the new curriculum and effectively supporting colleagues in delivering it.
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning, and consequently outcomes, by:
  • increasing opportunities for writing across the curriculum, embedding the skills developed in pupils’ English lessons
  • ensuring that systems are in place in all lessons for staff to spot and correct misconceptions in a timely way.
• Improve the quality of education in early years by:
  • fully exploiting opportunities when children are playing, both inside and outside, to make clearer links between topics and maximise learning
  • ensuring that systems for adequate supervision of children at all times are infallible.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the previous inspection, there has been significant change within the leadership team. Many of the teachers are also new to the school. This leadership team has an accurate view of the school’s current strengths and weaknesses.
• The leadership team has clear plans on how to improve the school further. A key part of this is developing a curriculum for subjects other than English and mathematics, focused on knowledge and the skills to apply this in multiple areas. Work has begun on this curriculum, but it is too early to see an impact on outcomes for pupils.
• Middle leaders, many new to post, are keen to work with colleagues to improve the quality of teaching in their subject. They have had the opportunity to run staff meetings and discuss good practice. A very recent initiative was ‘lesson study’, where different teachers watched each other teach similar lessons with an agreed observation focus. Teachers feel that this was a highly successful approach and leaders have planned for it to be repeated.
• Leaders track pupils’ progress in detail. They know which pupil groups and individuals are at risk of not making enough progress. Discussions take place termly between the leadership team and both teachers and teaching assistants from each class to ensure that every child has targeted provision as needed.
• Staff feel well supported by leaders. Leaders mentor teachers well beyond the early years of their careers. There is a wide range of professional development opportunities available for staff to access, both in and out of school.
• Leaders at all levels are working closely with an external organisation to develop their own leadership and management skills. They attend a variety of external support networks and welcome external advice on how to improve the school.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is well organised and knowledgeable about her area of responsibility. Provision for pupils is regularly monitored, and is flexible and responsive to needs presented. Parents and carers are fully involved in ‘learning conversations’ about this support and their child’s development. Professional development has made teachers more confident in planning for this provision within their classes.
• The pupil premium funding is used effectively for a wide range of purposes, such as additional support, computer-based learning and funding for trips. The impact of these is measured closely. Consequently, disadvantaged pupils make similar progress to those who are not disadvantaged. However, their overall attainment is still lower than that of their non-disadvantaged peers.
• The physical education (PE) and sport premium funding is used effectively. There has been a successful focus on increasing participation in sports, both in school and through extra-curricular provision. Specialist training has enhanced the skills and confidence of staff in school to deliver good-quality PE lessons.

Governance of the school

• Governance of the school is strong. Governors bring a wide range of skills to support the work of the school. They provide strong strategic challenge to the school’s leaders.
• Governors work closely with leaders responsible for additional funding, ensuring that the impact of actions is measured and that future plans reflect what was best use of financial resources.
• They ensure that all appropriate checks are made on adults who are regularly in the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff know the pupils very well. There are very strong systems for recording daily contact with parents and issues that arise in class or on the playground over time. These help keep pupils safe.
• Staff are trained well in how to keep pupils safe and they are clear about the procedures for reporting any concerns. Any serious concerns are dealt with quickly and effectively by leaders. However, the systems for organising these once they have been followed through are not of the same quality as the daily notes in class and could be improved.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers make strong use of questioning, particularly in key stage 2, teasing out pupils’ understanding and making links back to the text or topic being studied.
• Teachers use the school’s preferred system of feedback to pupils well, feeding back improvements that individual pupils and the whole class can make, based on the previous day’s work. Leaders ask teachers to make regular use of individual whiteboards during teaching input, aiming for pupils to be fully involved. On occasion, staff do not notice quickly enough where pupils have not fully grasped the topic being covered.
• Teachers make regular use of physical apparatus in mathematics, both in demonstration and to support pupils of all abilities in their work. This is well embedded and pupils use this apparatus confidently and successfully.
• Pupils feel well challenged in their mathematics work. Teachers successfully use similar methods in each class to provide different levels of support or extension as needed.
• There have been recent improvements to the teaching of English. Teachers’ planning of sequences towards extended pieces of writing is clearer. In the younger years, pupils are now doing more pieces of writing than before. However, there are not yet enough opportunities for reading and writing in subjects other than English.
• Phonics teaching is effective and leaders have a clear idea of how it could be further improved, ensuring that the school’s chosen scheme is of the faster pace they expect and gets all pupils fully involved.
• Teachers provide daily opportunities for pupils to practise and develop their reading skills. These are enhanced by trips to the pleasant library and individual reading with the many volunteers, including one who brings along a trained reading dog.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge in the wider curriculum is being enhanced by the collaborative work on developing subjects. History and geography have been an initial focus, but there has also been whole-staff professional development on teaching skills in art. The increased quality of pupils’ work demonstrates the positive difference made by these projects.
• Teachers work closely together, across year groups. There is a strong collaborative nature to their work, and teachers regularly seek informal advice from others about how to improve their practice.
• Support staff work well alongside teachers. Most additional support, either as pre-teaching or follow-up to misconceptions, takes place in the main lessons. Pupils with SEND are well supported to access the curriculum.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils feel very safe. Virtually all parents who responded to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, agreed that their children feel safe. Pupils know exactly what to do if they have any worries or concerns.
• There have been hardly any incidents of discriminatory or possible bullying behaviour over the last two years.
• The school’s chosen approach to personal, social and health education is highly embedded into all aspects of school life. Pupils know how to calm themselves down using a three-step programme, and equally what safe spaces they can go to if they need to step away from a disagreement.
• Leaders make very good use of the school site to aid pupils’ personal development. They are kept healthy through use of a ‘trim trail’. They explore the wooded areas and are allowed to climb certain trees. Pupils spoke of their enjoyment of the different games played on the field in the summer months. All pupils spend 15 minutes each day running around the site in the ‘daily mile’.
• Pupils are also given opportunities to be quiet and take time to reflect. The recent provision of an outdoor classroom that doubles as a bird hide is a place where pupils can sit overlooking the school pond. The library is also available during pupils’ free time, for them to sit quietly and enjoy a book.
• Leaders have provided morning activities for certain pupils, to aid their daily transition from home to school. They take part in gymnastics and dance, with a focus on taking turns, and being calm and patient, yet active.
• British values are well embedded into behaviours expected of pupils. Pupils have a high level of respect for each other. They are tolerant of differences and extremely supportive of peers with additional needs.
• The school council organises fund-raising events for charity, with only minor support from school staff. Pupils listened carefully in an assembly led by the school council explaining what they were doing and why. They were thoughtful about why the chosen charity needed help and later in the day incredibly excited to tell the inspection team about the plans.
• Pupils have a high level of understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They explained this and demonstrated it in their work in computing lessons.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development is well provided for. Leaders have planned out a calendar of SMSC events and whole-school focus days, such as elections, harvest festival, singing workshops, theatre company visits and work with the RSPB. Each aspect of SMSC has dedicated professional development time planned for it during the year. Consequently, there is a wide range of high-quality opportunities for pupils to gain from.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils are exceptionally well behaved. They are incredibly polite, both to each other and adults. There is virtually no low-level disruption and when there is, due to excitement about their learning, pupils respond immediately to reminders.
• Pupils move very sensibly around the school. Their behaviour on the playground is impeccable. They help tidy up the lunch hall without needing to be asked.
• Pupils who have, in the past, presented more challenging behaviour now have excellent behaviour as a result of teachers’ and leaders’ work with them and their families. The support for some younger pupils with specific behavioural needs is of a very high standard and enables them to take a full part in school life.
• Pupils support each other to work through minor disagreements on the playground. Pupils asked the headteacher if they could set up a playground ‘buddies’ system, and then did so. Older pupils run games for younger ones and make sure that they get to and from lunch happily and safely.
• Attendance is above the national average. Pupils enjoy school and want to attend. The headteacher monitors attendance closely, and governors keep a close overview. Where punctuality has been a concern for families, strategies have been put in place and brought an end to lateness.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• At the end of key stage 2 in 2018, pupils made good progress from key stage 1. The percentage of pupils achieving at least the expected standard in reading was in line with the national average, and slightly below the national average in writing and mathematics. Over the last three years, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics has slightly increased, and is just below the national average.
• At the end of key stage 1 in 2018, the percentage of pupils achieving at least the expected standard was broadly in line with national averages in writing and mathematics, and slightly above in reading.
• A large majority of pupils in Year 1 reach the expected standard in the phonics screening check.
• The proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of early years was lower than in 2017.
• Pupils’ books across the school show that they are currently making strong progress and most are working at an appropriate standard for their age in writing and mathematics.
• Disadvantaged pupils make greater progress than their peers, although not enough of them yet are achieving the expected standards at the end of key stage 2.
• Pupils read widely, and they can apply their phonics skills to decode unfamiliar words.
• School case studies show that some pupils with SEND are now making accelerated progress from their individual starting points.

Early years provision Good

• The early years curriculum has had a recent strong focus on developing early reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders have made changes as a result of effective self-evaluation after fewer children achieved a good level of development than they should have in 2018, based on their entry levels.
• Most children enter with skills and development that are typical for their age. Leaders undertook a comprehensive baseline of these skills at the start of the year and have made and implemented detailed plans on how to address individual children’s needs.
• Children in early years have recently begun undertaking longer pieces of writing weekly and recording their own work in mathematics books. There is a noticeable improvement in the standard of children’s writing, and their understanding of simple sums and number formation in this time, but the impact is not yet evident in end-of-key-stage outcomes. Leaders are determined that their chosen systems continue to build on the progress and become sustainable over time.
• Children play happily in the early years setting. At times, they are directed to certain activities and have good stamina to keep focused on what they are doing. At other times, they have free choice. In both these situations, activities for children do not always link to topics being covered across the curriculum. Consequently, children do not make links in their learning that are possible.
• Links are made between areas of learning in the excellent forest school provision. Children take part in familiar activities, creating rules and routines and enabling them to keep themselves safe. They also take part in specific activities planned to link to learning from elsewhere, such as making a basket similar to that in the book ‘Handa’s Surprise’, using twigs, clay and wool.
• During the inspection, there was an incident that resulted in a member of staff having to rapidly leave her post supervising the outside area. Where another member of staff should have been alerted to cover, this did not happen quickly enough. There was no point at which children were in danger; however, leaders need to review the systems in place to avoid this happening again.
• The outside area is a safe place for children. It is completely fenced in and checked daily for risks by staff. Children enjoy playing with the ‘mud kitchen’, role playing making melted chocolate and pouring it into various containers.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 120910 Norfolk 10085473 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 Maintained 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 207 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Steve Hurrell Jeannette Chaney Telephone number 01508 493132 Website Email address www.stokeholycross.co.uk head@stokeholycross.norfolk.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 5 June 2013

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The school works closely with local schools in the Framingham Earl cluster.
• The school has a lower than average proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding.
• A breakfast and after-school club is provided by an external company, School’s Out, which is separately registered and inspected.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection team observed learning in every class. Some of these observations were undertaken alongside members of the senior leadership team.
• The inspection team observed pupils at play and at lunchtime.
• A wide range of pupils’ workbooks were looked at, both in classrooms and in meetings with senior and middle leaders.
• The inspection team met with senior and middle leaders, a group of teachers and the governing body. They also met two groups of children and heard some children read.
• The 115 responses to Parent View in this academic year were considered. The lead inspector also spoke to parents on the playground before school.
• The inspection team scrutinised the school’s website and other documents provided by senior leaders, including their self-evaluation of the school and the development plan.

Inspection team

Tessa Holledge, lead inspector Richard Griffiths Clare Fletcher

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector