Captain Shaw's CofE School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Develop the leadership, management and governance of the school by ensuring that:
  • plans to improve the school contain measurable targets that will enable leaders and governors to evaluate the effectiveness of the school
  • the spending of the pupil premium focuses on removing identified barriers to learning
  • leaders’ work to monitor the effectiveness of teaching focuses on the impact that teaching has on the progress made by different groups of pupils
  • teachers receive training that supports their development and improves the effectiveness of teaching
  • teachers are made accountable for the progress made by their pupils
  • the contents of the school’s website meet requirements
  • governors rigorously hold leaders to account for the progress made by pupils and the effectiveness of teaching.
• Improve the quality of teaching and assessment, and thereby outcomes, by ensuring that:
  • teachers have high expectations of what all pupils can achieve and provide work for all pupils, particularly the most able, that provides consistently high levels of challenge
  • recent improvements to the teaching of writing are built upon so that pupils’ progress in this area improves at a faster rate. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management can be improved. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The headteacher was appointed in September 2015. Since this time, the school has grown significantly in size. The number of pupils and staff has increased. The headteacher has positioned the school at the centre of the local community. However, leaders have not been able to ensure that the quality of teaching is good. As a result, many pupils at the school are currently working at levels that are below those typical for their age and starting points.
• Leaders’ monitoring of teaching does not focus on the extent to which teaching secures appropriate rates of progress among different groups. Leaders are acutely aware of the challenges presented by having classes that are composed of pupils with a broad range of ages and abilities. However, they have not ensured that the monitoring of teaching checks that teachers plan work that matches the needs of all pupils.
• Leaders do not hold teachers to account for the progress made by their pupils. The targets that teachers set in conjunction with leaders do not establish specific and ambitious targets for pupils’ progress. As a result, issues to do with slow progress and low attainment are not tackled with an appropriate sense of urgency.
• Leaders have not ensured that teachers receive training that secures tangible improvements to the quality of teaching. Although the school works collaboratively within different partnerships, teachers have not benefited from regular opportunities to share effective practice with colleagues in other schools.
• Plans to improve the school do not contain measurable targets. As a result, the headteacher and governors are unable to precisely evaluate the impact of different improvement strategies. Leaders have not used information about the school’s performance to gain an accurate view of the effectiveness of the school. Consequently, leaders’ views of the school’s effectiveness are overgenerous and are not rooted in a firm evidence base.
• Leaders’ spending of the pupil premium does not focus on removing identified barriers to achievement. Furthermore, leaders do not evaluate the effectiveness of previous pupil premium spending. As a result, the pupil premium is not effectively deployed to accelerate the progress made by disadvantaged pupils.
• Leaders have ensured that pupils benefit from a lively, engaging and balanced curriculum. Pupils become immersed in their cross-curricular topic work and they value the extensive range of enrichment opportunities that bring many academic and social benefits. The headteacher has championed the growth of music and the arts. All pupils in key stage 2 learn to play the ukulele and a brass instrument. The school’s brass band played at the ‘Rock The Fells’ music festival and the school’s production of ‘The Tempest’ was performed at a renowned local theatre. All pupils are encouraged to participate in a broad range of exciting extra-curricular activities that are consistent with the school’s description of itself as ‘small but mighty’. The curriculum therefore makes a strong contribution to pupils’ personal development.
• Leaders have ensured that the school is positioned at the very heart of the local community. The school’s imprint is felt in many places around the local village. The local bus stop has become a vibrant art gallery for the school and the village telephone box has been transformed into the ‘Bootle book box’, which provides a vehicle for local people to share and swap books. The school is valued by the local community and children derive great benefit from the wider work of the school.
• Positive and harmonious relationships permeate all corners of the school community. Children very much enjoy each other’s company and pupils of all ages play and learn collaboratively.
• Leaders have ensured that the physical education and sports premium is used effectively. Leaders have used this funding to enhance the school’s sporting equipment. They have also employed sports coaches to ensure that pupils have access to high-quality specialist sports teaching, with the intention of engendering within pupils a lifelong commitment to maintaining healthy and active lifestyles.
• The school’s work to develop the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) understanding of pupils is very strong. Leaders are acutely aware that the composition of the school and local area lacks the diversity that is evident across the country. As a result, leaders have consciously sought to provide pupils with frequent and varied opportunities to learn about life within multicultural and multifaith Britain. For example, pupils visit a synagogue and mosque in Manchester, as well as a local Buddhist temple. As a result, pupils are sensitive, knowledgeable and tolerant of people’s differences. Furthermore, the school’s work to promote fundamental British values aligns seamlessly with its approach to SMSC. Pupils are encouraged to be respectful of people’s differences and they recognise their important role within society.
• Leaders have ensured that the school’s use of special educational needs funding is having a positive impact on those pupils identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities. Individual educational plans focus sharply on precise targets for improvement and evidence presented by leaders demonstrates that these pupils are making good progress. In some cases, there are clear signs that pupils who have specific learning difficulties are making accelerated progress and catching up with other pupils at the school.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the work of the school. All respondents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire strongly indicate that their child is happy at the school and all would recommend the school to another parent.

Governance of the school

• Governors recognise that they have not rigorously challenged leaders with regard to pupils’ outcomes. They have been too reliant on external sources of information which do not provide any insight into the progress being made by pupils throughout the school. As a result, the need to accelerate pupil progress has become buried under the need to secure the long-term viability of the school.
• Governors do not have a detailed or accurate view of teaching at the school. They have not challenged leaders to provide them with incisive information that sharply evaluates the effectiveness of teaching and its impact on rates of pupil progress. Members of the governing body are conscious of the fact that none of them have extensive educational experience and they plan to expand the breadth of their training to enable them to challenge leaders over operational educational matters more authoritatively.
• Governors have not ensured that the contents of the school’s website meet requirements.
• The governing body has provided strong support to the headteacher in his efforts to increase pupil numbers and develop the school’s work within the local community. They fought for the school’s survival when it was threatened with closure and they have rigorously challenged leaders over their use of resources and proposed pupil numbers.
• In tandem with the headteacher, the new chair of governors has driven the expansion of the school’s community work and she is keen for the success of the school to provide ‘a beacon of hope for other rural communities’. The skills and experience of governors enhance their ability to support leaders with the financial and community aspects of school leadership. Governors have demonstrated resourcefulness and creativity to maintain the school during a lean period of low pupil numbers.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The school completes all appropriate employment checks on prospective members of staff.
• Staff receive regular safeguarding training that equips them with the knowledge and understanding to be alert to different signs of abuse and neglect. Staff are aware of the processes for making referrals if they have concerns about a child’s welfare. They know the pupils exceptionally well and are sensitive to any subtle changes in mood or behaviour. Consequently, adults are very attentive to pupils’ needs and pupils are well looked after.
• The school liaises effectively with external agencies. The school nurse acts as a focal point for multi-agency work and she is well known to families.
• The school undertakes a great deal of positive work to ensure that pupils have a sound understanding of how to keep themselves safe in different areas. For example, pupils have completed a ‘bikeability’ course to equip them with the skills and awareness to cycle safely. Pupils were also keen to highlight their awareness of ‘stranger danger’.
• The school liaises effectively with parents to ensure that their children are safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The overall quality of teaching is variable across subjects and classes.
• Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are not high enough. As a result, pupils do not consistently complete work that challenges them. Some pupils told the inspector that they found work too easy.
• In lessons, too many pupils complete the same work. As a result, the most able are not sufficiently challenged and the least able often struggle and fail to complete their work.
• Teachers sometimes do not tackle pupils’ misconceptions.
• Some pupils lack resilience and are quick to give up when they find the work difficult or uninspiring. Some pupils do not present their work neatly and this is not decisively challenged by members of staff.
• The teaching of writing is weaker than other areas. This is because teachers have low expectations of pupils’ writing. As a result, pupils are not challenged sufficiently to develop the fluency and sophistication of their writing.
• Teachers and other adults question pupils effectively. Questioning is used to probe pupils’ understanding and to support pupils to think more deeply. Strong questioning was observed in group sessions for mathematics, where pupils were challenged to explain their reasoning and justify the mathematical strategy they had chosen to follow.
• Teachers and teaching assistants challenge pupils more effectively when they are working in groups and pupils respond positively to work being pitched at a level that challenges them. A particularly effective Year 6 booster class was observed in which the level of challenge was high and the teacher carefully addressed gaps in pupils’ understanding.
• Teachers prioritise making learning memorable. For example, pupils were invited to the ‘improper pizza parlour’ to learn about improper fractions and pupils in key stage 1 learned about money through role-playing being a shopkeeper. Pupils respond enthusiastically to these strategies and quickly become immersed in their learning.
• Teachers explain new concepts effectively. They utilise a range of resources to help pupils to understand new ideas and they model new skills, such as aspects of writing, with clarity and precision.
• Teachers are using a new tracking system which enables them to analyse where gaps in pupils’ understanding lie. As a result, teachers’ planning is beginning to build more effectively upon what pupils already know and can do.

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 provided with opportunities to grow in confidence and stature. They are proud of their school and what is achieved as a team. Pupils understand the importance of working together and they play and learn together exceptionally well.
• Pupils who talked to the inspector were very positive about the school. They said that bullying never happens because pupils respect each other and adults are always on hand to resolve minor issues before they escalate. Pupils spoke positively about the school’s work to promote equality and they could speak with authority about the harmful effects of prejudice and discrimination.
• Pupils’ welfare is at the heart of the school’s work. Pupils receive regular messages about the importance of healthy living. Key stage 2 pupils prepare a weekly ‘Captain’s meal’ for the local community and, as part of their training, they have to complete a course on nutrition. Pupils throughout the school benefit from weekly swimming lessons.
• Pupils are supported to look after their emotional well-being. All pupils benefit from forest and beach school lessons that encourage them to make a positive connection with nature and the school’s awe-inspiring surroundings. Leaders have introduced a tai chi club for pupils and their families to increase the range of extra-curricular physical activities and to introduce some of the practices and principles underpinning mindfulness.
• Pupils demonstrate a secure understanding of how to keep safe in many ways. For example, they understand how to keep safe on the roads and after dark. Despite this, pupils were less confident about how to keep safe when online. This is because leaders have yet to revisit this important topic during the current academic year.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils conduct themselves very well in lessons and around the school site. Pupils are happy, high-spirited, inquisitive and respectful.
• Low-level disruption is very rare in lessons and, on the occasions it does occur, it is managed skilfully by staff who employ strategies that encourage pupils to reflect upon their actions. Staff are respectful, sensitive and considerate and this sets the tone for the harmonious relationships that are a key feature of school life.
• Pupils are responsive to instructions. They are attentive and respond positively to established routines within the classroom and around the site.
• Leaders have employed a number of innovative strategies to improve attendance after a period of decline. For example, the school minibus picks up pupils who live in remote areas each morning. The school also employs a nurse for several hours per month so that children and their family members can book appointments with the nurse at school, rather than take time off to travel to a medical appointment. As a result of this work, attendance is rising quickly and is close to national figures.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Although improving, pupils are not making consistently good progress over time. Too many pupils are working below levels that are typical for their age and starting points, particularly in writing and mathematics.
• Pupils have not made good progress because teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. Teachers have not ensured that all pupils are challenged to make rapid progress.
• Pupils’ performance in national tests over time has been broadly in line with national averages. However, progress across subjects and year groups is variable and too many pupils are working at levels that are below those expected for their age.
• Leaders have only recently introduced systems to monitor attainment in science and spelling, punctuation and grammar. They are therefore unable to evaluate how much progress pupils make in these areas.
• Leaders have not ensured that the pupil premium is spent effectively. There is no precise focus on removing identified barriers to learning for the disadvantaged pupils. As a consequence, there is significant variability in the progress being made by disadvantaged pupils at the school, although these pupils make progress that is broadly as fast as other pupils.
• The most able pupils have not been challenged to achieve high levels of attainment or make rapid progress. This is because teachers do not have high enough expectations of what these pupils can achieve. Teachers do not routinely provide the most able pupils with work that challenges them to make rapid progress. As a result, these pupils make progress that is only as fast as others.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making good progress. This is because individual plans to raise their achievement are tightly focused on measurable targets that support them to overcome barriers to achievement. In some cases, pupils are making rapid progress and are catching up with others.
• Information provided by school leaders indicates that pupils have started to make quicker progress this year. Promisingly, the school’s information indicates that pupils are making the fastest progress in writing, which is the curriculum area with the lowest overall attainment. Pupils are making quicker progress because teachers and other adults have become more attentive to the needs of individual pupils. Due to improved tracking of pupils’ attainment, group teaching is now more focused on addressing gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding. As a result, a higher proportion of teaching is pitched at the right level for pupils to make rapid gains in their learning.
• Leaders have created a culture in which pupils enjoy reading. Pupils read fluently and with expression. They also read texts that provide appropriate challenge. Pupils are committed to being the best readers they can be and derive great pleasure from moving up levels in their reading. Consequently, pupils make faster progress in reading than other subjects.
• Pupils who leave Year 6 are well placed to succeed at secondary school. This is because of the school’s work on personal development and the fact that pupils leave the school with attainment that is broadly in line with national averages. Pupils participate in a range of transition activities to help them acclimatise to life at secondary school.

Early years provision Good

• Leadership of the early years is good. Leaders have an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in provision. They have demonstrated inventiveness and versatility to create an effective provision within a class that caters for pupils aged between four and seven.
• Teaching is effective. Expectations of what children in the early years can achieve are high. Adults use questioning effectively to check children’s understanding and to challenge them to think more deeply. Children benefit from a stimulating blend of opportunities to select an activity and work without adult guidance and more formal methods of teaching. Children spend a significant amount of time being taught with pupils in Years 1 and 2 and they rise to the challenge of learning alongside their older classmates.
• Adults assess what children can do with precision and accuracy. Children’s attainment is tracked and monitored closely and adults ensure that children are provided with ample opportunity to practise skills in areas where they are weaker.
• Over time, children’s outcomes in the early years have been good. Children arrive in the Reception class with knowledge and understanding that are broadly typical for their age. The proportion who start Year 1 having achieved a good level of development is also broadly in line with national averages. This represents solid progress.
• Children who do not achieve a good level of development in the early years are supported very effectively in Year 1 and are challenged to make rapid progress that enables them to catch up with their peers. As a result, pupils benefit greatly from the continuity in teaching between Reception and Year 1.
• Adults liaise effectively with parents. The early years provision has an ‘open door’ policy at the start of each day and a number of parents take advantage of this opportunity to play a greater role in the learning of their child. Parents are also invited to provide the school with evidence of their child’s learning away from school.
• Children are happy, friendly and confident. They play and learn well with children of different ages. They also interact enthusiastically with adults. Children behave well and feel safe.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 112290 Cumbria 10024412 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 32 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Trudy Harrison Peter Mills 01229 718279 www.capt-shaws.cumbria.sch.uk/ admin@capt-shaws.cumbria.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 15–16 May 2013

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the curriculum, the school’s use of the pupil premium and the physical education and sports premium or information about governors and their duties on its website.
• The school is much smaller than an average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The vast majority of pupils are White British and they all speak English as their first language.
• There are two classes. One combines the early years foundation stage with key stage 1 and the other incorporates all the pupils in key stage 2.
• The current headteacher started working at the school in September 2015. A new chair of governors has also been appointed since the previous inspection.
• The number of staff working at the school has increased since the last inspection.
• No pupils are educated through off-site provision.

Information about this inspection

• Meetings were held with the headteacher and a member of the governing body. The inspector also held telephone conversations with a representative from the local authority and the chair of governors.
• A meeting was held with a teacher and teaching assistant from the school.
• The inspector formally interviewed a group of pupils from different year groups and spoke to a range of pupils informally at breaktime and lunchtime. The inspector also observed pupils’ conduct and behaviour throughout the school day.
• The inspector observed lessons across the school. Some observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher. He also undertook a number of shorter visits to lessons to gauge the climate for learning and pupils’ behaviour.
• The inspector worked with the headteacher to look closely at samples of pupils’ written work across a range of subjects and year groups.
• The inspector listened to pupils read.
• A wide range of documents were scrutinised, including the school’s policies, records relating to the school’s use of pupil premium and performance information. Developmental planning, self-evaluation documents and records relating to teaching and learning were also considered. During the inspection, detailed consideration was given to policies and practices relating to safeguarding and also to how the school prepares its pupils for life in modern Britain.
• Inspectors considered 18 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, as well as 18 responses on Ofsted’s free text service. There were no responses to the staff or pupil questionnaires.

Inspection team

Will Smith, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector