Carlton-in-Snaith Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and learning, including in the early years, by ensuring that:
  • all teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve
  • teachers plan more effectively to develop pupils’ mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills
  • the teaching of phonics is consistent between the early years and key stage 1, so that pupils can make speedy progress in acquiring their early reading skills
  • all teachers use assessment information to plan activities that build systematically upon what pupils already know and can do and understand.
• Improve leadership and management, including in the early years, by ensuring that:
  • leaders evaluate systematically the effect of their actions on improving pupils’ progress and attainment
  • all leaders use monitoring information to pinpoint the aspects of teachers’ practice that require improvement and follow this through in a timely manner
  • middle leaders, including those with responsibility for children in the early years, have the knowledge and skills needed to effect improvements in their areas of responsibility
  • plans for the curriculum, including those for personal and social development, are realised and promote pupils’ good achievement in a range of subjects.
• Improve pupils’ attendance and reduce the proportion of pupils regularly absent from school.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The headteacher is ambitious for the future of the school and demonstrates great aspiration for the pupils in his charge. He has resolutely managed a period of considerable staffing turbulence. Until very recently, there has been no leadership team in place to support the headteacher in his efforts to make improvements. In September 2018 and January 2018, a new deputy headteacher and business manager were appointed respectively to bring greater stability to senior leadership.
• Leaders have responded positively to the areas for improvement left at the monitoring inspection in June 2018. Although leaders have acted to tackle these, it is too early to evaluate the impact of such changes to bring about the improvements required.
• Middle leaders, including the early years leader, are in post, but they currently lack the leadership knowledge and skills to secure improvement. Most leaders undertake checks on the quality of teaching, but they focus too much upon compliance with school policy. There is not enough done to pinpoint the aspects of teaching that require improvement. Therefore, the quality of teaching is not improving rapidly enough. Support and advice from the local authority and other partners are secured to improve matters, but it is too early to measure the effectiveness of this support.
• Local authority advisory support has enabled the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) to have a clearer understanding of the spread of needs across all year groups. Early identification of pupils’ needs is effective, and subsequent individual pupils’ plans are reflective of pupils’ specific needs. This represents an improvement from the monitoring inspection of June 2018.
• Leaders organised a review of their use of pupil premium spending. They sought the advice of other schools and considered research findings to inform their strategy. As a result, the pupil premium strategy fulfils statutory requirements and governors ensure that this funding is now targeted to support disadvantaged pupils appropriately. However, leaders are not systematically reviewing the impact of their spending. Consequently, when differences exist between disadvantaged pupils’ attainment and that of their peers, leaders are unable to evaluate if attainment is improving because of their actions.
• Additional sports funding is used to supplement physical education (PE) resources, and to increase the after-school club offer. Sports coaches are also funded to enhance the curriculum offer. However, leaders do not systematically evaluate the impact of the funding on improving pupils’ achievement and increasing pupils’ participation in sporting activities or competitions.
• The current curriculum is broad and balanced and provides pupils with a range of enriching experiences. However, activities planned do not consistently build pupils’ knowledge and skills in a range of subjects progressively. Leaders are acting to review their curriculum. They have a clear and exciting intent that focuses upon developing pupils’ skills to work cooperatively and to extend provision of outdoor learning experiences. Progression documents are now in place that identify how pupils’ knowledge and skills, in a range of subjects, will be sequenced. They are yet to be implemented.
• Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. They value the opportunities their children receive and the approachability of staff. Those parents who responded to the Ofsted parental questionnaire, Parent View, and those who spoke to inspectors say that their children feel happy and safe.

Governance of the school

• Governors are skilled professionals who are equally committed to the school. Since the last inspection, there have been several new appointments to the governing body. This prompted a review of their effectiveness to ensure that they are well placed to challenge leaders.
• Governors have established their role in monitoring the work of the school effectively. This provides them with a good understanding of the strengths that exist and the areas for further improvement.
• All governors access training to enable them to undertake their duties effectively and with due diligence. Along with the headteacher, they have tackled financial issues expertly. The school is now financially stable because of leaders’ actions.
• Records of governors’ visits and their meetings show the level of questioning and challenge now afforded to leaders.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• All appropriate employment checks are completed to ensure that all adults wishing to work at the school are fit to do so. The record of checks is completed accurately and is well maintained.
• Leaders complete an annual safeguarding audit to check that their procedures remain up to date and compliant. The outcomes are shared with governors.
• Regular training and updates ensure that staff know the important role they play in keeping children safe and the actions that they must take to report a concern. All concerns are considered carefully. Appropriate and timely referrals to external agencies are made by the designated safeguarding officer.
• Safeguarding records are being transferred from a paper-based to an electronic system. Ultimately, this will make procedures more efficient and more easily accessible. However, currently not all contemporaneous evidence is held alongside the original referral. This made it difficult for inspectors to review the chronology of actions taken easily.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Since the headteacher’s appointment there have been considerable staffing changes. Although staffing is now settled, the quality of teaching across the school is not securely good. In some classes, teachers have high expectations and make very effective use of assessment information about pupils’ learning to set work that builds upon what pupils already know, can do and understand. However, this practice is not consistent.
• The teaching of mathematics ensures that pupils are functional mathematicians. However, there is insufficient emphasis upon developing pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills. This is reflected in the variability of pupils’ attainment at the higher standard at both key stages 1 and 2. Too often pupils, particularly the most able, must work through easy examples before moving on to more demanding tasks.
• The teaching of subjects beyond English and mathematics covers the expectations of the national curriculum. However, teachers do not plan activities that build pupils’ knowledge and skills in a range of subjects progressively. As a result, pupils’ progress in subjects, such as science, history and geography, is inconsistent.
• The deputy headteacher is the English subject leader and since her appointment there has been a strong focus upon improving the teaching of reading and writing. Investment in new resources has encouraged pupils’ interest in the texts that they read. This is contributing to the development of pupils’ positive attitudes to reading.
• Leaders identified the teaching of phonics as a focus for improvement and have purchased new resources to ensure greater consistency of practice. This is now secure in Year 1. However, leaders’ checks in the early years have not been regular enough and approaches here differ too much. As a result, children in the early years are not making the speedy progress that they are capable of in acquiring their early phonics knowledge.
• A new approach to guided reading has been introduced this school year. In all classes, pupils have a daily guided reading session, where they review texts for meaning and comprehension. There is now a school-wide focus upon extending pupils’ vocabulary, which is consistent. However, some of the books, particularly those used for pupils with lower prior attainment to practise their reading, are not well matched to their phonic ability. This prevents them from making the speedy progress they need to become fluent readers.
• Teaching of writing places emphasis upon the structure of writing. Pupils receive plenty of opportunities to write in other subjects and to use editing techniques to improve their work. A new approach to the teaching of spelling has recently been introduced. However, it is not yet leading to the improvements needed in pupils’ spelling knowledge and skills when they write independently.
• Daily access to the community library, which is located in the school grounds, supports a love of reading further. During the inspection, pupils were participating enthusiastically in World Book Day events. Leaders organised a range of enjoyable activities and used the skills of a professional storyteller to bring the magic of words alive.
• Pupils are encouraged to take pride in their work. A review of pupils’ books shows that pupils’ work is well presented.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Leaders ensure that pupils’ personal development is supported through bespoke lessons, assemblies and the religious education syllabus. However, because it is not organised in a structured way, aspects of pupils’ cultural and diversity awareness are underdeveloped.
• ‘Superheroes’ values are used as effective reminders to pupils of the characteristics needed to be successful learners, for example courage, determination and resilience. A weekly session is used to celebrate those pupils who have demonstrated these characteristics in their learning. This contributes to nurturing pupils’ self-confidence and supports pupils’ growing awareness of how to show respect and tolerance of others.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and have great faith that leaders will sort out any issues that may arise. Pupils talk animatedly about their regular opportunities to learn outdoors. This is used to reinforce the important skills of cooperation, and personal safety. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe when using the internet.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Pupils’ absence and the proportion of pupils regularly absent from school are above the national averages. Although slight improvements are evident so far this year, this is more by chance than design as leaders have not developed a strategic approach for managing pupils’ absence.
• Pupils’ behaviour for the most part is orderly and considerate. Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning and are keen to talk about their learning. Any incidents of low-level disruption are the result of work that is not effectively matched to pupils’ abilities.
• Playtimes are lively occasions with lots of organised games for pupils to play. Pupils generally play cooperatively with each other. The community library is accessible each playtime and lunchtime, and junior librarians ensure that pupils experience a range of books.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Inspectors’ observations of learning and a review of work in pupils’ books show that pupils’ rates of progress are too variable. This variation can be seen in English and mathematics books and in a range of subjects.
• Leaders use a range of assessment tools to measure pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. Regular meetings with teachers ensure that pupils who may be falling behind in their learning are identified. Consequently, interventions and additional support are organised. However, leaders are not robust in evaluating the impact of their actions. Therefore, they are unclear which are having the greatest effect on improving pupils’ progress and attainment.
• The current system used to collate pupils’ assessment information lacks the sophistication needed to filter the outcomes of pupil groups easily. Consequently, leaders are unable to evaluate accurately if their actions are reducing any differences between boys’ and girls’ attainment or of disadvantaged pupils compared to that of their peers.
• Pupils are functional mathematicians. They can complete a range of mathematical processes securely. However, pupils’ understanding of the processes they have completed is less secure. Occasionally, the most able pupils can struggle to explain their answers with certainty and confidence. This is because pupils are not encouraged to use their associated mathematical facts to explain, and they receive limited opportunities to reason and to solve problems. As a result, although pupils’ attainment at the expected standard improved in 2018, pupils’ outcomes at the higher standard were variable and below the national averages at key stages 1 and 2.
• Pupils are nurtured and encouraged to love reading. Daily access to the community library enables pupils to have frequent access to a range of high-quality texts. Pupils’ outcomes in reading improved markedly in 2018, at both the expected and higher standard.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are making effective progress overall, and their combined outcomes at the end of key stage 2, although remaining below the national average, have improved.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The early years leader knows the children well and wants them to be ready for Year 1. However, she does not have a clear understanding of what is working well and what needs to be improved without reliance on local authority advisers and senior leaders.
• Over time, the proportion of pupils achieving a good level of development has been consistently above the national average. Next-steps planning is now detailed because of local authority advice and support. It is enabling children to make effective progress. However, leaders’ targets for the current cohort of children lack aspiration and are not reflective of children’s starting points. They do not focus enough on minimising any attainment differences between disadvantaged children and their peers.
• Learning journals are completed regularly and are reflective of children’s achievements in a specific area of learning. However, staff do not make use of this valuable information to capture and consider the progress a child may be making in other areas of their learning.
• Children learn and play with increasing confidence and independence. Activities children choose for themselves help them to learn the skills of negotiation and problem-solving effectively.
• Recent support from senior leaders, the local school partnerships and local authority advisers has supported improvement to the outdoor learning environment, which is now very effective. It stimulates children’s exploration of the world around them very effectively. Children are eager to play outdoors and can sustain their interest over long periods of time. For example: two boys began building a princess castle with blocks and crates during the morning session. They continued throughout the day until there was a head-height construction with drapes and small-world resources to bring it alive.
• Children’s behaviour is good. This is because all staff set high expectations for children to share and to turn take. Staff model by example and they quickly establish strong and trusting relationships with children. This creates an enabling environment in which all children appear happy and safe.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 121386 North Yorkshire 10059076 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 157 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Helen Snowden Jon Watson 01405 860736 www.carlton-in-snaith.n-yorks.sch.uk/ headteacher@carlton-in-snaith.n-yorks.sch.uk Date of previous inspection June 2018

Information about this school

• Carlton-in-Snaith is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is lower than the national average, as is the proportion of pupils with SEND, including those who require an educational health and care plan.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage, with a small minority of pupils of Irish Traveller heritage and Gypsy Roma heritage.
• The deputy headteacher and school business manager were appointed in September 2018 and January 2019 respectively.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching in all year groups, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at their work in books. All inspection activities were undertaken alongside the headteacher and the deputy headteacher.
• Meetings were held with pupils, both senior and middle leaders, four members of the governing body, including the chair and vice chair, and a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors considered 106 responses recorded on Parent View, including 34 free-text responses. Inspectors spoke to parents informally at the start of the school day.
• Inspectors examined documents relating to governance, school improvement planning, self-evaluation, pupils’ progress and attainment, attendance, behaviour and the curriculum.

Inspection team

Diane Buckle, lead inspector Matthew Knox Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector