Kirkby in Malhamdale United Voluntary Aided Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Governors must continue their work with the local authority and interim headteacher to: − explore and secure a more effective model of leadership and management in order to eliminate any future vulnerability or decline in the effectiveness of leadership − ensure that all policies and procedures that are in need of updating are dealt with as a matter of urgency − gain the confidence and support of parents as they bring about these changes. 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 substantive headteacher has been absent for two lengthy periods of time over the course of the last and current academic year and is still absent. During the last academic year, this left this small school in a vulnerable position.
• Governors and the local authority have been slow to check what effect the headteacher’s absence had on the leadership and management of the school and the quality of teaching in key stage 2, which although still good overall, did dip.
• Despite some administrative lapses in the management of safeguarding over the last year, staff have a good knowledge and understanding of how to keep pupils safe and know who to refer to in these matters. During the inspection, the school was able to demonstrate how it keeps pupils safe and well. Parents and pupils have every confidence in the staff’s ability to do so.
• Although effective performance management procedures have been in place over time, the regularity of checks and the robustness of other management systems and procedures have not been as efficient over the course of the last academic year.
• The interim headteacher has quickly gathered an accurate view of where the school is at and set about addressing some of the recent lapses in the impact of leadership. He has quickly restored parents’ faith in the leadership of the school. Parents describe him as ‘a breath of fresh air’ and say he has brought much-needed stability to the school and communicates with them effectively.
• Over time, leaders have built a strong and committed teaching and support team who make a noteworthy contribution to pupils’ safety, well-being and academic success. This has clearly sustained the school during the headteacher’s absence.
• The assistant headteacher manages the teaching support staff well. Through an established appraisal system, she regularly directs and evaluates their work and ensures that they receive the training and support they need. This ensures they make a significant contribution to pupils’ learning.
• The relatively new ‘challenge’ curriculum is broad and balanced and has clearly engaged pupils. It ensures that pupils have opportunities to explore and develop their knowledge, skills and understanding beyond their immediate environment and is preparing them well for life in modern Britain. It is increasingly successful in helping to develop key skills in English and mathematics, particularly in key stage 1, as well as promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively.
• Leaders have ensured that the additional funding for physical education (PE) and sport has been used effectively to promote positive attitudes to sport and keeping fit and healthy, and pupils value this. Specialist teachers are used to provide good-quality PE lessons. Pupils have a wealth of opportunities to take part in a variety of sports, including competitive sports.

Governance of the school

• Governance is not effective.
• The governing body was slow to check what impact the headteacher’s absence had on the day-to-day management of the school in order to take early action and prevent the issues seen on inspection, such as temporary lapses in the administration of some management procedures.
• Governors are very committed to the school, seen in the good level of attendance at meetings. They have a better understanding of performance information and from this know how well the school is performing. Nonetheless, they have not checked deeply enough or provided sufficient challenge to the headteacher about the quality of the day-to-day leadership of the school until very recently.
• The interim headteacher has quickly established a working relationship with the governing body and evaluated the depth of governors’ knowledge of the school. Together, they have begun to identify what actions need to be taken to address the shortfalls seen in the last academic year and produce a strategic plan to increase the effectiveness of the governing body. The local authority has already requested a review of governance.
• Some aspects of governance are strong, such as the checks made on health and safety procedures and the suitability of the buildings and resources.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding meet requirements.
• During the course of the inspection, leaders were able to demonstrate to the inspector that safeguarding on the ground was effective and that no pupils were at risk of harm. Leaders were able to present information to show that timely and appropriate child protection referrals were made and acted on. Staff have an adequate working knowledge of safeguarding. Pupils and parents raised no safeguarding concerns during the inspection. All responses from parents concerning pupils’ safety were positive.
• Aspects of health and safety are well managed. This ensures that the premises are safe and well maintained and that pupils are well cared for.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The interim headteacher, as the key stage 2 teacher, is leading by example. He has set high expectations of pupils and provides pupils with high levels of challenge. This has quickly engaged them and brought about tangible improvements in their work in a short space of time.
• Teachers have high expectations of pupils. They demonstrate a good working knowledge of the national curriculum and have made a shift in the way they plan activities to challenge and deepen pupils’ thinking. They provide increasingly appropriate levels of challenge within and between lessons. This is accelerating and deepening pupils’ learning and, in particular, that of the most able pupils.
• Pupils’ work shows how effectively assessment, marking and feedback is used to plan the next steps in their learning. Over time, this has been consistently stronger in key stage 1.
• There are positive relationships between pupils and adults in the classroom and teachers make effective use of teaching assistants to support teaching and learning within each of the two classes.
• Teaching assistants make a significant contribution to pupils’ learning. They demonstrate good subject knowledge and an understanding of how pupils learn. They, like teachers, use questioning skilfully to probe and test pupils’ thinking, challenge pupils and deepen their understanding.
• The teaching of phonics has strengthened further as a result of prompt self-evaluation by the key stage 1 teacher. This means the younger pupils use this knowledge effectively to support them with their reading and spelling. Teachers are working effectively with older pupils to address the accuracy of spelling.
• The very small number of pupils who have special needs and/or disabilities are taught well in the classroom setting. Appropriate support and additional provision is available to ensure that these pupils are fully included, learn well and make good progress.
• The teaching of the curriculum is strong across key stage 1 and has quickly strengthened again in key stage 2. Teachers ensure that pupils have the opportunity to use and apply their literacy and mathematic skills, as was seen in their topic work when researching about the stone age where pupils were gathering and summarising information to a good level.
• The school makes effective use of specialist teachers in music, dance and sport during the school day and in after-school clubs. Pupils relish and value the opportunities this teaching affords them.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Parents and pupils are overwhelmingly positive about the level of care that pupils receive.
• Pupils are confident learners and show good levels of perseverance and resilience when tackling some challenging work. Pupils say they know it is important to put the effort into their work and if they do, teachers will challenge them and they will learn well. This has sustained pupils in key stage 2 during a turbulent year in teaching.
• Pupils have a good knowledge and understanding of how to keep safe because they are taught about this in the curriculum. They recognise the potential risks of being online and using social media. They know the school has systems in place to protect them when working online in school and know how this works.
• Pupils say there is no bullying in the school and describe themselves as being ‘full friends’. They have confidence in adults to tackle their concerns should any arise. Older pupils naturally care for younger pupils and those new to the school. These pupils and their families feel welcomed and valued. Parents have no concerns about bullying.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ behaviour around school is generally good. Pupils move sensible and safely around school and they play well together at break and lunchtimes. Some boys’ silly behaviour when unsupervised at the start of day one was firmly tackled and no further incidents were seen or heard by the inspector.
• Pupils enjoy the social occasion that lunchtime affords them and older and younger pupils mix happily both in the hall at lunchtime and outside at playtimes.
• The attendance of pupils is consistently much higher than that seen nationally. Pupils say they love coming to school.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Over time standards of attainment at the end of key stage 2 have been consistently above those seen nationally, often significantly so. In 2015, from their individual starting points, the proportions of pupils making and exceeding expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics were above national figures. Progress had accelerated notably for the most able pupils in reading and writing and for all pupils in mathematics.
• Provisional figures for outcomes at the end of key stage 2 in 2016 indicate attainment in reading and writing to be broadly in line with that seen nationally and above in mathematics, taking into account the small size of the cohort. Progress looks to be as expected in reading and mathematics and above in writing. This is also the case for the most able pupils. Nevertheless, pupils’ work shows that pupils’ learning was affected by the disruption to teaching over the course of the year.
• Current pupils in key stage 2 have responded very quickly to the good teaching they are receiving. Progress in their books, despite the short time since the start of term, shows that pupils are rapidly getting back on track.
• Standards of achievement at the end of key stage 1 have been consistently higher than those seen nationally. Pupils continue to make good progress from their starting points because of the consistently good teaching they receive. Although attainment in 2016, using provisional national performance information, was not as high as the school expected, the work in pupils’ books showed good progress and this continues to be the case for current pupils.
• In 2016, the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check was above that seen nationally. This is generally the case except in 2015, when it fell below the national level. Almost all pupils caught up in Year 2.
• Pupils love reading and have good support from home. The teaching of reading enables pupils to deepen their understanding of what they read. They are given many opportunities to use and apply their reading skills in other areas of the curriculum. Pupils’ work shows that this is often at a high level when researching information and summarising what they have read.
• Pupils’ work shows that they make good progress in other aspects of the curriculum. The school’s approach to teaching the curriculum ensures that pupils gain the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding for their age. The most able pupils are suitably challenged through the tasks they set. Specialist teaching in PE and music is enabling a number of pupils to progress to higher levels than would typically be seen.

Early years provision Good

• Leadership and teaching in the early years are good.
• The early years leader is also the class teacher. With the support of a very able teaching assistant, she skilfully tailors her teaching to children’s needs, while also teaching key stage 1 pupils. She uses this as an opportunity to stretch some of the youngest more able pupils.
• The children benefit from a vibrant and stimulating learning environment. Provision is well organised to ensure that children have access to all the areas of learning in order to play, develop and learn. Areas of learning are enhanced for key stage 1 pupils. This enables pupils in Reception to have a go, and they are encouraged to do so. The importance placed on reading, writing and mathematical skills is very evident, with regular chances for children to write, practise their letters and sounds, and use number.
• Activities are fun, capture the children’s imagination and allow them to practise their skills and make good progress. This was seen in children’s work and during the inspection, when pupils were observed using their feet and construction equipment to explore the concept of using equal parts to measure length and height. Skilful questioning by the teaching assistant challenged and stretched children’s thinking while allowing them to use and apply their knowledge of number and counting on when measuring.
• Adults’ assessment and the tracking of children’s learning are of high quality. Baseline assessments show children starting school with skills and knowledge which are generally typical and above for their age. Teaching quickly builds on this and ensures that children make good progress. Children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning, and transition is further eased by the fact that children stay in the same class.
• Adults take care to ensure that children are safe and well cared for. Risk assessments are thorough and the classroom and outdoor area is a safe environment for children.
• Children’s behaviour is good. Older pupils in the class provide excellent role models and are very supportive of the youngest children. Relationships are very positive and this all helps the children to settle quickly at the start of the year. Children play and learn together well and are very motivated to learn.
• Parents think highly of the teaching and care their children receive in Class 1.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 121629 North Yorkshire 10003415 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 Voluntary aided 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 44 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Interim headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Andrew Booth Gary McHale Chris Norris 01729 830 214 www.kirkby.schooljotter2.com/ headteacher@kim.n-yorks.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 23–24 January 2012

Information about this school

• The school does not meet fully the requirements on the publication of information about governance on its website. It does not have a compliant and up-to-date report about the implementation of the governing body’s policy for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. A link should be provided to the Department for Education’s web page detailing the school’s performance.
• Kirkby in Malhamdale is much smaller than the average primary school and serves a rural community.
• The school has two classes: one for key stage 2 pupils and the other for children in the early years, Years 1 and 2.
• Almost all pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who have special needs and/or disabilities is much lower than that seen nationally.
• There are no pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Teaching was observed in both classes with one joint observation with the interim headteacher. The inspector looked at the work in pupils’ books and in the learning journals and work of children in the early years.
• The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in classrooms, around school and in the playground and during lunchtimes.
• The inspector listened to pupils read during lessons.
• Meetings were held with the interim headteacher, assistant headteacher, teaching support staff and the school’s administration officer.
• The inspector met with the chair of the governing body and three other governors. A meeting was also held with the school improvement adviser and primary lead improvement adviser from the local authority.
• A group of pupils discussed their opinions about the school and their learning with the inspector, who also spoke informally with pupils in the playground and around school.
• The inspector took account of six responses to the staff questionnaire.
• The inspector considered the 22 responses from the online Ofsted questionnaire, Parent View. Almost all families represented in the school responded to this. Inspectors also talked briefly with a group of parents during the afternoon and took account of a recent parental survey completed by the school.
• The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including minutes from meetings of the governing body; information on pupils’ attainment and progress; the school’s evaluation of its own performance and its development plan. Behaviour and attendance records and information relating to safeguarding were also scrutinised.

Inspection team

Anne Bowyer, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector