Snainton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the consistently good teaching and pupils’ good achievement to outstanding by:
  • ensuring that teachers always plan to really challenge the most able pupils
  • providing more frequent adult support for groups of pupils who are working alone.
• Develop the outside area used by the early years children so that it is more inviting and better resourced to enable children to make more choices of activity.
• Strengthen leadership and management by instigating a programme to check pupils’ topic work more carefully to ensure that it is being assessed as well as their work in mathematics and writing.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has successfully improved the quality of education provided for the pupils in all year groups since the previous inspection. She has empowered other members of staff by giving them real responsibilities, for example for English and mathematics. These middle leaders are playing their part in ensuring that classroom practice continues to be good.
• A key feature in the school’s improvement since the previous inspection has been the way that the headteacher and governors have drawn on the advice provided by North Yorkshire local authority, the Esk Valley Alliance and the Diocese of York. These bodies have made valuable suggestions about how provision could be improved. They have helped the headteacher to monitor intended developments to ensure that they have been properly embedded into the daily life of the school. The level of help has now tapered down because the school has improved so much.
• Good staff morale means that members of staff are now much more confident that the quality of education provided is now good. Everyone has worked hard to ensure that the school shakes off its previous image of an establishment requiring improvement.
• Members of staff at all levels play their part in ensuring that the school runs smoothly on a day-to-day basis and that most aspects of the curriculum are managed well. A further development area now lies in the checking of pupils’ work in all subjects to ensure that it is assessed as rigorously as their work in mathematics and English.
• Very effective ways of measuring how well the school is doing enable leaders and governors to identify weaknesses quickly and, where funding permits, to eliminate them quickly. Development planning is much improved and focuses strongly on the improvement of teaching and raising pupils’ attainment.
• An accurate tracking system monitors the progress that all pupils are making in English and mathematics and triggers extra help for pupils who need it, especially the most vulnerable and those who join the school at other than the usual time.
• The headteacher and middle leaders monitor the quality of teaching carefully. They know what works well and can quickly identify areas for improvement. Although the quality of teaching has improved substantially since the previous inspection, there is still scope to improve classroom practice further, particularly in more consistently planning challenging work for the most able pupils and ensuring that groups working on their own are not left for too long without a check to ensure that they are progressing as quickly as intended.
• The curriculum puts considerable emphasis on the development of pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills but not to the exclusion of everything else. Pupils in all year groups receive a well-rounded education in subjects such as religious education, science, geography, history and physical education.
• A good range of extra-curricular activities and visits support the strong development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development where a key aspect is the teaching of Christian values.
• The link with Namateba Basic School in Zambia gives pupils a clear idea about how people live in other countries. The school actively promotes the theme, ‘Everybody is different. We are all unique.’ It also actively promotes pupils’ understanding of British values such as democracy, government, the rule of law and tolerance. What it is not yet doing effectively is to provide pupils with a full understanding of the cultures that make up modern Britain.
• The school ensures that pupils receive a rounded education about other religious faiths apart from Christianity. For example, vivid displays show how Jewish people celebrate Shabbat as a day of rest and peace. There are also displays which consider profound themes such as the nature of God.
• The school uses its sport funding well to ensure that pupils develop competition skills and have the opportunity to use them in football, netball and cricket. The funding ensures also that pupils have the opportunity to participate in gymnastics and develop their competence in swimming.
• Equal opportunities have a high profile. If pupils, particularly those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, need specialist help to overcome barriers to academic progress, then the school identifies the needs and provides for them by spending the allocated funding wisely. The well-managed pupil premium funding arrangements ensure that the school’s disadvantaged pupils have extra support to enable them to make the same progress as other pupils nationally from the same starting points.
• Most parents are very appreciative of the way that the school now provides for their children. Typical of the many positive free-text messages received during the inspection was, ‘This school has exceeded all our expectations. We are overwhelmingly grateful to all the teachers.’

Governance

• Governance has improved substantially since the previous inspection. It is now strong, effective and challenging when necessary. Governors have an accurate picture of what the school does well and they know what still needs to be done.
• They have a good grasp of the meaning of the tracking data that the school provides and probe carefully by asking questions about pupils who fall behind expectations.
• They play their part in ensuring that performance management arrangements are robust and that they follow intended procedures.
• Governors visit the school regularly to keep themselves up to date with activities provided for the pupils. Some give skilled and very effective help in the classroom.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective because there are clear systems in place that members of staff follow consistently.
• The site is secure and there is plenty of adult supervision when pupils are in class, on the move, outside at breaktimes or having lunch. Questionnaire returns show that parents and carers are happy about these arrangements. Pupils say that they are safe in school and that there is always an adult to turn to if the need should arise.
• Effective checking of the identities and suitability to work with children of all adults who have access to pupils is firmly embedded into the daily life of the school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved substantially since the previous inspection in response to much greater expectations of pupils’ progress from the headteacher and the local authority.
• Teachers and classroom assistants now understand clearly what pupils can achieve and what rapid learning and progress look like. The improved teaching means that pupils are making much quicker progress than previously and that attainment is rising across the school.
• Typically, teachers and classroom assistants work productively together and manage their classes well. They plan work with care to ensure that lesson time is used well. They check that pupils have understood new work through effective questioning.
• Frequently, teachers divide their classes up into ability groups to enable pupils to be taught at different levels. There are many occasions where these groups work very productively for quite long periods but sometimes the adults in the room leave them for too long before checking their progress because they are concentrating on other pupils.
• The teaching of the most able pupils is now much better than it was previously. There are many occasions where teachers provide them with challenging work which fully extends them intellectually. However, there are also occasions where they finish tasks early and then just mark time for a few minutes.
• Teachers insist that pupils set their work out well in all the subjects that they study. Their strong emphasis on good handwriting and good attention to spelling, grammar and punctuation means that pupils’ work is neat and easy to follow.
• Teachers apply the school’s marking policy well for English and mathematics. In the absence of an effective policy for other subjects, common errors go unchecked in pupils’ work in subjects such as science and geography, and so pupils do not reinforce their basic skills as well as they could.
• A strong feature of all lessons is the way that pupils conduct themselves in response to the high expectations of the adults who work with them. This means that pupils can usually concentrate on their work without distraction because interruptions are quite infrequent.
• Teachers and their assistants ensure that planning for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities enables them to learn as quickly as other pupils. If any of the more vulnerable pupils do fall behind with their learning, then the school provides effective one-to-one tuition to enable them to catch up.
• All members of staff use the school’s tracking system effectively by entering data about pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. This system enables staff to see clearly which pupils are learning quickly and who needs extra help.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils benefit from a wide-ranging programme which develops their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. It provides them with a strong moral code which enables them to differentiate between right and wrong. It is rooted securely in the teachings of Jesus Christ and pervades the school.
• Studies of other religions apart from Christianity enable pupils to start to understand what different people across the world believe and how they live. Work on topics such as democracy and parliament begins to equip pupils with an understanding of how Britain is different from other countries but also where similarities lie. However, pupils currently only have a very limited understanding of the cultures that make up modern Britain.
• Pupils say that they enjoy the extra-curricular activities that the school provides. Through these they increase in confidence and meet new people as they go to other locations to compete.
• By the time pupils leave Year 6, they are ready to transfer to secondary school. Their attainment in reading, writing, mathematics and science is sufficient to enable them to cope with the demands of work in Year 7.
• Pupils and their parents appreciate the amount of help and guidance that the school provides. Pupils know that help is always on hand if they need it and that members of staff will go the extra mile to provide the best support they can with advice on their work or personal matters.
• Good levels of supervision enable pupils to feel secure and safe because there is always an adult on hand whom they know and trust. Pupils say that bullying is rare and that if it does occur then members of staff deal with it swiftly and effectively.
• Pupils confirm that the school prepares them well in terms of potential threats to their welfare. For example, the school provides pupils with clear direction about how to keep themselves safe when using the internet and why it is not in their interest to talk to strangers, especially if they are offered sweets or rides in cars.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are polite and helpful. They conduct themselves well in class and when moving between activities, having lunch and playing outside. They have due regard for the safety of others.
• Pupils are eager to learn and try hard in response to the encouragement that members of staff provide. They like the adults who work with them, trust them and really try to do their best to come up to their expectations.
• The good presentation of pupils’ written work shows clearly that they take a pride in it and do their best to write neatly and where necessary at length.
• There have been no recent exclusions for unacceptable conduct or racist incidents. Bullying of any description is rare because pupils understand what is expected of them in terms of the way they should treat others.
• Attendance of pupils is above the national average. There is no persistent absence or truancy. Pupils enjoy their education and value it.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ attainment has risen substantially since the previous inspection in response to better teaching and leaders’ far greater expectations of what pupils should achieve. Progress in all year groups is now good.
• Pupils have largely made up for any previous underachievement from the time when the school required improvement. It is only in Years 5 and 6 that a small number of pupils are still slightly behind where the school would ideally like them to be.
• There is no difference between the progress of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally with similar starting points. The picture for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is similarly positive.
• Children join Nursery and Reception with stages of development that are below those typical for their ages, mainly due to their below-typical skills in communication and language. In 2015, the proportion of pupils leaving Reception with a good level of development was below the national average but there was a substantial rise to broadly average in 2016. The rise has continued with the current cohort, all of whom are heading for a good level of development by the time they are ready to transfer to Year 1.
• National phonics screening check results rose from below the national average in 2015 to in line with it in 2016. All pupils who had not reached expected levels in Year 1 did so in Year 2. Current attainment in phonics in Year 1 indicates that there will be a further rise to above average in 2017.
• In 2016, teachers’ assessments at the end of Year 2 showed that the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was just below the national average, but the proportion working at greater depth was well above average. These most able pupils have continued to progress very well in Year 3.
• In Year 6 in 2016, the proportions of pupils reaching the expected standards in reading, writing, spelling, punctuation and grammar were around the national average. Proportions working at greater depth were above the national average in reading and writing. These results indicated strongly that the pupils had made up for any previously lost ground in previous years and actually progressed well between Reception and the end of Year 6.
• There was no difference between the performance of the school’s disadvantaged pupils in the tests of 2016 and other pupils nationally from the same starting points. Pupils who had special educational needs and/or disabilities did equally well.
• Current Year 6 pupils are doing as well as the previous cohort. They read fluently and write well. Their written work is much better than that in evidence in Year 6 at the time of the previous inspection. Pupils now write to a good standard and at length. There has been a substantial improvement in boys’ writing because the school has concentrated on it. In mathematics, pupils are confident with multiplication, subtraction, and division of whole numbers, decimals and fractions. They can apply their understanding to problems written in words.
• Very accurate assessments and tracking show that proportions of pupils reaching expected standards for their ages are continuing to rise throughout the school. The most able pupils are doing better than previously because they are pushed harder to reach higher standards. However, there is still scope to challenge them further to ensure that they are always fully occupied in lessons.
• Leaders make very good use of the school’s allocation of pupil premium funding to ensure that disadvantaged pupils do at least as well as other pupils nationally from the same starting points. Accurate assessments of their needs often triggers extra help when they are perceived to be behind where they should be.
• The school does particularly well with pupils who join from other local schools part-way through their primary education. On entry, these pupils are frequently performing at standards below those expected for their ages. Their attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is assessed accurately and extra help provided if they are found to be behind where they should be. There are many examples of these later arrivals achieving well in their new school.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from an accurate identification of their current attainment standards, progress and future needs in terms of extra support. When help of outside professionals is required, then it is provided. Very focused and effective help enables these pupils to make at least as good progress as other pupils in the school.

Early years provision Good

• The very effectively and enthusiastically led early years setting provides children with a good start to their education. Children in Nursery and Reception all make good progress and currently transfer to Year 1 well equipped to achieve well.
• A strong bond between parents and members of staff means that information about children’s development and successes are shared in considerable detail. All children’s files chart progress both personally and academically and are available for parents to peruse.
• The leader of the setting has ensured that the inside areas are inviting to children and resourced to a good level with toys, books and educational equipment. She ensures that she caters for all children’s interests and promotes their learning with resources that are strongly linked to them. She has also started to remodel the outside area but there is more work to do if it is to be brought up to the level of the classrooms in terms of the variety of activities for children to choose from. The school is actively seeking funding to carry out the improvements to the outside area and ensure that the children have the best resources currently available.
• Good teaching ensures that children make good progress and really enjoy coming to school. An example of this enjoyment was seen during the inspection in an imaginative lesson on bees which had all the children fully focused for a long period. Progress was rapid because children loved the topic and related well to the way that the teacher presented it.
• The teaching of phonics is rapid, compelling and effective. Children soon learn the sounds that letters and combinations of them make. Writing develops quickly in Reception. Children quickly learn to write letters, words and some simple sentences.
• Good behaviour for learning underpins the progress that children make. They sit and listen well and are keen to volunteer answers to questions.
• The setting uses its pupil premium funding well to ensure that any disadvantaged children make the same quick progress in their learning as other children. Members of staff ensure that children have plenty of individual attention. They show them how to complete tasks and improve coordination and skills quickly. Children enjoy school and trust and respond well to the adults who work with them.
• In 2016, an average proportion of Reception children transferred to Year 1 with a good level of development. This was a considerable improvement on 2015. The improvement reflected the good progress the children had made as they arrived with below-average levels of development for their ages. The current cohort is doing better still in response to good and imaginative teaching. Disadvantaged children are doing just as well as others.
• All safeguarding arrangements are effective and the setting is secure. Children’s welfare has a high profile and members of staff are very good at spotting individual needs and catering for them.

School details

Unique reference number 121515 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 10023834 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 2 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 52 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stuart Mathers Headteacher Ruth Wackett Telephone number 01723 859 229 Website www.snainton.n-yorks.sch.uk Email address admin@snainton.n-yorks.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 4 5 February 2015

Information about this school

• Snainton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• Most pupils are White British.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average.
• The proportion of pupils supported through pupil premium funding is above average.
• The number of pupils joining the school part-way through their primary education is much higher than usual.
• There are three mixed-age classes in the school.
• In 2015, the school increased its age range by enrolling Nursery-age children.
• There have been a number of staffing changes since the previous inspection.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• Following the previous inspection, the school has received assistance from North Yorkshire local authority, the Esk Valley Alliance and the Diocese of York.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector visited eight lessons, all jointly with the headteacher. He observed pupils in all year groups being taught at least once and looked at a wide range of pupils’ written work in English, mathematics, science and other topics.
• He held meetings with the headteacher, middle leaders, governors, a group of pupils and representatives from North Yorkshire local authority, the Esk Valley Alliance and the Diocese of York.
• The inspector looked at a wide range of documentation, including the school’s review of its performance, development planning, records of pupils’ progress, attendance records and safeguarding procedures.

• He listened to pupils from Year 6 reading aloud individually.
• He also took account of 15 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, six responses to the staff questionnaire, 21 responses to the pupil questionnaire and 15 free-text messages from parents and carers.

Inspection team

John Paddick, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector