Thrybergh Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, including governance, by making sure that:
  • school self-evaluation and plans for improvement are fit for purpose and used stringently to improve pupils’ progress
  • the poor outdoor provision in the early years is addressed as a matter of urgency
  • attendance improves for a small minority of pupils so that it is at least similar to the national average.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that they are consistently good, particularly in key stage 1, by:
  • broadening the curriculum so that pupils have more opportunities to deepen their understanding, skills and knowledge in subjects beyond the ‘core’ of English, mathematics and science
  • providing pupils with opportunities to follow through ideas and develop resilience as independent learners, particularly the most able
  • providing pupils with more opportunities to write at length in subjects other than English
  • using assessment information rigorously to ensure that all pupils are challenged appropriately across the school, including in the early years. An external review of governance should be undertaken to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Over time, leaders, including governors, have not been successful in ensuring that teaching is good and that pupils make consistently good progress. Leaders are ambitious for all pupils to achieve their potential. However, this ambition is not yet realised in practice. Learning is formulaic and expectations in classrooms are not consistently high enough. Pupils do not have enough opportunities to develop and deepen their skills and resilience as independent learners.
• Leaders are reflective and have identified priorities for the school. However, school self-evaluation and plans for improvement lack focus and are not tracked thoroughly. The impact of the actions that the school takes is not carefully measured to see what is working. As a result, some pupils do not achieve their full potential.
• The school’s headteacher, working with the executive headteacher, has guided the school successfully through a period of considerable challenge and instability. Although there are still significant challenges facing the school, she has now established a strong and stable team of staff who are increasingly confident. Staff morale is high. She has also established a culture of good and considerate behaviour in the school. Relations between pupils and adults are very strong, caring and mutually respectful.
• The executive headteacher and the headteacher know the community well. There are strong links with parents and the views of parents are regularly sought. Parents are generally supportive of the school and its leadership. They recognise and welcome the efforts that the school makes to educate and care for their children. The school also offers parent learning sessions, where parents learn alongside their children. One of these took place during the inspection. It was well attended and pupils were obviously very proud to share their learning with their families.
• Despite leaders’ efforts and targeted actions, including the provision of home/school link officers to work closely with families, attendance is still not as good as it should be. Leaders have not been rigorous enough in identifying and addressing the barriers to regular attendance that some families experience. They have not analysed carefully enough what aspects of the school’s work in this area are working and then used the findings to further improve the effect of their actions.
• The curriculum is not broad enough. In focusing on the core subjects of English, mathematics and science, leaders have not done enough, until recently, to extend and deepen pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding of subjects such as religious education and geography and other areas of the curriculum.
• A wide range of extra-curricular and lunchtime activities support the curriculum. These include an ‘I.T. Club’ and a range of sports and other clubs. Leaders have used the primary physical education and sport premium effectively to fund these sporting activities and develop staff expertise. Pupils also enjoy the opportunities they are given to take on responsibilities, such as being a member of the school council, a ‘reading buddy’ or supporting online safety as an ‘e-cadet’.
• School leaders know the pupils well and provide additional support in the classroom. As a result, disadvantaged pupils in key stage 2 are achieving well. However, this is not consistently the case in key stage 1, where too few disadvantaged pupils are attaining as they should. Additional pupil premium funding is used to support enrichment activities for disadvantaged pupils and also to provide additional staff. A member of staff has recently been appointed to oversee, analyse and improve the impact of this work. The systematic work of this colleague is already having a positive impact on the success of disadvantaged pupils.
• Leaders track the progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities carefully and use the information to plan learning. As a result, the majority of these pupils are achieving their potential. Leaders are using the additional funding for these pupils effectively.
• Middle leadership is a growing strength of the school. Recent initiatives in reading and mastery in mathematics, led by subject leads, are having a positive impact on pupils’ progress and delight in learning.
• The school has been receiving increasingly effective support from the trust since it joined the Wickersley Partnership in September 2016. The trust is clear and realistic in its view of the school’s performance and is taking appropriate steps to address the school’s shortcomings. There is clear evidence that the trust’s work is effective, especially in supporting leadership and improving the quality of teaching. Prior to the involvement of the trust with the school, Thrybergh Primary received significant support from the executive headteacher and staff at its original partner, Rawmarsh Ashwood Primary, a local outstanding school.

Governance of the school

• Governors are too reliant on the information they receive from the headteacher in making their judgements about the effectiveness of the school. As a result, governors are not holding leaders rigorously to account for the quality of education the school offers. There is evidence that some governors gather information about the school’s work through, for example, targeted visits. However, this more direct approach is not the norm, nor is part of a systematic approach by governors to support and challenge leaders.
• Governors ensure that teachers’ performance is managed effectively. Current procedures meet statutory requirements. Appropriate targets are set that are linked to school plans and there is focused training for staff. Teaching assistants, however, have not had regular opportunities for structured performance management during this academic year.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff are familiar with safety procedures and training is provided regularly. Staff fulfil their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. Pupils feel safe and are taught how to be safe. They spoke enthusiastically about their safety lessons. They are confident that there is someone to talk to about their concerns and they know that any issues raised will be taken seriously by staff and dealt with promptly.
• Leaders and governors are committed to keeping children safe and recognise the importance of keeping procedures regularly under review. The vast majority of parents are happy that their children are safe and any concerns raised are taken seriously. The school works effectively and promptly with social care services and other outside agencies to provide the best care for pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Lessons follow a school-wide formula and are over-reliant on worksheets. These worksheets do not give sufficient opportunities for pupils to follow through ideas and develop independence. They close down, rather than encourage enquiry. This means that pupils, particularly the most able, do not make the progress that they should.
• Teachers do not use the assessment information that they gather about pupils’ developing knowledge and skills rigorously enough to inform and focus their teaching. As a result, pupils, including the most able, are not making consistently good progress, particularly in key stage 1.
• There are insufficient opportunities for pupils of all ages to write at length in subjects other than English. This means that pupils are not being given enough opportunities to develop and deepen their skills, ideas and learning through sustained writing. Pupils are not being given enough chances to write using subject-specific vocabulary to explore and explain ideas and events in, for example, geography and history.
• The deployment of teaching assistants is generally effective. Many display strong subject knowledge and a range of effective skills for keeping pupils engaged and on track. However, sometimes, teaching assistants do not pick up misconceptions in pupils’ learning or correct pupils when making errors in writing letters or numbers.
• Staff display good subject knowledge. They plan and organise lessons carefully to suit pupils’ needs. Relations between staff and pupils and between pupils are relaxed and mutually respectful. Pupils are well motivated and want to do well. They work well together in groups, learning and taking turns with quiet enthusiasm.
• Phonics is taught effectively. Pupils use their phonics knowledge well when reading books chosen from the school’s attractive library.
• Staff questioning of pupils is generally effective. Teachers, in particular, are tenacious in using questioning to develop and deepen pupils’ thinking. The very best examples seen were where staff, dextrously, moved pupils learning on by moving questioning from the mundane ‘what’ to the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. The pupils’ obvious delight in being ‘stretched’ in this way and made to think was clear on their faces and in their enthusiasm!
• Pupils report that homework is set but not always expected to be done.
• Parents are informed regularly about their child’s progress. The school sets out for them how parents can support their children’s learning and hear them read. This has a positive impact upon their learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils talk very confidently and excitedly about school. They enjoy school and learning and the activities they experience both in and out of the classroom. As one pupil said to an inspector over lunch, ‘The food here is great, and I enjoy learning more than the food!’
• Pupils feel safe and are well cared for by adults. Pupils are very clear that they can rely on adults at the school if they feel anxious or concerned. If they were to share a concern with an adult at the school, they said they were very confident it would be treated seriously and dealt with promptly.
• Pupils know how to keep safe online. E-safety is a strength of the school. It is a key aspect of the programme of assemblies and class time. Pupils can take on roles as ‘e-cadets’ to champion safety online.
• Regular assemblies, expert visitors and the well-structured programme to support pupils’ personal, social, health and economic development help alert pupils to possible danger and help keep them safe.
• Parents are very supportive of the school and value its care and support for their children. There is a regular programme of family learning sessions arranged by the school; these are well supported by parents.
• Pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is carefully nurtured. Leaders have ensured that a culture of mutual understanding and care pervades the school. This culture is a key strength of the school. It results from well-planned curricular and extra-curricular activities, underpinned by a clear set of values which are regularly and creatively discussed and explored by all members of the school community.
• Although high-quality healthy meals, cooked on site, are available and relished by pupils, the school could do still more to promote healthy actions and attitudes to diet and well-being.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. They are respectful, kind and polite, both in class and at lunch- and playtimes.
• The children enjoy their time at school. They are happy and have positive attitudes to school. They are keen, enthusiastic and collaborative learners.
• The school environment is attractive. It is bright and cheerful, and displays celebrate pupils’ success, support learning and stimulate thought. The school is generally quiet and purposeful. Pupils and adults move around the buildings with consideration for each other and for the high-quality display. Pupils wear their uniforms smartly and with pride. They are well prepared for learning.
• Pupils are resilient in lessons. They work hard and persevere. Even when the lessons are somewhat dull and formulaic, they try their best. They cooperate well in pairs and groups, they take turns and support each other.
• Pupils know about the range of forms that bullying can take, including racist, sexist and homophobic. They are very aware that these and similar attitudes are wrong. They also know the consequences of such attitudes and actions. Where name-calling or bullying has taken place, it has been dealt with promptly and effectively by the school.
• There have been some examples of a few pupils, mostly boys, behaving poorly, which have resulted in exclusions from school. While leaders have dealt with these events appropriately, their analysis should be more detailed and thorough in order to uncover and deal with the underlying causes and trends of this poorer behaviour.
• While most pupils attend well most of the time, attendance is not as good as it should be. The attendance of a minority of pupils is not addressed effectively enough by governors and leaders and is still too low.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Children do not make the progress that they should in the early years. By the end of the Reception Year, not enough children reach a good level of development. However, the school’s current information, which is borne out by inspection evidence, shows that there have been improvements in children’s attainment and progress recently.
• Historically, not enough pupils have reached the expected standard in the end of Year 1 phonics screening check. However, almost all pupils catch up by the end of Year 2 and achieve well in this check. The whole-school approach to reading is having a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes to and success in reading.
• Pupils do not do as well in key stage 1 tests as they do in key stage 2 tests. This is particularly the case for disadvantaged pupils in key stage 1. Historically, all pupils do well by the time they reach the end of Year 6; their results are very similar to national averages. In key stage 2, disadvantaged pupils make similar progress and attain as well as others.
• Overall, the curriculum is too narrow. As a result, although there are clear signs of increasing success in English, mathematics and science, pupils cannot demonstrate similarly secure progress in a wide range of subjects beyond this ‘core’.
• Inspection evidence shows that pupils, including the most able, make more assured progress during the later years of key stage 2, where there is more challenge and the pace of learning is brisker. However, the narrowness of the curriculum means that, even here, progress is not as good as it should be.
• The recently introduced school-wide reading focus is having a very positive impact on reading outcomes and children and pupils love and take pleasure in reading. Pupils read widely and are able to talk fluently about their reading. Boys, in particular, are enjoying the challenge of reading and discussing books. The school’s provision of ‘reading buddies’, where older pupils work with younger pupils ‘1:1’ to listen to each other read, is a particular and growing strength at the school.
• Evidence gathered during the inspection, and borne out in end of key stage outcomes, shows that pupils across the school are not getting sufficient opportunities to write at length for a range of audiences and purposes.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make generally good progress from their starting points. Support for these pupils is well deployed and focused in the classroom. It is carefully monitored by leaders.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Children start school with skills and abilities that are below those typical for their age. During their time in the early years, children’s progress is not as secure as it should be. Not enough children reach a good level of development by the time they leave the Reception class.
• Children’s progress is being hampered by the poor outdoor provision. The existing outdoor provision has been closed since September 2016. The temporary provision is unsatisfactory. Children are not able to move freely between indoors and out. As a result, they are losing out on opportunities to develop their independence and resilience as learners.
• Although adults know the children well, records of children’s progress and achievements are not detailed enough to precisely identify activities that will ensure success in their next steps in learning. Children are not encouraged to move on and broaden and deepen their experience.
• Children behave well and are safe. They play and learn collaboratively and with consideration for others. They take turns and enjoy their activities.
• Children spoke with real enthusiasm and pride about their developing skills in writing. They are eager to share and explain what they are doing. They show skill and perseverance in applying the skills they had learned in their effective phonics sessions to read and write new words.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding effectively. Children eligible for this funding are achieving as well as, and often better than, their peers.
• Leaders and staff ensure that safeguarding procedures are effective and that there are no breaches of statutory welfare requirements. Child protection policies and procedures are implemented consistently in the early years.
• Parents are well informed about their children’s progress and well-being at school. Parents welcome the close and easy communications they have with the early years team.
• Leadership of the early years has been strengthened and so the provision is now well led. The recently returned early years leader has worked hard to overcome the restrictions that the poor outdoor provision has put on her area of the school. She has very effectively identified the weaker areas of the early years provision and there is already clear evidence that her actions are increasingly successful. For example, children are writing at greater length in the Reception class. They are showing clear and sustained progress in their confidence in forming letters and writing sentences.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140993 Rotherham 10031928 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 Academy sponsor-led 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 194 Appropriate authority The Wickersley Partnership Trust Chair Headteacher Phil Barley Rachel Harrison (headteacher) Andy Jessop (executive headteacher) Telephone number 01709 850732 Website Email address www.thryberghprimary.org office@thyberghprimary.org Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school is a member of the Wickersley Partnership Trust. Within the Wickersley Partnership Trust, the school is in partnership with Rawmarsh Ashwood Primary School, a local outstanding school, with which it shares a local governing body and executive headteacher.
• The school is slightly smaller than the average-size primary school.
• Pupils are taught in single-aged classes.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is significantly above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is similar to the national average. The proportion with an education, health and care plan is also similar to the national average.
• The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum standards for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school does not use any alternative provision.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed 15 lessons, and all classes. Inspectors observed learning jointly with the headteacher in the Reception class and in Year 1.
• Inspectors talked with pupils, looked at a significant sample of their work and listened to Year 1 and Year 5 pupils read.
• Inspectors met with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, the chair of the local governing body and with the school’s middle leaders to discuss the school’s progress and the welfare of pupils. The lead inspector spoke with the vice-chair of the local governing body on the telephone.
• The lead inspector also met with a senior colleague from the Wickersley Partnership Trust and the executive headteacher of the school to discuss the extent and impact of the support provided to the school.
• There were no responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View; however, inspectors did take account of the free-text responses from parents. Inspectors also spoke to parents during the inspection and reviewed the school’s own surveys of parents’ views.
• The inspectors observed the work of the school, including an assembly, a singing practice, two physical education sessions, a parent learning session, playtimes and lunchtime.
• Inspectors scrutinised documents, including minutes of governing body meetings, the school’s self-evaluation, the school development plan, monitoring and assessment information, school policies, behaviour and safety records, safeguarding policies and procedures, and the single central record.

Inspection team

Mark Evans, lead inspector Mary Lanovy-Taylor

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector