Carr Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to enable all pupils to reach their potential in English and mathematics by:
  • ensuring that all teachers and their assistants have the skills required to improve pupils’ learning, recall and application of mathematics to enable them to learn more quickly
  • enabling pupils in Year 2, especially the most able, to solve more challenging problems for themselves to strengthen their learning in all subjects
  • providing more opportunities for staff to share and disseminate the school’s outstanding practice and benefit from each other’s expertise.
• Improve the attendance of pupils by establishing more rigorous systems to tackle unauthorised absences.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher, has been unwavering in her determination to secure the best-possible learning experiences for pupils in the school. She has maintained a clear focus on pupils’ safety, nurture and well-being, even when faced with extremely difficult and significant challenges caused during the building of the new school.
• Leadership is shared widely and the different skills and talents of individual staff are used well to secure improvements in the quality of teaching and learning across the school. Each member of staff has a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities. They are appropriately held to account by governors to improve outcomes for all groups of pupils. Together they make a strong and cohesive team.
• Areas of school improvement are led by a range of staff, including support staff. Each has introduced new ideas which are leading to better progress. For example, the special educational needs leader encouraged more involvement from parents in planning individual programmes of work for their children. As a result, outcomes for all pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are now good.
• Leaders, including governors, are accurate in their evaluation of what the school does well and what needs further improvement because they draw on evidence from a variety of sources. For example, leaders regularly visit lessons, check pupils’ books and carry out ‘learning walks’ to find out about learning in all classes. Governors scrutinise assessment information and talk with pupils and parents. From their evaluation of this broad evidence base, they draw up accurate plans for further improvements.
• The early years provision is rightly recognised as excellent by the local authority and so is used by other schools to disseminate outstanding practice. There is scope to use this and other outstanding practice which exists, to further improve the quality of teaching and learning across the school.
• Leaders are ensuring that the school continues to provide a broad curriculum, which is interesting and enjoyable, despite the current limitations for learning outdoors. For example, whilst the ‘Forest School’ provision is not accessible, pupils continue to learn about their environment and the natural world.
• The curriculum puts great emphasis on the rapid development of pupils’ literacy and numerical skills through the teaching of other subjects such as science, and aspects of geography, history, religious education (RE) and computing. Parents receive detailed information sheets each half term which clearly demonstrate what their child is learning and provide helpful suggestions to extend this learning further at home.
• A good range of extra-curricular activities and visits supports the strong development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, pupils designed and created high-quality Diwali lamps. Visitors play their part too. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed learning how to perform Bhangra dancing from an expert teacher.
• Staff receive regular, high-quality training, giving them the skills, knowledge and confidence to improve teaching, learning and assessment, particularly in English. However, leaders have been slow to provide appropriate training for all teachers and teaching assistants to enable them to teach the revised mathematics curriculum. This slows the learning of some pupils in mathematics.
• The sport premium funding provided to promote engagement with sport is used well. A range of sporting clubs and competitions are provided and participation in sports has increased so that pupils are more active and their fitness improves. By employing specialist coaches who work with teachers, leaders have ensured that teachers are more confident in delivering physical education (PE), including specialist tuition in dance and yoga.
• Leaders use funding to support disadvantaged pupils effectively. Staff plan specific activities, and purchase appropriate specialist resources to strengthen their support for these pupils. Consequently, this group of pupils is improving their learning well in all classes.

Governance of the school

• Governors have played an integral role in improving the school environment. They are justifiably proud of the new school building. From opening, the new building and high-quality resources are already having a significant positive impact on the welfare of pupils.
• The governing body has a high level of skill and professional expertise to inform and enrich the school’s development. Governors understand the information which they are presented with clearly and use it to inform school development plans.
• Governors are effective in monitoring how well pupils achieve. They keep close scrutiny of the outcomes for different groups of pupils, including the disadvantaged. Governors are not afraid to ask challenging questions to hold leaders to account to ensure the best possible outcomes for pupils.
• The governing body ensures that pupil premium and sport premium funding make a difference for pupils. Governors ensure that the performance of staff and decisions about salary increases take sufficient account of pupils’ achievement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders and staff rightly place a high priority on ensuring that pupils are kept safe. Stringent checks are carried out prior to making any staff appointments. All staff and governors receive regular, suitable safeguarding training. This means that staff understand and carry out the school’s policy and procedures well. Risk assessments are effective, demonstrated clearly by the school’s constant evaluation of the impact of delays to the redevelopment of the school site.
• Staff work closely with other agencies to help support the needs of those pupils whose circumstances make them vulnerable. This ensures, for example, that pupils with an education, health and care plan are well supported.
• Parents recognise that the school places a high priority on maintaining pupils’ safety.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers and their assistants are a highly effective team. They plan together so that pupils in different classes in the same year group enjoy similar, interesting lessons based on imaginative topics.
• Recent initiatives are successful in improving pupils’ speaking and listening skills and their use of high-level vocabulary. As a result, pupils are strengthening their aspirations, self-confidence and good attitudes to learning.
• The new approach to teaching phonics is enabling pupils to rapidly improve their skills in reading, writing and spelling. Staff have high expectations of pupils and plan interesting phonics lessons using a range of imaginative resources to stimulate learning. In a Reception class, the teacher’s enthusiasm and use of the ‘What’s in the bag?’ resource motivated a pupil to sound out challenging words, having previously been reluctant to participate.
• Reading is taught well across the school. Classes have attractive reading areas and the resources in the school library are in constant use. Pupils know the school’s system for selecting reading books at the correct level and the most able readers are well supported in developing their skills further. Pupils’ planners and reading record books are informative and encourage parents to further pupils’ love of reading. This and the strong relationships between adults and pupils were evident when celebrating World Book Day during the inspection. The whole school embraced the opportunity to dress as their favourite characters and participate in lively discussions about their favourite books.
• Pupils with specific barriers to learning and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive extensive support from highly competent and caring staff. Small group sessions are planned carefully and sensitively to meet the needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils. The nurture groups benefit greatly from the gentle approach of the specialist teachers. In one session, pupils enjoyed the calm atmosphere created by the sound of classical music which enabled them to concentrate fully on improving the accuracy of their letter formation.
• Teachers provide plenty of opportunities for pupils to develop their writing skills across other subjects. Imaginative topics and well-designed resources motivate pupils to write about things which interest them, and so produce better-quality work. For example, the chocolate theme in Year 2 is used very creatively. In one class, pupils deepened their understanding of ‘Fairtrade’ production methods and the impact on people in other countries. Pupils in another class created algorithms to investigate a range of questions including, ‘How are the toys placed inside Kinder eggs?’
• Teachers and teaching assistants lead by example and model high standards in handwriting and the presentation of work. This, alongside their skilful questioning of pupils, enables the early identification of misconceptions and highlights opportunities for pupils to quickly improve their literacy skills.
• The school’s well-designed marking policy is adhered to closely by teachers in English. However, this is less so in mathematics. Teachers are still developing their understanding of the new mathematics curriculum. As a result, planned activities and feedback from teachers in mathematics are not always well matched to pupils’ learning needs. Some pupils lose interest and do not pay as much attention to their work as they should in mathematics, which slows their learning.
• Where teaching is well matched to pupils’ needs, pupils show a high level of interest and determination to improve. For example, one pupil in Year 1 tenaciously mastered the technique of climbing a rope ladder in PE. The teacher’s positive encouragement led the child to conquer her fear of heights. Sometimes, teachers in the Year 2 classes do not provide similar opportunities for pupils to be more resilient and solve problems for themselves. This slows their learning, particularly that of the most able pupils.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• This is an inclusive school where pupils feel valued and respected. Pupils are extremely proud of their new school and treat it with utmost respect. They are pleased to make helpful suggestions to staff about the design of the outdoor area.
• Pupils speak positively about how adults help them to do well, have fun and make friends. Members of the school council are keen to represent the views of their classmates and other pupils take on extra responsibilities, such as ‘reading buddies’ who support the learning of others.
• Pupils feel safe and secure because the school is a calm and harmonious place. Pupils say that there are a few instances of bullying but they have faith that adults in the school will address those rare occasions that arise. Pupils know about how to keep themselves safe, for example learning about e-safety. Parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire agreed that the school is a safe place.
• The school’s work with outside agencies is very strong. This ensures that work to support pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable is very effective. Pupils and parents speak highly of the pastoral care and welfare support offered by the school, and particularly the nurture provision. One parent said, ‘I have found Carr Infant School to be a warm, inclusive and nurturing school for both of my children.’
• Pupils develop a strong awareness of their own identity and show respect for the similarities and differences in others. They learn about other faiths and cultures in lessons, for example in RE and personal, social and health education.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils generally behave well in lessons and around the school. Occasionally, where tasks are not well matched to pupils’ needs, a small number of pupils do not behave as well as they should. For example, they do not pay close attention when an adult is speaking, or concentrate on their work as they should do. This slows the progress they make in a few lessons.
• Parents and pupils express concerns about the delays in completing the redesign of the playground and outdoor spaces. Observations by inspectors demonstrate that, although the available space is a little cramped, playtimes are happy times, and few pupils misbehave. Pupils who have difficulties with their behaviour are well managed so that they rarely disrupt the learning of others.
• The school’s welfare support worker and deputy headteacher spend time identifying why pupils are absent and follow up absence with parents quickly. Positive incentives are provided to encourage good attendance, including the weekly mission statement and an award of the ‘Carr bear’ for the best attendance. Although leaders do not authorise absences for family holidays, attendance levels have still not reached national rates. Leaders accept that a more detailed analysis of unauthorised absences by different groups is needed to help them to identify patterns over time.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Children join the early years with skills that are often well below those typical for their age. By the end of the Reception Year, many children develop their learning and skills rapidly. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to improve. Outcomes in 2016 were above the national average.
• In 2016, a higher than average proportion of pupils in Year 2 achieved at greater depth in mathematics. Overall however, fewer pupils did so in reading and writing at the end of key stage 1. Leaders reacted quickly to determine the reasons for this and immediate actions have successfully tackled the areas of weakness in teaching and learning which caused this.
• Work in pupils’ books, accurate assessments and monitoring demonstrate that, as a result of better teaching and effective individual support, a higher proportion of pupils are working at greater depth in key stage 1. However, pupils are not sufficiently challenged in mathematics lessons and so do not improve their skills as quickly as they should, particularly the most able.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive a high standard of tailored support from highly skilled staff. Pupils’ work is carefully planned and they receive appropriate specialist teaching and resources to improve their learning. As a result, these pupils are able to access all aspects of the curriculum and they are improving their learning in all subjects across the school.
• Pupils who are disadvantaged, particularly those with additional, complex needs, are learning as well as other pupils in English and mathematics because the additional funding provided for these pupils is used effectively. For example, the rapid intervention provided by class teachers is enabling them to quickly identify and address areas of difficulty so that pupils can immediately improve their work.
• Pupils of all abilities learn and achieve well in topic work, RE and science. They thoroughly enjoy the opportunities they have to learn in history and geography and how to write computer programs.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Almost all children make excellent progress in the Nursery, particularly in their communication and language development. They quickly become inquisitive, enthusiastic learners, and are prepared extremely well for learning in the Reception classes. They listen exceptionally well to instructions and stories, and when learning about letters and the sounds that they make. In one lesson, children demonstrated their understanding of subtraction through their enthusiastic singing of ‘Five little speckled frogs’.
• Children gain a secure base on which to build reading and writing skills in the Nursery classes because tasks are always interesting and meaningful. The vibrant and welcoming indoor learning environment in the Reception classes ensures that children are highly motivated to write and improve their numeracy skills.
• Attractive displays and activities are extremely well organised to promote learning and to celebrate children’s work across the early years. Staff make good use of the limited outdoor area and they ensure that children’s development is not hampered by delays in the redesign of this space. Children have continuous opportunities to work outside because, on a daily basis, innovative staff utilise a variety of spaces across the school site where children can participate in imaginative outdoor activities.
• The leader for early years has created a highly skilled and extremely effective team. She supports her team well and checks on provision regularly across all classes to identify opportunities for further improvements. Staff know the children well, and adults take all steps necessary to ensure that children are safe when playing and learning inside and outside the classrooms.
• Adults assess children accurately and carefully. They record their assessments so that there is a clear picture of each child’s progress across different areas of learning. Assessments are used to effectively plan subsequent activities to move learning on. As a result, the proportion of children achieving the expected standard by the end of the Reception Year is above that found nationally.
• By the time children move to Year 1, they all have extremely positive attitudes to learning. A majority have higher than expected levels of knowledge, skills and understanding in many areas of learning.
• Staff have established strong relationships with parents. Transition from Nursery to the Reception classes is managed carefully. Excellent use is made of a ‘home pack’ of story books and activities to enable parents to contribute to their child’s learning and progress. The children’s ‘learning journeys’ are displayed prominently in each class so that parents know what their child is learning as the year progresses. Children are very proud of these informative documents.

School details

Unique reference number 121273 Local authority York Inspection number 10001456 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 Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 3 to 7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 309 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Yasmin Wahab Headteacher Susan Bell Telephone number 01904 565 140 Website www.carrinfantschool.co.uk Email address carr.infants@york.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 22–23 March 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is larger than the average-sized infant school.
• Early years provision is provided on a part-time basis in the Nursery and full-time in the Reception classes.
• There are three Reception classes and three classes of pupils in Year 1 and Year 2.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those pupils with an education, health and care plan is below average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is below that seen across the country.
• Fewer pupils than average speak English as an additional language.
• The new school building opened in September 2016. Work to redesign the outdoor space is currently in progress.

Information about this inspection

• The headteacher jointly observed the quality of teaching in all classes with the lead inspector.
• Inspectors observed learning in a range of lessons and also made some short visits to classrooms.
• Inspectors listened to a range of pupils read, and reviewed the work in pupils’ books alongside school leaders as well as independently.
• Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and during breaktime and lunchtime was observed.
• Inspectors talked informally to pupils in lessons and around the school and held formal meetings with the school council and pupils from across key stage 1.
• Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher and other leaders, governors and a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation including the school’s evaluation of its own performance, school improvement planning, documents monitoring the effectiveness of teaching and learning, minutes of governing body meetings, the school’s own policies, and documentation relating to safeguarding and attendance.
• Inspectors took into account the views of parents at the start of the day, in addition to 78 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View).
• Inspectors took account of 21 staff questionnaires and the responses from 11 pupils. The inspectors also took account of the school’s own surveys of the views of parents and pupils.

Inspection team

Cathy Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Don Parker Ofsted Inspector Adrian Fearn Ofsted Inspector Gillian Nimer Ofsted Inspector