Driffield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Driffield Church of England Voluntary Controlled

Infant School Following my visit to the school on 18 October 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings.

The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in October 2014. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

You have detailed knowledge of each pupil and use this to check meticulously on their progress and well-being. You are passionate about providing the best possible start to education for each individ...ual pupil. Leaders and governors echo your determination.

You are, rightly, very proud of the pastoral care pupils receive and of the school's effective promotion of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Since the last inspection, you have built leadership capacity through the appointment of a new assistant headteacher and a new English leader. New and existing senior and middle leaders have benefited from targeted professional development opportunities.

You have also developed teams of middle leaders who are responsible collectively for leading improvements in wider curriculum subjects. As a result, senior and middle leaders are instrumental in improving the quality of teaching in priority areas. You are fully aware that there is more work to do on ensuring that all leaders check systematically and thoroughly on the impact of their actions.

Members of the governing body have a wide range of expertise. They are involved in the school and understand the strengths and priorities well. They use this knowledge to challenge leaders and to hold them to account for improvements.

This contributes to the ambitious ethos which exists in the school. The school works closely with the local authority and the diocese. Through these links, leaders are effective in supporting improvement in other schools as well as securing additional professional development opportunities for their own staff team.

Safeguarding is effective. Parents and carers, pupils and staff are overwhelmingly positive about the school. All parties agree that pupils are safe and well cared for.

You place high value on pastoral support for pupils and their families. Additionally, staff have regular training to ensure that they understand their responsibilities in keeping children safe. These aspects of the school's work play a crucial role in the early identification of pupils whose circumstances make them vulnerable.

Where referrals to designated staff or outside agencies are necessary, adults take prompt action. The school's records in relation to this are well maintained. Inspection findings ? At the previous inspection, you were asked to ensure that all pupils, including the most able, receive work in mathematics which challenges them.

Following professional development and research into the effectiveness of different teaching models, the mathematics leader has introduced a new approach to teaching the subject. Pupils now have frequent opportunities to solve problems and explain their reasoning in mathematical contexts. The activities that pupils tackle now represent an appropriate level of challenge.

As a result, the proportion of pupils who reach and exceed the expected standard in mathematics at the end of key stage 1 has increased and is now above average. However, occasionally, pupils' misconceptions are not addressed swiftly. Therefore, leaders are continuing to embed this approach to ensure that pupils in all year groups receive consistently high-quality explanations, questioning and demonstrations during mathematics lessons.

• In the early years, children find the mathematical activities on offer enticing. For example, during the inspection, some children were choosing to explore the capacity of different containers as they poured water through a system of pipes. They sustained their concentration for an extended period because adults were effective in stimulating talk, sparking their curiosity and developing their learning.

• Adults in Reception Year make detailed, accurate assessments of children's knowledge, skills and understanding. They use this information to plan activities which are appropriately challenging and which appeal to the children's interests. Leaders have ensured that activities available for children to choose mirror those which have been demonstrated during adult-led learning.

As a result, children's learning is effectively consolidated and extended. Children enter the early years with knowledge and skills that are broadly typical for their age. They make good progress.

Consequently, by the end of Reception Year, the proportion who reach the standard expected for their age is just above the national average, and the proportion who exceed this is considerably above average. ? Leaders have identified that disadvantaged pupils' outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics have lagged behind other pupils in school and nationally. Leaders now have systems in place to ensure that disadvantaged pupils receive targeted support which is carefully designed to overcome any potential barriers to learning.

This includes additional teaching along with subsidised access to educational visits, breakfast club and extra-curricular clubs. Leaders, including governors, check frequently on the impact of provision on disadvantaged pupils' progress, attainment, attendance and well-being. They have been successful in accelerating the progress of most pupils in this group.

Consequently, the gap between disadvantaged pupils' attainment and others nationally, although it remains evident, is closing. ? Like other pupils in the school, disadvantaged pupils receive effective phonics teaching which supports their development of early reading skills. However, the books pupils use to practise their reading are not always matched precisely enough to their phonic knowledge.

As a result, pupils resort to guessing words and their progress is not as rapid as it could be ? Leaders have strengthened the provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. The special educational needs coordinator has a detailed understanding of the needs of individuals within this group. She is effective in ensuring that teachers set appropriate targets and she supports teachers in reviewing these at regular intervals.

Members of staff benefit from advice and professional development delivered by external specialists where required. The views of this group of pupils and their parents are valued highly, are gathered regularly and are used to inform future provision. The coordinator checks on the quality of provision that pupils receive, makes useful recommendations to staff and checks on the impact of her advice on pupils' progress.

She also ensures that transition arrangements for those starting in the early years or moving to the junior school are effective. As a result of leaders' focused work, the vast majority of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the teaching, learning and assessment of mathematics is further embedded so that pupils consistently receive high-quality explanations, questioning and demonstrations which support them in developing deep understanding ? middle leaders take responsibility for improvements in teaching, learning and assessment in all subjects by monitoring and evaluating them effectively.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of York, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for East Riding of Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Karine Hendley Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, I met with you, a local authority representative, the assistant director of education from the Diocese of York, a group of governors and other senior and middle leaders.

I observed teaching and learning jointly with you and other leaders in classes across both key stages. I scrutinised pupils' work alongside the mathematics leader and listened to pupils read. I spoke to pupils, both formally and informally, and observed their behaviour around the school, including at play and lunchtime.

I met with parents at the start of the school day and took account of the 61 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 23 free-text responses. I reviewed school documentation including the school's self-evaluation and improvement plans, as well as information about pupils' progress, attainment, behaviour and attendance. I spoke with staff during the inspection and considered the 27 responses to Ofsted's staff questionnaire.