Pipworth Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Pipworth Community Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 9 October 2018 with Fiona Dixon, Ofsted Inspector, 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 March 2014.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Pipworth Community Primary School provides a place where pupils enjoy learning.

You and your leadership team are committed to helping pupils to succeed. You are passionate about the community you ...serve and are determined to help pupils to be the best they can be. You have created a climate in which pupils achieve well and staff feel privileged to be a part of your team.

You have accurately identified what the school needs to do to make further improvements. Your plans to make these improvements are detailed and set out clear steps for you to work towards. Governors provide good support.

They know the school and the community well and provide you with effective challenge. You welcome parents into your school and this is something they appreciate. Parents are extremely supportive of the school.

They feel that their children are safe and like that you teach pupils how to recognise when they are at risk. One parent said that Pipworth Primary is, 'like a second home'. Your team of learning mentors provides a good link between home and school.

You have effective strategies to help new pupils settle into your school. Leaders quickly identify any needs that pupils new to the school have and provide them with good support. Pupils feel that behaviour is good.

They enjoy the wide range of experiences you provide after school and in lessons. Pupils feel that the trips that you arrange and visitors to school really help them to extend their learning. Following the last inspection, inspectors identified that leaders should ensure that activities should challenge all pupils to do their very best, including the most able.

Pupils' books now show that, in many cases, the most able pupils are given tasks that provide them with challenge. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 is now above the national average. During our visits to lessons we listened to teachers use questioning to guide pupils.

Sometimes, teachers encouraged pupils to make links to previous learning and this allowed them to improve the answers that they gave. However, we also noticed that there were times when teachers were unaware that some pupils were finding work too easy or too difficult. This meant that some pupils spent too long waiting for help or that the misconceptions they had were not addressed.

Others needed further challenge. You agreed that this is now an important area to improve. During the last inspection, inspectors also identified that pupils should begin to apply the advice they were given in teachers' marking so as to learn from their mistakes.

You have reviewed your marking policy and taken into consideration demands on teachers' workloads, yet you have established an effective policy. Work in pupils' books shows that teachers follow your policy consistently. Safeguarding is effective.

The safety of pupils is central to your work. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding requirements are fit for purpose. You have rigorous procedures in place to ensure that all appropriate checks are made when recruiting new staff.

Staff who are new to the school receive induction training that takes into account the latest changes to safeguarding guidance. All staff and governors are aware of the most recent safeguarding information. You provide staff with regular updates throughout the year.

As a result, staff are confident when discussing what to do should they have any concerns about pupils' well-being. Pupils are aware of who they can talk to should they have any concerns. You have planned opportunities for pupils to learn how to stay safe through lessons and assemblies.

Pupils understand how to stay safe in different situations. For example, they received relevant and useful advice from visitors during our inspection visit about how to stay safe online. Pupils say that they feel safe.

They are confident that staff will act quickly should they have any concerns. Pupils' attendance has been below the national average for some years. Rates of persistent absenteeism also continue to be above the national average.

You are working hard to try to improve attendance. You have good systems to identify which pupils need to improve their attendance and you carry out frequent checks to measure the success of your actions. Your team of learning mentors works closely with families to provide them with support.

You work closely with outside agencies to promote the benefits of attending school and to provide additional support for those pupils who are persistently absent. However, despite your efforts, attendance remains below the national average and remains an area to improve. Inspection findings ? Published outcomes for children in the early years indicate that, in recent years, the proportion reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception Year has been below the national average.

In 2017, an average proportion of children achieved this good level. Therefore, I wanted to find out what leaders have done to improve outcomes and to check whether children in the early years are making good progress from their starting points. ? Children enter the early years with skills that are below those typical for their age.

Teachers check the progress that children make regularly. They use this information to inform the activities that they plan. The outdoor area is well organised, allowing children access to a broad curriculum.

The quality of classroom environments varies across the early years. Some areas are well organised and demonstrate high expectations and pride. Other areas are cluttered and restrict how effectively children can work independently or collaboratively.

Children who need to develop their speech and language skills are identified early in school and teachers plan appropriate activities to support them. However, during our visits to lessons we observed occasions when children were not focused enough on their learning. Adults were not aware of this and children spent too long doing tasks that were not helping them to extend their learning.

Nevertheless, as a result of good provision overall, children make good progress. Provisional outcomes for 2018 have improved slightly and are just below the national average. ? Published outcomes for the Year 1 phonics screening check indicate that the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard has been below the national average in recent years.

There have been significant numbers of pupils that have not reached this standard by the end of Year 2. This means they have moved into key stage 2 without the skills necessary to read unfamiliar words. Therefore, I wanted to find out what leaders have done to improve outcomes in phonics at the end of Year 1 and what they have done to support pupils as they move into key stage 2.

• The leader of phonics has undertaken a review of phonics and implemented a new approach to teaching. Staff have received support and there is now a more consistent approach to the teaching of phonics in school. The phonics leader checks the quality of teaching and provides teachers with advice.

Teachers demonstrate to pupils the sounds that letters make effectively. This helps pupils to repeat the sounds they are learning. For example, children in the early years were confident when sounding out the letters in their name.

Other children enjoyed finding objects in a story with the same initial sounds. Teaching assistants provide effective support for pupils, prompting them to explain their answers and providing them with the confidence to 'have a go'. The phonics leader has identified that there is some evidence of effective teaching in key stage 2.

When we listened to pupils in key stage 2 read, some were not able to use their knowledge of letter sounds to read unfamiliar words. The teaching of phonics now needs to be delivered more consistently across key stage 2 so that pupils who did not pass the phonics screening retake in Year 2 catch up quickly. ? Sometimes, the teaching of phonics was not matched well enough to the needs of pupils.

During whole-class phonics teaching, we noticed that some pupils did not have the skills they needed to join in with activities. Other children already knew the sounds that were being taught. The phonics leader recognises what she needs to do to support staff to make further improvements.

Even so, as a result of leaders' work, provisional outcomes for phonics in 2018 have shown a slight increase and are now just below the national average. ? The progress that pupils make across key stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics was well above average last year. I wanted to find out if pupils made similar rates of progress in other subjects.

You have worked hard to make improvements to the teaching of subjects other than English and mathematics. The work that pupils produce is neat and they apply their handwriting and spelling skills to a wide range of subjects. There is a good range of opportunities for pupils to apply their writing skills in different subject areas.

The pupils receive a broad curriculum. Curriculum leaders have thought carefully about the way that they have organised the content of the areas of the curriculum which they lead. For example, in science pupils apply what they learn in their study of materials in Year 4 to their study of forces in Year 5.

Pupils enjoy the experiences you offer across the curriculum. The visits you organise and the visitors to school provide pupils with memorable experiences and they talk enthusiastically about how this helps them to learn. Additional initiatives such as the 'Super Scientists' you have introduced give pupils responsibility for sharing their learning with pupils across the school in novel and interesting ways.

• Curriculum leaders have a good understanding of the quality of teaching and learning in their subjects. You provide leaders with training that helps them to deepen their subject knowledge. The checks that leaders make enable them to identify what they need to do to further improve the quality of teaching and they have begun to provide effective support for staff.

As a result, pupils make good progress in a range of subjects. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teachers respond more effectively to the changing needs of pupils within lessons so that pupils receive additional challenge or support when needed ? efforts to improve attendance are continued ? phonics activities are carefully planned to meet the needs of all pupils, including pupils in key stage 2. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Sheffield.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Jaimie Holbrook Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met you and other senior leaders and explained my lines of enquiry. I also met with members of the governing body, a representative from the local authority, the subject leaders for English, science, creativity and art and the designated safeguarding leader.

There were no responses to Ofsted's online survey, Parent View, or Ofsted's questionnaires for staff and pupils. We visited classes together in the early years, key stage 1, and key stage 2. We observed pupils' behaviour in lessons, met with a group of pupils, listened to pupils read and looked at samples of pupils' work.

I viewed a range of documents, including leaders'