All Saints Church of England School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of All Saints, Church of England School

Following my visit to the school on 19 September 2017, 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 January 2013.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Working alongside a hard-working and supportive governing body, your skilful leadership has brought about improvements to teaching and learning.

There is a tangible drive and sense of urgency to provide high-quality opportu...nities which allow pupils to thrive. Leadership is the responsibility of all staff, and you have created a skilful and highly effective school team in which morale remains high. The whole-school ethos is one of raising aspiration for all and is underpinned by a dogged determination to eradicate second best.

It is easy to see why the school's motto, 'We all flourish and achieve as a child of God', is so apt. Improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment are accelerating quickly the rates of progress of current pupils across the school. Teachers routinely establish high expectations.

They accept no excuses for failure and work collaboratively to address issues that arise. You, governors and other school leaders keep a close eye on the quality of teaching, undertaking monitoring of teachers' planning for lessons and analysing work in pupils' books. You hold discussions with pupils about their learning and also spend time visiting classes to observe teaching and learning.

You have recently introduced a new system to track the rates of progress pupils and groups of pupils make in their learning and the standards they achieve. This has allowed you to determine that small variations still exist in the rates of progress made by pupils of different ability across school and take action to address this. Pupils respond well to the high expectations of staff and this is seen in their exemplary attitudes to learning in lessons.

Pupils' strong relationships with adults remain a key strength of your highly inclusive school. Pupils develop excellent citizenship skills, being keen to take on responsibilities through roles such as being a member of the school council, an 'eco-warrior', a school ambassador, a charity officer or a sports leader. They take pride in the well-ordered and extremely tidy school environment both inside and outside, benefiting from quality displays in classes and shared areas.

Pupils' behaviour in class and around school remains exemplary and the vast majority are very eager to work hard. You have worked hard to develop a curriculum that meets the needs of your pupils, and fires their interest through visits to important sites across the region, such as to Skipton Castle, Holy Island, Magna Science Adventure Centre and the York Museum. Work undertaken by subject leaders has been instrumental in driving forward improvements in all subjects across the curriculum.

You acknowledge the need to review and further improve the school's curriculum to ensure that pupils have an appreciation of multicultural Britain and a deeper understanding of the wider world beyond their immediate locality. Safeguarding is effective. In your role as designated safeguarding leader, you ensure that policies, procedures and records are of high quality and up to date.

Your determination to leave no stone unturned in your duty to keep pupils safe is exemplified by your desire to further improve systems through a regular review of procedures and policies. An example of this is the introduction of 'high-vis' tabards for younger pupils working outside. All staff are appropriately trained and have access to well-written policies and guidance.

As a result, they have a secure understanding of their individual responsibilities for safeguarding. Pupils are very knowledgeable about bullying and e-safety. They understand how to avoid situations that may prove dangerous when not at school.

Parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, were crystal clear that the school keeps their children very safe. Inspection findings ? You have ensured that the school continues to work tirelessly to ensure that all pupils are safe and well cared for. The strong relationships in school and high levels of trust between adults and pupils ensure that pupils' conduct in lessons and around school is exemplary.

Pupils are polite, caring, considerate and friendly to each other and to visitors. Playtimes are harmonious occasions where pupils play happily together. Safeguarding is highly effective and the school's work to promote pupils' personal development and welfare is of high quality.

• Pupils enjoy their learning, and the vast majority work conscientiously. They have a clear understanding of which aspects of behaviour help them to learn and which behaviours get in the way. Pupils in the Year 5 and 6 class stood confidently when addressing their peers, explaining and justifying their rationale for solving a mathematics problem.

In classrooms, pupils listen to adults attentively, and respond immediately and without fuss to instructions. They collaborate with peers when asked and drive themselves to complete tasks and challenges on time. ? Children in the Reception class are making a fast start in their early reading skills.

Children were excited to find objects in the outdoor learning area, especially ants that started with the letter 'a'. They enjoyed tracing the 'a' letter shape with their finger in a tray of glittery sand. Adults are skilled in the teaching of phonics and pitch work well according to pupils' ability.

Pupils from Years 1 and 2 who read to the inspector all had a secure phonic knowledge, with some able to read with expression and intonation. ? Most pupils are making consistently strong progress in most year groups in school, but you acknowledge that there are still some variations in the progress of different groups of pupils. Work seen in books and in lessons clearly demonstrates this strong progress for most pupils in reading, writing and mathematics.

You have identified that the rates of progress made by some pupils of lower ability are not as strong as those of their peers. Teachers have high expectations for all pupils to make substantial progress in their learning, and you have recently developed systems to ensure that those who have fallen behind will catch up quickly through targeted support offered the same day. ? Teachers plan and set work which is appropriately challenging for all groups of pupils, including the most able pupils.

Basic skills are developed and extended very effectively, such as in the Year 5 and 6 class where pupils used their knowledge of rounding numbers to identify a missing number and explain their reasoning. Teachers and teaching assistants have strong subject knowledge and structure learning effectively. They have good questioning skills, such as in the Year 1 and 2 class where adults worked with small groups of pupils to extend their skills of inference when reading a book together.

Work in books across school demonstrates teachers' high expectations and the progress pupils have made in their learning. Work is well presented, and handwriting is neat and legible, especially that of younger pupils. ? Staff and leaders at all levels share the same ambition to eradicate underperformance and work tirelessly to solve problems and make continual improvements, teamwork being the catalyst for change.

Subject leaders have been empowered to take full responsibility for the subjects and areas they lead. They are fully involved in evaluating strengths and areas for development in teaching, and have an accurate understanding of pupils' progress in learning. Excellent links have been made with local schools to share best practice and undertake further professional training.

• Governors bring a range of appropriate professional skills and experience to the school that enhance their effectiveness and impact. They share your passion and commitment and that of senior leaders. Governors receive high-quality information, are linked to different key aspects of the school and are involved alongside leaders in monitoring activities.

They are extremely proud of the school's achievements and have well-thought-through plans to become even more effective in order to support and challenge the staff team. ? The school's curriculum ensures that pupils have access to the local history and heritage of the area, and have opportunities to visit areas of special interest. There are many opportunities for pupils to use the topics they are studying or the class text as a basis for extended pieces of writing, such as in the Year 3 and 4 class where pupils were enthusiastically creating a character description based on 'The World's Worst Children' by David Walliams.

You acknowledge that further refinements are needed to the curriculum to ensure that all pupils gain a deeper understanding of the multicultural country in which they live and a greater appreciation of the wider world beyond Kirkby Overblow. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? all pupils continue to make rapid progress in their learning, irrespective of their ability ? pupils continue to develop their understanding of the wider world beyond their immediate locality, including a deeper appreciation of multicultural Britain. I am copying this letter to the co-chairs of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Leeds, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for North Yorkshire.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Philip Scott Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, the school business manager and two teachers. You and I visited lessons in each key stage.

I met with the co-chairs of the governing body, other governors and the school's local authority improvement partner. I spoke to pupils about their work and their views of the school. I listened to some pupils read and looked in workbooks with you and when in lessons.

A range of documents were considered, relating to safeguarding and external evaluations of the school. I examined the school's self-evaluation, the school development plan, the school's monitoring of its own performance and tracking of current pupils' progress. I also scrutinised pupils' recent achievement in the 2017 statutory assessments, responses to the online questionnaire for parents and the school's website.