Coatham Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Coatham Church of England Voluntary Controlled

Primary School Following my visit to the school on 7 June 2016, 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 May 2011. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

You and your leadership team have created an inclusive environment where everyone is valued. Since your appointment in 2014, you have worked with staff to drive forward improvements, rightly focusing on teach...ing and learning. In addition you continue to meet the diverse needs of your community.

You do this in a sensitive and respectful fashion, providing a place where relationships and trust are nurtured to build a strong ethos based on mutual respect and openness. High-quality relationships between pupils and adults are central to the school's success. You encourage staff at all levels to play their part as leaders and in moving the school forward.

Pupils are well mannered and polite. They are courteous to visitors and show consideration towards each other. Pupils say bullying is rare and they feel safe in school.

In lessons they settle quickly to their work and listen attentively. Pupils say that on some occasions there is silliness in lessons but this rarely distracts them from their work. Their attitude to their work is largely positive but a minority of pupils express some reservations about the work they are asked to do.

On occasions, systems to capture pupils' views do not do so accurately. As a result, the information leaders have about the personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils is incomplete. You and your governors know the strengths and weaknesses of the school well.

You make sure that the quality of teaching and learning remain consistently good. Where you identify issues in teaching you act quickly to take action. Arrangements to secure reliable assessments about how well pupils are progressing against the new curriculum are well developed.

They shape the school's planning for improvement. The switch between assessment models has led to some lack of clarity about how well all children are progressing over a longer period of time. Leaders recognise the need to sharpen the accuracy of assessment and the analysis of pupils' progress.

The school has continued to provide the strengths noted at the previous inspection. It remains an inclusive community which fosters a love of learning through high expectations of teachers and effective guidance to pupils on how to improve their learning. Where issues were identified at the last inspection these have been addressed and you have continued to maintain a focus on these areas for development.

For example, the progress pupils make with their writing now matches that seen in reading and mathematics. Additionally, your curriculum has stronger links with more diverse communities in this country and elsewhere. Safeguarding is effective.

You and your staff are rightly focused on ensuring pupils are safe. All staff and governors receive frequent training, keeping up to date with lessons to be learned from serious incidents elsewhere. Systems and procedures are kept under review to ensure best practice is maintained.

For example, training on homophobic bullying has informed and enhanced the curriculum you provide. The leadership team ensures that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed. Systems are in place that go beyond what is required and promote a culture in which pupils say they feel safe.

Inspection findings ? Leaders and governors demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement. Where issues arise you take prompt action to address them. For example, work to ensure that inadequacies in pupils' understanding and skills in linking sounds and letters (phonics) by the end of Year 1 in 2014 had been addressed by the end of Year 2 and outcomes in Year 1 now exceed those seen nationally.

• Pupils continue to make good progress across the school. The most able pupils are well supported with challenging tasks to promote deeper learning and to apply their learning in a variety of situations. Consequently these pupils say they feel they often have to 'think hard' about how to do their work.

As a result they make rapid progress and increasing numbers of pupils exceed expectations, especially in mathematics. ? Your work to minimise gaps between outcomes for different groups of pupils is a strength of the school. This is because checks on pupils' progress systematically identify where gaps in pupils' learning may be emerging.

These checks result in well-targeted support to help individuals or groups of pupils catch up and fill gaps in their learning. Additional provision to help the most able fulfil their potential helps them keep up with their peers. However, the way this work is recorded in reports published on the school website is not clear and does not do justice to the work being undertaken.

• By the end of key stage 2, pupils make at least the progress expected of them. Many go on to make better than expected progress, especially in mathematics. As a consequence, pupils are well placed to make the most of their secondary education.

• You and your senior leaders have developed detailed and effective systems for collecting information about the progress of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. You have worked hard, along with other schools, to ensure your assessments are accurate. This information helps class teachers and senior leaders to see where pupils are making or not making progress and to take rapid action where concerns arise.

The information currently lacks fine detail about the progress classes are making over a longer period of time. You are aware of this and, together with senior leaders, are working hard to address the complexities of moving from one assessment system to another. ? The quality of teaching is generally good and improving.

The teaching of reading and writing are priorities and pupils have developed a positive attitude to these aspects of learning. Improved standards of writing are evident in pupils' work. They take pride in the presentation of their work.

Tasks are well matched to pupils' needs and they have a good understanding of what is required to develop their learning further. ? You rightly ensure that the impact teaching has on pupils' progress is a focus for monitoring. School leaders at all levels use detailed evidence to support and challenge staff and hold them accountable for the progress pupils are making.

In addition, training and support are targeted to meet the specific development needs of individual teachers where practice requires particular improvement. ? Pupils on the whole have positive attitudes to their learning and school life in general and enjoy their work. They talk eloquently about bullying and prejudice in all its forms and the impact they have on others.

As a result, they say bullying is rare. They are clear what to do if they have concerns, and they feel safe. ? Parents and carers, where they expressed a view, were very positive about the school and its values.

They valued the support given to their children and believed the school was approachable should they have concerns. ? The governing body knows the work of the school well. Governors understand the day-to-day working of life in the school through detailed reports and regular focused visits.

They have their own action plan to ensure they continue to develop their own practice and keep pace with developments in the school. They know the strengths and weaknesses of the school and have a clear vision about the next steps they want to see the school take. Governors have kept an eye on issues raised at the last inspection.

For example, they talk persuasively about a broader curriculum with a focus on people of different faiths and backgrounds within British society and how modern British values inform the work of the school. In addition, they are knowledgeable about, and place a high priority on, the safeguarding of pupils, with regular training and updates. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? information used to monitor the progress pupils are making captures more precisely the progress they make over time ? the information published on the school website, detailing how effectively additional money is spent to support disadvantaged pupils, better captures the work of the school ? processes to capture the views of pupils do so accurately.

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 Redcar and Cleveland. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Jonathan Brown Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, senior leaders and a group of governors.

I reviewed safeguarding arrangements in the school, including looking at documentation and files. I looked at the information provided to parents on the school website. I visited several classrooms with you to observe teaching.

I spoke with a range of pupils at playtimes, in lessons and an additional selected group of pupils about the school. I reviewed information from the online questionnaire, Parent View. I evaluated recent information provided by the school about the progress pupils are making and looked in pupils' books to establish the accuracy of assessments.