Fylingdales Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Fylingdales Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The ambition leaders have for pupils dwarfs the size of the school. Leaders have raised expectations for pupils through the changes they have made.

The ambitions leaders have for pupils are becoming realised through work leaders have done to improve the curriculum.

Pupils consistently talk about feeling safe, cared for and that they matter. This is a result of the culture of care and kindness that runs throughout the school.

Pupils treat each other with high levels of respect, bringing to life the school's Christian values. As one... pupil said, 'It is important to be nice.'

Pupils are surrounded by staff who know them well and who are dedicated to giving them the best possible educational experience every day.

As one pupil said, 'It is a wonderful, warm community.' Pupils' enthusiasm for their learning is obvious. They begin their work enthusiastically and with excitement.

They look for opportunities to support each other. Staff have embedded clear and effective rules and routines for pupils to follow to develop independence and resilience. Pupils move around school in a mature and considerate way.

Bullying rarely happens. On the rare occasions when it does, leaders deal with it promptly.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have undertaken significant recent work on improving the quality of the curriculum being taught to pupils.

This work is having a positive impact on pupils' learning. In some subjects, such as art, recent developments have been done at a greater pace. Pupils speak with joy and enthusiasm about their learning in this subject and share their work with passion.

Leaders give subject leaders the time they need to monitor their areas of responsibility. The monitoring undertaken in some foundation subjects is not as precise as it could be to quickly identify and develop the curriculum and precision of teaching.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are quickly identified and supported.

The ambition for these pupils matches the curricular ambition of their peers. Staff understand how to offer the right level of support for these pupils so that they are successful and have chance to develop independence and resilience in their learning.

All subject leaders have ensured that children's learning in the early years builds solid foundations for future learning.

The early years curriculum gives children a highly positive start to their education. Staff in the early years have a strong understanding of how children learn. Their interactions with children are high quality.

The activities that staff plan for children are well delivered by knowledgeable staff.

Reading is everywhere in this school. Leaders ensure that staff receive targeted training to help them deliver the schools phonics curriculum in a consistent way.

Phonics teaching begins early in Reception. In phonics lessons, staff skilfully use the same strategies and approaches to teach pupils to read. There are clear and well-developed approaches to identifying and supporting pupils.

This makes a difference to pupils who need support to become fluent readers as quickly as possible. Pupils read and have read to them a wide range of books. Leaders make choices about these books to ensure that pupils are exposed to concepts such as diversity and healthy relationships.

Reading is valued highly by both staff and pupils alike.

Leaders are dedicated to developing pupils beyond the academic at every opportunity. Pupils have access to a variety of opportunities to see and understand the world beyond their immediate environment.

Leaders provide opportunities for pupil leadership, residentials and trips and visitors linked to different subjects. This helps pupils to develop a sense of how they fit into the wider world. Leaders have focused on expanding the range of clubs and activities that pupils can take part in after school.

For example, the recent introduction of a gardening club has been very popular. Pupils of all ages have a strong understanding of diversity. They speak passionately about how all should be treated the same, no matter what their differences are.

Staff feel well supported around their workload and well-being. They are positive about the work undertaken by leaders and the impact this is having. Governors understand their roles.

They strategically support and challenge school leaders. They have systems in place to check the accuracy of information provided to them by school leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders are diligent and detailed in their work around safeguarding. They have worked to ensure that staff are clear on who to report concerns to. They use local intelligence and external partners to develop an understanding of local risk and reflect these in the training received by staff.

There is a clear cycle of staff training and development linked to specific matters around safeguarding. Pupils and families who need extra support are identified.Leaders work well with external agencies to source additional expertise and guidance.

There is a clear culture of safeguarding in the school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The monitoring processes undertaken in some foundation subjects are not as focused as they could be. As a result, the development of teachers' pedagogical skills and the refinement and development of the curriculum are not occurring as swiftly as they could.

The school should ensure that subject leaders continue to be supported and developed to use their monitoring and checks to develop consistent approaches to pedagogy. Subject leaders should make appropriate curriculum refinements and adaptations as a result.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2013.