Naburn Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and governors have made rapid and effective improvements to the school. Teachers now successfully help pupils to make progress in their reading and mathematics.

While they are on the right path, leaders and governors know that there is still much more to do. Other subjects in the curriculum, such as geography or computing, are not as clearly mapped out. Pupils are not gaining the knowledge and skills that they need in these subjects.

The school is a harmonious and positive place to be. Parents and carers are very well informed about what is happening in the school. As one parent said, 'it is more like a family than a school'.

Pupils respect the staff ...and each other. Relationships between pupils and the staff are very strong. Pupils help each other out in lessons and encourage each other to do well.

Pupils present their work to a high standard because they understand the importance of trying their best.

Pupils have many opportunities to play sport and learn about how to be healthy. There are other opportunities to learn and live the school values, such as hosting village events to encourage the value of 'community'.

Personal, social and health education (PSHE) is now taught weekly to all pupils. However, wider experiences, such as visits from charities or external experts, are not linked well enough to what pupils learn in the PSHE curriculum. Pupils have limited knowledge about some parts of the curriculum, such as how to form healthy relationships.

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

Governors have used their precise planning and regular visits to school to ensure that the school is constantly improving. The 'rapid improvement group' uses information from a variety of sources, such as local authority representatives or the headteacher's report to check on this. This has helped and challenged the leaders in the school to keep pace with the improvements that have been needed.

Staff appreciate the way in which leaders have managed their workload and well-being, despite the pace of improvement.

Leaders and governors have an accurate understanding of the strengths of the school and what needs to improve. They know that some parts of the curriculum need significant development to get them to the standard that is needed.

Leaders have trained all staff to teach phonics effectively. Leaders have introduced a new curriculum that clearly states when pupils are taught each sound. Pupils get to practise the sounds that they know at the start of lessons and by reading books.

Teachers are expert at quickly assessing pupils who are new to the school. Staff then give these pupils extra support to quickly learn the phonics that they need in order to read books. Alongside phonics, teachers also read stories to pupils that they enjoy.

Pupils get to know the characters well and like to predict what will happen next.

Leaders have designed an effective mathematics curriculum. Teachers use this curriculum well to support pupils of all ages in mixed-age classes.

Teachers are quick to pick up when pupils have not grasped a method or concept that they need. They then give pupils helpful tips and advice or show them how to do it again. Children in the early years quickly grasp an understanding of number, such as five being one more than four.

Teachers continue to use the same methods and resources to build up this knowledge as they move through school. Pupils are confident in their mathematics and can show what they have been taught in the past.

Other subjects are much less developed than English and mathematics.

Leaders have just started to add the detail needed to these curriculums. Currently, subjects such as geography have too little mapped out about what should be taught and when for pupils in mixed-age classes. Leaders have not broken down what pupils need to learn into small enough steps in these subjects.

Teachers sometimes then try to cover too much in one lesson or ask pupils to do activities that they are not ready for. Some pupils have significant gaps in their knowledge, such as not knowing where the continents are in key stage 2. Sometimes, pupils are asked to do tasks in one subject that they have no knowledge of in another, for example pupils being asked to make bar charts in computing before learning about them in mathematics.

Teachers do not have the subject knowledge that they need in some subjects in key stages 1 and 2 and areas of learning in the early years. Subject leaders have not trained teachers in how to deliver these subjects as they are still developing the curriculum itself.

Teachers respond well to the needs of the pupils in the school.

Many pupils come to school with significant gaps in their attendance. Leaders make sure that these new pupils are welcomed into the school and given the support that they need. This helps them settle quickly.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have their needs identified and assessed accurately. Leaders work well with other agencies to gain more specialist advice or support where needed for pupils with SEND. For those pupils who struggle to concentrate at home, leaders run a homework club, where pupils get help and a quiet place to work.

Leaders now have a sharp focus on improving the attendance of all pupils. Pupils who are new to the school nearly all attend more than they did at their previous school. If pupils are off school regularly, leaders are quick to see what is happening.

Leaders are not complacent and continue to work to improve attendance further.

Leaders have introduced a 'traffic light' system for behaviour. This is well understood by staff and pupils.

Staff use it effectively to make sure that everyone understands what they expect pupils to do. There is a positive culture in the school, where pupils want to do well for their teachers and their fellow pupils. Classrooms are calm and purposeful.

New arrivals to the school quickly get up to speed with these expectations and feel proud in their new school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders use an electronic recording system so that staff can log any concerns that they may have about a pupil.

Leaders pick up on these concerns quickly and contact parents or other agencies when needed. This includes absence from school that leaders now track closely as a safeguarding concern when they are unsure about a pupil's whereabouts.

Safeguarding is another part of leaders' work where they have used advice and expertise from the local authority well.

Staff are now all fully trained to spot signs of concern. All visitors to the school are recorded on the school's single central record. Leaders make sure that visitors have all the checks that they need to come into the school.

There is a culture of vigilance in what staff do. Governors check up on this in their visits and through their meetings.

Pupils have a clear understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

Leaders consider the local context for pupils and ensure that they talk about what is important to them. For example, pupils have a very good understanding of how to be safe online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders are in the process of redesigning the curriculum in many of the foundation subjects in key stages 1 and 2 and some areas of learning in the early years.

Teachers are not clear on what to teach in these areas and there is sometimes little coherence from one year group to another. Leaders should continue their work to develop the curriculum and ensure that there are clear links from what pupils have been taught in the past so that pupils have the prior knowledge that they need to access the new content. ? Teachers do not break down what pupils are being taught into small enough component parts in some foundation subjects.

Pupils are taught too much content all at once and fail to grasp the key knowledge that teachers want them to remember. Subject leaders should ensure that the curriculum is broken down into sufficiently small steps for pupils to build up their knowledge over time and that teachers are aware of what the core knowledge pupils need to remember is. ? Leaders recognise that some teachers do not have the subject knowledge that they need to teach some of the foundation subjects well.

Teachers sometimes lack the knowledge of what precisely they need to teach and how they should teach it. Leaders should ensure that, as the curriculum is further developed, staff are given the subject knowledge training needed to implement it well. ? Leaders have not matched the wider experiences that pupils have to the PSHE curriculum.

The PSHE curriculum, like foundation subjects, lacks important precision of what is taught at each stage. Pupils have a limited understanding of important topics such as healthy relationships or the protected characteristics.Leaders should, as with foundation subjects, further break down the PSHE curriculum so that it is clear what is taught and when and that this links meaningfully to other experiences that pupils have in school.