North Cave Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of North Cave Church of England Voluntary Controlled

Primary School Following my visit to the school on 6 December 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 October 2011. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Following recommendations in the last Ofsted report, you have taken effective action to improve teaching across the school. You and your assistant headteacher have rigorously monitored the quality of educat...ion through regular checks on pupils' learning seen in books and through observations of teaching.

From these you have made recommendations to teachers on how they might improve their practice. As a result, there is now greater consistency in the quality of teaching. You and your staff have taken effective steps to improve pupils' learning in mathematics.

New resources were purchased and weekly challenges introduced. Pupils now have regular lessons to develop their arithmetical skills so their grasp of basic mathematical concepts is well developed. However, opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills to a range of more complex problems are somewhat limited, so that pupils are not making the rapid progress they need to in order to attain the highest levels.

You have successfully made adjustments to the teaching of information technology, so that pupils have many opportunities to use computers to enhance their learning both in lessons and in their homework. You have ensured that the school website provides links to sites that ignite pupils' interest and develop their knowledge in a large range of subjects. Safeguarding is effective.

Leaders have ensured that all policies and procedures reflect the latest government guidelines and serve to keep children safe in school. Staff and governors have received training in safeguarding children, and are alert to the signs of radicalisation. Leaders work effectively with the education welfare officer to remove barriers to attendance for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, so that all absence for this group of pupils relates to genuine need.

Inspection findings ? You provide strong leadership and direction for staff and pupils at North Cave School. You and your assistant headteacher have an accurate view of the performance of the school through regular monitoring activity. You track the progress of pupils carefully, by group and by prior attainment, setting challenging targets for each pupil.

• Governors are keen to fulfil their roles well. They are regular visitors to school and monitor the quality of education that pupils receive through meeting with pupils and parents. They are kept informed by detailed reports provided by you, supplemented by termly reports by the local authority.

The self-evaluation committee is particularly effective in its work to support continuous improvements in the quality of education provided. ? Teachers are skilled in delivering learning that motivates all pupils to do well, so that standards are high. Pupils' attainment was above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics at every key stage in 2016.

Through careful analysis of assessment information, teachers have identified the skills pupils need to develop in order to reach expected levels, and have adjusted teaching accordingly. ? Teachers have benefited from working in partnership with other schools in the South Hunsley partnership. This has enabled teachers to attend training, to reflect on the latest practice and to check the accuracy of assessments of pupils' work through comparison with those of other schools.

• You and your governors ensure that pupil premium funding is used to help disadvantaged pupils make the progress that they should. Funding is spent on providing additional teaching to support pupils' academic and emotional needs. As a result of well-planned teaching for this group of pupils, they are making secure progress and achieving at the same rate as other pupils.

• Teachers and additional adults support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities well so they are making good progress. A very few pupils need help to manage their behaviour. This support is forthcoming and effective, particularly by additional adults.

• Pupils behave well in and around school. They love coming to school and really enjoy their lessons. Pupils say that their teachers 'make learning fun'.

Pupils understand and talk about their learning of different faiths and what it means to live in modern Britain. They try to embody the school values of 'caring and sharing'. ? The teaching of reading is effective in enabling almost all pupils to reach expected standards.

The most able pupils read with fluency and expression and less able readers are using their knowledge of phonics to enable them to work out unknown words. Teachers have adapted reading lessons so pupils are now reading more challenging texts. Pupils' written responses show that they are understanding these texts well.

Pupils are well supported to read at home. ? Additional resources have been purchased to stretch and challenge the most able pupils in mathematics and reading. As a consequence of this work, the majority of current pupils are working at levels expected for their age, and one third of current pupils are working at greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics.

However, the most able pupils have not been offered sufficient opportunities to enable them to apply their learning to more difficult challenges. ? Children in Reception are making expected progress from their starting points, so that over two thirds are attaining a good level of development by the time they enter Year 1. In the majority of areas of learning, children achieve highly.

However, children are not consistently making rapid progress in writing because : opportunities to develop the fine motor skills to equip them with the stamina for writing and to apply their writing skills independently are underdeveloped. ? Teachers ensure that pupils receive a broad curriculum, enabling them to develop their skills and abilities successfully in a range of subjects. Pupils' learning is well developed in history and art, for example.

Pupils have enjoyed taking part in sporting competitions and debates with local schools. Teachers go the extra mile, taking pupils of every age on residential visits to nearby Paxwold and Snowball centres. These visits are a unique part of pupils' experience at school, helping them to take part in adventurous activities, and developing independence and self-confidence as a result.

• In order to secure outstanding learning, leaders and teachers must ensure that teaching over time is of a consistently high quality. This includes maintaining a focus on improving the quality of provision in the early years and in key stages 1 and 2. It also includes planning sequences of lessons that deepen pupils' understanding, particularly for those pupils who are most able.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the teaching of mathematics for the most able pupils is more precisely focused and offers sufficient challenge so they are able to apply their knowledge in order to reach the higher levels ? greater opportunities are provided for children to acquire writing skills more quickly and to apply them independently, particularly in the early years and key stage 1, so they are well prepared to exceed expectations in key stage 2. 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 the East Riding of Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Lesley Butcher Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During this one-day inspection, I was able to discuss the work of the school with you and your staff. We visited classrooms together to observe teaching and learning. I was able to look at pupils' work in books and to speak with pupils throughout the day.

I heard pupils read from Year 2 and Year 6. Discussions with a representative of East Yorkshire local authority and five members of the governing body helped to provide additional information. School documentation, assessment information, policies and information posted on the school website were also taken into account.

I looked at the online questionnaire (Parent View) to gather 36 parents' views about the school and examined results from the school's own questionnaire to parents. I also took into account the views of 16 staff through Ofsted's online questionnaire. I was particularly looking at what leaders have done to raise the quality of teaching across the school, including for disadvantaged pupils and the most able, in reading, writing and mathematics.