Otley All Saints CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Otley All Saints CofE Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders' vision to provide 'Learning, love and laughter every day' is certainly put into practice at Otley All Saints.

The caring relationships between staff and pupils help everyone to feel happy and safe in school.

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum in English and mathematics. Leaders also provide creative learning opportunities through the wider curriculum.

Pupils participate in charity work to support those less fortunate than themselves. This helps to develop pupils' understanding of their responsibilities as global citizens.

In music..., pupils achieve highly in a broad range of musical tuition.

Many pupils perform in the school orchestra. The school choir performs in the marketplace at the annual 'Otley Victorian Christmas Fayre'. Opportunities to perform in public enrich the wider curriculum and build pupils' confidence.

Pupils are not currently achieving an equally high standard in other foundation subjects. This is because leaders have not finalised assessment arrangements in these curriculum subjects to identify what pupils know and what they can do.

Pupils behave consistently well.

There is hardly any bullying. Most pupils and parents are confident that if bullying did occur, adults will deal with it swiftly. A very small minority of parents are dissatisfied with leaders' response to bullying.

Leaders are determined to ensure that all pupils feel equally happy and safe at school.

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

Children in the early years get off to a strong start, including in early reading and mathematics. They learn how to manage their personal needs independently, for example re-applying sunscreen when outdoors.

Teachers fully understand how the youngest children learn. When some children in Nursery Year take a long time to gather their thoughts and explain their thinking, teachers wait patiently and give children all the time they need. Other children show self-regulation by controlling their impulse to help.

They wait until it is their turn. This is giving all children equal opportunities to develop their speaking skills.

The ambitious curriculum engages all pupils' interests.

This is partly why pupils in all key stages have such positive attitudes to learning and behave so well in lessons.

Reading and mathematics are strengths of this school. The curriculum for early reading is implemented consistently well.

Pupils quickly learn to read with fluency and confidence. Teachers' love of reading shines through when they read aloud to each class daily. This is helping pupils to enjoy hearing stories and further develop their own love of reading.

The mathematics curriculum is implemented equally well. Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They use technology effectively, including providing translation apps to support pupils who speak English as an additional language.

All staff have high expectations in mathematics lessons, including of the most able pupils. This is helping all pupils to achieve well. Leaders have increased opportunities for pupils to use and apply their mathematical knowledge to reasoning and problem-solving.

Leaders enrich the mathematics curriculum creatively. For example, pupils recently drew on their mathematical skills in an outdoor orienteering event. This is helping pupils to really enjoy mathematics.

In reading and mathematics, teachers use assessment precisely to check pupils' learning. This helps teachers to identify learning gaps and address this quickly. Assessment arrangements are less effective in some wider curriculum subjects.

This means that teachers are not aware of gaps in pupils' prior learning in these curriculum subjects. There is insufficient depth to pupils' knowledge for their age. Teachers do not adjust the sequence of lessons to reinforce prior learning for pupils who need this.

As result, pupils are not achieving as well as they could in some wider curriculum subjects.

Teachers adapt the curriculum well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in all curriculum subjects. For example, teachers provide pupils who struggle with processing information with a 'little and often' approach.

Teaching assistants reinforce pupils' learning by providing additional practice in short bursts. This helps pupils with SEND to retain knowledge securely over time.

The curriculum for pupils' broader development is a strength of the school's work.

There is an extensive list of clubs and educational visits that enrich pupils' learning. Pupils' moral education is linked to their character development. Pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of democracy and the rule of law.

For example, pupils showed empathy when a Year 12 visitor described his feelings and experiences as an Afghan refugee.

Staff appreciate the headteacher's efforts to protect teachers' healthy work-life balance. This includes ensuring that teachers have a reasonable workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders make all the necessary safeguarding checks when recruiting staff.

Leaders increase vigilance when staff have noticed signs that indicate that pupils may be at risk of harm.

The learning mentor has daily check-ins with these pupils.

Leaders have adapted the curriculum to take account of the school's particular context. The River Wharfe runs through Otley, so staff regularly remind pupils about water safety.

They remind pupils of the risks of walking on ice, when freezing conditions raise the potential risk of the River Wharfe freezing over.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Teachers do not use assessment well enough to check pupils' understanding and inform teaching in foundation curriculum subjects. They do not identify gaps in pupils' learning quickly enough.

As a result, pupils do not develop detailed knowledge across the curriculum and achieve well in all subjects. Leaders should establish effective assessment arrangements in foundation curriculum subjects that take account of teachers' workload and avoid creating unnecessary bureaucratic burdens.

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 October 2012.