Skidby Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

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

What is it like to attend this school?

Skidby Primary is a nurturing school. Staff in this small school build strong relationships with families and the local community.

Pupils thrive in this inclusive environment. The school values of respect, responsibility and resilience weave through school life. The school provides many opportunities to grow the resilience of its pupils and prepare them for their next stages.

Pupils work with focus and enthusiasm in lessons. This begins in the Reception Year, where children busily investigate the outdoor spaces. Pupils are articulate and respec...tful of adults and each other.

Adults and pupils embrace and encourage those who are reluctant to join in. This reflects the family ethos of the school. There is a sense of calm, which carries across the school day.

Pupils are happy to come to school and value the positive relationships that they have with trusted adults.

Every space in the school reflects and celebrates a rich range of pupils' work. This includes framed pieces of writing, artwork, sculptures and structures.

Pupils are, rightly, proud of their achievements. They show visitors the sculptures they made when learning about Auguste Rodin. They explain their learning in art when looking at displayed sketches showing different viewpoints.

Pupils rise to meet the ambitions of this broad curriculum.

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

The school has developed an ambitious curriculum. This is progressively sequenced and carefully adapted to the mixed-year-group classes.

The recently revised curriculum for mathematics is clearly mapped out with the knowledge that pupils need. This includes smaller steps and appropriate support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils practise key number facts.

This builds the knowledge pupils need for problem-solving and reasoning. Adults are beginning to close the gaps in pupils' learning that have occurred from moving to this new curriculum. However, on occasions, pupils move on too quickly when learning something new, while for other pupils, work to deepen their learning is not always given.

In foundation subjects such as history, the curriculum develops pupils' understanding over time. Pupils can articulate deeper knowledge; for example, they make connections with different civilisations studied.

The school has a culture of reading.

Teachers and pupils are enthusiastic about the books they choose to read. The stories pupils hear in class inspire them to read the sequels. They enjoy being immersed in books and recount different narratives and why they prefer them.

The reward scheme involves books as prizes for pupils to build their personal libraries. Parents and carers enjoy joining in reading activities at school, such as the short story book launch.

Pupils start learning to read as soon as they begin in the Reception Year.

Teachers are knowledgeable about phonics and how to teach pupils the sounds they need. Any children at risk of not keeping up with the phonics teaching receive extra daily practice. This is a priority through early years and key stage 1.

The books that pupils use to practise their reading match the sounds that they know. Pupils are beginning to build their reading routine. For older pupils in key stage 2 who are still at the early stages of learning to read, there is more work to do.

These pupils do not get enough opportunities to practise their phonics to catch up quickly.

The recently introduced graduate award programme takes pupils' learning beyond the classroom. It complements pupils' academic learning.

Pupils can choose a subject of interest and work to become a specialist. These units provide opportunities for pupils to follow their interests and develop independent learning skills.

The school has a keen focus on developing pupils' character.

After-school activities are carefully considered to build teamwork and resilience. Pupils enjoy taking part in diverse sports, such as archery and karate. They continue some of these activities beyond school.

An active adventure day encourages managed risks and further builds resilience. Pupils are actively involved in a range of community projects. This includes working on environmental issues with the parish council and the local council.

Experiences, such as visits to food banks and working with Age UK, broaden pupils' understanding of the challenges that others face. The school builds pupils' independence and strength of character. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Staff speak highly of their small school team. They feel exceptionally well supported with workload and well-being. They are complimentary about the opportunities they have to develop their career.

The work with a local primary school builds opportunities for staff to work collaboratively. Governors know the school and the families well. They make well-informed decisions.

These are underpinned by the school values of respect, responsibility and resilience.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Phonics is not prioritised for older pupils who are at the early stages of learning to read.

This means that they do not learn to read as quickly as they could to be able to access the full curriculum offer. The school should urgently prioritise the teaching of phonics for these pupils in key stage 2, so that they catch up quickly. ? Some pupils are moved on in their learning before they are secure with newly taught knowledge, while other pupils need further challenges to deepen their learning.

This leads to missed opportunities to address misconceptions, close gaps and deepen pupils' thinking. The school should ensure that assessment is used to systematically check understanding so that teachers respond and adapt their teaching as necessary.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2019.

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