St Barnabas CofE Primary School, Barnetby

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

St Barnabas Church of England Primary School has experienced significant change in recent years.

Many leaders, and professionals supporting the school, describe the school as being 'on a journey to improvement'. Leaders recognise that there is still much to do to provide a consistently high standard of education for all pupils.

Most parents and carers who provided feedback for inspectors are positive about the school.

They value the friendly and happy atmosphere that leaders have established. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well and feel included in the life of the school.

Most pupils behave well.
...r/>Teachers have developed routines that support pupils to work effectively in groups or to discuss their work with a partner. Classrooms are calm places for pupils to learn.

Leaders have not established a consistent approach to record behaviour incidents, including bullying.

Leaders and teachers do not have a clear overview of trends and patterns of poor behaviour. Some incidents are not dealt with consistently. This is because staff are not clear about how to report and record behaviour incidents.

Leaders do not routinely check that the actions taken result in improvements in behaviour.

Most pupils feel safe in school. They trust staff to respond to their concerns.

However, a small number of pupils do not consider that leaders' actions have gone far enough to resolve the issues that they have raised.

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

Pupils' outcomes, particularly in key stage 2, have declined since the previous inspection. The newly appointed headteacher quickly identified weaknesses within the school's curriculum.

Leaders have implemented strategies to support high-quality teaching across the school. They prioritised the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. This is beginning to have a positive impact on pupils' learning.

However, leaders do not routinely check that the actions taken to improve the school have resulted in the intended outcome. During the past year, leaders, including governors, have gained an improved understanding of the school's areas for development. They have, with support from the local authority, identified the improvement priorities for the school.

The governing body has recently restructured the way it operates to provide a sharper focus on improving standards.

Leaders have ensured a consistent approach to phonics teaching across the school. Most pupils read books that match their phonic knowledge.

Over time, pupils read with increasing fluency and accuracy. Most pupils enjoy reading. In English lessons, they experience a range of genres and authors.

In Reception, children enjoy opportunities in the classroom and outside area to read, write and be creative. Children develop skills in early reading and writing. They learn to apply their phonic knowledge to write words and simple sentences well.

Children learn to replicate patterns with shapes. During the inspection, children created patterns to decorate a crown in preparation for the King's coronation. Adults promote discussion and opportunities to support children's use of language.

Children enjoy sharing their news and listening to their peers. The early years curriculum enables children to make progress during their time in Reception. It prepares children well for moving into key stage 1.

Leaders have, within the past year, reviewed and rewritten curriculum subject plans. Teachers have greater clarity about what they must teach than the previous curriculum provided. Curriculum leaders have considered what pupils will learn as they progress through the school.

However, leaders recognise that most curriculum plans, such as history, contain too much content for pupils to learn. Leaders have not precisely identified the important knowledge that pupils must learn. Teachers are not able to easily assess whether pupils have remembered what they will need in future lessons.

In more established subjects such as mathematics and English, pupils usually experience success in their learning. Many pupils identify these subjects as their favourite. In mathematics, pupils complete calculations with confidence.

They benefit from the carefully sequenced curriculum, which builds knowledge over time. At the beginning of the year, leaders identified that pupils were not able to use their mathematical knowledge to solve problems and provide reasons for their answers. Despite this, some pupils do not have regular opportunities to apply their learning.

This is because leaders do not check how the curriculum is being implemented.

Leaders have introduced clear systems and processes to support pupils with SEND effectively. These help teachers identify pupils who need extra support.

The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) uses assessment data and visits to lessons to check that pupils' needs are met.

Opportunities to support pupils' broader development are not well established. Acts of worship, as well as personal, social and health education (PSHE) lessons, provide times for pupils to learn about topics such as the environment and humans' impact on it.

Pupils find it difficult to talk about what they have learned about other faiths and cultures. They do not have a secure understanding and appreciation of ways in which to appreciate and respect difference in the world and its people.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Through the school's PSHE curriculum, pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online.

Staff regularly complete online training to develop their knowledge about a range of important safeguarding topics, such as county lines. (County lines is where illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, usually by children or vulnerable people who are coerced into it by gangs.

) Leaders do not reinforce this with opportunities for staff to discuss what they have learned in their training and how it applies to the context of the school. Some staff develop misconceptions about what they have learned.

Leaders have adopted a child protection policy that meets current statutory requirements.

However, the policy does not clearly set out how staff should report concerns about a pupil. This, and other policies, do not give clear information about what to do if staff have concerns about a colleague. Although these points need to be addressed, inspectors are satisfied that processes are in place for staff to raise concerns.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not identified the important knowledge that pupils should learn as they progress through the school. In some subjects, such as history, teachers do not know what pupils need to know. In these subjects, pupils are not able to make links to prior learning.

Leaders need to ensure that the important knowledge that pupils should learn is clearly mapped out, building on learning in the early years, in all subjects. ? Leaders, including governors, do not routinely check that what they have implemented is having the intended outcome. Leaders do not have an accurate view of the impact of their work to improve the school.

Leaders should establish systems for leaders at all levels, including governors, to routinely check the impact of their work. ? Leaders have not established systems to monitor and review behaviour incidents in school. Thresholds for recording and reporting behaviour are inconsistent.

Some incidents are not resolved satisfactorily. Leaders must establish a clear and consistent process so that all staff know how to record and report behaviour incidents and for leaders to use this to identify and address patterns of behaviour. ? Leaders do not provide regular opportunities for staff to reflect on learning once they have completed online safeguarding training.

Some staff do not know how their learning applies to the school's context. Some staff have developed misconceptions about matters relating to safeguarding. Leaders should ensure that staff have regular opportunities to discuss what they have learned so that they are confident to identify and manage any concerns that they encounter.