Tickton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

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

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a caring school.

Relationships between adults and pupils are respectful and trusting. Pupils are happy and enjoy attending school. Adults have high expectations.

Pupils respond well to these. They support each other well in lessons and listen carefully to instructions. Staff work hard to develop pupils' independence.

Pupils use their '5Bs' (brain, board, book, buddy, boss) to carry on working, even when they are stuck. Pupils take pride in their work.

Pupils feel safe and are safe.

Behaviour is good. Pupils d...o not have to worry about bullying. They say that bullying is rare.

They are confident that adults will sort problems out quickly. Pupils are polite around the school. They hold doors open for one another and play together sensibly in the playground.

Pupils follow the school's five core values of trust, care, honesty, forgiveness and respect.

Pupils enjoy and work hard in lessons because teachers plan interesting activities. Pupils enjoy taking part in visits to a range of interesting places.

For example, the residential visit to Northumberland helps them to learn more in different subjects. There is a wide range of extra-curricular activities for everyone to enjoy. Clubs such as badminton, judo and storytelling club are well attended.

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

Adults support Reception children in achieving well. Children start to learn to read as soon as they enter the school. Teachers think carefully about the order of sounds they teach.

They check what pupils know regularly. Any children that are falling behind receive support to catch up. Reading books contain the sounds that children know.

This helps pupils to become more confident readers. Pupils use their phonics skills well to tackle words they don't know.Teachers have improved the quality of books that pupils read.

Stories such as 'The Railway Children' and 'Wonder' help children think about empathy and tolerance. Adults have good subject knowledge. They ask questions that help children to think carefully about what they are reading.

However, lessons to develop pupils' understanding of reading are not always planned well enough. In key stage 1, pupils sometimes spend time carrying out tasks that do not develop their comprehension well enough. Leaders have introduced a new approach to reading lessons in key stage 2.

This is not used consistently in all classes yet. This means that some pupils do not improve their comprehension skills well enough.

The art and science leaders have thought carefully about what they want the pupils to learn during their time in school.

They have developed plans that allow pupils to build on what they know each year. They have identified the most important information that pupils will need to remember. As a result, pupils produce some impressive artwork.

This is not true of all subjects. For example, plans for geography are not as well developed. It is less clear what pupils should know and remember when they leave the school.

However, it is clear that leaders are starting to review all areas of the curriculum.

Some subject leaders have checked what pupils know and remember in their subject. This has helped them to make improvements.

Although this is planned for all subjects, some of this work has not started. Therefore, some subject leaders do not know how well pupils are doing or what to do to improve their subject.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive good support.

The leader for SEND works with staff to help them plan lessons and resources to meet pupils' needs. Each pupil has a precise support plan. This helps teachers to know what support pupils need.

Staff have benefited from a wide range of training opportunities. This helps them to provide effective support for individuals and groups. There are strong connections with outside agencies.

This means that staff can draw upon the expertise that is available in the area.

Leaders have established a culture in which staff support each other and share ideas. This helps teachers to improve their lessons.

Leaders' careful consideration of staff workload supports the staff in carrying out their roles effectively.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders carry out thorough checks when appointing new staff.

New staff receive important safeguarding information and training. Staff have good links with parents and families. All adults are well trained in safeguarding.

Staff are able to identify pupils who may be at risk. Staff know to report concerns to the safeguarding leader.

Leaders keep detailed records if there are any concerns about a pupil.

However, records are not always organised well enough. This means that it can be difficult to access information quickly or spot any patterns.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Leaders should review the curriculum for reading comprehension.

Some activities in key stage 1 do not allow pupils to develop their understanding of texts. Sometimes in key stage 2, lessons do not build on what pupils already know. This means that valuable time is lost.

Some pupils do not get the chance to develop a broad range of reading skills. Curriculum leaders should help teachers to plan lessons that build on what pupils already know. .

Leaders should use the strengths in curriculum design and delivery in subjects such as art and science to develop the curriculum in other foundation subjects. In some subjects, such as geography, the essential knowledge that pupils must know is still unclear. Plans should ensure that important knowledge is identified that builds on pupils' previous learning.

Leaders should continue their plan to ensure that all curriculum leaders carry out checks on their subjects, to see where pupils are achieving well and where they need more support. . Although safeguarding is effective, records are not organised well enough.

Consequently, it is difficult to quickly find safeguarding information. Leaders need to improve recording systems so that information can be accessed quickly and any patterns spotted immediately.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged Tickton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School to be good on 4–5 May 2016.

Also at this postcode