Youlgrave, All Saints’ CofE (VA) Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Youlgrave, All Saints' CofE (VA) Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that they feel happy and safe in this small village school. Most parents and carers agree.

Pupils trust adults to help them if they need it. Staff know the pupils well. Pupils are friendly, polite and well-behaved.

A few receive extra support to help them to meet the school's expectations of their conduct.Changes in staffing have unsettled some parents and older pupils over the last two years. Even so, the majority of parents appreciate the teaching, care and extra opportunities provided by the school.

One parent captured the views of ma...ny when they said: 'This is a fantastic family-focused village school with strong links to the community.' The school is ambitious for its pupils. There is a strong focus on pupils' learning in the core subjects.

Pupils do particularly well in their reading and speak with enthusiasm about books they have read. Outside the classroom, pupils enjoy extra opportunities to take part in sport and music. They can take on leadership roles within the school.

They can also play a role in their local village community. For example, pupils can get involved in traditional well dressing.

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

The school is in the process of reviewing what the pupils are learning well.

Topics are set out in a logical order for each subject. In most subjects, the school's curriculum identifies the most important knowledge that pupils must learn. This helps teachers know what to emphasise in lessons.

However, in a small number of subjects, the curriculums do not specify all of the knowledge that pupils need to know and recall. In these subjects, teachers use the national curriculum to help them to decide what to teach. The school has timely plans to make the curriculums for all subjects equally precise.

This will help teachers to assess learning accurately in all subjects.The reading curriculum is strong. The chosen phonics programme works well for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

All teaching staff are trained well. They follow the agreed approach, starting at the beginning of the Reception Year. Pupils are grouped according to their need.

Almost all pupils achieve very well in their phonics knowledge by the end of Year 2. The school encourages pupils to read increasingly challenging texts once they become fluent readers. Pupils enjoy this approach.

A few pupils in key stage 2 did not benefit from the same rigour of teaching when they were first learning to read. The school provides skilled teaching of phonics for those pupils who continue to need it.In mathematics, the detailed curriculum sets out what pupils should know, and be able to do, in each year.

Children in Reception join in at an appropriate level. The school chose its particular mathematics curriculum to ensure that pupils had enough practice in arithmetic and calculation. Pupils enjoy mathematics and they are learning the facts and methods well.

The number of pupils identified as having SEND, or with additional needs, attending the school has grown over recent years. Most of these pupils are thriving. They are welcomed into the classroom and play a full part in the life of the school.

For example, the school is careful to make sure that pupils with SEND get involved in the extra activities provided. When appropriate, additional adults work closely with pupils who need extra support.

Almost all pupils attend well.

Attendance has been improving over the last year. The school makes expectations of attendance clear. Good attendance is celebrated and rewarded.

The school promotes pupils' personal development well. Pupils are welcoming of others from all backgrounds and they learn about a range of different beliefs and ways of life. They develop leadership skills.

For example, some pupils join the school council and put forward their ideas on how to improve the school. A new school library is one example of this. Pupils are also given opportunities even further afield, such as to work with the Halle Orchestra in Manchester.

Staff acknowledge leaders' consideration of their workload. There has been a lot to do over the last two years, but it has been paced well.

There is robust leadership in the governing body.

Governors have sourced skilled and effective interim leaders to bring stability and capacity to the school. The school is now improving securely. Governors visit the school and check the progress being made.

They are knowledgeable about priorities and determined to support the school through the next stages of improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, the curriculums are not precise enough about the knowledge that pupils need to learn.

This means that teachers make their own decisions about what knowledge to prioritise and, in so doing, do not emphasise some of the important knowledge, concepts or skills in those subjects. The school should continue its planned reviews of each subject, ensuring that the full range of knowledge specified is logically sequenced for all subjects, so that pupils achieve as well as they could.

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 June 2015.

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