OFSTED
Our school was visited by Ofsted inspectors on the 17th and 18th of January 2023. The inspectors make judgements on the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and quality of education in EYFS.
The Inspectors spoke to leaders (Governors, Headteacher and Subject Leaders), the LA School Improvement Advisor, the Diocese Advisor, school staff, children and parents. As well as making visits to classrooms and observing the pupils on the playground and in the hall at lunchtime.
We were pleased that the Ofsted inspectors recognised the strengths of our school, some of which are highlighted in the report:
- Pupils enjoy coming to school and feel safe
- Pupils are polite and behave well.
- Pupils have positive attitudes toward learning.
- Subject leaders are passionate about their subject and have ambition for all pupils to achieve well
- Reading is a priority, and pupils talk about stories they enjoy
- Pupils have the opportunity to take part in extracurricular activities
- Leaders have ambition for pupils with special educational needs
- Pupils with social and emotional mental health are supported
- Pupils are taught about being kind and respectful and are encouraged to be good citizens
- Governors (many of who are new in the post) are kept to support the school on its journey of improvement
- Safeguarding is effective
Our last Ofsted inspection was in October 2017 and under that inspection framework the school was graded as ‘Good’. The current Ofsted inspection criteria were implemented in 2019 and a new EYFS framework came into effect in 2021.
The following judgements have been made:
- Quality of education – requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes – good
- Personal development – requires improvement
- Leadership and management – requires improvement
- The quality of education in EYFS – requires improvement.
The school has received an overall grade of ‘Requires Improvement’.
While we know this grading is understandably going to be met with a sense of disappointment amongst our school community, the governors and staff are confident that we are already working on most of the areas identified by the Inspectors. Covid and other non-Covid related staff absences have had a significant impact on our school and affected our ability to drive forward as quickly or as effectively as we would have liked the school improvement priorities.
The areas requiring improvement identified in the report are detailed below along with a summary of the actions we are taking to address them:
- Leaders do not carry out thorough enough checks to see how well the curriculum is being taught. This means that they do not have a clear picture of how effectively teachers are implementing the planned curriculum, so pupils know and remember more. Leaders should carry out thorough checks on how well subjects are being taught and use this information to further improve the quality of curriculum delivery.
We will continue to develop our subject leaders and implement a more comprehensive subject monitoring schedule. Subject leaders will undertake planned monitoring activities and share outcomes with subject link governors, the senior leadership team and class teachers.
- Leaders have not established effective assessment systems to check what pupils know and remember. As a result, leaders do not know how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum. Leaders need to develop effective systems to check what pupils know, remember and can do.
We will continue to develop long and medium-term curriculum plans to support teacher planning across schools. We will expand our assessment practices across all subjects. Through more regular conversations teachers will gain a collective understanding of what an ‘on track’ pupil knows, remembers and can do. Leaders will ensure that teachers make precise use of assessment to inform planning and provision for pupils. We will evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum on outcomes. As a school, we will continue to invest in staff training.
- The curriculum in the early years does not precisely identify the knowledge and skills children will learn. This means some children do not secure the fundamental building blocks they need to prepare them for Year 1. Leaders need to ensure curriculum plans identify the most important knowledge and skills children need to acquire, so they are prepared for future learning.
We will refine the long and medium-term curriculum plans in EYFS to ensure the progression of knowledge and skills from Nursery through Reception so that pupils are well-prepared for Year 1. As a school, we will continue to invest in staff training.
- Leaders have not provided pupils with a wide range of opportunities to develop their talents and interests. Pupils have had limited opportunities to participate in visits to develop their understanding of the world and cultures around them. Senior leaders should strengthen the school’s offer, so the curriculum extends beyond the academic and provides for pupils’ wider development.
We will enhance our visit/visitor programme so that each year group has a curriculum-linked visit/visitor each term. We will establish a diary of visits/visitors that give pupils a greater understanding of multi-cultural and multi-faith Britain. We will review and develop our range of clubs and will give more leadership responsibility to our school councillors. If any parents/carers or extended friends and family have an interest or a talent that they are able to share with our children either as a regular club or as a one-off enrichment opportunity we would love to hear from you with suggestions.
We are fully committed to working on the areas of improvement identified in order to continue ensuring that Pocklington Infants is a place where we find ‘happy children, loving learning’.
SIAMS
As a Church School we are inspected as part of the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools. Our last inspection took place on 13th February 2020.
Key findings
- Pocklington is a welcoming, inclusive and nurturing school whose staff support pupils’ social and emotional needs well. The wellbeing of the whole school community is a priority.
- The headteacher’s commitment to do the best for all the pupils in the school is rooted in her Christian faith and a dedication to Church school development.
- Collective worship is inclusive and forms an important part of school life. Prayer is a central part of each school day and contributes to spiritual development. However, pupils are not yet fully involved in planning, leading and evaluating worship.
- Pupils speak positively about RE. They enjoy learning about Christianity and other world faiths and are beginning to ask big questions about life and faith.
Areas for development
- Embed the biblical narrative of the school’s Christian vision and its underpinning so that the whole school community can identify and articulate it as an integral focus of the school’s onward journey.
- Ensure a robust approach to the monitoring and evaluation of the school’s effectiveness as a Church school so as to drive systematic and sustained development.
- Increase opportunities for pupils to plan, lead and evaluate collective worship to further develop their ownership and engagement.