Ainderby Steeple Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Leaders have established a warm sense of community in the school which values inclusion and equality highly.

As a result, pupils show consideration and respect for one another and for staff members. Professional development for staff has resulted in improvements to the quality of teaching. Consequently, pupils currently in the school are making good progress in English and mathematics.

Phonics is taught well and this ensures that pupils have appropriate decoding skills and can read fluently. Pupils, particularly in key stage 2, are challenged to develop their comprehension skills through teachers' skilful questioning. Pupils develop a fir...m knowledge of mathematical concepts.

However, opportunities for them to deepen their understanding by applying their skills to problem-solving and reasoning contexts are too infrequent. Governors know the school well and are effective in both challenging and supporting the headteacher. Teaching assistants make a vital contribution to ensuring that provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities results in strong progress.

Pupils are enthused by teaching in lessons in the wider curriculum and have regular opportunities to practise their writing skills in a range of subjects. In other subjects, teachers' expectations of pupils' handwriting, spelling and punctuation are not always high enough. Consequently, the quality of pupils' writing in other subjects is sometimes not their best.

Pupils learn about different religious beliefs, cultures and lifestyle choices. This supports them in developing tolerant views and in preparing them for life in modern Britain. Middle leaders do not consistently check the impact that their actions have on pupils' outcomes.

Therefore, on occasion, the difference they make to their areas of responsibility is not maximised. Children in Reception make strong progress because adults provide activities which are well matched to children's needs and interests. Expectations of pupils' conduct are suitably high.

As a result, pupils behave well and the atmosphere in school is calm. Following a dip in pupils' attendance in 2016, leaders took swift action and have been successful in ensuring that attendance rates are now above average.

Information about this school

Ainderby Steeple Church of England Primary School is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school.

The school has an on-site pre-school which offers morning sessions for children from the age of two years. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average. The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage and very few pupils speak English as an additional language.

The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above average. The school runs a breakfast club and provides after-school childcare for its pupils. There were too few pupils in Year 6 in 2017 for the school to be eligible to meet the government's floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics.