York school ‘requires improvement’ say Ofsted inspectors

A York school ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted says – after an inspection which found some lessons being disrupted by poor behaviour.

St Barnabas Church of England Primary School, on Jubilee Terrace, was inspected in November, and the report has just been published.

While the inspectors found that most pupils feel safe in the school, they reported: “However, disruption in lessons, especially in younger year groups, is too frequent. Staff sometimes struggle to maintain high expectations.”

They said training and support to improve behaviour was starting to have an impact, and bullying was very rare and addressed effectively.

These are the full Ofsted ratings for the school:

• Overall effectiveness – Requires improvement
• The quality of education – Requires improvement
• Behaviour and attitudes – Requires improvement
• Personal development – Good
• Leadership and management – Requires improvement
• Early years provision – Requires improvement

Some of the positives outlined by the inspectors included the good relationships between staff and pupils; the range of extra-curricular opportunities, including educational visits; and support for pupils with special educational needs.

However, inspectors wrote: “In most subjects, planning is not sufficiently detailed about what pupils should learn. Some curriculum planning is not ambitious enough for older pupils.”

St Barnabas has 87 pupils aged 4 to 11. The inspection found three areas of improvement:

• “Leaders have not identified and broken down the specific knowledge and skills they want pupils to learn. Some opportunities to develop pupils’ knowledge are missed”

• “In the early years, activities are not consistently managed so that children get the most out of them. Children do not learn well as a matter of course”

• “In some classes, lessons are disrupted too frequently by poor behaviour. When this occurs, lessons are disjointed, and pupils do not learn well”.

The school has effective safeguarding in place for children, and “leaders are highly vigilant in following up concerns”.

“Pupils know how to stay safe in the local area. They are aware of local risks, such as those posed by the river and railway that run beside the school,” the report says.

You can read Ofsted’s full report here.