Some quotes from the Ofsted June 2018 report
......The effectiveness of leadership and management
Plans to improve the school are sharply focused on achieving the best possible outcomes for pupils. They correctly identify the priorities and actions needed to achieve success. The executive headteacher and members of the governing body regularly evaluate their plans to ensure that improvements are rapid and effective.
Leaders have instigated new ways to work with parents and carers so that they are well informed about their child’s education. Parents are supportive of the school and appreciate the efforts of the staff and executive headteacher who are, as one parent put it, ‘determined to ensure children get the best education they can in a lovely village school, in a beautiful setting.’
The executive headteacher has successfully improved the quality of teaching and learning. Changes to teaching staff and new teaching strategies have helped to raise standards. New and more precisely focused systems to measure the progress pupils make in reading, writing and mathematics are in place. Leaders’ rigorous checks on this information are securing continued improvements.
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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment
Teachers have high expectations for pupils’ learning. They provide prompt intervention to give pupils helpful support and guidance. Pupils work collaboratively together and are also happy to work on their own. They concentrate well during lessons and are keen learners.
Teachers use good-quality books and resources such as film clips, and techniques such as role play and real-life experiences, to motivate pupils to write across an increasingly wide range of topics and genres. For example, pupils showed the inspector how they had created detailed information posters for younger pupils about the life-cycle of a chicken. This was based on their prior learning in science where they had hatched eggs in an incubator in the classroom.
Teachers develop pupils’ mathematical skills well. Pupils are able to use and apply their mathematical skills to solve problems and are encouraged to explain their understanding and improve their work. The inspector observed pupils in key stage 2 using their calculation skills, and knowledge of tessellation and properties of shapes well, to find an appropriate method to create a design for a garden patio.
Pupils receive good-quality phonics teaching. This provides them with a secure base on which to build their wider reading skills. Teachers encourage an enthusiasm for reading. They work in partnership with parents to ensure that pupils read regularly to improve their skills.
Personal development, behaviour and welfare
The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The school has a warm and nurturing atmosphere where pupils enjoy learning.
Relationships between staff and pupils are positive and caring. Pupils feel safe in school and say that adults help them with any worries or problems they may have......
Improvements to the wider curriculum and effective links with schools from localities very different to Edale are increasing pupils’ understanding of different faiths, cultures and communities. Pupils were are able to explain to the inspector that they understand that there are lifestyles different to their own. Leaders have ensured that pupils have increased opportunities for visitors to come to talk to them in school and for pupils to visit places that help them to understand more about the diversity of Britain.