Ward Jackson Church of England VA Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching so that it becomes consistently good or better by:
  • sharing the strong practice which exists within the school, including in the Nursery class
  • embedding the recently introduced initiatives to develop pupils’ mathematical reasoning and calculation skills
  • developing the quality of the teaching of writing across the school, including the teaching of grammar, punctuation and spelling
  • using the information in the school’s recently developed pupil progress tracking system to plan teaching that is well matched to pupils’ needs and abilities and which will move them quickly to at least the expectations for their age.
• Increase the impact of leadership and management and accelerate the rate at which the school improves by:
  • ensuring that the mathematics and English subject leaders deliver the planned initiatives to improve pupils’ progress and regularly check that they are making the intended improvements
  • making more effective use of the range of evidence available when evaluating the
  • quality of teaching and pupil progress improving governors’ level of challenge to school leaders, particularly in relation to pupils’ progress
  • regularly reviewing the school’s safeguarding documentation to ensure that it matches the current national guidelines.
• An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.
• An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leadership and management require improvement. Over time, leaders, including governors, have not been effective enough to secure consistently good teaching and pupil progress. Their actions have not fully addressed variability in pupils’ progress, particularly in writing and mathematics.
• Leaders and governors have been overly positive in their overall judgements of the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. While they have an analysis of the school’s pupil progress information and systems for checking the quality of teaching, they do not use this information to arrive at accurate conclusions.
• Pupil premium spending has a variable impact on accelerating the progress of disadvantaged pupils. The level of scrutiny by leaders and governors on the effectiveness of the pupil premium plans is not sharp enough.
• The headteacher, staff and governors work hard to ensure that pupils are provided with guidance, care and nurture. As a result, pupils grow in self-confidence and thrive emotionally and socially.
• The mathematics subject leader has begun to take appropriate action to bring about improvements in teaching. For example, training for staff has improved their understanding of how to teach mathematical reasoning skills. The revision of the school’s calculation policy provides a more structured framework for a consistent school approach. At present, it is too early to determine the impact of these initiatives on pupils’ outcomes.
• The deputy headteacher has recently become the English subject leader. He has a clear understanding of the priorities for improvement in this subject and has begun to take action to address weaknesses, particularly in writing. For example, the purchase of resources for the teaching of spelling, punctuation and grammar is assisting teachers to develop pupils’ writing skills.
• The special educational needs coordinator provides effective leadership of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. She carefully checks the impact of support for these pupils. There are good links with other agencies and the school provides well thought through learning opportunities to meet the specific needs of these pupils. As a result, most make at least expected progress and they are well included in the school community.
• The school has an effectively planned curriculum based on the national curriculum subjects. Pupils benefit from specialist teaching in music and PE. They also have access to various after-school clubs which enrich the curriculum. The school has recently reviewed its curriculum to place a greater focus on science and to increase opportunities to develop writing and mathematics in a wide range of subjects.
• The additional funding for sport and PE in primary schools is used effectively to increase the opportunities that pupils have to enjoy physical activities and learn from specialist teachers. Opportunities for pupils to take part in competitive sports, develop healthy lifestyles and be involved with after-school clubs have improved.
• Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. Leaders and staff have created a culture of respect and tolerance in this welcoming and friendly school. For example, during worship pupils reflected on the theme for the week, ‘Actions speak louder than words’. Parents are very positive about how the school helps children to develop a clear understanding of ‘right and wrong’, which encourages good behaviour in school and at home.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Opportunities to develop an understanding of democracy are frequently provided. For example, the pupils asked probing questions when interviewing the local Member of Parliament. Discussions with pupils demonstrated that they had a clear understanding of the need for respect for others who may come from a different background.
• Performance management systems are in place. Leaders and governors ensure that teachers’ pay progression is well linked to their performance management objectives. Staff value the training and support that they receive to help develop their teaching skills.
• The headteacher has recently worked hard to manage some of the turbulence in staffing and to address some of the weaknesses in the quality of teaching.
• Leaders now have suitable plans in place to improve pupils’ progress in mathematics and writing. The local authority and Durham Diocese are collaborating well to provide appropriate training in improving the teaching of writing.

Governance of the school

• Governors are very supportive of the school and have a good understanding of the community it serves. They have begun to take a greater interest in the impact of actions taken to improve pupils’ outcomes. This work has included linking with subject leaders and visits into school. However, they have an overly positive view of pupils’ progress and do not provide sufficient challenge to leaders.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The culture of safeguarding is strong and leaders and staff implement a thorough and determined approach to keeping children safe. The school’s leaders and parent support adviser know the needs of vulnerable pupils well and are active in seeking support for pupils and their families. Very effective engagement with parents and other agencies is in place. Staff and governors receive regular and appropriate training; for example, recent training was held on the ‘Prevent’ duty to recognise the signs of radicalisation and extremism. However, leaders and governors have not always acted promptly enough to ensure that the school’s safeguarding documentation reflects the most current national guidance.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching is inconsistent, especially in the teaching of writing and mathematics. As a result, over time too few pupils make good progress in these subjects. Teachers at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 are often left with too large a gap in pupils’ writing and mathematics attainment to be addressed in one year.
• Where teaching is less effective, teachers do not plan work which is well matched to pupils’ abilities. Sometimes the work is too easy and sometimes it is too hard, causing pupils to struggle. The most able pupils are sometimes given tasks which do not provide them with sufficient challenge and which they complete quickly and with very little effort.
• The teaching of writing is variable in its quality and impact across the school. In some classes pupils made consistently good progress across the year. However, in other classes limited opportunities to write at length and insufficient development of spelling, punctuation and grammar skills result in too few pupils working at the standards expected for their age. The use of structured writing frameworks in writing lessons at times limits pupils’ responses and is not supporting their progress.
• Generally teachers make effective use of practical resources to support pupils’ access to learning. On some occasions lack of easy access to supportive language resources restricts pupils’ learning. For example, younger pupils struggled when labelling a diagram as they had no supporting resources. Similarly, older pupils misspelled important mathematical vocabulary as they had no ready access to the accurate spelling.
• Where teaching is stronger, regular assessments are well used to match lessons to pupils’ needs and interests. Teachers make effective use of questioning to identify where pupils do not fully understand work and intervene promptly to move their learning forward.
• Some teachers use a wide range of approaches to improve pupils’ mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills. Where this is working well, pupils are improving their explanations of mathematical solutions and grappling with challenging questions.
• Teachers in the main follow the school’s ‘pink and green’ marking policy. This is well understood by pupils and they know how it can help improve their work. In the writing books where the school’s marking policy has been well implemented by teachers, stronger pupil progress is evident.
• Improvements have been made to assessment arrangements. Last year the school established a more accurate baseline of current pupils’ attainment to assist teachers’ planning. This system is also helping leaders to identify where pupils need to accelerate their progress to achieve the required expectations for their age in English and mathematics.
• Teaching assistants are well deployed to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, these pupils are supported effectively with their learning and behaviour both in lessons and at social times.
• Pupils receive regular, well-structured phonics teaching. Consequently, pupils make good progress and develop effective early reading skills. The school has done much to improve the profile of reading and pupil research in the school, there is a cosy fiction book reading area and the ‘discovery zone’ provides both non-fiction books and computers.
• Pupils receive a range of homework to support the development of their English and mathematics skills. Parents of younger pupils agreed that this was helping their children to develop learning such as early reading skills.
• Parents are well informed about pupils’ progress. In addition to regular parents’ meetings, parents are invited to celebratory events to share pupils’ achievements.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils develop self-confidence as they progress through the school. From the very start they are taught how to listen carefully to the views and learning of others. For example, children in the Nursery listened carefully to other children explain what they had been writing about earlier in the day.
• Pupils’ physical and emotional needs are very well met by the school’s curriculum. The school’s staff, including the parent support adviser, provide high levels of support for pupils and parents, including those whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.
• Pupils feel safe and valued as members of the school community. They know how to keep themselves safe, including when online. The school’s curriculum and a wide range of visits and visitors provide pupils with a good understanding of how to stay safe. Pupils, parents and staff all agree that the school is a safe place to learn.
• Pupils understand the different forms of bullying, and while they report that incidents are rare they believe that they will be well addressed by staff. School records show that the small number of occurrences of homophobic bullying or racist incidents are taken very seriously by leaders and dealt with promptly.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. In the vast majority of lessons pupils are well behaved, keen to learn and work hard. Occasionally, where teachers’ expectations are not clear enough some pupils’ interest wanes and this results in less positive behaviour.
• During playtimes and lunchtimes pupils behave well, socialise suitably and engage in lively, friendly games. Pupils move around the school in an exemplary fashion. For example, during worship you could hear a pin drop when pupils came in and out of the school hall.
• The level of attendance remains below that found nationally despite the tireless work of school leaders and the parent support adviser to improve it. The school has used a wide range of approaches to address this issue. Leaders and governors remain highly focused on addressing this area as they appreciate that if all pupils were to attend regularly they would make better progress. The school’s analysis of attendance figures shows that last year’s dip was largely due to a bout of illness in one year group.

Outcomes for pupils Require improvement

• Outcomes for pupils require improvement because progress is too variable in mathematics and particularly writing, across most year groups. This is because the quality of teaching has not been consistently good enough over time.
• By the end of Year 2 and Year 6 pupils’ attainment is too low in writing and mathematics. Consequently, some Year 6 pupils are not well prepared for starting secondary school.
• The most able pupils are not achieving as well as they should be in writing and mathematics. This is because teaching does not typically challenge them to make good progress.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ progress from key stage 1 to key stage 2 is broadly in line with that found nationally. However, the accelerated progress which is found in Year 6 is not found in other year groups.
• Current pupils’ progress is inconsistent across the school in writing and mathematics. While accelerated progress is achieved in Year 2 and Year 6, where pupils have benefited from particularly strong teaching, progress is more uneven in other year groups.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are making progress broadly in line with that found nationally by the end of Year 6. This is because appropriate plans and support are in place to match teaching to their learning needs.
• Pupils achieve well in the Year 1 phonics screen. In 2015, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected level was above the national average and Year 1 pupils’ achievements increased further in 2016. As a result of these improving phonics results, pupils are realising better reading outcomes by the end of Year 2.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Children start in the early years with skills and abilities that are generally below, and sometimes well below, those typical for their age. From their starting points, most children make good progress through the Nursery. However, progress in the Reception Year was not strong in 2016. As a result, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development fell and fewer children were well prepared to start Year 1.
• The quality of teaching is good in Nursery where the early years leader is based. Here children respond well during adult-led teaching which is carefully matched to their interests and learning needs. Clear expectations for behaviour ensure that children respond quickly to instructions. Teaching in Reception is not as effective where the match of the planned learning is not as strong, and learning time is lost because routines for behaviour are not securely established. School leaders and governors have recently increased opportunities to spread the successful teaching practice more evenly across the early years.
• The early years leader provides effective leadership. She has created a well-organised and resourced early years provision which is well matched to children’s needs. The pupil premium funding for disadvantaged children has been targeted towards appropriate priorities. However, the lack of a formalised plan for this spending reduces opportunities for effective evaluation and accountability by senior leaders and governors.
• Children have access to a wide range of opportunities to develop their writing and number skills. They usually engage well with these and Nursery children demonstrated good independent writing skills during the inspection. The teaching of early phonics skills is well structured and this means that children make a strong start with their early reading development.
• The staff work well with parents and there are strong systems in place for communication. As a result, parents are well involved with assessments of their children’s progress. Effective systems are in place to help children starting Nursery to settle well, including home visits. Transition to Reception is well managed and parents described it as ‘seamless’.
• There are good partnerships with other professionals, for example the Speech and Language service, to ensure that all children’s needs are met effectively.
• Children’s personal development is a central focus for the school. In Nursery, expectations of children’s behaviour are high and staff provide clear guidance for children. As a result, children listen well, follow adults’ instructions carefully, cooperate with other children and take turns. Children feel safe and secure in the school. Safety is paramount to staff, and children are well supervised in a safe, secure classroom and outside learning area. Safeguarding is effective and all welfare requirements are met.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 136943 Hartlepool 10019383 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils Gender of pupils 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 129 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Jeanette Dodd Mrs Janette Brough Telephone number 01429 293 777 Website Email address www.wardjackson.net/ admin.wardjackson@school.hartlepool.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 12–13 September 2012

Information about this school

• The school is a Church of England voluntary aided school in the Diocese of Durham.
• The school is smaller than the average primary school.
• The vast majority of pupils are White British.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is well above that found nationally.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities support is well above that found nationally.
• The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan is well above that found nationally.
• The proportion of pupils joining or leaving the school other than in the Nursery is higher than that found nationally.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about a strategy for the use of the pupil premium for the current academic year on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed a range of lessons and part lessons in most classes. The headteacher joined the inspector for all of the observations in lessons.
• The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour around school and reviewed the school’s promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The inspector observed pupils in the playground and during lunchtime.
• The inspector held meetings with the headteacher and the teachers responsible for leading English, mathematics and the early years, as well as the special educational needs coordinator. The inspector met with four governors.
• A group of pupils discussed their opinions about the school, and their learning, with the inspector. The inspector listened to a total of four pupils in key stage 1 and key stage 2 read.
• The inspector took account of the six responses on Ofsted’s online parent survey, Parent View, and held discussions with a group of six parents at the beginning of the school day. The inspector considered the responses in eight staff questionnaires.
• The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including minutes from meetings of the governing body, information about pupils’ achievement, the school’s evaluation of its own performance and its development plan. Behaviour and attendance records and information relating to safeguarding were also considered. The inspector scrutinised pupils’ work in their books.

Inspection team

Michael Reeves, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector