Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching in reading and writing, especially

in key stage 2, by ensuring that:

• letter formation is taught consistently and the highest expectations of presentation are insisted upon
• teachers have high expectations of the quality and quantity of written work produced
• teachers insist on the accurate use of punctuation
• pupils are encouraged to make their writing interesting by using engaging vocabulary
• staff more consistently provide an accurate model of spoken standard English when working with pupils
• the school’s approach for teaching reading is implemented effectively.
• Accelerate pupils’ progress in mathematics, particularly in key stage 2, by ensuring that:
  • pupils have more opportunities to apply their mathematical skills to problem-solving and reasoning
  • pupils are taught to recall multiplication facts appropriate to their age
  • pupils are taught to use mental arithmetic efficiently when completing basic calculations.
• Improve the quality of leadership and management by:
  • developing the skills of middle leaders so that they are able to better judge and influence the work of other teachers
  • ensuring that plans for improvement are implemented with appropriate timescales and clear arrangements for checking on the impact on learning and progress
  • ensuring that the school’s website meets statutory requirements.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders and members of the local academy board have not ensured that the quality of teaching is effective or that pupils make good progress, particularly in key stage 2. As a consequence, leadership and management require improvement.
• The headteacher, members of the local academy board and trustees have an accurate view of the school’s work. They know the school’s strengths and where and what improvements are needed. They have, rightly, focused on improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ attainment and have seen some successes, such as boosting the attainment of Year 6 pupils in 2017 who had previously fallen behind in their learning.
• Leaders have tackled previously weak teaching. They have not shied away from having difficult conversations and holding staff to account. However, over time, a high level of staff change has adversely affected leaders’ endeavours to bring about consistently good teaching.
• Leaders have ensured that clear and accurate plans for improvement are in place, but these have not been implemented quickly enough. Furthermore, arrangements to check the impact of leaders’ efforts to improve the quality of learning and pupils’ progress sometimes lack precision.
• The quality of middle leadership is variable. Some middle leaders do not have the skills to effectively judge and influence the skills of other teachers. As a consequence, not enough has been done to support new members of staff. This hinders the rate of school improvement.
• The school’s curriculum is appropriately broad and balanced, covering all the subjects in the national curriculum. Pupils said that they enjoy learning about the range of topics. However, leaders and the local academy board are yet to ensure that curriculum information published on the school’s website fully meets the Department for Education’s requirements.
• Fundamental British values are promoted effectively. For example, pupils take part in elections for school councillors and are taught to value and respect other people.
• The interim executive headteacher has recently completed a review of the use and impact of the pupil premium spending. He has encouraged staff to use research and evidence about a range of approaches before committing funds to their new approach. Leaders are beginning to act on these recommendations. However, the revised pupil premium strategy has not been published on the school’s website.
• The physical education and sport premium is spent in a number of appropriate ways and is spent effectively. Pupils talk positively about after-school sports clubs and understand the importance of exercise.
• Although most parents and carers who responded to Parent View indicated that they would recommend the school to others, a minority of parents expressed concern, particularly about the recent staff changes.

Governance of the school

• Membership of the local academy board has been strengthened with the appointment of one of the trustees to the role of chair. Members of the local academy board know the school well. They have received reports from both the headteacher and the interim executive headteacher, highlighting where improvement is required. As a consequence, they know exactly where improvements are needed. Like leaders, they are frustrated by recent staff changes.
• Members of the local academy board have high aspirations for the school and its pupils. They use the information they receive about the progress of pupils and the quality of teaching to offer leaders both challenge and support. They are aware that new initiatives are being tried and ask appropriate questions about the impact of these on pupils’ learning and progress.
• Members of the local academy board have not ensured that the school website includes all of the information required by the Department for Education.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school’s designated safeguarding lead has a good understanding of her role. She and the staff are committed to ensuring that the pupils in their care are kept safe. As a consequence, pupils are kept safe and where any concerns are raised these are recorded appropriately; where necessary, concerns are shared with other agencies.
• Employment checks are carried out appropriately on new staff before they join the school. Checks are recorded appropriately in a single central record.
• The school site is safe and secure. There is a culture of vigilance and staff ensure that the site and daily routines are safe. However, on a few occasions, the school’s paperwork does not reflect all of its practices that keep pupils safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• In key stages 1 and 2, teaching does not consistently support pupils to make good progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. This has prevented some pupils from reaching the standards they are capable of, especially by the end of key stage 2. Over time, the many changes of teaching staff, particularly in key stage 2, have impacted negatively on leaders’ efforts to bring about good-quality teaching.
• The teaching of writing requires improvement, particularly in key stage 2. Teachers do not always have high enough expectations of the quality and quantity of written work. In some classes, pupils do not produce enough good-quality written work. Some pupils do not form letters correctly and this limits their ability to write with confidence. Not all teachers insist that writing is correctly punctuated and some work is not presented well.
• At times, some staff do not present a consistent model of standard spoken English. As a consequence, some pupils are not able to compose sentences correctly. Pupils’ sometimes limited choices of vocabulary in their writing does not engage the reader and limits their ability to demonstrate attainment at the highest level.
• The teaching of phonics is effective and pupils are confident using their skills to tackle unknown words when reading. Younger pupils in particular get off to a good start in learning to read. However, the school’s policies and agreed approaches for teaching reading to older pupils are not consistently followed by staff. For example, not all pupils are encouraged to read regularly or record their reading in their record books.
• In mathematics, the quality of teaching is inconsistent. Opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematics skills to problem-solving and reasoning are not consistently provided to all pupils. This limits their ability to reach the higher standards of attainment by the end of Year 6. Pupils’ ability to recall multiplication facts and to use mental arithmetic to accurately work out simple calculations requires further improvement. This also hinders their progress.
• Teachers have positive working relationships with pupils and value their contributions in lessons. This encourages pupils to behave well and to work hard.
• Some teaching, such as in Year 6, is good. Explanations are clear and questioning is used well to check on pupils’ understanding or to deepen learning. Teaching assistants are used well. They capitalise on the good relationships they have developed with pupils to guide learning well.
• Some teachers are confident and know their pupils well. They are not afraid to modify their lessons where appropriate. For example, in mathematics, the teacher changed her plans to turn an explanation about how to calculate the internal angles of a pentagon into a wider investigation of the internal angles of other regular polygons. As a consequence, pupils were well motivated and effectively learned how to calculate internal angles.
• Effective teaching in the early years enables children’s learning to get off to a good start, particularly in their communication and language skills.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are happy, polite and welcoming to visitors. They get on well with each other because they feel safe and well cared for. They say they enjoy school and are positive about being part of a friendly community.
• Pupils have a good understanding of different types of bullying. They say there is hardly any bullying. They are confident that if there are any problems, the adults will sort it out quickly.
• There are good links with external agencies to ensure that any vulnerable pupils are cared for well.
• Pupils are taught to value people from all backgrounds and show both interest and respect for a wide range of world religions. They say that pupils from all backgrounds are treated fairly.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are polite and friendly and enjoy coming to school. Consequently, rates of pupils’ attendance are above average and persistent absence is below average.
• Behaviour in classes and around the school is good. Very occasionally, in a small number of classes, some pupils sometimes come off task and do not always concentrate fully on their work. This is often the consequence of work not being matched to just the correct level for all pupils.
• Behaviour at breaktimes and lunchtimes is good. Pupils say rewards and sanctions are fair. Pupils cooperate well with each other in lessons and play together sensibly at playtimes.
• Pupils respond quickly to instructions and are typically keen to learn. Most pupils are proud of their work. However, sometimes work is not well presented, but this often reflects inconsistencies in teachers’ expectations.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Inspection evidence, from books and observations of teaching and learning, along with the school’s assessment information show that pupils’ progress is variable. Although children in the early years achieve well, between Years 1 and 6, pupils’ progress is variable, especially in key stage 2. Pupils do not make good progress from their starting points. This is because the quality of teaching is not consistently good.
• Following disappointing results in the 2016 national tests in Year 6 in reading and mathematics, where standards and rates of progress were both below average, there was a school focus on improving the attainment of pupils at the end of key stage 2. Effective teaching in Year 6 paid dividends and, as a result, attainment increased in 2017, so that standards were above average in reading and broadly average in mathematics. Although pupils’ progress improved over the course of the year, these pupils still did not do as well as they should have done given their previous starting points. Inspection evidence indicates that current Year 6 pupils have also not achieved well over time. Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge. Across other year groups currently in key stage 2, pupils’ achievement is variable and, therefore, requires improvement.
• Pupils’ achievement in key stage 1 is better than in key stage 2. Published assessment information in 2017 shows that the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard at the end of Year 2 was just above the national average in reading and mathematics and much higher than average in writing. For the majority of pupils, this represents good progress. Currently, in key stage 1, pupils’ progress, although for some is good, still remains inconsistent.
• Pupils achieve well in phonics. Results in the Year 1 phonics screening check are often above average. Pupils are acquiring good skills in their ability to read unknown words. Pupils in the current Year 1 are making similarly good progress in phonics.
• The achievement of disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is varied. Some pupils are making good progress as a result of the good support that they receive. Others do not make good progress because their needs are not fully met.
• The achievement of the most able pupils is similarly varied. They do better in key stage 1. In 2017, an above average proportion of pupils reached the higher levels of attainment by the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. However, too few pupils reach the higher levels of attainment by the end of Year 6 in writing and mathematics.
• Pupils’ progress in a range of other subjects reflects inconsistencies in teaching and learning over time and between subjects. In religious education, older pupils are able to talk with confidence about a range of world religions. Artwork is sometimes of a good quality. However, pupils’ variable writing skills mean that progress in some other subjects is inconsistent.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader has an accurate view of the strengths of the provision and areas that could be even better. She and the team have ensured that children are presented with a broad range of interesting and well thought out activities both inside and outside.
• Children are well cared for and good arrangements for their induction mean that they settle very quickly into routines. They are well motivated to work and play together, to experiment, explore and investigate.
• Teaching is effective. Adults effectively model how to use the equipment and how to talk to each other. They ask questions to extend children’s learning. As a consequence, children thrive.
• From starting points that are a little below what is typical for their age when they enter the Nursery, children make good progress in all areas of learning. An above average proportion of children reach a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year. This means that they are well prepared for their move into Year 1.
• There is a clear focus on encouraging the development of children’s speaking and listening skills. They are taught well about letters and sounds. Children are given good opportunities to learn to count using objects. However, there remains scope to develop children’s addition and subtraction skills even further.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140539 Barnsley 10037200 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 Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy converter 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 247 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair of the local academy board Adrian England Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Patrick Wright 01226 286 514 www.dsja.org.uk p.wright@dsja.org Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school does not comply with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish about the current pupil premium strategy, the required detail about the curriculum or the scheme used to teach phonics.
• The school is broadly average in size. The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds or who speak English as an additional language is well below the national average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy converted to become an academy school in January 2014. When Ofsted last inspected its predecessor school, Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary School, in September 2009, it was judged outstanding.
• In 2014, the school became the sponsor for Elsecar Holy Trinity Primary School and in the process, Pride Multi-Academy Trust, a small diocesan two school trust, was formed. The trust is led by an interim executive headteacher who took up post in October 2017.
• Over the last two years, there has been much staff change. The headteacher took up the post in April 2016. At the time of the inspection, three of the four key stage 2 classes were taught by supply teachers and a temporary teacher.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching in all year groups. Some lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors observed the teaching of early reading skills and listened to pupils reading. Inspectors talked to pupils about their school and scrutinised exercise books.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, two leaders, the inclusion leader, members of the local academy board, the chair of the trust and the interim executive headteacher.
• The inspectors looked at a wide range of school documents, including the school’s self-evaluation of current performance and plans for improvement, information relating to the safeguarding of pupils, the school’s most recent information on the attainment and progress of pupils and the school’s most recent information relating to the attendance of pupils.
• Inspectors spoke to parents informally at the end of the school day. They took account of the 60 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.

Inspection team

Amraz Ali, lead inspector Mary Lanovy-Taylor

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector