Ley Top Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that teachers more consistently:
  • provide work that effectively meets the needs of pupils of all abilities so that it challenges the most able and is not too difficult for the least able
  • make sure that staff spot and address any errors or misconceptions in a timely way when they are with pupils in the classroom
  • develop the skills of teaching assistants, particularly their understanding of strategies to develop early reading skills.
• Further improve leadership and management, by:
  • ensuring that all governors have a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities
  • ensuring that there is a systematic approach to updating policies and publishing
  • them on the school website in a timely manner involving more leaders in planning and evaluating the use and impact of pupil premium funding.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and leadership team have successfully tackled the issues identified at the time of the last inspection. Consequently, teaching and outcomes have improved and are now good.
• Leaders have ensured that pupils are happy and feel safe. Pupils enjoy their time at the school and this has helped to improve attendance rates.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced with an appropriate emphasis on reading, writing and mathematics. This contributes to pupils’ good development and progress. Pupils are taught about significant world religions, and topics are used to teach a range of subjects such as history, geography and art. After-school clubs and educational visits enhance pupils’ learning of these subjects. Older pupils talked enthusiastically about their residential visit and said the team-building activities helped to improve their confidence and ability to get on with others.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Leaders effectively promote fundamental British values through assemblies and classroom discussions. For example, older pupils remembered a classroom debate and mock elections which helped them to understand about democracy.
• The school’s self-evaluation is largely accurate. Senior staff routinely observe learning in all classrooms in order to identify strengths and areas which need development. Performance management is used effectively to hold teachers to account for pupils’ outcomes. Training is used well to develop the skills of all staff.
• Leaders effectively promote equality of opportunity and diversity. Older pupils said, ‘It’s OK to be different here.’ The positive impact of the pupil premium funding can be seen in the more rapid progress for disadvantaged pupils and the successful diminishing of differences in performance.
• The school rightly recognises that sustaining accelerated progress for this group of pupils, particularly disadvantaged boys, remains a priority so that differences in performance are fully eradicated. However, the management of this resource is not spread across all leaders and some aspects of the required paperwork do not always identify how the impact will be gauged.
• The primary schools’ sport funding has been effectively used to increase pupils’ participation in competitive sport with other schools. Pupils say they enjoy taking part in sports.
• The role of subject leaders has improved. There are clear roles and expectations of each of them. They are knowledgeable about the provision and outcomes in their subjects and have sound plans for further improvement.
• Although all the required information is now available on the school website, there is not a system to ensure that policies are reviewed in a timely manner before they are published.

Governance of the school

• Governance has some shortcomings. The skills of some governors are insufficiently developed to enable them to challenge the work of leaders. Governors are fully aware of the journey the school has been on over the last four years. They are very supportive of the school. They have absolute confidence in the headteacher and leadership team and trust them to do their best to secure improvement. Although this confidence is well placed and there is some evidence of governors questioning and probing the work of the school, this does not always challenge leaders.
• Not all governors are clear about their roles and responsibilities. Consequently, until very recently, some policies had not been updated or published on the school’s website in a timely manner.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• All staff are subject to all of the required checks before they are allowed to work in the school. Staff are trained in how to identify pupils who may have experienced abuse. Staff are clear about the steps to take if they have any concerns about pupils. All of this reflects the culture of vigilance which helps to keep pupils safe.
• Leaders engage with parents, carers and other stakeholders well to help to ensure that pupils are supported and safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved since the last inspection and, as a consequence, pupils make good progress from their different starting points.
• Relationships between pupils and staff are strong and contribute to pupils’ positive attitudes and behaviour. This helps teachers and other adults to get to know the learning needs of each pupil.
• Teachers and most other adults use their strong subject knowledge well to provide clear and precise explanations. They often use questioning well to deepen pupils’ understanding or to check their learning.
• The teaching of mathematics has improved. In the lessons observed, pupils’ mathematical skills were developed well because teachers allowed pupils to practise computations and explain their answers.
• Teachers use questioning to check pupils’ understanding and to add additional challenge. They provide clear explanations and use precise mathematical language. Concrete materials and pictures are used well to help pupils learn new mathematical concepts.
• A particular improvement has been in the teaching of phonics. As a consequence, pupils’ reading and spelling skills are improving across the school.
• Reading is taught effectively and builds on pupils’ knowledge of letters and sounds. The oldest pupils talk avidly about the wide range of books they read at school. The most able state that regular access to the library and their teachers’ encouragement mean that they read regularly and widely. For example, one older most able disadvantaged pupil stated that his teachers check his reading and suggest more challenging texts if he has chosen an easy book. The most able pupils are encouraged to read challenging texts and discuss the content to deepen their understanding.
• Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ writing, in terms of both the quantity and quality of work produced. Consequently, pupils use ambitious vocabulary and a wide range of punctuation to produce work that is interesting and lively.
• Where teaching and learning are most effective, particularly in upper key stage 2, pupils from all backgrounds and all groups make most progress. The work and level of challenge is at just the right level for all pupils. The most able are well supported; new concepts are explained and their thinking is extended before they have the opportunity to apply new understanding. However, sometimes tasks are not quite right for all pupils. Sometimes the most able are not challenged and some lower-ability pupils find the work too difficult.
• Although teaching assistants make a strong contribution to pupils’ learning, a few do not have the skills they need to help pupils learn about letters and the sounds they represent. On a small number of occasions, adults working with small groups of pupils do not spot pupils’ mistakes or address misconceptions.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. Pupils are very knowledgeable about a wide range of world religions. They understand that knowing about other people’s beliefs is important. As one pupil said, ‘We are all different but it’s important to understand what others believe.’
• Older pupils say that the opportunity to watch news programmes and discuss current events helps them to understand democracy and the importance of rules and laws.
• The pupils are very welcoming and make new pupils quickly feel part of the school community.
• Pupils have an understanding of different types of bullying, such as racism, but some confuse single disagreements with bullying. They state categorically that if there are any problems the staff sort them out.
• The buildings and grounds are well kept and pupils value the interesting activities they are able to do at break and lunchtimes. Sound risk assessments are in place for the site to cover the activities that take place.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ good behaviour in classrooms and their positive attitudes to learning contribute to their good learning and progress. Pupils say that classroom learning is only rarely disturbed by lapses in behaviour. In the very small number of cases where inspectors saw behaviour that was less conducive to learning, it related directly to the quality of teaching and the match of the tasks to pupils’ learning needs.
• Last year saw a slight rise in the number of exclusions and recorded incidents of poor behaviour, including bullying and racist name-calling. This reflects the fact that the rules are implemented more consistently and pupils feel they can tell staff about all incidents.
• The breakfast club is well attended and helps to ensure that pupils are ready for learning. Pupils typically arrive on time and are eager to start the day.
• Pupils’ attendance has improved over the last two years and is broadly average. The rate of pupils who are persistently absent is decreasing. The school has correctly identified that the attendance of some disadvantaged pupils is not as good as that of their peers. Their work to address this is beginning to show some improvement.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Since the last inspection, outcomes have improved across the school and for all groups because of improvements to the quality of teaching and learning.
• Children usually enter the Nursery class with attainment that is well below what is typical for their age, but this varies from year to year and between individuals. Improvements to teaching and raised expectations mean that children are making better progress. Outcomes at the end of the Reception Year have improved and more children are reaching a good level of development.
• An improved focus on the teaching of early reading skills is having a clear impact in Reception and Year 1. Consequently, pupils are making good progress in phonics. The most recent assessments confirm that all groups of pupils made good gains in their phonics skills so that most are able to use them to attempt to read unknown words.
• Results of national assessments at the end of key stage 1 have improved, with more pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils’ standards at the end of Year 6 have been well below average but with an improving trend. The most recent assessment information for the 2016 Year 6 group shows that standards have continued to improve. The school’s own tracking shows this year group made very rapid progress over the year and this is generally the case for other classes across the school.
• Work in pupils’ books, along with discussions with pupils, shows they make good gains in a range of subjects. For example, in religious education they learned about Christianity and Judaism and were able to answer questions about similarities and differences. In science, older pupils were able to identify and sort materials by their different properties and describe reversible and irreversible changes.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress because they receive extra help, tailored to their needs. This ensures that they are able to make good gains in their knowledge and understanding across the school.
• Good support for pupils who are learning English as an additional language means that they make the same progress as others and reach standards that are the same as other pupils at the school.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils is good. However, school leaders have correctly identified that some disadvantaged boys are not doing as well in reading and writing as other pupils within the school and nationally. To some extent this reflects their often very low starting points. Some initiatives funded from the additional resources to support this group of pupils, such as extra teachers and teaching assistants, are beginning to have a positive impact. Senior leaders know that more needs to be done to maximise the attainment of this group.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader and her team have tackled the areas requiring improvement so that the children get a good start to their education and are well prepared for their transfer into Year 1. The early years leader has an accurate understanding of the strengths and areas which she intends to improve further. For example, a focus on developing the reading and writing skills of disadvantaged children is beginning to show some impact but she knows where further improvement can be made. Training has been used well to develop the skills of staff. The impact of this can be seen, particularly in the more effective teaching of early reading skills.
• Children enter the Nursery with skills and knowledge which are well below typical for their age. Historically, children did not make sufficient progress during their time in Nursery. The early years leader has addressed this robustly, ensuring that the expectations of staff have been raised. As a result, children make good progress during their time in Nursery and Reception so that most reach a good level of development. Staff are aware of any variations in the rates of progress of different children and groups. Consequently, they plan activities to better engage the small number of disadvantaged boys who do not always make as much progress as others in reading and writing.
• The early years environment offers a wide range of carefully planned activities to ensure that children have many opportunities to engage in learning of their own choice. Adults support children’s learning well, giving particularly effective support to those learning English as an additional language. Adults have good relationships with the children and children are kept safe. Parents are very positive about the high level of care and support. Children settle quickly when they start and their behaviour is good.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107241 Bradford 10019714 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 338 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address David Robertshaw Sandra Rouse 01274 541554 www.leytopprimary.co.uk sandra.rouse@leytop.bradford.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 9–10 September 2014

Information about this school

• The school now meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• This is a larger than average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is well above average and twice the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well above average. The proportion of pupils who do not speak English as their first language is well above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is average.
• The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching in all classes and the early years. Some teaching was observed jointly with the headteacher.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including the school improvement plan and records of pupils’ behaviour, safety and attendance. They also scrutinised the work in pupils’ current books and books from the previous year.
• Inspectors scrutinised the school’s information on pupils’ progress and records of meetings of the governing body.
• The inspectors met with pupils and teachers. A meeting was held with three members of the governing body.
• A meeting was also held with a representative of the local authority.
• The views of parents were obtained through informal discussions which were held with parents of pupils at the school on both days of the inspection.
• There were insufficient responses from the parents’ online survey for these to be taken into account.
• Inspectors took account of responses to Ofsted questionnaires from 19 staff and 15 pupils.

Inspection team

Amraz Ali, lead inspector Lesley Bowyer Heather Mensah

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector