Burnley Road Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ progress in writing by:
  • providing pupils with better guidance on what is required in different types of writing in English and across other subjects
  • setting higher expectations for accuracy, presentation and the quality of extended writing.
• Enhance the quality of teaching and learning by:
  • using teachers’ subject knowledge and expertise to give children a clearer idea of what they need to do to achieve success
  • using the school’s assessment policy and new tracking systems more effectively to support progress
  • paying closer attention to the teaching of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum.
• Continue to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities by:
  • closely tracking the attendance of individuals and key groups of pupils
  • building on the good relationships with families and external partners and agencies to support improvements in attendance.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Senior leaders have worked intensively to maintain a stable environment and a good standard of education for pupils over a turbulent period since the devastating impact of the floods in December 2015. The vast majority of pupils’ work and teaching resources were destroyed in the floods, yet pupils continued to achieve good levels of attainment and make good progress in the majority of areas.
• Senior leaders have introduced new systems to track pupils’ progress across the school. As a result, teachers are able to respond more swiftly to address underachievement and plan interventions to support pupils to make better progress.
• Leaders’ self-evaluation of the school’s overall strengths and areas for improvement is accurate. They have worked with their school improvement partner and the local authority to check the quality of leadership and standards of pupils’ work.
• Senior leaders and middle leaders carry out regular monitoring of the quality of teaching and the standard of work in books. These processes are leading to a sharper focus on areas for improvement.
• Performance management arrangements are strong. The headteacher ensures that whole-school priorities are reflected in the targets of teachers at all levels and that they link closely to the progress that pupils make. Professional development opportunities support teachers in meeting these targets and improving their teaching.
• The leadership of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is effective and supports pupils in making good progress. Teachers plan for these pupils’ needs more assiduously. Leaders have introduced clear levels of support and work closely with pupils, parents and external agencies to assess needs and review progress. An increasing proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans attend the school, as parents and their children value the support they receive.
• School leaders have effectively used pupil premium funding to improve provision and outcomes for disadvantaged pupils over time. In recent years, funding has been spent on additional tutoring and mentoring. This has contributed to disadvantaged pupils making better progress by the end of key stage 2 and differences diminishing in many other year groups.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced, combining a focus on English and mathematics with topics that extend knowledge and understanding in subjects such as science, history and geography. A wide range of extra-curricular provision enhances pupils’ personal and social development in diverse areas including rock climbing, dance, choir and homework club. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are encouraged to attend these clubs as part of the school’s inclusive ethos.
• The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. Pupils have worked with pupils from different schools to gain a wider understanding of different religions and cultures and to help prepare them well for life in modern Britain. Pupils develop an understanding of key festivals celebrated in different faiths and have special themed weeks to explore education and wider life experiences in countries such as Gambia. Pupils develop moral understanding and actively contribute to charity work and have worked alongside artists working with elderly people at risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
• Funding from the government to promote sport and increase physical activity is being used successfully to enable pupils to benefit from the expertise of a specialist physical education teacher. Pupils have access to a wide range of sports, including hockey, tag rugby, cycling, netball and athletics.
• The school receives effective support from a school improvement partner who provides an ongoing review of the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress. She also supports governors in developing their expertise and capacity to hold leaders to account. The school also works alongside local authority partners and consultants to check standards and strengthen provision.

Governance of the school

• The governing body knows the school well and has an appropriate range of expertise that enables it to hold leaders to account. Governors have an improving understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and work alongside the school improvement partner to scrutinise performance information.
• Governor committees provide a regular focus on pupils’ progress and curriculum provision and they check the impact of additional funding, such as the school’s use of the pupil premium.
• In addition to providing challenge, governors also provide considerable support to leaders. Key governors with financial and building expertise provided valuable support in monitoring the substantial building and repair work that took place between January and August 2016.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders ensure that training is up to date and take their responsibilities to keep pupils safe very seriously. Leaders act promptly to address any concerns over pupils’ welfare and work closely with other agencies to support pupils’ welfare. Pupils feel safe in school and their parents agree. Pupils have a good awareness of the actions they can take to stay safe online and on the roads.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers plan learning effectively with tasks that stimulate pupils’ interest and help them to learn well. Pupils are quick to settle and eager to learn as a result of clear classroom routines and good teaching.
• Teachers use effective strategies to develop pupils’ reading skills in the early years and at key stages 1 and 2. Inspectors listened to a range of pupils read and were impressed by the clarity of their reading. The less able pupils used decoding strategies to help them pronounce unfamiliar words. The most able read with fluency and read dialogue aloud in particularly expressive ways, while at the same time showing perceptive textual understanding.
• Much teaching is lively and engaging and pupils receive opportunities extend their learning through discussion with their teachers and one another. Teachers use questioning effectively to deepen learning, and through well-structured classroom talk pupils develop strong oral communication skills. Inspectors could see pupils enthusiastically investigating the textures and appearance of various rocks before relating them to a series of slides showing their use in the built environment.
• New assessment tracking systems are enabling leaders and teachers to track pupils’ progress over the year. As a result, teachers address underachievement more swiftly by modifying their teaching or organising additional support and interventions.
• Effective support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities enables them to make good progress. Teachers ensure that pupils’ needs are addressed in their planning, while additional support further complements their learning. Inspectors observed how pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities were given alternative methods to solve problems, such as the use of skittles to assist them in subtracting.
• The most able pupils are often stretched through additional challenges in mathematics and in reading. As a result, they made good progress in 2015 and attained high standards in reading, grammar and mathematics in 2016. Although they are encouraged to work independently, they are not consistently given a clear indication of what working at greater depth looks like.
• The quality of teaching across key stages 1 and 2 is good, although the good progress made in the early years is not effectively built on in Year 1. Reading is typically taught well, contributing to good rates of progress at key stage 2. The strong phonics work in the early years and Year 1 is not as effectively supported by reading and understanding tasks at key stage 1. Pupils show confidence in their application of mathematical methods and are given increasing opportunities to pursue problems at greater depth. Opportunities to develop mathematical skills are not clearly built on in other subjects.
• There is evidence of challenge in the teaching of topics such as evolution and the properties of rocks in science, although the good challenge in lessons is not always reflected in the quality of work in science topic books.
• Teachers work effectively with teaching assistants to support learning and understanding. Teaching assistants know the pupils well and provide support and prompts that develop pupils’ learning.
• Teachers use assessment to develop a good understanding of pupils’ needs and work closely with the local authority to develop an accurate understanding of standards. Teachers provide strong verbal feedback, although written feedback does not consistently follow the school’s policy and this can limit progress.
• Writing is not taught as effectively as reading and mathematics. Pupils’ progress in writing was strong in 2015 but standards dipped in 2016. While this was partly influenced by particularly stringent external moderation, teachers do not provide pupils with sufficiently clear guidance on writing across the curriculum, and on occasions tolerate errors and weaker presentation, which limits pupils’ ability to work at greater depth.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Parents feel that teachers show considerable care and concern for pupils and their children agree. Leaders place considerable emphasis on pupils’ social and emotional welfare through the themes they explore in assemblies and an ongoing focus in lessons.
• Pupils value the new behaviour policy, which sets clear expectations and rewards for good behaviour. It contributes to the calm and orderly environment and the positive learning behaviours that pupils consistently demonstrate.
• Pupils’ physical well-being is promoted through encouragement to participate in a wide range of sporting activities, including dance, athletics, hockey, rugby and cycling.
• Pupils are able to discuss personal safety and the actions that the school has taken to help them keep safe. They demonstrated a good awareness of how to keep safe online and on the roads.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is extremely good. They are kind and considerate, and older pupils regularly support younger pupils, escorting them to assemblies and helping them at wet playtimes. They demonstrate considerable kindness and this is reflected in their charity work and their thoughtful engagement with the local community. Pupils work conscientiously and incidents of low-level disruption are extremely rare.
• Pupils demonstrate a pride in themselves and in their school and, along with their parents, would universally recommend the school to others. They are confident and enthusiastic learners who articulate their thoughts effectively, although on occasions a lack of clear guidance limits their potential to work at greater depth.
• Pupils attend in line with national averages and despite many challenges in 2016, attendance rates improved. School leaders work closely with educational welfare officers to support and challenge groups such as disadvantaged pupils who have higher rates of absence. As a result of these interventions, attendance rates are beginning to improve for these pupils, although disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities remain more likely to be absent than their peers.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Current pupils are making consistently good progress across a range of subjects. This is evident from the work in pupils’ books and their learning in lessons.
• The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standards in the phonics screening check has been consistently above that seen nationally over the last three years. Standards of reading in lessons are good, with pupils reading with clarity and understanding.
• In 2015, all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, pupils who accessed special educational needs support and the most able pupils, made better progress than that seen nationally. Progress was particularly strong in reading and writing. In 2015, standards of attainment at key stage 1 were above those seen nationally and have been consistently so over time.
• Despite the severe disruption experienced as a result of last December’s floods, unvalidated results for key stage 2 in 2016 show that pupils achieved standards above those seen nationally in reading and spelling and grammar and were broadly in line in mathematics. At key stage 1, pupils continued to achieve standards above those seen nationally in writing and mathematics, but reading outcomes were weaker.
• Outcomes for writing declined for all pupils in 2016 at the end of key stage 2, although outcomes for English grammar, punctuation and spelling were above those seen nationally.
• The majority of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress by the end of key stage 2. Validated information for 2015 shows that these pupils made better progress than that seen nationally. Although there is evidence of a slight dip for these pupils in writing and mathematics in 2016, their overall progress remains good. Effective teaching and tailored support enable current pupils to make good progress.
• Disadvantaged pupils made better progress than their peers in 2015 in key stage 2, and unvalidated data suggests that this has continued in 2016. Current progress information shows that in all subjects and across many other years, differences are continuing to diminish.
• The most able pupils achieved better progress than similar groups nationally in 2015. Unvalidated outcomes for 2016 show that they have attained significantly higher levels of attainment in reading, grammar, punctuation and spelling and to a lesser extent in mathematics. The most able disadvantaged pupils made better progress than their peers in reading, but weaker progress in mathematics.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter the early years with knowledge, skills and abilities that are typically expected for their age. As a result of thorough planning and effective teaching, children make good progress and achieve levels of development above those seen nationally.
• Through effective routines, children are able to switch from independent play to more formal activities. Through stimulating teaching, appropriate grouping and accurate modelling of sounds, children make rapid progress in phonics in learning the relationships between letters and sounds.
• Children are given opportunities to take part in continuous play and learning. Children took part in more active tasks, such as transporting one another on scooters, but also engaged in more precise activities, such as carefully picking tacks from very small boxes before hammering them into patterns on pumpkins.
• Learning environments are effectively organised into zones to promote reading, writing, measuring, role play and a range of other activities. Outdoor spaces complement the internal environment effectively, with children keen to recreate the outdoor ‘bug houses’ using their own structures and materials.
• Teachers monitor children’s progress closely and record this accurately. Learning journey folders provide evidence of learning across all areas of learning. Teachers carry out an extensive range of evaluative observations and clearly identify next steps in children’s learning. Progress was evident as children moved from early mark making to writing their names accurately. Most-able children show the ability to progress through blending and segmenting more challenging words.
• Safeguarding practices in the early years are effective and there are no material breaches of statutory welfare requirements as children are safe and well cared for.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 137391 Calderdale 10003563 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 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 243 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Bryan Mensworth Clare Cope 01422 883034 www.burnleyroadacademy.org admin@burnleyroad.calderdale.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school experienced severe flooding in December 2015. As a result, all pupils’ work and teachers’ resources were lost. From January 2016, pupils were taught at two separate temporary locations while the school site was made safe. Although leaders ensured that only one day was lost, between 30 minutes and one hour of teaching time was lost each day due to travel time or the need for pupils to leave the secondary school site before senior pupils. Teachers and pupils returned to Burnley Road in September 2016.
• This school is an average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is slightly above average. The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who join or leave the school other than at the usual time is slightly above average.
• The proportion of pupils who are from minority ethnic backgrounds and the proportion who speak English as an additional language are both below average.
• The school’s 2015 results met the government’s floor standards for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6. Unvalidated results suggest that the school will also meet the government’s floor standards in 2016.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed a wide range of lessons, covering all classes in the school. The headteacher accompanied the lead inspector on a number of observations on the first morning of the inspection.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and middle leaders. The lead inspector also met the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. The lead inspector held telephone conversations with the school’s improvement partner and a representative of the local authority. He also talked to a group of pupils at lunchtime on day one of the inspection.
• All inspectors talked to parents as they dropped their children off at school on day two of the inspection.
• Pupils’ behaviour was observed during lessons, lunchtimes and playtimes.
• The lead inspector listened to pupils read and talked to them about their reading.
• Inspectors examined the quality of work in a wide range of books and examined outcomes from formal assessments. They discussed pupils’ work and their learning with them in lessons.
• Inspectors looked at the school’s work and considered documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, curriculum plans and information relating to pupils’ achievement and safeguarding.
• Inspectors took into account 41 responses to Ofsted’s online Parent View survey, 15 free-text responses, and six responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and the pupil survey.

Inspection team

Malcolm Kirtley, lead inspector Juliet Wright Janet Keefe

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector