Parkinson Lane Community Primary School Ofsted Report

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Parkinson Lane are happy and well mannered. They feel strongly that they belong to their school. They appreciate the wide range of extra-curricular clubs, residential trips and educational visits. Pupils told us that acting, dancing and singing for audiences gives them confidence. They feel that competing in sports against other schools improves their teamwork skills. Leaders form links with other schools, including those in other countries. This helps pupils understand life outside their community. Leaders have chosen this variety of opportunities deliberately. They are passionate about raising pupils’ aspirations and developing their social skills. Teaching staff build strong relationships with each other, pupils, and parents and carers. This creates a warm and supportive atmosphere in the school. Pupils know the difference between right and wrong. They behave well and are sensible, mature and articulate. Bullying is very rare. Pupils trust staff to help them with any issues that may arise. Pupils enjoy learning. Many children join the school in Nursery class without the language skills they need. Teachers prioritise building children’s communication skills and their vocabulary. However, leaders’ expectations of what pupils should achieve are too low. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should. This is especially true of pupils in key stage 1 and children in early years. Leaders’ checks on the quality of education provided are not thorough. This has led to a decline in standards since the last inspection.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have carefully planned some parts of the curriculum. They have chosen topics that tell pupils about different cultures, including their own. For example, pupils study the golden age of Islam. However, whole-school plans do not consistently set ambitious goals for pupils. This means that the work they do is often too easy. This hinders pupils’ progress. Leaders have started to improve this in some subjects, including mathematics and art. It is too early to see the difference this has made to pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Teachers’ knowledge of the subjects they teach is strong. They value the training they receive. This includes support from the school’s 13 specialist teachers. For example, physical education (PE) lessons are taught by specialists. Class teachers learn from working alongside these colleagues. Leaders are introducing ways for teachers to assess pupils’ knowledge in all subjects. However, this work is in the very early stages in some subjects. Leaders have not looked carefully at the curriculum for disadvantaged pupils or pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan have their needs identified accurately. However, for other pupils with SEND, teachers only have broad targets to work towards. Leaders have not checked whether teaching, including extra sessions, is effective for these two groups of pupils. Reading is a high priority in the school. Pupils spoke to inspectors with enthusiasm about books and authors. They especially enjoy reading about the topics they are studying. Phonics teaching is a strength. Teachers are skilled in building pupils’ knowledge in small steps. They give pupils plenty of chances to practise the sounds they have been learning. By the end of Year 1, most pupils can decode words. However, too few of these pupils achieve well in reading by the end of Year 2. In early years, children are well cared for. They are confident and independent in their learning. Adults are skilled in developing children’s language skills. However, adults do not check frequently on children’s knowledge. Owing to this, adults expect too little of the children. This is particularly the case in reading, writing and mathematics. The majority of children enter Year 1 without the knowledge they need. Leaders were asked at the last inspection to raise standards in early years and key stage 1. However, the achievement of pupils in this age range remains low. Leaders are not sharp enough in pinpointing the aspects of school that need to improve. Their plans for improvement do not set ambitious goals for pupils’ outcomes. Leaders, including governors, have not held colleagues to account for the quality of the education provided. This has allowed the decline in the performance of the school to happen. Leaders work hard to involve parents in school life. Parents have lots of opportunities to learn how to support their children at home. Parents also enjoy watching their children perform. A dedicated parent group raises money for the school. They are proud that they can help to fund residential visits and other activities.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders ensure staff are trained in safeguarding. The vast majority of staff have secure knowledge about the risks pupils may face. They know how to spot pupils who may be vulnerable and whom they should report their concerns to. Designated staff are swift to work with other agencies, where necessary. Pupils are taught about how to stay safe in different situations, including online. However, some aspects of safeguarding policies and procedures are not as tight as they should be. Despite training, a small number of staff are not always clear enough about their safeguarding responsibilities. Similarly, risk assessment, registration and admissions practices are not as thorough as they need to be.

What does the school need to do to improve? (Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some areas of the curriculum, leaders’ ambition for pupils’ achievement is not high enough. Additionally, in some subjects, assessment systems are in the early stages of implementation. This leads to pupils completing work that is undemanding. This hinders their progress, particularly in early years and key stage 1. Leaders must raise their expectations of what pupils will achieve. There is work to do to develop curriculum plans to establish this suitable ambition. Similarly, assessment systems should be further developed to give teachers the information they need to set work that is demanding. Ultimately, leaders should significantly improve pupils’ outcomes, especially in early years and key stage 1.
• The needs of pupils with SEND are not identified accurately. This means that, with the exception of phonics, teachers do not know which knowledge pupils need to consolidate through more practice. Leaders do not check thoroughly that the curriculum and provision for these pupils and disadvantaged pupils are effective. As a result, pupils do not consistently reach their potential. Leaders must ensure that the curriculum for these pupils is ambitious and meets their specific needs.
• Monitoring of the quality of education has not given leaders an accurate view of the shortcomings that exist. School improvement plans do not give leaders, including governors, a tool to hold other leaders and staff to account. This has led to a decline in standards since the last inspection. Leaders should check thoroughly on the quality of education they are providing. They should then use their findings to hold colleagues to account and make the improvements needed.
• Governors do not challenge leaders about some vital aspects of the school’s performance, including pupils’ outcomes. They have not prevented the evident decline in standards. Governance must be strengthened significantly. Governors must develop their knowledge of their role and use this to hold leaders stringently to account.
• Procedures, policies and checks with regard to safeguarding practices are not as tight as they should be. This has led to a small number of staff not always being clear about their responsibilities for keeping children safe. Similarly, administration of admissions, registration and risk assessments is not always as thorough as it should be. Leaders, including governors, should ensure that safeguarding policies and practices are watertight.

How can I feed back my views?

You can use Ofsted Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school, or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school. If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted.

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route.

School details

Unique reference number 107487 Local authority Calderdale Inspection number 10087650 Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 587 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair of governing body Antony Hollingsworth Headteacher Gugsy Ahmed Website www.parkinsonlaneprimaryschool.com/ Date of previous inspection 18–19 October 2011

Information about this school

• The number of pupils on roll at the school has increased since the last inspection.
• Approximately a third of pupils are on the register for SEND. This is almost three times higher than the national average. The proportion of pupils with an EHC plan is average.
• Most pupils speak English as an additional language.

Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

• We met with the headteacher, senior and subject leaders and other members of staff. An inspector spoke to the local authority representative on the telephone. As lead inspector, I also met three governors, including the chair of the governing body.
• We observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school, including at breakfast club, playtimes and lunchtimes. We gathered pupils’ views about the school through formal and informal discussions.
• We scrutinised a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans, minutes of governing body meetings and safeguarding documents. We also evaluated information relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance.
• We gathered the views of parents at the start of the day. We also met with members of the parent association. We considered parents’ responses to the schools’ parent survey.
• We looked in depth at the following subjects: reading, mathematics, science, history, art and PE. In doing so, we visited classes across all year groups and reviewed pupils’ work. We spoke to pupils about their learning and listened to them read. We also met with teachers.

Inspection team

Karine Hendley, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Mujahid Ali Ofsted Inspector Adrian Fearn Ofsted Inspector Linda Collier Ofsted Inspector