Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the consistency and quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that:
  • teachers have consistently high expectations of what pupils can achieve
  • assessment information is used to plan learning that is sufficiently challenging
  • adults swiftly address pupils’ mistakes and misconceptions during lessons
  • pupils develop the resilience needed to become more independent in their learning
  • there are more opportunities for pupils to solve problems in mathematics
  • guided reading tasks for all groups of pupils are purposeful and contribute to developing their understanding of the texts they are reading
  • pupils who need to catch up with phonics are effectively supported
  • in the early stages of learning to read, pupils’ reading books are accurately matched to their phonics knowledge.
• Increase pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics so that the proportion of pupils reaching and exceeding the expected standards by the end of key stages 1 and 2 is at least in line with national averages.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • improvement plans include ambitious and clearly identified measures of success related to outcomes for cohorts and groups of pupils
  • leaders evaluate the impact of their actions on pupils’ achievement and use this information to secure and sustain further improvement
  • subject leaders are developed so that they contribute more significantly to improving the quality of teaching and learning and raising standards
  • the effective use of funding for disadvantaged pupils continues to develop so that their attainment quickly improves
  • the governing body more effectively holds school leaders to account for pupils’ outcomes and the overall quality of education the school provides
  • a greater proportion of boys, at least in line with the national average, reach a good level of development by the end of Reception
  • early years assessment is an accurate reflection of what children know and can do
  • the impact of strategies to improve attendance for disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities continues to develop
  • provision for pupils with social, emotional and mental health issues results in improved behaviour and reduced exclusion rates. 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 because not enough pupils meet the academic standards that are expected for their age. Standards have declined since the last inspection.
• The school has been through an unsettled period. Significant staffing and leadership changes have hindered the pace of the school’s improvement. Staffing is now settled and leadership arrangements are beginning to speed up the pace of change. Progress is beginning to quicken for current pupils.
• Leaders have dramatically improved the environment for learning so that it inspires pupils and interests them in their learning. Leaders are keen to involve pupils in the school’s development. For example, pupils were involved in determining the school’s values.
• Leaders are also committed to working in partnership with other schools and with the local authority. This has enabled pupils to have access to a wider range of experiences and is helping leaders develop their skills through school-to-school support.
• Leaders have a secure understanding of strengths and weaknesses in pupils’ outcomes and have recently introduced new approaches to the teaching of reading and mathematics. Through effective professional development, which is valued by teachers, the quality of teaching is starting to improve. However, leaders’ evaluations of their actions sometimes lack sharpness about the impact on pupils’ learning.
• Similarly, leaders’ action plans often do not contain precise enough measures of success. Consequently, leaders are not aware which strategies are proving most successful in securing the rapid improvements needed for different groups or cohorts of pupils.
• Leaders have involved teachers in taking greater responsibility for monitoring pupils’ progress and this has led to effective identification of pupils’ needs. Actions taken are supporting pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, to begin to make better progress. However, leaders have not made sure that pupils who need to catch up with phonics are receiving effective enough support.
• Subject leaders do not have sufficient awareness of standards and progress in their areas of responsibility. This restricts them in ensuring that the quality of teaching and learning is effective enough to achieve improved outcomes for pupils.
• Pupils largely enjoy a broad and balanced curriculum. A range of lunchtime and after-school activities, such as archery, knitting and choir, help pupils to develop and extend their skills and confidence beyond the academic curriculum. Sports coaching is resulting in increased success in local competitions. Leaders are currently reviewing provision for personal, social and health education so that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strengthened and their understanding of British values improves.
• Leadership of provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is becoming much more effective in checking the impact on pupils’ outcomes. Consequently, the use of funding to support this group of pupils is starting to help them achieve well.
• Leaders are committed to improving outcomes for vulnerable pupils. They have introduced nurture provision for pupils who need additional support to meet their social and emotional needs. This is beginning to improve pupils’ readiness for learning but has not reduced exclusions to below the national rate.

Governance of the school

• Over time, the governing body has not exercised enough strategic influence to reverse the decline in pupils’ achievement.
• A lack of precise targets for groups and cohorts and the absence of measurable milestones in leaders’ action plans limit the governors’ ability to hold school leaders to account with more rigour.
• Governors are gaining knowledge about aspects of the school through focused visits, for example to look at the impact of leaders’ actions to improve mathematics teaching.
• Governors identified the need to be more accountable for the impact of the pupil premium funding. They took action to engage the support of a consultant to develop the school’s strategy. A new plan is now in place and is beginning to make sure that funding is used more effectively.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders and governors take their responsibilities for the protection and care of pupils seriously. Policies, practice and record-keeping are fit for purpose. Staff are clear about safeguarding procedures as a result of the induction and continued training they receive. Staff report concerns quickly and leaders respond appropriately.
• Leaders work with a range of external agencies to secure the necessary support for vulnerable pupils. They persevere when they feel more action is required.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Turbulence in staffing has led to variability in the quality of teaching over time. Although improving, teaching is not yet securely good.
• At times, teachers do not address errors and misconceptions quickly enough. For example, in key stage 1, there are missed opportunities to check that pupils are using the correct pen grip and accurate letter and number formation. This results in incorrect skills being reinforced.
• Learning is not always sufficiently demanding because teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are not high enough. Sometimes, teachers do not use assessment of pupils’ learning to move them on to more challenging activities quickly enough. This hinders learning, especially for the most able pupils.
• Teachers do not always ensure that time is used effectively to develop pupils’ comprehension skills in guided reading sessions. Additionally, teaching has not equipped pupils with strategies for dealing with unfamiliar words. Consequently, pupils often read on without checking the meaning or asking for help. This limits their understanding of the books they are reading.
• In the early stages of learning to read, the books which pupils read are not always well matched to their phonics knowledge. This prevents pupils, particularly those who are struggling and need to catch up, from being able to read with accuracy and growing fluency.
• Teachers use their positive relationships with pupils to promote favourable attitudes to learning. A new approach to developing pupils’ resilience is starting to help them to become more independent learners. However, habits are proving hard to shift and too many pupils do not know what to do if they are stuck with their work. This wastes valuable learning time.
• The teaching of mathematics is developing and pupils are more frequently accessing age-appropriate learning. Teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge and encourage pupils to use precise vocabulary when making explanations. This is supporting pupils’ understanding of mathematical concepts. However, there are some missed opportunities to use problem-solving tasks to deepen pupils’ learning and challenge their thinking further.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement. Pupils do not take enough responsibility for their own learning. Leaders have taken action to improve this aspect of the school’s work. However, at present, too many pupils lack the confidence to persevere with challenging tasks and are unsure how to help themselves or seek guidance from others if they do not understand their work.
• Staff create a nurturing atmosphere and relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Pupils are polite, cooperate well with others and take pride in their work. Pupils speak confidently to visitors and welcome them to their school.
• Leaders actively seek and value pupils’ views. Pupils are encouraged to make a contribution to school life, for example developing expectations for playground behaviour through the school council. As a result, pupils are developing a sense of responsibility and are proud of their school and the opportunities it provides.
• Pupils say they feel safe and that staff deal with the rare incidents of bullying successfully. The curriculum is resulting in pupils having a suitable understanding of how to stay safe, for example near the canal and railway lines.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Classrooms are mainly calm but pupils report disruption which sometimes interferes with learning. Leaders’ actions to improve behaviour have led to the introduction of nurture provision which is beginning to better meet pupils’ social and emotional needs. However, exclusions have not reduced enough.
• Attendance improved to above the national average in the 2016/17 school year. However, this success has not been continued. Despite leaders taking increasingly firm action, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is well below expected levels.
• Pupils behave well on the playground at break and lunchtimes as there are many activities on offer to keep them well occupied and physically active.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Standards in English and mathematics have declined and are now consistently below the national average at the end of key stage 2. Too many pupils are not prepared well enough for secondary school because their basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics are not secure.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ attainment lags behind that of other pupils nationally by the end of key stage 2 in English and mathematics. However, attainment for current disadvantaged pupils is starting to show improvement throughout the school.
• Standards at the end of key stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics declined in 2017 due to inconsistency in the quality of teaching. These pupils are making better progress in Year 3 this year but still have a lot of catching up to do as a result of their previous underachievement.
• By the end of key stage 2, pupils’ attainment and progress in reading were in the lowest 20% nationally in 2016 and 2017. Leaders have introduced a new long-term plan which sets out a wide range of high-quality texts for pupils to read during their time at school. Consequently, pupils are becoming increasingly enthusiastic about reading and are reading more widely and often. However, time is not used productively for all groups of pupils during guided reading lessons to effectively support their reading development.
• The proportion of pupils meeting the standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check was below the national average in 2016 and 2017. Support for pupils in Years 2 and 3 who need to catch up is not effective enough in enabling them to quickly develop their phonics knowledge.
• Throughout the school, the progress current pupils make in English and mathematics is showing recent improvement. A greater proportion of pupils are now working at age-related expectations than at the beginning of the school year. Scrutiny of pupils’ books indicates that progress has begun to increase as a result of the strategies introduced by leaders. Pupils’ progress in mathematics, in particular, is showing positive improvement.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Leaders are not ambitious enough for children’s achievement in the early years. Therefore, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception has remained below the national average.
• Staff are sometimes too optimistic about children’s achievement, which leads to inaccuracy when assessing what they are able to do. Additionally, assessments are not substantiated by enough evidence.
• Leaders have recognised that children often begin school with fine motor skill development which is below the expected stage for their age. This is limiting their writing development, particularly for boys. Actions taken are providing children with more opportunities to develop their control and coordination of large and small movements. There is also a range of opportunities for mark-making in the indoor and outdoor provision. However, leaders do not have enough clarity about the progress being made by specific groups of children, such as boys or disadvantaged children. It is therefore difficult for them to check the impact of their actions. Samples of writing show that children are not progressing as well as they should. A lack of challenge and insufficient attention to securing accurate letter formation hinder their progress.
• Teaching of mathematics has not been challenging enough. Teaching has only recently introduced larger numbers up to 20. Consequently, this has limited children’s mathematical development, particularly for those who are the most able.
• Children participate well in daily phonics teaching. The newly introduced approach is developing children’s phonics knowledge more effectively. Adults make a range of resources available in the classroom so that children can apply their phonics knowledge when writing.
• The leader has made sure that there is a nurturing atmosphere in the classroom and adults make sure that children’s social and emotional development is a priority. As a result, children work with confidence and independence as they carry out purposeful tasks which help them to use and apply their newly acquired reading, writing and mathematics skills. They cooperate effectively with each other and behave very well.
• Staff have developed parent partnership to include ‘learning together’ sessions. These have been successful in sharing information and helping parents and carers to understand how they can support their child’s learning at home.
• Staff take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously. They ensure that children are well cared for and that the legal welfare requirements are met.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107623 Kirklees 10047636 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 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 208 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Irene Jacob Martin Vayro Telephone number 01484 646 422 Website Email address www.crowlane.org.uk office@crowlaneschool.co.uk Date of previous inspection 16–17 October 2014

Information about this school

• Since the last inspection, there have been significant changes to staffing and leadership. The current headteacher has been in post since September 2015.
• The local authority is providing regular quality-assurance visits and brokered support from a national leader of education and specialist leader of education.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is above the national average.
• The large majority of pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is just below the national average and the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is average.
• In 2016/17, the school met the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning throughout the school. Some observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Inspectors listened to pupils read and talked to them about their experience of school.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders and a range of subject leaders. They also met with the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.
• Discussions took place with a group of teachers about the support and development they receive.
• Inspectors looked at pupils’ work in books, along with the school’s information on pupils’ achievement, to ascertain the progress that they are making.
• A range of documentation was considered, including the school’s self-evaluation, records of the monitoring of teaching and learning, the school improvement plan, information relating to the attendance and behaviour of pupils, safeguarding and child protection records, and minutes from governing body meetings. Documents outlining the arrangements for the use of pupil premium funding were also considered.
• Inspectors spoke to parents informally at the start of the school day in order to seek their views about the school. Inspectors also considered the 10 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.
• Eleven responses to the staff questionnaire were taken into account.

Inspection team

Kirsty Godfrey, lead inspector Suzette Garland-Grimes

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector