Paddock Junior Infant and Nursery School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics so that recent improvements in teaching are sustained and that different groups of pupils make the progress of which they are capable, by:
  • addressing any remaining gaps in pupils’ learning to enable them to develop more secure understanding
  • ensuring that teachers set activities that offer the most able pupils a consistently high level of challenge
  • providing frequent opportunities for pupils to improve their reasoning skills in order to deepen their mathematical understanding in key stage 2.
• Engage even more closely with parents of children in the Reception classes so that attendance levels rise and fewer children are persistently absent.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The strong and tenacious leadership of the new headteacher and her deputy is pivotal to the rapid improvements in the school. After a period of significant change in leadership, including governance, they are determined that pupils are given the best start in life.
• The inclusive ethos within the school is underpinned by high aspirations, strong values and a cohesive, committed team of staff. A sense of family and a warm, open culture are tangible across the school.
• Senior leaders know their school very well. Using a range of information and strong support from the local authority, they have accurately identified priority areas for improvement. The detailed school development plan is carefully written and evaluated to ensure that actions have a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes.
• Leaders’ monitoring of teaching and learning is thorough. Effective partnerships with other schools help to improve the teaching skills of staff, particularly those who are new to the profession. Staff speak positively about their school and are proud to work there.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works tirelessly to help pupils overcome barriers to learning. The impact of support is checked carefully to ensure that these pupils make secure progress over time. Support for pupils who speak English as an additional language is particularly effective.
• The expertise of the learning mentor ensures that the school’s therapeutic support programme provides productive and personalised learning and emotional support for vulnerable pupils and those with complex needs.
• The curriculum offers a wide range of rich learning experiences that include educational visits and work with specialist teachers. Pupils talk enthusiastically about French, physical education (PE) and personal, social and health education, for which provision is particularly effective. Subject leaders have strong subject knowledge and they undertake their responsibilities well in supporting teaching and learning.
• The pupil premium funding is used successfully to help disadvantaged pupils make strong progress. Barriers to learning are quickly identified and appropriate support provided to help pupils catch up.
• Additional funding for PE and sport is also used effectively. Pupils benefit from high-quality lessons and a wide range of school sport. Specialist staff successfully engage all pupils in physical activity and support teachers well to develop their own skills in teaching PE.
• Fundamental British values and the development of SMSC awareness are deeply embedded in the work of the school. Pupils have a strong sense of tolerance, respect and equality. Pupils demonstrate a mature understanding of different cultures and types of families.
• Parents and carers are extremely supportive of the school, with many speaking highly of the changes that have been introduced since the appointment of the headteacher. They comment that their children are happy and well supported, and that positive relationships exist between staff and children.
• Although the majority of pupils are making stronger progress in reading, writing and mathematics, leaders have pinpointed aspects of these subjects where further improvements in teaching are required in order that pupils may make even better progress.

Governance of the school

• Governors have a clear vision for the school, which is shared by leaders, staff and pupils alike. Governors support and challenge school leaders effectively. New governors already have a clear understanding of the school’s current priorities and the general impact of these. Governors use information gathered through their visits to the school, as well as that from reports provided by the headteacher, to ask pertinent questions in order to bring about improvements.
• Governors know how the pupil premium is spent and the general impact this has. They are clear about how the PE and sport premium is used and the benefits this is having in improving pupils’ health and fitness.
• Governors are clear about their responsibility to keep pupils safe and this is their highest priority. They have secure systems for monitoring safeguarding in school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Pupils are well cared for and a culture of safeguarding permeates the school. Pupils know that they can speak with any member of staff if they are concerned about something, whether at the school or at home.
• Staff receive regular training to ensure that they are kept up to date with current safeguarding guidance, including the ‘Prevent’ duty. As a result, staff are alert and vigilant, reporting potential child protection concerns promptly.
• The school’s designated officers have a clear understanding of their roles. Records of child protection concerns are detailed and kept securely. They show clearly that prompt action is taken to protect pupils, where necessary.
• Well-designed systems ensure that only suitable staff and visitors are allowed to work with pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Relationships between pupils and staff are positive throughout the school. Teachers have high expectations of behaviour and encourage pupils to work hard. As a result, pupils are quick to settle and eager to learn. There is a deep learning-focused atmosphere across the school.
• Teachers make learning interesting and encourage pupils to contribute and improve their language skills in lessons. For example, high-quality professional development is helping to establish a strong reading culture for pupils. Investment in a wide range of reading material ensures that books are available in all corners of the school and on the school’s website to encourage pupils of all ages and abilities to read often.
• There is a consistent and effective approach to the teaching of reading. Pupils are challenged to use comprehension skills well and develop their understanding of the meaning of new and complex vocabulary.
• The skilled and enthusiastic teaching of phonics provides pupils with frequent opportunities to develop their knowledge of letters and the sounds they make. They use this confidently to read and write independently to become successful readers. For example, in Year 1, pupils demonstrated accurate understanding of the sounds made by the letters ‘c’ and ‘y’ by reading and understanding words such as ‘cygnet’ and ‘pyramid’.
• The teaching of writing is leading to improvement in pupils’ knowledge and skills, particularly their handwriting. Teachers carefully build on pupils’ prior knowledge to help them develop secure skills in spelling, punctuation and grammar. The focus on developing pupils’ confidence in speaking ensures that pupils have the words and phrases they require to express themselves effectively through the written word. As a result, pupils’ writing demonstrates strong progress.
• The many high-quality displays and work in pupils’ books demonstrate that they have many opportunities to apply their writing for different purposes in a range of subjects other than English. Pupils of all abilities are confident in producing imaginative writing across the curriculum.
• The teaching of mathematics is also improving, but the pace of change is not as marked in this area. New strategies are helping pupils to deepen their mathematical thinking. Pupils in key stage 1 are routinely developing their reasoning skills to a high standard. The well-designed writing prompts enable pupils to complete mathematical sentences to explain their solutions in detail. This is less evident in Years 5 and 6. As a result, older pupils lack confidence in using reasoning skills to achieve at the higher standard in mathematics.
• Pupils’ progress in mathematics is occasionally hampered by the nature of the resources being used. For example, Year 4 pupils failed to accurately simplify a series of fractions. They recorded 2/4 and 3/9 as solutions because they had filled in all of the available boxes on their printed activity sheet. They were not prompted to complete the task by staff.
• Teachers and support staff use questioning well to encourage pupils to think about what they are learning. Teachers check that pupils understand what is expected of them at the start of activities. Pupils say that their teachers’ guidance helps them to understand how to improve. Nevertheless, teachers are less skilled in providing the most able pupils with the consistently high challenge they need to maximise their progress.
• Teachers ensure that pupils gain subject-specific skills and knowledge across the whole curriculum. For example, when Year 4 pupils studied the Second World War, they researched the conflicts at that time in history alongside the role of Parliament. They then put themselves into the role of a local newspaper reporter to write about the impact of these events on the local community. Their imaginative writing showed an understanding of that period, their understanding of British values and their ability to apply alliteration to expressive headlines, such as ‘Shocking Shelling’ and ‘Killing Catastrophe’.
• A well-established and well-structured modern foreign language programme ensures that pupils learn a language from an early age. As a consequence, pupils’ language skills in French are extremely well developed and their attainment is high in both key stages.
• Additional adults provide valuable support across the school. They interact well with specific pupils with SEND and use well-designed support plans to develop their learning and monitor their progress.
• The support provided for pupils who join the school at different times is strong and it is highly effective for those pupils who speak little English. These pupils are included effectively and teachers’ expectations of this group are high. All pupils are learning elements of the sign language Makaton. These signs and symbols assist pupils when they communicate with one another.
• Parents appreciate the information that teachers provide about their children’s progress and the opportunities to join their children during family learning days. Parents like to know what their child needs to do to improve and appreciate the opportunities to assist them with their interesting homework projects.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• At the heart of the school is a desire to ensure that every member of the school community is valued and included. As a result of this, all pupils thrive and flourish. They grow in confidence, developing positive self-esteem. They are thoughtful and empathise sensitively with others.
• Pupils’ understanding of diversity and equality is exceptional. They appreciate that everyone is different and value this richness in their own school community and beyond. Pupils are extremely well prepared for life in modern Britain. Tolerance, acceptance and inclusion are the norm in this school.
• Pupils enjoy their learning. They rise to the challenges posed and demonstrate great resilience and determination from an early age. Pupils are self-assured learners. They are motivated to learn and want to do their very best. They have high aspirations.
• Pupils develop a secure understanding of democracy when electing members of the school council and the Eco Warriors. Pupils aspire to these leadership roles and, once elected, carry them out diligently. Pupils across the school take responsibility for themselves and the school environment and show a sense of responsibility to those around them.
• Leaders ensure that there is carefully sourced, sensitive support for pupils who have additional social, emotional and/or behavioural needs. The effective work of the specialist staff and the wide-ranging partnerships with external organisations ensure that the school lives up to its commitment of being a fully inclusive school.
• The breakfast and after-school clubs are run extremely well. Pupils participate in a range of activities and socialise well with one another. Staff also provide pupils with a range of healthy snacks and breakfast. This ensures that pupils have positive experiences at the start and end of the school day.
• Extra-curricular activities and clubs supplement the curriculum and provide additional opportunities for pupils to develop their experiences, skills and knowledge. Popular activities include dance, boxing and bush craft. There are also events that extend pupils’ horizons further still; pupils in Year 6 particularly enjoy their residential visit to France.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Adults are effective role models for pupils of different ages. Respectful relationships exist on every level. This is seen in lessons, in the playground at breaktimes and around the school. Pupils show respect to each other and to the adults who work with them and are especially welcoming to visitors. This is the result of the whole-school approach that values everyone as an equal. There is an extremely strong culture of trust and understanding.
• Pupils are well cared for and they feel extremely safe at school. Their perception is that there is no bullying at school but if there was, they know for certain that adults would help resolve it very quickly. They know not to share personal information when using the internet and talked confidently about road safety.
• Leaders’ work to improve attendance is successful for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged or with SEND. The overall attendance of pupils has improved and is currently above the national average. Most pupils come to school regularly and on time because they want to embrace all the opportunities offered by the school. Leaders work effectively with families where attendance and unauthorised absence are of particular concern, especially for children in the Reception classes.
• Pupils thoroughly enjoy receiving rewards for all aspects of their learning, attendance and behaviour. Pupils work hard to retain their online merit awards which are celebrated weekly.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Since the school’s previous inspection, too few pupils have reached the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2. Standards were in the bottom 20% of all schools for the past two years. The results of national tests and assessments showed pupils’ progress in reading and writing also declined sharply. It was well below the national average in 2018. Considerable changes in the leadership of the school and the reorganisation of classes also had a negative impact on pupils’ achievement during this period.
• Published progress information, however, does not fully represent the challenges the school faces, particularly the turbulence caused by the high rates of pupil mobility. Senior leaders’ monitoring and tracking of pupils’ outcomes demonstrate that complex needs and cohort-specific issues lead to variability in outcomes at the end of each key stage and it is often difficult to identify clear trends. Consequently, actions to improve are specifically tailored to different cohorts, groups and individual pupils.
• Improvements in leadership and much better teaching are reversing the historically weak outcomes for pupils. Current pupils are making much stronger progress from low starting points, in a range of subjects, than those pupils who left the school in previous years. Nonetheless, weaker teaching in the past means that some pupils, especially those in Years 5 and 6, have gaps in their learning. Some of these pupils are not yet working at the standard that the school expects for their age or ability.
• Over time, the most able pupils have not made sufficient progress to ensure that they achieve as well as they should, given their capabilities. Current information indicates that the progress of this group remains uneven across different subjects.
• In 2018, pupils’ attainment at the highest standard at end of key stage 1 rose above the national average in writing and was close to the national average in reading and mathematics, particularly for girls. This means that these pupils were able to make a positive start when they joined Year 3. These improvements at key stage 1 are being sustained in reading, writing and mathematics and pupils are making strong progress.
• A significant proportion of pupils join the school with limited fluency in English. Effective support for these pupils leads to rapid improvement in their speech and language skills. Despite the very effective teaching of phonics, these pupils do not always reach the standard required in the Year 1 phonics screening check. However, the intensive support they receive enables them to catch up quickly and they make rapid progress.
• The significant proportion of pupils with SEND make strong progress from their different starting points because they are well supported and work is accurately matched to their learning needs.
• Disadvantaged pupils are also making strong progress. However, like other pupils in key stage 2, some have gaps in their learning which still need to be overcome. Highly focused support from the senior leaders and additional adults is making a positive contribution to the achievement of disadvantaged pupils.
• There are noteworthy strengths in subjects other than mathematics and English. Inspection evidence found that pupils cover these subjects in depth and pupils are able to demonstrate a strong understanding.

Early years provision Good

• Children start school with skills and knowledge below those typical for their age, and in many aspects, well below. Skills are least developed in communication, language and literacy and in the children’s understanding of the world. Children make strong progress. They benefit from a vibrant learning environment that provides children with a wide range of opportunities to develop their learning inside and outdoors. This, coupled with high expectations from all adults, ensures that every child thrives and enjoys a very positive start to school.
• Over the last three years, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of children who reach a good level of development at the end of Reception but this remains below average, particularly for children with high levels of absence. Standards reached by current children are rising; this represents strong progress from children’s low starting points.
• The leadership of the early years is very effective. The leader brings a wealth of experience as well as a passion for early years education. She has a clear view about the provision’s strengths and how to further develop it to ensure the best outcomes for children.
• Information on children’s progress in the Nursery and Reception classes is gathered constantly. The use of lanyards to enable staff to quickly identify targeted children is highly effective. Progress information is used well to plan a curriculum that is interesting and engaging as well as appropriate to children’s needs.
• The quality of teaching across the Nursery and the Reception classes is consistently good. Adults are skilled in asking questions to deepen children’s understanding. For example, children enjoyed rolling light and heavy eggs down a slope. Skilful questioning enabled children to estimate and measure which eggs rolled the furthest and why.
• The two-year-old provision and the support for children with significant needs is highly effective. Adults display patience and a depth of understanding of the individual needs of each child. They are skilled in using each child’s interests to maintain a focus on learning. As a result, children make sustained progress and secure key skills.
• The development of children’s communication, language and literacy skills is a key strength of the early years. The importance placed on fostering reading and writing, as well as mathematical skills, is very evident. Staff take every opportunity to model language and encourage children to speak in full sentences. Skilful phonics teaching by all adults ensures that children learn to read and write quickly. As a result, children are well prepared for the move into Year 1.
• There are very positive relationships across the setting. Children listen carefully to adults and play well with each other. This caring and nurturing environment helps children to become confident and independent learners.
• Safeguarding is effective and all statutory welfare requirements are met. Children’s health, safety and well-being are central to the early years provision. Adults are constantly vigilant.
• Parents are aware of how well their children are doing. Regular ‘stay and play’ sessions and workshops support parents in knowing how best to help their child at home. Parents know they can talk to a teacher if they have any concerns or worries about their child. Home-school links are strong.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107615 Kirklees 10082018 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 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 436 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Paul Massey Katie Pearson 01484 515 954 www.paddockjinschool.co.uk office.paddock@kirkleeseducation.uk Date of previous inspection 28–29 January 2015

Information about this school

• Paddock Junior, Infant and Nursery School is a much larger school than the average primary school.
• The large majority of pupils are of Asian or Asian British Pakistani heritage, with the others coming from various other minority ethnic backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is well above the national average. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is above the national average.
• The early years provision consists of two part-time Nursery classes and two full-time Reception classes. There is also provision for a small number of two-year-old children.
• A significant number of pupils join classes during the school year.
• There is one newly qualified teacher who has recently joined the school.
• The headteacher was formally appointed in September 2018. She was previously the deputy headteacher at the school. A new deputy headteacher was also appointed in September 2018.
• A number of middle leaders and governors are relatively new to post.
• The school provides both a breakfast club and an after-school club.
• The school is a member of the Aspire Learning Trust.

Information about this inspection

• Meetings were held with the headteacher, governors, senior and middle leaders and staff from the school.
• The lead inspector met with a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors observed learning across all year groups. A number of these observations were undertaken jointly with school leaders.
• Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils formally and informally.
• Observations of pupils’ behaviour took place during lessons, in an assembly, at playtime and lunchtime and when pupils were moving around the school.
• Inspectors and subject leaders jointly reviewed a range of pupils’ work in English, mathematics and other subjects. They discussed pupils’ work and monitored their progress. One inspector heard pupils from Year 1 and Year 2 read.
• A range of documentation provided by the school was examined. This included leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance, their development plan, attendance and behaviour information, assessment information and documentation relating to safeguarding.
• Inspectors considered 28 responses to the staff survey.
• The inspection took account of the views of 13 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, which included 10 free-text responses. Inspectors also spoke with parents as they brought their children to school.

Inspection team

Cathy Morgan, lead inspector Janet Keefe Richard Knowles

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector