Carlton Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils by:
  • planning teaching that moves the learning of the most able pupils forward more promptly and deepens their understanding so that more are working at a higher standard by the end of key stage 2
  • ensuring that the pupil premium funding has a positive effect on disadvantaged pupils’ academic progress as well as their personal development.
• Improve pupils’ progress in mathematics by embedding the developing practice for the teaching of mathematics and ensuring that pupils’ learning builds and deepens promptly from pupils’ prior achievements.
• Improve the impact of leaders by:
  • developing further the role of subject leaders and the special educational needs coordinator in checking the effect of their actions on improving pupils’ progress
  • developing the skills of recently appointed governors so that they add further capacity to provide challenge and support to leaders
  • checking that leaders’ revised approach to the use of pupil premium spending has a measurable effect upon disadvantaged pupils’ progress, attendance and personal development.
• Improve the quality of children’s learning opportunities in the early years outdoor learning environment so that it matches the quality of learning experiences found in the indoor learning classrooms.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since their appointment in September 2015, the headteacher and deputy headteacher have sharpened the focus on improving outcomes for pupils. Following a period where pupils’ attainment and progress were too low, there are now clear improvements in pupils’ attainment at the end of both key stage 1 and key stage 2. However, the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils, particularly in key stage 2, are below those found nationally. The headteacher and deputy both recognise that this is the next weakness to tackle and have put in place appropriate plans.
• Subject leaders for reading, writing and mathematics know what the priorities for improvement are in their subjects. They are taking appropriate actions to improve pupils’ outcomes in their subjects. Working alongside the headteacher and deputy headteacher, they are checking for improvements. However, this role is not fully developed.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. They develop respect and tolerance for people who come from different backgrounds from themselves and have a clear understanding of the principles of democracy. A wide range of visits and visitors support pupils’ cultural development. Links with the local cricket club and the nearby community orchard enable pupils to be active citizens. Consequently, pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Leaders plan the use of additional funding for physical education (PE) and sport for primary schools carefully and check that it is used to good effect. Consequently, pupils have the opportunity to engage in a wide range of competitive sports and an increased range of activities, which support healthy lifestyles. A named governor works with the PE leader to ensure effective strategic deployment of this funding.
• The proportions of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities are low. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has taken action to ensure that these pupils receive relevant support. Effective partnerships are in place with parents to enable them to contribute to plans for pupils with SEN and/or disabilities. The additional funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is spent, in the main, to good effect.
• Well-structured systems to manage the performance of staff are in place. Governors ensure that pay progression links to teachers achieving agreed objectives. Staff benefit from a range of training to improve their teaching and leadership skills. The vast majority of staff agree that they are provided with training and development to challenge and support their improvement.
• Senior leaders’ structured approaches to evaluation provide them with a useful range of information that they use to put in place detailed plans for school improvement. However, some self-evaluation judgements are too positive and do not take sufficient account of pupils’ progress along with pupils’ attainment.
• Spending of pupil premium funding has resulted in a variable impact on pupils’ outcomes. By the end of Year 6, disadvantaged pupils’ progress has lagged behind that of other pupils nationally, particularly in reading and mathematics. The deputy headteacher has revised the school’s plans for using this funding, using national research of what works well. There is now some emerging evidence of improving progress for disadvantaged pupils and improvements in their levels of attendance. However, leaders recognise that there is still much to do in these areas.

Governance of the school

• Governors have a good understanding of the school’s priorities and the community the school serves. Working closely with the headteacher, they are ambitious to improve pupils’ outcomes. Some governors enhance their understanding of the effects of strategic decisions through visits into school and meetings with school leaders.
• There are a number of new governors. Plans are in place to ensure that they receive relevant induction and safeguarding training.
• Governors are keen to develop further their strategic leadership capacity and they have audited their skills to identify strengths and areas for development. A well-structured governor development plan is in place with evidence of checking for impact.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders, staff and governors give the highest priority to keeping pupils safe and there is a strong culture of safeguarding across the school.
• Leaders complete careful safeguarding checks for all staff, governors and volunteers. They have ensured that current safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are of a high quality.
• The safeguarding policy meets the current national requirements and staff understand the school’s procedures and their own responsibilities. Staff and governors receive regular and appropriate training so that they know how to keep pupils safe. The overwhelming majority of parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, believe that their child feels safe in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teachers’ planning does not meet the needs of disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils effectively. Consequently, these pupils do not make good progress.
• At times, the most able pupils are completing tasks that they have already demonstrated that they have successfully mastered. Equally, on occasions less able pupils are struggling as the work is too demanding.
• Teachers are putting into practice training they have received on the teaching of mathematics. This is beginning to improve pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills. However, there is some variability in the quality of mathematics teaching. Sometimes the starting points for the most able pupils are too easy and these pupils again spend time completing tasks that they fully understand. Equally, some of the most able pupils are grappling with work that is deepening their understanding.
• Recent changes to the teaching of reading have improved the proportions of pupils who are achieving the expected standard by the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2. Leaders and staff promote reading and encourage pupils to read regularly. The school has an attractive library area of which pupils are proud. Both younger and older pupils who read to inspectors expressed their love of reading both within school and at home. However, the development of pupils’ comprehension skills at higher standards, particularly in key stage 2, is not strong enough.
• There is a structured approach to the teaching of phonics from early years through key stage 1. Leaders are currently reviewing the approaches to the teaching of phonics following the dip in Year 1 pupils’ results in the phonics screening check in 2017.
• Leaders and staff have worked hard to provide meaningful topics and experiences to motivate pupils to write. This is beginning to enable pupils to write higher-quality responses. However, not enough pupils are writing at the higher standard by the end of Year 6.
• Teaching assistants are generally well deployed to support the learning of pupils. Their work with individual pupils and small groups is helping support the learning of pupils from a range of abilities.
• Over the last two years, leaders and staff have developed the quality of assessments and systems for tracking pupils’ progress. This has assisted in improving teachers’ planning for pupils’ achievements at the national curriculum expected levels. Furthermore, it is helping leaders to hold staff more accountable for the effect of their teaching on pupils’ progress. However, these approaches are not fully impacting upon the progress of disadvantaged and the most able pupils.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Opportunities for responsibility in a number of roles across school develop pupils’ self-confidence. The active school’s council ensures that leaders consider pupils’ voice when developing aspects of the school. For example, pupils were keen to tell an inspector about the introduction of the school’s chickens. This initiative gives pupils an opportunity to consider animal care and welfare.
• Effective use is made of assemblies to develop pupils’ reflection skills and to engender personal qualities such as tolerance and respect. For example, assemblies around the theme of ‘Remembrance’ encouraged pupils to think of the sacrifice and contribution of others to society.
• Pupils have a good understanding of the different forms that bullying can take. Pupils identified that while bullying did take place, this was rare, and they believed that it would be dealt with well. Leaders have recently introduced an online system to assist them in recording and analysing safeguarding, behaviour and bullying incidents. This demonstrates leaders’ keenness to support pupils’ safety and well-being.
• The recently appointed learning mentor has ‘hit the ground running’ and is working well to establish relationships with pupils and their families where some additional support may assist the pupils’ success in school. Leaders and the learning mentor consider carefully where to target support. However, it is too early to discern the effect of this support on pupils’ personal development and academic progress.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave well in lessons. Occasionally where the teaching does not fully grasp their attention, some pupils’ interest can wane and their work ethic diminishes.
• Pupils socialise well at playtimes and lunchtimes. They engage in active games or enjoy quieter group activities with their friends. Staff provide good levels of supervision.
• Most pupils have good levels of attendance, which demonstrates the value in education instilled by leaders and staff. Actions taken by leaders are reducing levels of persistent absence by disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities support. The work of the recently appointed learning mentor has sharpened the approaches to improving attendance and is providing support to pupils and their families where absence levels have been too high.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Outcomes for pupils require improvement because disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils do not make good progress, particularly in key stage 2. Furthermore, pupils’ progress in mathematics is variable.
• In 2017, the proportion of Year 1 pupils who achieved the expected standard in the phonics screening check fell and was below the national average.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not make good progress. As a result, there are large gaps in attainment when compared to other pupils currently in school, particularly in key stage 2. Over the past two years, the progress of these pupils has too often been below or significantly below that of other pupils nationally.
• The most able pupils do not make good progress. As a result, the proportions of pupils achieving the higher standards are too low. Recently there have been improvements in the proportions achieving the higher standards by the end of Year 2. However, in 2017, the proportions of pupils achieving the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics were below those found in the provisional national averages by the end of Year 6.
• Leaders’ analysis of pupils’ progress in mathematics shows that some of the current year groups do not make good progress in mathematics. In 2017, Year 6 pupils’ progress in mathematics was below their progress in reading and writing and was below the national average.
• Leaders and staff have addressed previous levels of weak attainment evident in key stage 1 in 2016. The proportions of Year 2 pupils achieving the expected and the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics all improved in 2017 and the school’s results were above the provisional national averages for these three subjects.
• In 2017, Year 6 pupils’ progress in reading and writing matched the averages found nationally, although their progress in mathematics was below the provisional national average. The proportions of Year 6 pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics improved. Consequently, the proportion of pupils working at the expected standard was above the national average. There was a slight improvement to the proportions working at the higher standard in reading and in writing.
• Recent improving proportions of pupils working at expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics mean that more pupils are ready for their next stage of education, including transfer to secondary school.

Early years provision Good

• Children start in the early years with skills and abilities that are generally typical for their age. From their starting points, children make good progress in both Nursery and Reception. In 2017, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development improved and was above the national average. As a result, the vast majority of children are well prepared for Year 1.
• Leaders appropriately target the additional funding for disadvantaged children to meet the specific needs of these children. For example, leaders recently used this funding in order to provide extra staff time to help with developing the children’s communication skills and supporting children’s personal and social development.
• The leader of the early years has a clear understanding of the learning needs of the children and the priorities for further improving the early years provision. She makes effective use of research to ensure that the early years provision is developing effective practice.
• The quality of teaching in early years is good. Staff provide an effective balance of adult-led teaching combined with provision where children choose activities to support their learning. There is rich provision to support children’s learning in the indoor classrooms. However, the learning opportunities in the outdoor learning environment are not as strong.
• Children work well together and sustain interest in the activities provided to develop their learning. They are kind and thoughtful about the needs of others. For example, when one child saw another who was looking a little glum, he came across stirring some glitter in a bowl, which was a potion to cheer up his friend.
• Early years staff work well with parents. They engage and communicate effectively with parents by using an extensive range of approaches. Parents are very positive about the provision and support provided by the early years staff.
• Children feel safe and secure. Safeguarding is effective and all welfare requirements are met. Staff have received relevant safeguarding and welfare training.
• Staff make effective links with other agencies where children may require additional support.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107830 Leeds 10037740 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 Maintained 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 347 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Angela Howarth David Coe Telephone number 0113 378 3040 Website Email address www.carltonprimaryschool.co.uk/ enquiries@carltonprimaryschool.co.uk Date of previous inspection 20–21 November 2012

Information about this school

• The headteacher and deputy headteacher both came into post in September 2015.
• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The vast majority of pupils are White British.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is below that found nationally.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below that found nationally.
• The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan is well below that found nationally.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• In 2016, the school met the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school meets the Department for Education’s definition of a coasting school based on key stage 2 academic performance results in 2014 to 2016.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed learning in 24 lessons and part lessons across both school sites. The headteacher and deputy headteacher joined inspectors for a number of the observations of lessons.
• The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour around school and reviewed the school’s promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The inspectors observed pupils in the playground and during lunchtime.
• Inspectors listened to five pupils read from Year 2 and Year 6.
• The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the subject leaders for reading, writing and mathematics, the leader of early years and the special educational needs coordinator. The lead inspector met with nine governors, including the chair of the governing body. He also met with a representative from the local authority.
• A group of Year 2 to Year 6 pupils discussed their opinions about the school and their learning with an inspector.
• Inspectors took account of the 106 responses to Ofsted’s online parent survey, Parent View. Inspectors considered the 23 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire and the 47 responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire. Inspectors met with parents at the beginning and end of the school day.
• The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including minutes from meetings of the governing body, information about pupils’ achievement, the school’s evaluation of its own performance and its development plans. Reviews were made of behaviour and attendance records and information relating to safeguarding. The inspectors scrutinised some pupils’ work in their books.

Inspection team

Michael Reeves, lead inspector Chris Cook Catherine Precious

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector