Farsley Springbank Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the quality of teaching so that pupils reach higher standards, particularly in mathematics, by making sure that:
  • teachers have consistently high expectations of what the most able pupils can achieve
  • work is pitched at the right level to provide suitably challenging activities and pupils are not repeating work they can already do
  • assessment is used more effectively in the early years to plan purposeful tasks to develop better the skills children need to learn.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has effectively managed and led the school through a turbulent time. The introduction of two new key stages, staff absences and extensive building works have presented challenges. Despite these, the headteacher and her dedicated team of staff have retained an unrelenting focus to ensure that high-quality teaching is maintained and the learning for pupils does not suffer.
• Since the previous inspection, leaders have successfully addressed the areas that required improvement. The headteacher and her knowledgeable deputy headteacher have an accurate view of the school’s effectiveness and are uncompromising in scrutinising the work of the school in order to provide the best opportunities for pupils. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the high quality of leadership. Both staff and parents talk about feeling valued and knowing that ‘their opinions matter’.
• Mentoring and well-targeted professional training with robust monitoring and evaluation of the quality of teaching have ensured that all staff develop their skills. The headteacher has successfully created a learning culture where all staff are willing to challenge themselves and each other, constantly reflecting on what works and what is less effective, and making appropriate changes.
• The school has a robust approach to performance management. Performance management targets are clearly linked to pupils’ progress and attainment. Support has been given where teaching is weaker and this has had a marked impact on improving the quality of teaching.
• Improvements in the teaching of writing have been highly effective and pupils write well across a range of genres and in all subjects. As pupils move up the school they present their work well, with neatly joined handwriting and correct grammar. They make good attempts at spelling complex words, using a dictionary to check.
• The school’s focus on reading has been imaginative. Linking a joy of books with filmmaking culminated in the school winning the fiction category of Leeds Young Filmmakers’ Golden Owl Awards. Changes in the teaching of reading and the promotion of reading for pleasure, with visits from authors who share their passion for books, have ensured that this love of reading is shared by pupils.
• While leaders relentlessly monitor the quality of teaching, there is not a sharp enough focus on how the most able pupils are doing. As a result, these pupils do not always do as well as they should, particularly in mathematics.
• Leaders use the pupil premium funding effectively. It provides extra teaching and welfare support for disadvantaged pupils. The use of more-focused support has accelerated their progress and improved their attendance, and is helping them to achieve well.
• The funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used effectively to ensure that they receive good support for their welfare needs and academic learning. Leaders with responsibility for managing their provision track the progress these pupils make. The precision in pupils’ learning targets ensures that these pupils make good progress from their starting points.
• The curriculum is well organised and constantly reviewed to give high-quality opportunities for pupils to enjoy. Enrichment activities are many and varied, with visits to museums, art galleries and places of worship, including the local synagogue and a mosque. Pupils also have the chance to participate in events at school and represent the school in music and sport. They also have opportunities to enjoy the ‘Giant Sleepover’, which equips the pupils well with skills for life and broadens their horizons.
• Assemblies and visits promote effective reflection on faith, culture and personal choices. Pupils show respect for people from all backgrounds and faiths and have a good understanding of British values. Pupils have a good understanding of the importance of rules and laws and how these keep order in school and society. During the Wimbledon fortnight, pupils were confident enough to initiate discussion about gender equality when considering the fairness of rewards for male and female tennis players.
• The primary physical education and sport funding has been used effectively to ensure that teachers are well trained to deliver good-quality physical education lessons. The large uptake by pupils of a wide range of extra-curricular activities, and the 23 different sports on offer, mean that pupils of all ages can participate in more sports and represent the school in competitions.

Governance

• Governance is effective.
• Governors are well informed because they are provided with high-quality information from the headteacher. Some governors are new in post and bring to the school ‘fresh eyes’ to evaluating the effectiveness of the school. They have a good understanding about the quality of teaching across the school. The governing body holds the senior leaders effectively to account and challenges the headteacher over the school’s performance.
• Governors’ visits and their monitoring are focused on specific areas of the school’s plans for improvement. While they are not afraid to challenge senior leaders, they are still developing their skills in evaluating the impact of what they observe and monitor to robustly identify improvements that need to be made.
• Governors scrutinise the use of the pupil premium effectively to ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve well. They have been less robust about ensuring that the most able pupils achieve as well as they should.
• Governors understand that pupils’ achievement should be the main focus when awarding pay increases for teachers and the headteacher. They have put in support where teaching has been weaker to ensure that the quality of teaching for all pupils is consistently good across the school.
• Governors are fully conversant with their statutory duties for safeguarding and ensuring that staff are recruited with careful consideration.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school has created a safe culture to take care of its pupils and so pupils feel protected. All staff understand their obligations for safeguarding and this is emphasised throughout the school’s work as well as in lessons.
• Pupils say they feel safe and nearly all parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, agree. The school conducts a range of risk assessments to keep both pupils and staff safe.
• Leaders and staff follow correct procedures to ensure that pupils are safe. They take appropriate action when necessary. They refer to and communicate with outside agencies and follow up concerns.
• Teachers are aware of the school’s procedures for safeguarding. All members of staff are checked for their suitability to work with children. Accurate and up-to-date records of these checks are maintained.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Since the previous inspection, the good quality of teaching, learning and assessment has been maintained. As a result, standards have continued to be above the national average and pupils achieve well.
• Teachers put a lot of thought into the presentation of their lessons, which are delivered in a lively and engaging way. However, teachers do not always expect enough of the most able pupils, and the work they set, particularly in mathematics, sometimes does not challenge these pupils’ thinking. Several pupils who responded to the pupils’ survey during the inspection said that they wanted harder work and greater challenge in some lessons.
• Teachers have benefited from well-focused support and training to improve their teaching practice. Teachers give pupils lots of opportunities to write across a range of curriculum subjects. The writing skills pupils are learning are effectively threaded through other subjects, so they can practise these in subjects such as history and geography. For example, in a key stage 2 history lesson, not only did pupils have to recount the facts and events of a Viking invasion, using historical sources, they also had to write in a journalistic style to create a newspaper report of this event.
• The teaching of reading has been revised and strengthened and is now good. Teachers’ use of high-quality texts to stimulate pupils’ interest and develop their writing skills has been instrumental in raising the profile of reading for enjoyment. Even the least able readers are ambitious in their choices and prepared to wait on ‘the waiting list’ for a classic, such as HG Wells’ ‘War of the worlds’, which they are keen to read. Teachers are vigilant in monitoring the books pupils read, so they are challenged to read books in a range of styles and by a variety of authors.
• The quality of the teaching of mathematics is inconsistent. Pupils spend too much time repeating work they can already do. Mathematics lessons are not always well planned to ensure that pupils apply a high level of mathematical thinking to solve problems and show their mastery of the subject.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and are well supported by subject leaders, who often exemplify a high standard of expertise in their particular subjects. Teachers use questioning well and pupils benefit from effective feedback, both verbally and in writing. This has a positive impact on pupils’ progress because they keenly make improvements to their work as a result of teachers’ comments and help.
• Expectations for pupils’ behaviour and conduct are consistently high. Pupils concentrate well in lessons, maintaining a strong focus when discussing their work with one another, such as in groups or in pairs. Pupils learn from one another as well as their teacher.
• Teachers regularly test and assess pupils’ achievement. For the most part, this information is used to good effect to plan learning that builds well on what pupils already know and can do. Expectations of what the most able are capable of achieving are rising but are still not high enough to ensure that they make consistently good progress.
• The teaching of the few pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is good. Additional support is targeted effectively to meet the needs of these pupils and, as a result, they make good progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Parents comment that the headteacher ‘lives and breathes the welfare of Springbank’.
• The school puts great store on equipping pupils with effective life skills and providing them with the knowledge to live a healthy life. As a result, pupils have an exceptional understanding of things such as drugs and smoking, and that inappropriate relationships could be to the detriment of their mental and physical well-being. The school has recently been awarded Healthy Schools status.
• A weekly theme, for example ‘friendship’, is promoted in lessons and assemblies and is highly effective in making pupils consider what qualities they need to be a true friend. Pupils proudly make the link between their own behaviour and that of local celebrities, world champion triathletes, the Brownlee brothers, by ‘being more Brownlee’. They reflect on the merits of their peers, nominating someone in assembly for an award whom they consider has supported others when they have needed it.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and manage risk, both in school and at home. They explained how the school’s ‘feelings box’ is used, and they value the time staff take to discuss any worries or concerns they have. They understand the risks of using the internet and social media, and even the youngest pupils talk with authority about privacy settings on the school’s information and technology system, as well as ‘Hector the protector’ who filters inappropriate information on the internet.
• The school’s ethos promotes effective reflection on faith, culture and personal choices. As a result, pupils demonstrate an excellent understanding of British values, which prepares them well for life in modern Britain.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Nearly all parents who responded to Parent View agree that pupils are well behaved. Pupils say there are rarely incidents of bad behaviour or bullying, but where there are these are dealt with swiftly. Pupils have a mature understanding of bullying, including bullying related to race and gender.
• Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning and show respect for staff and each other. They tackle their work with diligence and persevere when tasks are difficult. They are keen to do well and they have high levels of attendance.
• Pupils value their education and the opportunities they have to participate in extra-curricular activities. They are extremely proud to represent their school in sporting competitions or musical events.
• Pupils are well mannered and confident to initiate and engage in conversation with peers and adults. They listen well to each other and show consideration for views that may be different from their own. Pupils play cooperatively with each other in the playground and move around the school in an orderly way, meeting and greeting visitors with courtesy.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils across the school make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. The school’s focus on improving the teaching of writing has effectively enhanced pupils’ achievement in writing. This is evident not only in pupils’ English books but when they write in other subjects. They are able to apply the correct convention of writing for a particular purpose, such as writing a newspaper report or instructions to conduct a scientific experiment.
• For the last two years at the end of Year 6, pupils’ attainment has been higher than the national average. Last year, when considering how well pupils achieved from their starting points, the most able pupils made average progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils are now making good and sometimes rapid progress, particularly in Year 6. While standards remain above the national average, the achievement of the most able pupils is more variable. These pupils thoroughly enjoy a challenge and show resilience and a good capacity to work things out for themselves when work is pitched at the right level. Sometimes expectations of the most able pupils are still too low for them to make consistently good progress, especially in mathematics. Tasks they are given sometimes lack the challenge they need to achieve well.
• Pupils achieve well in reading. The teaching of phonics in the early years and Year 1 is good. The large majority of pupils reach the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check, a proportion higher than the national average.
• Pupils clearly enjoy reading. The youngest pupils read confidently, tackling words using their phonics and sharing their opinion about what they have read. The achievement of older pupils in reading is good. They understand how the library works and appreciate the range of books available. The most able readers read fluently, discuss the author’s intent and infer meaning from the text. They also explain how the use of figurative language creates effect.
• Disadvantaged pupils make good progress, particularly in reading and writing. Leaders regularly assess how well these pupils are doing, and respond swiftly to address any gaps in learning with additional teaching time and extra group sessions.
• The achievement of the few pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is good. The school’s culture ensures that everyone shares responsibility for the achievement of this group of pupils. As a result, they make good progress because they receive high-quality teaching and additional support from skilled teaching assistants.
• Pupils achieve well across a range of subjects. Many of the subjects are linked together so they are more relevant to the experiences of the primary-aged pupil. For example, pupils learned about natural disasters in geography and then had to design and carry out a scientific experiment to show the effect of an earthquake. Not only did pupils enjoy doing this, they also understood both the human and natural geographical factors and scientific reasons which may trigger an earthquake.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter the early years with skills and knowledge which are broadly typical for their age. Children have good relationships with adults as well as with each other. Routines and expectations are established from the start, so children are settled and ready to learn. By the time they leave the Reception class, a large majority reach a good level of development and are well equipped for key stage 1.
• The teaching of phonics is effective. Children quickly learn the basic skills of reading and apply the sounds they have learned to their spelling. The teaching of writing is well structured. Children watched attentively as the teacher demonstrated the basic skills of writing, using finger spaces to separate words. There are good opportunities for children to write for pleasure. A Reception child proudly shared with the lead inspector their written story of ‘the mouse that went to the moon’, pointing out that they had remembered their finger spaces.
• Children are confident and are keen to initiate conversation with visitors. Children’s behaviour is good, both in the classroom and the outside area, where activities are well managed. Even in the pouring rain, children enjoyed experimenting with powder paint in the puddles and painted patterns on the playground. Children take responsibility for their learning environment with its attractive displays of children’s work. They are quick to tidy up and put things back in the right place.
• The teaching of mathematics is less secure: children sometimes repeat work they can already do. Teachers do not have sufficiently high expectations of what the most able children could achieve. This is reflected in the school’s own assessment data, where too few children exceed age-related expectations in mathematics.
• Relationships with parents are good. ‘I couldn’t be happier’, commented one parent. Parents play a pivotal role in supporting their children in the early years. They make comprehensive contributions to their child’s learning journey recording in detail their children’s achievements observed at home.
• Effective leadership in the early years means that children get a good start in school. Leaders ensure that the welfare and safety of children are given a high priority and that staff are well skilled and responsive to children’s individual needs. They ensure that good links are fostered with external agencies and specialists to support children with specific needs so that they are motivated learners, able to participate fully in school life.
• All health and safety requirements are met. The unit is a safe place for children. Transition arrangements are good: staff make home visits prior to children starting. During the inspection, children due to join the Reception classes in September were enjoying a transition day, clearly excited at the prospect.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107849 Leeds 10031005 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 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 363 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Kirsty Quayle Sharon Percival 0113 2558 719

www.farsleyspringbank.co.uk info@farsleyspringbank.co.uk

Date of previous inspection 30 April–1 May 2013

Information about this school

• This is a larger than average-sized primary school.
• The school is in the process of converting from a junior school to a full primary school. From September 2017, there will be pupils on roll in all year groups. Currently there are no pupils in Year 2.
• Most pupils are White British and speak English as their first language.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is well below average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• The school meets the requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited lessons in all classrooms and some together with the headteacher. In addition, inspectors observed small groups of pupils being taught.
• Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and spoke with pupils about their enjoyment of school and their opinions of behaviour and safety.
• Inspectors held discussions with staff and governors.
• Inspectors considered a wide range of school documents. These included the school’s self-evaluation, the school development plan, behaviour and attendance records, governing body documents and documents relating to the monitoring of teachers’ performance.
• Ninety-seven parents submitted responses to Parent View. Inspectors considered the comments of 87 parents who responded during the inspection, as well as those they spoke with informally. Inspectors also took into account responses to the staff and pupil surveys.

Inspection team

Karen Heath, lead inspector Julia Wright Fiona Dixon

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector